Resources for Teaching Virginia Government. INSTITUTION Charlottesville City Schools, Va.; Virginia Univ., Charlottesville

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Resources for Teaching Virginia Government. INSTITUTION Charlottesville City Schools, Va.; Virginia Univ., Charlottesville DOCUMENT RESUME ED 294 788 SO 018 773 AUTHOR Snook, Helen B. TITLE Resources for Teaching Virginia Government. INSTITUTION Charlottesville City Schools, Va.; Virginia Univ., Charlottesville. Inst. of Government. SPONS AGENCY Department of Education, Washington, DC. PUB DATE Oct 86 NOTE 515p. AVAILABLE FROMCenter for Public Service, Institute of Government, 207 Minor Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903 ($16.00). PUB TYPE Guides - Classroom Use Guides (For Teachers) (052) EDRS PRICE MF02 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Class Activities; *Government (Administrative Body); Grade 12; High Schools; *Instruction; Instructional Materials; *Local Government; *Resource Materials; Secondary Education; Social Studies; *State Government; Teaching Guides; Units of Study IDENTIFIERS *Virginia ABSTRACT This resource notebook contains information and unit planning ideas for teachers, class activities, and student materials that can be used for teaching a 12th grade course about Virginia state and local governments. Section A features: (1) information about how to use these materials and how to find time to teach about Virginia government; (2) a student survey and materials on student class participation; (3) 28 sources of free or low-cost reference materials; (4) a 138-item bibliography; and (5) research questions and a list of student report topics. Section B contains resources and activities to develop an understanding of Virginia's physical geography, population), and economics, while Section C highlights reapportionment and Virginia's political and economic history. Section D presents information for teaching about politics and elections, ana Section E examines the Virginia legislature through the implementation of a model general assembly. Virginia state and local taxes are considered in Section F; local government powers and structures are explored in Section G, and Section H describes Virginia's water resources. Pictures, maps, tables, charts, and graphs are included. (JHP) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** RESOURCES FOR TEACHING VIRGINIA GOVERNMENT INSTITUTE OF GOVERNMENT MINOR HALL UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22903 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION "PERMISSION TO REP.)DUCE THIS Otf.ce Educaivonal Research and Improvement MATERIAL IN MICROFICHEONLY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER (ERIC) ms document has been reproduced as received IrOm the person or organaation origina Ong It C Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Pomis of view or opiniOnSsiatedInthoSdOcu- TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES ment do not necessamy represent oltmai INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." OERI PosMon or poky BEST COPYAVAILABLE k.; PREFACE In response to a statewide need, the Charlottesville City Schools sought and received a Pilot Study grant from the Office of Innovative Programs of the Department of Education, to develop teacher resource units on Virginia state and local government for use in the 12th grade course, Virginia and United States Government. This notebook, Resources for Teaching Virginia Government, has been created with the cooperation of the Institute of Government at the University of Virginia, under the leadership of Helen B. Snook, Associate in Research at the Institute and former government teacher at Charlottesville High School. A statewide advisory committee guided the design of the materials, which were tested at Charlottesville High School and selected high schools around the Commonwealth. In the first year of the grant (1982-83), three packets were developed which now appear as sections A through E of this notebook. In 1983-84, two additional resource units were developed and evaluated: F - Virginia State & Local Taxes, and G - Local Government in Virginia. The final phase of the Pilot Study is to develop Section H - Virginia's Water Resources, and to assist teachers with the coordination and use of all the materials. This notebook contains information from many sources, unit plan ideas, class activities, and student handouts. It may be used with the textbook, "By the Good People cf Virginia"..Our Commonwealth's Government, written by Paul C. Cline and Daniel B. Fleming, Jr., published in November 1983 by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Videotapes on Virginia government also are being developed under the direction of the Department of Education during 1985-86, to complete the package visualized by the Virginia Studies Committee. A Government Teacher Resource Service is proposed to up-date these materials with replacement pages and periodic newsletters. The Charlottesville City Schools and the Institute of Government hope that the resources in this notebook, and those to be added in the coming years, will enable Virginia government teachers to strengthen the state and local components of their courses. May the overall effort encourage our young people tobecome better informed, and motivate them to be more active participants in the democratic process. Helen B. Snook, Project Director Dr. John A. Eberhart Institute of Government Assistant Superintendent for Instruction University of Virginia Charlottesville City Sch( )1s ZZZ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The materials, ideas, and activities in this notebook would still be scattered all over the state of Virginia, in official publications, newspaper archives, file cabinets, and plan books, or tucked away