STANDING UP FOR HISTORY ; CITY RECOGNIZES FORMER STUDENTS FOR THEIR ROLE ON RACIAL FRONT LINE

MEREDITH KRUSE THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
640 words
27 February 2002
The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, VA
FINAL
B1
English
(Copyright 2002)

A story in Wednesday's Hampton Roads section misspelled the name of one of the 17 black students who were the first to integrate the Norfolk public schools. Olivia Driver, now Olivia Driver Lindsay, was one of the students. Correction published February 28, 2002, page A2.

When Andrew Heidelberg and Johnnie Rouse were teen-agers, Norfolk city officials fought to keep them from becoming the first black students to attend all-white public schools.

On Tuesday, 44 years after that historic battle, they and 15 classmates were honored by their city for their courage and determination.

The "Norfolk 17," as they're known, were about to integrate six city schools in the fall of 1958 under a federal judge's order. Virginia Gov. J. Lindsay Almond Jr. intervened, shutting the schools down and throwing about 10,000 students out of class.

After nearly six months and more court rulings, the schools reopened. The 17 began attending Granby, Maury and Norview high schools and Blair, Northside and Norview middle schools.

Many people think that settled the conflict, Heidelberg said, but it was really just beginning.

The next three years were the worst in his life, he said. The students were taunted and threatened. One boy had a bowl of soup dumped on him; another fell prey to a stink bomb.

Some Norview High classmates tried to pick fights with Rouse.

"They would tell me, `I'll get you put out of school,' " she recalled. "I said, `Tell you what - I'm not going alone.' "

Eventually, she said, they decided she was a little "crazy" and let her be.

Other obstacles remained. Denied tickets to school plays, Rouse found white friends willing to buy them for her. She said she was determined to have a high-school experience like anyone else's. "I said, `I'm not going to be afraid,' and I wasn't."

In his senior year, Heidelberg became the first black student to win a spot on a Norview sports team. At a school where football was king, that year playing halfback was the best year of his life, he said.

Even then, segregation intruded. When the team stopped to eat during a road trip, the restaurant refused to serve Heidelberg unless he ate in the kitchen.

"I guess after playing one game and being a star, I thought I was accepted," he said. "I can't tell you how hurting and degrading it was."

He left his teammates at the table and headed for the kitchen. Two white players, Calvin "Zongo" Zongolowicz and Kenny Whitley, followed.

"Look, if you eat in the kitchen, we eat in the kitchen," they told him.

The stories of the Norfolk 17 are an important part of city history that has been overlooked, said City Council member Paul R. Riddick, who requested Tuesday's ceremony.

"We appreciate the courage you must have had," he told the group.

Eight of the 17 students attended, including Patricia Turner, who now teaches at Blair Middle School. She noted that at least one of her classmates had died before he could be honored.

Rouse called the long-delayed recognition "amazing." "It's truly an honor that somebody recognizes that you were one of the front- runners," she said. "That you made it possible to end . . . separate but unequal."

Reach Meredith Kruse at 446-2164 or mkruse(AT)pilotonline.com

Caption: BILL TIERNAN COLOR PHOTOS/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Geraldine Hobby...LaVera Forbes... Delores Johnson-Brown...Andrew Heidelberg... Graphic NORFOLK 17 Louis Cousins, Oliver Driver, LaVera Forbes, Patricia Godbolt, Alvarez Frederick Gonsouland, Andrew Heidelberg, Delores Johnson, Edward Jordan, Lolita Portis, Betty Jean Reed, Johnnie Rouse, Geraldine Talley, James Turner, Patricia Turner, Carol Wellington, Claudia Wellington and Reginald Young.

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