Civil War to Civil Rights: Trail to Freedom Teacher Resources Toolkit

Trail to Freedom

Stafford • Spotsylvania • Fredericksburg • King George • Culpeper • Caroline • Orange

Many slaves saw the arrival of the Union army in Stafford, opposite Fredericksburg, in April 1862 as a chance for freedom. Over the next few months, slaves from Fredericksburg, Stafford, Spotsylvania, and the surrounding counties fled to the Union army. It was likely the largest single exodus[mass departure] of slaves in America up to that time.

However, the crossing of the Rappahannock was not the end of their journey, but the beginning. African Americans worked to gain true freedom for the next 100 years. This booklet tells some local stories of the struggles and achievements along that “trail to freedom.”

Civil war to Civil rights

Sponsored By

Mr. James W. Anderson 23rd USCT & Friends of Fburg Area Battlefield

Ms. Debbie Aylor Spotsylvania Tourism Manager

Ms. Denise Benedetto Women of the Civil War Living Historian

Mr. Luigi Benedetto Open Eye Beating Heart Film and Video Productions

Ms. Jane Conner Stafford County Historical Society

Mr. Steward Henderson 23rd USCT

Ms. Tramia “Mia” Jackson Fredericksburg Area Museum & Cultural Center

Ms. Margaret Clay “M.C.” Moncure Stafford Tourism Manager

Mr. Erik Nelson City of Fredericksburg Senior Planner

Mr. Eric Powell Spotsylvania County Schools Instructional Coordinator

Rev. Hashmel Turner 23rd USCT

Mr. Frank White Stafford County Historian

List of Contributors:The Fredericksburg Area Museum & Cultural CenterUniversity of Mary WashingtonNational Park Service23rd Regiment, United States

Colored TroopsStafford County Historical

SocietyJohn J. Wright Education

& Cultural CenterCentral Rappahannock

Regional LibraryMoncure Conway FoundationThe Montpelier FoundationVirginia Historical SocietyNational Baseball Hall of Fame

Library, Cooperstown NYNational Association

for the Advancement of Colored People

Spotsylvania County Public Schools

Virginia Commonwealth University

Designed by: Mr. Jim Solomon The Free Lance–Star

The articles contained within this resource are intended to provide a few examples of local history, as they fit into the larger national story of African American history from the Civil War to the Civil Rights era.

The first section summarizes the national story as outlined in the Virginia Standards of Learning. The rest of the document divides the 100 years of history into four major eras and provides local stories that reinforce the concepts in the Standards. These eras are Emancipation, Reconstruction, Segregation, and the Civil Rights Movement.

The creators of this resource believe that illustrating the broader story through local stories will not only help students to make a stronger connection to history, but also understand the important role the Fredericksburg region played in our nation’s history.

It is written at a student level so that teachers may use it to support both reading and history learning. A timeline is provided across the bottom of each era. Key vocabulary is highlighted, lesson ideas are included, and additional information is provided in the inset boxes.

About This Resource

On the cover:Formerly enslaved people crossing the Rappahannock river to freedom on August 19, 1862, taken near what is today Remington, in Fauquier County. The wagon likely belonged to their owner.


Did you know?You can trace the routes of enslaved people who traveled to freedom at www. TrailToFreedom.com

On the cover:High school student Jerine Mercer McConnell picketing in front of a drug store in downtown Fredericksburg in 1960.

Image courtesy of The Free Lance-Star.

Credits

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FOR ANY REASON• Temp to Perm Jobs

Try Before You Hire• Long term needs while conducting employee

search• Seasonal Staffing• Special Projects• Short Term Needs

Such as vacation fill in• Payroll ServicesBranch: 4737 Jeff. Davis Hwy., Fredericksburg

SKILL SETS AVAILABLE• Admin Assistants• Accounting• Customer Service• Light Industrial• Production Workers• Warehouse• Medical• Information TechnologyCorporate: 640 Lake Caroline Dr., Ruther Glen




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Culpeper Fredericksburg Locust Grove Online

Black History Month Events at Germanna Community College

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Revisited

February 6 • Think Fast Trivia Game 12:00- 1:30 PM Student Lounge

Fredericksburg Area Campus

February 8 • Program of Praise7:00 - 9:00 PM Daniel Technology Center

Culpeper

February 14 • Soul Food Potluck Lunch 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Student Presentations,

Locust Grove Campus

February 17 Speaker Diane

Nash, Freedom Rider and Civil Rights Leader

12:30 PM Fredericksburg

Area CampusOpen to the public and free of charge.

