"Barbara Rose Johns"(1935-1991)

Was a young American civil rights hero who in 1951,at the age of 16,led a student strike for equal education at Moton High School in Farmville,Prince Edward County Virginia.After securing NAACP legal support,her suit became part of the historic 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case,Brown v.Board of Education,in which the court ruled against "separate but equal and thus ended de jure segregation in American public schools.Prince Edward County ultimately responded to the Brown Decision by closing its public schools from 1959-1964,the longest period of Massive Resistance in the nations history.She was born in New York City,New York.Her family had roots in Prince Edward County,Virginia,where they return to live.Her mama worked in Washington D.C.for the U.S.Navy,and her daddy operated the farm where the family resided.
The eldest of five children,Barbara had a younger sister,Joan Johns Cobb,and three younger brothers:Ernest;Roderick,who serve in
Vietnam as a dog handler and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart;and Robert.
Her uncle was the prominent Reverend Vernon Johns,and outspoken activist for civil rights.When he visited Barbara and her family,he would ask the children questions about
African American history.This motivated Barbara and her siblings to study African American history,and Barbara,as well as her siblings,was influenced by Reverend Johns and his outspoken nature.
While living in Prince Edward County,she was educated in segregated public schools.In 1951,16 year-old Barbara was a junior at the all-African American Moton High School in Farmville.Across town was another school,open exclusively to white students.The resources available to each school,and the quality of the facilities were unequal.Barbara's school was designed and built to hold roughly 200 students by 1951 enrollment was twice that number.According to a first-person account from Barbara's sister Joan:

In the winter the school was very cold and a lot of times we had to put on jackets.Now,the students that sat closet to the wood stove were very warm and the ones who sat the farthest away were very cold.And i remember being cold a lot of times and sitting in the classroom with my jacket on.When it rained,we would get water through the ceiling.So there were lots of pails sitting around the classroom.And sometimes we had to raise our umbrellas to keep the water off our heads.It was very difficult setting for trying to learn.

Parents of the African American students appealed to the all-white school board to provide a larger and properly equipped facility.As a stopgap measure,the board erected several tar paper shacks to handle the overflow of students.Frustrated with the separate and unequal facilities,Barbara decided to take action.
She met with several classmates and they all agreed to help organize a student strike.On April 23 the plan she initiated was put into action.The principal of the school was tricked into leaving by being told that some students were downtown causing trouble.While the principal was away,Barbara forged a memo for the principal telling the teachers to bring their classes o a special assembly.The teachers bought their classes and were surprised to find Barbara standing on the stage.She delivered a speech revealing her plans for a student strike in protest of the unequal conditions of the African American and white schools.The students agreed to participate,and on that day they marched down to the county courthouse to make officials aware of the large difference in quality between white & African American schools.
While the strike was being carried out,Barbara and other fellow students sought legal counsel from the NAACP.The NAACP agreed assist as long as the suit would be for an integrated school system,and just equal facilities.A month later,the NAACP filed Davis v.County Board of Prince Edward County in federal court.The court upheld segregation in Prince Edward County,and the NAACP appealed to the U.S.Supreme Court.Davis v.Prince Edward County,along with four other cases,became part of the case Brown v.Board of Education.As Davis was the only case in Brown initiated by student protest,it seem by some as the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.Shortly after the strike,Barbara's parents fearing for her safety sent her to Montgomery, Alabama to live with her uncle.After the strike,Barbara lived out the rest of her life in relative peace.She married Reverend William Powell and raised five children.Her commitment to education moved her to become a Liberian.She served in this profession until her death.