in the experience of innumerable teachers, were it not for the vision and persistence of a score of individuals and many groups of concerned people. Dr. James A. (Dolph) Norton, Director of the Institute of Government, Universitj of Virginia, commissioned a study of the specific needs of Virginia government teachers that might be met with Institute resources. He made available the office, library, support services, and professional expertise of Institute faculty and researchers. Dr. John A. Eberhart, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, Charlottesville City Schools, saw the potential and quickly became a staunch advocate of the project, offering the support of the Charlottesville Schools and serving as director of the Pilot Study grant that funded part of the cost of developing these materials. Dr. Thomas A. Elliott, James C. Page, and Clyde Haddock (Social Studies Service), and Dr. Mary A. Lowarn (Office of Innovative Projects) of the State Department of Education recognized the interest of the Institute of Government and Charlottesville Schools as an opportunity to develop significant resources for 12th grade teachers and students. Their approval of funds enabled the project to continue and assured the publication of this notebook. The Advisory Committee met many times, contributed ideas, critiques, and corrections, mailed drafts across the state for fieldtesting. and helped to set up inservice and preschool meetings with teachers. Their support and enthusiasm, individually and as a group, helped to assure the usability of the materials in this notebook. Many teachers from Charlottesville, Albemarle, and other areas of Virginia, called and wrote, offered ideas, advice and encouragement at district and state conferences, fieldtested activities, and let it be known that the resources were eagerly awaited. Faculty, researchers, and staff at the Institute of Government gave advice and assistance in the assembling, writing, and publication of this notebook. Dr. Weldon Cooper, Director Emeritus of the Institute of Government, prcvided valuable historical information and perspective. Holly Hoffman Frazier, Western Albemarle history teacher, contributed her artistic skills to the design, cover, maps, and incidental drawings. A fitting reward for all these efforts will be new interest in state and local government for the 12th grade students of Virginia. iv ADVISORY COMMITTEE Resources for Teaching Virginia Government Patricia Bell James C. Page, Supervisor Teacher & Workshop Participant Social Studies Service Waynesboro High School Virginia Department of Education Charles R..Clemmons, Betty R. Pittman (Virginia Studies Committee) Teacher & Workshop Participant Executive High School Internship (Virginia Studies Committee) Program Chair, Social Studies Department Fairfax County Schools Charlottesville High School The Honorable James S. Dillard, II K. Diane Price Virginia House of Delegates Teacher & Workshop Participant (Virginia Studies Committee) Charlottesville High School Resource Teacher Fairfax County Schools The Honorable Mitchell Van Yahres Virginia House of Delegates Dr. John A. Eberhart Charlottesville Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Charlottesville Public Schools Ex Officio Dr. Thomas A. Elliott Dr. Thomas M. Garrou Associate Director (Virginia Studies Committee) Social Studies Service Social Studies Supervision Virginia Department of Education Virginia Beach City Schools Dr. James A. Norton, Director Mary Jo Gies Institute of Government Teacher & Workshop Participant University of Virginia Chair, Social Studies Department Albemarle High School Sandra H. Wiley, Managing Editor University of Virginia News Letter Dr. Jerry R. Moore Department of Curriculum & Instruction Helen B. Snook School of Education Project Director, Resources for University of Virginia Teaching Virginia Government ENDORSEMENTS This project has been endorsed andsupported by the Virginia Consortium of Social Studies
Recommended publications
  • The "Virginian-Pilot" Newspaper's Role in Moderating Norfolk, Virginia's 1958 School Desegregation Crisis
    Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - College of Education & Professional Studies Urban Education (Darden) Winter 1991 The "Virginian-Pilot" Newspaper's Role in Moderating Norfolk, Virginia's 1958 School Desegregation Crisis Alexander Stewart Leidholdt Old Dominion University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/urbanservices_education_etds Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Education Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, and the Race and Ethnicity Commons Recommended Citation Leidholdt, Alexander S.. "The "Virginian-Pilot" Newspaper's Role in Moderating Norfolk, Virginia's 1958 School Desegregation Crisis" (1991). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), dissertation, , Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/tb1v-f795 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/urbanservices_education_etds/119 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Education & Professional Studies (Darden) at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT NEWSPAPER'S ROLE IN MODERATING NORFOLK, VIRGINIA'S 1958 SCHOOL DESEGREGATION CRISIS by Alexander Stewart Leidholdt B.A. May 1978, Virginia Wesleyan College M.S. May 1980, Clarion University Ed.S. December 1984, Indiana University A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion Unversity in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY URBAN SERVICES OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY December, 1991 Approved By: Maurice R. Berube, Dissertation Chair Concentration Area^TFlrector ember Dean of the College of Education Member Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
    [Show full text]
  • Toward a More Democratic Congress?
