Date of Award

Summer 2025

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Allison D. Anders

Abstract

This dissertation examines the historical and social dynamics surrounding African American education in Botetourt County, Virginia preceding, during, and following court ordered desegregation. Using historiography, the researcher incorporated archival resources, interviews, and oral histories to examine the African American leadership of the County Wide League and their steadfast commitment to provide equal educational opportunities for African American children in Botetourt County. Set against the history of southern segregation, white school boards, and massive resistance to the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision to desegregate in Brown v. Board of Education, the historiography represents the moderate stance of the County in response to Brown. The researcher explores in detail this parallel narrative of moderate response against the more well-known narrative of massive resistance to school desegregation, spearheaded in the Commonwealth of Virginia by the Byrd Organization.

As early as the 1920s, African American residents in Botetourt County advocated for equitable resources through the leadership of Ms. Lithornia McFarlin Gibbes, Jeanes Supervisor, and their establishment of Botetourt’s County Wide League. This dissertation focuses on their and the moderate positions taken by the County Wide League and Botetourt County Delegate, Senator Stuart B. Carter and fellow moderate, Senator Armistead L. Booth. Senators Carter and Booth led with arguments of compliance with Brown proposing legislation that aligned with Brown while acknowledging white resistance. The County Wide League advocated for the completion of the already planned Central Academy—a segregated, consolidated school for African American students—that opened in 1959.

Rights

© 2025, Katherine Blanton

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