Piedmont Academy (Caswell County, North Carolina): A History

Piedmont Academy

Caswell County, North Carolina

Scholars estimate that, across the nation, at least half a million white students were withdrawn from public schools between 1964 and 1975 to avoid mandatory desegregation. Reasons why whites pulled their children from public schools have been debated: whites insisted that quality fueled their exodus, and blacks said white parents refused to allow their children to be schooled alongside blacks.

The drive to establish a private white-only school in Caswell County, North Carolina, apparently began in February 1963, after sixteen black students transferred to formerly all-white schools. Until then, local whites opposing an end to segregation believed that delaying tactics would continue to work. After all, those tactics had been successful since 1954. However, the Civil Rights Act of 1974 changed the rules, resulting in Piedmont Academy. This memorandum explores the history of that school and concludes that the evidence supports the conclusion that quality of education was not a concern – Piedmont Academy was created so white children would not be forced to attend schools with a majority black enrollment.

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Piedmont Academy is the name given to a private all-white school that operated in the Providence community of Caswell County, North Carolina from 1969 to 1985.[1] The underlying entity apparently was a non-profit corporation organized pursuant to Internal Revenue Code §501(c)(3). The initial incorporators are not known. Funding to purchase the former Providence Elementary School building came from a private bond offering ($22,000), application fees, and tuition. Initially, two schools had been considered, but, apparently based upon student demand, only one school (in Providence) was purchased.[2]

Obviously, it is no coincidence that Piedmont Academy opened in 1969, the same year the Caswell County schools finally were integrated. The white parents who founded Piedmont Academy openly stated that their greatest fear was having white daughters forced to attend a school where the majority of students was black. They even suggested to the Caswell County School Board a "compromise" that would segregate students by sex: black and white boys in one school; black and white girls in another school.

Early Organizational Efforts. On January 22, 1963, sixteen black children attended classes at previously all-white Caswell County schools.[3] This energized the white community’s interest in establishing a private school to avoid integration.

On February 3, 1963, more than 400 people, an overflow crowd, attended a meeting at the Caswell County Courthouse (Yanceyville, North Carolina) and heard the speakers denounce integration. The meeting was interrupted at one point when Jim Graves, a “Negro” who was standing at a rear corner of the courtroom, was asked to leave. He left without protest.[4]

Bernard H. Dixon (1921-2000), a Providence resident (and father of a three-year-old son), chairman of the Caswell County chapter of the white-supremacist North Carolina Defenders of States Rights,[5] conducted the meeting. High-ranking organization speakers were invited, along with those familiar with private academies in other states (especially Virginia).

Newspapers[6] of the time reported: "Further plans are being made by the North Carolina Defenders of States Rights to determine what may be done in establishing private schools in this area, according to Bernard Dixon, a farmer who was among the leaders at a meeting yesterday."

Among the speakers at the meeting were Allison James, from Winston-Salem; Lon F. Backman of Richmond, Va., public relations director of the Virginia Education Fund, Inc., which sponsored private schools in Virginia; and W. N. Jefferies of Burlington, hosiery executive who also was a director of the North Carolina States Rights organization.

"I believe we can maintain segregated schools in Caswell County," said Dixon, "But we've got to use our heads."

Lon F. Backman then told the meeting that Virginia had been successful in creating segregated all-white private schools and that it could be done in Caswell County. "My point is that it has been done and it can be done," said Backman.

Dixon then got the floor again to introduce the final speaker, W. N. Jefferies of Burlington States Rights Defenders. Jefferies said that "the obligation we owe to our children is the reason we are here. It is to protect society, not to hurt the Negro.

"I'll put it bluntly. We want to keep them from making bedfellows for our sons and daughters. That's the real reason. Destruction of the race. This amalgamation is not right in the sight of God!"

He expressed the opinion that the people of North Carolina will "win" their fight against integration, and then declared he had a fond feeling for Negroes. "I will do anything for him if he is a decent upstanding citizen. I like decent self-respecting niggers. But I also know, if he comes in my house and sits on the sofa with my wife, I am going to kill him, so help me God!"

The next meeting was scheduled for February 12, 1963.

Meeting of February 12, 1963. The next meeting of those interested in a white-only private school was held February 12, 1963, at the Caswell County Courthouse in Yanceyville, North Carolina. The Caswell County Chapter of the North Carolina Defenders of States Rights hosted the meeting to continue exploration of alternatives to integration. The meeting was organized and chaired by Bernard Harding Dixon, who resided in Providence. A committee of 25 was named to “seek information on the Pearsall Plan[7] and seek a charter for a private school as an answer to integration of county schools.”[8]

Bernard Dixon and Wilbur Chandler[9] were named co-chairmen of the committee. Dixon stated:

                        The committee will take over the movement now and will schedule

                        a number of meetings in the near future to which all those interested

                        in a private school system are invited.

