Pupil Placement Board – Desegregation of Virginia Education (DOVE)

November 13, 2018November 13, 2018

Civil Suits 1957

Civil Suits 1957

Creator	Hoffman, Walter E.
Description	Includes 1)Decrees, decisions and memoranda from Beckett, Jerome A. Atkins et al v. The School Board of the City of Newport News. 2)Pupil Placement Board orders for Hampton 3)Speech at Admiralty Day luncheon re: desegregation of Norfolk Public Schools.
Call number	2004M:001
Date from	1957
Date to	1957
Geographic school	Norfolk, Newport News, Hampton
Size	3 folders
Access restrictions yes/no
Access restrictions
Part Of larger collection yes/no
Larger collection title
URL	http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/wl-law/vilxwl00014.document
Repository	Washington and Lee University School of Law
Repository address	Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Archives, Law Library, Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450-0303
Repository contact name	John N. Jacob
Repository contact title	Archivist
Repository contact email	powell@wlu.edu
Repository contact phone	(540) 458-8969
DoveRegion	region7
Subjects	o African American students o African Americans–Civil rights o Public schools o School children o School integration o Segregation in education o Public schools — Virginia — Newport News o Public schools — Virginia — Hampton o Hoffman, Walter E. (Walter Edward), 1907-1996
Types	o Government papers o Legal documents o Speeches

August 28, 2018

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #3579- Mark J. Belton, Jr., an infant, etc. vs. the County School Board of King George County, Virginia, et al

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #3579- Mark J. Belton, Jr., an infant, etc. vs. the County School Board of King George County, Virginia, et al

Creator	USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division
Description	In 1962, thirty-eight African-American students and their parents filed suit against the defendants, hoping gain admittance into the County’s all-white public schools. The School Board, Superintendent, and each of the school board members said that any placement issues ought to be brought up with the State’s Pupil Placement Board. The Board responded in alleging that each of the infant plaintiff’s was not placed in their respective desired schools as a result of their distance from the institution or lack of academic qualifications. It was admitted that all other administrative options had already been exhausted by the plaintiff’s families. The Court finds that the School Board operates six schools within the County, only two of which are open to any more than a small handful of blacks. An attendance boundary for each of these schools was seen to be very flexible. The Pupil Placement Board has placed 29 black students into mostly white schools in the County already, without court order. Typically, the School Board makes “tentative assignments” for students in the County and forwards them to the Placement Board, where they are accepted unless a student in question makes formal protest. White students it was found need not even apply to gain admission to a predominately white school, merely show up; the criteria by which white and black students were judged on was far from equal. The Court found the dual system of schooling discriminatory and granted the plaintiffs admission to the school which they applied. Furthermore, a general injunction against racial discrimination in their admission process was awarded. Counsel fees were not awarded.
Call number	Civil Action Case #3579
Date from	1962
Date to	1968
Geographic school	King George County, VA
Size	unknown
Access restrictions yes/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 Public schools o School children o School integration o Segregation in education o Virginia. Pupil Placement Board
Types	o Correspondence o Legal documents

August 28, 2018August 28, 2018

USDC, Western District of Virginia, Lynchburg Division, Civil Action Case #534-Jackson et al vs. School Board of Lynchburg

USDC, Western District of Virginia, Lynchburg Division, Civil Action Case #534-Jackson et al vs. School Board of Lynchburg

