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[blues harmonica music]

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There's a lot of places we weren't allowed to go.

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[indistinct chatter]

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There was a Black school called Lincoln Elementary.

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[blues guitar music]

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We knew they weren't gonna let us in.

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[blues guitar and humming]

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We marched every day, whether it was rain, sunshine, cold.

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I feel enormous pride

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in my mother for standing up the way she did.

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[blues guitar and humming]

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[blues guitar music]

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[marching band music]

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I was born here in Hillsboro, Ohio,

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and I was raised here in Hillsboro, Ohio,

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and I still live here.

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[acoustic guitar music]

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A very pretty city, a lot of old homes.

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There seemed to be a lot to do in Hillsboro

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when I was a child.

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[faint traffic noise]

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Hillsboro is a rural agricultural community,

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a border county of the Appalachian region.

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[marching band music]

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The county was settled in 1807.

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People from the south came, believing in slavery,

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and then also people from the south came

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who wanted to escape slavery.

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So there was always some tension in Highland County.

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My husband's cousin

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talked us into coming to Hillsboro in 1934.

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They were building the high school,

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and he thought it would get him a job.

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It was good in a way.

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[children shouting]

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We were always in each other's houses and yards,

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playing together.

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It was a very close-knit neighborhood.

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It's a really typical town in Ohio.

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Especially in the 1950s, there was segregation.

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Most of the colored people,

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they lived either on East End or the Northeast Street.

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There's a lot of places we weren't allowed to go.

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Like a lot of the restaurants.

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You didn't eat in the restaurants.

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You got your food, you got it in a bag and you left.

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I do remember the movie theater had a Black section,

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but it was just routine

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that the Black people sat in a certain section.

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[blues harmonica music]

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In the 1950s,
the schools were segregated.

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There was a Black school called Lincoln Elementary

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for the Black students,

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and there were two other elementaries

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for the white students,

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one on the west end of town called Webster,

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and one on the east end of town called Washington.

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The thing that I most remember about the Lincoln School

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was that it was really in bad shape.

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When we were at the Lincoln School,

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there was three grades in the one class,

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and that was first, second, and third.

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And then the other room was fourth, fifth, and sixth.

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I remember the bathrooms being in the basement.

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And our books, half the pages were missing.

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[indistinct chatter]

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The white schools, they had books that we didn't have.

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They had, like, geography, they had maps,

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they had history books and science.

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Those books, we didn't have.

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[gentle string music]

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How do you measure the achievements

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of a nation?

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[Voiceover 2] If you want to know how we're really doing,

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take a look at our schools, for on what we're doing here

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and in schools throughout the world

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rest not only our future fate

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but perhaps the very fate of civilization itself.

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[blues harmonica music]

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[fire crackling]

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A century ago, slavery was abolished,

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but a pattern of segregation took its place.

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How did this come about?

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The Plessy versus Ferguson case argued that,

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"As long as they're receiving equal education it's fine."

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But the fact is the education wasn't equal.

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[instrumental blues music]

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[blues guitar and humming]

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Today's decision by the US Supreme Court

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is called the most important action of its kind

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since the Emancipation Proclamation.

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Our high tribunal today

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outlawing racial segregation in schools,

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the decision written by Chief Justice Earl Warren.

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It was unanimous.

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The 1954 court case Brown versus the Board of Education

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decided that separate schools segregated by race

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were not equal.

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Today's opinion makes a clear cut determination

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that the Negro school children must be given their rights.

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We are confident that desegregation will proceed

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to open the door to true democracy

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for all of the children of our nation.

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[blues guitar music]

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With the Supreme Court decision,

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people in the African American community

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went before the school board as concerned citizens

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and requested that their children be allowed

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to attend the white schools of Washington and Webster.

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[blues harmonica music]

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The school board in Hillsboro, Ohio

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did what many school boards throughout the country did,

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and that was stall or delay immediate integration.

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[chalk scratching and tapping]

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Throughout the United States,

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school boards and local citizens

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who resisted desegregation

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tried a myriad of tactics.

