Farmville’s civil rights demonstrations began late in July 1963. The protesters demanded an end to racial segregation in public facilities and the reopening of the County’s public schools, closed since 1959 to avoid integration. Rev. L. Francis Griffin, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmville, organized and led the protests.
Blacks comprised about 40% of the population in 1963. Still, there are no Afro-Americans in public office, no Black police officers, firefighters, managers or clerks on public payroll Unrest in Farmville began in late July and lasted through September. The protests, led by Rev. L Francis Griffin, drew attention to the discriminatory practices of local businesses and churches, as well as the County’s four-year-long closure of public schools in defiance of a court order. There were protests every day and every week, including sit-ins at segregated lunch counters, picketing segregated businesses, and marches blocking traffic.
County officials in Prince Edward County and Farmville, the county seat, refuse to levy taxes to operate the schools rather than follow federal court orders requiring school desegregation. Since June 1959, public schools in Prince Edward County and Farmville, the county seat, closed. Though the state government had abandoned its policy of Massive Resistance, Prince Edward County remained staunch and became the nation’s only place without public education. The NAACP petitioned the federal judiciary in Allen v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, and later Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County to open the schools, but the process moved slowly. African Americans in Prince Edward County faced additional obstacles, such as discriminatory hiring practices and de facto and de jure racial segregation. Griffin launched a two-month direct action campaign on Main Street, including picketing, sit-ins, kneel-ins, and economic boycotts.
On September 23, 1963, the protests ended with the formation of the Prince Edward Free School Association. This nonprofit organization established and maintained an integrated school system in Prince Edward County until 1964 when the US Supreme Court ordered the County to reopen its public schools. Farmersville’s protests didn’t end racial discrimination, but they put the community on a path to change. Here are some photos from the protest.