Creator	USDC, Western District of Virginia, Lynchburg Division
Description	In September 1961, the parents of Cecelia Jackson, Linda Woodruff, Owen Cardwell, and Brenda Hughes filed suit against the School Board of Lynchburg and the Pupil Placement Board of the Commonwealth of Virginia in U.S. District Court. The plaintiffs petitioned the court to have their children admitted to the all-white E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, alleging that the school board of Lynchburg was not complying with the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court rulings that called for school desegregation. In November 1961, Judge Thomas Michie ordered the school board of Lynchburg to admit Linda Woodruff and Owen Cardwell to E.C. Glass High School but denied admission to Cecelia Jackson and Brenda Hughes, claiming that their grades and low-scores in their aptitude tests made them academically unfit for admission to E.C. Glass High School. Judge Michie also ordered the school board to submit a plan for desegregating the Lynchburg school system. The school board submitted a plan in February 1962 calling for the desegregation of the Lynchburg school system at one grade per year. The Judge approved the plan. The plaintiffs appealed the judge’s ruling with regards to Cecelia Jackson and Brenda Hughes and the desegregation plan submitted by the school board of Lynchburg to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. In September 1962, the Court of Appeals reversed the Michie’s ruling denying admission of Jackson and Hughes to the E.C. Glass School and the desegregation plan of the Lynchburg School Board. Jackson and Hughes were ordered to be admitted to the E.C. Glass High School and the School Board of Lynchburg was ordered to submit a new plan for desegregation. For the next nine years the case would continue to be adjudicated with regards to handling the question as to how and when the Lynchburg School system would be desegregated. It would not be until 1971 that a final plan would be put into effect that created a racially balanced school district in the City of Lynchburg.
Call number	Civil Action Case #534
Date from	1961
Date to	1971
Geographic school	Lynchburg, 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)
Subject Types	o African American students o African Americans–Civil rights o African Americans–Segregation o High school students o Public schools o School integration o Segregation in education o Topeka (Kan.). Board of Education–Trials, litigation, etc. o o Virginia. Pupil Placement Board o District courts–Virginia o United States. Court of Appeals (4th Circuit) o Public schools–Virginia–Lynchburg o Virginia. Supreme Court of Appeals o Legal Dccuments

August 28, 2018

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #3365- David F. Anderson, et al vs. The School Board if the Town of West Point, et al

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #3365- David F. Anderson, et al vs. The School Board of the Town of West Point, et al

Creator	USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division
Description	Ten African American students and their parents filed suit after being denied admission to the public school to which they applied as residents. The reasons for denial included “distance” and “lack of academic qualifications.” The Town School Board and the Superintendent of Schools answered the complaint in shifting sole responsibility to the State Pupil Placement Board as per the Pupil Placement Act of Virginia. As a school district, the Town of West Point had a combined white elementary and high school known as West Point School and an African-American elementary school, known as Beverly Allen School. Black high school students were educated outside of the Town pursuant to arrangements made with neighboring counties in possession of minority high schools. As a result of policy and procedure within the West Point school administration, any black applicants applying to the all-white school, their files were coded as irregular and red flagged upon being referred to the State Pupil Placement Board. At this stage, black students withstood a rigorous degree of scrutiny in the inspection of their residential and scholastic merits unparalleled to that of their Caucasian counterparts. The State Pupil Placement Board claimed to be somehow unaware that the town in question only possessed one high school. It subsequently adopted a policy of assigning all high school aged students within the town applying to West Point High School admission, without consideration of any residential or scholastic criteria. The School Board and Division Superintendent of Schools were expected to submit to the Court a plan, eliminating the discriminatory application process from their admission process at the elementary school level by the 1962-1963 mid-term session. The Court later struck down the School Board’s racially unbiased blueprint of operation and allowed until May 27, 1968 to provide an updated plan.
Call number	Civil Action Case #3365
Date from	1961
Date to	1968
Geographic school	King William County, VA
Size	unknown
Access restrictions yes/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 Public schools o School children o School integration o Segregation in education
Types	o Correspondence o Legal documents

August 28, 2018August 28, 2018

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #2819- Lorna Renee Warden et al vs. the School Board of the City of Richmond, Virginia, et al

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #2819- Lorna Renee Warden et al vs. the School Board of the City of Richmond, Virginia, et al

