Spring 2012
Demolition of George Wythe High School, 1981
School Integration & White Flight in Richmond
In this project, students focused their research on the integration of George Wythe High School, a historically white and prestigious high school that was integrated as a part of the 1970-1971 busing plan. As white flight took place in Richmond, Wythe quickly became overwhelmingly Black and now has almost a 100% minority enrollment. After delving into archival resources from the Valentine Richmond Historical Society and the VCU Library Special Collections, students interviewed more than 20 George Wythe High School alumni in order to put together a short play highlighting the experiences of government officials, families, and the students themselves during the initial integration period.
Above
The George Wythe High School building, located between 8th and 9th on Marshall Street, reduced to a mass of rubble to make way for a parking lot, May 26, 1981.
Credit — Richmond Times-Dispatch Collection, The Valentine
“Actually it started in 1961. Eleven Negro parents filed against the School Board under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, to desegregate the schools. That led to the ‘freedom of choice’ plan in 1966.
The latest of it started up again this past March... the 10th, I believe, someone petitioned the court to convert the Richmond City schools to a ‘unitary nonracial system.’
Then April 1st, the courts made a formal order taking back the ‘freedom of choice’ plan in favor of a plan to desegregate.
You should really know all this.”
01
Class
This class was inspired by Wythe alum Mark Person, whom we had met the previous year and asked to serve on a post-performance discussion panel. Afterwards, he suggested that we devote a semester to George Wythe High School, a historically white and prestigious high school that was integrated as a part of the 1970-1971 busing plan. As white flight took place in Richmond, Wythe quickly became overwhelmingly black and now has almost a 100% minority enrollment. A large group of Wythe alums ended up being deeply involved with the project.
Drawing from the oral history interviews we conducted, students created digital stories (see below).
Featured
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Archival Research
As we were planning the class, we tried to find yearbooks and other Wythe artifacts from the period, only to learn that Richmond Public Schools and Wythe High School had no archives. When twenty Wythe alums showed up in class for a conversation about their time there in the 1970s, many of them spontaneously brought their yearbooks, prom programs, and other artifacts. We worked with VCU Special Collections head Wesly Chenault to create a Wythe High School archive there that would preserve everything from letter jackets to student newspapers from the busing era.
George Wythe High School Graduates and Employee Salaries, 1962.
James Branch Cabell Library Special Collections and Archives
![Wythe 003[4].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0493a9cc1c8e6a3badc280/1616422829250-QSX2RH2JDVU0MDE1QB86/Wythe++003%5B4%5D.jpg)
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Docudrama
We staged the docudrama at Henderson Middle School, an all-Black middle school. One of the highlights of the performance was the participation of One Voice Chorus, an interracial community chorus whose members had reached out to us over the summer. Many Wythe alums, including those who now lived in other states, showed up for the performance. Mark Person created a Wythe exhibition for the lobby, which became a focal point for the alums. During the post-performance discussion, Henderson student Vazya Herman read a poem she had written about school segregation today. Several Wythe alums in the audience talked about what it was like to see their personal experiences performed as part of a larger history.