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[blues guitar music]

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Philip Partridge was the county engineer,

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and he was an opponent of segregation.

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Philip Partridge was frustrated with how long it was taking

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and the delaying tactics

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used by Hillsboro's Board of Education.

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Mr. Partridge had talked to the school board

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to try to get them to put the children

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into the other schools,

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and they wouldn't do it.

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On the evening of July 4th,
morning of July 5th,

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he traveled to the school with gasoline

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and he started a fire in the basement of Lincoln Elementary.

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His thinking in burning the African American school

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was by destroying the school,

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he would force them to send the African American students

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to the two remaining white schools in town.

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Now, he turns himself in a few days later

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when he realizes that an African American youth

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was gonna be blamed for the fire at the school.

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So in response to the fire that took place in the school,

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rather than immediately integrating,

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Hillsboro School Board

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decided that they would repair Lincoln Elementary

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and maintain segregation.

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[blues harmonica music]

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[indistinct chatter]

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After Brown verus the Board of Education

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decided that separate schools were not equal,

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local governments would use tactics like rezoning.

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This happened in Hillsboro.

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As a result, some of the African American children

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had to actually walk past the white schools

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of Washington and Webster to get to their

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segregated Lincoln School.

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When you have a fire in a building,

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like a two story at least,

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there's problem with collapsing,

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so I didn't want my children to be hurt.

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It was just a time that we had to realize that

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we were not to go back to that school.

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[acoustic guitar music]

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In response to the school board deciding

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to repair Lincoln rather than immediately integrating,

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the African American mothers in town

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decided that they would sign a petition

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and bring it to the school board,

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requesting and demanding immediate integration

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into the white schools, Webster and Washington.

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The petition that the women drafted contained signatures

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from over 200 members of the African American community.

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[upbeat acoustic guitar music]

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We got together with NAACP and different ones

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said that they wasn't sendin'

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their children back to Lincoln.

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[blues harmonica music]

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The response to the decision

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to have three distinct school zones

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by the African American community was to contact the

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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,

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and five mothers and their children filed a lawsuit

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against the Hillsboro School Board.

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They were supported by leading activist lawyers

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Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley

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in their fight for equality and justice

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to desegregate the school.

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We know that Constance Baker Motley was a key architect

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in the Brown versus the Board of Education decision.

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And just as she worked with that case,

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she worked locally with the Hillsboro mothers

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to fight for equality.

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My mother became involved in the Lincoln School fight

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because of the Brown versus Board of Education's decision.

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She became an activist

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because she wasn't happy

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with the situation of Lincoln school, what's going there,

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and she thought it was substandard to the other schools

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and just wasn't fair, wasn't right.

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So, she saw something wasn't fair, right,

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she felt she had to right it.

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[blues guitar music]

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♪ Oh, lord ♪

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The reason this is significant

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as a historical case and a legal case

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is because it was really a case to see, in practical terms,

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what the judgment of the Supreme Court meant in reality.

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[blues harmonica music]

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My mother was a very quiet, sometime timid person,

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and she didn't stand for no foolishness.

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My mom, she went through the Depression,

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and would often tell me about

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how they did without, actually, food.

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So she knew what it was like to really struggle.

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My mother, Zella M. Cumberland,

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she was always brave, she was fearless in nothing.

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She was always ready to fight for us, you know.

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I knew she was always there to protect me.

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My mother and Ms. Imogene Curtis,

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we lived right next door.

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And I can remember Ms. Imogene and Mom

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always talked over the fence, and Ms. Imogene and Mom

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and a couple of the other mothers decided,

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"We're gonna start marching."

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[instrumental blues music]

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This is my mother.

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This is my sister.

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This is me.

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[children Singing]
♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

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♪ Turn me 'round, O Lord ♪

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♪ Turn me 'round, O Lord, ♪

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♪ Turn me 'round ♪

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♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

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♪ Turn me 'round, ♪

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♪ I'm gonna keep on a-walkin' ♪

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[upbeat acoustic guitar music]

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I recall my mom waking me up,

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getting me dressed for school,

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and it was just a regular school day to me

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because that was our routine.

