Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County facts for kids
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Quick facts for kids Argued December 9, 1952Reargued December 8, 1955 Decided May 17, 1954 |
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| Full case name | Dorothy E. Davis, et al. versus County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia |
| Citations | 347 U.S. 483 (more)
74 S. Ct. 686; 98 L. Ed. 873; 1954 U.S. LEXIS 2094; 53 Ohio Op. 326; 38 A.L.R.2d 1180
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| Prior history | Judgment for defendants, United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia |
| Subsequent history | Judgment on relief, 349 U.S. 294 (1955) (Brown II); on remand, 139 F. Supp. 468 (D. Kan. 1955); motion to intervene granted, 84 F.R.D. 383 (D. Kan. 1979); judgment for defendants, 671 F. Supp. 1290 (D. Kan. 1987); reversed, 892 F.2d 851 (10th Cir. 1989); vacated, 503 U.S. 978 (1992) (Brown III); judgment reinstated, 978 F.2d 585 (10th Cir. 1992); judgment for defendants, 56 F. Supp. 2d 1212 (D. Kan. 1999) |
| Holding | |
| Segregation of students in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, because separate facilities are inherently unequal. District Court of Virginia reversed. | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Warren, joined by unanimous |
| Laws applied | |
| United States Constitution, Amendment XIV | |
Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County was a very important court case in the United States. It was one of five cases that were combined into the famous Brown v. Board of Education decision. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that separating students by race in public schools was against the law. This practice was called racial segregation.
The Davis case was special because it started with a protest by students. These students were challenging the unfair system of segregation in Prince Edward County, Virginia.
Contents
Why the Case Happened
Poor School Conditions
In Farmville, Virginia, there was an all-black high school called R.R. Moton High School. It was built in 1923. This school had very bad conditions because it did not get enough money. For example, it had no gym, no cafeteria, and no restrooms for teachers. Students and teachers often did not have desks or blackboards. The school was also very crowded. Some classes had to be held in old, broken-down buildings or even in a parked school bus outside. The school board, which was all white, refused to give the school more money.
Student Protest
Because of these terrible conditions, a 16-year-old student named Barbara Rose Johns decided to take action. She was the niece of a famous civil rights leader, Vernon Johns. On April 23, 1951, Barbara secretly planned a student strike. She wrote fake notes to teachers, telling them to bring their students to the auditorium for a special announcement.
When over 450 students gathered, Barbara spoke to them. She convinced them to walk out of school to protest the poor conditions. The students marched to the homes of the school board members. However, the board members would not meet with them. Instead, they threatened to expel the students. This student protest lasted for two weeks.
Some accounts say that the school's principal was tricked into leaving the school. This allowed Barbara to gather the students for the assembly. When the principal returned, he tried to stop the strike, but the students refused to give up. It is also said that some classes were held in "tar-paper shacks" that were so cold in winter that students and teachers had to wear their coats inside.
The Court Cases
Filing the Lawsuit
On May 23, 1951, two lawyers from the NAACP helped the students. These lawyers were Spottswood Robinson and Oliver Hill. They filed a lawsuit for 117 students against the school district. Their goal was to end segregation and integrate the schools.
The first student named in the lawsuit was Dorothy E. Davis, a 14-year-old ninth grader. The case was officially called Dorothy E. Davis, et al. versus County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia.
District Court Decision
A group of three judges in the U.S. District Court heard the case. They all agreed to reject the students' request. The court said they found "no hurt or harm to either race" from segregation.
Appeal to the Supreme Court
The students then appealed their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Their case was combined with four other similar cases from different parts of the country. Together, these cases became known as Brown v. Board of Education. In this landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that separating students by race in public schools was unconstitutional and illegal. This meant that "separate but equal" schools were not truly equal.
What Happened Next
Resistance to Integration
The Supreme Court's ruling was not popular with many white people in Virginia. They tried to stop schools from integrating in a period called Massive Resistance. For several years, schools in Prince Edward County remained segregated.
By 1959, J. Lindsay Almond became the Governor of Virginia. Even though courts kept ruling against segregation, he eventually had to dismantle the system of segregated schools in the state. However, the local government in Prince Edward County refused to give any money to the public schools. This meant they closed all public schools rather than integrate them.
Impact on Students
White students often went to "segregation academies". These were private schools created just for white students. Black students had to find schools in other areas or stop their education completely. The public schools in Prince Edward County stayed closed for five years, from 1959 to 1964.
Remembering the Protest
In 2008, the student protest and the Davis case were honored. A memorial was placed on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol. It is called the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial.
