On this episode of “Active Allyship…it’s more than a #hashtag!” …Sunni and Lisa hear first hand accounts of Norman C. Neverson’s (Sunni’s Uncle) journey from hardship to haven through an educational system, specifically designed to exclude him. Honestly, it feels like you’re eavesdropping as little known facts are revealed, get ready for the big twist!
Here is some information on the Closing of Prince Edward County's Schools from www.virginiahistory.org Our guest, Norman Neverson was one of the children affected.
After Virginia's school-closing law was ruled unconstitutional in January 1959, the General Assembly repealed the compulsory school attendance law and made the operation of public schools a local option for the state's counties and cities. Schools that had been closed in Front Royal, Norfolk, and Charlottesville reopened because citizens there preferred integrated schools to none at all. It was not so in Prince Edward County. Ordered on May 1, 1959, to integrate its schools, the county instead closed its entire public school system.
The Prince Edward Foundation created a series of private schools to educate the county's white children. These schools were supported by tuition grants from the state and tax credits from the county. Prince Edward Academy became the prototype for all-white private schools formed to protest school integration.
No provision was made for educating the county's black children. Some got schooling with relatives in nearby communities or at makeshift schools in church basements. Others were educated out of state by groups such as the Society of Friends. In 1963–64, the Prince Edward Free School picked up some of the slack. But some pupils missed part or all of their education for five years.
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