Sarah Patton Boyle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sarah Patton Boyle
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by Holsinger Studio, from the Richmond Times-Dispatch
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| Born |
Sarah-Lindsay Patton
May 9, 1906 |
| Died | February 20, 1994 (aged 87) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Civil rights activist, writer |
| Years active | 1950-1967 |
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Notable work
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The Desegregated Heart: A Virginian's Stand in Time of Transition (1962) |
| Spouse(s) | E. Roger Boyle |
Sarah-Lindsay Patton "Pattie" Boyle (May 9, 1906 – February 20, 1994) was an American writer and activist. She worked for civil rights in Virginia during the 1950s and 1960s. She wrote a famous book called The Desegregated Heart. She also wrote many articles about how people of different races got along in Virginia and the Southern United States.
Sarah Boyle was married to E. Roger Boyle, a drama professor at the University of Virginia. She was the first white person to join the board of directors for the NAACP group in Charlottesville. She was a strong voice for ending segregation (keeping people of different races separate) in her home state.
Contents
About Sarah Boyle's Life
Her Early Years and Family
Sarah Boyle was born on May 9, 1906, near Charlottesville, Virginia. She grew up on a large farm in Albemarle County, Virginia. Her family had lived there since the early days of America. Her father was a church leader. Sarah was a cousin of the famous General George S. Patton. Her grandparents had fought for the Southern states during the American Civil War.
As a child, Sarah's family followed a "Southern Code." This meant she was expected to have only formal interactions with Black people. She grew up with Black servants and was allowed to be friends with them. However, when she turned twelve, she was told to follow the "Southern Code." This meant she could no longer be close friends with them.
Her family also told stories about their history. These stories included a general from the Revolutionary War, Hugh Mercer. Another famous family member was a great legal thinker, John Mercer Patton. Her father also taught her about Christian values. He encouraged her to fix wrongs she saw in the world. Sarah was home-schooled because she had dyslexia. She did not learn to read until she was a teenager. Later, she studied art at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design.
Marriage and Becoming a Writer
In 1932, Sarah married E. Roger Boyle, a professor of drama and speech. They had two sons, E. Roger Boyle, III, born in 1939, and Patton Lindsay Boyle, born in 1943. For many years, Sarah was a housewife. Around 1950, she started writing articles for magazines. She and her husband later divorced in 1965.
Sarah began to question her own prejudices (unfair opinions) after hearing her father speak at Howard University. She also became friends with a Black woman at the university who could pass as white.
Getting Involved in Civil Rights
Sarah Boyle became interested in the case of Gregory Swanson. He was a Black student who wanted to attend the University of Virginia law school. He was first denied entry because of his race. In 1950, he was finally admitted after a lawsuit. This case deeply affected Sarah. She had wrongly thought that Black people preferred to be separate from white people. The Swanson case showed her that many Black people did not want segregation. She then realized that segregation was truly wrong.
She wrote to Gregory Swanson to welcome him to the university. She thought many other white people felt the same way. Through her involvement with Swanson, she met T. J. Sellers. He was the editor of The Tribune, a Black newspaper in Charlottesville. Sarah became one of the few white people in Virginia who supported ending segregation. She wrote many articles and gave speeches. She argued that integration should happen right away. Martin Luther King Jr. even praised her work in his famous 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
Sarah Boyle passed away in Arlington, Virginia, on February 20, 1994. She died from problems related to Alzheimer's disease. She was buried near her birthplace.
Sarah Boyle's Civil Rights Work
Speaking Out for Change
Sarah Boyle's first public letter was to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. It was called "A Plea for Tolerance." She hoped that white and Black people would respond positively. Instead, she found silence from the community. She believed this silence came from fear to speak up.
In 1951, Reader's Digest magazine offered her a chance to write about Gregory Swanson. However, after Swanson read her essay, he rejected it. He said she had "paternalism," meaning she sounded like she was trying to control or act like a parent to Black people. After talking to other Black leaders, Sarah realized her writing sounded condescending. She later understood that her early efforts were partly driven by a feeling of being superior. She called this a "maternalism" that she later rejected.
Sarah wanted to get rid of her own racial prejudices. T. J. Sellers became her teacher and close friend. They humorously called their talks the "T. J. Sellers Course for Backward Southern Whites."
Advocating for Integration
Through her talks with Sellers, Sarah Boyle became a strong supporter of immediate integration. She started writing a weekly column for Sellers's newspaper called "From Behind the Curtain." Her writings focused on building good relationships between all people. In 1954, she gained public attention. She spoke at the Virginia General Assembly's Commission on Public Education. There, she strongly supported school integration.
On August 29, 1956, the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross in her front yard. This was likely a response to her article "Southerners Will Like Integration" in the Saturday Evening Post. Instead of being scared, Sarah reportedly laughed. She even asked her teenage son to take a picture of the burning cross. Her article for the Post aimed to convince white Southerners that integration could be peaceful. However, some white readers misunderstood it. They thought the title and a picture of Sarah walking with two Black male students suggested "interracial relations."
After the article, Sarah received hateful mail and threatening phone calls. She was also ignored or treated rudely by many people. While her friends agreed with her in private, none supported her publicly.
Later Activism
Sarah Boyle participated in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This was a huge event for civil rights.
In 1964, she was arrested during a protest in St. Augustine, Florida. She and 11 other activists were arrested for a sit-in at a restaurant. A sit-in is a peaceful protest where people sit and refuse to leave.
Sarah Boyle stopped her main activism in 1967. She felt that her personal beliefs no longer fit with the political realities of the late 1960s. However, she continued to write. She explored topics like age discrimination in her later years.
Sarah Boyle's Legacy
The City of Charlottesville honored Sarah Boyle on May 8, 2001. They recognized her important work in civil rights. Her name is also on a bronze plaque on the Drewary Brown Bridge. This plaque calls her a "bridge builder."
Sarah Boyle's writings and papers are kept at the University of Virginia Library. They are in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. A special marker in St. Augustine, Florida, on the ACCORD Freedom Trail, notes her arrest there in 1964. This was an event she was proud of.
