History of Charlottesville Desegregation

Charlottesville Educational Foundatioi~ 1nc~
                                                      POST OFFlCE BOX 1133
                                  CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA
                                              September 21, 1958
    To the Teaching and Supervisory Personnel
    of Lane High and Venable Schools~
         As you know~ the Charlottesville Educational Foundation
    and the Parents Committee for Emergency E~ucation are the two
    principal organizations formed for the purpose of operating
    substitute school programs in place of those previously of-
    fered by Venable School and Lane High School.  Both organi-
    zations have limited their plans to the period when the public
    schools are closed.  The Parents Committee will go out of
    existence entirely at the end of that period.  The Foundationls
    present program will terminate at the same time, but it will
    remain in existence in case of subsequent public school closings
    and also as a vehicle for those of its members who may later
    wish to organize a new program for private schools, if suffi-
    cient demand exists~  No member, employee or patron of the
    Foundation is committed to continue with it b~yond the time
    the public schools reopen.
         The Foundation has, from its inception, offered its
    facilities to any resident of Charlottesville without regard
    to his views on the many controversial asp~cts of the Present
    school problem.  Our entire policy has been based upon~the
    belief that all of us are entitled to the maximum degree of
    independence of thought and action and of freedom of choice
    compatible with civic order~  Our membership numbers over
    2,000 and our organization is operated by nineteen directors
    representing every section of Charlottesville and holding
    widely varying opinions concerning the moral and political
    aspects of the school problem.
         In view of the similarity of aims of this Foundation and
    the Parents Coumittee during the present emergency, many per-
    sons believed that the members of both organizations could
     and should overlook any personal differences concerning the
    political aspects of the school problem and the best methods
     to be followed in arriving at an ultimate solution, in order
     that wasteful ccmpetition might be eliminated and the mutual
     desires more quickly accomplished.  During the past weekend,
    representatives of both groups conferred informally several
     times.  The purpose of these informal contacts was to attempt
     to work out an agreement that the Foundation would assume
     full authority and responsibllity for establishing and
     operating emergency school facilities ~to replace Lane High
     School , and that the Parents Committee would do the same for
     Venable School.  At the time, it was understood that these 

   negotiations were to be strictly confidential.  By some means,
   however, the press learned of them and reported them widely.
   No harm can be done now, therefore, by revealing the fact that
   the conferences took place and the essential developments
  resulting from theme
        A sincere effort to effect such an agreement upon terms
  acceptable to the governing bodies of both organizations was
  made by the representatives who acted as emissaries~  The
   governing bodies had little difficulty in reaching agreement
   concerning some differences in plamed operational methods
   for the s6hools themselves, and it appeared that full agree-
  ment was virtually certain as soon as a joint public statement
  had been approved~  The representatives of the Foundation sub-
  mitted a suggested announcement which stated quite briefly
   and slmply that both organizations were willing to overlook
   the individual differences of opinion on the school issue in
   order to discharge quickly and efficiently their common es-
   sential purpose and to promote the welfare of the children
   1n this emergency.  The statement f~rther emphasized that the
  beliefs and policies of neither organization had changed.
       The governing body of the Parents Committee refused to
   join in that suggested statement and further indicated that
   it would not enter into the basic agreement unless the Four~
   dation would join in a joint public statement reiterating
   several of the previously published views held by the members
   of the Parents Committeefs governing body with regard to the
  proper solution of the entire school problem.  The Foundation~s
  representatives considered such a joint statement unnecessary
   and irrelevant to the proposed agreement.  More importantly,
   such a statement by the Foundation would have been a complete
   violation of our basic policy of freedom of thought, choice
   and action for all our members.  The Pare 5s Committee group
  has every right to its oplnions, individually and collectively~
  but that does not include the right to force those opinions
  upon any member of the Foundation.
       I have gone to considerable length to relate to you the
  history of the recent efforts to reach an agreement between
   these two groups because I believe that you, as teachers who
   are being requested to volunteer your services, have a stake
   in the matter which entitles you to know the facts.  I believe
   you were hoping for agreemente  We would have welcomed agree-
  ment but, under the existing circumstances, the Foundati~
  has no choice except to proceed with its plans to operat~
   substitute programs for both Venable School and Lane High

School until those schools may be legally reopened~
                                  Very truly yours,

                                  Charlottesville Educational
                                  Foundation

Charlottesville Educational Foundation
POST OFFICE BOX 1133
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA
September 20, 1958
To the Teachers and other Personnel
of Venable School:
Since my first letter to you stating our policy regarding
employment of teachers, school closing has become an aCtUalitY·
The Foundation’s plan for providing a substitute school program
for Venable School children has also become an actuality. We are
reglstering our pupils on Monday, September 22nd. Teacher and
classroom assignments will follow when the number of pupils is
known .
We have secured the use of one facility which will house
at least 150 chlldren in a single building, the interior of which
was designed and recently used for a school. A second large build-
~ng at our disposal will house approximately 250 Children Under 0~~
roof in eight or nine classrooms~ Both of these facilities include
ample outdoor space for recreational use and exercise by the
pupils. Other school locations are available in sufficient quan-
tity so that, under our program, it will be unnecessary to teach
any classes in private residential quarters even if every child
originally enrolled in Venable School registers with the Founda-
tion~ In all of our locations we will have at least two classrooms
under the same roof. Of course we cannot duPlicate the Venable
School facilities, but we are proud of the job that we have done in
. securlng physical facilities for our program~
Some of the Venable teachers have accepted our invitation to
operate our program and other qualified persons have volunteered
their services. We are grateful to these people~ It may be, how-
ever, that we will need more teacherse In that likely event, we
respectfully suggest that all Venable School teachers who are
willing to volunteer their services during the school closing emer-
gency do so in such a manner that each organization requiring their
services will receive its fair share of available teachers in pro-
portion to the number of children enrolled in its schools~
All teachers who offer their services to this foundation may
be assur~d that any extra expense incurred for transportation or
other purposes will be paid by the Foundation, and that, should it
become necessary to pay the teachers, the Foundation will guarantee
to its teachers the continuation of their respective salaries.
Very tr~y yours,
~~~resident
Charlottesville Educational Foundation