Jarman Auditorium at Longwood University

Introduction

Constructed in 1951, Longwood University's auditorium was the site of a June 7, 1955, community meeting. About 1,250 Prince Edward County residents, the vast majority of whom were white, met to discuss what to do in response to the Supreme Court's ruling the previous month known as Brown II, which declared that school desegregation should occur "with all deliberate speed." The meeting resulted in the establishment of a foundation to fund a private segregated academy in the event that the courts ordered Prince Edward to desegregate, which occurred in 1959.

Photo: Longwood Archives

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