The Way Forward
The Class of 1969 reflects on the way forward today.
Film Credit: Media Collections, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
In this 1991 oral history, Dennis Gardner raises concerns that Black students are losing their identities in the integrated schools and are not getting the attention and support that they received from Black teachers during the years of segregation. Members of the Class of 1969 raised similar concerns twenty years later.
Source: Class of 1969 Oral History. March 12, 2022. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection.
Willis Potter recalls never having a chance to reflect on what went right and what went wrong with integration until their class came together to share their stories.
Source: Class of 1969 Oral History. March 12, 2022. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection.
Floyd Morning explains how he used the bitterness from these experiences of integration as a catalyst to make him a better person.
Source: Class of 1969 Oral History. March 12, 2022. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection.
Troy Roots discusses young Black men’s complex relationship with the education system and the need for a retrained culture to aid all students.
Source: Class of 1969 Oral History. March 12, 2022. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection.
Annette (Bonds) Washington describes working as a teacher’s aide at Matthew Whaley Elementary School and seeing the needs that continue in the community today.
Source: Class of 1969 Oral History. March 12, 2022. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection.
Floyd Morning insists that coming together as a team makes you unstoppable and what is most important is to do the right thing.
Source: Class of 1969 Oral History. March 12, 2022. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection.
Mary (Bartlett) Ashlock describes instilling in her children the need to go to college.
Source: Peggy Randall, February 19, 2021. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection.
Peggy (Clemons) Randall reflects on the great gains to be made if we can truly understand and learn from everyone's history in our communities.
Source: Class of 1969 Oral History. March 12, 2022. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection.
Floyd Morning reflects that we have been too passive and we need to step up to the table to shape the future.
Banner image: Cynthia Druitt, Peggy Clemens Randall, Charlene Hundley Lewis, Iris Judkins
Courtesy: Troy D. Roots
Works Referenced in Exhibit
Anderson, Maria. 1969. "James Blair Problems." The Virginia Gazette. May 2, Page 2A.
Bell, M.H., Superintendent of Schools, Williamsburg-James City County. 1967, Letter to Parents on Freedom-of-Choice. March 4. William & Mary Special Collections Research Center.
Brown, James. 2023. Oral History, collected by Breyonna Rock. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection. August 9.
Buchanan, Dr. Camilla. 2019. Oral History. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection. August 18.
Centolanza, Brandy. 2017. With roots in America’s earliest free back settlement, resident retraces history with purpose. WYDaily, March 5.
Class of 1969 Oral History, including narrators Mary (Bartlett) Ashlock, Cynthia Druitt, Rev. Dr. Ronald Ellis, Dale (Marsh) Jackson, Mary Lassiter, Floyd Morning, Maria (Tabb) Norman, Willis Potter, Troy D. Roots, Joel Smith, and Annette (Bonds) Washington. 2022. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection. March 12.
Curtis, Katherine. 1991. Oral history in The Freedom Years: Williamsburg remembers the decade of change. Oral history night. Media Collections, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Crudup, Phyllis. 2023. Oral History, collected by Amy Quark. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection. August 2.
Daily Press. 1968. "Blair Termed Quiet As Parents Patrol after disturbances." December 14,
Daily Press. 1968. "JCC Youth Charged with Cutting After Incident at Blair Ball Game." December 12.
Daily Press. 1968. "Negro Parents call for Police Withdrawal: Suggest Parents Patrol." December 13.
Daily Press. 1968. "No disturbances are reported at Blair High." December 19.
Gardner, Dennis. 1991. Oral history in The Freedom Years: Williamsburg remembers the decade of change. Oral history night. Media Collections, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Gardner, Dennis. 2007. Oral history conducted by Ryan Clark. Williamsburg Documentary Project Collection, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries. August 8.
Gee, Madeline. 1991. Oral history in The Freedom Years: Williamsburg remembers the decade of change. Oral history night. Media Collections, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Kinnier, John T. 1969. "100 at Blair Stage Sit-in and Boycott." The Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 26.
Lee, Dianne. 2023. Personal communication to Amy Quark. August 9.
McKinnon, Ryan. 2016. Former students and teachers want Rawls Byrd Elementary renamed. Daily Press. March 29.
Pope, Ruth. 1991. Oral history in The Freedom Years: Williamsburg remembers the decade of change. Oral history night. Media Collections, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Randall, Peggy Diane (Clemons). 2021. Oral history, collected by Jacqueline Bridgeforth Williams. The Village Initiative Oral History Collection. February 19.
Richmond Times-Dispatch. 1968. "Police Maintain James Blair Patrol." December 13. Page 21.
Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Behring Center. 2023 (accessed). "Separate is Not Equal: Brown vs. Board of Education." https://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/index.html
Virginia Gazette. 1955. "Williamsburg City Council Requests Continuance of School Segregation." June 24, Section 2, Page 9.
Virginia Gazette. 1968. "School Boards Adopt Assignment Plan. March 8. Page 3-A.
Virginia Gazette. 1968. "Altercation Rocks James Blair High." December 13.
Virginia Gazette. 1968. "Brown Statement: To Parents on Early Problems at Berkeley." September 20. Pg.11-A.
Virginia Gazette. 1969. "James Blair Problems." May 2.
Virginia Gazette. 1969. Letters to the Editor. June 13. Page 2-A.
Virginia Museum of History and Culture. 2023. Civil Rights Movement in Virginia. Accessed July 2023: https://virginiahistory.org/learn/historical-book/civil-rights-movement-virginia