Timeline of Black History at Virginia Tech

Timeline of Black History at Virginia Tech

Creator University Archives
Description The Timeline of Black History at Virginia Tech chronicles important individuals, groups, events and dates, outstanding achievements, and newspaper articles pertaining to the history of African-Americans in the university and the community.
Call number
Date from 1890
Date to 2002
Geographic school Blacksburg, VA
Size unknown
Access restrictions yes/no no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no yes
Larger collection title
URL http://spec.lib.vt.edu/archives/blackhistory/timeline
Repository Virginia Tech Special Collections
Repository address University Libraries, P.O. Box 90001, Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001
Repository contact name Tamara Kennelly
Repository contact title University Archivist
Repository contact email specref@vt.edu
Repository contact phone (540) 231-6308
DoveRegion region1
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    Public schools

o    School integration

o    Segregation in higher education

o    Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Types o    Documentary Films

o    Narrative

o    Oral History

o    Photographs

Television news of the civil rights era 

Television news of the civil rights era 

Creator University of Virginia
Description News of the Civil Rights Era, 1950-1970, is a digitization project that aims to collect, digitize, and present in streaming video format over the World Wide Web television news footage from the Civil Rights Era.
Call number
Date from 1950
Date to 1970
Geographic school Virginia
Size circa 230 digitized video recordings; transcripts; manuscripts
Access restrictions yes/no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no
Larger collection title
URL http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/civilrightstv/
Repository Virginia Center for Digital History
Repository address Taylor Room, Alderman Library, P.O. Box 400116, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4116
Repository contact name Scot French
Repository contact title
Repository contact email saf5g@virginia.edu
Repository contact phone (434) 924-4777
DoveRegion region7
Subjects o    Civil rights movements

o    Civil rights movements–Southern States

o    Civil rights movements–Press coverage

o    Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963

o    King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968

o    Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994

o    Roanoke River Valley (Va. and N.C.)

o    School integration–Massive resistance movement

o    Virginia–Politics and government

o    Television broadcasting

Types o    Interviews

o    Manuscripts

o    Sound recordings

o    Transcripts

Vanderbilt Television News Archives

Vanderbilt Television News Archives

Creator Various national TV news networks
Description The Vanderbilt Television News Archive is the world’s most extensive and complete archive of television news. Contains television news broadcasts of the national networks from August 5, 1968, to present.
Call number
Date from 1968
Date to
Geographic school Norfolk and elsewhere
Size none
Access restrictions yes/no yes
Access restrictions Non-subscribers will need to complete a brief registration form to search the database. There is currently no charge for searching the database of news abstracts and broadcast descriptions.
Part Of larger collection yes/no
Larger collection title
URL http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/
Repository Vanderbilt Television News Archive
Repository address 110 Twenty-first Avenue South, Suite 704, Nashville, TN 37203
Repository contact name
Repository contact title
Repository contact email tvnews@vanderbilt.edu
Repository contact phone (615) 322-2927
DoveRegion (outside of Virginia)
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    African Americans–Segregation

o    Public schools

o    Race relations

o    School children

o    School integration

o    School integration–Massive resistance movement

o    Segregation in education

o    Segregation in higher education

o    Vanderbilt Television News Archive

o    Broadcasting–United States–History–20th century

Types Broadcast-Television-News

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of reporter Ray Moore interviewing United States attorney general Robert F. Kennedy about the Freedom Rides and about school integration, Washington, D.C., 1961

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of reporter Ray Moore interviewing United States attorney general Robert F. Kennedy about the Freedom Rides and about school integration, Washington, D.C., 1961

