USDC, Eastern District of Virginia -Newport News Division, Civil Action Case # 489-Jerome Atkins, et al vs. School Board of the City of Newport News, VA, et al
| Creator | USDC, Eastern District of Virginia -Newport News Division |
| Description | In April 1956, the parents of Jerome Atkins and 53 other children filed suit in the U.S. District Court that the school board of Newport News, VA, was denying the plaintiffs their civil rights under the 14th Amendment by continuing to enforce racial segregation in the city schools. The plaintiffs petitioned the Court to restrain the school board from barring admission to any student on the grounds of race. The lead attorney for the plaintiffs was future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Trial proceedings were held in November 1956 and in February 1957, the District Court ruled that racial segregation in the Newport News school system must end and that the schools must be opened on an integrated basis by the start of the 1957-1958 school year. The defendants appealed the ruling to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. In July 1957, the Circuit Court upheld the District Court’s decision ending racial segregation in the Newport News school system. |
| Call number | Civil Action Case # 489 |
| Date from | 1956 |
| Date to | 1958 |
| Geographic school | Newport News, VA |
| Size | unknown |
| Access restrictions yes/no | no |
| Access restrictions | |
| Part Of larger collection yes/no | |
| Larger collection title | |
| URL | |
| Repository | NARA Mid-Atlantic Region |
| Repository address | 14700 Townsend Road, Philadelphia, PA 19154-1096 |
| Repository contact name | David Weber |
| Repository contact title | Director, Records Management Program |
| Repository contact email | philadelphia.reference@nara.gov |
| Repository contact phone | (215) 305-2000 |
| DoveRegion | (outside of Virginia) |
| Subjects | o African American students
o African Americans–Civil rights o African Americans–Segregation o Public schools o School children o Segregation in education o Topeka (Kan.). Board of Education–Trials, litigation, etc. o Marshall, Thurgood, 1908-1993 o District courts–Virginia o Public schools–Virginia–Newport News o United States. Circuit Courts |
| Types | Legal documents |