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 |