DOCSLIB.ORG

The Experiences of Graduates of the Classes of 1963-70 of Lucy Addison High School, an All-Black High School in Roanoke, Virginia

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Experiences of Graduates of the Classes of 1963-70 of Lucy Addison High School, an All-Black High School in Roanoke, Virginia The Addisonians: The Experiences of Graduates of the Classes of 1963-70 of Lucy Addison High School, An All-Black High School in Roanoke, Virginia Robert R. Johnson Jr. Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies N. Wayne Tripp, Co-chair James L. Sellers, Co-chair Carol S. Cash Tracy S. Richardson February 13, 2015 Blacksburg, VA Keywords: All-Black High Schools, Blacks, Desegregation, Integration, Segregation The Addisonians: The Experiences of Graduates of the Classes of 1963-70 of Lucy Addison High School, An All-Black High School in Roanoke, Virginia Robert R. Johnson, Jr. ABSTRACT Lucy Addison High School was an all-Black high school located in Roanoke, Virginia. All-black high schools are defined in this study as high schools that were segregated by race and attended only by Black students. Lucy Addison operated as an all-Black high school from 1928 until 1970 in two different buildings. Roanoke’s secondary schools were desegregated in 1963. Addison was integrated in the fall of 1970 and closed in 1973. The purpose of the study was twofold. The primary purpose was to document the experiences of the graduates of the classes of 1963-70 of Lucy Addison High School. The secondary purpose was to determine if the supports found in the research literature about all- Black high schools prior to desegregation were present in the Lucy Addison students’ experiences during the years between desegregation and integration. The supports are (a) the importance of a spiritual foundation, (b) high expectations from school administrators and teachers, and (c) parent and community support. Six common themes emerged from the interviews with participants. They were: (a) the importance of a spiritual foundation, (b) high expectations from teachers and administrators, (c) parent and community support, (d) school leadership, (e) attitudes on segregation and integration, and (f) school pride. These themes helped answer the four research questions that guided the study. After conducting interviews with the graduates, their accounts confirmed that the supports identified in the literature regarding all-Black high schools were present in their school experiences. The importance of a spiritual foundation, high expectations from teachers and administrators, and parent and community support could easily be seen in the experiences of all 16 students who attended Lucy Addison High School from 1963-1970. Upon reflection on the study, the researcher made certain recommendations for further study. The recommendations for further study revolve around the continued documentation of experiences of Lucy Addison High School students, conducting a study of Lucy Addison High School as an integrated school from 1970 to 1973, and assessing the reason why Lucy Addison High School was allowed to stay open as an integrated high school. iii DEDICATION This study is dedicated to the Lucy Addison High School students who allowed me a chance to understand their day-to-day experiences while attending Lucy Addison High School: Lois Bond-Booker, Sherwood Kasey, Donnell Freeman, Jr., Louise Johnson, Charles Price, Don Shovely, Loretta Kasey Alston, Ivory Morton, Mae Huff, Joyce Ross, Ruth Campbell Claytor, William Pannell, Michael Cooper, Alvin Nash, Deborah Sessoms, and Roland Lovelace. It was truly an honor and a pleasure to read each transcription to get a sense of the experiences of each student while at Lucy Addison High School. After reflecting on their interviews, their memories of their experiences were so vivid and detailed about the many supports they received at Lucy Addison High School to help them become successful in life. The experience of learning their stories has truly fueled the power of the education that I give to students and help sustain in the current Lucy Addison Middle School every day. Having an opportunity to conclude that the supports that are documented in the literature about all-Black high schools also took place at Lucy Addison High School, I want to be sure to implement those same supports at the current Lucy Addison Middle School to prepare our students for an uplifting and rewarding life. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would not have been possible without the encouragement and support from many people. First, without question, I would like to thank my wife for her continued patience and support of my long nights working on the study and time spent away from home not being involved in family activities. Second, I would like to thank my sons, Cameron, Tyler, and Matthew for being so understanding of class nights, summer residency at Virginia Tech, and time taken away from seeing them grow up. Last, I would like to thank my mother and father for their help in taking care of my sons when my wife and I were in classes the same night and working on both of our studies at the same time. In reference to education, I have always chased my sister who has earned her doctoral degree in Engineering. I appreciate her pushing me to pursue my degree over my many years in education and encouraging me to stay in education and to continue to make an impact on the kids’ lives in Roanoke City. I truly appreciate the guidance and leadership from my examining committee. Dr. Jim Seller’s wealth of knowledge in Black education challenged me to learn about the history of education for Blacks. Dr. Tracy Richardson required me to learn more about education, not only for Blacks, but for Whites as well. Dr. Earthman, I