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http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
Ruby Bridges, 1960. Gelatin silver print.
New York World-Telegram and SunCollection,
Prints and Photographs Division(148)
Digital ID # cph 3c26460
The Library of Congress >> Exhibitions Find in Brown v. Board Exhibition PagesBrown v. Board Exhibition Pages
Home | Overview | Racial Segregation | Brown v. Board | Aftermath | Exhibition Checklist | Programs | Read More | Credits
The "deliberate speed" called for in the Supreme Court's Brown
decision was quickly overshadowed by events outside the nation's
courtrooms. In Montgomery, Alabama, a grassroots revolt against
segregated public transportation inspired a multitude of similar
protests and boycotts. A number of school districts in the Southern
and border states desegregated peacefully. Elsewhere, white
resistance to school desegregation resulted in open defiance and
violent confrontations, requiring the use of federal troops in Little
Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. Efforts to end segregation in Southern
colleges were also marred by obstinate refusals to welcome African
Americans into previously all-white student bodies.
By 1964, ten years after Brown, the NAACP's focused legal
campaign had been transformed into a mass movement to
eliminate all traces of institutionalized racism from American life.
This effort, marked by struggle and sacrifice, soon captured the
imagination and sympathies of much of the nation. In many
respects, the ideals expressed in Brown v. Board had inspired the
dream of a society based on justice and racial equality.
Mrs. Rosa Parks being fingerprinted in Montgomery, Alabama, 1956.
Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection,
Mrs. Rosa Parks Fingerprinted in Montgomery, Alabama
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, forty-three,
was arrested for disorderly conducted for
refusing to give up her bus seat to a white
passenger. Her arrest and fourteen dollar fine
for violating city ordinance, led African American
bus riders and others to boycott the
Montgomery city buses. It also helped to
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
Prints and Photographs Division (119)
establish the Montgomery Improvement
Association led by a then unknown young
minister from the Dexter Avenue Baptist
Church, Martin Luther King, Jr. The boycott
lasted for one year and brought the Civil Rights
Movement and Dr. Martin King to the attention
of the world.
Rosa Parks Arrest Record
Rosa Parks was a leader in the Montgomery,
Alabama, bus boycott, which demonstrated
that segregation would be contested in many
social settings. A federal district court decided
that segregation on publicly operated buses
was unconstitutional and concluded that, "in
the Brown case, Plessy v. Ferguson has been
impliedly, though not explicitly, overruled." The
Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the
district court without opinion, a common
procedure it followed in the interim between
1954 and 1958.
Rosa Parks's arrest record,December 5, 1955.
Page 2Frank Johnson Papers,
Manuscript Division (118)
Tom P. Brady. Black Monday
Title pageWinona, Mississippi: Association of
Citizens' Councils, 1955.
Black Monday, 1954
Following the Supreme Court's decision on
Brown v Board of Education, U.S.
Representative John Bell Williams (D-Mississippi)
coined the term "Black Monday" on the floor of
Congress to denote Monday, May 17, 1954, the
date of the Supreme Court's decision. In
opposition to the decision, white citizens'
councils formally organized throughout the
south to preserve segregation and defend
segregated schools. The White Citizens' Council
movement in Mississippi, led by Thomas Pickens
Brady, a circuit court judge, published a
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
General Collections (120)
handbook, Black Monday, in which the
philosophy of the movement is stated, including
its call for the nullification of the NAACP, the
creation of a forty-ninth state for Negroes, and
the abolition of public schools.
University of Alabama Students Protest Desegregation
Autherine Lucy's dream of obtaining a degree in
library science was finally realized when she
officially enrolled at the all-white University of
Alabama in 1956. While the court had granted
her the right to attend the university, the white
population seemed intent on making this
impossible by staging riots. Students, adults
and even groups from outside of Alabama
shouted racial epithets, threw eggs, sticks and
rocks, and generally attempted to block her
way. Protestors, like the group pictured here,
prompted the University to expel Lucy on
February 6, 1956, in order to ensure her
personal safety.
