This course explores Virginia’s dramatic and often contentious response to the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, focusing on the pivotal years from 1954 to 1959. We will examine how the Virginia General Assembly and statewide elected officials reacted to the ruling and the policies they pursued during the era of “Massive Resistance.”

The instructor will place special emphasis on events in Arlington and Norfolk, the first Virginia communities ordered by federal courts to desegregate their public schools. Although both faced the same constitutional mandate, their responses and outcomes diverged in revealing ways. By comparing the choices made by their respective local leaders, activists, and ordinary citizens, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how national civil rights decisions played out on the ground in Virginia – and how local actions helped shape the Commonwealth’s path through one of the most consequential periods in American education and civil rights history.