Barbara Rose Johns
Encyclopedia
Barbara Rose Johns was a young American civil rights hero who in 1951, at the age of 16, campaigned for the integration of Moton High School in Farmville
, Prince Edward County
, Virginia
. After she appealed to the NAACP for legal representation, her suit became part of the historic 1954 United States Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education
, in which the court ruled against "separate but equal" education and ended school segregation. In response to the Brown Decision, Prince Edward County
ultimately closed its public schools from 1959 to 1964 as part of "Massive Resistance
."
, New York
in 1935. Her family had roots in Prince Edward County
, Virginia
, where they returned to live in Darlington Heights. Her mother worked in Washington D.C. for the U.S. Navy, and her father operated the farm where the family resided. The eldest of five children, Barbara had a younger sister, Joan Johns Cobbs, and three younger brothers: Ernest; Roderick, who served in Vietnam as a dog handler and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart
; and Robert.
Barbara’s uncle was the prominent Reverend Vernon Johns
, an outspoken activist for civil rights
. When he visited Barbara and her family, he would ask the children questions about black history. This motivated Barbara and her siblings to study black history, and Barbara, as well as her siblings, was influenced by Reverend Johns and his outspoken nature.
public schools. In 1951, 16 year-old Barbara Johns was a junior at the all-black Moton High School
in Farmville
. Across town was another school, open exclusively to white students. The resources available to each school, and the quality of the facilities, were unequal. Barbara’s school was designed and built to hold roughly 200 students, though by 1951 enrollment was twice that number. According to a first-person account from Barbara’s sister, Joan:
shacks to handle the overflow of students. Frustrated with the separate and unequal facilities, Barbara decided to take action.
While the strike was being carried out, Barbara and other fellow students sought legal counsel from the NAACP. The NAACP agreed to assist as long as the suit would be for an integrated
school system, and not just equal facilities. A month later, the NAACP filed Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
in federal court
. The court upheld segregation in Prince Edward County, and the NAACP appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Davis v. Prince Edward County, along with four others cases, became part of the case Brown v. Board of Education
. As Davis was the only case in Brown initiated by student protest, it is seen by some as the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement
.
, Alabama
to live with her uncle. After the strike, Barbara lived out the rest of her life in relative peace. She married Reverend William Powell and raised five children. Her commitment to education moved her to become a librarian
. She served in this profession until her death in 1991.
-winning Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63, the author Taylor Branch
remarks upon Davis v. Prince Edward:
Farmville, Virginia
Farmville is a town in Prince Edward and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 6,845 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County....
, Prince Edward County
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Prince Edward County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,368. Its county seat is Farmville.-Formation and County Seats:...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. After she appealed to the NAACP for legal representation, her suit became part of the historic 1954 United States Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
, in which the court ruled against "separate but equal" education and ended school segregation. In response to the Brown Decision, Prince Edward County
Prince Edward County
Prince Edward County may refer to:* Prince Edward County, Virginia, United States* Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada...
ultimately closed its public schools from 1959 to 1964 as part of "Massive Resistance
Massive resistance
Massive resistance was a policy declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. on February 24, 1956, to unite other white politicians and leaders in Virginia in a campaign of new state laws and policies to prevent public school desegregation after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision...
."
Early life
Barbara Rose Johns was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1935. Her family had roots in Prince Edward County
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Prince Edward County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,368. Its county seat is Farmville.-Formation and County Seats:...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, where they returned to live in Darlington Heights. Her mother worked in Washington D.C. for the U.S. Navy, and her father operated the farm where the family resided. The eldest of five children, Barbara had a younger sister, Joan Johns Cobbs, and three younger brothers: Ernest; Roderick, who served in Vietnam as a dog handler and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
; and Robert.
Barbara’s uncle was the prominent Reverend Vernon Johns
Vernon Johns
Vernon Johns was an American minister and civil rights leader who was active in the struggle for civil rights for African Americans from the 1920s....
, an outspoken activist for civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
. When he visited Barbara and her family, he would ask the children questions about black history. This motivated Barbara and her siblings to study black history, and Barbara, as well as her siblings, was influenced by Reverend Johns and his outspoken nature.
