Preserving Black Education Legacy and Influence Through Oral Histories of Southern Segregated Schools

Abstract

Preserving Black education legacy and influence through oral histories of southern segregated schools is the subject of this chapter. The desegregation of America’s public schools was a monumental time in the nation’s history. School integration was a bridge to an equitable education system. Before the 1954 ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, African American people advocated for the educational rights of students of color through local churches, teacher organizations, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. This qualitative case study uses oral history methods grounded in stakeholder stories from a particular disenfranchised school community. Interviews were conducted with 12 alumni and 2 former teachers who were at Lee M. Waid School, Franklin County, Virginia from 1963 to 1970 during the Civil Rights Movement. Analysis of the transcriptions yielded seven findings that align with research outcomes from other all-Black segregated schools. The study’s outcomes demonstrate commonalities of, and differences in, students’ experiences of desegregation. Literature on Black education covers, to some extent, student perspectives during desegregation in addition to supports from the African American community within southern segregated schools. This chapter adds to the scholarship on desegregation as experienced by witnesses, putting the spotlight on the desegregation of schools from the student perspective. The examination of student voices, perspectives, and experiences during desegregation illuminates America’s journey toward an equitable education and struggle with the remnants of segregation that must be addressed to achieve racial equity for students of color. Findings, implications, and recommendations end this work.

Authors’ Note

The study was approved in May 2020 by Virginia Tech’s Institutional Review Board. Participant quotations were slightly edited for clarification.

Appendices

Interview Protocol

Interviewee:

Position of interviewee:

(Briefly describe the project)

Do you wish to participate? ☐ Yes ☐ No

Do you agree to be audiotaped/videotaped/photographed? ☐ Yes ☐ No

Printed name and signature of person consenting:

• 1. What years did you attend Franklin County Training School/Lee M. Waid School?

• 2. Describe a typical day for you at this school. (Probes: What classes did you take? Were you involved in any extracurricular activities such as athletics or clubs?)

• 3. What other activities took place during or after school? (Probes: Were there dances, proms, assemblies, special activities? Did community or church groups use the school for events?)

• 4. What was your family’s attitude toward education? (Probes: Why did your parents place this value on education? What was their schooling experience? What was their role in the community?)

• 5. Describe your teachers and school administrators. What were their roles and what expectations did they have for your education? What was your relationship like with your teachers in the community outside of school?

• 6. What was the role of the Black community regarding support of this school and the fact that it was an all-Black? Describe how school spirit and pride were displayed.

• 7. What supports did the students at this school have to help them graduate and experience success during the time you attended? What career and educational choices did you make after leaving high school and do you feel attending Lee M. Waid prepared you for those choices?

• 8. You grew up during a time in American history when separate schools for Blacks and Whites were required by law. What were the feelings, attitudes, or opinions your family and you held about segregation? What do you believe was the impact of segregation on your education?

• 9. What do you remember about the desegregation of Franklin County Public Schools and what changes took place at Lee M. Waid School after desegregation?

• 10. After desegregation did you consider transferring to another high school, such as Franklin County High School? Why or why not?

• 11. How do you think your school experience and education at Lee M. Waid compared to the experiences of Black students who decided to transfer to another school like Franklin County High School after desegregation?

• 12. What did you learn about the person Lee M. Waid while attending the school and the legacy he left behind in the Franklin County community?

• 13. Do you know any potential participants from whom I can request an interview and their contact information?

• 14. Is there anything else you would like to share about your experiences attending Lee M. Waid School?