appreciate you taking the time to narrow my focus and helping me conduct a more detailed study. Dr. Cash, thank you for your time supporting me as one of my committee members. Dr. Tripp, my advisor, and committee chairperson, supported me and saw me through. Without his constant support for my study, as well as his leadership and guidance along the way of this journey, I would have never finished this dissertation. I am truly grateful for his time, wealth of knowledge and experience, and his belief in me to complete this study. Finally, I would like to thank all of the faculty and staff of Lucy Addison Middle School and my friends for their support and encouragement of my study. This dream has become a reality due to all the positive praise and accolades given to me over the last three years. To my critical friend and Jiminy Cricket, you have been a true asset to me in this study. You helped keep me on track and listened to me vent many times when I felt defeated. To God Be the Glory for All the Great Things He Has Done. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction to the Study ................................................................................................ 1 The Biography of Lucy Addison ................................................................................................. 2 Literature Search ......................................................................................................................... 3 Definition of Terms ..................................................................................................................... 5 Purpose of the Study and Research Questions ............................................................................ 6 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................................ 7 Chapter 2 Historical Context of the Study ...................................................................................... 9 A History of Black Education in the South Prior to Desegregation ........................................ 9 Prior to the Civil War .............................................................................................................. 9 Black Education in the South After the Civil War ................................................................ 10 The Reconstruction Era ......................................................................................................... 10 The Hampton model. ......................................................................................................... 11 The Industrial Education Era ................................................................................................. 12 The Pursuit of Equality Era ................................................................................................... 14 Equalization and the NAACP ................................................................................................... 14 An Overview of the History of Black Education in Virginia .................................................... 16 A Brief History of the City of Roanoke ................................................................................ 21 Black Education in Roanoke Prior to the Closing of Lucy Addison High School ................... 25 The Value of All-Black Schools ............................................................................................... 27 The Importance of a Spiritual Foundation ............................................................................. 28 High Expectations From Administrators and Teachers ......................................................... 30 Parental and Community Support.......................................................................................... 32 Chapter 3 Methodology ............................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • African-American Parents' Experiences in a Predominantly White School
    Syracuse University SURFACE Dissertations - ALL SURFACE June 2017 Opportunity, but at what cost? African-American parents' experiences in a predominantly white school Peter Smith Smith Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/etd Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Smith, Peter Smith, "Opportunity, but at what cost? African-American parents' experiences in a predominantly white school" (2017). Dissertations - ALL. 667. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/667 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the SURFACE at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract National measures of student achievement, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), provide evidence of the gap in success between African- American and white students. Despite national calls for increased school accountability and focus on achievement gaps, many African-American children continue to struggle in school academically, as compared to their white peers. Ladson-Billings (2006) argues that a deeper understanding of the legacy of disparity in funding for schools serving primarily African- American students, shutting out African-American parents from civic participation, and unfair treatment of African-Americans despite their contributions to the United States is necessary to complicate the discourse about African-American student performance. The deficit model that uses student snapshots of achievement such as the NAEP and other national assessments to explain the achievement gap suggests that there is something wrong with African-American children. As Cowen Pitre (2104) explains, however, “the deficit model theory blames the victim without acknowledging the unequal educational and social structures that deny African- American students access to a quality education (2014, pg.
