Posted on 01/20/2004 5:45:52 AM PST by chambley1
If ever two people living in this metropolitan area stood poles apart, it would be centenarians Strom Thurmond and Elizabeth Campbell, both of whom had impacts on Arlington.
Thurmond was a bulwark of racism and whites-only schools; Campbell was a bulwark of humanity, who promoted integration and education in ways that benefited not only Arlington, but also the entire nation.
Trent Lott praised Thurmond, who died last year at 101, saying that if Thurmond had been elected as the Dixiecrat president in 1948, “we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years.”
Elizabeth Campbell, on the other hand, whom we lost this past Friday, was our county’s soul behind racial understanding. She lobbied her fellow school board members to stand up against a man of Thurmond’s ilk, the infamous Harry Byrd, and vote to integrate Arlington’s schools after Byrd’s henchmen ordered the closure of any Virginia school that dared to enroll black students. Thanks to her perseverance and a three-to-two vote, four young African-American children walked cautiously to Stratford Junior High on Feb. 2, 1959, and any doubters among the public noted that the world kept turning on its axis.
Mrs. Campbell and her late husband, Ed, did more to advance the causes of justice and education than most Americans would ever dare to dream. They fought for what was right, no matter the danger it may have brought to their own careers or safety. In those bad old days, crosses were burned and bricks thrown through windows. It was easier to be silent than to be a daring patriot advocating justice.
Television, the “vast wasteland” which the Campbell’s friend, Newton Minow, told broadcasters they were operating; how Elizabeth changed the landscape there! Were it not for her, there would be no WETA. No Washington Week in Review. No NewsHour. And, in all likelihood, no Sesame Street. No Great Performances. Other communities had their “educational” television stations; but only Washington, the seat of national public policy, had WETA. If the movers and shakers were to be convinced about the value of this “public” broadcasting, WETA would have to succeed.
Others secured the license for WETA; Elizabeth made it real, operating its offices out of her home and presenting some of the first programs from a Yorktown High School classroom.
Imagine how our neighbors at WETA must be feeling tonight. Their architect, their “mother,” as some called her, their soul of the one of the nation’s premiere broadcasting enterprises, come Monday, will no longer be at her desk.
Others will do far better in describing the life and times of Elizabeth Campbell. The rest of us…well, think of the tag line at the end of most public television programs: This program has been brought to you by contributions from members like you. Thank you. This broadcast legacy, measured in human, not dollar, rewards; this humane community; this superb school system, have all been brought to you — in whole or in part — by Elizabeth Campbell.
Elizabeth, Thank you.
Nick Penning is an Arlington freelance writer. His column, “Penning Thoughts,” appears in each edition of The Arlington Connection.
Isn't that wonderful, she's responsible for the taxpayer-money-sucking-liberal-agenda-promoting public television station.
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