Preserving Black Education Legacy and Influence Through Oral Histories of Southern Segregated Schools

Abstract

Preserving Black education legacy and influence through oral histories of southern segregated schools is the subject of this chapter. The desegregation of America’s public schools was a monumental time in the nation’s history. School integration was a bridge to an equitable education system. Before the 1954 ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, African American people advocated for the educational rights of students of color through local churches, teacher organizations, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. This qualitative case study uses oral history methods grounded in stakeholder stories from a particular disenfranchised school community. Interviews were conducted with 12 alumni and 2 former teachers who were at Lee M. Waid School, Franklin County, Virginia from 1963 to 1970 during the Civil Rights Movement. Analysis of the transcriptions yielded seven findings that align with research outcomes from other all-Black segregated schools. The study’s outcomes demonstrate commonalities of, and differences in, students’ experiences of desegregation. Literature on Black education covers, to some extent, student perspectives during desegregation in addition to supports from the African American community within southern segregated schools. This chapter adds to the scholarship on desegregation as experienced by witnesses, putting the spotlight on the desegregation of schools from the student perspective. The examination of student voices, perspectives, and experiences during desegregation illuminates America’s journey toward an equitable education and struggle with the remnants of segregation that must be addressed to achieve racial equity for students of color. Findings, implications, and recommendations end this work.