Jim,
 You are correct that the North Carolina effort occurred first. In
addition to the fine books you cite, C.Vann Woodward's ORIGINS OF THE NEW
SOUTH (pp. 396-406)provides a regional summary; Charles William Dabney's
UNIVERSAL EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH, vol. 2 (pp. 320-329) and my own AVENUES
OF FAITH (pp. 155-159)offer details about Virginia. Yes, southern
educational reform efforts did have limits, the worst of which was the
failure to address the pervasive racial injustices of the era. It is
worth noting, however, at least a few of the most important leaders of
the movement in Virginia (Mary-Cooke Branch Munford)took steps to try to
deal with some of the educational inequities caused by racism.  As I
observed in an off-list note, if these educational reformers did not move
the state forward enough, they did move the state forward--no small
accomplishment in a state with a tradition of near hostility to public
education!
Best wishes,
Sam

>
> Date:    Mon, 16 May 2005 08:08:44 -0400
> From:    James Hershman <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: VA-HIST Digest - 11 May 2005 to 12 May 2005 (#2005-80)May
> Campaign
>
> Sam--
>
> It sounds like we're missing an opportunity to mark a milestone in the
> history of public education in Virginia. The campaign is noted in a
> number of historical works such as Bill Link's history of Virginia
> education in that period, as well as in the biography of Edwin Alderman
> and other sources. I think, if I recall my North Carolina history
> correctly, that there was a similar campaign a little earlier in the Tar
> Heel state led by some of the same people who led it in Virginia. When
> you're dealing with the history of public education in Virginia, of
> course, there is the troubling and tragic existence of racial
> segregation. The campaign of 1905 was conducted after the legal
> framework of segregation was pretty well established in law. The
> resulting disparities are well recorded in Link's book and in an older
> study by Louis Harlan. We certainly need to commemorate the goals of the
> 1905 campaign but not the racial segregation that accompanied it. In
> fact, the fight for public schools was a major part of the opposition to
> Massive Resistance in the 1950s. One of those leading the fight against
> Massive Resistance, Delegate Robert Whitehead of Nelson County, alluded
> to the 1905 campaign several times in his speeches and writings.
>
> All Best,
> Jim Hershman
>
>

>

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