    TOWARD A MORE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS? OUR IMPERFECT DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION: THE CRITICS EXAMINED STEPHEN MACEDO* INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 609 I. SENATE MALAPPORTIONMENT AND POLITICAL EQUALITY................. 611 II. IN DEFENSE OF THE SENATE................................................................ 618 III. CONSENT AS A DEMOCRATIC VIRTUE ................................................. 620 IV. REDISTRICTING AND THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE REFORM? ................ 620 V. THE PROBLEM OF GRIDLOCK, MINORITY VETOES, AND STATUS- QUO BIAS: UNCLOGGING THE CHANNELS OF POLITICAL CHANGE?.... 622 CONCLUSION................................................................................................... 627 INTRODUCTION There is much to admire in the work of those recent scholars of constitutional reform – including Sanford Levinson, Larry Sabato, and prior to them, Robert Dahl – who propose to reinvigorate our democracy by “correcting” and “revitalizing” our Constitution. They are right to warn that “Constitution worship” should not supplant critical thinking and sober assessment. There is no doubt that our 220-year-old founding charter – itself the product of compromise and consensus, and not only scholarly musing – could be improved upon. Dahl points out that in 1787, “[h]istory had produced no truly relevant models of representative government on the scale the United States had already attained, not to mention the scale it would reach in years to come.”1 Political science has since progressed; as Dahl also observes, none of us “would hire an electrician equipped only with Franklin’s knowledge to do our wiring.”2 But our political plumbing is just as archaic. I, too, have participated in efforts to assess the state of our democracy, and co-authored a work that offers recommendations, some of which overlap with * Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values; Director of the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University.
    [Show full text]
  • A Recount of the Recount: Obenshain V. Herring
    SNUKALS 491.DOC (DO NOT DELETE) 10/31/2014 8:37 AM A RECOUNT OF THE RECOUNT: OBENSHAIN V. HERRING The Honorable Beverly Snukals * Maggie Bowman ** On November 25, 2013, following one of the closest races in Virginia history, the Virginia State Board of Elections (the ―SBE‖) certified Democratic State Senator Mark Herring as the winner of the 2013 race for the office of Attorney General of Virginia by a record few 165 votes, less than one-hundredth of a percent of the votes cast.1 Two days later, Herring‘s opponent, Republican State Senator Mark Obenshain, filed a petition in the Richmond City Circuit Court of Richmond seeking a recount of the election pur- suant to Virginia Code section 24.2-801.2 Within a few short days, each party filed hundreds of pages of pleadings and memoranda. Hearings had to be held and orders had to be endorsed. In a very short time frame, the judges appointed to oversee the recount heard argument and ruled on the many issues presented.3 But ―most judges involved in a recount are interpreting the re- * Judge of the Richmond City Circuit Court. J.D., 1981, University of Richmond School of Law; B.A., 1978, Hollins College. ** J.D., 2013, University of Richmond School of Law; B.S., 2008, Virginia Tech; Law Clerk, 2013–14, Hon. Beverly W. Snukals & Bradley B. Cavedo in the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond. 1. Laura Vozzella & Ben Pershing, Obenshain Concedes Virginia Attorney General’s Race to Herring, WASH. POST (Dec. 18, 2013), http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virgin ia-politics/obenshain-to-concede-virginia-attorney-generals-race-on-wednesday-in-richmon d/2013/12/18/fe85a31c-67e7-11e3-8b5b-a77187b716a3_story.html.