Creator	USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division
Description	Prior to the start of the 1958-59 school year, each of the infant plaintiffs timely applied for admission to Richmond City public schools as resident citizens. The schools to which they applied were exclusively maintained and attended by whites; the defendants did not gain admission and were subsequently assigned to all-black institutions. The Defendants owned, maintained and operated forty elementary schools, eight junior high schools, four senior high schools and six special schools within the City of Richmond. School children “classified as Negroes had been permitted to attend only eighteen of the elementary schools, three of the junior high schools, two of the senior high schools and one of the special schools” enrollment at the remainder of the institutions was available exclusively to those children not classified as Negroes. The plaintiff’s argued that they were denied liberty without due process of the law and the equal protection guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. When questioned why Daisy Jane Cooper (plaintiff), age nine’s, transfer from George Washington Carver Elementary School to the Westhampton School was denied by the Pupil Placement Board, the Division Superintendent acknowledged that “had the Cooper child been a white child living at the same address” I presume she would have attended the Westhampton School. The Court concluded that this was a clear case of discrimination based on race as the only reason the Cooper child was denied her transfer was because she was black. It was decided that the Commonwealth’s Pupil Placement Board’s policy and practices were unconstitutional and thereby granted Cooper admission to the Westhampton School. Cooper was admitted to the institution as an individual, not as a class or group; all of the original plaintiffs with the exception of the Cooper’s voluntarily withdrew from the case.
Call number	Civil Action Case #2819
Date from	1958
Date to	1962
Geographic school	Richmond, VA
Size	unknown
Access restrictions yes/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 Public schools o School children o School integration o Segregation in education o Virginia. Pupil Placement Board
Types	o Correspondence o Legal documents

August 23, 2018August 23, 2018

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #3431- Sheila Jane McLeod, et al vs. the County School Board of Chesterfield County, Virginia, et al

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #3431- Sheila Jane McLeod, et al vs. the County School Board of Chesterfield County, Virginia, et al

Creator	USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division
Description	In early 1962, fifteen African-American students filed a class action suit seeking to require their transfer from Negro public schools to white public schools. The plaintiffs alleged that race was the sole factor requiring their attendance at a black school and white students to attend a white school, conversely. On or about December 20, 1961, the Superintendent of Schools notified the infant plaintiff’s parents that their respective children would be transferred to the Dupuy Road School, effective January 2, 1962, not the Ettrick Elementary School as requested. No hearing or forum to redress grievances was made availed to them. The Pupil Placement Board denied the charges against them after the School Board sought to shift responsibility onto it, alleging that overcrowding coupled with a mid-year transfer to a newly constructed facility was to blame; the transfer was said to have been made without prejudice. The Court found that Chesterfield County was an area experiencing “rapid population growth,” possessing ten Negro schools and twenty white ones; “negro students are not admitted to white schools on the same basis as white students attending these schools” [the County is] operating a system of dual attendance areas. The Court concluded that racial discrimination in the admission of students to schools is prohibited. However, as the transfer of the plaintiffs occurred to assist District in populating a newly opened school so that it could be adequately utilized, their request for an injunction was denied. Given the circumstances, latitude was seen fit; there was an absence of proof that the transfer was done to “accomplish discrimination.”
Call number	Civil Action Case #3431
Date from	1962
Date to	1977
Geographic school	Chesterfield County, VA
Size	unknown
Access restrictions yes/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 Public schools o School children o School integration o Segregation in education
Types	o Correspondence o Legal documents

August 23, 2018

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #4274- Stephanie V. Thompson, et al vs. the County School Board of Hanover County, VA, et al

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #4274- Stephanie V. Thompson, et al vs. the County School Board of Hanover County, VA, et al

