Charles C. Green, et al. v. County School Board of New Kent County, Virginia, et al. is recognized as the most significant public school desegregation case the Supreme Court decided after Brown v. Board of Education, changing the practice of school systems throughout the nation.
In 1968 under Freedom-of-Choice, New Kent County’s George W. Watkins School was attended by black students only. The New Kent School was attended by about 15 percent of the county’s black students and all of the county’s white students. With the Green case, the Supreme Court of the United States established the duty of school boards to affirmatively eliminate all vestiges of state-imposed segregation and further placed an affirmative duty on school boards to integrate schools.
The decision in Charles C. Green, et al. v. County School Board of New Kent County, Virginia et al. was handed down by the Supreme Court on 14 years after Brown v. Board of Education May 27, 1968.
Read more about the interview by NBC 12 with Members of the Steering Committee for Green v County School Board of New Kent County Commemoration here.
Read more about the interview with Committee Members Sylvia Hathaway and NBC 12 here.
Additional information and references about the Charles C. Green, et al v. County School Board of New Kent County, Virginia, et al. case can be found here.
You can read the full landmark Supreme Court case here.
To hear the oral arguments in the case listen here.
The following link is the legal synopsis from the Green v County School Board of New Kent County, Virginia decision. This landmark decision paved the way for completely desegregated schools throughout the country. Legal Synopsis – Green v NewKentSchools
- George Watkins
Information on the New Kent and George Watkins Schools can be found here.
- Calvin Coolidge Green
Dr. Green served as the President of the NAACP in New Kent County, VA from 1960 to 1976.
Green v County School Board of New Kent Celebration 