    [Show full text]
  • The Strange Career of Thomas Jefferson Race and Slavery in American Memory, I94J-I99J
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Richmond University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository History Faculty Publications History 1993 The trS ange Career of Thomas Jefferson: Race and Slavery in American Memory Edward L. Ayers University of Richmond, [email protected] Scot A. French Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/history-faculty-publications Part of the Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Ayers, Edward L. and Scot A. French. "The trS ange Career of Thomas Jefferson: Race and Slavery in American Memory." In Jeffersonian Legacies, edited by Peter S. Onuf, 418-456. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1993. This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the History at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CHAPTER I 4 The Strange Career of Thomas Jefferson Race and Slavery in American Memory, I94J-I99J SCOT A. FRENCH AND EDWARD L. AYERS For generations, the memory of Thomas Jefferson has been inseparable from his nation's memory of race and slavery. Just as Jefferson's words are invoked whenever America's ideals of democracy and freedom need an elo­ quent spokesman, so are his actions invoked when critics level charges of white guilt, hypocrisy, and evasion. In the nineteenth century, abolitionists used Jefferson's words as swords; slaveholders used his example as a shield.
    [Show full text]
  • Petitioner, V
    No. 15-___ IN THE Supreme Court of the United States ROBERT F. MCDONNELL, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent. On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI JOHN L. BROWNLEE NOEL J. FRANCISCO JERROLD J. GANZFRIED (Counsel of Record) STEVEN D. GORDON HENRY W. ASBILL TIMOTHY J. TAYLOR YAAKOV M. ROTH HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP CHARLOTTE H. TAYLOR 800 17th Street N.W. JAMES M. BURNHAM Suite 1100 JONES DAY Washington, DC 20006 51 Louisiana Ave. N.W. Washington, DC 20001 (202) 879-3939 [email protected] Counsel for Petitioner i QUESTIONS PRESENTED I. Under the federal bribery statute, Hobbs Act, and honest-services fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. §§ 201, 1346, 1951, it is a felony to agree to take “official action” in exchange for money, campaign contributions, or any other thing of value. The question presented is whether “official action” is limited to exercising actual governmental power, threatening to exercise such power, or pressuring others to exercise such power, and whether the jury must be so instructed; or, if not so limited, whether the Hobbs Act and honest-services fraud statute are unconstitutional. II. In Skilling v. United States, this Court held that juror screening and voir dire are the primary means of guarding a defendant’s right to an impartial jury against the taint of pretrial publicity. 561 U.S. 358, 388-89 (2010). The question presented is whether a trial court must ask potential jurors who admit exposure to pretrial publicity whether they have formed opinions about the defendant’s guilt based on that exposure and allow or conduct sufficient questioning to uncover bias, or whether courts may instead rely on those jurors’ collective expression that they can be fair.
    [Show full text]
  • Virginia Commonwealth University Commencement Program, MCV Campus Virginia Commonwealth University
    Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass VCU Commencement Programs VCU University Archives 1969 Virginia Commonwealth University Commencement Program, MCV Campus Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/vcucommence © Virginia Commonwealth University Downloaded from http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/vcucommence/2 This Program is brought to you for free and open access by the VCU University Archives at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in VCU Commencement Programs by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Commencement Program MEDICAL COLLEGE OF VIRGINIA HEALTH SCIENCES DIVISION OF VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY THE MOSQUE Saturday Afternoon, June Seventh Nineteen Hundred and Sixty-Nine Four O'Clock PROGRAM ORGAN MUSIC GRAY M. BROADDUS ACADEMIC PROCESSION (The audience will rise as the academic procession enters the auditorium and will remain standing until after the invocation.) INVOCATION THE REVEREND DR. GLENN R. PRATI' Director of Religious Activities COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS Dickens Revisited DR. w ARREN w. BRANDT President, f/irginia Commonwealth University CONFERRING DEGREES BENEDICTION THE REVEREND A. PATRICK L. PREST, JUNIOR Chaplain of the College Hospitals RECESSIONAL (Following the benediction, the audience will remain standing whiie the academic procession leaves the auditorium.) VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY BOARD OF VISITORS ANDREW J. BRENT, LL.B. _______ _______ ____ _____ __________ ______ _____ __ Richmond Attorney-at-Law MRS. JAMES B. BULLARD, B.F.A, ______________________________________ Richmond VIRG!NIUS DABNEY, A.B., A.M., D.LITT., LL.D,------------------------Richmond Retired Editor, Richmond Times-Dispatch EPPA HUNTON IV, B.A., LL.B, ____ ____ __ ___ ____ __ ___ ___ __ ___ _____ _____ Richmond Attorney-at-Law C.
