USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case # 1333-Davis et al vs. County School Board of Prince Edward County
| Creator | USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division |
| Description | The Dorothy Davis case raised the issue of equality between the county’s white and non-white schools. Prince Edward County, Virginia, had three high schools at the time: the whites-only Farmville and Worsham high schools, and the blacks-only Moton High School. As demonstrated by testimony and photographs, the educational facilities and courses were decidedly not equal. When the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of the defendants, the plaintiffs appealed to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Eventually, the Dorothy Davis case became one of the five cases decided by the United States Supreme Court under the name of Brown v. Board of Education. Having decided in Brown that the separate but equal doctrine laid out in previous decisions was no longer valid, the Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of all public school districts. However, the decree from the United States District Court allowed Prince Edward County to continue operating as before until a statewide desegregation policy was established. Like so many other school districts, Prince Edward County fought the Supreme Court decision. Their tactics were unorthodox – rather than desegregate the school system, they simply closed the public schools. A private school, funded with vouchers from the County School Board, was founded which accepted only the white children of the county. The Davis case was resurrected first as Eva Allen v. the County School Board and later as Cocheyse J. Griffin v. the County School Board in order to force Prince Edward County to reopen the public schools and follow the original mandate of the Supreme Court. Finally, in 1964 the Supreme Court ruled that the county was required to provide public education to all children. Appeals of this case were filed in RG 276, Records of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit Case Files # 7829, 8837, 9597 and 10,191. |
| Call number | Civil Action Case # 1333 |
| Date from | 1951 |
| Date to | 1964 |
| Geographic school | Prince Edward County, 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 High school students o Public schools o School closings o School integration–Massive resistance movement o Segregation in education o Topeka (Kan.). Board of Education–Trials, litigation, etc. o District courts–Virginia o United States. Court of Appeals (4th Circuit) o Prince Edward County (Va.). County School Board–Trials, litigation, etc. |
| Types | Legal documents |