University of Alabama Students burndesegregation literature, 1956.
Gelatin silver print. Prints and Photographs Division (121A)
Thurgood Marshall and Arthur Shores, February 29, 1956. Gelatin silver print.
Visual Materials from the NAACP Records,Prints and Photograph Division (123)
Courtesy of the NAACP
Autherine Lucy's Attorneys
Autherine Lucy, the first African American
student to be admitted to the University of
Alabama in 1956, is shown with her attorneys
Thurgood Marshall and Arthur Shore. The case
went to court in 1953, and a decision to
prohibit the university from rejecting Lucy
based on race was reached in 1955. This
decision was amended days later to apply to all
African American students seeking to enter the
University of Alabama. Lucy enrolled on
February 3, 1956, but was expelled for her own
safety three days later. Marshall and Shores
went back to court but were forced to withdraw
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the case due to lack of support. Lucy's
expulsion was finally overturned in 1988.
Autherine Lucy's Expulsion
A day after Autherine Lucy's expulsion from the
University of Alabama, Roy Wilkins sent this
telegram to U.S. Attorney General Herbert
Brownell requesting the institution of criminal
contempt proceedings against all parties
prohibiting Lucy from attending classes at the
University. The federal government refused to
intercede. Lucy's expulsion was finally
overturned in 1988 by the Board of Regents.
She entered the University in earnest the
following year and graduated in 1992 with a
master's degree in elementary education along
with her daughter, Grazia, who was enrolled as
an undergraduate.
Telegram. NAACP Executive SecretaryRoy Wilkins to Herbert Brownell concerning
the expulsion of Autherine Lucy, February 7, 1956.NAACP Records,
Manuscript Division (121)Courtesy of the NAACP
Clinton, Tennessee, school integration conflict,1956.
Gelatin silver print. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection,
Prints and Photographs Division (125C)Digital ID # ppmsca 03093
School Integration in Clinton, Tennessee
In 1956, Clinton High School in Clinton,
Anderson County, Tennessee, was set to be the
first high school in the South to be integrated
after the Brown decision. Integration was
progressing smoothly until John Kasper, leader
of the White Citizens Council and a staunch
segregationist, came to town. Protests and riots
ensued from that day until early in December,
when several white citizens escorted the African
American students to class, as shown here. One
of the escorts was badly beaten afterwards. As
a result of the episode the school was closed on
December 4, but reopened six days later
without incident.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
A Classroom in Nashville After Integration
While many schools throughout the south were
confronted with protesters attempting to
prevent integration, Miss Mary Brent, principal
of the previously all white Glenn Elementary
School in Nashville greets black and white
students, without incident, on the first day of
school.
Integrated classroom in Nashville, 1957. Gelatin silver print.
New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (125A)
School Dilemma--Youths taunt Dorothy GeraldineCounts in Charlotte, North Carolina, 1957.
Gelatin silver print. Visual Materials from the NAACP Records,
Prints and Photographs Division (125B)Courtesy of the NAACP
School Dilemma
In 1957, fifteen-year-old Dorothy Geraldine
Counts and three other students became the
first African American students to attend the
previously all white Harding High School in
Charlotte, North Carolina. They were greeted by
angry white mobs who screamed obscenities
and racial slurs at the African American
students. Counts's picture appeared in many
newspapers as did others of black students
attempting to attend white schools for the first
time. Counts's family feared for her safety and
withdrew her from Harding and sent her out of
state to complete high school.
Anacostia High School, Washington, D.C.
In the 1950s, Washington, D.C. black schools
were both segregated and inadequate. Many
schools were overcrowded and lacked adequate
educational materials. This photograph shows
the results of the Brown decision with both
black and white students in the same
classroom in 1957. Today Anacostia, like many
of the public high schools in D.C. is attended by
Warren K. Leffler. An integrated classroom at Anacostia High School,
Washington, DC, 1957. Gelatin silver print.
