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Item description
This circa 1958 speech by Greensboro City Schools Superintendent Benjamin L. Smith details school desegregation in Greensboro, North Carolina. Smith writes about the initial changes the Greensboro school board made to their policies following Brown v. Board of Education, including holding joint meetings with African American school administrators and listing schools alphabetically rather than by race. He explains the research and discussions that went into learning about desegregation, and details events in Greensboro that fostered better race relations, including allowing Dudley High School students to use the Greensboro Senior High gymnasium. He goes on to discuss the enrollment of six African American students at two previously all-white schools in 1957, and recalls incidents of protest and violence during the school year. Smith concludes the essay with reasons he feels Greensboro was able to desegregate schools.
