The Long Road from Brown: School Desegregation in Virginia

This workshop unveils the unknown stories of school desegregation in Virginia and throughout the nation after the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education. It highlights the role African Americans played in bringing about Brown, the state’s determined resistance, the processes that led to initial and then token school desegregation, the eventual integration of public education, and the slow decline of school integration in recent decades.

Your Workshop Experience

Here’s what you can expect:

Asynchronously & Synchronously Sessions

Workshops have been divided into asynchronous (recorded) and synchronous (live, via Zoom) sessions, which will allow summer scholars to interact with a variety of well-known historians of school desegregation while at the same time allowing for some flexibility in terms of the weekly schedule. The recorded sessions mark the beginning of most of our days, and the live sessions follow. The live sessions will allow all summer scholars to have the opportunity to ask any questions they may have, as well as allow for interaction between summer scholars and historians, and interaction among summer scholars. Please see the daily schedule of our workshops for more details.

 

Experience Virtual Landmark Tours

Workshops include carefully-prepared virtual tours of each of the national historic landmark sites that we would normally visit in person. These tours have been developed by local experts who are intricately familiar with each site, and the tours are meant to give a sense of each site as well as its historical importance. Each tour has been recorded, which allows summer scholars the opportunity to view it at their leisure, and as many times as they would like. We have also set aside time for our summer scholars to ask questions about each of the landmark sites. 

 

Interact with Leading Historians in the Field

Throughout the week, summer scholars in our 2021 workshops will hear live presentations from leading historians of school desegregation. Scholars will also enjoy the opportunity to interact with these historians and to ask any questions they may have. The historians’ presentations will focus on school desegregation within the state of Virginia, and each presentation will link events in Virginia to the broader processes of school desegregation elsewhere in the United States. 

Speakers

  • Dr. Jody L. Allen

    Assistant Professor, History, College of William & Mary

  • Dr. Derrick P. Alridge

    Professor and Director, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia

  • Dr. Brian Daugherity

    Associate Professor, History, Virginia Commonwealth University

  • Lucious Edwards, Jr.

    Emeritus Archivist of Special Collections and Archives, Johnston Memorial Library, Virginia State University

  • Ms. Lisa Gibson

    High School Social Studies Teacher, Tallwood High School, Virginia Beach

  • Yuki Hibben

    Interim Head of Special Collections and Archives & Curator of Books and A, Virginia Commonwealth University

  • Ann Jimerson

    Co-chair of DOVE, Director of Kids in Birmingham 1963

  • Dr. Lauranett Lee

    Visiting Lecturer, Jepson School of Leadership Studies

    Adjunct Assistant Professor, SPCS, Liberal Arts, the University of Richmond

  • Dr. Jeffrey L. Littlejohn

    Professor of History, Sam Houston State University

  • Dr. Gabriel Reich

    Associate Professor, History/Social Studies Education, Virginia Commonwealth

  • Dr. Larissa Smith

    Professor, History, Longwood University

    Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

  • Danielle Wingfield-Smith

    Visiting Assistant Professor with the Center for Civil

    Human Rights at Gonzaga University School of Law

  • Dr. Yonghee Suh

    Associate Professor, Social Studies/History, Old Dominion

  • Dr. Patricia Sullivan

    Professor of History, University of South Carolina

  • Catherine Fitzgerald Wyatt

    Education and Programs Assistant, Library of Virginia

  • Testimonials

    "This was the most valuable professional development of my 15 year teaching career! It has fundamentally altered the way I will teach the Civil Rights Movement."

  • Testimonials

    "The workshop was enlightening. I had never known about Virginia's fight against desegregation. I enjoyed meeting with the individuals who participated in the fight for desegregation and listening to their first-hand accounts. I look forward to using these resources in future classes."

  • Testimonials

    "Amazing experience! I learned so much and got re-enthused to change my direction in teaching Civil Rights. I can't say enough good things about this experience- well-organized, great sites, great strategies from master teachers, great interaction with directors and speakers."

  • Testimonials

    "This was a tremendous week of professional development that has deepened my understanding of 20th century US History. The week has also forced me to refocus on the purpose of public education, teaching and learning. This seminar was easily the best professional development I have ever done."

  • Testimonials

    "I truly believe that this seminar was the best experience of my teaching and academic career. Hearing from those who experienced these events and reading primary sources from this time period is invaluable. Listening to the experts and fully immersing myself in this content has been amazing to be a part of. While I do not teach Virginia history, I do teach civil rights and plan on using snapshots such as the Davis and Green cases in my own classroom to further develop my students' conceptual timetable of this era."