Annotated Map of Bus Routes for George W. Watkins School
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In New Kent County, Virginia, prior to the Supreme Court's 1968 decision in Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, white students attended New Kent school and African American students attended George W. Watkins school. This map (along with another) was submitted in the District Court case. It provided evidence that black students in the county were being bused across the county to George W. Watkins school, on routes overlapping those of buses carrying white students to New Kent school.
At the time, schools in the county were, as in much of Virginia, still mostly segregated — this despite the 1954 landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that declared "separate but equal" unconstitutional. The 1955 decision in Brown II had placed responsibility for how to desegregate schools "with all deliberate speed" on local school authorities. New Kent County and many other school districts implemented "freedom of choice" plans. In theory, "freedom of choice" let students choose which school they wanted to attend. In reality, the plans kept districts mostly segregated. Under the district's plan, some African American students transferred to New Kent; but no white students enrolled in George W. Watkins, which taught 85% of black students in the district.
The court case had begun when Calvin Green (father of three and president of the New Kent County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and other parents filed suit against the school district in New Kent County, Virginia. They argued that the district's "freedom of choice" plan did not adequately integrate the school system. They complained that students were still being educated in inherently unequal separate facilities, and that the school district refused to implement a plan providing for the elimination of racial discrimination.
In District Court, the "freedom of choice" plan was upheld. The case was then brought to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which affirmed (agreed with) the lower court's decision (though it returned the case to the lower court for a more specific plan to desegregate teachers).
The case made it to the Supreme Court in 1968, which reversed the lower court rulings. In its unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court stated that the New Kent district was deliberately maintaining a segregated system, and that "freedom of choice" was not sufficient to bring about desegregation. It required the school district to come up with a new plan and for the District Court to oversee its implementation.
At the time, schools in the county were, as in much of Virginia, still mostly segregated — this despite the 1954 landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that declared "separate but equal" unconstitutional. The 1955 decision in Brown II had placed responsibility for how to desegregate schools "with all deliberate speed" on local school authorities. New Kent County and many other school districts implemented "freedom of choice" plans. In theory, "freedom of choice" let students choose which school they wanted to attend. In reality, the plans kept districts mostly segregated. Under the district's plan, some African American students transferred to New Kent; but no white students enrolled in George W. Watkins, which taught 85% of black students in the district.
The court case had begun when Calvin Green (father of three and president of the New Kent County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and other parents filed suit against the school district in New Kent County, Virginia. They argued that the district's "freedom of choice" plan did not adequately integrate the school system. They complained that students were still being educated in inherently unequal separate facilities, and that the school district refused to implement a plan providing for the elimination of racial discrimination.
In District Court, the "freedom of choice" plan was upheld. The case was then brought to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which affirmed (agreed with) the lower court's decision (though it returned the case to the lower court for a more specific plan to desegregate teachers).
The case made it to the Supreme Court in 1968, which reversed the lower court rulings. In its unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court stated that the New Kent district was deliberately maintaining a segregated system, and that "freedom of choice" was not sufficient to bring about desegregation. It required the school district to come up with a new plan and for the District Court to oversee its implementation.
This primary source comes from the Records of District Courts of the United States.
National Archives Identifier: 147869324
Full Citation: Annotated Map of Bus Routes for George W. Watkins School; Charles C. Green, et al v. New Kent County School Board of Education et al; Civil Case Files, 1938 - 12/31/1998; Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21; National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/map2-new-kent-county-bus-routes, April 24, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.