Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County: A Family, a Virginia… (2015)

Kristen Green's book is at its finest when she talks about her family and her personal connection to a hideous time in our county and Virginia's history. The story of her segregationist grandfather and his role in closing public schools rather than integrate is compelling. Green attempts to uncover and reconcile a very painful time; a task not easily accomplished in a book. While the story slows a bit as she ties it to the larger Civil Rights movement, she grounds it back into the community and make her racialized past personal. A great read. ( )

I got this book from Overdrive from my local library. I have wanted to read this book for some time but never seemed to have the time to do so. I finally decided to make the time to read this book. The book talks about the closing of the Public Schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia from 1959-1964. The book is a combination of history and family memoir. Since I am a Native Virginian and have a degree in History this book was really interesting to me. I really enjoyed hearing about the author's personal experience and this really made the book more enjoyable for me. The book was well-written and enjoyed hearing about the interviews the author did with the students who were locked out of school. A good addition to the Civil Rights Books that have been written. Highly recommend this book. ( )

Well-intentioned story of dealing w white guilt. If you know no history of the civil rights movement then it is informative, otherwise you are better served reading any other book about the struggle for justice. ( )

5393. Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County A Family, a Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle, by Kristen Green (read 24 Jul 2016) This is a very personalized account of the tragic decision of authorities in Prince Edward County to end public education for the children of the county and use money to set up a 'private' school for white kids only. The author's parents were in the 'private' school when they were growing up and in fact the author herself was in the same school, although by the time she was in school there was a public school for kids regardless of whether they were white or black I was dismayed anew to read of the viciousness of pro-segregation people toward those whites who opposed the actions of the segregationists.. And I found it good to read of the change that most of the people in Prince Edward County express today. The Board of Supervisors in 2008 resolved that what was done by it in 1959 was wrong and expressed grief for the evil done to the children by the actions of the Board and the whites in depriving the black kids of education in the 1960's.. ( )

This is the story of a town in Virginia that decided long before the historic case of Brown v. Board of Education was decided that it would never allow segregation to occur in its schools and what the steps they were willing to take to achieve this goal. Instead of complying with the court orders surrounding this case, they simply closed the public schools and opened a private school for white children only. The result was years when black children were denied an education, as were white children too poor or lacking connections to also attend that private school. The author, presently in a biracial marriage, comes back to her hometown to look at those years, the effects those decisions had on so many involved and how her family in particular dealt with the times. While she is not proud of her family history and the tragedies that resulted from those decisions, she seems to have come to some understandings and acceptance of her family’s past. This is a very compelling look at a time period and community that handled things very poorly. ( )