New Exhibits at Swem Library

Two new exhibits in Swem Library from the “From Fights to Rights: The Long Road to a More Perfect Union” project are now open through September 2011. “Irrepressible Conflict or Blundering Generation? The Coming of the Civil War” and “The Road from "Separate But Equal" to "With All Deliberate Speed": Civil Rights in Public Education” can be viewed in the Marshall Gallery and the Special Collections lobby. “From Fights to Rights” is Swem Library's project to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement that runs through 2015. The Civil War and the years leading up to it are among the most studied periods in American history. Many of the interpretations of the coming of the War may be grouped into one of two major schools of thought: Irrepressible Conflict or Blundering Generation. The Irrepressible Conflict school argues that the North and South were becoming such different societies that they could no longer co-exist in one nation, and war was the inevitable consequence. However, the historians of this school do not all agree on what the crucial differences were between North and South. The Blundering Generation school argues that radically different societies can co-exist without going to war. Instead, a series of mistakes and misjudgments by a “blundering generation” of politicians allowed extremists to dominate, leading eventually to war. The first Rotunda case in this exhibit focuses on the Irrepressible Conflict school by highlighting some of the ways in which North and South were growing apart. It looks at economic factors, such as the growing importance of manufacturing and the much more extensive railroad system in the North compared to the South’s continued reliance on slavery and agriculture. It illustrates the vitality of education in the North compared to the South. It also looks at religion and reform, as these became dividing rather than uniting influences. The second and third cases in the Rotunda focus on the Blundering Generation school by tracing events from the 1830s to early 1861 and pointing out some of the errors made by politicians and the actions of extremists that contributed to the coming of the War. Among topics covered are the rise of radical abolitionism in the 1830s; the Mexican War of the 1840s; the Compromise of 1850, especially the Fugitive Slave Act and the failure to enforce it; the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and the subsequent civil war in “Bleeding Kansas”; the Dred Scott case of 1857; John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859; and Lincoln’s election in 1860. This section concludes by looking at two last-ditch efforts to prevent war, both led by William & Mary alumni. The final section of “Irrepressible Conflict or Blundering Generation?” in a freestanding case and on the wall in the Special Collections Research Center lobby, looks at the outbreak of war at Fort Sumter and Virginia’s secession. Another William & Mary alumnus fired one of the first shots at Fort Sumter, and Virginia seceded soon after rather than obey Lincoln’s call to send troops to put down the rebellion. Several diaries demonstrate the range of reactions among Virginia whites to war and secession. The exhibit “The Road from "Separate But Equal" to "With All Deliberate Speed": Civil Rights in Public Education” is on display in the Marshall Gallery. The end of the Civil War brought the passage of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), decided by the United States Supreme Court with only one dissenting vote, made “separate but equal” the law of the land. Materials in the exhibit show the racism prevalent in the United States and the legal decisions that began to chip away at the problem. Included are images of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, segregated facilities, sub-standard classrooms and a copy of the Brown v. Board decision as well as letters found in Virginia politician’s papers in the Special collections Research Center. In Brown v. Board (1954) The United States Supreme Court overthrew the Plessy v. Ferguson doctrine of “separate but equal” for educational purposes: “We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” The court held that the plaintiffs were deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion in what became known as Brown v. Board (II). He said the localities should act to move to compliance, and used the phrase, “with all deliberate speed.”Southern political leaders now had to cope with school integration. Governors were reluctant to implement such a policy, and heels would be dragged and subterfuges used for many years to try to get around full compliance. The exhibits are open to the public in the Marshall Gallery in Swem Library’s first floor rotunda whenever the library is open. The portion of the exhibit in the Special Collections Research Center’s lobby is open more limited hours. Hours vary during semester breaks. Visit Swem Library’s website for details. Admission is free.