Many at the meeting expressed an interest in visiting Prince Edward County in Virginia to study the private schools there.

At this meeting, Bernard Dixon also sought support for I. Beverly Lake, an avowed segregationist, in the upcoming North Carolina gubernatorial Democratic primary. Racial moderate Terry Sanford was not favored by white Caswellians.[10]

Period of Inaction. After this flurry of activity in 1963 one would expect a private white-only school quickly to have emerged. This did not happen. It would be another six years before Piedmont Academy opened its doors. Why? The reason is that few blacks took advantage of the “opportunity” to attend previously all-white Caswell County schools. There was “desegregation” in that Caswell County parents were able to choose what school their children attended, but there was no forced “integration.” Thus, the threat perceived by white parents of black-majority schools was not realized.

Civil Rights Act of 1974. In a 2014 article in The Nation, Ian Millhiser summarized the impact of the Civil Rights of 1974 on school integration:[11]

“What finally broke the back of segregation was not the Supreme Court. And while the mass civil rights movement rallied countless Americans to the cause, it could not have achieved its goals alone. It took Congress to breathe real life into Brown v. Board (1954). Though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is best remembered today for its provisions targeting private discrimination, it also contained two provisions enabling the federal government to desegregate public schools.

“In the decade following Brown, few Southern lawyers were willing to bring desegregation cases—even if they could find a plaintiff willing to become their client. The Civil Rights Act solved this problem by empowering the Justice Department to file suits in the name of the US government against schools that refused to integrate. Southern districts that were able to dodge lawsuits brought by the NAACP suddenly had all the resources of the government to contend with.

“In addition, the act enabled federal officials to withhold funding from segregated schools. This provision allowed the federal government to adapt more quickly to Southern attempts to thwart integration than the courts could ever have accomplished.”

The earlier court rulings with respect to Caswell County schools, especially Jeffers v. Whitley in 1962,[12] afforded black parents choice. They could choose to send their children to white schools or not. Most chose not. Even some who had elected to send their children to previously all-white schools later changed their mind and withdrew the students. Thus, with only a handful of black students in previously all-white schools, Caswell County white parents saw no need for an all-white private school. This all ended as a result of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Armed with new legal tools, integration supporters were able to obtain court rulings that went beyond freedom of choice and mandated school integration (not just desegregation). In Caswell County, this came to a head in 1968 with respect to the following school year (1969-1970). Federal District Court Judge Edwin M. Stanley ordered the Caswell County Board of Education (CCBE) to develop a plan of total school integration. The plan submitted by the CCBE would “pair” black and white elementary schools (grades 1-7), with students being assigned based upon geographical zoning. Bartlett Yancey High School would become Bartlett Yancey Senior High School, serving all black and white county students in grades 10 through 12. Caswell County High School, previously all-black, would become Dillard Junior High School, serving all black and white county students in grades 8-9.

Now, Caswell County segregationists were thrown into a panic. What would they do?

Next Moves by White Parents. When it became highly likely that Caswell County public schools finally would integrate, with most schools having a dreaded black student majority,[13] white parents scheduled a meeting (organized by Glen Boswell of Providence and several of his friends). On a Monday night, in late October 1968, an estimated 250 white persons met at the Caswell County Courthouse in Yanceyville to discuss the impending integration (which they and others incorrectly called desegregation). At this meeting, Danville, Virginia, lawyer John W. Carter told the group that they might gain a temporary delay from the court, but that their best hope was in “private schools.”[14] He suggested the white parents appoint a committee to meet with the CCBE and convey to it their concerns about impending total integration in Caswell County. But, he said, in seeking relief through the federal courts they will be dealing with a “stacked deck.” He advised: “Your only salvation will be that of establishing a private school system.”

Also at this meeting was Joe Norman from Enfield, North Carolina, who told the parents that they could have good private schools “if you want it,” noting that in his home town of Enfield, North Carolina, “we’ve started Enfield Academy in 30 days from scratch. We opened the same day as the public schools and we were fully equipped and filled with teachers.”[15]

The Danville lawyer, John W. Carter, then gave concluding remarks, saying that, while he did not intend to make a political speech: “In the long haul, the only hope this nation has is in George Wallace.” This drew loud applause.[16]

A nine-member committee was appointed with a member from each township, and it planned to meet with the CCBE the following Monday.[17]

