In the spring of 1964, Alabamians eagerly watched the Supreme Court as the justices prepared to hear arguments in a case involving school desegregation. The case, Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, emerged out of Virginia and featured one of the school systems in the original Brown v. Board of Education ruling. After the landmark decision rejected “separate but equal” education in 1954, Prince Edward County was ordered to admit black students to previously all-white schools. Yet instead of integrating, the county board refused to approve public school funds. A “foundation” opened private schools for white students, and the county provided tuition grants for white pupils. Between 1959 and 1963, no schools in Prince Edward County served the African American community.
Becoming Alabama:
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