Description
The Byrd Machine in Virginia: The Rise and Fall of a Conservative Political Organization by Michael Lee Pope
The Byrd Machine ran Virginia politics for more than half a century. This political organization rose to power during the era of Jim Crow, wielding power and influence over everything from who got the nod to be governor to how the state maintained racial segregation. Inheriting its tactics from two previous political machines, the Byrd organization operated with a pathological hatred of debt spending, crushing the power of labor unions, and forcing its will on Black schoolchildren protesting separate and unequal facilities. The nadir of its era was massive resistance, a move to close public schools rather than integrate them. This was the force behind “Massive Resistance” that the Arlington public school system was the first to break to desegregate school starting on February 2, 1959. This book will help you understand how such organizations gain power, keep power, and can be broached.
The author, Michael Lee Pope has spoken to AHS audiences several times on local history topics. He is an award-winning journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria. He has reported for NPR, the New York Daily News, Northern Virginia magazine, and the Alexandria Gazette Packet. He has a masters degree in American studies from Florida State University, and he is a former adjunct professor at Tallahassee Community College. He is the author of several books, including Hidden History of Alexandria, D.C. and Shotgun Justice: One Prosecutor’s Crusade Against Crime & Corruption in Alexandria & Arlington.
- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: The History Press (2022)
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