February 19 • Book Club Discussion - Freedom Summer

8:30 AM Fredericksburg Area Campus

February 25 • Preacher Moss Inspirational Talk

12:00 -1:00 PM Sealy Auditorium Fredericksburg Area Campus

February 28 • Movie Night:Mississippi Burning

For more information go to www.germanna.edu

This resource guide is presented by

The Trail to Freedom Work Committee:

The Trail to Freedom Committee would also like to thank the students from the University of Mary Washington and Virginia Commonwealth University for researching and compiling the stories and articles within this booklet. This project would not be possible without their contributions.

Ms. Melina Downs, UMWMs. Diane Crabtree, UMW

Ms. Megan Dodd, VCUMs. Meaghan Sullivan, UMW

Civil war to Civil rightsIn 1862, more than 12,000 African Americans fled slavery and crossed the Rappahannock River, seeking freedom with the Union army deployed in Stafford.

While slaves fled to freedom, some whites and free blacks

tried to pass laws abolishing slavery. Abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass demanded freedom for enslaved people.

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and so the

war to restore the Union also became a war for freedom. The Proclamation allowed African American men to join the Union army in the fight for freedom. After two more years of fighting, the Civil War ended in a victory for the Union. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. African Americans gained their rights as citizens when the 14th Amendment was passed in 1868.

During Reconstruction, the Federal government created The Freedmen’s Bureau. In Virginia, the Bureau

provided food, schools, legal protection, and medical care for African Americans. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the US Constitution established that all citizens were free, equally protected under the law, and that black males could vote. However, many southern states passed laws-- “Black Codes” and other laws -- that denied rights to African Americans. The laws limited African Americans’ ability to vote, go to school, or work for fair pay. Schools, public transportation, and businesses remained segregated.

The 1896 Supreme Court decision, Plessy v. Ferguson, upheld segegration laws in the South. This

case allowed discrimination against African Americans to continue.

In the early 1900s, many African Americans from

the South began the “Great Migration,” or move north for new jobs. In Harlem, New York, African American artists, writers and musicians celebrated their culture through art, music and dance. Langston Hughes, Jacob Lawrence, Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong were just a few of those artists. This movement became known as the Harlem Renaissance.

During WWII, African American soldiers fought against the racism of Adolf Hitler in segregated units

abroad. Experiencing racism at home, African Americans began calling for more equal rights. During the 1950s and 1960s, they held sit-ins and freedom rides to expose injustice. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became a leader in the struggle. He gave his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech at the March on Washington in 1963. Dr. King called for new laws to prevent discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender or national origin. As a result, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed.

One hundred years after the Civil War, Congress passed

two laws – the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – outlawing efforts to take away the rights guaranteed by the 14th and 15th Amendments. Despite this, the struggle for equality continues.

Introduction1

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Frederick Douglass Louis Armstrong

President Barak Obama

Tour a rich heritage in your very own backyard

Local AfricanAmerican History

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Era 1—EmancipationKey Vocabulary

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation invited African American men who escaped slavery, or were already free, to enlist in the Union Army. Many Virginia men from Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and the surrounding counties joined the 23rd Regiment, United States Colored Troops (USCT).On May 15, 1864, The Union 2nd Ohio cavalry was chased by General Thomas Rosser’s Confederate cavalry brigade at the intersection of Catharpin and Old Plank Roads in Spotsylvania, Virginia. They sent for help. The closest regiment was the 23rd USCT, two miles away. The black soldiers quickly came to the rescue of the white Union cavalry and pushed back the Confederates. This made them the first U.S. Colored Troops to fight in combat against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. This battle, among others, proved to the white troops on both sides that black soldiers would fight. Proudly the 23rd USCT fought for freedom on their home turf.

23rd United States Colored Troops

Aquia Landing

Did you know?Today, local reenactors still honor the 23rd USCT’s bravery at special events. You can visit them at www. 23rd-usct.com.

Did you know?Aquia Landing was recognized as an important site by the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom in 2009.

Secede—to remove or separate.Abolish—to officially end or stop something, such as a law.Abolitionist—a person who wanted to end slavery.Emancipate—to free from slavery.

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850—A law designed to help south-erners recover slaves who fled to free states.Cavalry—troops mounted on horseback.Regiment—a military unit.

