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.