U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection,
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
predominantly African American students. Prints and Photographs Division (201)
Cecil Layne. Little Rock Nine and Daisy Bates pose
in living room, ca. 1957-1960. Gelatin silver print.
Visual Materials from the NAACP Records, Prints and Photographs Division (128)
Courtesy of the NAACP
The Little Rock Nine
Seventeen African American students were
selected to attend the all white Central High
School in 1957 but by opening day the number
had dwindled to nine. Pictured here with Daisy
Bates, a newspaper journalist and active
member in the local NAACP, are nine students,
Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Elizabeth
Eckford, Terrace Roberts, Carlotta Walls, Gloria
Ray, Jefferson Thomas, Melba Pattillo, and
Minnijean Brown. Bates would become the
advisor for the nine students. The day before
school opened, Governor Orval Faubus called
the National Guard to surround Central High,
declaring "blood would run in the streets" if
blacks students attempted to enter.
U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division
On September 24, Little Rock Mayor Woodrow
Mann sent a special request for federal
assistance to President Dwight Eisenhower. The
following day nine African American students
entered Central under the protection of
members of the 101st Airborne Division of the
U. S. Army, shown here. The Little Rock Nine,
as they have become known, finished the school
year in 1958. One of the students, Ernest
Green graduated that year with the help of
federal protection. In September 1958,
Governor Faubus closed all high schools in Little
Rock. They reopened in August 1959 with the
protection of local police. Only four of the nine
U.S. Troops escort African American students fromCentral High School, Little Rock, Arkansas,
October 3, 1957. Gelatin silver print.
New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (130B)
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
students returned.
Charles Mingus. "Fables of Faubus." Holograph music manuscript, ca. 1957.
Charles Mingus Collection, Music Division (131)
"Fables of Faubus" by Charles Mingus, published by the Jazz Workshop, Inc. Courtesy of Sue Mingus.
"Fables of Faubus"
Orval E. Faubus was the governor of Arkansas,
who in 1957 sent out the National Guard to
prevent African-American students from
entering Little Rock's Central High School.
American jazz musician Charles Mingus
responded to the event by composing "Fables of
Faubus," a condemnation of the action.
Unfortunately, Columbia Records prohibited
Mingus and fellow musician, Danny Richmond
from singing the following lyrics:
Name me someone who's ridiculous, Dannie.
Governor Faubus!/
Why is he so sick and ridiculous?
He won't permit integrated schools.
Columbia reconsidered and recorded the piece
in its entirety two years later.
Daisy Bates and The Little Rock Nine
Daisy Bates, publisher of the newspaper The
Arkansas State Press and president of the
Arkansas NAACP Branches, led the NAACP's
campaign to desegregate the public schools in
Little Rock, Arkansas. Thurgood Marshall and
Wiley Branton served as counsel. The school
board agreed to begin the process with Central
High School, approving the admission of nine
black teenagers. The decision outraged many
white citizens including Arkansas Governor
Orval Faubus. President Eisenhower sent federal
troops to Little Rock to ensure the protection of
the nine students, and, on September 25,
1957, they entered the school. In the midst of
the crisis, Daisy Bates wrote this letter to
Daisy Bates to Roy Wilkins on the treatment of the Little Rock Nine,
December 17, 1957. Page 2
Typed letter. NAACP Records. Manuscript Division (127)Courtesy of the NAACP
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NAACP Executive Director Roy Wilkins to report
on the students' progress.
"Segregation's Citadel Unbreached in 4 Years," Washington Observer, Sunday, May 11, 1958.
Enlarged version Newspaper map.
Geography and Map Division (140)Copyright 1958, Washingtonpost.Newsweek
Interactiveand The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.
Segregation's Citadel Unbreached, 1958
At the time of the May 1954 Brown v. Board of
Education,decision seventeen states and the
District of Columbia had laws enforcing school
segregation. By 1958, only seven
states--Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana
--maintained public school segregation.
Ruby Bridges
In 1956 U.S. District Court Judge J. Skelly
Wright ordered the desegregation of the New
Orleans public schools. After a series of appeals,
in 1960, Wright set down a plan that required
the integration of the schools on a
grade-per-year basis, beginning with the first
grade. The School Board issued a test to black
kindergartners to determine the best
candidates. Six-year old Ruby Bridges was one
of six children selected. Four agreed to proceed.
On November 14, Bridges integrated the
William Frantz Public School. In retaliation, white
parents withdrew her classmates and Bridges's
father was fired from his job. Ruby completed
the first grade alone with the support of
Ruby Bridges, 1960. Gelatin silver print.
New York World-Telegram and Sun Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (148)
Digital ID # cph 3c26460
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
Barbara Henry, a Boston teacher, and Dr.
Robert Coles, a child psychiatrist. Ruby's walk to
school the first day, escorted by U.S. Marshals,
inspired the 1964 Norman Rockwell painting,
"The Problem We All Live With."
The Library of Congress does not have permissionto show this image online
School Desegregation Spreads Through South, Associated Press Newsfeatures,
October 16, 1961. Newspaper map.
Geography and Map Division (152)
School Desegregation Spreads Through South
Faced with increasing public and state
legislative support for desegregation, political
leaders in Southern states gradually introduced
desegregation measures. By 1961, only South
Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi still
maintained completely segregated school
systems.
"Meredith Enrolls at Ole Miss "
Riots erupted when James Meredith, armed
with a Supreme Court order and guarded by
federal marshals, enrolled at the University of
Mississippi, known as "Ole Miss," on October 1,
1962. In spite of Governor Ross Barnett's initial
defiance of federal rulings, Meredith prevailed
and graduated from the university in 1963. The
Birmingham News, then an evening newspaper
in Alabama, a state that experienced its own
civil rights woes, reported that day's activities.
Founded in 1888, the newspaper had a daily
circulation of approximately 188,280 at the
time.
The Birmingham News (Birmingham, Alabama),Monday, October 1, 1962.
Enlarged version Newspaper.
Historic Events Newspaper Collection, Serial and Government Publications Division (158)
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Media Images
Norman Rockwell to John A. Morsell, December 3, 1963.
Typed letter.NAACP Records,
Manuscript Division (155)Courtesy of the NAACP
The Library of Congress does not have permissionto show this image online
Look magazine, January 14, 1964.
Centerfold. Prints and Photographs Division (175)
Powerful images appearing in the news media captured the imaginations of ordinary Americans and
helped enlist their sympathies in the cause of civil rights and school integration. In this letter to the
NAACP, renowned illustrator Norman Rockwell offered for the organization's use his painting "The
Problem We All Live With." The painting, which was published in Look magazine, January 14, 1964,
portrayed a young African American girl, escorted by federal marshals, as she made her way
through a hostile environment toward a newly integrated school. The painting was based on the
ordeal of Ruby Bridges in New Orleans, Louisiana.
John A. Morsell, Assistant to NAACP ExecutiveSecretary to President John F. Kennedy requesting
the assistance of the federal government in thecase of James Meredith,
September 21, 1962. Page 2
Typed letter.
Federal Assistance Needed
On September 10, 1962, the Supreme Court
ordered the University of Mississippi to admit
James Meredith, a twenty-eight year old Air
Force Veteran, after a sixteen month legal
battle. Governor Ross Barnett disavowed the
decree and had Meredith physically barred from
enrolling. President Kennedy responded by
federalizing the National Guard and sending
Army troops to protect Meredith. After days of
violence and rioting by whites, Meredith,
escorted by federal marshals, enrolled on
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
NAACP Records, Manuscript Division (156)Courtesy of the NAACP
October 1, 1962. Two men were killed in the
turmoil and more than 300 injured. Because he
had earned credits in the military and at
Jackson State College, Meredith graduated the
following August without incident.
Meredith with Constance B. Motley and Jack Greenberg
On September 28, the Fifth Circuit Court found
Governor Ross Barnett guilty of civil contempt
for defying two earlier orders to admit James
Meredith to the University of Mississippi.
