1919-45 Richmond schools during the 1930s and '40s rode a fragile calm before the storm over desegregation, busing and white suburban flight. Henrico County bans corporal punishment. Richmond Parent-Teacher Association advocates sex education in schools. About two years later, family-life courses begin.
City accepts plan to equalize pay for black and white teachers.
The next year, federal court rules unequal pay illegal. Compulsory school age 16. During those two decades, city student populations grew from 33,686 in 1930 to 38,053 in 1945. The JM-TJ competition, for instance, included the schools' cadet corps. Luttrell Lewis, a 1947 graduate of John Marshall, recalls the rivalry as mostly good-natured.