Whether at this Monday meeting or at another one with the CCBE, CCBE attorney Robert Blackwell[18] showed the committee members a copy of the federal court order requiring integration beginning in September 1969. Blackwell and members of the CCBE assured the group that everything had been done and that the schools would be desegregated next year “whether we like it or not.”[19] Blackwell pointed out that the “Caswell case had been in the courts for 11 years.”[20]

However, the committee was not satisfied. At a subsequent meeting with the CCBE, the committee, with Vernie Eugene Dove[21] serving as its spokesman, suggested a "compromise" that would segregate students by sex: black and white boys in one school; black and white girls in another school. The committee also expressed a desire that a more gradual integration of the schools was preferred, possibly starting with the high schools. Of course, this suggestion was futile as an explicit court integration order was in place. However, Dove was insistent:

                        The committee believes Judge Stanley would listen sympathetically

                        if we could go to a hearing and explain that, as responsible citizens,

                        we just don’t believe this plan will work and it will wreck the county.

                        The plan for total integration of county schools, Dove said, had no

                        support among white citizens as far as the committee can determine.[22]                 

Dove stated that he and other members of the committee feared that if this plan is enacted many whites not inextricably bound to the county will move rather than permit their children to attend schools “where Negroes are in the majority.[23]  Superintendent Whitley and the CCBE members were unable to provide the assurances the committee required, thereby accelerating efforts to establish a private white-only school. Piedmont Academy was established and opened in the fall of 1969.

Personal Decisions

While the mind, heart, and soul of a parent electing to send a child to an all-white private school may be difficult to ascertain, that choice, in and of itself provides some evidence, be it circumstantial, of racist tendencies.  Some who attended Piedmont Academy are blind to the decisions made by their parents, preferring instead to recount the pleasant and rewarding experiences they had at the school. And, it is understandable why some are reluctant to view their parents as racist. However, the record set forth above appears clear, at least with respect to why Piedmont Academy was created.

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In February 1970, white citizens of Danville, Virginia, were contemplating white-only private schools and invited David Sartin[24] to address a meeting. Sartin was president of the Piedmont Academy Patrons Association and a member of the Piedmont Academy Board of Directors. He advised the attendees:[25]

Any private school should have an enrollment of at least 200.

Piedmont Academy had no trouble attracting qualified teachers.

Initial funds for purchasing the school building and lot were raised by the sale of $22,000 in bonds which were sold out four hours after being offered for sale.

The bonds were being serviced out of current funds.

Current year’s enrollment was 238 in grades one through ten.

Average class size was 20-28 students (smallest 11; largest 28).

All teachers are certified, hold degrees, and are paid salaries competitive with those paid public school teachers.

School texts were purchased from the North Carolina School Book Purchasing Agency and rented to students as in public schools.

The school’s headmaster holds a master’s degree in School Administration, has had experience as a teacher and principal, and is paid $12,000 annually.

The annual tuition is $300 in the lower grades, $400 in the higher grades, with payments staggered throughout the year.[26]

There is a one-time $100 application fee per student.

School policy is adopted by an 18-member board of directors elected from the parents of the children who attend the school.

The board of directors directs to the headmaster actual operation of the school, but retains final authority on all his actions.

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When asked by a reporter for The Danville Register newspaper in August 1973 why parents sent their children to Piedmont Academy in Caswell County, North Carolina, Yanceyville pharmacist Joseph Dameron Davis replied: "A large group is there for segregation, and a large group is there for education." He then offered that he felt that educational demands predominated. Davis was Secretary of the Piedmont Academy Board of Directors.[27]

And, also in 1973, Piedmont Academy reported that no blacks had applied for admission. The school stated that only those considered "an asset to the school" are admitted. Brothers and sisters of present students are automatically admitted.

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In 1973, Mr. Davis of Piedmont Academy stated: "Piedmont's library isn't up to the standards required for eventual accreditation." But, Davis said: "We can't afford to expand on the library at that rapid a pace." The school was facing accreditation problems.

In 1973, Piedmont Academy lacked gym facilities. However, Mr. Davis stated that that problem "ain't high on the list of priorities."

Source: The Danville Register (Danville, Virginia), 12 August 1973, Sunday, Page 17.

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Piedmont Academy Closed. As noted above, Piedmont Academy closed in 1984/1985. Some claim dwindling attendance as the reason. However, why did attendance decline?

In 1976, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Runyon v. McCrary, ruling that even private, nonsectarian schools that denied admission to students on the basis of race violated federal civil rights laws. Whether this contributed to the closing of Piedmont Academy in 1984/1985 is not known.