    [Show full text]
  • THE CONNERS of WACO: BLACK PROFESSIONALS in TWENTIETH CENTURY TEXAS by VIRGINIA LEE SPURLIN, B.A., M.A
    THE CONNERS OF WACO: BLACK PROFESSIONALS IN TWENTIETH CENTURY TEXAS by VIRGINIA LEE SPURLIN, B.A., M.A. A DISSERTATION IN HISTORY Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved ~r·rp~(n oj the Committee li =:::::.., } ,}\ )\ •\ rJ <. I ) Accepted May, 1991 lAd ioi r2 1^^/ hJo 3? Cs-^.S- Copyright Virginia Lee Spurlin, 1991 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation is a dream turned into a reality because of the goodness and generosity of the people who aided me in its completion. I am especially grateful to the sister of Jeffie Conner, Vera Malone, and her daughter, Vivienne Mayes, for donating the Conner papers to Baylor University. Kent Keeth, Ellen Brown, William Ming, and Virginia Ming helped me immensely at the Texas Collection at Baylor. I appreciated the assistance given me by Jene Wright at the Waco Public Library. Rowena Keatts, the librarian at Paul Quinn College, deserves my plaudits for having the foresight to preserve copies of the Waco Messenger, a valuable took for historical research about blacks in Waco and McLennan County. The staff members of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Texas State Library in Austin along with those at the Prairie View A and M University Library gave me aid, information, and guidance for which I thank them. Kathy Haigood and Fran Thompson expended time in locating records of the McLennan County School District for me. I certainly appreciated their efforts. Much appreciation also goes to Robert H. demons, the county school superintendent.
    [Show full text]
  • La Construcción Discursiva Del Espectador En Los Reality Shows. El Caso De Gran Hermano Del Pacífico
    FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS Y ARTES DE LA COMUNICACIÓN La construcción discursiva del espectador en los reality shows. El caso de Gran Hermano del Pacífico. Tesis para optar el Título de LICENCIADA EN PUBLICIDAD Presentada por CYNTHIA INGRID CABREJOS CALIENES Lima 2007 INTRODUCCIÓN El presente trabajo de investigación lleva como título: “La construcción discursiva del espectador en los reality shows. El caso de Gran Hermano del Pacífico”. Partiendo de las repercusiones sociales que este formato ha tenido en el plano social e individual, me interesa centrar mi análisis en esta nueva forma de hacer televisión que explota día a día la publicidad de la intimidad y el entretenimiento como recursos válidos para ganar audiencias. Todos sabemos que la televisión ejerce una fuerte influencia en sus televidentes, especialmente en la forma en la que estos se relacionan con su entorno. Sin duda, las imágenes de la televisión de hoy representan a su espectador, en la forma en que este concibe su sociedad y además, en cuáles son sus hábitos de consumo. Por otro lado, tenemos que la forma en la que estos reality shows presentan los objetos que exhiben y cuánto exhiben de ellos, es muestra de su papel por construir a un tipo de espectador ideal. Como un libro que ha sido escrito para un lector que idealmente interpreta y comprende los contenidos de la forma que lo ha concebido el autor, los reality shows establecen marcas enunciativas para atribuirle a su espectador diferentes competencias que finalmente terminen por fidelizarlo y engancharlo al drama. Precisamente la pregunta que esta investigación pretende responder es cómo el discurso de los realities (concentrándose particularmente en el de Gran Hermano) construye a un espectador ideal omnisciente y omnividente.
    [Show full text]
  • Private Schools for Blacks in Early Twentieth Century Richmond, Virginia
    W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2016 Private Schools for Blacks in Early Twentieth Century Richmond, Virginia Sharron Smith College of William and Mary, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Smith, Sharron, "Private Schools for Blacks in Early Twentieth Century Richmond, Virginia" (2016). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1477068460. http://doi.org/10.21220/S2D30T This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Private Schools for Blacks in Early Twentieth Century Richmond, Virginia Sharron Renee Smith Richmond, Virginia Master of Liberal Arts, University of Richmond, 2004 Bachelor of Arts, Mary Baldwin College, 1989 A Thesis presented to the Graduate Faculty of the College of William and Mary in Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of History The College of William and Mary August, 2016 © Copyright by Sharron R. Smith ABSTRACT The Virginia State Constitution of 1869 mandated that public school education be open to both black and white students on a segregated basis. In the city of Richmond, Virginia the public school system indeed offered separate school houses for blacks and whites, but public schools for blacks were conducted in small, overcrowded, poorly equipped and unclean facilities. At the beginning of the twentieth century, public schools for black students in the city of Richmond did not change and would not for many decades.
