Week 50: In Our Own Community

Student applications and correspondence are the largest sections of the Pupil Placement Board records. When Mountain View High School was first named as Stonewall Jackson High School in 1959, the established tradition for placement of students was that all African American students attended the county's African American primary schools or traveled outside of Shenandoah County for secondary school. Meanwhile, white students were unquestioningly placed into all other county schools, which served the white race (Shenandoah County School Board Minutes, 23 May 1958), based on the town where they lived and according to grade level.

In October 1962, S.W. Tucker and H.L. Marsh of Richmond, VA, and O.L. Tucker of Alexandria, VA, issued a lawsuit against Shenandoah County Public Schools. A letter dated October 11, 1962, from the representative for the Pupil Placement Board shares: "The suit, designed to integrate the public schools of Shenandoah County, is against the County School Board of that county, Mr. Robinson, Division Superintendent, and the Pupil Placement Board" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.). More specifically the lawsuit was against the School Board and the Pupil Placement Board collectively as groups and individually against each member of both boards. Samuel Tucker was a lawyer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, America's largest and oldest civil rights organization, which had formed in New York in 1909 by grassroots efforts to bring awareness to violence and fight discrimination against African Americans. NAACP lawyers filed hundreds of lawsuits over the 1950s and 1960s. One we've already noted was part of Brown v. Board (see Week 46: Brown v. Board); others, led to the integration of school districts across the country and across Virginia, starting with the first school districts to integrate: Arlington County and Norfolk on February 2, 1959. As a side note, one of the five students that integrated Arlington County Public Schools eventually moved to Shenandoah County. His children had no choice but to attend Stonewall Jackson High School. In a county like ours, unless you are willing to draw unnecessary attention to yourself, you follow the status quo and don't challenge decisions. This is why Stonewall Jackson's name wasn't challenged in 1959. Personal conversations with non school board leaders from that time period have resulted in statements such as "many of us felt uncomfortable with the name at the time, but we didn't feel we could do anything about it" (Personal conversation, former Triplett School principal, 2020).

The suit in Shenandoah County was jointly heard with a Frederick County case. "At 10:00 o'clock a.m. this coming Tuesday, October 2, 1962, at the United States District Courtroom in the Post Office Building at Charlottesville, Judge Michie will entertain and hear the motion by NAACP counsel for the immediate admission of one Negro pupil to a white school in Shenandoah County and six Negro pupils, all in the same family, to a white school in Frederick County" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.), states one letter in the Pupil Placement Board records dated September 27, 1962 and addressed to one of the board's members by legal counsel. The suit, Woodson vs. County School Board of Shenandoah et al, was brought "pursuant to Rule 23(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as a class action on behalf of all other Negro children attending public schools in said county and the parents and guardians of such children, similarly situated and affected with reference to the matters here involved" and describes obligations of the school system in section V: 

"8. Notwithstanding the holding and admonitions in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, and 349 U.S. 294, the defendant school board maintains and operates a bi-racial school system in which certain schools (or a certain school) are designated for Negro students only and are staffed by Negro personnel and none other and certain schools (or a certain school) are designated for white students and are staffed by white personnel. This pattern continues unaffected except in the few instances, if any there are, in which individual Negroes have sought and obtained admission to one or more of the schools designated for white students. The defendants have not devoted efforts toward initiating nonsegregation in the public school system, neither have they made a reasonable start to effectuate a transition to a racially nondiscriminatory school system, as under paramount law it is their duty to do. Deliberately and purposefully, and solely because of race, the defendants continue to require all or virtually all Negro public school children to attend schools where none but Negroes are enrolled and none but Negroes are employed as principal or teacher or administrative assistant and to require all white public school children to attend school where no Negroes, or at best few Negroes, are enrolled and where no Negroes teach or serve as principal or administrative assistant.

