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Joan Groves Briscoe 

June 12, 1942 -               

First to integrate Great Mills High School in St. Mary’s County,

a pioneer for integration in Southern Maryland.

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Joan Groves Briscoe at the interview in 2004, and her yearbook photograph in 1958.

​Elaine Joan Groves (Briscoe) and her younger brother Conrad entered Great Mill’s High School in St. Mary’s County, Maryland under a court order in the fall of 1958. Together they were seeking their civil right to an education. They were the first Black students to attend Great Mill’s High School since it opened its doors in 1927. The St. Mary’s County Public Schools had been segregated since a public education system was established following the Civil War.

In 1957, the Groves family had appealed unsuccessfully to the State Board of Education for admission to Great Mills High Schools. They were successful with their appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth District the following year. Joan spent her final year of high school at Great Mills, 1958-59. She graduated from there in 1959. Her brother transferred to a private religious school after that first year. Very few Black students attended Great Mills until the county ended its dual segregated system in the school year 1966-67.

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Joan Groves Briscoe and several former Great Mills High students, faculty, and administrators who experienced the process of desegregation were interviewed in 2004-2007, and the transcripts are accessible. Their stories are shared in a book and a video documentary listed below in the additional resources.

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Briscoe was interviewed by Merideth Taylor in 2004 (and again in 2007) for her documentary With All Deliberate Speed: One High Schools Story. Both interviews are a part of UCAC's oral history collection.

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The award-winning 56-minute documentary is viewable on YouTube and a DVD can be purchased here. UCAC's book, In Relentless Pursuit of an Education, includes Briscoe's story and can be loaned from local libraries or purchased here.

Resources:

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