Five cases that was rolled into an umbrella brown case. The reason that Prince Edward was part of the brown v. Board of education decision was a young woman named barbara, a high school junior, lead and walk out to protest the conditions of her school. That walkout attracted the attention of naacp attorneys in richmond, and they agreed to come meet with the Barbara Johns and her fellow students and their parents. But that decision led the naacp to take up the pace case of a lawsuit on behalf of the students and that eventually made all the way to the Supreme Court as part of brown v. Board of education and it was the only student led case out of the five. County leaders of their were so stunned by the decision as were virginia leaders and leaders across the south and the country. But i think Prince Edward county leaders felt particularly embarrassed and particularly nervous that they would be held up as an example and forced to integrate the four before commuters across the nation. They really took measures that other communities didnt see as necessary to prevent them from having to integrate their schools. They began conversations very early about what they would do if theyre put in the position that they would have to desegregate their schools. So within six months of the decision being handed down, the white run newspaper, the farmville herald, was calling for Community Leaders to do anything but desegregate their schools and said if push came to shove that they should shut the schools rather than desegregate them. Right out the gate white leaders in that community were calling for these drastic measures to avoid desegregation. Prince Edward County is located, it is considered the heart of virginia. Thats what they call themselves and their locator about an hour and 15 minutes southwest of richmond. The demographics in the era of the School Walkout in this case were pretty equal. It was pretty much 50 50 blacks and whites. Some people believe that is part of what led to this pushback by white members, white leaders of the community not to desegregate the schools and instead just to close the schools. Theres a belief that because the black population of Prince Edward county was higher than it wasnt other part of the state, perhaps white leaders felt threatened, felt they needed to do more to control blacks. White leaders were pretty upset about the walkout come and i think they were embarrassed. White leaders had refused to provide a better school, a Bigger School for black students and families for so long. They had done these measures like the tarpaper shacks which are just really stopgap measures and were not appropriate. What members of the community. So they were really ready to go when this happened. And so, as they promised them that they did exactly what they suggested they would do. County leaders voted not to fund public education, which essentially shut the schools and so, white readers launched into action, trying to make those pledges become real dollars and setting out to find churches in social halls all over the county where white children could be educated that they would not admit that single day of school. I think black Community Members and leaders were really taken off guard when white readers voted to close the school. They viewed it as a threat. They didnt think anybody would really go through it that. Even after the vote was taken in the naacp attorneys were like the schools are close to hear they are going to do this. There was a real sense this wasnt going to be the reality. That was part of the problem. The other problem was there was no way for anybody to know how long the goals would be close. No one imagined they would be closed more than a year. Even if they could actually even be enclosed. It is hard for anybody to imagine they would be closed for more than a year. Said the schools had been closed for five oldschool years. Families took really different actions during that time. Many, many families were not able to send their kids anywhere during nighttime. Some of the local churches got together and offer Training Centers in the basement and they were schools. They were meant to be schools because there is this idea floated by the Way Community just like theyve done for the white children. Black leaders knew that would work against their cause of desegregation and shut it down quickly. The Training Centers for more a way to keep children engaged. They were not meant to be a full school day top by volunteers. That was an option for some kids. They were so many examples of what people did. Some children were snuck across county lines every day to go to school in an adjacent county. Common data look like they lived there and let drop this kid off behind the house every day on its way to work at the railroad. He instruct the children not to enter the house until they heard the bus coming down to county road. Only then were they to lock through the back of the house, through and up the steps and never were they to tell anyone that they did not live there did not let there be continued their education with that state. When i worked successfully, he invited some of his friends to drop their children off there. Reduce income at 21 kids are getting on the bus there in the bus driver would laugh and say there is no way a lot of them on the same grade. It was clear they werent blood relatives. This was one way some kids got educated. A lot others went to live with relatives elsewhere, particularly the north. It some point, the quakers got involved and offered to match children with families elsewhere in the u. S. Some of the students went to live with white families in ohio. There were really a wide range of games, ways that families dealt with this, but the vast majority of children were not educated. And those who are old enough off and went to work in the fields with their parent, typically picking tobacco because more hand meant more money and a lot of those kids who are old enough to work never returned to school. So the whole time the schools are closed, court cases are making their way through the system. I think lack members of the county community and naacp attorneys had high hopes the Kennedy Administration would quickly resolve this issue. I think the kennedy spoke specifically and i do believe that jfk wanted to be able to be of help to them. But he found once he was in office that he didnt have to go through the court system as well. And so he and the attorney general, robert f. Kennedy for not with a lot of frustration that way. Finally, kennedy told his brother you got to do something about Prince Edward. We have to address it in some way. Robert kennedy appoint an one of his assistant attorney general to come up with solutions. They did come up with a solution for the six year schools were going to be closed. They were going to open a school known and safe preschool i met with foundation money, donations and its going going to be an integrated school with an integrated or that oversaw it and many teachers from new york and around the country offered to come and and to teach. They did teaching styles were they were grouped to ability. Not by age, the rather ability. As they caught up they could move. So this provided a solution for the state here and were able to get county officials to agree to let them use certain Public Health and in order to do this and use some of the Public School systems in acid. Thats what the figure of a flight. While schools the fifth fifth year, a Supreme Court decision was handed down that actually required the school be funded and that is what lad and to finally reopen in 19 before. They had to reopen and be integrated. Go with this white schools still in place, during the fiveyear period, the schools went from being just in Church Basements to a building being built for high schools and plans to have permanent noting for k12. There were very few attend and then they reopen a factory where it had been and its now open as everyones high school. So i grew up in virginia and my family a fall from there. I attended the wake academy which was called Prince Edward academy at the time. And my parents as children, they were rolling up when the School Closed and they are both sent to the Church Basements and rotary clubs and ended up graduating in the academy and moving back and deciding to raise the brothers deciding to send us to the academy, which was still segregated. So i grew up there with the rich history, brown v. Board of education decision, the walkout. The only community in the nation to push back this way but those in schools for five years. And not knowing the story, it is just something that wasnt taught in the private school. My friend that Public Schools that wasnt taught there either. Part of the denial of history. I think a lot of white leaders there feel like theyve said they are sorry, what more can we do. There is a desire to push this history under the rug because it is painful. And i think so many of the black families that i talked with Thomas Doonan really hadnt talked about this with their own sibling, like siblings had never sat down at the table and said what would you do . I remember i was sent here to live with an aunt, but what does yours look like . Different families have different whether they could afford their age. So it was also a story that black families didnt want to talk about. It is still so painful. And so i want people to understand exactly what happened there and the key role it played in american history. But i also want them to understand that it is okay to confront the hidden history, shameful parts of our history and to really grapple with them and if that is something we have to do is the country to be able to move forward