SEGREGATION, DESEGREGATION, RE-SEGREGATION:
LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT EQUITY IN OUR SCHOOLS
Dr. Peter Wallenstein teaches in the History Department at Virginia Tech. Before coming to Blacksburg in 1983, he taught at Sarah Lawrence College in New
York, at the University of Toronto in Canada, and on military bases in Japan, Korea, and Guam for the University of Maryland. His 200 publications include
prize-winning essays in Southern history; a book on public policy in nineteenth-century Georgia; and a book on the history of Virginia Tech. His major research
project these days is on the African-American students who desegregated institutions of higher education in the 1950s and 1960s across the South.
Andrew Lewis is a fellow at the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University. He is completing a study of race, education, and citizenship in Virginia since
1945 which considers how the rise of education as the most important political issue in Virginia during the 1940s shaped desegregation battles of the 1950s and
1960s. For the previous two years, he was scholar-in-residence at the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African and Afro-American Studies at the University of
Virginia where he is also a graduate student in American History. He has won fellowships from the Spencer Foundation for education research and the Virginia
Historical Society. Mr. Lewis has edited a textbook on civil rights with Julian Bond as well as collection of essays with Mathew Lassiter. Tonight’s talk comes
from this collection of essays which looks at the major figures and events of massive resistance in the 1950s.
Dr. E. Wayne Harris became the Superintendent of the Roanoke City Schools on July 1, 1993 after serving 25 years with the Fairfax, Virginia County School
System. A native of Salem, Virginia, he received his undergraduate degree from Shepherd College in West Virginia. In 1995, he received his doctorate degree
from the Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.
Dr. Harris has published in national education magazines and received awards for civic and educational organizations including the Region VI Superintendent of
the Year, the Fitz Turner Award from the Virginia Education Association, the Human Rights Award, Distinguished Administrator of the Year, and the Educator
of the Year award. In 1998, he was inducted into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
Working with the staff and community, Dr. Harris has initiated the Partners for SUCCESS program recognized nationally by USA Today. He has placed a
major thrust on rigorous academic preparation and study, and use of technology so all graduates are prepared to succeed. He continues to challenge faculty,
staff, and students to reach higher standards so that all will realize their fullest potential.
Posted: October 11, 1999
By The
Educational Policy Institute of Virginia Tech
sjanosik@vt.edu