Massive Resistance was a policy declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr., to unite other white Virginian politicians and leaders in taking action to prevent school desegregation after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954.
In 1956, the Virginia General Assembly passed a series of laws to implement massive resistance. One of these laws forbade any integrated schools from receiving state funds. Another of these laws established a three-member Pupil Placement Board that would determine which school a student would attend. Of course, the decision of these Boards was based almost entirely on race. Another facet of these laws was the creation of tuition grants which could be given to white students so they could attend a private school of their choice; again, in practice, this meant support of all-white schools that appeared as a response to forced integration (the "segregation academies.")
Later that year, the NAACP then filed lawsuits around the state in response to these laws in an attempt to force integration of Virginia schools.
By 1958, things had come to a head. Federal courts ordered schools in Warren County, Charlottesville, Norfolk and Arlington to integrate.
In response, Virginia Governor Lindsay Almond ordered the closings of Warren County High School, of two Charlottesville schools, Lane High School and Venable Elementary School and of six schools in Norfolk. While Warren County and Charlottesville were able to cobble together education for their students, Norfolk being a larger school system had a harder time, and one-third of the affected students did not attend any school. Several white parents in Norfolk began agitating against the schools remaining closed.
In January 1959, the Virginia Supreme Court declared most of the General Assembly massive resistance laws unconstitutional, ending massive resistance at the state level. Schools that had been closed were re-opened in February. In 1960, the original three members of the Pupil Placement Board resigned, and the Board was ended by the General Assembly in 1966.
When Warren County High School re-opened, it was ironically as an all-black school as no white students attended. Their parents had opted instead to send their children to the John S. Mosby Academy, one of many "segregation academies" opened throughout the state as part of the massive resistance plan. Gradually over the course of the 1960s, white students gradually returned to Warren County High School and the Mosby Academy was closed, eventually becoming the county's middle school.
Lane High School and Venable Elementary School also re-opened in February 1959.
When faced with an order to integrate, Prince Edward County closed its entire school system in September 1959 rather than integrate. The county kept its entire school system closed until 1964. White students were able to get educated at the Prince Edward Academy, which operated as the de facto school system, enrolling K-12 students at a number of facilities throughout the county. Even after the re-opening of the public schools, the Academy remained segregated, losing its tax-exempt status in 1978. In 1986, it accepted black students. Today it is known as the J.B. Fuqua School.
Other counties, such as Surry County chose to close only their white schools. White students attended the Surry Academy, and blacks continued to attend the public schools. Other segregation academies that were formed included the Amelia Academy, Isle of Wight Academy and York Academy.
Counties in the western part of the state where there were fewer blacks integrated without largely without incident in the early 1960s. Notably, there were no incidents in Virginia which required National Guard intervention.
In 1968, the slow pace of integration was frustrating the federal courts. In New Kent County, most black students voluntarily chose to attend the George W. Watkins School instead of New Kent High School. However, Calvin Green, a black parent, sued the county school system to force a more radical desegregation scheme. In its decision, the U.S. Supreme Court laid the ground for busing plans that caused controversy in Virginia, but more famously in Boston.
The Richmond City Schools had attempted various schemes to avoid integration such as dual attendance zones and the "Freedom of Choice" Plan, but in 1970, District Court Judge Robert Merhige, Jr., ordered a busing scheme established to integrate the city schools. The city attempted to annex parts of neighboring Chesterfield County to stem the white flight that was occurring, but thousands of white students did not go to the city's schools. A merger of Richmond City, Chesterfield County and Henrico County public schools was proposed and approved by Judge Merhige but the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned this decision, barring most busing schemes that made students cross county/city boundaries. By 1986, Judge Merhige approved a system of neighborhood schools, ending Virginia's legal struggles with segregation.
In 1970, the Norfolk City Schools were also subjected to a busing scheme.
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