    [Show full text]
  • Massive Resistance and the Origins of the Virginia Technical College System
    Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges Volume 22 | Issue 2 Article 6 10-10-2019 Massive Resistance and the Origins of the Virginia Technical College System Richard A. Hodges Ed.D., Thomas Nelson Community College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.vccs.edu/inquiry Part of the Higher Education Commons, History Commons, and the Politics and Social Change Commons Recommended Citation Hodges, R. A. (2019). Massive Resistance and the Origins of the Virginia Technical College System. Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges, 22 (2). Retrieved from https://commons.vccs.edu/inquiry/vol22/iss2/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ VCCS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Inquiry: The ourJ nal of the Virginia Community Colleges by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ VCCS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Hodges: Massive Resistance and the Origins of the VTCS MASSIVE RESISTANCE AND THE ORIGINS OF THE VIRGINIA TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM RICHARD A. HODGES INTRODUCTION In the summer of 1964, Dr. Dana B. Hamel, Director of the Roanoke Technical Institute in Roanoke, Virginia received a phone call that would change the course of Virginia higher education. The call was from Virginia Governor Albertis Harrison requesting Hamel serve as the Director of the soon to be established Department of Technical Education. The department, along with its governing board, would quickly establish a system of technical colleges located regionally throughout Virginia, with the first of those colleges opening their doors for classes in the fall of 1965.
    [Show full text]
  • Douglas Wilder and the Continuing Significance of Race: an Analysis of the 1989 Gubernatorial Election
    Journal of Political Science Volume 23 Number 1 Article 5 November 1995 Douglas Wilder and the Continuing Significance of Race: An Analysis of the 1989 Gubernatorial Election Judson L. Jeffries Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Jeffries, Judson L. (1995) "Douglas Wilder and the Continuing Significance of Race: An Analysis of the 1989 Gubernatorial Election," Journal of Political Science: Vol. 23 : No. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol23/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Politics at CCU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Political Science by an authorized editor of CCU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DOUGLAS WILDER AND THE CONTINUING SIGNIFICANCE OF RACE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE 1989 GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION Judson L. Jeffries, Universityof Southern California In 1989 Virginia elected an African-American to serve as its chief executive officer. Until Douglas Wilder , no African-American had ever been elected governor of any state. In 1872, the African-American lieutenant-go vernor of Louisiana, P .B.S. Pinchback', was elevated to the post of acting governor for 43 days. The operative word here is elevated. Success for African-American candidates running for high profile2 statewide office has been rare. With the exception of Wilder, only Edward Brooke and Carol Mosely Braun have been able to win high profile statewide office ; but even when they succeeded, the results did not reveal extensive white support for these candidates.
    [Show full text]
  • Transportation Where Are We Headed?
    The magazine of the VOL. 49 NO. 9 NOV. 2014 Virginia Municipal League Transportation Where are we headed? Inside: VML Annual Conference photo highlights The magazine of the Virginia Municipal League VOL. 49 NO. 9 NOVEMBER 2014 About the cover Virginia’s future economic success will be tied inextricably to its ability to build a modern transportation network capable of moving more people and more goods efficiently. In this issue, Virginia Town & City takes a look at three evolving aspects of transportation in the state. Departments Discovering Virginia ............... 2 People ......................................... 3 News & Notes ........................... 5 Professional Directory ......... 28 Features Transportation funding: Former governor urges renewed Two steps forward, one step back, investment in aviation but now what? A former Virginia governor responsible for an unprecedented Less than two years ago following a decade of bickering, the state investment in transportation nearly 30 years ago warns General Assembly passed legislation designed to adequately that without a renewed commitment to aviation, Virginia and fund transportation in Virginia for the foreseeable future. the nation will cede a crucial economic advantage to other That bipartisan solution, however, already is showing signs parts of the world. By Gerald L. Baliles of stress. By Neal Menkes Page 15 Page 9 Thank-you Roanoke: Transit: The future may be VML Annual Conference riding on it The 2014 Virginia Municipal League Fifty years after passage of the landmark Annual Conference in Roanoke was a Urban Mass Transit Act of 1964, transit success thanks to the efforts of the host is playing a crucial role in building not city and an abundance of informative only vibrant 21st century communities, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors.
