Segregation academy

Segregation academies were part of a policy of massive resistance declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr., to unite other white Virginian politicians and leaders in taking action to prevent school desegregation after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954.

In 1956, the Virginia General Assembly passed a series of laws to implement massive resistance. One of these laws created a program of "tuition grants" which could be given to students so they could attend a private school of their choice. In practice, this meant support of all-white schools that appeared as a response to forced integration, and these newly formed schools became known as the "segregation academies."

When faced with an order to integrate, Prince Edward County closed its entire school system in September 1959 rather than integrate. The county kept its entire school system closed until 1964. White students were able to get educated at the Prince Edward Academy, which operated as the de facto school system, enrolling K-12 students at a number of facilities throughout the county. Even after the re-opening of the public schools, the Academy remained segregated, losing its tax-exempt status in 1978.

Other counties, such as Surry County chose to close only their white schools. White students attended the Surry Academy, and blacks continued to attend the public schools.

Other segregation academies that were formed around Virginia included:

• Amelia Academy
• Brunswick Academy
• Huguenot Academy (in Powhatan)
• Isle of Wight Academy
• Southampton Academy
• Tidewater Academy in Sussex County
• Tomahawk Academy (in Chesterfield County)

&York Academy (in King and Queen County.

In 1986, Prince Edward Academy accepted black students. Today it is known as the J.B. Fuqua School. All of the other segregation academies either closed or adopted non-racial discrimination policies. One, Huguenot Academy, merged with Blessed Sacrament, a nearby Catholic High School.

See Also

• the "Southern Manifesto," a document written in 1956 by legislators in the United States Congress opposed to racial integration in public places

External links

• "The Ground Beneath Our Feet" website
• and timeline
• VA Historical Society
• History of busing in Richmond
• Library of Virginia
• "Separate but Not Equal: Race, Education, and Prince Edward County, Virginia - a selected bibliography
• "They Closed Our Schools," the story of Massive Resistance and the closing of the Prince Edward County, Virginia public schools