On September 10, 2020, AHS hosted a virtual presentation by Richard Samp who told the story of how an Arlington family’s need for child care ultimately became a Spireme Court case to desegregate private schools.
The US Supreme Court outlawed racially segregated public schools in 1954, but whites-only private schools flourished throughout the South for decades. The Supreme Court’s 1976 decision extending the ban on racial segregation to private schools involved a segregated pre-school here in Arlington. Join local resident Richard Samp as he discusses the people and places involved in this Arlington-focused case and its interesting aftermath.
Richard Samp is a semi-retired lawyer who has lived in Arlington for 35 years. He currently serves as President of the Old Glebe Civic Association. Among his Arlington-focused writings is a history of his Old Glebe neighborhood and a history of the Saegmuller and Madison Elementary Schools.