"9. As matters of routine, every white child entering school for the first time is initially assigned to and placed in a school which is attended by white children; or if otherwise assigned, then, upon request of the parents or guardians, such child is transferred to a school which, being attended exclusively or predominantly by white children, is considered as a school for white children. Upon graduation from elementary school, every white child is routinely assigned to a high school or junior high school located in Shenandoah County and maintained and operated by the defendant school board for the education of white children. Negro children entering school for the first time are initially assigned to a school which none but Negroes attend and upon their graduation from elementary school they are routinely assigned to an all-Negro high school or junior high school which is not located in Shenandoah County and is not under the jurisdiction or control of the defendant school board...

"12. But for the deliberate purpose of the defendants to avoid performance of their duty as hereinabove mentioned in paragraph 8 hereof, plaintiff would have had no need to apply for attendance at Central High School. But for the fact that the defendants intend to maintain the racially segregated pattern of public schools through the routine practices described in paragraph 9 hereof and through the practice of refusing Negro high school students the right to attend schools operated by the defendant school board, the application made on behalf of the infant plaintiff would have been granted...

"VII. 14. The refusal of the defendants to grant the requested assignment, viewed in the light of the refusal of the defendants to bring about the elimination of racial discrimination in the public school system and to make a reasonable start to effectuate a transition to a racially non-discriminatory system, constitutes a deprivation of the liberty of the infant plaintiff as well as all other Negro public school children within said county and a denial of their right to the equal protection of the laws secured by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constituion of the United States, and a denial of rights secured by Title 42, United States Code, Section 1981.

"15. Plaintiffs and those similarly situated and affected are suffering irreparable injury and are threatened with irreparable injury in the future by reason of the policy, practice, custom and usage and the actions of the defendants herein complained of. They have no plain, adequate or complete remedy to redress the wrongs and illegal acts herein complained of other than this complaint for an injunction..." (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

The mother of the plaintiff, who didn't want the attention the case brought, requested for the case to be removed in Shenandoah County; however, it marked the last time an African American high school student would be denied from attending one of the three new all white high schools in Shenandoah County. And it emboldened African American parents to write to the superintendent requesting freedom of choice - which was Virginia General Assembly legislation that put the onus of integration on African American parents to request for their children to attend all-white schools, rather than automatically offering it. Freedom of choice was previously used by three other African American students, who attended Central High School and Strasburg High School during the 1962-63 school year - the year before total integration; and as is reflected in the August 13, 1962 School Board meeting minutes: "the Board discussed different problems that might arise regarding integration in Central and Strasburg High Schools."

In a History of American Education paper entitled, "Integration of Shenandoah County Schools: A Smooth Transition," author Diana Vann writes about the first African American that attended Central High School: "Gwen and I grew up and went to school in the same community during the same time period, but our rural, southern community still followed the 'separate but equal' doctrine. We went to separate elementary schools, even though she lived about two streets down from me. We both went to movies, but she had to sit in the colored section. I never saw her in the town's restaurants because blacks weren't welcome. I swam in the public pool in Woodstock, but I never saw her there. Blacks weren't allowed. I never knew Gwen existed until 1962 when she became the first black student to enter my high school" (1993:3).


Previous to 1963, the presence of an African American elementary school within Shenandoah County, Va, served as enough explanation for any denials of transfer requests for entrance to white elementary schools, even if the child lived closer to the white school - because of this same mentality of unwelcoming separation. Despite this, a March 22, 1962 letter to Hilton by Robinson shows the lack of equal educational facilities at the time: "The Strasburg Elementary School has twenty-three classrooms plus cafeteria, gymnasium, library and other auxiliary features. There are at least three teachers per grade. It is primarily an old building but comfortable and well maintained. The Sunset Hill School is a small frame and cinder block two room school, it is heated by oil stoves, has indoor toilet facilities, but has no facilities for cafeteria purposes. There is a special milk program at this school but no school lunch. The playground is small and the school is difficult to get to by car, however, it is comfortable, clean and well maintained" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.). The primary African American schools had no cafeteria, no gymnasium, no library, and no auxiliary features. 