1864USCT “pushes” back the Confederates

186513th Amendment frees the slaves

1865Civil War Ends

Era 1—Emancipation Era 1—EmancipationEmancipationDuring the Civil War, the United States was divided by the issue of slavery. Slavery was part of the national economy, and a large part of Southern culture. Some people in the North thought that slavery should be abolished. Many southern states seceded from the U.S. and formed the Confederate States of America. President Abraham Lincoln wanted to keep the country together. Many enslaved men and women fled the southern states. On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation officially promising freedom to enslaved men and women in the Confederate states. In 1865, the 13th Amendment extended this promise to all African Americans by abolishing slavery throughout the U.S.

Moncure Conway was born on March 17, 1832 in Stafford County, Virginia. He was a minister, abolitionist, and writer. He lived in the South where many people, including his own family, owned slaves.Moncure attended Harvard Divinity School in Boston, MA. While at Harvard, police arrested a runaway slave named Anthony Burns. Anthony was from Stafford and Moncure knew him.

Under the Fugitive Slave Law, Anthony was sent back to Virginia. After this, Moncure decided to speak out against slavery and joined the abolitionist movement. He became a minister and gave sermons against slavery. Two churches dismissed him for his views.Even though Moncure had to leave his home, he stood up for what he thought was right during his life.

John Washington lived the first 24 years of his life as an enslaved man in downtown Fredericksburg. As a child, he spent hours working for his owner, Catherine Taliaferro. John constantly looked for ways to feel free. He loved the Rappahannock, and often went there to swim with his friends. When he grew older, Ms. Taliaferro rented him out for odd jobs, as a “twister” in a tobacco factory and as a barkeeper at the Shakespeare Hotel, once located on

Caroline Street. John’s mother taught him to read and write.As an enslaved man, John fell in love with a free black woman, Annie Gordon, and married her. They belonged to Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) and were married for 56 years.In April 1862, John Washington boldly crossed the Rappahannock River to freedom. He later was reunited with Annie and they lived the rest of their lives in Washington, D.C. and Massachusetts. John wrote the story of his life, John Washington’s Civil War: A Slave Narrative.

Moncure Conway John Washington

Did you know?Every year during the third week of September visitors can see living historians act out Civil War events at the Moncure Conway House in the program, Yankees in Falmouth. Visit www.tourstafford.com after Falmouth.You can also read John Washington’s Civil War: A Slave Narrative at your local library.

1832Moncure Conway is born

1854Anthony Burns is arrested and tried in Boston

1861Civil War begins

1862John Washington crosses the Rappahannock River

1863Pres. Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation

Aquia Landing

Corporal Nimrod Burke

Moncure Conway

Anthony Burns

John Washington

Lesson Idea: Primary sources are the original documents from an era. This booklet contains many primary sources, including photographs, paintings, and political cartoons. Examine them as you read this booklet to better understand and investigate each era. A question to think about in this section is:Why do you think Corporal Nimrod Burke is posing with his pistol across his chest in the photograph on the next page?

Between April and September 1862, over 12,000 enslaved men and women escaped across the Rappahannock River to freedom under the protection of the Union Army. Many found paying jobs with Federal forces in a whole range of duties, such as railroad construction workers, cooks, wagon drivers, horse and mule handlers, and scouts. Others moved along this “Trail to Freedom” from Falmouth by rail to Aquia Landing, and then by steamship up the Potomac River to Alexandria and Washington.A second wave of unknown numbers departed through Union lines following the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Ironically, Aquia Landing had been the site of several earlier slave escapes, most notably that of Henry “Box” Brown, an enslaved man from Richmond who escaped by mailing himself to Philadelphia in a wooden box.

Sharecropping became very common in the South during Reconstruction. It provided jobs to poor whites and freed slaves in rural areas like Spotsylvania and Caroline counties. Sharecroppers worked someone else’s land and earned a share of the profit from the crop. This system however, left many sharecroppers in debt to their landowners if the crop did not do well. Many were forced to stay and work on the owner’s land for very little pay. Sometimes these landowners refused to pay the sharecroppers for their work. This was recorded in one Freedmen’s Bureau case in 1867, when John Hoffman did not pay Charles Holmes for working almost a year on his land.

Era 2—ReconstructionKey Vocabulary

The Union Branch of the True Vine was an organization formed near the White Oak area in Stafford, County. With the help of the Freedmen’s Bureau, it provided community support to freedmen farmers. The Union Branch established schools and churches, as well as helping to rebuild people’s homes. Its members helped to work farmers’ crops and raise their livestock when they were unable to do so. They took care of the sick and helped bury the dead when needed. Leaders of this organization were important members of the African American community in Stafford. This included York Johnson, the first pastor of Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church (which split from White Oak Church, 1868). This church still serves today as the “home church” of the Union Branch of the True Vine.

