History 604

Instructor:
William G. Thomas

The course begins with segregation, traces its legal and social origins, and covers the development of the NAACP's legal strategy to destroy segregation, the impact of World War II on the civil rights movement, the political organization of Harry F. Byrd in Virginia, how the Byrd organization policies abetted segregation, and massive resistance in Virginia to the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The course also treats these subjects in the context of the Civil Rights Movement as a whole in United States history. We will examine the local perspective on these national and state events through the eyes of participants and the course focuses on understanding the relationship between national and local events in history.

Civil Rights Demonstrator Courtesy of WDBJ Roanoke Virginia (04_19)