Creator WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
Description Reporter: Moore, Ray, 1922-. In this WSB newsfilm clip from the summer of 1961 in Washington, D.C., WSB reporter Ray Moore interviews United States attorney general Robert F. Kennedy about the Freedom Rides and school integration. The clip begins with United States attorney general Robert F. Kennedy sitting in a room with an American flag behind him. WSB reporter Ray Moore appears to be listening to something; in front of him are several pages with portions of text blacked out. The clip breaks a few times before the audio portion of the interview beings. Moore’s first question to Kennedy about riots in Montgomery, Alabama, is incompletely recorded. In response to the question, Kennedy declares the unspecified charges are “simply untrue.” Asked about his relationship with the Freedom Ride sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Kennedy claims that he first heard about the Freedom Ride on Monday, May 15, 1961, the day after the attack and bus burning in Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama. He asserts that he had not had any prior conversations about the rides with “CORE or anybody else.” According to accounts of the civil rights workers involved in the Freedom Rides, the CORE office sent informational letters about the Freedom Rides two weeks before the May 4 departure from Washington, D.C. They reported sending letters to president John F. Kennedy; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director J. Edgar Hoover, attorney general Robert F. Kennedy; the chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and the presidents of Trailways and Greyhound bus companies. CORE received no responses. Simeon Booker, a reporter who traveled with the riders from Washington D.C. also met with Robert Kennedy and his assistant John Seigenthaler the day before the ride began but felt after the visit that the attorney general had not been paying full attention. Kennedy then volunteers to tell Moore about his experience with the Freedom Rides. He opens with the events following the May 14 bus burning in Anniston and the beatings in Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama. According to Kennedy, the Freedom Riders were in Birmingham on Monday, May 15 and were trying to continue their journey to New Orleans. Kennedy reports he spoke with Alabama director of public safety, Floyd Mann, after having been unsuccessful in his attempts to contact Alabama governor John Patterson. Mann was able to get governor Patterson to agree to provide some protection to the Freedom Riders. However, after Kennedy relayed that information to the Freedom Riders and they got on the bus in Birmingham, Mann called Kennedy and told him that the bus driver wouldn’t drive the bus. Kennedy confirms that after hearing from Mann, he called the manager of the Greyhound station in Birmingham, George Cruit, and expressed his desire the Freedom Riders make their trip. Cruit recorded that conversation, and it later received significant attention in Alabama. At this point, Moore interrupts Kennedy to repeat the statements made by George Cruit. At an unspecified hearing about the Freedom Rides, Cruit testified that Kennedy said he had gone to a lot of trouble for the Freedom Riders and would be upset if the riders did not complete their trip to Montgomery. Kennedy admits that he and his staff at the Justice Department had put a lot of effort into getting the Freedom Riders safely from Birmingham to Montgomery. He refutes allegations that his attention to the Freedom Rider’s safety proves that he supported their protest and that they were sent by the Federal government. Kennedy asserts that those allegations are untrue and explains again that he was concerned with the safety of the travelers. Asked about governor Patterson’s assurance that the riders would be safe, Kennedy clarifies that he did not personally speak with governor Patterson. Through Kennedy’s conversations with Mann the governor assured Kennedy that the riders would be protected “and that they wouldn’t have difficulty or
Call number
Date from 1961
Date to 1961
Geographic school Prince Edward County, VA
Size 1 clip (about 22 min.)
Access restrictions yes/no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no
Larger collection title
URL
Repository The Civil Rights Digital Library
Repository address University of Georgia Libraries, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-1641
Repository contact name Dr. P. Toby Graham
Repository contact title Director, Digital Library of Georgia
Repository contact email tgraham@uga.edu
Repository contact phone (706) 583-0213
DoveRegion (outside of Virginia)
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    African Americans–Segregation

o    Public schools

o    Race relations

o    School children

o    School closings

o    School integration

o    School integration–Massive resistance movement

o    Segregation in education

o    Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968

o    Moore, Ray, 1922-

o    Mann, Floyd H., 1920-1996

o    Patterson, John, 1921 September 27-

o    Cruit, George

o    Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963

o    Seigenthaler, John, 1927-

o    Cook, Eugene, 1904-

o    Reporters and reporting

o    Freedom Rides, 1961

Types Broadcast-Television-News

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of reporter Neal Strozier commenting on a public address by Virginal governor J. Lindsay Almond in Richmond, Virginia and on the recent integration of the previously all-white schools in Arlington County and Norfolk, Virginia, 1959 Fe

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of reporter Neal Strozier commenting on a public address by Virginal governor J. Lindsay Almond in Richmond, Virginia and on the recent integration of the previously all-white schools in Arlington County and Norfolk, Virginia, 1959 Fe