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau) provided food, shelter, clothing, medical needs, and education to freedmen in the South from 1864–1872. The Bureau founded schools throughout Virginia, which allowed newly freed slaves, regardless of their age, to receive an education.

In 1865, the Freedmen’s Bureau came to Fredericksburg and opened a headquarters on Princess Anne Street. Many whites and freedmen argued over land and labor rights in the South. The Fredericksburg Freedmen’s Bureau court spent much of their time addressing these cases.

The Union Branch of the True Vine

Reconstruction—The period after the Civil War (1865-1877) in which the former Confederate states were reorganized and readmitted into the Union.Freedmen—Former slaves who were freed by the 13th Amendment which banned slavery.Freedmen’s Bureau—a government agency that provided food, schools, and medical care for freed African Americans and others in Virginia.

Sharecropper—A farmer who raises crops for the owner of a piece of land and is paid a portion of the money from the sale of the crops.Carpetbaggers—Northerners who traveled to the South after the war to seek some type of opportunity. They included teachers, ministers, Freedmen’s Bureau agents, or businessmen. Many were resented by Southerners.

Union Branch of the True Vine Lodge

Freedmen’s Bureau

1876Presidential election of Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden

1877Compromise of 1877 ends Reconstruction.

1901George Gilmore purchases 16.1 acres

Era 2—Reconstruction Era 2—ReconstructionReconstructionThe purpose of Reconstruction was to help the South reunite with the Union and rebuild the divided nation in the years following the Civil War. Tensions were high in the South as the Union military took control of the southern states and unwanted Northerners or “carpetbaggers” traveled to the region. Congress also experienced difficulties as many Congressmen could not agree on how to reconstruct the nation. These strains were made worse by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. This placed Andrew Johnson, a southern Democrat, as President. Despite the many disputes about Reconstruction, the creation of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were important in protecting newly freed slaves’ rights during this period. Federal and local organizations were created to ensure that freedmen’s new rights were protected.

The Freedmen’s Bureau

1865Abraham Lincoln is assassinated

1865Freedmen’s Bureau office opens in Fredericksburg

186513th Amendment abolishes slavery in the U.S.

186814th amendment gives Freedmen equal rights under the law

186915th amendment gives former slaves the right to vote

Did you know?The Freedmen’s Bureau office was located in the Farmer’s Bank Building (later the National Bank of Fredericksburg building)?

George Gilmore was born into slavery in the early 1800s. He was born at Montpelier, the home of President James Madison, in Orange, Virginia. After nearly 50 years of living as a slave, Gilmore became free at the end of the Civil War. He built a cabin in

the early 1870s for his wife and children out of Confederate soldiers’ huts.

He supported his family through carpentry, saddle making, and farming. Gilmore was one of six African Americans in Orange County who could read and write. On February 28, 1901, James Madison’s nephew sold 16.1 acres to Gilmore for $560. At the age of 95, Gilmore died as a free man who owned his own farm and house, a long way from being born as an enslaved man.

Sharecropping George Gilmore

Did you know?You can visit George Gilmore’s home and the recently restored 1910 segregated train station at James Madison’ Montpelier. Visit www.montpelier.org.

George Gilmore Cabin

Lesson Idea:Learning about the past involves using all of your skills, including reading, math, and science. Can you solve the word problem below? Costs for 1 YearRent for House .............................$5Rent for Tools ...............................$1Seed to Plant Crop .......................$2Feed for Animals ..........................$1As a sharecropper in Caroline County, you signed a contract with the owner to get 10% of the profit from the crop. Use the chart above to determine your total cost. How much does the entire crop need to sell for in order for you to make any money?

Era 3—SegregationKey VocabularySegregation—The seperation of people based on race, religion, class or ethnic group.Civil Rights—The rights each person has as a citizen of the United States.“Jim Crow” Laws—Laws passed to discriminate against African Americans characterized by unequal opportunities in housing, work, education, and government.

The Great Migration—Millions of African Americans traveled to northern and western states trying to escape poverty and discrimination, wanting to find better jobs, housing, and school opportunities.Harlem Renaissance— A cultural movment of African American painters, artists, writers, poets, and musicians who made African American culture the main subject of their art.

In 1907, Dr. Urbane Bass became the first African American physician in Fredericksburg since the Reconstruction period. He set up the Commerce Street Pharmacy (now William Street) in downtown Fredericksburg. Bass mainly treated African Americans who couldn’t pay for a doctor. These families would barter with food or a service. Bass traveled to his patients’ homes, doing surgery on the kitchen table if necessary.When the United States entered

World War I in 1917, Dr. Bass volunteered to be sent to France to be a doctor for the army. He was killed while caring for the wounds of soldiers on the battlefield in 1918. After his death, he was given the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery and is the first African American commissioned officer to be buried in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery.

