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121. Interview with Florence Coleman Bryant (40:11)

Date:
2006
Main contributors:
Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
Summary:
Part one. Drewary Brown talks about social and economic life in Charlottesville during the civil rights era and in 1987. Mr. Brown walks down the Mall in Charlottesville. At 12:37, interview with Florence Bryant in front of Jefferson School in Charlottesville. Ms. Bryant discusses the work of the NAACP on behalf of teachers. She mentions J. Rupert Picott, Aline Black, and Melvin Austin as instrumental in helping African American teachers get equal pay in Virginia in 1940. See also reports her involvement in desegregating schools in Charlottesville. She regards Charlottesville as a leader in desegregation. Part two. Ms. Bryant advocates the teaching of African American history. She tells about her own life. At 7:49 interview with Mr. Williams begins. Mr. Williams discusses the historical importance of the Charlottesville street on which he stands during the interview. He offers his views on public housing and his promotion of scattered housing for low income families.

122. Interview with Frances Brand (59:20)

Date:
2006
Main contributors:
Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
Summary:
Part one. Footage of Charlottesville house at 407 Ridge Street. At 1:00, interview with Frances Brand in her art gallery in Charlottesville. She describes her series of paintings, called "Firsts," as a tribute to important individuals within the Charlottesville community, especially people she considered exemplars of civil rights advocacy. She remembers her subjects and their achievements. At 13:30, discussion with three Charlottesville city school board members. One, Henry Mitchell, was a part of the NAACP's 1956 lawsuit to desegregate Charlottesville schools. He describes the aftermath of the desegregation ruling and the commonwealth's policy of Massive Resistance. Part two. Three members of the Charlottesville city school board, including Grace Tinsley, Henry Mitchell, and Clifford Bennett, discuss present day (1987) problems in Charlottesville city schools, especially concerning African American student self-image. At 15:10, footage of paintings of Charlottesville notables by Frances Brand. Part three. Grace Tinsley, Henry Mitchell, and Clifford Bennett recall the history of the Charlottesville city school board and the changes in race relations over the years.

123. Interview with Fred Gray (1:21:52)

Date:
2006
Main contributors:
Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
Summary:
Part one. Footage of exteriors of houses (and William Elwood) until 8:55. Then civil rights attorney Fred Gray discusses Alabama lawyers, Arthur Shores, and becaming a lawyer in order to try civil rights cases. Gray had to go to law school outside of Alabama as African American schools in Alabama didn't offer what he wanted. He taught himself Alabama state law while in Ohio. Gray describes developing strategies for his civil rights cases. He also talks about the Montgomery bus boycott. Part two. Mr. Gray recalls his 1954 defense of an African American juvenile arrested on Montgomery bus (before the Rosa Parks arrest). Gray talked to Rosa the day before she was arrested and represented her in court. Mr. Gray remarks that Montgomery bus cases like Browder v. Gayle were the first major application of Brown's meaning. Gray describes the difficulty of registering African American voters because registrars would go missing, even after the courts ordered them to register African Americans. To avoid the impact of African American voters, Alabama redrew Tuskegee boundaries to include only white people. Mr. Gray explains Tuskegee gerrymandering and Gomillion v. Lightfoot. Part three. Mr. Gray goes over details of Gomillion v. Lightfoot, recalls how Tuskegee Institute was no longer within the city of Tuskegee because of the new boundaries. Mr. Gray discusses Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, a school discrimination case that managed to include all public schooling in Alabama. Gray explains how litigating the rights of students in order to end segregation also meant dealing with the rights of teachers. Although the Alabama African American teachers associations weren't part of the original suit, they joined the case. Part four. Mr. Gray acknowledges the Bicentennial of the Constitution in 1987, and he discusses how the Constitution was not written to include African Americans. It is the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments and various civil rights acts that make the Constitution a living document for African Americans. Gray talks about the Tuskegee Civic Association and gives a lot of credit to local banker Allan Parker. Mr. Gray also covers rehearsing the Gomillion case and the immediate result of Gomillion.