    [Show full text]
  • National Implications: Historical View of Black School Board Members of the State of Texas Until 1985
    NATIONAL FORUM OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION JOURNAL VOLUME 23, NUMBER 4, 2006 National Implications: Historical View of Black School Board Members of the State of Texas Until 1985 Dr. James E. Ginn Dr. J D Gregory, Jr. Texas Southern University Prairie View A&M University Dr. Henry North Dr. Leola Robinson Scott Texas Southern University Southern University ABSTRACT This study is an examination of the historical, social, economic, and political profile of the state of Texas and their opinions concerning the educational issues of school integration, segregation or desegregation, staff assignment and the overall participation of Black School Board members on their perspective school boards. It indicates an enhanced growth of board members and their concerns of all students comprising the school district. Introduction lacks experienced the horrors of slavery, the war between the states of the United States to preserve the Union and the abolishment of slavery, the Reconstruction BEra, the dismantling of Reconstruction and the introduction of “Jim Crowism”, the dismantling of the “Separate but Equal” doctrine, and the emergence of Blacks into she political arena. The Black electorate, however, experienced appreciable political activity prior to the Reconstruction Era. 1 The advent of the Reconstruction Era facilitated the awareness of the Black freedmen and provided a support system which ensured the inclusion of Blacks in the political process of Texas and other southern states. 2,3 During this period, many Blacks were elected to numerous political positions and held significant positions in the Republican Party. 4 Democrats, on the other hand, made numerous 1 NATIONAL FORUM OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION JOURNAL 2___________________________________________________________________________________ attempts to destroy the Republican Party and the accompanying political influence of Black Texans during Reconstruction and the subsequent years.
    [Show full text]
  • In the Spirit of St. Peter Claver: Social Justice and Black Catholicism in San Antonio
    Verbum Incarnatum: An Academic Journal of Social Justice Volume 8 Essays in Honor of Philip Lampe Article 1 4-29-2021 In the Spirit of St. Peter Claver: Social Justice and Black Catholicism in San Antonio Philip Lampe Ph.D. University of the Incarnate Word, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://athenaeum.uiw.edu/verbumincarnatum Part of the Architecture Commons, Business Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Education Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, History Commons, Law Commons, Life Sciences Commons, Medicine and Health Sciences Commons, Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons, Religion Commons, and the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Lampe, Philip Ph.D. (2021) "In the Spirit of St. Peter Claver: Social Justice and Black Catholicism in San Antonio," Verbum Incarnatum: An Academic Journal of Social Justice: Vol. 8 , Article 1. Available at: https://athenaeum.uiw.edu/verbumincarnatum/vol8/iss1/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by The Athenaeum. It has been accepted for inclusion in Verbum Incarnatum: An Academic Journal of Social Justice by an authorized editor of The Athenaeum. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Lampe: In the Spirit of St. Peter Claver In the Spirit of St. Peter Claver: Social Justice and Black Catholicism in San Antonio Philip E. Lampe University of the Incarnate Word Abstract The editors want to take the space reserved for the abstract to say that this is the final piece of research that Phil Lampe completed before his passing. We publish it here posthumously in tribute to Phil’s tireless work for social justice, as editor of Verbum Incarnatum, as researcher of social- justice efforts in South Texas and Mexico, and as an educator committed to inspiring students to pursue justice in their lives outside the academy.