Literature Review Table with Select Entries

Author/Year	Methods/Data Sources	Central Themes	Organizations	Social Movements	Legislative Highlights
Poff (2016)	Qualitative/interviews Newspaper articles Archival documents	Desegregation Massive Resistance Black education Roanoke, Virginia Black student perspective Pupil Placement Board School board minutes/plans for integration	NAACP Freedman’s Bureau	W.E.B. Du Bois on social equality Booker T. Washington’s Industrial education	Alston v. School Board of City of Norfolk, 112 F.2d 992 C.A. 4 (1940). Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia, 103 F. Supp. 337 (D.C. VA 1952). Freeman v. County School Board, 82 F. Supp. 167 (D.C. VA 1948). (Ashley v. School Board of Gloucester County and Smith v. School Board of King George County). Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, 391 U.S. (1968). Green v. School Board of City of Roanoke Virginia, 304 F2d 118 (1962). Green v. School Board of City of Roanoke Virginia, 428 F2d 811 (1970)
Lee (2017)	Qualitative/personal Experience Interviews Resident of Lunenburg County	Process of desegregation in Lunenburg County, VA Educational disparities Massive Resistance Freedom of School Choice Black student perspective Lee was a 1970 graduate, the final year before Lunenburg High was fully integrated. Trend of school consolidation	NAACP Local Church Efforts	Samuel C. Armstrong American Baptist Missionary Society Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute KKK	Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Davis v. County. School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia, 103 F. Supp. 337 (D.C. VA 1952). Civil Rights Act of 1964. Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965. Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, 391 U.S. (1968). Griffin v. School Board of Prince William County. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Heidelberg (2006)	Personal narrative on desegregation Norfolk, VA	The Norfolk 17 Initial school desegregation Hardships Verbal attacks Chapters follow war themes (D-Day marked the beginning of the allied combat offensive).		Racial attacks Physical attacks (Lavera Forbes incident)
Lassiter and Lewis (1998)	Qualitative/newspapers Archived documents Supreme Court Cases	Virginia culture, political disagreements, social and educational priorities Concept of tokenism, “all deliberate speed” of Brown countered with resistance and proponents of gradualism policy. Token segregation White southern response to Brown largely political Massive Resistance caused legislation – closed schools in some areas (e.g., Little Rock, AK) and three Virginia communities (Prince Edward County, etc.). Replacement system of private schools accelerated due to segregationists’ actions. Freedom of Choice Pupil Placement Board	NAACP VCPS SNCC NANN SRC VDOE SLP	Martin Luther King Jr. Jim Crow Laws and inequalities Private School Movement Liberals, moderates, and segregationists	Harrison v. Day James v. Almond Plessy v. Ferguson
Mungo (2013)	Qualitative/Critical Race Theory counternarratives Sampling purposive: interviewees were African American, living in area being studied, and attended school there within a specific timeframe. Members of the Black community (relatives, neighbors, friends, associates, etc.) were solicited through direct contacts. Snowball sampling enabled more participants to be identified. Data-based themes: educational experiences, purpose of education, and attitudes about education	Perceptions and experiences of African American students who attended segregated schools in Edgecombe, North Carolina. Experiences of the 1960s via participants’ counternarratives. Findings: Schools were highly valued social–academic environments. Educational learning was expected by families and communities. Relationships and the community were important. Black teachers wanted to increase racial awareness, pride, and knowledge. They were instrumental and highly regarded in African American communities. Walker (1996) documented impacts of segregated schools on Black communities. Desegregating schools was not the goal of lawsuits in the 1940s and 50s, but rather equal access to resources (Kluger 2004; Mungo 2013). The NAACP pursued equal access by attacking the constitutionality of segregation. African American students experienced anxiety during/after desegregation (Walker 2009). Goal was for better quality facilities and more opportunities. Hope was that resiliency taught by Black educators during Jim Crow Era and community closeness would not be lost. Real integration vs second-class integration (Walker 2009). Some Black students and teachers felt marginalized in desegregated schools. While gaining access to the same physical resources as their White counterparts, many felt the loss of connection with community and experienced a depletion of “cultural capital” resources like resiliency, racial awareness, and pride (Mungo 2013, p. 113)	NAACP	Following the court mandates of Brown I, during the 12-year span of 1968 and 1980, segregated schools in the South declined dramatically, making it the nation’s most desegregated region (Mungo 2013)	Thurgood Marshall and the NACCP believed there was a better chance of deeming segregation unconstitutional with Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) (Bell 2004; Mungo 2013). Brown I ruled that racially separate schools were unequal and unconstitutional, thereby ending decades of de jure segregation (Mungo 2013)