Creator	USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division
Description	This early 1965 case was brought to trial on behalf of the students and prospective students of Hanover County. The plaintiffs filed a class action suit asking the defendants to adopt and implement a plan, which would promptly end racial segregation in the county schools. The plaintiffs also sought attorney fees. Pupil assignments had been determined by a “dual attendance area,” derived from the Virginia Pupil Placement Act, 1950. In 1963, ten black students were assigned to white schools, the following year 18, the next one 50. Six out of a total of 16 schools had no black children in attendance at all; 12 have been designated as primarily white. Additionally, the faculty had not been integrated. When the School Board failed to act on the April, 1964 request for integration by the black community, this suit came to fruition. On March 4, 1965, the Hanover County school superintendent notified the State Superintendent of Public Instruction that the school officials intended to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On June 3, the county submitted a desegregation plan to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Two months later, the school board adopted a revised plan, which was eventually approved by the U.S. Commissioner of Education on September 3. The plan adopted was a traditional “freedom-of-choice” one, which allowed for pupils to select the school they desired without fear of negative reproductions. Those who did not submit preferences to the county would be assigned to the school nearest their home without regard to race, ethnicity or national origin. Additionally, all racial discrimination that may have existed in the assignment of teachers or administrative personnel was to cease and be reversed. Lastly, “all services, facilities, activities and programs [including transportation] affiliated with or sponsored by the school system shall be administered without regard to race, color or national origin.” The plaintiff’s request for council fees was denied and denied again upon appeal.
Call number	Civil Action Case #4274
Date from	1965
Date to	1973
Geographic school	Hanover County, VA
Size	unknown
Access restrictions yes/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 Public schools o School children o School integration o Segregation in education o Civil Rights Act of 1964 o Virginia. General Assembly o Virginia. Pupil Placement Board
Types	o Correspondence o Legal documents o Pamphlets

August 23, 2018

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #3438- John W. Scott, Jr., etc., et al vs. School Board of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia, et al

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #3438- John W. Scott, Jr., etc., et al vs. School Board of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia, et al

Creator	USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division
Description	The plaintiffs in this case sought admission to a predominately white school, complying with the administrative requirements of Virginia’s statutes as they pertained to the placement of pupils. The applications were denied by the Pupil Placement Board and the plaintiffs subsequently assigned to a local all-black high school. Lack of academic qualifications and the distance from residence to school were cited as the grounds for the denial. The movement is for the Court to intervene. The city has one white high school and one black high school. The State Pupil Placement Board had to date already placed nine black students into predominately white public schools. The Court ruled that “scholastic tests and residential requirements may be a proper basis for the assignment of pupils, but these criteria must be applied equally to white and Negro children;” white students were admitted the City’s only white high school, James Monroe School, without being subject to the same “tests” as their African-American counterparts. The Court will intervene and grant the requested general injunction.
Call number	Civil Action Case #3438
Date from	1962
Date to	1973
Geographic school	Fredericksburg, VA
Size	unknown
Access restrictions yes/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 Public schools o School children o School integration o Segregation in education
Types	o Correspondence o Legal documents

August 9, 2018August 9, 2018

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #3766- Avis M. Pettaway, et al vs. the County School Board of Surry County, Virginia, et al

USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, Civil Action Case #3766- Avis M. Pettaway, et al vs. the County School Board of Surry County, Virginia, et al

