WDBJ September Showdown on Chesapeake Manor
(WDBJ Television, Roanoke, VA)

This introductory segment showed the Chesapeake Manor subdivision in Norfolk where African-Americans resided in a section of the city largely segregated by race. The residents were mostly middle-class and worked in government jobs at the post office, the naval base, and other federal installations in Norfolk. The children from this subdivision attended the black elementary school nearby, but the middle school students had to travel about five miles to the black school despite closer white schools near their neighborhood. The segment included an introduction to John J. Brewbaker, a native of Botetourt County, who worked in the city schools since 1927 and became superintendent of schools in 1949. Brewbaker called the desegregation issue the most difficult he had faced but expected schools in Norfolk to remain open.