RESOURCES
DOCUMENTS
Free School Papers
1963-1967
Between the years 1959 and 1963, there were no public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia. After five long years the County and State allowed Prince Edward’s schools to reopen. Because the black children in the county had no school during this period of time (the white students attended an all white academy) it was thought best to organize a free school which would pave the way for hundreds of young children to return to school after a five year absence.
Ordered by two courts on May 1, 1959, to integrate its schools, the county instead closed its entire public school system.
The Prince Edward County, Virginia (free school) papers are the records of that effort. The papers contain correspondence, reports, photographs and other items, which document this sad period in Virginia History.
June 15, 1964
The signing of the Emancipation Proclamation started the Clock of progress ticking … But a quarter century later, the clock practically stopped. For the next fifty years, the doctrine of “separate but equal” lay like a dead hand on the springs of progress.
— Robert F. Kennedy
Centennial Speech, March 18th 1963