“There Is No National without the Local”

Chapter 3 charts the development of the movement to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline as a national movement with deep local roots. It documents the beginnings of the movement in places like Holmes County, Mississippi, where African American parents first raised the alarm. It shows how national actors played important roles in spreading local victories, while both strengthening local organizing and working to influence federal policy. It discusses the struggle in the Dignity in Schools Campaign to create a coalition in which community groups would have a majority say and keep the coalition focused on supporting local organizing rather than Washington politics. It charts the movement’s victories, shifting discourse away from zero tolerance and getting the federal government to issue guidelines warning against zero-tolerance discipline. These victories became resources to groups in local- and state-level campaigns, creating a rolling series of policy wins across the country.

Change and Continuity in Amish Wedding Dates in the Holmes County, Ohio, Settlement

In the past century, the Amish of Holmes County, Ohio, have experienced an enormous population increase (from continued high fertility) and a serious decline in farming (from land shortage). We wondered if their traditional pattern of weddings might also have changed. We showed that whereas weddings used to occur almost exclusively in winter months, with a peak in December, they now occur in spring, summer, and early fall, but hardly ever in December. Two developments may be responsible. Refrigeration and other technologies for preserving food are now allowed in many Amish churches, making it possible to safely preserve wedding foods in warm weather. December weddings used to interfere minimally with the busy farming season, but now with farming in serious decline, that is no longer an issue. The traditional practice of having weddings on Thursdays and to a lesser extent on Tuesdays remains almost unchanged for the past several centuries. Much work is involved in wedding preparation and in cleanup after the wedding. For that reason, it is desirable to avoid holding weddings on Saturdays and Mondays, since much Sunday work would be required.

The GGLEAM Study: Understanding Glaucoma in the Ohio Amish

Glaucoma leads to millions of cases of visual impairment and blindness around the world. Its susceptibility is shaped by both environmental and genetic risk factors. Although over 120 risk loci have been identified for glaucoma, a large portion of its heritability is still unexplained. Here we describe the foundation of the Genetics of GLaucoma Evaluation in the AMish (GGLEAM) study to investigate the genetic architecture of glaucoma in the Ohio Amish, which exhibits lower genetic and environmental heterogeneity compared to the general population. To date, we have enrolled 81 Amish individuals in our study from Holmes County, Ohio. As a part of our enrollment process, 62 GGLEAM study participants (42 glaucoma-affected and 20 unaffected individuals) received comprehensive eye examinations and glaucoma evaluations. Using the data from the Anabaptist Genealogy Database, we found that 80 of the GGLEAM study participants were related to one another through a large, multigenerational pedigree containing 1586 people. We plan to integrate the health and kinship data obtained for the GGLEAM study to interrogate glaucoma genetics and pathophysiology in this unique population.

Coda

The coda returns the story to Holmes County and brings the reader close to the present day. The legacy of the case and local movement receive special consideration.There are also concluding remarks about the long-term significance of Alexander v. Holmes.

The Grassroots and the Lawyers

Chapter three examines the convergence of the Holmes County civil rights movement and legal assistance from the NAACP LDF. Civil rights lawyers and activists combined forces to begin the long campaign to desegregate the schools. The chapter also traces the origins of the Alexander v. Holmes suit.

Pleading for the Fifth

Chapter four moves the narrative from Holmes County to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The chapter explains the legal shift from freedom of choice to outright school desegregation. Segregationist resistance, in particular by Judge Harold Cox, is noted as well.

The Holmes County Movement

Chapter two covers the grassroots struggle for civil rights in Holmes County. The movement in Holmes became the most vibrant and well-organized in rural Mississippi, if not the entire state, and stimulated a lawsuit to desegregate the schools.The chapter focuses on the voting rights campaign as well as segregationist resistance.

An Imperfect Revolution: Enforcing Alexander

The seventh chapter explores the implementation of the Alexander ruling in Holmes County and across the South. The chapter mainly analyses the legal work of Jackson’s NAACP LDF office. There is also an assessment of the overall effect of school desegregation, especially in Mississippi.

Race and Education before Alexander

Chapter one provides an overview of the history of race and education in Holmes County from Reconstruction through 1954. The chapter also examines local history and race relations.