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Students view documentary chronicling struggle for equal education in Warren
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CORRECTION: In a story published Thursday, a former Warren County High School student Mary Coleman Washington was misidentified.
By M.K. Luther -- mkluther@nvdaily.com
FRONT ROYAL -- Local students had the opportunity Wednesday to learn about Warren County's role in the battle for equal education.
Students from both Skyline and Warren County high schools' government and history classes met in the current Warren County High School auditorium and were among the first to view "Locked Out: The Fall of Massive Resistance," a documentary produced by the University of Virginia Center for Politics and PBS.
The documentary follows the course of events more than 50 years ago, when state leaders began to shut down public schools rather than be forced to comply with court-ordered integration.
Warren County High School, then on Luray Avenue, served as the county's only high school at the time. In September 1959, a small group of black students enrolled in the high school, officially ending segregated education in the county. The county's white students boycotted the school, enrolling instead in area private schools or newly created "segregation academies."
On Wednesday, current county high school students were joined by some of those first black students to matriculate at Warren County High School, including Joyce Henderson Banks, Rebecca Fletcher Johnson, Gwen Baltimore Smith, Anne Rhodes Baltimore, Mary Holman Washington and the Rev. James M. Kilby.
"You are and will be remembered here in Warren County forever," Warren County High School Principal Ernestine Jordan told the guests. "Your history is and will be forever, our history," Jordan said.
The documentary highlights Warren County's role in the Massive Resistance movement, detailing the personal accounts of the black students who changed history simply by attending school.
Ken Stroupe Jr., chief of staff at the Center for Politics, said the stories of those directly involved in the quest for equal education will provide an inspiration to today's students.
"You will agree with me that if you are in search of a hero, they are standing right here in front of you," Stroupe said.
Kilby, whose father became a figure in the civil rights movement when he filed suit so his children could attend the county's public school, said the documentary will seal the original black students' rightful place in history.
"I am happy and proud," Kilby said, "to open the doors for all children and all students of all colors to be able to go to Warren County High School."
Kilby said that history should also note that the students were led and supported by their parents in the quest for equal education, and the parents' story should also be told.
"The history of my father, of the parents and the students are all connected," Kilby said.
Baltimore, who was the only senior at Warren County High School that first year, and did not have an official graduation exercise or senior prom, said that participating in the documentary allowed her to take pride in her final achievement.
"I think the biggest thing for me was to finally say that I was one of the 21 that came out of Warren County High School," Baltimore said.
Smith, another of the original black students, told the audience that education is and was essential to continued progress.
"The more informed you are, the better person you are," Smith said.
My thanks to the producers of this excellent documentary and to the students who so bravely made this happen.
I would suggest that this be required viewing for all students.
"The more informed you are, the better person you are," Smith said.
I would like to thank everyone involved, especially Mr. Kilby, for devoting much of their lives to this cause. I also commend the students for participating in this painful recollection of an event which, sadly, is still a topic of debate locally.
It was September 1958 not 1959
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