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We'd always meet in front of Miss Sally's house

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and then we would start to march.

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We would march from where we lived on Walnut

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all the way to the
Webster School, every morning.

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We would march from the East End to Webster School

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as if we expected to be admitted.

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[indistinct chatter]

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We would get there, then the principal would come out.

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He would say, "Sorry ladies, nothing has changed."

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And if they didn't let us in,

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then we'd turn around and go back home.

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[indistinct chatter]

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I remember one time we went in

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and we sit down on the floor in the hall,

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but we was escorted out.

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[acoustic guitar music]

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Two or three months was something,

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but we went for two years every day, rain or shine.

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And I'm like, it makes no sense.

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Why did we have to continue to do the same thing

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over and over when we knew they weren't gonna let us in?

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There was one building we went by

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and it was always a bunch of men standing out looking at us.

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And we had to be careful because they would also,

262
00:16:52.915 --> 00:16:54.297
when we walked to the grocery store,

263
00:16:54.297 --> 00:16:56.337
would call us names and stuff.

264
00:16:56.337 --> 00:17:01.337
Some of the mothers worked in homes doin' day jobs,

265
00:17:01.487 --> 00:17:04.765
and their employers would tell 'em,

266
00:17:04.765 --> 00:17:08.487
"If you don't take your children out of the march,

267
00:17:08.487 --> 00:17:11.096
"you won't have a job."

268
00:17:11.096 --> 00:17:14.026
So, some of 'em did take their children out.

269
00:17:15.518 --> 00:17:18.434
[ambient music and humming]

270
00:17:18.434 --> 00:17:20.955
While the marching was going on, one night,

271
00:17:20.955 --> 00:17:23.117
there was a cross burnt.

272
00:17:24.992 --> 00:17:27.389
We heard the commotion.

273
00:17:27.389 --> 00:17:28.839
One of the crosses

274
00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:31.895
was burnt down the street from where we lived,

275
00:17:31.895 --> 00:17:35.637
and then the other cross was burnt up on the hill

276
00:17:35.637 --> 00:17:38.278
and you could see the fire.

277
00:17:41.361 --> 00:17:44.014
We were kinda afraid, being kids,

278
00:17:44.014 --> 00:17:47.012
'cause you didn't know what to expect.

279
00:17:47.012 --> 00:17:48.141 line:15%
At eight,

280
00:17:48.141 --> 00:17:51.879 line:15%
I worried if we would be burned, you know what I mean?

281
00:17:51.879 --> 00:17:56.879 line:15%
If one night somebody would come and burn in our yard,

282
00:17:56.914 --> 00:17:59.162
and how that would affect us.

283
00:17:59.162 --> 00:18:01.899
Would somebody get physical?

284
00:18:01.899 --> 00:18:04.140
If they did, what would we do?

285
00:18:04.140 --> 00:18:06.398
We're just these little kids and mothers?

286
00:18:08.224 --> 00:18:10.791
Well, I think all of us had some fear,

287
00:18:12.150 --> 00:18:15.751
but we had to just keep pushing.

288
00:18:18.576 --> 00:18:20.756 line:15%
To do what the mothers did

289
00:18:20.756 --> 00:18:22.876 line:15%
in standing up to the school board

290
00:18:22.876 --> 00:18:25.891 line:15%
and standing up for integration in Hillsboro

291
00:18:25.891 --> 00:18:29.554
took an amazing amount of courage and bravery.

292
00:18:29.554 --> 00:18:31.890
You risk having the whole town turn against you.

293
00:18:31.890 --> 00:18:33.397
You risk physical harm.

294
00:18:33.397 --> 00:18:36.014
And they still, knowing the risks and challenges,

295
00:18:36.014 --> 00:18:38.459
did what they needed to do to integrate

296
00:18:38.459 --> 00:18:40.993
and give their children a better life.