Parents were tired of the status quo and ready to request change. 

- On February 20, 1963, Mrs K. of Woodstock, Va, handwrote in cursive script the following letter to the Division Superintendent of Shenandoah County Public Schools: "Dear Sir, The reasons why I want my children... transferred from Creekside Elementary School to Woodstock Elementary School is first, the location of the school, for better education, no cafeteria and the distance they have to walk, crossing the track and the high way without protection in all kinds of bad weather. The teachers don't seem to explain the lessons to the children so they can get their home work, they leave the children to work out their own problems. These are my reasons for transfer for 1964 section" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.). In communicating with Executive Secretary Hilton in the Pupil Placement Board office, Shenandoah County Public Schools Superintendent Robinson provided the following extra information regarding the Kaufmans - the letter is recorded here exactly as it is written, including parentheticals: "Enclosed are four applications from negro pupils, requesting transfer from the Creekside Elementary School (negro), Woodstock, Virginia, to the Woodstock Elementary School (white), also in Woodstock, Virginia. 
     "Mrs... K..., the mother of these children, is a native of Woodstock. Following her marriage, she has lived on occasion at least outside Virginia. One of the children, as you will note, was born in New Jersey. Two years ago, however, she returned, apparently to resume permanent residence in Woodstock, and for the past two years her children have attended the Creekside Elementary School. We are not certain as to the origin of her husband or as to her present marital status. Our information is only to the effect that he is employed elsewhere and appears in Woodstock only at rare intervals and then for visits only an hour or so in duration. In other words, the mother seems to be primarily and perhaps solely responsible for the rearing and the education of the children. A letter written by Mrs. K... giving her reasons for requesting these transfers accompanies the applications. If there is any additional data which you may wish concerning these pupils, we shall be glad to provide it.
     "The School Board would like to have these applications processed as soon as it can conveniently be done in order that we may include the Placement Board's assignment in making plans for the 1963-64 school session. Naturally, if additional applications for the transfer of negro pupils to white schools are received, we shall forward them to you promptly" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.). Also enclosed with this letter was a hand-drawn map showing the location of the family's home in relation to the two schools mentioned, along with the following written in the corner: "Home to Creekside #2 - .4 mile," "Home to Creekside #1 - .4 mile," and in red ink "Home to Woodstock Elem - .9 mile" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.). A Bus stop is also marked in red directly across from the family's home on Commerce and Spring Streets. In the same corner of the map as the mileage between the home and the schools, the following is noted in relation to the bus stop: "Presumably these children, if assigned to the Woodstock Elem School, would be picked up at the bus stop indicated about 50 ft. from their door. No bus transportation is provided to the Creekside Schools" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.). It's important to note that in the Pupil Placement Board folders not one white family's house was mapped and not one white family requested or was placed automatically in an African American school. Similarly, the level of covert surveillance against the African American family suggested in the superintendent's letter to Hilton appears to have never been applied toward a white family in our county.

This was the first of many transfer requests by African American families now eager to have equal access to educational facilities in Shenandoah County. A flurry of letters shares their reasons. In a June 4, 1963, letter to Hilton, Robinson shares: "Due to the pressure of time, these letters were prepared in this office on the basis of statements made by the parents as they presented themselves at this office to make application. They were typed immediately, read and approved by the parents, and then, of course, signed by them accordingly" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.), thus the following letters (unless noted otherwise) were typewriter-prepared in the SCPS office:

