STRIKE! A Moton Museum Story

Strike!

Strike! A Moton Museum Short Story

Moton Muesuem Short Story

Hi! I’m Barbara Johns.

Th i s is my family. My parents’ names are Vi olet and Robert. I

a m the oldest of five . I have one sister Joan, and three

b rothers Ernest, Robert, and Roderi ck .

Violet

Robert

Joan Robert

Ernest Roderick

We s tay with ou r g randpa re n t s Robe r t and Mary C ron e r in Princ e Ed wa rd C ou n ty whi l e our pa re n t s a re a way for work. The re is al way s wo r k to be done on th e farm . We ha ve chic kens, pigs , and c ows !

My school is the Robert Russa Mot on Hi gh S chool. It is in Farmvill e ,

V i r ginia. Only Black students can attend m y school. It the l aw that st udents of a differe nt s kin color can’t go to the same scho ol. That ’s called segregation.

Our school is too small for all of the students. The county built three Tar Paper Shacks to give us more classrooms.

B ut the shacks are not sa fe It rains i ns i de the classrooms and they are ve r y co l d in the winter.

A lot of our family and community members asked for a new school.

The School Board promised to build one, but they never did.

L et ’s have a strike! But it has to be a secret

On April 23, 1951 we asked over 450 students to walk out of Moton and not return until the county built a new school for us.

We then asked attorneys Oliver Hill and Spottswood Robinson for more help. Rev. L. Francis Griffin said they could help us because they worked for the NAACP.

The attorneys helped us all the way to the Supreme Court. On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren said, “ a ” students can now go to school together!

SUPREME COURT

Author’s Note

Barbara Johns saw a community problem at sixteen and wanted to help. The student strike led to the 1951 Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County court case. This case was added to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Topeka, Kansas Supreme Court case.

Ms. Johns was forced to leave after the strike because she was in danger. She had to leave home because some people didn’t like that she wanted to get a new school built for the Black students in Farmville, VA. But because she was brave, Prince Edward County was part of the national Brown v. Board court case.

Glossary

Ci tizen - An Individual with cer tain rig ht s and duties under a governm e nt who, by birth or by choice.

Desegregation - Legal end of racia l segregation.

Integration - Full equality of pe opl e o f a ll races in the use of public facilities and services.

NAACP - National Association for t he A dvan cement of Colored People — a civil rights group that works for equality for all citizens.

S egregation - The separation of p e opl e , usually based on race or r e lig ion .

S trike - saying no to something as a protest.

“There wasn’t any fear. I just thought— this is your moment, seize it!”

-Barbara Johns