Tension, Resistance, and Transition: School Desegregation in Richmond's North Side, 1960-63

This study examines the complexity and interplay of community tensions and friction in Richmond, Virginia regarding massive resistance and integration before and during the early 1960s and investigates the voices and views of black students, parents, and educators as witnesses and participants in the integration of Chandler Junior High School from 1960 to 1963. As a case study, this investigation explores the value of black segregated schooling in Richmond, the ambivalence and ambiguity of school desegregation, and the tradeoffs, dilemmas, and challenges of this transition as experienced by black parents and their children, now mature adults, who pioneered the first years of integration at Chandler in Richmond's North Side.