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The "Virginian-Pilot" Newspaper's Role in Moderating Norfolk, Virginia's 1958 School Desegregation Crisis

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The 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. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT NEWSPAPER’S ROLE IN MODERATING NORFOLK, VIRGINIA'S, 1958 SCHOOL DESEGREGATION CRISIS Alexander Stewart Leidholdt Old Dominion University, 1991 Director: Dr. Maurice R. Berube This dissertation explores the critical role played by the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper’s editor, Lenoir Chambers, in moderating public opinion during Norfolk, Virginia's, 1958/1959 public-school closing. In 1958 the nation's attention was focused on Norfolk. In an attempt to stymy judicially mandated integration, Virginia's Governor J. Lindsay Almond, Jr., supported by the powerful political organization of United States senator Harry Flood Byrd, Sr., ordered the city to close its public schools. Norfolk was a major urban area. Over ten thousand students were displaced by the state action; and four months after the closing, three thousand students were still receiving no education. Massive resistance transformed Norfolk into a civil-rights battleground where massive resisters were pitted against pro-school forces and the courts. In February of 1959, Norfolk's schools were reopened and Virginia's policy of massive resistance was broken. Although the process by which the schools were integrated was far from orderly, the transition was characterized by debate, political maneuvering, and judicial action--not violence. The Virginian-Pi1ot served as an important influence in Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. facilitating this peaceful integration. The Pilot, alone among Virginia's major white newspapers, urged compliance with the Supreme Court's mandate in Brown v. Board. Chambers was later awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his four-year editorial campaign opposing massive resistance. Data for this study was drawn from a series of oral-history interviews with key actors in the school closing (including all o the surviving members of the Pilot's editorial and publishing staffs), a wide variety of personal papers and documents, the Virginian-Pilot's editorials and reportage, and a review of secondary sources. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. For my mother and father, Louise C . Leidholdt and Edwin M. Leidholdt, Sr. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to a number of people for their assistance in the development and preparation of this dissertation. Dr. Maurice Berube, a prolific researcher in urban services and educational sociology, worked closely with me for four years, guiding my research and analysis. His contributions have been immeasurable. Robert Mason, Lenoir Chambers's successor as editor of the Virginian-Pilot. was an invaluable source of information. Mr. Mason was kind enough to review my entire manuscript for accuracy. Dr. Peter Stewart, the historian on my committee, provided important insight into Virginia history and massive resistance. Dr. Charles Smith, another committee member, furnished moral support and expertise on communication theory. I also wish to thank my mother, Louise Leidholdt, a skilled editor and proofreader, for her review of my manuscript. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION................’................................. 4 Methodology.................................................. 7 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.................................... 10 Regional Studies........................ 10 State Perspectives................................ 14 The Black View.............................................. 21 Virginia's Resisters........... 22 Local Perspectives......................................... 25 Media Influence on Public Opinion........................ 31 III. MASSIVE RESISTANCE IN VIRGINIA............................. 35 A Historical Perspective .......................... 35 Virginia's Regional ism........................ 49 The City of Norfolk.................................. 52 The Byrd Organization...................................... 58 The Byrd Organization in Norfolk......................... 62 The Resistance.............................................. 66 IV. LENOIR CHAMBERS AND THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT................... 121 The Emergence of an Editor. ............................ 121 Chambers as Editor of the Virginian-Pilot.............. 128 The Virginian-Pi1ot and the Ledger-Dispatch: Opposing Views........... 140 Why Chambers Opposed Massive Resistance................. 143 The Pi 1 ot and the Ledger: Increasing Divergence....... 146 V. NORFOLK'S SCHOOL CLOSING.................................... 160 The First Days of the Closing............................ 168 Advocacy for Reopening the Schools........................ 173 A City Divided....................................... 184 VI. CHAMBERS'S INFLUENCE......................................... 2 28 Conclusions .......................................238 VII. REFERENCES.....................................................2 43 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4 INTRODUCTION This dissertation examines the activities of the Norfolk Virginian-Pi1ot's editorial page editor Lenoir Chambers and the role he and his staff played in influencing public opinion during Virginia's "massive resistance" to public-school integration. This dissertation attempts to fill a historical vacuum with a detailed account of the exemplary journalism practiced by a major southern newspaper at a critical time in our nation's history and the impact of that paper's stance on the resolution of a bitter controversy. This study is of further significance because it examines a pivotal moment in our nation's racial history. The peaceful reopening of Norfolk's public schools portended the collapse of Virginia's massive resistance and considerably advanced the momentum of the civil rights movement on a national level. Journalistic media can have a profound influence on public opinion and policy. Operating in a responsible fashion, the media can influence compromise, moderation, and justice. Irresponsible media can encourage extremism and prejudice. The murder of Carol Stuart in 1989 provides an example of the consequences of irresponsible reporting. Boston's major newspapers, the Globe and the Herald, despite obvious contradictions in the testimony of Stuart's husband, immediately circulated the story that a black man was the perpetrator. The Stuarts were depicted as "starry-eyed lovers out of Camelot cut Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5 down by an urban savage" (Time, 1990, January 22, p. 10). In a city already known for tenuous racial relations, racial tension increased dramatically. Hundreds of black men were questioned by police, and an innocent man was arrested for the murder. Accurate reporting and responsible journalistic policy can have an altogether different effect on public opinion. The press can encourage racial tolerance and moderate behavior. The Virginian-Pilot provided an illustration of the power of the press to facilitate positive race relations. In 1958 the nation’s attention was focused on Virginia. In an attempt to stymy judicially mandated integration, Virginia's Governor J. Lindsay Almond, supported by the powerful political machine of United States senator Harry Flood Byrd, Sr., ordered Norfolk, Charlottesville, and tiny Warren County to
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