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• A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL <br />OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA <br />WHEREAS, on May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled against <br />segregated schools in the United States with the landmark Brown v. Board of Education <br />decision; and; <br />WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Virginia implemented a strategy of <br />"Massive Resistance" to public school integration between 1954 and 1959; and <br />WHEREAS, on July 26, 1955, the parents of African-American students in <br />Charlottesville petitioned the school system to transfer their children to white schools, <br />and were denied, and; <br />WHEREAS, on May 6, 1956, the parents, assisted by the Charlottesville Branch <br />of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), sued the <br />school board to admit their children, and; <br />WHEREAS, on August 6, 1956, U.S. District Court Judge John Paul ruled in <br />Allen v. School Board of the City of Charlottesville that the school system must integrate <br />Lane High School and Venable Elementary School, and; <br />• WHEREAS, on September 19, 1958, in an effort to prevent the desegregation of <br />the Charlottesville School System, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia <br />ordered the closing of Lane and Venable, and; <br />WHEREAS, Lane and Venable were shut down for the period of five months and <br />the Charlottesville School System remained segregated for the remainder of that year, <br />and; <br />WHEREAS, on September 5, 1959, Judge Paul ordered the immediate transfer of <br />twelve African-American students, three to Lane High School and nine to Venable <br />Elementary, and; <br />WHEREAS, on September 8, 1959, those twelve students bravely integrated the <br />Charlottesville School System, and; <br />WHEREAS, the struggle for equality in the Charlottesville Public School System <br />and our City forever affected those involved; <br />NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the undersigned members <br />of the Charlottesville City Council, praise the courage displayed by the twelve students <br />and their families, the work of the NAACP and others who supported the integration of <br />our school system; believe that the closing of Lane and Venable in our City from 1958 to <br />1959 was a disgraceful act; and mournfor the pain that was caused before, during and <br />• after the integration of our schools; and for all the wounds, known and unknown, we do <br />