More than 100 years after it initially was tried, the case of Williams v. Board of Education is returning to its roots.

A dramatic re-enactment of the landmark 1898 case will be done at 7 p.m. Monday, April 11 at the Tucker County Courthouse. Professional actors Ilene Evans of Thomas and Joseph Bundy of Bluefield will play the leading roles of Carrie Williams and her attorney, J.R. Clifford. A variety of local public officials and residents fill out the cast.

Admission is free, and there will be refreshments afterward.

"We are proud to put on this entertaining and educational production here in Tucker County, where so much important West Virginia history has taken place," said Mimi Kibler of Parsons, who is coordinating the performance. "J.R. Clifford and Carrie Williams are two of our state's great civil rights heroes.

"It was a Tucker County court and Tucker County people that made this important case happen. It's wonderful to have so many people volunteer to help bring their story to life.

"People seem really excited when I talk to them. It's neat to have it in the courtroom right where it took place."

Williams' case, 56 years before the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that ended racial segregation in the nation's schools, centered on the action taken while she was a teacher at the "colored" school in Coketon. School officials shortened her contract from eight to five months, and she sued the school board to get her salary for the full term.

Clifford, the state's first black attorney, represented Williams.

Tucker County Circuit Court and state Supreme Court justices ruled in her favor, making the decision the first in U.S. history to hold that racial discrimination was against the law when it came to teacher pay.

Tom Rodd of Charleston turned the case into a play, which has been performed in Martinsburg, Charleston and Bluefield.

In addition to the 7 p.m. presentation, the play will be performed at 9 a.m. Monday at Tucker County High School, Kibler said. Students will lead that production with assistance from Evans and Bundy. Parents are welcome to attend that performance.

In addition to Evans and Bundy, the cast includes: Judge Phil Jordan playing the role of circuit judge Jay Hoke; Justice Larry Starcher, Judge Andrew Frye, Joyce Stewart and Pat A. Nichols as members of the state Supreme Court and Parsons native Allen Loughry of the state attorney general's office as the bailiff. Parsons attorney John Cooper will play the school board's lawyer, with James D. Phillips as the board president and Kitty Dooley of Charleston as the narrator. Mary Jane Hedrick will play an audience member who asks questions, and Darius Dillard will play Clifford as a boy.

Jurors are Chris Michael, Tom Felton, Jack McGuigan, Bud Parsons, Mont Miller, Mariwyn Smith, Walter Renalli, GeorgeAnn Metheny, Bruce Kolsun, Ted Wolfe Jr. and Janet Preston.

Students in Williams' class will be portrayed by Sharee Thomas, Mickail Lewis, Tiffany Coffman, Logan Pitzer, Kenzi Pitzer, Landon Dillard and Darius Dillard. Rodd, the play's author and current Supreme Court law clerk, will appear as himself.

The Tucker County production of the play is being funded in part by the West Virginia Humanities Council. Local sponsors include the Tucker County Historical Society, Tucker County Arts Council, Tucker County Board of Education, Elkins Business and Professional Women's Club and the law firm of Cooper, Preston and Douglas PLLC.

For more information, call Kibler at 478-3410.  

Carrie Williams is a special character for Tucker County actress Ilene Evans.

Evans, who lives at the headwaters of the Potomac River near Kempton on the West Virginia-Maryland border, has spent several years doing research on Williams and her work. She got some information from 1982 Tucker County school board minutes and other details from friend Ancella Bickley and Williams' writings.

"I can imagine her teaching with those children," Evans said, "and I can imagine her astute, sharp mind. She worked very hard to bring people together and make the whole community stronger. "She inspires us to do and be our best."

Evans was born in Detroit and grew up in Chicago, where she co-founded the group "Voices from the Earth," a touring theater company. She has lived in Tucker County for more than 10 years.

"I've chosen this place out of all the places in the world," she said. "It's a place where the waters
began. That's significant to me."

As part of getting into the character of Williams, Evans studied what her life would have been like: traveling alone in tough conditions into places where she may or may not have been welcome. She also looked at the subjects Williams taught her 26 or so students. Reading and math were on the list, of course, but so were history, physiology and civil government.

"Those are empowering things," Evans said. "I appreciate a lot of what she stands for."
Research Connie Rice did about J.R. Clifton, the state's first African-American attorney, helped the
process along, and then Tom Rodd took the reigns.

"When Tom found out about it he just jumped on it and wrote the play," Evans said. "I'm so grateful to Tom. It's very satisfying to work on things that are close to home, personal, and really had a dramatic impact nationally for social change and justice."