- May 27, 1963, Mr. B wrote: "My application is based on the fact that the nearest elementary school for negro children in Shenandoah County is at Woodstock, 14 miles away. The Triplett Elementary School, on the other hand, is less than a mile from my home. The Creekside Elementary School at Woodstock, which these children have been attending, is a two teacher school, without lunchroom facilities and operating in two buildings a half-mile apart. Permission for these three children to transfer to Triplett Elementary School will place them in a school in the same town in which I live and work, with lunchroom and modern in every way. I feel that the results will be a greater satisfaction to me as a parent and a much greater opportunity for my children as pupils" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.). Robinson further shares with Hilton in an accompanying letter: "As indicated, the...children have been attending the Creekside Elementary School in Woodstock, a distance of approximately fourteen miles. [They] are one of only two negro families living in the town of Mt. Jackson. The second family living in Mt. Jackson is not now at home. About three weeks ago, however, this family indicated by telephone a desire to apply for the admission of a beginning child to the Triplett Elementary School this fall. We shall be glad to provide any data which you may desire with reference to these applications" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 29, 1963, Mr. & Mrs. V wrote: "We are requesting this transfer, first, because the Creekside school is some 20 miles from New Market, making necessary a round-trip daily of a little more than 40 miles. The New Market School, on the other hand, is less than a mile from my home. In the second place, the Creekside School is a small, two-teacher school, operating in buildings perhaps a half-mile apart and having no lunchroom facilities. The New Market School, on the other hand, is a school of more than 400 students and is modern in every aspect. We feel that if this request for transfer is granted, it will mean a great deal in terms of educational advantages to our children. It will also mean a great deal to us as parents, deeply concerned to give their children every advantage possible" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 30, 1963, Mr. T wrote: "I am also applying for the transfer of two younger children... from the Creekside Elementary School to the Woodstock Elementary School. My reason here is simply that I am convinced that their educational opportunities will be much greater at the Woodstock Elementary School than at Creekside. Creekside, at present, is a two-teacher school, operating in separate buildings approximately a half mile apart and having no lunchroom facilities at all. I understand, further, that next year Creekside may be reduced again to a one-room school, a necessity which must restrict their educational advantages still more. The Woodstock Elementary School, on the other hand, is a modern, well-equipped school, and insofar as I know it, fully equal to any elementary school in this county" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 31, 1963, Mr. & Mrs. D wrote: "The New Market Elementary School is located in the community in which we live and make our home. Creekside, on the other hand, is located 20 miles away at Woodstock, Virginia. The Creekside Elementary School is a small, two-teacher school, operating in buildings a half-mile apart and without a lunchroom and other facilities, while New Market is a school which is modern in every respect. As parents, we shall be much better satisfied to see our children enrolled in a school in our own community. We shall also be gratified to feel that they are receiving the best educational opportunity which we can make available to them" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 31, 1963, Mr. M wrote: "I am the guardian of these two children and have been so for the past eight years. Their parents are away in service. My reasons for this transfer are that I feel that their educational opportunity would be much greater at the Woodstock Elementary School. The Creekside Elementary School, at the present time, is a two-teacher school, operating in separate buildings approximately one-half mile apart and have no lunchroom facilities. The Woodstock Elementary School, on the other hand, is a modern, well equipped school and insofar as I know, fully equal to any elementary school in this county. I desire the best possible education for these children" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 31, 1963, Mr. & Mrs. R wrote: "I make this application for a number of reasons. For one, the Creekside Elementary School is located in Woodstock, a distance of 20 miles from New Market. The New Market Elementary School, on the other hand, is located in the town in which I live and operate my business. It will, of course, be much more satisfactory for my children to attend a school in my own community. For another reason, the Creekside School is at present a two-teacher school, operating in two buildings a half-mile apart and with no lunchroom facilities. Also, I understand that Creekside will very probably be reduced next year to a one-teacher situation. The New Market School, on the other hand, is a school of more than 400 students and is modern in every way. I cannot but feel convinced that my children will enjoy a much greater educational opportunity by their attendance at the New Market School than they could possibly experience by continuing at Creekside. Naturally, as a parent, I am concerned to provide them with the best education available" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- October 1, 1963, Mrs. C wrote: "The Creekside Elementary School is a small one-teacher school... They have no lunchroom facilities and the school is located as far from my home, if not slightly farther, than is the Woodstock Elementary School. Finally, no transportation is provided for children attending the Creekside School. The Woodstock Elementary School, on the other hand, is a large, modern school, with a lunchroom, and my children, if permitted to attend this school, would enjoy bus transportation" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

The same sort of sentiments are true about the high school transfer requests from 1963 that were made to the Division Superintendent of Shenandoah County Schools. The main difference is that parents were claiming their right to freedom of choice and highlighting that the county did not have a high school for African Americans within its jurisdiction - something mandated by law.

