Interview with Louis T. Rader

Copy the text below to embed this resource

Trouble with playback? Let us know.
Date
2006 (Creation date: 1987-10-25)
Main contributors
Elwood, William A; Kulish, Mykola
Summary
Part one. Historian William H. Harbaugh describes the irony of John W. Davis defending the separate but equal doctrine in Brown v. the Board of Education and explains why Davis took the case as its appellate lawyer. Harbaugh also comments on Thurgood Marshall's opinion of Davis. At 9:20 interview with engineer and business professor Louis T. Rader begins. Mr. Rader talks about his life and career, as well as his support of public education in the promotion of a successful business climate. During Massive Resistance, he protested closing Virginia public schools using the argument that businesses don't want to operate in a community with poor schooling. Part two. 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.
Contributors
Rader, Louis T (Interviewee); Elwood, William A; Kulish, Mykola
Subjects
African Americans -- Civil rights -- History; African Americans -- Education -- History; Discrimination in education -- Law and legislation -- United States; School integration -- United States -- History; Segregation in education -- United States -- History
Collection
William A. Elwood Civil Rights Lawyers Project
Unit
Robertson Media Center
Language
English
Related Items
Road to Brown : the untold story of "the man who killed Jim Crow."; William A. Elwood Civil Rights Lawyers Project
Notes
Source footage for the documentary, The road to Brown : the untold story of “the man who killed Jim Crow” (California Newsreel, 1990), about the life of Charles Hamilton Houston, his crusade for civil rights, and the events that led to "Brown vs. the Board of Education," the 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared the 'separate but equal' doctrine illegal.
Title supplied by cataloger.
Recorded at Charlottesville, Virginia.

Creation/Production Credits

Digitized by: Cincinnati, Ohio : The PPS Group, 2006.

Access Restrictions

This item is accessible by: the public.