For much of Virginia’s history, the law required separation of races in almost all aspects of everyday life. The Civil Rights movement challenged rules that segregated people by color.
One key milestone was in 1950 when a Black man successfully won a legal fight to attend the University of Virginia School of Law.
“The Gregory Swanson case, which was decided on September 5, 1950, is the case in which the United States federal court sitting here in Charlottesville entered an order against the Board of Visitors at the University of Virginia requiring UVA to admit Gregory Swanson to the law school,” said Jim Hingeley, Albemarle County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney…