Milford School Desegregation Crisis of 1954 subject of DPA program Feb. 1

In honor of African-American History Month, the Delaware Public Archives will present a special program at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 1, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education case.

After the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in the Brown v. Board of Education case in May 1954, Milford High School attempted to integrate the following fall with the admittance of 11 African-American students.

Within a short time, the nation’s media focused on this Delaware town as it suffered through school boycotts and the arrival of a white racist organizer named Bryant Bowles.

This program will be presented by Orlando Camp, one of the students who attempted to integrate the school and coauthor of “The Milford Eleven,” a book about the journey of these 11 African American students.

Camp’s education began in integrated school systems in Philadelphia and Swarthmore, Pa. He moved to Milford as a young teenager and attended the all-black Benjamin Banneker Elementary School in Milford. Camp earned his high school diploma from William Henry Comprehensive High School in Dover.

After serving in the U.S. Army, where he received the Outstanding Soldier of the Year Award, he continued his education at Delaware County Community College and Temple University. Camp enjoyed a long, successful sales and marketing management career working for Scott Paper Company, Birds Eye Food, Stanson Corporation and the State of Delaware.

In 2009, Camp was selected to be onstage at an event with President-elect Barack Obama in Wilmington. He now spends his time working with students with special needs.

The program is free to the public. No reservations are required. For more information, contact Tom Summers at 302-744-5047 or email thomas.summers@state.de.us.

For more information about the Delaware Public Archives, go to archives.delaware.gov. Become a Facebook follower at facebook.com/DelawarePublicArchives and read the Archives blog at archives.blogs.delaware.gov to learn more about events and other items of interest.

The Delaware Public Archives is at 121 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. North in Dover. The Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room is open to the public 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., Monday to Friday. On the second Saturday of every month, the research room is open from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.