During segregation, African American students were not provided the same resources as white students. “Separate but equal” was not equal, in that African American schools were provided limited, used, and outdated resources for education. Additionally, teachers of African American students had limited experiences. The school for African Americans in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County was the Simms School, named after formerly enslaved school teacher, Lucy Simms. The high school for white students was Harrisonburg High School.
Photo of Memorial Hall, taken between 1930 and 1960. Image from JMU Special Collections.
A valedictorian from Simms School enrolled in Virginia State University, an all-black college. Although they were valedictorian, they were taking remedial courses. The lack of proper resources at African American schools allowed for lower standards required for students. This caused students to be less prepared by not receiving the proper education that would allow them to be successful in college.
Sheary Darcus Johnson, an African American student in Harrisonburg said, “I wanted to change and go to the white school because it was definitely my desire to go to college.” Pastor Henry Darcus Sr., Sheary’s father, saw the passion that his daughter had for education. He requested that the Harrisonburg High School School Board allow for his daughter to enroll so that she would receive a better education prior to college. This led other African American parents to also come forward to the school board. Sheary was one of the first six African American students to enrolled in Harrisonburg High School before the school was officially integrated in 1965.
After receiving a state scholarship and early acceptance, Johnson enrolled in Madison College in 1966, becoming the first black student documented to do so. She pursued a bachelor’s degree in library science, saying “I believe that I needed to go to Madison. I needed that library degree. That’s what I was focused on, and I needed that as one of my spirit experiences to get me ready to be able to do the things that I’ve been doing.”
Senior Portrait of Sheary Darcus Johnson from the Bluestone, 1970. Image from JMU Special Collections.
Johnson is known as the first black student to earn a bachelor’s degree at Madison College, which she accomplished in 1970. Johnson was a Double-Duke, getting a master’s degree in library science in 1974. In discussing Johnson’s role in integrating Harrisonburg High School and Madison College, Johnson said, “I just think it was meant to be, but it wasn’t something that I meant to do. It wasn’t me thinking first that I’m going to integrate. It was going after what I needed.”
Dr. Sheary Darcus Johnson received her Ed. D. from the University of Virginia in 1988. James Madison University would later lease and then purchase Harrisonburg High School, renaming it Memorial Hall. By the fall of 2006, Memorial Hall officially opened at the home of James Madison University’s College of Education. The Simms school was listed on the National Register of Historical places in 2004. It is now serving the Harrisonburg community as the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center.
For more information on Sheary and her time at Madison, please enjoy this interview: https://www.jmu.edu/news/2020/04/29-mm-it-was-meant-to-be-sheary-darcus-johnson.shtml
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