Harlem Renaissance painter Palmer C. Hayden was born on January 15, 1890, and grew up along the Potomac River in Widewater, Virginia. Hayden began drawing when he was four years old, often making doodles on his slate board during class.Hayden left home when he was sixteen to travel to Washington D.C. There he tried to get work as an artist, but was rejected because of his skin color. He worked many different jobs, including as a laborer for the Ringling Brothers Circus, before joining the army.After the army Hayden moved to New York City and dedicated his life to creating art that showed the everyday life of African Americans. He was also one of the first black artists to use African themes in his paintings.

Dr. Urbane Bass Palmer C. Hayden

Did you know?In 1920, the Bass family dedicated a stained-glass window to Dr. Bass in the sanctuary of Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site) on Princess Anne Street.

Did you know?Scenes in Virginia and New York inspired many of Hayden’s paintings. Baptism Day (above) depicts a baptism in Widewater (Stafford) Virginia.”

1907Dr. Bass becomes the first black doctor in Fredericksburg

1909W.E.B. Du Bois helps create the NAACP

1910Start of the Great Migration

1926Hayden’s first solo exhibition in New York

Era 3—Segregation Era 3—SegregationSegregationDuring the Segregation era, “Jim Crow” Laws separated African Americans from white residents because of their skin color. Many African Americans moved north in the Great Migration in hopes of escaping discrimination and finding jobs. Booker T. Washington encouraged the African American community to accept segregation while seeking an industrial education. W.E.B. Du Bois wanted equality in education. He also believed accepting segregation would limit African Americans to low paying jobs. Both leaders promoted the education of African Americans. Local leaders agreed and helped establish schools such as John J. Wright in Spotsylvania, H.H. Poole in Stafford, and Ralph K. Bunche in King George.

The 1902 Constitution of Virginia required all citizens to pass a literacy test and pay a poll tax in order to vote. This “Jim Crow” law often prevented African Americans and poor whites from voting. Many black residents could not read or write, or afford the $1.50 tax. Reverend B.H. Hester and the Reverend A.L. Johnson taught night school in Fredericksburg to help adults learn to read and write. Sadie Combs and Cora Jackson Wright provided a night school in Spotsylvania County. These night schools would often take place in local churches. Residents also helped each other in different ways; Warren W. Lee Sr. would drive people to voting stations if they couldn’t get there themselves.

The chart below shows how the number of voters decreased when the voting tax and test became required in 1902. How many African Americans, in each county, stopped voting between 1900 and 1902 because of poll taxes and literacy tests?

John Preston Hill, nickname Pete, was born October 12th, 1882 in Culpeper, Virginia. He lived there with his mother and his two brothers until the family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as part of the Great Migration.

During the Segregation era, African Americans were not allowed to play on white major league baseball teams. Therefore, the Negro National Baseball League was established in 1885.

At the age of 16, Pete started playing professional baseball for the Pittsburgh Keystones. When he turned 19 years old, he became an outfielder for the Cuban X-Giants in New York and later played for the Philadelphia Giants. Hill was known for his famous left-handed swing, scoring runs in 115 out of 116 games. After the major leagues, Pete managed several baseball teams. He even started a minor league team named the Buffalo Red Sox in New York.

The Right to Vote John Preston “Pete” Hill

Did you know? In 1910, Virginia law stated that any person with one-sixteenth or more African American blood would be label as “colored”.

Did you know?Hill was named the fourth best outfielder in Negro League history.

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Culpeper Fredericksburg

Colored Voters

White Voters

1075

2153

153353

65

1463

998

681

1877Reconstruction Ends

1896Plessy v. Ferguson

1898Pete Hill joins the Pittsburg, Keystones at age 16

1901Booker T. Washington writes Up From Slavery

John Preston HillDr. Urbane Bass

Lesson Idea: Timelines help us organize events in order so that we can see relationships between events. Sometimes they go left to right, like in this booklet. Sometimes they run top to bottom. Use the timeline below to answer the following questions:

Where on the timeline below would the beginning of literacy tests and poll taxes in Virginia go? What previous court case made these restrictions legal? What organization was later founded to fight discrimination against African Americans?