Meredith left the courthouse accompanied by
his attorneys Constance Baker Motley and Jack
Greenberg. Motley received national recognition
for her defense of Meredith. A graduate of
Columbia Law School, she joined the Legal
Defense Fund as a law clerk in 1946 and
became assistant counsel in 1949. She helped
prepare the Brown briefs. Thurgood Marshall
hired Greenberg as an assistant counsel
directly from Columbia Law School in 1949.
Greenberg worked on the Sweatt case and was
co-counsel on the Parker, Brown and Delaware
cases. In 1961, he succeeded Marshall as
Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund ,
serving in that capacity until 1984.
The Library of Congress does not have permissionto show this image online
James Meredith and NAACP lawyers ConstanceBaker Motley and Jack Greenberg, 1962.
Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection,
Prints and Photographs Division (157B)
The Library of Congress does not have permissionto show this image online
Phil Ochs. "The Ballad of Oxford, Mississippi." Broadside 15, (November 1962). New York: 1962.
American Folklife Center (157)
"The Ballad of Oxford, Mississippi"
Phil Ochs, a topical-protest songwriter, played a
central role in the 1960s Greenwich Village folk
scene. "A Ballad of Oxford, Mississippi"
chronicled James Meredith's 1962 enrollment at
the University of Mississippi and was first
published in Broadside magazine. Despite the
magazine's small circulation, it had a strong
impact on the folksong revival. The late 1962
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
issues contained numerous other songs about
James Meredith including, for example, Bob
Dylan's Oxford Town.
Governor George Wallace at the University of Alabama
This image of Governor George Wallace blocking
the entrance to the University of Alabama is one
of the most recognized of all the images from
the civil rights period. On June 11, 1963,
Wallace, surrounded by Alabama state troopers,
confronted and blocked Assistant U.S. Attorney
General Nicholas Katzenbach and the African
American students from entering the
university. President Kennedy had to federalize
the National Guard and send them to the
campus to assist with the integration process.
Wallace did eventually step aside and allow the
students to register.
Warren K. Leffler, photographer. Governor George Wallace attempting to block
integration at the University of Alabama, 1963. Gelatin silver print.
U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (174A)
Digital ID # ppmsca 04294
Warren K. Leffler. Students entering Foster Auditorium to register at
the University of Alabama, June 11, 1963.
Gelatin silver print. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection,
Prints and Photographs Division (174B)
Vivian Malone at the University of Alabama
Vivian Malone and James Hood were the first
two students to integrate the University of
Alabama with the help of the National Guard,
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katzenbach, and
President Kennedy on June 11, 1963.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
Summit Conference on Civil Rights
On the tenth anniversary of the Brown decision
leaders of national organizations for blacks met
in New York City to hold a Summit Conference
on Civil Rights. Present (from left to right) were
Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist; Jack
Greenberg, Director of Counsel of the NAACP
Educational and Legal Defense Fund; Whitney
Young, Jr., Director of the National Urban
League; James Farmer, National Director of
Congress of Racial Equality; Roy Wilkins,
Executive Secretary of NAACP; Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.; John Lewis, Chairman of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee;
and A. Philip Randolph, Chairman of the National
Negro American Labor Council.
Summit Conference on Civil Rights. Gelatin silver print.
New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection. Prints and Photographs Division (204)
The Library of Congress does not have permissionto show this image online
Newport Broadside: Topical Songs at the Newport Folk Festival.
Vanguard, 1964. Album cover.
Motion Picture, Broadcasting andRecorded Sound Division (205)
The Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival quickly became a
showcase for 1960s folk revival artists. One
festival highlight was the afternoon Topical
Songs workshop hosted by Pete Seeger. The
Vanguard Records release of topical songs from
the 1963 festival includes "Fighting for My
Rights" by the Freedom Singers, a group
associated with the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee.
