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To Bus or Not To Bus: The 1977 School Desegregation of New Castle County, Delaware

The Milford Museum American History Series continues with a program about the 1977 New Castle County desegregation era titled To Bus or Not To Bus: The 1977 School Desegregation of New Castle County, Delaware. Presented by Polytech High School teacher Emily Green, the program will take place on Saturday, May 11, 1:00 p.m. at the Milford Public Library in Milford, Delaware. In 1971 five Wilmington families made the decision to re-open the desegregation case Evans v Buchanan and file suit against the Wilmington School Board. They contended that black children were being compelled to attend segregated schools and that the board was maintaining a dual school system in New Castle County and Wilmington. The court agreed and instituted a program designed to establish a unitary education system, bringing the county back in line with its desegregationist roots. Included in this program was the controversial policy of busing.
 
To Bus or Not To Bus explores the controversy over the Delaware decision in New Castle County to remedy school segregation by busing students for a portion of their schooling. The result of this policy was a complex system that shaped the educational landscape of Wilmington and evoked a variety of responses from the citizens affected by it. While opinions regarding busing widely varied, opposition to busing was not synonymous with support for segregation, making the controversy surrounding the policy intricately nuanced. The program will discuss the origins of school segregation, the concept of busing as a remedy, and the various opinions held by Delawareans about the issue at the time. 
 
 
Caption: A line of buses waiting for passengers in front of Brandywine High School (The Morning News, September 17, 1978)

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