Desegregation celebration at JMU

Fifty years ago the US Supreme Court declared that "separate but equal" would no longer be the law of the land.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court. In 1954 the Court announced that school segregation violated the 14th Amendment and did not offer equal protection to students.

Before the decision, the state of Virginia ran segregated schools. The Lucy Simms School was a segregated school in Harrisonburg. Students at the Robert R. Morton High School in Prince Edward County organized a student strike against segregation in 1951. Over 450 students walked out of classes in protest of the conditions of their school.

Parents and students filed a lawsuit, Davis et al. v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, which was grouped with the Brown v. Board of Education lawsuit. Other lawsuits were also included in the trial.

John Stokes, an educator in the Baltimore school system, was one of the leaders involved in the student protest. Stokes will speak at James Madison University on Monday, Feb. 9. He is nationally known as a speaker on the subject of segregation and protests.

The university is also displaying materials regarding the Brown v. Board of Education lawsuit, the Lucy Simms School, and the "Massive Resistance" campaign, Virginia's backlash to the court ruling. The display is located in the main lobby of the Carrier Library.

The Feb. 9 program will also feature Jackie Walker, professor of history at JMU. Walker will provide historical background to the case and segregation. The program will run from 7 - 8:30 p.m. and will be held in Grafton-Stovall Hall at JMU.