5 CHAPTER ONE Many African-American schools in the early 1950s did not have much space or many supplies Barbara Johns was a junior at the all African-American Moton High School in Farmville Virginia in 1951 Barbara’s school had only a wood stove for heat The roof leaked The school had few books and only a handful of school buses The students had no athletic fields or lockers Some classes were held in tar paper shacks A LANDMARK CASE BEGINS
CIVIL RIGHTS VOICES Barbara Johns It was time that Negroes were treated equally with whites time that they had a decent school time for the students themselves to do something about it There wasn’t any fear I just thought this is your moment Seize it Barbara Johns was only 16 years old when she led the school walkout to protest unequal education for African Americans There were consequences for her efforts Her house was burned and a cross was lit on fire on the school grounds When her life was threatened her parents sent her to live in Alabama She later graduated from college and became a librarian 6 Fixing Problems The parent-teacher association of Moton High School the most powerful local African-American organization met with the school board many times They asked for school improvements but nothing changed Finally in 1951 Barbara and other student leaders including John A Stokes took matters into their own hands They tricked the principal into leaving the building They knew he would try to stop their protest Barbara faked
B a r b a r a s s i s t e r t h a n k s V i r g i n i a s g o v e r n o r a f t e r a portrait of Barbara was unveiled at the Virginia State Capitol in 2010 a memo from the principal asking that the teachers bring all of their classes to an assembly All 450 students gathered in the auditorium Barbara took the stage and asked the teachers to leave the auditorium She made a speech calling for the students to join her in a strike or a walkout The 7
