One of the most important lessons that one can gain from this local example is that conflict, though full of hardship, obstacles, and compromise, paves the way for future generations to experience a better quality of life and can open doors of opportunity that would’ve remained closed if the conflict did not occur and bring about positive social change. There are numerous examples of this occurring through reading the student accounts from the newspaper articles we discovered. One example that comes to mind is the story of five black students who walked into Stafford High School asking to be enrolled a year before Stafford actually began the process of desegregation. Their application for enrollment was denied because they missed a filing deadline.
Although they never got to step foot into a class at Stafford High School, they felt pride in what they did that day because they believed they got things started so others after them would finally get that chance, which they did. A year after they were denied Stafford Elementary School started desegregating and a year after that Stafford High School finally allowed black students to enroll. With their transfer to Stafford High, doors that were never available to them opened and led to positive impacts in the students’ lives. One example is Rosie May White Frenzley, who studied nursing at Stafford High and worked as a nurse at Mary Washington Hospital until 2009. According to the article, “’She would have never had that opportunity if she hadn’t gone to Stafford High,’ said White’s older brother, Frank White” [1].
Looking back to the story of Roland Moore, one of the students that came after him, Voland Nelson, attributed his opened door to Moore’s efforts. Nelson felt that “Moore hasn’t been given the credit he deserves for opening the door for those who followed him” [2]. Nelson had a hard time attending James Monroe High School at first and actually begged his mother to go back to Walker-Grant but then remembered how it must’ve felt for Moore to go through the halls and do it alone and he decided to stay. Although our society has a long way to go when it comes to equality, desegregation opened up doors for many influential African Americans that have brought positive contributions to the local government and society as a whole that they wouldn’t have been able to do beforehand. According to Larry Evans, “Had it not been for the Brown decision and the social change it precipitated, black lawyer Harvey Latney Jr. would not now be the commonwealth’s attorney of Caroline County, nor would James Holmes, a 17-year-old black senior at King George High School, have been appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point” [3].
The effects of the efforts made by all of these student pioneers through the process of desegregation are still evident today as students are able to get the opportunities that their grandparents and even parents could only dream of. In recent years, the city of Fredericksburg and surrounding counties in the area have started efforts to bring this history to light and to remember the history of those who came before them. While some projects have been very successful in allowing the present generations a glimpse into the past, other projects have been met with conflict as not all in these counties agree with how to remember this period of history. One example of conflict surrounding remembering desegregation can be seen in King George County and Ralph Bunche High School.
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Works Cited:
[1] Dyson, C. (2010, September 7). Stafford Desegregation Pioneers Remembered. The Free Lance Star.
[2] Zitz, M. (2003, January 26). Changing Times: Roland Moore Broke the Color Barrier at James Monroe High School in 1962. The Free Lance Star.
[3] Evans, L. (1979, May 17). Brown Plus 25: A ‘Long Way’ Still to Go. The Free Lance Star.
O’Halloran, T. J. (n.d.). [School integration, Barnard School, Washington, D.C., 1955.]. Retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Integration.jpg