By Helen Hansen
On September 28, WUU Social Justice sponsored a bus trip to the Robert Russa Moton Museum in Farmville. A multi-age group of 45 WUU, All Together, and NAACP folks were fascinated by exhibits in the actual black high school building. Cainan Townsend, our museum guide, enhanced our experience with many personal stories that enhanced our understanding of the inequities of separate but NOT equal. Museum displays and a re-enactment movie depict the courage of Barbara Johns and her classmates who protested the unequal facilities at the segregated school.
Built in 1939 as the “black” school for Prince Edward County, Moton was designed to hold 180 students. By 1951 the student body was over 450. The roof leaked. Tar paper shacks without adequate heating had been constructed as the overflow classrooms. But worst of all, a decrepit school bus stalled on a track had been hit by a train and killed Barbara’s friend. Sixteen-year-old Barbara Johns had to do something. She organized a student strike that lasted two weeks and resulted in the school board firing all the teachers and the principal. Eventually Prince Edward County became one of the five school districts that became part of the 1954 Supreme Court case, “Brown vs Board of Education,” that challenged school segregation.
When the people won “Brown” in 1954, Virginia Senator Harry Byrd convinced Governor Stanley to fight integration. Massive Resistance became law. Rather than integrate, Prince Edward County public schools were shut down for five years from 1959-1964. Some white children attended the Prince Edward Academy, partially paid for with tax money, but black children were left to fend for themselves.
There is so much more to the story….
The Moton Museum is a National Civil Rights Trail exhibit. All of you are encouraged to take the two-hour drive to Farmville to visit this historic place where injustice was challenged. Visit their website motonmuseum.org for information.