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Dismember the Titans: A school cook's forgotten civil rights stand
A school cook’s forgotten civil rights stand
March 22, 2018
Photos of Blois Hundley and her children that appeared in a 1958 issue of Jet Magazine.
By Jim McElhatton
In the fall of 1958, longtime Alexandria schools superintendent Thomas Chambliss “T.C.” Williams took the unusual step of firing a black school cafeteria worker who by all accounts did a stellar job.
Blois Hundley in an undated family photo (Courtesy Photo)
The cook, Blois Hundley, 42, a mother of eight, had just joined in a federal civil rights lawsuit to force Alexandria schools to let her children attend a whites-only school. ... To Williams, this was an unforgivable, fireable offense. He called Hundley’s participation in the civil rights lawsuit “a slap in the face.” Hundley never worked for Alexandria’s public school system again.
Sixty years later, the name T.C. Williams is world famous – not just for the high school named after him on King Street, but for the idealized story of integration made famous by Hollywood in the movie “Remember the Titans.” ... By contrast, the name Blois Hundley is all but forgotten. ... Her firing went unmentioned, even in her 2008 obituary. But for the first time, Hundley’s children are opening up about their mother’s pivotal but largely unknown role in helping to literally change the face of public education in Alexandria and Virginia.
....
Despite the landmark “Brown v. Board of Education” decision a few years earlier, many states and school district officials at the time resisted integration, including Alexandria – led by its longtime superintendent, T.C. Williams. ... “He was an ardent segregationist and he fought tooth and nail to prevent desegregation,” said Georgetown University professor Douglas Reed, whose 2014 book “Building the Federal Schoolhouse” details how federal education policies impacted Alexandria and other school districts. ... Under Williams, the school district, with the support of the school board and the local power structure, moved toward “tokenism and foot dragging” policies to keep blacks out of the white schools, Reed said.
....
Jim McElhatton is a freelance reporter and can be reached at jimmcelhat@gmail.com.
March 22, 2018
Photos of Blois Hundley and her children that appeared in a 1958 issue of Jet Magazine.
By Jim McElhatton
In the fall of 1958, longtime Alexandria schools superintendent Thomas Chambliss “T.C.” Williams took the unusual step of firing a black school cafeteria worker who by all accounts did a stellar job.
Blois Hundley in an undated family photo (Courtesy Photo)
The cook, Blois Hundley, 42, a mother of eight, had just joined in a federal civil rights lawsuit to force Alexandria schools to let her children attend a whites-only school. ... To Williams, this was an unforgivable, fireable offense. He called Hundley’s participation in the civil rights lawsuit “a slap in the face.” Hundley never worked for Alexandria’s public school system again.
Sixty years later, the name T.C. Williams is world famous – not just for the high school named after him on King Street, but for the idealized story of integration made famous by Hollywood in the movie “Remember the Titans.” ... By contrast, the name Blois Hundley is all but forgotten. ... Her firing went unmentioned, even in her 2008 obituary. But for the first time, Hundley’s children are opening up about their mother’s pivotal but largely unknown role in helping to literally change the face of public education in Alexandria and Virginia.
....
Despite the landmark “Brown v. Board of Education” decision a few years earlier, many states and school district officials at the time resisted integration, including Alexandria – led by its longtime superintendent, T.C. Williams. ... “He was an ardent segregationist and he fought tooth and nail to prevent desegregation,” said Georgetown University professor Douglas Reed, whose 2014 book “Building the Federal Schoolhouse” details how federal education policies impacted Alexandria and other school districts. ... Under Williams, the school district, with the support of the school board and the local power structure, moved toward “tokenism and foot dragging” policies to keep blacks out of the white schools, Reed said.
....
Jim McElhatton is a freelance reporter and can be reached at jimmcelhat@gmail.com.
Our View: Should Alexandria’s high school bear the name ‘T.C. Williams?’
March 22, 2018
We are in the midst of a national conversation concerning who should be memorialized with statues or by having their names on street signs, buildings and parks. ... Our first president, George Washington, a native son of Alexandria, is even being vewed with a fresh, critical eye. Last year, Alexandria’s historic Christ Church decided to remove Washington’s plaque, along with one of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, from its sanctuary.
Whether to remove the names of Confederate leaders from Alexandria street signs is also under review, and some street names are likely to be changed. “The Appomattox,” the statue of a weary, defeated Confederate soldier at the intersection of South Washington and Prince streets is another potential target for removal. ... We think the general conversation is good, though we don’t advocate tossing aside all remembrances of past leaders because they were flawed. Whether to change names or remove statues should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
A triumphant statue of a Confederate soldier on a battle horse seems different than a statue of a defeated foot soldier, at least to us – though we recognize it may not be to others. It’s important to remember that there is a wide range of opinions on historic figures, and that no one has the market cornered on the absolute truth on this controversial topic.
As our front page story this week, “A cook’s forgotten civil rights stand,” illustrates, perhaps it’s time to add another name to the discussion about who should and shouldn’t be so honored: Thomas Chambliss – better known as “T.C.” – Williams. His opposition to school integration is well documented. And his crass firing of Blois Hundley, who had eight children and a disabled husband, in 1958 because she joined a lawsuit for school integration certainly begs the question of why his name continues to adorn Alexandria’s only public high school.
....
March 22, 2018
We are in the midst of a national conversation concerning who should be memorialized with statues or by having their names on street signs, buildings and parks. ... Our first president, George Washington, a native son of Alexandria, is even being vewed with a fresh, critical eye. Last year, Alexandria’s historic Christ Church decided to remove Washington’s plaque, along with one of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, from its sanctuary.
Whether to remove the names of Confederate leaders from Alexandria street signs is also under review, and some street names are likely to be changed. “The Appomattox,” the statue of a weary, defeated Confederate soldier at the intersection of South Washington and Prince streets is another potential target for removal. ... We think the general conversation is good, though we don’t advocate tossing aside all remembrances of past leaders because they were flawed. Whether to change names or remove statues should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
A triumphant statue of a Confederate soldier on a battle horse seems different than a statue of a defeated foot soldier, at least to us – though we recognize it may not be to others. It’s important to remember that there is a wide range of opinions on historic figures, and that no one has the market cornered on the absolute truth on this controversial topic.
As our front page story this week, “A cook’s forgotten civil rights stand,” illustrates, perhaps it’s time to add another name to the discussion about who should and shouldn’t be so honored: Thomas Chambliss – better known as “T.C.” – Williams. His opposition to school integration is well documented. And his crass firing of Blois Hundley, who had eight children and a disabled husband, in 1958 because she joined a lawsuit for school integration certainly begs the question of why his name continues to adorn Alexandria’s only public high school.
....