    [Show full text]
  • Mary Mason Williams, "The Civil War Centennial and Public Memory In
    Copyright. Mary Mason Williams and the Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia. 2005. This work may not be published, duplicated, or copied for any purpose without permission of the author. It may be cited under academic fair use guidelines. The Civil War Centennial and Public Memory in Virginia Mary Mason Williams University of Virginia May 2005 1 Copyright. Mary Mason Williams and the Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia. 2005. This work may not be published, duplicated, or copied for any purpose without permission of the author. It may be cited under academic fair use guidelines. On December 31, 1961, Harry Monroe, a Richmond area radio host for WRVA, described the tendency to look back on past events during his “Virginia 1961” broadcast: “One of man’s inherent characteristics is a tendency to look back. He embraces this tendency because its alternative is a natural reluctance to look forward. Man, for the most part, would prefer to remember what he has experienced, rather than to open a Pandora’s box of things he has yet to undergo.”1 In the same broadcast, Monroe and his partner Lon Backman described the commemorations and parades that took place on the streets of Richmond that year as part of the state’s official “look back” at the Civil War one hundred years later. The Civil War Centennial took place from 1961-1965 as the nation was beset with both international and domestic struggles, the most immediate of which for Virginians was the Civil Rights Movement, which challenged centuries of white supremacy and institutionalized segregation that had remained the social and cultural status quo since Reconstruction.
    [Show full text]
  • Bill Bolling Contemporary Virginia Politics
    6/29/21 A DISCUSSION OF CONTEM PORARY VIRGINIA POLITICS —FROM BLUE TO RED AND BACK AGAIN” - THE RISE AND FALL OF THE GOP IN VIRGINIA 1 For the first 200 years of Virginia's existence, state politics was dominated by the Democratic Party ◦ From 1791-1970 there were: Decades Of ◦ 50 Democrats who served as Governor (including Democratic-Republicans) Democratic ◦ 9 Republicans who served as Governor Dominance (including Federalists and Whigs) ◦ During this same period: ◦ 35 Democrats represented Virginia in the United States Senate ◦ 3 Republicans represented Virginia in the United States Senate 2 1 6/29/21 ◦ Likewise, this first Republican majority in the Virginia General Democratic Assembly did not occur until Dominance – 1998. General ◦ Democrats had controlled the Assembly General Assembly every year before that time. 3 ◦ These were not your “modern” Democrats ◦ They were a very conservative group of Democrats in the southern tradition What Was A ◦ A great deal of their focus was on fiscal Democrat? conservativism – Pay As You Go ◦ They were also the ones who advocated for Jim Crow and Massive resistance up until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of in 1965 4 2 6/29/21 Byrd Democrats ◦ These were the followers of Senator Harry F. Byrd, a former Virginia Governor and U.S. Senator ◦ Senator Byrd’s “Byrd Machine” dominated and controlled Virginia politics for this entire period 5 ◦ Virginia didn‘t really become a competitive two-party state until Ơͥ ͣ ǝ, and the first real From Blue To competition emerged at the statewide level Red œ
    [Show full text]
  • Virginia's Massive Folly
    Undergraduate Research Journal at UCCS Volume 2.1, Spring 2009 Virginia’s “Massive Folly”: Harry Byrd, Prince Edward County, and the Front Line Laura Grant Dept. of History, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Abstract This paper examines the closure of public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia from 1959- 1964 in an effort to avoid desegregation. Specifically, the paper traces the roots of the political actions which led to the closure and then-Governor Harry Byrd's role in Virginia's political machine at the time. The paper argues that it was Byrd's influence which led to the conditions that not only made the closure possible in Virginia, but encouraged the white citizens of Prince Edward County to make their stand. In September, 1959, the public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia closed their doors to all students. While most white students were educated in makeshift private schools, the doors of public education remained closed until the Supreme Court ordered the schools to reopen in 1964. This drastic episode in Virginia’s history was a response to the public school integration mandated by the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. Prince Edward County was not the only district in Virginia to take this action; it was merely the most extreme case of resistance after state laws banning integration were struck down as unconstitutional. Schools all over the state closed, most only temporarily, and the white community rallied to offer white students assistance to attend segregated private schools rather than face integration in a movement termed “Massive Resistance.” While this “Brown backlash” occurred all over the South, it was most prevalent in the Deep South.
    [Show full text]