Creator WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
Description Reporter: Strozier, Neal. In this WSB newsfilm clip from February 7, 1959, correspondent Neal Strozier speaking from Arlington County, Virginia, comments on the recent integration of the all-white schools in Arlington County and Norfolk, as well as a public address by governor J. Lindsay Almond in Richmond, Virginia. The clip begins with Strozier standing in front of Stratford Junior High School in Arlington County, Virginia as people enter the school. According to Strozier, twenty-one African American students began attending seven previously all-white schools in Norfolk and Arlington County, Virginia earlier that week. He reports that all seven of the schools are maintaining security precautions. While he speaks, the camera shows a uniformed policeman outside the school. The clip breaks and then shows Strozier again, this time standing in front of the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond. While he speaks, the camera focuses on flags flying above the capitol building and on the legislative chamber and people inside it. Strozier commends the state for its “grace and dignity” during integration. He mentions a public address by governor J. Lindsay Almond on January 28 in which the governor “rejected extremist demands for obstruction at all cost.” For a few moments the clip shows Almond’s January 28 speech. Strozier begins speaking again; while he speaks, the camera returns to Stratford Junior High School in Arlington, Virginia. A policeman stands behind a “No trespassing” sign, and young women in winter clothing carry books and walk past reporters toward the school. African American students, three boys and one girl, get out of a car; the driver makes an adjustment before closing the door. Later the camera shows a Norfolk school where one African American student sits in a classroom with white students as the teacher walks back and forth in front of the classroom. Strozier, speaking again of Almond’s January 28th speech, relays the governor’s call for observance of federal law and for “keeping with Virginia’s tradition of peace and order.” Strozier confirms that local authorities in Arlington County have “shown every determination to keep peace and order” and that there white students are starting to accept their new African American peers. He also reports that schools in Norfolk, which had been closed for half a year to prevent integration are now attended by both white and African American students. While not every student has returned, he notes that those who are in school seem more interested in resuming their education than in the fact of integration. As the camera pans back to focus on Strozier, he states that police in Norfolk and in Arlington are prepared for racial incidents and praises the restraint shown in the communities. The clip audio breaks for a moment, after which Strozier comments that state and local officials surrendered “gracefully” after fighting to the end. He also notes that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) “has refrained from actively pushing integration further south in Virginia where feeling might have run higher.” He explains that both the African American community and white officials want to avoid the rioting and tension that occurred during the 1957 desegregation of Little Rock Central High School. The first lawsuit for school integration in Virginia was filed in 1951 in Prince Edward County. The case was eventually incorporated into the 1954 United States Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled against segregation in public education. State officials in Virginia, led by United States senator Harry Byrd, organized a plan of “massive resistance” by passing laws designed to prevent desegregation, including closing schools facing desegregation and providing tuition grants to private schools for displaced white students. In the fall of 1958, schools in Norfolk, Charlottesville, and Warren County, Virginia, were closed after the courts ordered the
Call number
Date from 1959 February 07
Date to 1959 February 07
Geographic school Arlington County and Norfolk, VA
Size 1 clip (about 2 min.)
Access restrictions yes/no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no
Larger collection title
URL
Repository The Civil Rights Digital Library
Repository address University of Georgia Libraries, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-1641
Repository contact name Dr. P. Toby Graham
Repository contact title Director, Digital Library of Georgia
Repository contact email tgraham@uga.edu
Repository contact phone (706) 583-0213
DoveRegion (outside of Virginia)
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    Almond, J. Lindsay (James Lindsay), 1898-1986

o    Public schools

o    Race relations

o    School children

o    School closings

o    School integration

o    School integration–Massive resistance movement

o    Strozier, Neal

o    National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

o    Central High School (Little Rock, Ark.)

o    Public schools–Virginia–Arlington

o    Public schools–Virginia–Norfolk

Types Broadcast-Television-News

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of governor J. Lindsay Almond at a press conference declaring that schools will close if federal troops are sent to enforce desegregation, Richmond, Virginia, 1958 August 21

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of governor J. Lindsay Almond at a press conference declaring that schools will close if federal troops are sent to enforce desegregation, Richmond, Virginia, 1958 August 21

