Pursuit of Liberty: New Insights into Prince Edward County’s School Desegregation Struggle, Wednesday, April 22, 2026 12:00PM

Item details

Date

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 12:00PM

Name

Pursuit of Liberty: New Insights into Prince Edward County’s School Desegregation Struggle

Description

In commemoration of Barbara Rose Johns Day, Dr. Brian Daugherity will discuss recently conducted archival research related to school desegregation and the civil rights era in Prince Edward County, Virginia. Dr. Daugherity will show and discuss new information that sheds light on, and raises additional questions about, the steps leading to Brown v. Board of Education, and about segregationist resistance to school desegregation in the county.

Dr. Brian Daugherity is a professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University. His research focuses on the implementation of the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision in Virginia. Dr. Daugherity has published and edited many works including With All Deliberate Speed: Implementing Brown v. Board of Education (2008), Keep On Keeping On: The NAACP and the Implementation of Brown v. Board of Education in Virginia (2016), and A Little Child Shall Lead Them: A Documentary Account of the Struggle for School Desegregation in Prince Edward County, Virginia (2019). He is currently co-producing a 60- minute documentary film on the historic Green v. New Kent County (1968) U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Following the lecture, guests are encouraged to view the maquette of the Barbara Rose Johns statue that represents Virginia in the United States Capitol’s Statuary Hall. Unveiled on December 16, 2025, Barbara Johns’s statue stands alongside George Washington as the two representatives from Virginia. Presented in partnership with Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources, the maquette from artist Steven Weitzman is currently on display at the VMHC and is the only surviving version of the artwork except for the final, full-size statue itself.

The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

Pricing:

• VMHC Members - $0
• Non-Members - $15

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Program Notes:

• Tickets are required.Lecture ticket includes admission to VMHC galleries. 
• Attendees are invited to meet the speaker immediately following the lecture.

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