Jean Stein Konzal – Student Help Project Collection, MM-001

Jean Stein Konzal was one of sixteen students from Queen’s College who participated in the Virginia Student Help Project to assist in tutoring students from Prince Edward County during the summer of 1963. To prevent integration of public school Prince Edward County closed its public school systems in 1959, and many African Americans were denied any formal education. Volunteers stayed with African American host families, and beyond tutoring also participated in social and family events with their families. After leaving Farmville, Jean Stein Konzal continued to receive letters from her former students, and in 2009 attended a volunteer recognition weekend at Moton Museum where she donated this collection. Queen’s College division of the Congress of Racial Equality created the Virginia Student Help Project in collaboration with the Education Department. The project was an intensive educational effort, lasting 6 weeks, during the summer of 1963 in Prince Edward County. Rachel Weddington Assistant Professor of Education at Queens helped organize and manage the project, and accompanied students to Prince Edward County. In addition, the Student Help Project also operated in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, which was a de facto segregation neighborhood.

This collection was donated by Jean Stein Konzal to the Robert Russa Moton Museum in October 2009, during an event in honor of the Queen’s College Virginia Student Help Project.

This collection consists of written speeches given by Jean Stein Konzal about the Queen’s College Virginia Student Help Project, photographs from her time in Prince Edward County in 1963, and letters to Stein from former students. There are also NAACP special project certificates and documents pertaining to the Free School.

For further research, the Queen’s College archive has a similar collection and an oral history with video available. Jean Konzal - Queens College Archives