Creator WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
Description In this WSB newsfilm clip from August 21, 1958, Virginia governor J. Lindsay Almond speaks to reporters at a press conference held in Richmond, Virginia and declares that schools will close if federal troops are sent to enforce desegregation. As the clip begins, Almond is sitting at one end of a table with reporters taking notes at the other end of the table. Almond asserts “there will be no enforced integration in Virginia.” While expressing his respect for president Dwight Eisenhower, he declares without “defiance” that if federal troops are sent to Virginia to enforce court-ordered desegregation, he will close the schools. Governor Almond held a press conference on August 21 in response to comments made by president Eisenhower the day before. According to newspaper reports, Eisenhower declared it was “the solemn duty of all Americans to comply with the Supreme Court’s order to end racial discrimination in public schools.” In other comments made during the press conference and not recorded in this newsfilm clip, Almond defends education as “a state matter” and maintains that desegregation “would destroy the process of education.” During his comments, he asked for support of a state policy against racial integration in public schools. School integration lawsuits in Virginia began in 1951 in Prince Edward County. That case was eventually incorporated into the United States Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. Almond, who was Virginia attorney general at the time, was one of the lawyers who argued in favor of segregated education. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled against segregation in public education. State officials in Virginia organized a plan of “massive resistance” to court-ordered desegregation, passing laws requiring integrated schools to close and providing tuition grants to white students displaced by school desegregation. In the fall of 1958, nine white public schools closed in Norfolk, Charlottesville, and Warren County, Virginia. On January 20, 1959, both state and federal courts overturned the state law requiring integrated schools to close. After the ruling, Almond called a special legislative session during which he announced the end of the “massive resistance” campaign. The following Monday, February 2, 1959, seven schools in Arlington and Norfolk integrated. Title supplied by cataloger. The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.
Call number
Date from 1958 August 21
Date to 1958 August 21
Geographic school Virginia
Size 1 clip (about 1 min.)
Access restrictions yes/no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no
Larger collection title
URL
Repository The Civil Rights Digital Library
Repository address University of Georgia Libraries, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-1641
Repository contact name Dr. P. Toby Graham
Repository contact title Director, Digital Library of Georgia
Repository contact email tgraham@uga.edu
Repository contact phone (706) 583-0213
DoveRegion (outside of Virginia)
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    African Americans–Segregation

o    Almond, J. Lindsay (James Lindsay), 1898-1986

o    Public schools

o    Race relations

o    School children

o    School closings

o    School integration

o    School integration–Massive resistance movement

o    Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969

o    Public schools–Virginia–Prince Edward County

o    Public schools–Virginia–Norfolk

o    Public schools–Virginia–Charlottesville

o    Public schools–Virginia–Warren County

Types Broadcast-Television-News

Wit, Will, and Walls: The Betty Kilby Fisher Story interviews 

Wit, Will, and Walls: The Betty Kilby Fisher Story interviews 

Creator Paulette Films
Description A short documentary on the story of Betty Kilby Fisher, a 13-year-old who was the plaintiff in the 1958 case to desegregate Warren County, VA Schools. Uncut videotaped interviews used for this film are included in this collection.
Call number
Date from 1958
Date to
Geographic school Warren County, VA
Size 1 documentary
Access restrictions yes/no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no
Larger collection title
URL
Repository Paulette Films
Repository address 1305 Hillcrest Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22802
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Paulette Films
Repository contact email paulette@paulettefilms.com
Repository contact phone (703) 597-7766
DoveRegion region7
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    Civil rights movements–Virginia

o    School integration

o    Race relations

Types o    Interviews

o    Manuscripts

o    Sound recordings

o    Transcripts

The Lost Class of ’59 a Study of Virginia’s Massive Resistance: Segregation and the Norfolk Public Schools 

The lost class of ’59 a study of Virginia’s massive resistance : segregation and the Norfolk Public Schools 