297
00:18:43.355 --> 00:18:48.355
We marched every day, whether it was rain, sunshine, cold.

298
00:18:48.675 --> 00:18:51.038
[children singing]
♪ Turn me 'round, O Lord ♪

299
00:18:51.038 --> 00:18:52.617
♪ Turn me 'round ♪

300
00:18:52.617 --> 00:18:56.114
♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

301
00:18:56.114 --> 00:18:57.399
♪ Turn me 'round ♪

302
00:18:57.399 --> 00:19:00.436
♪ We're gonna keep on a-walkin' ♪

303
00:19:00.436 --> 00:19:02.538
♪ Keep on a-talkin' ♪

304
00:19:02.538 --> 00:19:05.454
♪ Marching up the street all day ♪

305
00:19:05.454 --> 00:19:08.269
♪ Ain't gonna... ♪
The mothers carried signs,

306
00:19:08.269 --> 00:19:11.375
they were very quiet and peaceful,

307
00:19:11.375 --> 00:19:15.353 line:15%
but it's not something we talked about at school.

308
00:19:15.353 --> 00:19:18.308
In fact, Mrs. Calvert would go over

309
00:19:18.308 --> 00:19:21.102
and pull the window blinds down.

310
00:19:21.102 --> 00:19:22.420
She would pull the blinds down

311
00:19:22.420 --> 00:19:26.837
and not say anything about what was going on outside.

312
00:19:28.030 --> 00:19:31.213
The mothers knew that we had to have some type

313
00:19:31.213 --> 00:19:35.014
of training or education, and so the Quakers

314
00:19:35.014 --> 00:19:38.661
said that they would come over and help teach us.

315
00:19:40.303 --> 00:19:43.895
And my mother agreed to be one of the teachers

316
00:19:43.895 --> 00:19:45.488
that went to Hillsboro.

317
00:19:45.488 --> 00:19:48.656
I remember when I heard Mom was gonna do this,

318
00:19:49.548 --> 00:19:51.636 line:15%
"Uh-oh, I'm gonna to be teased at school",

319
00:19:51.636 --> 00:19:53.832 line:15%
and I was a little bit when people found out,

320
00:19:53.832 --> 00:19:55.776 line:15%
but it wasn't bad.

321
00:19:56.626 --> 00:19:58.646
They would come the first part of the week,

322
00:19:58.646 --> 00:20:00.660
give us lesson plans,

323
00:20:00.660 --> 00:20:03.684
and then the mothers that were doing

324
00:20:03.684 --> 00:20:05.403
the teaching in the homes,

325
00:20:05.403 --> 00:20:07.963
they would help us do our lessons.

326
00:20:08.855 --> 00:20:11.271
And that's how we did for two years.

327
00:20:14.259 --> 00:20:18.265 line:15%
[blues music and humming]

328
00:20:29.159 --> 00:20:32.575 line:15%
So in 1956, after two long years of marching,

329
00:20:32.575 --> 00:20:34.634
they finally won their case

330
00:20:34.634 --> 00:20:36.259
against the Hillsboro School Board

331
00:20:36.259 --> 00:20:37.739
and they were able to attend school

332
00:20:37.739 --> 00:20:40.822
at Washington and Webster Elementary.

333
00:20:42.334 --> 00:20:46.891
The law was clear, immediate integration was to occur.

334
00:20:47.766 --> 00:20:50.301 line:15%
And when they won their case against the board

335
00:20:50.301 --> 00:20:52.861 line:15%
and desegregated the school in Hillsboro,

336
00:20:52.861 --> 00:20:55.259 line:15%
that then became a model

337
00:20:55.259 --> 00:20:58.513
and inspired other activists throughout the country.

338
00:20:59.988 --> 00:21:01.636
It was cited in legal cases

339
00:21:01.636 --> 00:21:03.569
as far away as New York and even Texas.

340
00:21:04.602 --> 00:21:07.239 line:15%
This new, more assertive civil rights movement

341
00:21:07.239 --> 00:21:08.739 line:15%
was finding its way,

342
00:21:08.739 --> 00:21:11.437
and these women were helping to build the blueprint

343
00:21:11.437 --> 00:21:14.687
that would become common in the future.