Baptism Day, 1945, Museum of African American Art

Era 4—Civil RightsKey Vocabulary

In the summer of 1961, thirteen protesters arrived in Fredericksburg on a Greyhound Bus. They were known as Freedom Riders. They wanted to test a Supreme Court decision called Boynton v. Virginia, which established that segregation of travel facilities was illegal. Fredericksburg was not one of these places and did not stop black Freedom Riders from using white facilities. One of the leading members of this protest was James Farmer. Farmer was the director of CORE (The Congress of Racial Equality), the non-violent interracial group that planned the Freedom Rides. Years later, after the Civil Rights Movement, Farmer served as a professor at the University of Mary Washington (formerly Mary Washington College) in Fredericksburg until he retired in 1998. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 from President Bill Clinton.

The NAACP played an important role in the Civil Rights movement. Local branches helped organize events like the Fredericksburg sit-ins in 1960 and gave legal help in civil rights cases.

In the early 1950s, the famous civil rights attorney Thurgood Marhsall, who argued the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, visited the 7117 branch in Spotsylvania County to meet with people from the community. Thurgood Marshall

became the first black justice on the Supreme Court in 1967.

Unit 7058 of the NAACP, located in Culpeper County was founded in 1953. This branch, like the branches in Spotylvania, Stafford, and Fredericksburg, helped African Americans in the area find lawyers and other assistance in civil rights cases.

Freedom RidersNAACP

Segregation—The seperation of people based on race, religion, class or ethnic group.Integration—Full equality of people of all races in the use of public facilities and services.Desegregate—To abolish racial segregation.Sit-in—A form of non-violent protest to bring attention to an issue.

Did you know?The Spotsylvania & Culpeper branches of the NAACP still exist today. Visit their websites at www.naacpspotsylvania.org/ and www.naacpculpeper.com/

Era 4—Civil Rights Era 4—Civil RightsCivil RightsThe Civil Rights era was an important period in our nation’s history. Court cases like Brown v. Board of Education challenged the “Jim Crow” laws, and segregation in schools and other public places. Virginia refused to integrate schools for a number of years in what was called massive resistance. National leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Dr. James Farmer fought for integration and equality for all. Organizations like the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) helped organize African Americans to protest peacefully against unfair practices and brought lawsuits challenging discrimination.

On September 1, 1960 five African American students (Gordon White, Gary Mercer, Vines Cunningham, Lois Mae, Stevenson Tyler, and Rudolph Beverly) tried to enroll in the segregated Stafford High School. The superintendent, T. Benton Gayle, claimed their applications were submitted too late and they were denied.Before this, these students

went to H.H. Poole, the segregated school for black students. Students at H.H. Poole received most of their materials as hand-me-downs from Stafford High. The actions taken by the five students encouraged other African American students to also apply to Stafford schools.In 1961, Cynthia and Dorethia Montague were the first students to enroll in the newly desegregated Stafford Elementary School. The next year, twenty-five African American students enrolled at Stafford High. Many believed that this was possible because of the actions of the five students. Gary Mercer, one of the five “pioneers” said: “We made the attempt because someone had to do it”. Over the next several years, schools in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania and other counties integrated.

Beginning in July of 1960, young members of the Fredericksburg NAACP and local high school students from Walker Grant High School, organized sit-ins at the segregated lunch counters of Woolworths, Peoples Drug Store, and Grants Pharmacy.They were reminded by Miss Gladys Poles Todd and other NAACP members to dress neatly and were told not to touch any merchandise in case they were accused of theft. When the students sat at the white only lunch counters waiting to be served, the stores would usually shut down portions of the counter or set blankets on the seats.The lunch counters were reopened only when a white customer wanted to sit down. This caused the businesses to lose customers and money. These combined actions worked and by the end of the summer all of the local lunch counters in Fredericksburg served African American customers.

Desegregation of Stafford County Schools

Fredericksburg Sit-ins

Did you know?The 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides was in the summer of 2011. There is a documentary about the Freedom Riders available at: www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/

1961Stafford County schools begin desegregation

1963Dr. King gives his famous “I Have a Dream” speech

1964-65Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts are passed

1985James Farmer begins to teach at UMW

1909NAACP is Founded

1954Brown v. Board of Education case

1958-59VA calls “Massive Resistance” to integration of schools

1961Freedom Riders pass through Fredericksburg

Students at a sit-inJames Farmer

Thurgood Marshall

Lesson Idea: Reading and writing about the past is a big part of what historians do. Can you read the articles in this era and write a paragraph telling 3 ways people fought to end segregation?

Massive Resistance—The process of resisting the desegregation of schools throughout Virginia.NAACP —National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was one of the earliest national civil rights organizations.Discrimination—The practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people.

