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Brown v. Board of Education overrules Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of 1896
Linda Brown and her family of Topeka, Kansas sued the Board of Education in her district in response to the fourteenth amendment. The Browns claimed that the facilities were separate but inherently not equal. This case made it to the supreme court of the United States where the family one and overturned Plessey vs. Fergusson that separate but equal facilities were unconstitutional. -
US Senator Harry Byrd, who controlled Virginia politics, vows to stop integration in Virginia schools
Harry Byrd had been involved in politics his whole life. He was a governor of Virginia as well as a U.S. Senator, which in turn made him very powerful. When Brown v Board of Ed overturned Plessey v Ferguson, Byrd decided to find a way to push back on this amendment. He backed a petition called “The Southern Manifesto” which was signed by many powerful officeholders of the south. A movement called Massive Resistance was coined due to a set of laws Byrd backed which were against integration and wa -
The US Supreme Court places responsibility of implementation of Brown v. Board of Education with district courts
After Brown v Board of Education, the Supreme Court was very skeptical about the reactions from the southern states. They knew by forcing its implementation immediately would have been disastrous. The way they decided to proceed was to put the power in the states’ hands to get the ball rolling on integration by submitting plans for how the states would proceed. -
Virginians vote to adopt the Gray Plan Amendment,which would allow grants to students for private schooling to avoid desegregation
Senator Garland Gray was on the Commission for Public Education in Virginia and he devised a plan to help prevent integration of Virginia schools. This plan gave the school districts permission to assign students to specific schools based on the population of white or blacks. It also allowed for white students, who lived in divisions that were either integrated or closed due to integration, to receive state grants to attend private schools. It was an attempt to keep desegregation out of Virginia -
General Assembly requires that any public school with both African American and white students be close
The Stanley Plan was enacted by Governor Stanley and supported by Senators Byrd and Gray. It was in response to Brown v Board of Ed because schools were already beginning to integrate and they thought it would have a domino effect on the south. The plan included the closure of schools that had integrated as well as preventing much response or convening of the Virginia chapter of the NAACP. -
No action is taken to desegregate because of pending lawsuits
In response to the new laws enacted by the Stanley Plan many law suits sprung up across the state as well as the south because other states were doing similar things. Three years after the Brown case states were still not desegregated due to lawsuits that had not been settled. -
School Board reviews its options and agrees to allow 17 African Americans to white schools out of the 151 applicants
To try to impose integration, 151 black students applied for admission to high schools that were white only. The school board conducted intense interviews with the applicants and narrowed the selection down to 17 students. These students were given admission to the white high schools. -
The governor orders all schools to integrate
Governor Almond, after his strong battle against desegregation, issues an order to integrate all public schools in Virginia. The effort was to show minimal compliance to the rulings as many schools were not fully or truly integrated in Norfolk still to this day. -
Howard Keys played sports throughout highschool
Howard Keys played many sports throughout highschool, but during his time they were only allowed to play other African American schools. They could not play other teams within the area and had to travel long distances for games. -
Howard Keys wanted to transfer high schools
Keys wanted to transfer to Ferguson High School because his older brother did, but decided to stay and graduate from George Washington Carver High School -
Howard Keys worked for the Driver's Education Program
During his senior year of high school Keys worked for the Driver's Ed program through the school. He recalled this as his first time really working and interacting with white people. -
Howard Keys graduated from George Washington Carver Highschool
Howard Keys graduated from a highschool that was still segregated long after the laws had stated "seperate was not equal". His graduating class was the last graduating class before desegregation happened. -
Howard Keys went to Virginia Tech after graduating highschool
Keys went on to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA after graduating from high school. He recalls being in a class where he was surrounded with almost 300 white people and he was the only African American there. He says that it was different from what he was used to but it was an overall great experience.