344
00:21:16.597 --> 00:21:18.245
Well, after the lawsuit was won,

345
00:21:19.195 --> 00:21:21.556
I think the mothers were very happy.

346
00:21:22.506 --> 00:21:25.746
I was glad for them 'cause they needed the education.

347
00:21:25.746 --> 00:21:29.033
They needed the fellowship with the other children.

348
00:21:30.166 --> 00:21:32.459
Everybody was glad

349
00:21:32.459 --> 00:21:34.921
because we didn't have to do all that walkin'.

350
00:21:34.921 --> 00:21:36.439
[Teresa chuckles]

351
00:21:36.439 --> 00:21:38.721
That part of it was over with.

352
00:21:38.721 --> 00:21:43.721
But it was a new experience

353
00:21:43.966 --> 00:21:47.956
because we had never been in an integrated school,

354
00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:52.531
and some of the children liked us and some didn't.

355
00:21:53.677 --> 00:21:55.114 line:15%
There was a lot of prejudice.

356
00:21:55.114 --> 00:21:56.742 line:15%
They would come in and say,

357
00:21:56.742 --> 00:22:00.386 line:15%
"Myra spit on my desk, there's black spit on there."

358
00:22:01.353 --> 00:22:04.999
And the teacher said, "You're gonna stay in for recess."

359
00:22:04.999 --> 00:22:07.800
It didn't bother me,
I didn't pay attention to it.

360
00:22:07.800 --> 00:22:09.526
I went outside to play,

361
00:22:09.526 --> 00:22:12.609
and they did hopscotch and jump rope,

362
00:22:15.463 --> 00:22:19.100 line:15%
but they apologized to me and told me though that

363
00:22:19.100 --> 00:22:22.534
if their parents come by and saw them playing with me

364
00:22:22.534 --> 00:22:24.458
then they would be in trouble.

365
00:22:24.458 --> 00:22:25.898
So, it bothered me so bad

366
00:22:25.898 --> 00:22:28.712
that I spent most of my time inside.

367
00:22:28.712 --> 00:22:31.045
Well, at first it was--

368
00:22:32.453 --> 00:22:34.711
It wasn't as bad as we thought it would be,

369
00:22:34.711 --> 00:22:37.511
but there was still a lot of segregation

370
00:22:37.511 --> 00:22:40.637
because I can remember when we went there,

371
00:22:40.637 --> 00:22:42.855
all of a sudden they decided to have this class.

372
00:22:42.855 --> 00:22:45.036
"Well, we're gonna have class for slow learners."

373
00:22:45.036 --> 00:22:48.084
After we got into the schools,

374
00:22:48.084 --> 00:22:50.102
we had to take a placement test

375
00:22:50.102 --> 00:22:54.698
to see where they were gonna put us in grades,

376
00:22:54.698 --> 00:22:58.133
and only one of 'em passed out of all the kids.

377
00:22:58.133 --> 00:23:02.577 line:15%
When they did let us in, I was put back two years.

378
00:23:02.577 --> 00:23:05.827
To this day, I've not gotten over that.

379
00:23:07.211 --> 00:23:10.352
[gentle acoustic guitar music]

380
00:23:12.085 --> 00:23:14.311
The kids, they look back and say,

381
00:23:14.311 --> 00:23:17.176
"Well Mom, y'all didn't have it so easy."

382
00:23:17.176 --> 00:23:22.163
And we said, "We know that, but the fight was worth it."

383
00:23:22.163 --> 00:23:24.786
I feel enormous pride about what we did,

384
00:23:24.786 --> 00:23:29.786
enormous pride in my mother for standing up the way she did.

385
00:23:30.092 --> 00:23:32.594
I am very proud of what she did.

386
00:23:32.594 --> 00:23:34.971
It's one thing to believe in something,

387
00:23:34.971 --> 00:23:39.770
but to follow what you believe is most important.