Moton High School
While living in Prince Edward County, Barbara was educated in segregatedRacial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
public schools. In 1951, 16 year-old Barbara Johns was a junior at the all-black Moton High School
Robert Russa Moton Museum
Robert Russa Moton Museum in the town of Farmville in Prince Edward County, Virginia is a museum which serves as a center for the study of civil rights in education.It is housed in the former R. R...
in Farmville
Farmville, Virginia
Farmville is a town in Prince Edward and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 6,845 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County....
. Across town was another school, open exclusively to white students. The resources available to each school, and the quality of the facilities, were unequal. Barbara’s school was designed and built to hold roughly 200 students, though by 1951 enrollment was twice that number. According to a first-person account from Barbara’s sister, Joan:
In winter the school was very cold. And a lot of times we had to put on our jackets. Now, the students that sat closest to the wood stove were very warm and the ones who sat farthest away were very cold. And I remember being cold a lot of times and sitting in the classroom with my jacket on. When it rained, we would get water through the ceiling. So there were lots of pails sitting around the classroom. And sometimes we had to raise our umbrellas to keep the water off our heads. It was a very difficult setting for trying to learn.Parents of the black students appealed to the all-white school board to provide a larger and properly equipped facility. As a stopgap measure, the board erected several tar paper
Tar paper
Tar paper is a heavy-duty paper used in construction. Tar paper is made by impregnating paper with tar, producing a waterproof material useful for roof construction. It can be distinguished from Roofing felt:Asphalt-saturated felt. Roofing felt has been in use for over a hundred years...
shacks to handle the overflow of students. Frustrated with the separate and unequal facilities, Barbara decided to take action.
Organizing the strike and filing suit
Barbara met with several fellow classmates and they all agreed to help organize a student strike. On April 23 the plan Barbara initiated was put into action. The principal of the school was tricked into leaving by being told that some students were downtown causing trouble. While the principal was away, Barbara Johns forged a memo from that principal telling the teachers to bring their classes to a special assembly. The teachers brought their classes and were surprised to find Barbara Johns standing on the stage. She delivered a speech revealing her plans for a student strike in protest of the unequal conditions of the black and white schools. The students agreed to participate, and on that day they marched down to the county courthouse to make officials aware of the large difference in quality between the white and black schools.While the strike was being carried out, Barbara and other fellow students sought legal counsel from the NAACP. The NAACP agreed to assist as long as the suit would be for an integrated
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
school system, and not just equal facilities. A month later, the NAACP filed Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County was one of the five cases combined into Brown v. Board of Education, the famous case in which the U.S. Supreme Court, in 1954, officially overturned racial segregation in U.S. public schools...
in federal court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
. The court upheld segregation in Prince Edward County, and the NAACP appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Davis v. Prince Edward County, along with four others cases, became part of the case Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
. As Davis was the only case in Brown initiated by student protest, it is seen by some as the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
.
After the strike
Shortly after the strike, Barbara’s parents, fearing for her safety, sent her to MontgomeryMontgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
to live with her uncle. After the strike, Barbara lived out the rest of her life in relative peace. She married Reverend William Powell and raised five children. Her commitment to education moved her to become a librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
. She served in this profession until her death in 1991.
Activist legacy
Barbara Johns' contribution to civil rights is often overlooked because she was a teenager when she made a difference. In the Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63, the author Taylor Branch
Taylor Branch
Taylor Branch is an American author and historian best known for his award-winning trilogy of books chronicling the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and some of the history of the American civil rights movement...
remarks upon Davis v. Prince Edward:
The case remained muffled in white consciousness, and the schoolchild origins of the lawsuit were lost as well on nearly all Negroes outside Prince Edward County. ... The idea that non-adults of any race might play a leading role in political events had simply failed to register on anyone — except perhaps the Klansmen who burned a cross in the Johns' yard one night, and even then people thought their target might not have been Barbara but her notorious firebrand uncle.
Additional reading
- John A. Stokes with Lois Wolfe, Students on Strike: Jim Crown, Civil Rights, 'Brown,' and Me, A Memoir, Washington, DC: National Geographic Press, 2008
External links
- Jeffrey Zastow, "Who Was Barbara Johns?", Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition, January 2006
- Juan Williams, "Separate But Unequal: How a Student-Led Protest Helped Change the Nation", National Public Radio, 13 January 2004