The Voice of Prince Edward County

The Voice of Prince Edward County

African American newspapers

Associations, institutions, etc.—African American membership

Race discrimination—United States

Prince Edward County (Va.)

Published between the years of 1965 and 1969, the Voice of Prince Edward County was an independent, privately financed newspaper out of Farmville, Virginia. The stated intent of the paper, printed as an Editors’ note in the July 26, 1965 issue,

“The VOICE of Prince Edward County is dedicated to give a voice to all the people of Prince Edward County. We will try to create more interest in local government by showing how the people can become involved in solving our problems in education, health, welfare, and employment. We will report the news for the whole community and we will let our officials know how the community feels. We will publish your letters to us and look forward to hearing your views. Finally, we will serve as an outlet for the creative ability of people in the community and we hope that the pieces we publish will inspire others.”

Though the editorial staff differed from issue to issue, most contributors to the paper were African-American residents of Prince Edward County, some of whom had suffered directly as a result of the 1959-1964 closure of the county’s public schools. By 1969, Alphonso O’Neil-White, the first African-American student at Hampden-Sydney College, was the sole credited editor of the paper.

Hampden-Sydney College Archives & Special Collections

Virginia Commonwealth University Special Collections & Archives

Longwood University, Greenwood Library Special Collections & Archives

1965/1969; 2021

Alphonso Vance White

Alphonso O'Neil-White

James E. Ghee, Jr.

Barbara Botts

Leslie F. Griffin, Jr.

Carlton Terry

Darwyn White

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English

Farmville, VA (Prince Edward County)

Collection is open for research.