Special Collections and University Archives Collection Guides

Abstract

Founding member of the Women’s Council for Interracial Cooperation and an active participant in the Civil Rights movement. Contains transcripts and audiotapes of an interview that documents her life and the Civil Rights movement in Norfolk.

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...

Abstract This collection dating from 1922-2008, contains correspondence, memorandum, depositions, court orders, recollections, statistical testing data, printed material, artifacts, and maps.The bulk of the collection provides a glimpse into the decisions made by the School Board through court documentation and the public sentiment during the integration process in Norfolk. While most of the collection deals with desegregation, it also includes school directories and calendars before and after...

Abstract

Pediatrician in Norfolk. Played central role in formation of Norfolk Committee for Public Schools, which opposed the closing of the city’s public schools during the desegregation crisis. Bulk of the material concerns the desegregation of Norfolk’s public schools.

Abstract

Former Budget Director for the Norfolk Public Schools. Fourteen untranscribed cassette tapes containing interviews White conducted with politicians, journalists, police and other city officials from 1975-1991 as background for his ODU doctoral dissertation, School Desegregation and Urban Renewal and the 1992 book Pride and Prejudice: School Desegregation and Urban Renewal in Norfolk, 1950-1959.

Abstract

Margaret White taught in the Norfolk school system off and on since 1930. Involved in struggle to reopen the public schools during the integration crisis. CBS television documentary, "The Lost Class of ’59" recorded her efforts. Correspondence and printed material, the bulk of which dates from 1959-1964, chiefly relates to the CBS documentary. Member of the Norfolk Committee for Public Schools.

Abstract

Founded in 1945 as an interracial organization designed to address concerns with education, health, and housing among the Afro-American community in Norfolk. Predecessor to the Norfolk Human Relations Council. Includes correspondence, newspapers clippings, minutes, reports, pamphlets, and membership lists. Bulk of the organization’s records are in the archives at Norfolk State University.