    [Show full text]
  • Supreme Court of the United States
    No. 14-981 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States ABIGAIL NOEL FISHER, Petitioner, v. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, et al., Respondents. ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES CouRT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRcuIT BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND AND NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS DEsiREÉ C. BOYkiN DAVid E. SCHWARTZ General Counsel Counsel of Record UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND RICHARD W. Kidd 1805 Seventh Street, NW MELINDA M. HIGHTOWER Washington, DC 20001 ASHLY NikkOLE DAVis TATUM JI NICOLE LAZARRE CHRisTINE A. KUVEKE General Counsel Four Times Square NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE New York, New York 10036 120 Wall Street, 8th Floor (212) 735-3000 New York, New York 10005 [email protected] Counsel for Amici Curiae 262430 A (800) 274-3321 • (800) 359-6859 i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................i TABLE OF CITED AUTHORITIES ..............iv INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE ..................1 United Negro College Fund .....................1 National Urban League .........................5 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT .....................5 ARGUMENT....................................9 IT IS NOT IN THE NATION’S INTEREST TO EXPLICITLY OR IMPLICITLY END RACE-CONSCIOUS ADMISSIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION ..........................9 A. THE EFFECTS OF STATE-SPONSORED DISCRIMINATION ARE NOT MERE HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES................9 1. Lingering Effects of Discrimination: Limited Educational Opportunities ......10 2. Lingering Effects of Discrimination: Limited Employment Opportunities .....12 ii Table of Contents Page 3. Lingering Effects of Discrimination: Racially Biased Police and Judicial Practices.............................15 4. Lingering Effects of Discrimination: Police Brutality and Extrajudicial Killings ..............................17 5. Lingering Effects of Discrimination: Violence Against Black Churches ........20 B. THE RAMIFICATIONS OF EXPLICITLY OR IMPLICITLY ELIMINATING RACE-CONSCIOUS DECISION MAKING IN HIGHER EDUCATION ARE SIGNIFICANT .........22 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Killing in the Name of Struggle: Amiri Baraka's Revolutionary Theatre
    KILLING IN THE NAME OF STRUGGLE: AMIRI BARAKA’S REVOLUTIONARY THEATRE DOUGLAS KERN PhD THE UNIVERSITY OF YORK DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE, FILM AND TELEVISION JANUARY 2014 ABSTRACT This study explores representations of murder, killing, and death in the revolutionary drama of Amiri Baraka. After a brief Introduction, Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to Baraka’s birth as an activist and provides background regarding the U.S. racial climate in the 1960s as it relates to his activism. Moreover, it presents Baraka’s Black Arts Repertory Theatre School and how it helped establish the Black Arts Movement. Chapter 2 provides a detailed study of Dutchman, Baraka’s first success, to initiate an analysis of killing and murder within his plays. In addition, it examines The Slave and Slave Ship, which present revolutionary models whereby Black Power is sought, and in the case of Slave Ship achieved through the killing of whites. Chapter 3 offers a detailed look at Baraka’s move towards Third World Marxism. After categorically denouncing Nationalism, Baraka’s public embrace of Marxism in 1974 isolated him from the Black theatre he had helped establish. Case studies examine representations of Capitalist killers in What Was the Relationship of the Lone Ranger to the Means of Production? and Song. Chapter 4 begins with a brief introduction to Baraka’s activism in the early 1990s, along with details of his son’s tragic shooting, and culminates with in-depth analyses of Jack Pot Melting: A Commercial, The Election Machine Warehouse, and General Hag’s Skeezag, all published in the ‘90s and performed together for the Nuyorican Poets Café Theater in 1996.
    [Show full text]
  • African-American Education in Indiana State of Indiana Researcher: John Taylor
    African-American Education in Indiana State of Indiana Researcher: John Taylor African-American Education in Indiana The African-American experience in the United Stated includes a vast array of social, cultural and political injustices during the past four-hundred years. Slavery most famously represents the hardships African-Americans faced, but their plight went beyond the typified southern plantation fields. African Americans endured the rigors of an unequal social system in various forms, such as the absence of suffrage. Indiana never legally installed slavery as an institution, but the state tolerated slave owning, and blacks still suffered from racist attitudes and unfair laws within its boundaries.1 An example of Indiana’s racial bias is this short case study of the state’s educational legislation and school segregation. Since the state’s admission to the union in 1816 to the present day African- American education has been an issue debated in numerous township halls, school board meetings and the Indiana General Assembly. The 1816 Constitution of Indiana stated “as soon as circumstances will permit, to provide by law for a general system of education, ascending in a regular gradation from township schools to a State University, wherein tuition shall be gratis, and equally open to all.”2 In theory, a vast systemized educational system was a much needed program in the budding new state, but little progress materialized. Instead, according to historian Emma Lou Thornbrough, Indiana became one of the most backward states in providing necessary resources for public schools before the Civil War. White children received limited educational opportunities: while colored children were denied antiquate public educational facilities.3 In 1850, once Indiana outgrew the 1816 State Constitution, members of the constitutional convention debated about the needed revisions to the state’s governmental system.