- April 16, 1963, Mr. B wrote: "My application is based on the fact that Shenandoah County provides no high school for negro students. My children are now attending the Lucy Simms High School in Harrisonburg, Virginia, a distance of approximately 26 miles. This arrangement involves a round trip daily of some 52 miles, and of course compels them to leave home early in the morning and to return late in the evening. Stonewall Jackson High School, on the other hand, is not more than 4 miles from my home. Permission to transfer will naturally make their education much more convenient and satisfactory. Also, without intending to criticize the Lucy Simms High School in any way, I feel that Stonewall Jackson High School will provide them with a greater opportunity in education. I have not applied for this transfer earlier because I have a daughter, a senior this year at Lucy Simms, who wanted to finish with her class and I thought it better for all three to attend the same high school until she graduated" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).


- May 1, 1963, Mr. M wrote: "I am asking that he be transferred to the Strasburg High School because in Shenandoah County there is no negro high school. Negro students from Strasburg have been transported to Douglas High School in Winchester. This is a distance of about twenty miles. I prefer, of course, that the boy attend a school nearer home. Also, I have a daughter who was enrolled in the Strasburg High School last fall and I have been well pleased with her progress" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 7, 1963, Mr. D. wrote: "My reason for requesting this transfer is, of course, based primarily on the fact that the Lucy Simms High School is located in another county at least eighteen miles from home. Stonewall Jackson High School, on the other hand, is located in the same county in which I live and is not more than four miles away. Shenandoah County, as we know, does not provide within the county a high school for negro pupils" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.). Robinson shared in an accompanying letter to Hilton: "She resides with her parents in New Market, approximately four miles from the Stonewall Jackson High School. Shenandoah County, of course, does not provide a high school for Negro students" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 28, 1963, Rev. W wrote: "I am requesting this transfer primarily because there is no negro high school in Shenandoah County. Students from Strasburg have been transported to Douglas High School in Winchester, a distance of about twenty miles. It will, of course, be much more satisfactory to me as a parent for Bernice to attend a school in the town in which I live. Also, while I make no criticism of the Douglas High School, I have been impressed with the reputation of the Strasburg High School and I feel that her attendance at that school through the remainder of her high school experience will offer her a better and more profitable educational opportunity" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 28, 1963, Mrs. J. wrote: "I am requesting this transfer primarily because there is no negro high school in Shenandoah County. Students from Strasburg have been transported to Douglas High School in Winchester, a distance of about twenty miles. It will, of course, be much more satisfactory to... attend a school in the town in which I live. Also, while I make no criticism of the Douglas High School, I have been impressed with the reputation of the Strasburg High School and I feel that her attendance at that school through her junior and senior years will offer her a better and more profitable educational opportunity" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 29, 1963, Mr. & Mrs. V wrote: "We make this request, of course, primarily because Shenandoah County, the county in which we have lived for many years, provides no high school facilities for negro children. The Lucy Simms High School is about 18 miles from our home. The Stonewall Jackson High School, on the other hand, is scarcely more than three miles away. Moreover, we feel that the Stonewall Jackson High School, which is the school normally attended by high school students from the New Market area, will provide them with an educational opportunity more profitable to them personally and more satisfactory to us as parents" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 29, 1963, Mr. & Mrs. R wrote: "I have made my home and have operated my business in the town of New Market, Shenandoah County, since the close of World War II. Harrisonburg, in which the Lucy Simms School is located, is approximately 18 miles distant. Stonewall Jackson, on the other hand, is about three miles and is the high school which students from the New Market area normally attend. I feel that their enrollment in the Stonewall Jackson High School will afford them many advantages which the Lucy Simms High School cannot. Certainly, their attendance at the school in my own county and so much nearer my home, will constitute a much greater satisfaction to me as a parent" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 29, 1963, Mrs. A. wrote: "I am requesting this transfer primarily because there is no negro high school in Shenandoah County. Students from Strasburg have been transported to Douglas High School in Winchester, a distance of about twenty miles. It will, of course, be much more satisfactory to me as a parent for them to attend a school in the town in which I live. Also, while I make no criticism of the Douglas High School, I have been impressed with the reputation of the Strasburg High School and I feel that their attendance at that school through the remainder of their high school experience will offer them a better and more profitable educational opportunity" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.). 