Cynthia Monague walking to school

Did you know?Ralph Bunche High School in King George County was founded as a result of a 1947 NAACP lawsuit, which challenged the equality of black and white schools, Margaret Smith v. King George County Schools. The NAACP won the case and the school was built. It was closed in 1968 when King George integrated schools. Today, Ralph Bunche High School is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Emancipation:Downs, Melina. Interview with Norman Schools. Interview. Moncure Conway House, February 22, 2013.“Emancipation Proclamation.” PBS. (Accessed February 19, 2013.) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1549.html.“Frederick Douglass.” PBS. (Accessed February 19, 2013.) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1539.html.“Gilmore.”James Madison’s Montpelier. (Accessed April 4, 2013.) http://www.montpelier.org/research-and-collections/people/african-americans/post-emancipation/gilmore.John Hennessey, e-mail messages to Melina Downs, March –April 2013. Matt Reeves, e-mail messages to Melina Downs, March – April 2013. Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., s.vv. “Abolitionist.” “Cavalry.”“Regiment.”Merriam-Webster, Inc, 2003. http://www.merriam-webster.com/.(Accessed February 2013)Schools, Norman. “Moncure Conway (1832-1907).” Encyclopedia Virginia. (Last modified April 5, 2011.) http://encyclopediavirginia.org/conway_moncure_daniel_1832-1907#start_entry.Steward Henderson, interview by Melina Downs, February 28, 2013. Trail to Freedom. (Accessed February to April 2013.) http://www.trailtofreedom.com/.Reconstruction:Hakim, Joy. Reconstruction and Reform 1865-1870. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.Littlefield, Keith Edward. Economic Challenge and Mercantile Enterprise in a Southern Urban System: A Case Study of Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1835-1880. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Company, 1999.

Schools, Norman. Virginia Shade: An African American History of Falmouth, Virginia. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, 2012.Segregation:Bearden, Romare and Harry Henderson. A History of African-American Artists: From 1792 to the Present. New York: Pantheon Books, 1993.Blair, J.F. The Negro in Virginia. Winston-Salem, N.C.: Virginia Writers’ Program, 1994.Bunie, Andrew. The Negro in Virginia Politics, 1902-1965. Charlottesville, V.A.: University Press of Virginia, 1967.Fitzgerald, Ruth Coder. A Different Story: A Black history of Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania, Virginia. Greensboro, N.C.: Unicorn, 1979.Gordon, Allan M. Echoes of Our Past: The Narrative Artistry of Palmer C. Hayden. Los Angeles: The Museum of African American Art, 1988.Hall, Jim. “Doctor’s Example Shines, Church Window Marks City Life, Wartime Death.” Free Lance–Star (Fredericksburg), February 24, 1990. (Accessed July 16, 2013.) http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=9fRKRCJz75UC&dat=19900224&printsec=frontpage&hl=en. “Hill, Pete.” Baseball Hall of Fame Preserving History. (Accessed August 2, 2013.) http://baseballhall.org/hof/hill-pete.Kirkland, Kevin. “John Preston ‘Pete’ Hill Had Storied Career in Black Baseball.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 8, 2010. (Accessed July 19, 2013.) http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sectionfront/life/john-preston-pete-hill-had-storied-career-in-black-baseball-258609.O’Brion, Catherine Greer. Coping with Jim Crow. Charlottesville, V.A.: C.G. O’Brion, 1990.

Powell, Richard J., and David A. Bailey. Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance. London: Hayward Gallery, 1997. Reilly, Conor. “The Story is Really Amazing: Urbane Bass.” Free Lance–Star (Fredericksburg), February 21, 2004. (Accessed June 23, 2013.) http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=20040221&id=gDQzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5QgGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4627,5566016.Civil Rights:“About James Farmer.” Will you? Get on the Bus: Freedom Riders 50th Anniversary Celebration. (Accessed Jan 13, 2014.) http://freedomrides.umw.edu/about-james-farmer/.Beals, Jonas. “Stafford School Pioneers Honored.” Free Lance–Star (Fredericksburg). February 24, 2009. (Accessed Jan 14, 2014.) http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/022009/02242009/447201.Brown, Elexxus.” Stafford Pioneers Remembered.” Stafford High School. October 2010. http://stafford.high.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/133872/File/October%202010%20newsletter.pdf.Dyson, Cathy. “Stafford Desegregation Pioneers Remembered.” Free Lanc–Star (Fredericksburg), September 7, 2010. (Accessed Jan 14, 2014.) http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2010/092010/09072010/573157/mobile.Hennessey, John. “Sit-in Corner.” Fredericksburg Remembered (blog). http://fredericksburghistory.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/sit-in-corner-july-1960/.Todd, Gladys Poles. “Sitting in With the Sit-Ins.” In A Different Story: A Black History of Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania, Virginia, by Ruth Coder Fitzgerald. Greensboro, N.C.: Unicorn, 1979.

