Sarah Patton Boyle
Sarah Patton Boyle (1906-1994) was a civil rights activist and author.
Her desegregation efforts began in 1950 when she wrote to Gregory Swanson, welcoming him as the University of Virginia‘s first Black law student. When Swanson was offended by her condescension and disappointed by her belief in gradual desegregation, Boyle began meeting with local African American news editor Thomas Jerome Sellers for advice. Boyle grew more radical after her exchange with Swanson, and began writing letters to the editor and articles advocating for immediate integration.
One such article published in the Saturday Evening Post resulted in local white supremacist groups burning a cross in her yard. Boyle was the first white person to join the Charlottesville NAACP. She also denounced massive resistance in front of the General Assembly. Her 1962 autobiography The Desegregated Heart additionally brought her national attention.
Notable events
- October 27, 1960 – Black high school students protest at the Barracks Road Shopping Center and picketed Rose's after being refused service at the lunch counter. They leave after thirty minutes after the manager and treasurer of the Thomas Jefferson Corporation convince them they are on private property and not a city street. The students are accompanied by several adults such as NAACP president Eugene Williams, the Reverend James Hamilton of Mount Zion Baptist Church, and Sarah Patton Boyle. [1]
- September 1960 – Boyle spoke to the Charlottesville branch of the NAACP in September 1960. [2]
Frances Brand portrait
Boyle is one of several people commemorated by the late 20th-century artist Frances Brand as part of her Firsts series.[3]
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References
- ↑ Web. Negro Students Picket Rose's, Daily Progress Digitized Microfilm, Lindsay family, October 28, 1960, retrieved October 27, 2022. Print. October 28, 1960 page 3.
- ↑ Web. Both Races Need Integration, Mrs. Sarah Boyle Contends, Daily Progress Digitized Microfilm, Lindsay family, September 16, 1960, retrieved September 15, 2022.
- ↑ Branigan, Michelle Marie (December 1998). A Biography of Frances Brand, an American Painter and Social Activist (PhD). Indiana University.