- May 29, 1963, Mrs. E. C. writes: "I submit this application in view of the fact that my only alternative would be to send my son to the Douglas High School in Winchester, Virginia. This would involve a round trip daily of some 65 miles, and would, of course, take him into a county and a town other than the county and the town in which I live. It will, of course, be much more satisfactory to me for him to attend school in my own community. Also, I feel that the opportunity to get an education at Central High School is the fullest available to me, superior to that which he might have at Douglas High School. It is intended rather to express a sincere feeling that Central High School will in all respects offer him a greater advantage" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 30, 1963, Mr. T (whose letter also included a paragraph shared above regarding two younger children) wrote: "My chief reason, of course, is that Shenandoah County does not provide high school facilities for negro children. Douglas High School is a little more than 30 miles from Woodstock, whereas, Central High School is located in Woodstock itself, the town in which I make my home. I feel too that the educational advantages at Central High School are superior to those offered at Douglas High School... I am, myself, a graduate of the University of Hawaii. I am, therefore, naturally concerned that my children enjoy an educational opportunity at least equal, if not superior, to that which I, myself, enjoyed" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 30, 1963, Mrs. J wrote: "I make this application in view of the fact that Shenandoah County provides no high school for negro children. Students are transported to the Douglas High School at Winchester, a distance of a little more than 30 miles. Central High School, of course, is located here in Woodstock. I shall, of course, be more satisfied to have Richard enrolled in a school in the town and county in which I live. Also, I sincerely believe that he will enjoy greater educational opportunities at Central High School than the Douglas High School provides" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 30, 1963, Mrs. S wrote: "I submit this application in view of the fact that my only alternative would be to send my daughter to the Douglas High School in Winchester, Virginia. This would involve a round trip daily of some 65 miles, and would, of course, take her into a county and a town other than the county and the town in which I live. It will, of course, be much more satisfactory to me for her to attend school in my own community. Also, I feel that the opportunity to get an education at Central High School is the fullest available to me, superior to that which she might have at Douglas High School. This last statement is not intended to be a criticism of Douglas High School. It is intended rather to express a sincere feeling that Central High School will in all respects offer her a greater advantage" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

- May 31, 1963, Mrs. S wrote: "I submit this application in view of the fact that my only alternative would be to send my daughter to the Douglas High School at Winchester, Virginia. This would involve a round trip daily of some 65 miles, and would, of course, take her into a county and a town other than the county and the town in which I live. It will, of course, be much more satisfactory to me for her to attend school in my own community. Also, I feel that the opportunity to get an education at Central High School is the fullest available to me, superior to that which she might have at Douglas High School. This last statement is not intended to be a criticism of Douglas High School. It is intended rather to express a sincere feeling that Central High School will in all respects offer her a greater advantage" (Records of the Virginia Pupil Placement Board, 1957-1966. Accession 26517, State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.).

The 1963-64 school year was one of full integration for Shenandoah County Public Schools and on January 11, 1964, the Board authorized the signing of "the Civil Rights pledge for Shenandoah County."

Woven into the timeline in which African Americans proffered these requests for admission to the county's all white schools are two School Board and school leader decisions that further highlight the subversive ways in which our leaders were promoting a pro-Confederate community identity. First is the fact that Stonewall Jackson High School included Sen. Harry Byrd, Jr - a key proponent in his father's massive resistance to integration in the state of Virginia - as a special guest speaker in the graduation exercises during the first year African Americans graduated from the southern-campus school in 1964 (Jacksonian Heritage 1964).

Second happened in an August 12, 1963 decision by the School Board. "A committee of five appeared before the Board to discuss tentative plans for commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the battle of New Market on May 15, 1964. Upon recommendation by Mr. Robinson, ...a motion...was...passed by the Board that the bands of the three high schools participate in the commemoration program and that the New Market School auditorium be used for the Blue and Gray Ball. It was further recommended that schools in the county be closed on May 15th in order that all students may attend" (Shenandoah County School Board Minutes). So in the first year African Americans were allowed to attend Stonewall Jackson High School, they were required to reverently remember a Confederate victory that local historian John Wayland believed had been remembered in ceremony since 1866, except for "the years 1881 to 1896" (Strasburg News, Volume 44, Number 40, 20 May 1926, p1) and even continues to be remembered today. 

This was under the encouragement of the Civil War Centennial Commission, which the Virginia General Assembly had initiated as a group of seventeen members appointed by the Legislature and Governor, and also an Advisory Council of twenty-one members, who had sent letters to local leaders encouraging festivities, observances, and commemorations to celebrate the American Civil War. The Centennial began with a National Day of Prayer on January 8, 1961 - before integration of Shenandoah County Public Schools. In addition to whatever occasions were initiated by localities (such as the decision to celebrate the May 15th event in our county), Virginia's General Assembly placed a focal point on the 1861 Peace Convention - a collaboration of representatives from 21 states, including Virginia, that had met on February 4, 1861 at Willards' Hotel in Washington, DC, in order to reach a compromise position that would restore the Union and prevent the Civil War. According to Excerpts from the Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia dated January 17, 1861, resolutions adopted by the General Assembly that included the establishment of the Peace Convention "Resolved, that on behalf of the commonwealth of Virginia, an invitation is hereby extended to all such states, whether slaveholding or non-slaveholding, as are willing to unite with Virginia in an earnest effort to adjust the present unhappy controversies, in the spirit in which the constitution was originally formed, and consistently with its principles, so as to afford to the people of the slaveholding states adequate guarantees for the security of their rights" and, as is more clearly explained by the Senate Joint Resolution No. 28, a plan that resembled the unsuccessful Crittenden compromise of 1860, expecting: "The Missouri line to be extended westward; slavery to be protected in territory south of that line; no further territory to be acquired without the consent of a majority of the senators from the slave states; Congress never to have power over slavery in the states, not even by a future constitutional amendment; slaveowners to be compensated when prevented by intimidation from recovering fugitives" (Records of the Virginia Civil War Commission, 1952-1966 (bulk 1958-1965), State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia). The convention failed to pull together divergent views, and as we learned previously, would have been a major alteration to the U.S. Constitution which up to that point did not include the term "slavery" in its language (see Week 45: Rebuilding a Pro-Confederacy South).

A document circulating the highlighted historical background of the Peace Convention also included a section headlined "Why commemorate the Convention?" with the response:

"1. We can learn from this event the importance of humility, for the entire nation shares the blame for the Civil War. We are made aware of the necessity of putting the national interest ahead of party or special interest... We can see how essential in this crisis was the vision, the clarity and the courage which can only come from following rules of right conduct and subordinating the interests of self to larger goals. The tragedies of history are as important as the triumphs in their lessons to future generations.

"2. We have an opportunity to pay tribute to the memory of those men who tried to save the country from disaster and to rededicate ourselves to the continuing fight for unity, high purpose and integrity across the nation.

"3. This is a chance to launch the 1961-1965 Centennial of the American Civil War on a high plane, to set the tone for a four year observance which will have meaning to all our people...."