Creator	USDC, Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division
Description	In the years up to and including the 1962-63 school year, Surry County boasted a traditional dual schooling system. With three schools in the District, Surry had one attended, taught and administered solely by whites and the other, conversely, solely by blacks. Each race was afforded their own buses, ensuring that no white and black pupils shared transportation. In May and later in June 1963, the Surry County School Board received numerous applications from African-American students desiring placement in the Surry School, the counties exclusively white school. After some delay on the School Board’s part, the applications were forwarded to the State Pupil Placement Board, where each of the seven black applicants was granted admission to the Surry School. After this news broke, there were a series of mass meetings, in which white citizens voiced their alarm. At these meetings, attended by the County Supervisors and School Board, it was decided that a private school was to be organized, the public schools remain open and all public school teacher’s contracts terminated within the month. There was even talk of lowering taxes because of the decreased burden on the public school system. Shortly thereafter, all of the white pupils attending Surrey School, 431 in all, withdrew and enrolled in the new Foundation’s School. The black pupils, who had been assigned to the now deserted Surry School by the Pupil Placement Board, in turn too applied to the Foundation’s School and were all denied admission. Enrollment was by invitation only; every white child who applied got in and every black did not. The tuition for this new school was $375 for elementary school and $380 for high school. The State and County provided students a combined $250 for elementary school children and $275 for high school ones through grants. The remainder was to be afforded by the families. In late July, the Foundation President requested that the Superintendent of Schools release all the County’s teachers from their contracts, he declined to do so. By August, the Superintendent presented the School Board with the resignations of 17 of the 23 teachers he had on staff. The Board told the Superintendent to accept the remainder of resignations as they came in. The decision to close the Surry School was official. The operating budget for the County public school program was reduced from $37,000 to $26,000 for the month of September. All of the teachers who resigned later found themselves under the employment of the Foundation. Surplus buses were sold off by the County to a dealer, but were later purchased by the Foundation to provide its student body adequate transportation. As a result of the loss of teachers, the students in black classrooms sky-rocketed to over fifty per class in most cases. Previously, the School Board was operating under a prescribed 30 teachers per elementary school student and 23 per high school student formula. After the case was appealed to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals three times, it was ultimately ruled in Richmond District Court that the Foundation’s School, along with any and all individuals associated with it, were barred from processing or approving applications and paying any further grants with public funds, so long as the school “refuses to accept pupil’s on account of their race or color.” Basically, the private school could not accept any more students and the students it already had would receive no more subsidies for their education so long as the admission process remained racist. Additionally, the Court ordered reasonable attorney’s fees for the plaintiffs were to be paid by the defense.
Call number	Civil Action Case #3766
Date from	1963
Date to	1973
Geographic school	Surry County, VA
Size	1 Box
Access restrictions yes/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 Private schools o Public schools o School children o School closings o School integration o School integration–Massive resistance movement o Segregation in education o Public grants for private schools o United States. Court of Appeals (4th Circuit) o Public schools–Virginia–Surry County o Virginia. Pupil Placement Board
Types	o Correspondence o Legal documents

August 6, 2018August 28, 2018

USDC, Western District of Virginia, Charlottesville Division, Civil Action Case #103- James S. Buckner, JR., et al vs. the County School Board Greene County, Virginia, et al

USDC, Western District of Virginia, Charlottesville Division, Civil Action Case #103- James S. Buckner, JR., et al vs. the County School Board Greene County, Virginia, et al

Creator	USDC, Western District of Virginia, Charlottesville Division
Description	In an April 1963 suit, the parents of several black school children residing in Greene County, VA brought suit against the County School Board. The parents suit revolved around the fact that their children had been assigned(and had their transfer requests denied) to Burley High School in Charlottesville, along with all other black elementary school graduates, while their white counterparts were assigned to William Monroe High School located in Greene County. The case was quickly dismissed after the Commonwealth’s Pupil Placement Board suggested that it had placed all of the plaintiffs in the case in the schools that they desired with the exception of those who had not adequately filled out the necessary paperwork for transfer. The plaintiffs appealed the case to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals a year later on the following merits: 1) Some African American students were voluntarily still attending Burley High School in Charlottesville, despite it not being compulsory. The plaintiffs believed that said students would be forced to attend the single high school in Greene County, William Monroe. 2) There was a continuation of segregation in school busing in that not a single black student shared a bus with a single white student. 3) The continued voluntary separation of the races in the elementary schools of the County. It was determined that the Greene County School Board was in full compliance with the law and had been cooperative throughout the case; the injunction sought by the plaintiffs was denied.
Call number	Civil Action Case #103
Date from	1963
Date to	1966
Geographic school	Greene County, VA
Size	unknown
Access restrictions yes/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 Busing for school integration o High school students o Public schools o School integration o Segregation in education o Public schools–Virginia–Charlottesville o Virginia. Pupil Placement Board o United States. Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)
Types	o Correspondence o Legal documents