Segregationists and the Byrd Machine

Garland Grey Letter to Senator Byrd 
May 29, 1954

 

Drewryville Ruritan Club Resolution
July 7, 1954

This is a letter authored by Garland Gray, a Virginia State Senator from the mid-20th century, and loyalist to the “Byrd political machine” that was crucial to the preservation of segregation throughout the state. He writes this on behalf of the Gray Commission, a coalition within the Virginia state government tasked by Harry F. Byrd in order to block school integration. In the letter, Gray aims to prevent the implementation of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which mandated that states desegregate schools. It appears that Byrd notates the margins of the letter, indicating various levels of feasibility for Gray’s proposals. One such proposal reads, “Our local school boards could refuse to transport any children,” which Byrd appears to support. Gray mentions the potential for “intensified class hatred between negroes and whites” as one of the many repercussions of integration. Many individuals and organizations across the state of Virginia echoed Gray’s anti-integration sentiments, such the Drewryville Ruritan Club (July 7th, 1954). As a postscript, he acknowledges the drastic nature of his proposals, yet remains hopeful regarding their viability. Virginia integration was never fully executed until the late 1960s and early 1970s, after a series of court decisions effectively ended all modes of school segregation. Byrd remained steadfast in his commitment to preserving white separatism in society, up until his death in 1966.