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Headmaster

1969: Boyd Barrier
1970: Al Willette
1977: Jeff E. Warner

Board of Directors

1969: Ira Bracken Dameron, Jr. (Chairman);[28] David Sartin

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Raleigh -- North Carolina Defenders of States Rights, Inc., was chartered today in the office of Secretary of State Thad Eure. Dedicated to the preservation of "national and racial integrity, state's rights and individual liberty," the organization lists among its board of directors men prominent throughout the state.

Directors whose names appear on the charter included Bernard H. Dixon of Providence, Caswell County, North Carolina.

A summary of the purpose for which the organization was formed is found in the Preamble of its Platform, the chief purposes being the preservation of a white society and culture and preservation of white and Negro racial integrities.

"We are of the belief that the western European culture which is our heritage is superior to the African and Asiatic. it is, in any event, our preference, and we are proud of our heritage."

"A gigantic movement is afoot to destroy Constitutional Government, to seriously curtail the rights of the individual States of the Union, to foster a form of Socialism at the expense of our traditional American freedoms, and to destroy the social mores of our country and thereby both the White and Negro races by encouraging the integration of them. We believe these things to be evil in themselves and to serve the interests of the Communist Party program to dominate this country."

Statesville Record and Landmark (Statesville, North Carolina), 21 November 1958, Friday, Page 1.

       

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[1] The year the school is not certain. Newspaper reports use the year 1985. However, at least one student claims to have graduated in 1984 (1983-1984 school year), stating that this was the last graduating class.

[2] As a result of Caswell County school consolidation, several school buildings became surplus and were sold to private individuals. The corporation had options to lease or purchase two of these buildings: Providence Elementary School; and Prospect Hill School.

[3] Seven of the sixteen had enrolled to attend Bartlett Yancey. Of these seven, four were children of Jasper Brown and Odessa Lamberth Brown.

[4] This may have been James Wilbert (Jim) Graves (1918-1987).

[5] November 21, 1958: North Carolina Defenders of States Rights, Inc., was chartered today in the office of Secretary of State . Dedicated to the preservation of "national and racial integrity, state's rights and individual liberty," the organization lists among its board of directors men prominent throughout the state, including Bernard H. Dixon of Providence, Caswell County, North Carolina.

[6] “School Act Sought In Caswell.” The Daily Times-News (Burlington, NC), February 4, 1963.

[7] See the discussion of the the Pearsall Plan to Save Our Schools later in this memorandum.

[8] "Lake Backed, School Plan Advanced: Caswell Group Forms Committee." Statesville Record and Landmark, July 6, 1971.

[9] While not confirmed, this may be Wilbur Gwynn Chandler (1930-2006), a southern Caswell County tobacco farmer, whose children who would be affected by school integration.

[10] Governor Terry Sanford made a statement in support of civil rights that outraged many Caswell County white voters.

[11] Millhiser, Ian. "Brown v. Board of Education Didn't End Segregation, Big Government Did," The Nation, May 14, 2014.

[12] 309 F.2d 621 (1962).

[13] In 1968, 57% of Caswell County’s public school students were black.

[14] “White Parents Told Private Schools Answer To Court-Ordered Integration In Caswell,” The Danville Register, October 29, 1968.

[15] “White Parents Told Private Schools Answer To Court-Ordered Integration In Caswell,” The Danville Register, October 29, 1968.

[16] Ibid. Note that 1968 was a Presidential election year.

[17] I. Bracken Dameron (Pelham, chairman), Glenn Boswell (Dan River, co-chairman), W. H. Hatchett (Locust Hill), W. Blair Taylor (Yanceyville), Thurman Cook (Leasburg), Mrs Louise Byrd (Anderson), Bill Johnson (Stoney Creek), and Charles Smith (Hightowers).

[18] Robert Ross Blackwell (1927-2017).

[19] “Caswell Public Schools To Be Desegregated Next Year; White Private Schools Studied.” The Danville Register, November 5, 1968.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Vernie Eugene Dove, born c.1936, had a son who would attend Piedmont Academy.

[22] “Integration Plan Keeping Sexes Separate Is Suggested As Alternative In Caswell County,” The Danville Register, November 19, 1968.

[23] Ibid.

[24] David Sledge Sartin, born 1933, lived in Providence, Caswell County, North Carolina.

[25] “Better Education Committee Takes Steps To Organized [sic] Private School: Hears From Organizations In Other Areas,” The Danville Register, February 27, 1970.

[26] The school opened in 1969 with grades one through ten. Tuition apparent increased to $1,000 annually.

[27] The Danville Register (Danville, Virginia), 12 August 1973, Sunday, Page 17.

[28] Ira Bracken Dameron, born 1930 in Caswell County, North Carolina. The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 226-227 (Article #246 "Samuel Bracken Gatewood" by Louise G. Lawless)