Abstract

The collection contains materials dated mainly from the early 1950s through the 1960s and 70s but also houses materials from the 21st Century related to the 50th Anniversary of the End of Massive Resistance. The collection also focuses on events, legal cases, media coverage, and photographs of desegregation in Virginia.  Specific regions represented in the collection are the City of Norfolk, Prince Edward County, Farmville, Charlottesville and the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Scope and Contents The collection consists of copies of regional and national newspaper clippings covering the “Massive Resistance” movement and public reaction to the desegregation and subsequent closing of some of Norfolk’s public schools. Also discussed are state and local politicians such as Governor Lindsay Almond, Jr., who ordered the closing the Norfolk schools that enrolled African American students, and Mayor William Fred Duckworth, who opposed the desegregation of the public schools. Some of the...