Leesburg Civil Rights Posters 1963

Access and use

Location of collection:
Thomas Balch Library
Thomas Balch Library
208 West Market Street
Leesburg, Virginia 20176
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Alexandra S. Gressitt
Phone: (703) 737-7195
Fax: (703) 737-7195
Restrictions:

Collection open for research .

Terms of access:

No physical characteristics affect use of this material.

Preferred citation:

Leesburg Civil Rights Posters, 1963 (OMB 007), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA..

Summary

Creator:
Gertrude Ashton Evans
Abstract:
This collection consists of 25 posters used in a civil rights protest in Leesburg, Virginia in 1963.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Leesburg Civil Rights Posters, 1963 (OMB 007), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA..

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of 25 posters used in a civil rights protest in Leesburg, Virginia in 1963. They are made of poster board, and writing is black or green marker over pencil.

  • "You may as well accept it, integration is here!"
  • "Some Loudoun businessmen are finally waking up, but the firemen are in a deep sleep!"
  • "Will the Firemen's Carnival be segregated like the Firemen's Swimming Pool?"
  • "It's the 20th. Not the 18th Century"
  • "We are just asking for the things you take for granted"
  • "Walk for Freedom"
  • "We have been waiting too long"
  • "Are Heaven and Hell segregated?"/[verso] "Not Backward"
  • "Are your Christian consciences hurting at all?"/[verso] "Why Doesn't Leesburg Move Ahead?"
  • "Do you segregate our money too?"
  • "Do we have to wait another 100 years?"
  • "The whole world is (finally) awaking, but Leesburg is still asleep"
  • "Freedom!"
  • "Is this the United States of America?"
  • "We like to swim too."/[verso] "Equal Opportunity"
  • "Where are the leaders of our town?"
  • "Christians! Where?"/[verso] "Leesburg! Go Forward!"
  • "Segregation is backed by ignorance"/[verso] "Don't worry, our color isn't contagious"
  • "What are the businessmen afraid of?"/verso] "An end to discrimination"
  • "We aren't slaves."/[verso] "Is Segregation a Virtue of yours?"
  • "Don't be afraid it's only integration"
  • "Does Leesburg have any intelligent firemen?"
  • "Don't stop here unless you are white and your money is green."
  • "Unless you are white, this is private property"
  • "Slow down please -- thank you"/[verso] "We thought Leesburg Had Leaders"
Biographical / historical:

Desegregation in Leesburg was a gradual and generally peaceful occurrence that resulted in desegregated lunch counters as early as 1961. Loudoun County schools began desegregating in 1963, and were completely integrated by 1968, when the African-American high school, Douglass High, closed. However, in the summer of 1963, parts of Leesburg remained segregated, including the baseball field and swimming pool.

Leesburg volunteer firemen's swimming pool, which was built in 1956, was a public pool for white swimmers only. After successfully protesting to integrate both the Tally-Ho Movie Theater and Village Lanes Bowling Alley in the early summer of 1963, Leesburg's African-American community, including leader Gene Ashton (1946- ) and his sister Gertrude (Ashton) Evans (1948- ), turned its focus to the swimming pool. Even after several weeks of peaceful protests, they did not have any success; the firemen persistently refused to let blacks in. The swimming pool remained open for the remainder of the summer, but was still segregated. In 1965, one year after President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination based on color, four African-American children were again refused entry to the Firemen's Swimming Pool. They and their parents filed federal suit under the aegis of Civil Rights Act. The following spring, the court ruled in favor of the children and ordered the firemen to allow black swimmers into the pool. The firemen refused and closed the pool to avoid having to integrate. The pool remained closed and in 1968, the land was sold and the pool was filled in with rocks and cement. It was not until 1990 that Leesburg again had a public swimming pool and not until 2009 that it had an outdoor public pool.

Acquisition information:
Gertrude Ashton Evans, Leesburg, VA.
Processing information:

Processed by Carolyn Jackson, 23 June 2010

Accruals:

2009.0098

Physical / technical requirements:

None