388
00:23:39.770 --> 00:23:43.993
Well, I would like the younger children to know

389
00:23:43.993 --> 00:23:48.599 line:15%
that the march was to give them a better life.

390
00:23:48.599 --> 00:23:50.331
Well, I'd done the best I could

391
00:23:50.331 --> 00:23:53.748
'cause I wanted my children to get a education.

392
00:23:53.748 --> 00:23:57.515
I wanted them to prosper in life.

393
00:23:58.511 --> 00:24:03.511
I was proud of my mom, I thought my mom was Superwoman.

394
00:24:05.727 --> 00:24:07.439
I think what we can learn from

395
00:24:07.439 --> 00:24:11.862
what these mothers did to fight for desegregation

396
00:24:11.862 --> 00:24:14.350
and the children that marched alongside them

397
00:24:15.300 --> 00:24:18.333
is the fact that perseverance,

398
00:24:18.333 --> 00:24:21.900
hard work, determination,

399
00:24:21.900 --> 00:24:26.328
resistance in the face of struggle, in the face of hatred,

400
00:24:26.328 --> 00:24:29.420
in the face of fear,

401
00:24:30.768 --> 00:24:33.648
is the key to making this country

402
00:24:33.648 --> 00:24:36.481
live up to its democratic promise.

403
00:24:38.726 --> 00:24:42.649
Everybody in your family is so proud...

404
00:24:42.649 --> 00:24:45.151
I know.
...that you are our mother

405
00:24:45.151 --> 00:24:47.918
and that you fought for all of us

406
00:24:47.918 --> 00:24:50.033
Mmm hmm.
and the whole community

407
00:24:50.033 --> 00:24:52.086
with the rest of the parents.

408
00:24:52.086 --> 00:24:52.961
Yeah.
So yes,

409
00:24:52.961 --> 00:24:54.247
we are very proud of you

410
00:24:54.247 --> 00:24:55.704
and we love you so much for it.

411
00:24:55.704 --> 00:24:56.621
Yeah.
Yes.

412
00:24:59.810 --> 00:25:03.543 line:15%
[upbeat blues guitar and humming]

413
00:25:25.269 --> 00:25:27.985 line:15%
[indistinct crowd chatter]

414
00:25:29.655 --> 00:25:31.328 line:15%
[whistle blowing]

415
00:25:32.386 --> 00:25:34.911
[crowd applauding]

416
00:25:36.644 --> 00:25:39.972
[children singing]
♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

417
00:25:39.972 --> 00:25:42.278
♪ Turn me 'round, O Lord ♪

418
00:25:42.278 --> 00:25:44.420
♪ Turn me 'round, O Lord ♪

419
00:25:44.420 --> 00:25:46.068
♪ Turn me 'round ♪

420
00:25:46.068 --> 00:25:49.033
♪ Ain't gonna let nobody ♪

421
00:25:49.033 --> 00:25:51.344
♪ Turn me 'round ♪

422
00:25:51.344 --> 00:25:53.702
♪ We're gonna keep on a-walkin' ♪

423
00:25:53.702 --> 00:25:56.244
♪ Keep on a-talkin' ♪

424
00:25:56.244 --> 00:25:58.981
♪ Marching up the sweet old land ♪

425
00:25:58.981 --> 00:26:02.359
♪ Aint gonna let no tear gas ♪

426
00:26:02.359 --> 00:26:04.342
♪ Turn me 'round, O Lord ♪

427
00:26:04.342 --> 00:26:06.640
♪ Turn me 'round, O Lord ♪

428
00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:08.342
♪ Turn me 'round ♪

429
00:26:08.342 --> 00:26:11.339
♪ Ain't gonna let no tear gas ♪

430
00:26:11.339 --> 00:26:13.305
♪ Turn me 'round ♪

431
00:26:13.305 --> 00:26:16.480
♪ We're gonna keep on a-walkin' ♪

432
00:26:17.496 --> 00:26:20.229
[upbeat acoustic guitar music]