Introduction

The Gregory Swanson Case

The Way It's Always Been

Sarah Patton Boyle and the Saturday Evening Post

The 1960s

Links

Of Interest in Other Sections

Desegregation and the University in the 1950s and 1960s: Introduction

Desegregation at the University of Virginia and its Surrounding Communities

Race relations and civil rights were prominent issues at the University of Virginia in the 1950s. Although located far away from the Civil Rights Struggle taking place in the deep South, Virginia was also forced to deal with the persistent problem of racial inequality when for the first time in the University's history, an African American student was admitted. Thus began the University's struggle between preserving southern traditions and the right for equal opportunities for all men, black and white.

The admission of Gregory Swanson into the University in September of 1950 marked an evident change in the racial status quo at the University of Virginia. Swanson was at first denied admission because of the color of his skin, but after battling through the court system under the legal services of Thurgood Marshall, the Law School finally admitted Swanson. Although the University could no longer deny students admission based on their race, it did not make black students' experiences pleasant. At Swanson's first football game, white students flew Confederate flags in the end-zones and the band played "Dixie." The President of the University and former Governor of Virginia Colgate Darden appeared to many to be hypocritical. On the one hand, Darden publicly stated that he supported the court's decision regarding Swanson and that integration was necessary. However, at other times, especially in his personal correspondences, he would oppose the admission of Swanson, suggesting that it went against southern traditions and "Jeffersonian" ideals.

It is important to note, however, that not all students and professors were opposed to Swanson's admission, and some welcomed the changes occurring around them. One such person was Sarah Patton Boyle, the wife of a professor at the University of Virginia and an author. She wrote an article in the Saturday Evening Post entitled "Southerners Will Like Integration," causing an eruption among desegregationists and white southern conservatives. Letters poured into local newspapers and President Darden's office claiming that Boyle did not speak for all southerners and that she should be ashamed for calling herself a true southerner. Those that opposed her views called her a communist, a northern sympathizer, and a traitor. The Ku Klux Klan even sent her a warning by burning a cross in her front yard. Boyle herself only received a few letters of praise for her article and her heroism for speaking out.

The University of Virginia was not the only hot spot in Charlottesville and surrounding areas involved in desegregation. Prince Edward County schools closed for 6 years in response to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, handed down by the Supreme Court in May 1954. This crucial court case, which ruled segregated public schools unconstitutional, included a case filed against Prince Edward County's segregated school system. Charlottesville and Albemarle County schools also closed in response to the Brown decision as a part of Virginia's Massive Resistance laws passed by the General Assembly. These laws declared the Supreme Court's decision null and void, and they gave power to the state to shut down any school system rather than submitting to integration. Basements of houses, churches, and even segregated private schools were used for schooling white children. Using either makeshift schools or classrooms outside, blacks children suffered at the hands of the state government. It was not until 1959 that the battle over state versus federal control finally ended when Massive Resistance folded and Charlottesville schools reopened and integrated. Prince Edward County schools remained closed, however, until 1964 when federal courts forced them to reopen and desegregate.

While white people fought to keep the schools segregated, black people continued to fight for freedom and equality. The local black newspaper the Tribune featured outstanding black citizens, focusing on the productive things they were doing in society. The pictures depicted black students and adults who worked for the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and teachers who were trying to change the white stereotypes of black Virginians. The images and stories presented in this newspaper contradicted the views of the white people who were trying to prevent the integration.

In 1959, Colgate Darden was replaced by Edgar Shannon as president of the University. Shannon's term as president marked a more liberal approach with respect to race relations. It was not until the later 1960's, however, that Shannon took a firm stand against racism and supported black students' equal rights. In 1961, the segregated University Theater was boycotted by various students, professors, and local protesters. However, Shannon and other University officials demanded that the University's name not be associated with the protest because it would hurt its reputation as a southern school upholding southern ideals.

The University used the same tactics in March 1963 when Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., the Civil Rights Movement's most well-known leader, spoke before a crowd of close to 1,000 people in Old Cabell Hall. Only one University official attended the speech, and officials made it clear that the University had not sponsered the gathering.

Although University officials were slow to embrace the Civil Rights Movement, the student newspaper The Cavalier Daily covered King's speech in the paper with a picture, took a more balanced approach with respect to race in its stories, also publishing letters to the editor dealing with racial issues. There appears to have been a conscious policy to include diverse perspectives. The editorial page, however, maintained a traditional southern posture on matters of race.

As images of the movement appeared daily in newspapers and on television, national Civil Rights organizations such as the NAACP, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and the Council on Human Relations began to play a larger role in local protests and activities. The Jefferson Chapter of the Council on Human Relations and the NAACP sponsored Civil Rights activists like Dr. King and James Farmer to speak in Charlottesville. They also sponsored the Sympathy for Selma march and planned boycotts at local restaurants. One in particular sparked a lot of attention when it became violent and gave locals a glimpse into the tough resistance that those involved in the Freedom Rides and Sit-ins were facing in the lower South. University Professor Paul Gaston was involved with the protest at Buddy's Restaurant on Emmett Street, and was beaten at the hands of local racists and segregationists. This proved that the Civil Rights Movement was not only happening in Mississippi and Alabama, but all over the south.

The passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 gave legal sanction to integration. Finally, public places could no longer turn their backs on African Americans and were forced to integrate. These events also marked a turning point at the University because Shannon and other officials now could adhere to national laws of non-discrimination; however, there still remained a great deal of tokenism at the University of Virginia. It was not until the mid-1960's, a full 15 years after the admission of the first black student, that an African American belonged to an extracurricular organization. No African American athletes played at the University, and athletic recruiters approached very few black prospective students. Although the University claimed to not discriminate on the basis of race in its admissions policies, the ratio of black to white students remained extremely low.

Allison Vick and Vanessa May