ImagesIntroduction & EmancipationAndrews, John. Anthony Burns. Engraving. From Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalogue. Accessed January 14, 2014. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003689280/Acquia (i.e. Aquia) Creek Landing, Va. Digital ID: (digital file from original item) ppmsca 33253 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.33253. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-33253 (digital file from original item) LC-B8184-7446 (b&w film copy neg.) Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp Frederick Douglass, 1879. Photo. National Archives, Frank W. Legg Photographic Collection of Portraits of Nineteenth-Century Notables Collection FL. Accesed April 9, 2013. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/documented-rights/exhibit/section2/detail/frederick-douglass.htmlGeneral Order No. 143, 1863. National Archives Records of the Adjutant General’s Office. Accessed March 23, 2013. http://blogs.archives.gov/todaysdocument/2011/05/22/may-22-creation-of-the-us-colored-troops/Gilmore Cabin and Farm. Photo. James Madison’s Montpelier website. Accessed March 22, 2013.http://www.montpelier.org/research-and-collections/people/african-americans/post-emancipation/gilmoreJohn Washington. Photo. “John Washington and the Emergence of a Voice for Fredericksburg’s Slaves, Part 1.” Fredericksburg Remembered, a blog by John Hennessey. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://fredericksburghistory.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/john-washington-and-the-emergence-of-a-voice-for-fredericksburgs-slaves-part-1/Lindsley, H.B. Harriet Tubman, full-length portrait, standing with hands on back of a chair. 1860-1875. Photo. From Library

of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalogue. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003674596/Louis Armstrong, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left, playing trumpet. 1953. Photo. From Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalogue. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00652636/Moncure Conway. 1860. Oil on Canvas. Moncure Conway Foundation. Accessed February 26, 2013. http://encyclopediavirginia.org/media_player?mets_filename=evm00000523mets.xmlO’Sullivan, Timothy H. Rappahannock River, Virginia. Fugitive Negroes fording the Rappahannock.(During Pope’s retreat). 1862. Photo. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalogue . Accessed February 19, 2013.http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003005824/PP/President Barack Obama. Photo.The White House. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obamaStolbridge& Co. Lith. Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation.1888.Chromolithograph. From Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalogue. Accessed April 9, 2013. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97507511/ReconstructionGilmore Cabin and Farm. Photo. Image courtesy of The Montpelier Foundation. James Madison’s Montpelier. Accessed March 22, 2013.http://www.montpelier.org/research-and-collections/people/african-americans/post-emancipation/gilmoreUnion Branch of the True Vine Lodge. Photograph.(Virginia, 1940) Waud, A.R. The Freedmen’s Bureau. Illustration. Harper’s Weekly, July 25, 1868. From Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalogue. Accessed January 22, 2014.http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/92514996/

SegregationHayden, Palmer C(Payton Cole Hedgemon). Baptizing Day. 1945. Oil on Canvas. Museum of African American Art, Los AngelesJohn Preston Hill. Photograph. “Hill, Pete Baseball Hall of Fame Preserving History. Accessed August 2, 2013. http://baseballhall.org/hof/hill-pete. Image courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown NYUrbane F. Bass, M.D.].1918.Photoprint. History of Medicine (NLM). Accessed January 22, 2014. http://ihm.nlm.nih.gov/luna/servlet/view/search?q=B02454Urbane Bass Stained Glass, 1920. Image courtesy of Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) Civil RightsCynthia Montague walks toward Stafford Elementary School on Sept. 5, 1961, accompanied by her parents (right) and family friend William Braxton. 1961. Photograph. From Jonas Beals, “Stafford School Pioneers Honored.” Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg). February 24, 2009. Image courtesy of the Free Lance-Star.Fredericksburg Sit-ins.1960. Photograph. Free Lance-Star. Image courtesy of the Free Lance-Star.James Farmer at a meeting of American Society of Newspaper Editors, bust portrait, seated at a table before a microphone. 1964. Photograph. From Library of Congress Print & Photograph Collection Online Catalogue. Accessed January 22, 2014. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003688125/Freedom Rides map. Courtesy of the Associated Press Official portraits of the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court: Justice Thurgood Marshall.1976. Photo. From Library of Congress Print & Photograph Collection Online Catalogue. Accessed January 22, 2014. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002721282/

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