The March on Washington
We Shall Overcome! captures one of the pivotal
moments in the Civil Rights Movement, the
March on Washington held on August 28,
1963. This LP was produced by the Council for
United Civil Rights Leadership and issued by
Folkways Records. It includes part of President
The Library of Congress does not have permissionto show this image online
We Shall Overcome!: Documentary of the Marchon Washington. Folkways, 1964.
Album cover. Motion Picture, Broadcasting and
Recorded Sound Division (209)
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
Kennedy's news conference about the event,
Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and Bayard
Rustin's "Demands on the March,"speech that
asked for civil rights legislation to "include
public accommodations, decent housing,
integrated education, and the right to vote."
Life magazine, September 6, 1963.
Cover. General Collections (217)
Courtesy of Leonard McCombe, Time-Life Pictures, Getty Images.
March on Washington in Life, 1963
African American resistance to enslavement and
multiple forms of social, political, and economic
inequality included slave rebellions, marches,
individual protests, and legislative action in the
courts. The March on Washington, August 28,
1963, was a major expression of resistance in
the continuing strugglefor African American
freedom in the United States. Major organizers
included Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist, A.
Phillip Randolph (Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters), Roy Wilkins (National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People), James
Farmer (Congress of Racial Equality), John Lewis
(Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee),
and Dorothy Height (National Council of Negro
Women).
"We Don't Dig No Busing"
In 1971, the Supreme Court upheld legislation
that caused children of different races to be
transported to white schools for racial balance.
The school districts spent millions of dollars
each year busing minorities to white schools;
however, opponents of forced integration
believed that the transportation funding should
have been used to improve the conditions of
the poor schools.
Shown here is a recording of "We Don't Dig No
Busing," sung by the Greer Brothers ages nine
The Library of Congress does not have permissionto show this image online
Greer Brothers. " We Don't Dig No Busing," (Busing Song).
Houston: Don Music Company, 1973. Record.
Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (176A)
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through fourteen. It was produced in 1973 by
an African American recording studio, the Don
Music company in Houston, Texas.
he Library of Congress does not have permission toshow this image online
Bob Dylan. The Times They Are A-Changin'.
Columbia , 1964. Album cover.
Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded SoundDivision (206)
The Times They Are A-Changin
Bob Dylan's third recording was also his last to
feature topical-protest songs. In compositions
such as "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,"
Dylan described a specific civil rights event to
his growing audience, in this case focusing
upon the judicial system's inadequacies. The
title track and other songs on the record such
as "When the Ship Comes In" articulated a
broad and defiant call for cultural change.
Obstruction and Delays in Virginia
The diehard segregationist campaign of
"massive resistance" took many forms. In
Virginia's Prince Edward County, location of one
of the original school-segregation cases, local
authorities evaded court-ordered integration by
closing the public schools and supporting new,
white-only, private schools. The Supreme Court
reviewed these actions in 1964. This
handwritten draft ruling by Justice William O.
Douglas indicates his frustration with "over a
decade" of delays since Brown: "Afterward
numerous opinions were written by the District
Court and the Court of Appeals but our
mandate in the Brown case has never been
implemented."
William O. Douglas, [May 1964].
Draft per curiam opinion.William O. Douglas Papers, Manuscript Division (203)
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Thomas J. O'Halloran, photographer. Students arriving at the Free School #2 in Farmville,
Prince Edward County, Virginia, 1963. Gelatin silver print.
U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (203A)
"Free school" in Farmville, Virginia
When Prince Edward County closed all of its
schools in 1959 rather than integrate in
accordance with the Supreme Court's decision.
The white citizens in the county formed a
private all white academy where their children
could continue their education. African
American students were not provided public
education until 1963. The Reverend Leslie
Francis Griffin a member of the NAACP and the
chairman of the Moton High School P.T.A.
petitioned President Kennedy for support from
the federal government to prepare the African
American students for re-entering the public
schools. As a result the Prince Edward County
Free School System was created. Shown are
students entering Free School #2.
