Here is a short column from 1947 that reported on the archdiocese of St. Louis standing up in favor of racial integration within their school system - while simultaneously threatening to make instant-Protestants out of any members of the flock who object to the decision. The result of the edict could be felt almost immediately: the Catholic schools in Washington, DC were desegregated in 1948. Catholic schools in Tennessee were desegregated in 1954, Atlanta in 1962, and Mississippi in 1965, all ahead of the public school systems throughout the nation.
Click here to read a history of African-Americans between the years 1619 through 1939.