124. Interview with Gardner L. Bishop (39:32)

Date:
2006
Main contributors:
Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
Summary:
Part one. Civil rights activist Gardner Bishop talks about meeting with Charles Hamilton Houston to get money for a lawyer to represent the Consolidated Parents Group. Houston sent a letter on the group's behalf to newspapers, then offered to take the case himself for free. Mr. Bishop talks about the case, how Houston became ill and asked James Nabrit to take over for him. Houston asked Mr. Bishop to visit him in the hospital just before he died. Mr. Bishop talks about hosting Consolidated Parents Group meetings in his basement. Part two. Mr. Bishop recalls meeting James Nabrit, who changed case to include enrolling black students in an all-white school. Mr. Bishop speaks of his amazement at the wonderful condition and facilities of the school in the white neighborhood. He also visited a school in a black neighborhood, and it was crowded and dilapidated. Mr. Bishop remembers visiting the Supreme Court to hear the Consolidated Parents Group case. He was one of the pallbearers for Houston.

125. Interview with Gardner L. Bishop (1:46:17)

Date:
2006
Main contributors:
Elwood, William A
Summary:
Part one. Civil rights activist Gardner Bishop talks about his involvement with the Consolidated Parents Group. He relates that the group first met to discuss the atrocious school facilities in African American neighborhoods. At his suggestion, the group embarked on a school strike to embarrass the white school board. Mr. Bishop relates the details of the school strike saga. Part two. Mr. Bishop introduced himself to Charles Houston in order to enlist his help. Houston became the group's lawyer, ended the strike, and led the group into legal action. As the Consolidated Parents Group became organized, they needed publicity for their legal cases, and so provoked arrests by swimming in a public pool. Mr. Bishop recounts Houston's unexpected illness. Part three. Mr. Bishop tells the story of being arrested for playing with his daughter in a white playground. He describes his philosophy of life. Part four. Mr. Bishop discusses his philosophy of life. He recalls Houston asking him how "common" African Americans felt about various issues. Bishop mentions Dorothy Porter and Herbert Reid. Part five. Mr. Bishop talks about James Nabrit helming the Consolidated Parents Group case after Houston's death. Mr. Bishop recalls provoking the case by escorting an African American student to a white junior high school. He also recounts the story of advising the US Secretary of the Interior about the swimming pool case. At 19:00, we see William Elwood at the Rotunda talking to the camera, not filmed in December.

126. Interview with Genna Rae McNeil (1:44:08)

Date:
2006
Main contributors:
Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
Summary:
Part one. Author Genna Rae McNeil offers insight on Charles Hamilton Houston's privileged upbringing, education, and early career. Houston served in the military during World War I, and the extreme discrimination therein inspired him to make civil rights his life's mission. McNeil covers Houston's experiences during the Red Summer of 1919, at Harvard Law School, and as a lawyer at his father's firm. Part two. McNeil describes Houston's belief that lawyers were social engineers with responsibility for improving society. She tells of Houston's professorship at Howard University Law School and his work to change the school from a night school to a traditional daytime degree program. Houston became involved with the NAACP and flirted with International Labor Defense, best known for publicizing the injustice of the Scottsboro case. Part three. Ms. McNeil talks about Houston's involvement with the International Labor Defense. Houston became the first paid lawyer for the NAACP, with the charge to direct a campaign against inequality in education and transportation. Houston crafted the legal strategy used to eliminate segregation. He understood that the justice system functioned in relation to its precedents. Ms. McNeil discusses Houston's travels in the South, especially his visits to rural African American schools. Houston made films of the differences between African American schools and white schools during his trips in order to document what "separate but equal" meant in the South. Part four. Ms. McNeil recounts Houston's involvement with African American railroad firemen and his contributions to activism in the fight for equality in the military, for fair employment practices, and for District of Columbia public schools. McNeil talks about the formation of the Consolidated Parents Group. Part five. Ms. McNeil emphasizes the importance of Houston's involvement in the Consolidated Parents Group. Houston fell ill and died while working with the CPG; he made arrangements for other lawyers to continue this work. McNeil offers her appraisal of Houston's philosophy of life and his commitment to principle. She gives her theory why Houston is not better known. Part six. McNeil continues her account of Houston's accomplishments, and she conjectures why we have forgotten about him.

127. Interview with George R. Ferguson (20:15)

Date:
2006
Main contributors:
Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
Summary:
Mr. Rader recalls his support of public schooling in Virginia during Massive Resistance in order to sustain economic development within the commonwealth. At 5:30, interview with George R. Ferguson begins. Mr. Ferguson recounts the lawsuit brought by the Charlottesville NAACP to desegregate schools immediately following the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. Court proceedings continued into 1958, when the judge assigned several black children to attend otherwise white schools in Charlottesville. The commonwealth then closed schools in Charlottesville under the policy of Massive Resistance. Mr. Ferguson describes how the Boatwright committee of the Virginia General Assembly harassed Charlottesville NAACP members.

128. Interview with George R. Ferguson (2:54:57)

Date:
2006
Main contributors:
Elwood, William A
Summary:
Part one. George Ferguson recalls his experiences in the aftermath of the Brown v. Board of Education decision as president of the Charlottesville NAACP, as plaintiff and witness in the local suit to admit African American students to public schools, and as a father and husband dealing with the effects of discrimination on his family. Ferguson first mentions the educational workshops in 1958 organized by the NAACP and June Shagaloff. He discusses events of 1955 when African American parents applied to have their children attend desegregated schools. His daughter Olivia and another student, John Martin, were assigned to Venable/Lane schools by Judge John Paul of the US District Court Fourth Circuit. Ferguson recounts intimidation and harassment of the NAACP by the Boatwright committee of Virginia's General Assembly through to 1960. He talks about the lawyers who represented the Charlottesville parents in their class action suit, Oliver Hill, Spotswood Robinson, and Samuel Tucker, and why the trial was held in Harrisonburg instead of Charlottesville. Part two. Mr. Ferguson tells of experiences with discrimination and harassment throughout his life and during the school desegregation case in Charlottesville. He briefly discusses race relations in 1985. On parts three and four, different camera angles.

129. Interview with H. Brandt "Brandy" Ayers (34:24)

Date:
2006
Main contributors:
Elwood, William A, Kulish, Mykola
Summary:
Part one. Journalist Brandy Ayers describes the Willie Brewster murder trial, which featured the shooting of indicted killer Damon Strange by Jimmy Glenn Knight in the courthouse during the grand jury hearing. He also discusses how the jury commission worked in Alabama. Part two. Mr. Ayers calls for a new style of politics wherein all factions come together for total mobilization. He believes that the American dream is not real for African Americans.

130. Interview with Herbert O. Reid (1:06:44)

Date:
2006
Main contributors:
Elwood, William A
Summary:
Part one. Civil rights attorney Herbert Reid recalls his childhood in Wilson, North Carolina, and his family. He remembers hearing Charles Houston speak at his high school. His parents were involved in the formation of an NAACP chapter in Wilson, and Walter White stayed at his house when he was a little boy. He mentions Roscoe Pound's influence on Houston, but he asserts that Houston formed his own ideas of the function of the law and the social order. At Howard Law School, students and faculty called these ideas the Houstonian school of jurisprudence. Part two. Mr. Reid arrived at Howard Law School in 1947, when the whole school was immersed in preparing civil rights cases. He says that the early planning and pleadings in the Brown v. Board of Education cases involved work by both students and faculty. Mr. Reid worked on Bolling v. Sharpe with James Nabrit. He also worked on covenant cases. Mr. Reid discusses his work on Hobson v. Hansen concerning equal facilities and disparate treatment in 1967. He also mentions Powell v. McCormack. Part three. Mr. Reid talks about his student Governor Douglas Wilder and his client Mayor Marion Barry. He talks about his involvement with the Consolidated Parents Group in DC. Mr. Reid believes that enforcing equal rights helps our democracy become accepted overseas. He also states that the effects of deprivation during the separate but equal era continue to plague the African American community.