Tenth Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education
A press conference at the Hotel Americana
celebrates the tenth anniversary of the
landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Four of the five plaintiffs whose class action
cases combined in Brown are pictured
together: Harry Briggs, Jr. (Briggs v Elliot),
Linda Brown Smith (Brown v Board of Education
of Topeka), Spottswood Bolling, Jr. (Bolling v.
Sharpe), and Ethel Louise Belton Brown
(Gebhart v. Belton [Bulah] ).The fifth case was
Dorothy E. Davis v County School Board of
Prince Edward County, Virginia.
Harry Briggs, Jr., Linda Brown Smith, SpottswoodBolling, Jr., and Ethel Louise Belton Brown during
press conference, 1964. Gelatin silver print.
New York World-Telegram and Sun Collection, Prints and Photographs Division (224)
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Save Brown v. Board of Education, 2003. Poster.
Prints and Photographs Division (220)
The New Civil Rights Movement
On April 1, 2003, several thousands gathered
for a new March on Washington sponsored by
The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action,
Integration & Immigrant Rights, and Fight for
Equality By Any Means Necessary. BAMN, the
organization's acronym, were co-defendants in
Grutter v. Bollinger, the case which disputed
the University of Michigan's admissions policy.
They felt many of the gains made by minorities
would be lost if the case did not uphold the
Brown decision. Many of the protesters carried
these signs with the phrase "Save Affirmative
Action" and "Save Brown v. Board of Education."
Warren K. Leffler, photographer. Civil Rights March in Washington, D.C., 1963.
Copyprint. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection,
Prints and Photographs Division (225)
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
Bill Mauldin's Support for Integration
In this drawing, political cartoonist Bill Mauldin
commented on the actions of Little Rock to
establish private schools to circumvent the U.S.
8th Circuit Court of Appeals' November 10,
1958, order to integrate. He used the
dilapidated schoolhouse as a metaphor for the
disintegration of public school systems in the
1950s. Mauldin gained public recognition for his
World War II army cartoons, but when asked
what the most important issue of his career had
been, Mauldin replied, "The one thing that
meant the most to me and that I got involved
in was the whole civil rights thing in the sixties."
Bill Mauldin (1921-2003). "What is done in ourclassrooms today will be reflected in the successes or failures of civilization tomorrow." Lindly C. Baxter,
1958. Ink, crayon, and white out over pencil on layered
paper. Published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
November 11, 1958. Prints and Photographs Division (138)
© Copyright 1958 by Bill Mauldin. Reproduced onlinecourtesy of the Mauldin Estate.
Bill Mauldin (1921-2003).Inch by inch, 1960.
Crayon, ink, blue pencil and white out over pencil onlayered paper.
Published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 1, 1960.
Prints and Photographs Division (145) © Copyright 1960 by Bill Mauldin. Reproduced online
courtesy of the Mauldin Estate.
Difficulty of Achieving Integration, 1960
Despite the legal mandate to integrate, school
districts were slow to accommodate African
American children, as Bill Mauldin
metaphorically shows here with three young
students working hard to open the door of
"School segregation" a mere crack. At its annual
meeting in 1960, the National Education
Association rejected proposals to support the
Supreme Court decision, instead opting for a
watered-down resolution describing integration
as "an evolving process." Because of school
boards' reluctance to follow either the letter or
the spirit of the law, segregation remained in
effect well into the 1960s.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
Slow Pace of Integration
Political cartoonist Herb Block, better known by
his pen name Herblock championed civil rights
throughout his career. Eight years after the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that
racial segregation in public schools was
unconstitutional, in the 1954 case of Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka, he penned this
cartoon expressing his dismay at the country's
slow progress toward educational integration. In
his 1964 book Straight Herblock he wrote, "The
racist demagogues and rulers of state fiefdoms
need not send to know for whom the school bell
tolls. It tolls for them."
Herb Block (1909-2001).I'm eight. I was born on the day of the Supreme
Court decision, May 17, 1962.
Ink, crayon, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing on layered paper.
