Introduction

The 1960s and Civil Rights in Charlottesville, Virginia

As the decade of the 1960's fell upon the University of Virginia and its surrounding communities, there marked an evident change in the stance of the University regarding civil rights. Not only did the University change its opinions regarding race relations, but also there was a new wave of activism in Charlottesville as local blacks and liberal whites attempted to integrate local theaters and restaurants. The struggle continued between preserving southern traditions and obtaining equality for men, regardless of race.

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, but it was not immediate because at first Shannon followed in Darden's footsteps by adopting the philosophy of caution. It was not until the later 1960's that Shannon took a firmer stand against racism and supported students' rights. In 1961, the University Theater was boycotted by various students, professors, and local protesters because of its segregated policies. A petition circulated around grounds requesting that no one attend the theater until it changed its admission policies regarding race. 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. Despite the fact that King spoke about the movement's beliefs and the need for people to embrace it, only one University official attended the speech, and it was made clear that the gathering was not a University sponsored event.

Although University officials were slow in their liberal approach to the Civil Rights Movement, the student newspaper The Cavalier Daily began to show a great deal of progress compared to the stories they covered in the 1950's. King's speech was covered in the paper with a picture, and the paper attempted to be more balanced with respect to race on the stories that it covered and the letters to the editor that were published. There appears to have been a conscious policy to include diverse perspectives in the Letters to the Editor columns. 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 many Civil Rights activists like Dr. King and James Farmer to come and speak to people in Charlottesville who were interested in playing a larger role in the movement. They also sponsored the Sympathy for Selma march and planned boycotts at local restaurants. One in particular sparked a lot of attention because it became violent and gave locals a glimpse into the tough resistance that those involved in the Freedom Rides and Sit-ins were facing deeper in the 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. There were no African American athletes playing at the University, and very few black people had even been approached about possibly playing for the school. 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.

While it is true that many white students began to be more accepting of the black students, there still remained those ardent southerners who continued to fight for the preservation of the "traditional south." In 1965, Student Council received a request by an organization to become a Contracted Independent Organization that would receive Student Council funds. The organization called itself SPONGE (Society for the Prevention of Negroes Getting Everything), and its desire was "to preserve the aims and traditions of the University." Although the Student Council did deny SPONGE's request, the fact that an organization of this type existed at the University reiterated the notion that the movement for equal rights was far from over.

The University of Virginia experienced a lot of change in the decades of the 1950's and 1960's, especially regarding race relations. The 1960's were especially a time of increased awareness of the need for equality, and it became apparent that the University and Charlottesville could not escape the Civil Rights Movement's force. The integration of local restaurants and public places, the emergence of national Civil Rights organizations, the University's policy of no discrimination were great advances for the University and city. The lessons learned by both liberals and conservatives would prove to be helpful as student activism continued into the 1970's.

Allison Vick