Walker (2000)	Qualitative/surveys, published documents, interviews, books, conference papers. Excludes general work about segregation and desegregation. A review of resources in ERIC and books about schools the researcher encountered. Synthesis of African American literature and research underscoring the importance of segregated schools and their stakeholders who aimed for the best education under restrictive circumstances. Notes methodological limitations of researchers who relied on archives without incorporating oral stories and interviews. Conclusions reached leaned on the observable and easily measured. They “focused on capturing the “unintended consequences” of school segregation, that is, the ways in which African American schools strived to become intellectual institutions, despite the expectation of European Americans that any learning beyond menial employment was unnecessary” (Walker 2000, p. 254)	Stakeholders (principals, teachers, parents, and community members) were essential to the success of segregated schools and having high educational expectations. Connectedness with community. Oral interviews have not always been accepted as historical inquiry (Walker 2000). Until this occurrence, the main source of inquiry was archived documents. Most of these critique inequality, e.g., those from divisions of Negro Education in Georgia and North Carolina		African American students and their parents are often depicted as complacent or appreciative of the opportunities from organizations. The IQs of Black and White students were noted along with measurable differences in school lunch availability and library books or access variables (Walker 2000). Contrary to popular belief, the idea that Black schools were inferior contradicted how African Americans saw their schools. They held them with high regard and valued education at all levels, including college. Communities were a strong support system. Misconceptions about Black school–communities may stem in part from Europeans having had limited exposure to the community itself. The teaching/learning that was valued in segregated schools needs more exploration to become better known. Authors (Anderson 1988, etc.) limited their research when many segregated schools existed
Walker (2009)	Qualitative/archival records of Black professional organizations	Perspectives of Black educators during racial desegregation. Quotes from Dr. Horace Tate and “second class integration.” Recounts his experiences with racism. Black educators’ stories about segregated schools have been excluded from school desegregation narratives: “Where their voices collectively do enter into the story, theirs is a portrait of a lack of participation, fear of job loss, and general antipathy toward the noble cause of acquiring civil rights for all citizens” (Walker 2009, p. 269). Concern for contemporary educators not importing the ideology of educators during de jure segregation in today’s world and racial desegregation anxieties. Educational voices are minimalized or elevated among peers. Black educators financially backed NAACP: “Literature fails to note Black educators’ strong commitment to organizations” in support of an “equitable school integration policy.” Black educators were/are “advocates for education before and after the Brown decision” (Walker 2009, p. 270). Educators today are not well informed about what Black educators experienced during segregation; what they could contribute to modern-day equity needs; and how these accounts could introduce multifaceted understanding. The segregated past is complicated. Black educators advocated for school equality before the Brown decision and after	GTEA HEW NCOSTA NAACP NEA	Horace Tate’s commentary to professional Black organizations about real integration versus “second class integration.” Tate discussed the vision of Brown for equality, not just equality of facilities. Acknowledgment was that segregated schools had much to offer students in a whole child sense (socially/emotionally/spiritually). The end of segregated schools brought job losses for Black educators who advocated for equality of access and opportunities beyond facilities and teacher salaries. The NAACP’s initial focus on inequality in schools was a method for targeting societal inequalities. Black advocates worked through petitions, letters, visits, and litigation. NAACP needed financial support of Southern Black organizations to enhance its school equality campaign. Historical accounts present school strategies that supported equality as NAACP actions. But NAACP considered Black GTEA educators as equal partners (Walker 2009). Black educators tried scoping out what integration might look like, such as by equally distributing students and Black and White teachers/staff in New Kent County. An Inclusive Guide to School Integration GTEA booklet was produced to assist White school boards with integration. In 1962, President Kennedy appointed Francis Keppel Commissioner of Education, advising that race relations and education should be kept apart. But Keppel became involved – the ESEA followed. Harold Howe wanted federal funds distributed without discrimination (and was removed for his ideas)	Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, 391 U.S. (1968)

1. ESEA: Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
2. HEW: Health Education and Welfare (US federal government)
3. GEA: Georgia Education Association
4. GTEA: Georgia Teachers and Education Association (established 1878 for Black educators)
5. KKK: Ku Klux Klan (radical/dangerous White supremacy group)
6. NAACP: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
7. NANN: National Association of Negro Women
8. NCOSTA: National Council of Officers of State Teachers Association (executives of Black teacher professional organizations in the South)
9. NEA: National Education Association (NEA–SLP [NEA Southern Leadership Project])
10. SNCC: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
11. SRN: Southern Regional Council
12. VCPS: Virginia Committee for Public Schools
13. VDOE: Virginia Department of Education