J. Lindsay Almond: Virginias Reluctant Rebel

by Ben Beagle, Ozzie Osborne

From inside dust This is the story of Virginia's painful transition from a segregated past to an integrated future. It is also Lindsay Almond's story, because he was cast as the period's central character. Rather than obey federal court orders to integrate Virginia's public schools in 1958, Harry Byrd's Democratic organization chose to shut down class rooms across the state. J. Lindsay Almond, Jr., the Byrd machine's candidate for governor in 1957, had been elected on a platform of fighting integration. Earlier as state attorney general, and then as governor, Almond was Byrd's designated leader in the organization's fight against federal intervention. Almond's main weapon was his great oratorical powers, which he used throughout the 1950s to attack the federal government, the NAACP and the drive for civil rights. Then, on January 28, 1959, just a week after delivering one of his most scathing outbursts against integration, Almond abruptly relented and changed course. Citing Vir

173 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1984

Reviews

[M.K.B. Graham]

Anyone interested in Virginia history, especially the history of "massive resistance" and how politicians navigated the Supreme Court's monumental Brown vs. Board of Education case, will want to grab this book. It is written by two journalists—in classic journalistic style—who had a front-row seat to the "action." Although it is disjointed at times, the history is riveting, and viewed from today's perspective (with our fixation on race), it is especially compelling. (The book is long out of print, but it's worth finding.)