Black History

IKEA Raises BHM Flag; Honors Local Norfolk 17

IKEA Norfolk kicked off Black History Month by raising the BHM flag and honoring the Norfolk 17, including Dr. Patricia Turner, who desegregated six all-white Norfolk Public Schools sixty-two years ago. Joined by Lisa Lindsay-Shaw, daughter of Norfolk 17 member Olivia Driver Lindsay, the ceremony commemorated the bravery of these pioneers.

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NORFOLK

To launch the first day of Black History Month 2024, the IKEA Retail Outlet in Norfolk, and IKEAs around the world, held flag raising ceremonies honoring BHM and recognizing Local Pioneers of History.

The local IKEA chose the NORFOLK 17. Dr. Patricia Turner was present to represent the group of Black students who wrote their names in the nation’s history books. Sixty-two years ago, Dr. Turner one of the Norfolk 17 who desegregated six all-white Norfolk Public Schools, putting a dent in the wall of Jim Crow segregation in city and Virginia. Dr. Turner, her brother James, Carol and Claudia Wellington, enrolled at Norview Junior High School. This historic event took place four years after the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954 issued its Brown Decision, declaring segregated public schools illegal.

On hand, representing her late mother Norfolk 17 Olivia Driver Lindsay was daughter Lisa Lindsay-Shaw.

Along with IKEA representatives who spoke, Dr. Turner shared a vivid account of her journey, followed by words from Olivia Driver Lindsay’s daughter, Lisa.