Published in the Washington Post, May 17, 1962. Prints and Photographs Division (169)
© 1962 by Herblock in The Washington Post
Herb Block (1909-2001). If the government doesn't support
separate-but-equal schools for our children, it'sguilty of discrimination!,
February 12, 1963. Ink, crayon, and opaque white
over graphite underdrawing on layered paper. Published in the Washington Post, February 12,
1963. Prints and Photographs Division (168)
© 1962 by Herblock in The Washington Post
Herblock on Private Schools to Avoid Integration
Commenting on white parents who sent their
children to private school to avoid integration,
Herb Block wrote in Straight Herblock, "I'll get
in there and pitch for any child who is being
denied schooling, whatever his race, color or
religion. But when a public school is open and
parents choose to send their children to a
private school instead, I don't see how those
children are being denied an education or
denied any rights. And it seems ironic indeed
that some people in effect feel discriminated
against for lack of government-supported
separate-but-equal religious schools, when real
victims of discrimination have finally won
recognition of the fact that schools which are
separate are not equal."
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
Supporting Civil Rights
Herb Block applauds the growing activism of the
Civil Rights Movement in this cartoon. He shows
an African American practically pushed into the
street by a white man, while signs on all the
buildings that line the street speak of
restrictions on blacks. Block's cartoon reflects
events of its time. In efforts to compel school
districts to end de facto segregation in the
North and to reduce school overcrowding,
African American parents in Chicago, New York,
New Jersey, and other areas publically
demonstrated. President Kennedy, in a speech
given on August 28, 1963, urged Americans to
"accelerate our effort to achieve equal rights for
all our citizens."
Herb Block (1909-2001). "And remember, nothing can be accomplished by
taking to the streets," September 6, 1963.
Ink, graphite, and opaque white over graphite underdrawing on layered paper.
Published in the Washington Post, September 6, 1963.
Prints and Photographs Division (170)© 1963 by Herblock in The Washington Post
Oliver W. Harrington (1912-1995). Dark laughter. Now I aint so sure I wanna get
educated, 1963. Crayon, ink, blue pencil, and pencil on paper.
Published in the Pittsburgh Courier, September 21, 1963.
Prints and Photographs Division (172)Courtesy of Dr. Helma Harrington
Digital ID # ppmsca-05518
Oliver Harrington's Dark Laughter
This cartoon appeared as President Kennedy
announced integration of 157 city school
districts, not as a milestone, but as progress
"slow step by step." Meanwhile some black
children continued to live in areas without a
public school system as officials attempted to
bypass integration. Oliver Harrington, an
influential African American cartoonist,
published this image during a year of
heightened interracial tension in the United
States, from his home in East Berlin, Germany.
This cartoon appeared in the African American
newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html
First Day of School
Artist Vincent Smith, once described himself as
an "expressionist," someone who experiences
life on his own terms. As an African American
artist, he became aware of social issues early in
his career. An active member of the black arts
movement in the1960s, Smith sometimes
explored these issues in his work. His etching,
First Day of School, shows a large crowd
watching young black children on their way to
school. The scene is reminiscent of attempts to
integrate public schools in some areas
throughout the South after the Brown decision.
Vincent Smith (b. 1930).First Day of School, 1965.Etching (reprint, 1994).
Prints and Photographs Division (178)
Herb Block (1909-2001). " . . . One nation . . . indivisible . . . ,"
February 22, 1977.Ink, graphite, and opaque white, with tonal film
overlay and porous point pen over graphite underdrawing on
paper. Published in the Washington Post,
February 22, 1977. Prints and Photographs Division (182)
© 1977 by Herblock in The Washington Post
Problems of "White Flight"
In this work, Herb Block reminded Americans of
the divisions between public education in the
inner cities and the suburbs, made more
pronounced by "white flight" from urban areas
after the Brown v. Board decision. The U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights reported on
February 15, 1977, that true desegregation
could be achieved in urban areas only if
students were bused between cities and
suburbs. It argued that segregation had
actually increased since 1954. Block strove to
make Americans aware of the need for equality
in education during his career, and bequeathed
money to the United Negro College Fund in his
will.
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