    [Show full text]
  • The Easton Family of Southeast Massachusetts: the Dynamics Surrounding Five Generations of Human Rights Activism 1753--1935
    University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2006 The Easton family of southeast Massachusetts: The dynamics surrounding five generations of human rights activism 1753--1935 George R. Price The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Price, George R., "The Easton family of southeast Massachusetts: The dynamics surrounding five generations of human rights activism 1753--1935" (2006). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 9598. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/9598 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Maureen and Mike MANSFIELD LIBRARY The University of Montana Permission is granted by the author to reproduce this material in its entirety, provided that this material is used for scholarly purposes and is properly cited in published works and reports. **Please check "Yes" or "No" and provide signature** Yes, I grant permission No, I do not grant permission ___________ Author's Signature: Date: 7 — 2 ~ (p ~ O b Any copying for commercial purposes or financial gain may be undertaken only with the author's explicit consent. 8/98 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
    [Show full text]
  • The First Labor History of the College of William and Mary
    1 Integration at Work: The First Labor History of The College of William and Mary Williamsburg has always been a quietly conservative town. Throughout the first half of the twentieth century to the time of the Civil Rights Act, change happened slowly. Opportunities for African American residents had changed little after the Civil War. The black community was largely regulated to separate schools, segregated residential districts, and menial labor and unskilled jobs in town. Even as the town experienced economic success following the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg in the early 1930s, African Americans did not receive a proportional share of that prosperity. As the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation bought up land in the center of town, the displaced community dispersed to racially segregated neighborhoods. Black residents were relegated to the physical and figurative margins of the town. More than ever, there was a social disconnect between the city, the African American community, and Williamsburg institutions including Colonial Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary. As one of the town’s largest employers, the College of William and Mary served both to create and reinforce this divide. While many African Americans found employment at the College, supervisory roles were without exception held by white workers, a trend that continued into the 1970s. While reinforcing notions of servility in its hiring practices, the College generally embodied traditional southern racial boundaries in its admissions policy as well. As in Williamsburg, change at the College was a gradual and halting process. This resistance to change was characteristic of southern ideology of the time, but the gentle paternalism of Virginians in particular shaped the College’s actions.
    [Show full text]
  • Lambs of God: the Untold Story of African American Children Who Desegregated Catholic Schools in New Orleans
    LAMBS OF GOD: THE UNTOLD STORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN WHO DESEGREGATED CATHOLIC SCHOOLS IN NEW ORLEANS by Terri A. Dickerson A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate F acuity of George Mason University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Conflict Analysis and Resolution Chair Program Director Dean, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution Fall Semester 2017 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Lambs of God: The Untold Story of African American Children Who Desegregated Catholic Schools in New Orleans A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University by Terri A. Dickerson Master of Arts Johns Hopkins University, 1997 Bachelor of Science University of Virginia, 1979 Director: Patricia Maulden, Professor School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution Fall Semester 2017 George Mason University Fairfax, VA THIS WORK IS LICENSED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NODERIVS 3.0 UNPORTED LICENSE. ii Dedication For Kevin to whom I casually mentioned that I would like to conduct this research. He encouraged me to do it, and has been with me every step of the way, always willing to let me test my plans and theories against his brilliant mind. Without his love, optimism and support, this work would not have been accomplished. iii Acknowledgements I thank my husband Kevin, who has been my biggest support throughout, along with CJ, James, and Devon, who are always sources of wonderment and pride. Special thanks to George Mason University for granting me the 2016 Provost’s Award as well as the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution for the 2015 James Lauie Award and 2016 Alumni Award.
    [Show full text]