Creator CBS Television Network; edited and produced by Edward R. Murrow, Fred W. Friendly ; reporter director, Arthur D. Morse.
Description Originally aired on January 21, 1959, famed journalist Edward R. Murrow presents the nation with a city divided by the closing of Norfolk public schools in the face of integration. Murrow received a Peabody Award for this film.
Call number LC2803.N6 L67 1959
Date from 1959
Date to 1959
Geographic school Norfolk, VA
Size 1 DVD-video (60 min., 39 sec.) : sd., b&w ; 4 3/4 in
Access restrictions yes/no no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no
Larger collection title
URL
Repository Old Dominion University, Special Collections and University Archives
Repository address Patricia W. & J. Douglas Perry Library, Norfolk, VA 23529-0256
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist
Repository contact email libspecialcollections@odu.edu
Repository contact phone (757) 683-4483
DoveRegion region3
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    Public schools

o    Race relations

o    School children

o    School closings

o    School integration–Massive resistance movement

o    Segregation in education

o    Virginia–Politics and government

o    Murrow, Edward R.

Types Broadcast-Television-News

Margaret White 

Margaret White 

Creator Margaret White
Description Taught in the Norfolk school system off and on since 1930. Involved in the struggle to reopen the public schools during the integration crisis. CBS television documentary, “The Lost Class of ’59” recorded her efforts. Correspondence and printed material, the bulk of which dates from 1959-1964, chiefly relates to the CBS documentary. Member of the Norfolk Committee for Public Schools.
Call number MG 20
Date from 1953
Date to 1976
Geographic school Norfolk, VA
Size .5 cubic feet
Access restrictions yes/no yes
Access restrictions Open to researchers without restrictions. Questions on literary property rights should be directed to the Special Collections Librarian.
Part Of larger collection yes/no
Larger collection title
URL http://www.lib.odu.edu/specialcollections/manuscripts/whitemargaret.htm
Repository Old Dominion University, Special Collections and University Archives
Repository address Patricia W. & J. Douglas Perry Library, Norfolk, VA 23529-0256
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist
Repository contact email libspecialcollections@odu.edu
Repository contact phone (757) 683-4483
DoveRegion region3
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    African Americans–Segregation

o    Public schools

o    Race relations

o    School children

o    School closings

o    School integration–Massive resistance movement

o    Segregation in education

o    Documentary television programs–United States

o    CBS Television Network

o    Murrow, Edward R.

o    Teachers–Virginia–Norfolk

o    Norfolk Committee for Public Schools

o    White, Margaret E., 1908-

Types o    Annual reports

o    Broadcast-Television-News

o    Clippings

o    Correspondence

o    Documentary Films

o    Pamphlets

o    Reports

WTAR-TV Historic Film Collection 

WTAR-TV Historic Film Collection 

Creator WTAR-TV
Description The collection consists of films used by WTAR, a television station in Norfolk Virginia. The entire collection is 4,600 reels of predominately acetate 16mm black and white film dated 1940s – 1980s. About 20 of the films relate to civil rights and school desegregation. These reels include a 1955 portrait of the Supreme Court for a story on Brown v. Board of Education; civil rights protests in North Carolina; and the Special Session of the Virginia Legislature in 1956 when “Massive Resistance” laws were passed to circumvent the Brown decision. Norfolk became a national beacon for resisting integration so films on local school desegregation have broad implications. In addition the collection contains films related to international relations, the military, oceanography and science. A small number of films have been digitized.
Call number MG 112
Date from 1955
Date to 1971
Geographic school Virginia; Norfolk, VA
Size 20 films
Access restrictions yes/no N
Access restrictions Open to researchers without restrictions. Questions on literary property rights should be directed to the Special Collections Librarian.
Part Of larger collection yes/no N
Larger collection title
URL
Repository Old Dominion University, Special Collections and University Archives
Repository address Patricia W. & J. Douglas Perry Library, Norfolk, VA 23529-0256
Repository contact name
Repository contact title Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist
Repository contact email libspecialcollections@odu.edu
Repository contact phone (757) 683-4483
DoveRegion region3
Subjects o    African American students

o    African Americans–Civil rights

o    Almond, J. Lindsay (James Lindsay), 1898-1986

o    Public schools

o    Race relations

o    School children

o    School closings

o    School integration

o    School integration–Massive resistance movement

Types o    Interviews

o    Manuscripts

o    Sound recordings

o    Transcripts