The National Day of Prayer, mentioned above, held a theme centralized on the idea that "the only answer to the problems of war, hate, greed and division is to put the purpose of God first - ahead of the conflicting wills of men, their parties, special interests and materialistic ends" (Records of the Virginia Civil War Commission, 1952-1966 (bulk 1958-1965), State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia).

On May 20, 1960, Gov. Almond shared the following statement in regard to the Virginia Civil War Commission's plans to local papers: "There were men in every section of the country who believed that war was not the way to settle disagreements and who earnestly sought to find a basis for unity and peace. Unfortunately, much of our history has been written to justify the rightness of one side or the other and the moderates who stood between those who were spoiling for a fight have largely been forgotten" (Records of the Virginia Civil War Commission, 1952-1966 (bulk 1958-1965), State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia). And yet, instead of focusing on the peace and unity, in an address at ceremonies in the State Capitol at Richmond on February 4, 1961, to commemorate the Peace Convention, Gov. Almond concluded with the bombastic, Lost Cause infused statement: "Virginia drew her sword and, under the leadership of the knightliness knight whoever wore the gray; under the military command of the greatest soldier in American history; under the spiritual and moral persuasion of an immaculate Christian gentleman, whose figure we look upon with reverence today in this room, Virginia fought all the way to the bitter end. 
     "Out of that suffering and out of that sorrow and that loss; out of the bereavement in almost every home on her soil, and under the moral leadership of Robert E. Lee, she sought to bind up the wounds and heal the strictures and the ruptures of this great nation; and since and today has been making her contribution for the strength of the nation, for the preservation of the rights of the states, under and through the Constitution of the United States" (Records of the Virginia Civil War Commission, 1952-1966 (bulk 1958-1965), State records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia).

This said in 1960 while African Americans were being denied their full constitutional rights in the United States, in Virginia, and in Shenandoah County. This said a year after our School Board named an all-white school after a Confederate general that fought on behalf of states' rights to enslave African Americans and against his own native country, the United States of America. This said while permeating four years of community celebrations not solely in reference to peacemakers, but to generals and battles that prolonged a road toward true equality and peace in our country.

Toni Morrison, in Remember: The Journey to School Integration, wrote: "This... is about you. Even though the main event in the story took place many years ago, what happened before it and after it is now part of all our lives. Because remembering is the mind's first step toward understanding." Her book walks us along the bittersweet road of America, which she experienced firsthand, "when there was as much hate as there was love; as much anger as there was hope; as many heroes as cowards...." And she reminds us that "the first people to step onto the long path were children and their parents" due to the segregation that separated people by race in all public areas: at drinking fountains, in train stations, on public transportation such as buses, in movie theaters and churches, even the time of day for vaccinations and swimming in public pools, and most definitely in our public school system.

Ultimately, I think we have to ask ourselves, what would the African American parents, advocating for their children to attend these public spaces, say about why they lived in Shenandoah County? What made this their community, too? I am certain such responses would have nothing to do with the Confederacy or with its leaders, who ill-used our ancestors because such leaders were not willing to adapt to lifestyles devoid of states rights to enslave others or states rights to segregate. In a country that does not require passports to enter different states, why in the world do we need different rights for our American citizens in Florida or in Oregon, in Maine or in Virginia? Do we see so many differences among American citizens, do we distrust one another so much, that we cannot all have the same rights? Our Constitution and its amendments are designed to protect our citizens and to enable all our citizens to have the same rights. These are not rights to hate, divide, or control; they are to enable "a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" (Constitution of the United States, 1787). Union. Justice. Tranquility. Common Defence. Welfare. Blessings of Liberty. Posterity. These are words soaked with stains for the Shenandoah County parents, who wrote the above letters; because they (and their ancestors) knew times when such words did not apply to them or to their children. These were our neighbors in Shenandoah County, Virginia. These are our neighbors today. What message do you want to send to them?