“It Is Our Earnest Hope That You Will Give Every Support to Our Plea for Democracy in the Nation’s Capital:” Ending Jim Crow in Washington, D.C.’s Public Pools

Today's post was written by Joshua Schroeder, archives technician at the National Archives at College Park. On September 6th, 1950, Secretary of the Interior Oscar Chapman triumphantly reported to President Harry Truman that Washington, D.C.’s public pools had been successfully and peacefully integrated. A body of digitized records from the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library … Continue reading “It Is Our Earnest Hope That You Will Give Every Support to Our Plea for Democracy in the Nation’s Capital:” Ending Jim Crow in Washington, D.C.’s Public Pools

The Gridlock of Racial Segregation: When the Light Turns from Brown to Green

Written by Michael Hancock There was a time when “freedom of choice” was no choice at all. After the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education  (1954) schools were slow to desegregate. New Kent County had two schools that taught students from elementary through high school and prior to 1965, New Kent School’s student body … Continue reading The Gridlock of Racial Segregation: When the Light Turns from Brown to Green

Morgan v. Hennigan: Desegregation of Boston Public Schools

Today's Blog was written by Dr. Tina L. Ligon, Supervisory Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland This record of the week was a part of a presentation on the role of the federal government in black education, given at the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) Conference … Continue reading Morgan v. Hennigan: Desegregation of Boston Public Schools

The Prince Edward County Free School Association

Today’s blog was written by Emanuel Riley, graduating senior at the University of Maryland and Student Intern at the National Archives at College Park On October 17, 1963, William J. vanden Heuvel, then special assistant to President John F. Kennedy, delivered a speech to the students and faculty of Hampden-Sidney College in Prince Edward County, … Continue reading The Prince Edward County Free School Association