Item Details
Virginia General Assembly Holds Special Session on Integration in Richmond, Va.
- Digital Collection
The WSLS-TV News Film Collection, 1951-1971, comprises anchor scripts and 16mm news film created by Roanoke, Va., television station WSLS. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities funded the preservation and digitization of this collection.
View all items from WSLS-TV (Roanoke, VA) News Film Collection, 1951 to 1971
- Format
- Video; Online; Streaming Video
- Release Date
- 12/01/55
- Run Time
- 3 min., 27 sec.
- Sound
- Sound
- Color
- BW
- Abstract
- The Virginia General Assembly convenes for a special session at the State Capitol in Richmond, Va., to discuss the recommendations of the Virginia Commission on Public Education, or Gray Commission, related to integration. Virginia Governor Thomas B. Stanley calls for an amendment to the state constitution that would enable the state to allocate public funds to private schools. State Senator Garland Gray, chairman of the commission, expresses his certainty that the federal government's enforcement of integration will necessitate the closure of public schools in eastern Virginia. Gray appeals to the people of Virginia, asking for their support in the fight to preserve segregation. An unidentified dissenter argues that such efforts to avoid integration will inevitably be cut short by the Supreme Court, and that the actions proposed by the committee, if enacted, will serve only to deny educational opportunities to thousands of "less-favored people" of both races.
- Copyright Notice
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