Young Women Carry Signs Protesting School Closings in Farmville

Several young women with homemade signs take part in a July 1963 march protesting the long-term disruption of their education in Farmville. In June 1959 the Prince Edward County school board closed all the public schools in the county rather than desegregate them as part of a strategy known as Massive Resistance. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May 1964 finally forced the public schools in the county to reopen after five years.