Voices from Prince Edward County's Past

These are quotes from people directly involved in the crisis when Prince Edward County (PEC) closed their public school system to avoid compliance with Brown v. Board of Education. Helen Carter was a black staff member of the American Friends Service Committee. This is Quaker community service group who came to PEC to assist the black community in finding education alternatives for their children but also to try to bring reconciliation. John Hurt and Gary Smith were two of the children who lost 5 years of their education. I can't help but ponder their words in the light of events this week.


"How can we in our tragedy act in such a way as not to allow the hatred which is all about us to consume us and become a part of ourselves?"  Helen Carter, 1961¹

"I wouldn't say the wound has been healed, but it's been dressed well enough that no one wants to take the bandage off it." John Hurt, 1992.²

"I think that the Southern thing is be nice about it and just kind of put it in the closet and let it stay there buried. Sometimes it forces its way back up because some people haven't changed their attitude that much, or you run across someone who is suffering today directly because of what happened then, and it forces its way out of the closet." Gary Smith, 1992.³

1. Brown's Battleground: Students, Segregationists, and the Struggle for Justice in Prince Edward County, Virginia, Jill Ogline Titus, University of North Carolina Press, 2011, pg. 59.
2. Ibid. pg. 204.
3. Ibid. pg. 204-205.

Updated 2:52 pm to correct quotes.