Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(dhr.virginia.gov)
For Immediate Release
May 2025
Contact:
Ivy Tan
Department of Historic Resources
Marketing & Communications Manager
ivy.tan@dhr.virginia.gov
804-482-6445
—The marker highlights two cases in which a federal judge from Harrisonburg ordered Virginia schools to desegregate following the United States Supreme Court’s 1954 landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education—
—Text of marker reproduced below—
PLEASE NOTE: DHR creates markers not to “honor” their subjects but rather to educate and inform the public about a person, place, or event of regional, state, or national importance. In this regard, erected markers are not memorials.
RICHMOND – The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) announced that a state historical marker approved by the Commonwealth’s Board of Historic Resources was dedicated recalling the resilience of Virginia’s Black communities and a Harrisonburg federal judge in the face of Massive Resistance, a mid-1950s movement in Virginia and other Southern states to defy the Supreme Court’s ruling that mandated desegregation in the nation’s public schools.
The unveiling ceremony for the marker was held Saturday, May 17, starting at 10:00 a.m., at the marker’s location in front of the Federal Courthouse for the Western District of Virginia, located at 116 North Main Street in the City of Harrisonburg (22802). The city closed Main Street in front of the Federal Courthouse for the event.
The marker dedication program featured welcome remarks given by the Honorable Elizabeth Dillon, chief U.S. district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, followed by a presentation from representatives of the “Knocking Down Walls" project, Beau Dickenson, Owen Longacre, Pria Dua, and Elizabeth Kidd. The program included musical performances by Juan Andres Garcia and Devonte Garcia. The following guests also spoke at the dedication: Ken Rutherford, Ph.D., vice chair of the Virginia Board of Historic Resources; Alex Zan, a plaintiff of the Charlottesville 12 in the case of Allen v. Charlottesville; Betty Kilby, the lead plaintiff in Kilby v. Warren County; former Virginia Secretary of Education, the Honorable Anne Holton; and the Rev. Dr. Edward Scott, pastor of Allen Chapel AME in Staunton, Virginia. The marker’s unveiling was led by district judge John A. Paul, a nephew of the federal judge John Paul, and Ms. Dua, Ms. Kidd, Mrs. Kilby, and Mr. Zan. Following the ceremony, attendees were invited to a companion museum exhibition created by Rockingham County Public Schools (RCPS) students at the Rocktown History Museum, located at 382 High Street in Dayton (22821). The exhibition covered the broader history of public-school desegregation in Virginia and was presented in partnership with Rocktown History, the Moton Museum in Farmville, Kathy Swan, Ph.D., of C3 Teachers, and RCPS.
In July 1956, federal judge John Paul of Harrisonburg issued the first order to desegregate schools in Virginia by ruling in favor of the NAACP in a suit against Charlottesville City Public Schools. Paul’s order came two years after the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in the nation’s public schools was unconstitutional. Appeals in the Allen v. Charlottesville case went on for two years. Paul again sided with the NAACP in Kilby v. Warren County, a suit against Warren County Public Schools, in September 1958. In response to these decisions, J. Lindsay Almond, the governor of Virginia at the time, closed the schools that were slated to admit the Black student plaintiffs from the two cases. This was the first time that the state used its Massive Resistance laws to shutter public schools. In 1959, the Virginia Supreme Court and a special federal court declared the school closures unconstitutional.
The Virginia Board of Historic Resources, which is authorized to designate new state historical markers, approved the manufacture and installation of the Resilience Amid Resistance historical marker in September 2024. The marker’s sponsor, Rocktown History, covered its manufacturing cost. The dedication ceremony was jointly hosted by Rockingham County Public Schools, Rocktown History, and the City of Harrisonburg.
Virginia’s historical highway marker program began in 1927 with installation of the first markers along U.S. Route 1. It is considered the oldest such program in the nation. Currently there are more than 2,600 state markers, mostly maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, except in those localities outside of VDOT’s authority.
Full Text of Marker:
Resilience Amid Resistance
In July 1956, two years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, federal judge John Paul of Harrisonburg issued the first school desegregation order in VA, ruling for the NAACP in a suit against Charlottesville City Public Schools. In Sept. 1958, after two years of appeals in this case, Paul also sided with the NAACP in a suit against Warren Co. Public Schools. In response, Gov. J. Lindsay Almond closed the schools slated to admit the Black student plaintiffs in these two cases. This was the first use of the state’s Massive Resistance laws to shutter public schools. The VA Supreme Court and a special federal court declared the closures unconstitutional in Jan. 1959.
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