Desegregation of the Rosedale School District

Editor’s Note by Ivory Phillips: On the occasion of its sixtieth anniversary of the desegregation of Rosedale’s public schools the following resolution was issued:

A RESOLUTION FROM THE ROSEDALE / WEST BOLIVAR SCHOOL REUNION ASSEMBLY

Whereas sixty years ago this September Charles Brown, Ella Brown, Vera McCloud, and Evelyn Shaw enrolled in Rosedale Consolidated High School, thereby de-segregating District One of the Bolivar County Public School System; and

Whereas each was supported and encouraged in their action because of his/her intellect and excellent academic record; and

Whereas they were guided and encouraged by their parents and civil rights activists, such as Frank Davis; and

Whereas they bravely entered a hostile environment each day, with only the presence of national guards at the entrance of the building for the first week; and  

Whereas Charles Brown was racially separated as a junior high school student and Ella Brown, Vera McCloud and Evelyn Shaw were likewise racially separated as senior high school students in their classrooms, assemblies, the lunch room, and the library; and

Whereas they endured grave and continuous psychological abuse from their enrollment until their graduation – all four of them in the school itself, McCloud on the bus, and the Browns and Shaw having had crosses burned in their yards; and

Whereas many contemporary Rosedalians and alumni of the school are unaware of their brave, history-making experiences; and

Whereas they have also gone relatively unrecognized, even by local historians; and 

Whereas each individual now resides elsewhere – Charles Brown in Madison, Wisconsin; Ella Brown in Madison, Mississippi; Vera McCloud in Los Angeles, California; and Evelyn Shaw in Detroit, Michigan – with the memories of that trying time vividly etched in their minds, while their present communities remain unaware of their past experience,

Now therefore, let those experiences be publicly commemorated and announced abroad by this 2025 Rosedale / West Bolivar School Reunion assembly.  May Charles Brown, Ella Brown Johnson, Vera McCloud Moore, and Evelyn Shaw Williams be forever remembered, commended and celebrated for the truly courageous heroes that they showed themselves to be during their tenure at Rosedale Consolidated High School, in the case of Charles Brown, 1965-1970 and in the cases of Ella Brown Johnson, Vera McCloud Moore, and Evelyn Shaw Williams, 1965-66.       

This resolution is hereby unanimously adopted August 31, 2025.