"This Period of Grave Crisis": North Carolinians Respond to Brown, 1954-1974 examines the reactions of the Tar Heel State's diverse citizens to the United States Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The landmark ruling challenged the South's traditional way of life by declaring that the segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. In the two decades after Brown, North Carolina struggled to strike a balance between defying a law it did not support and preserving its reputation as a progressive leader among its conservative neighbors. "This Period of Grave Crisis" and its corresponding online exhibit shift the focus away from the bureaucratic lawmakers and judicial heavyweights often highlighted by historians' political and legal explorations into Brown to spotlight North Carolinians and the social and cultural influences that informed their beliefs and actions. Through letters, newspaper editorials, citizens' groups, boycotts, protests, private school movements, and, ultimately, acceptance, North Carolinians, not the state's leaders, determined the impact Brown would have on the Tar Heel State.
