EDITOR'S NOTE: This recognition is especially meaningful since Richard and Mildred Loving lived in Caroline County, Virginia.
County of Caroline, Virginia
R16/11
A Resolution Commemorating the Annual June 12 Celebration of Loving Day
WHEREAS, Richard and Mildred Loving were natives of the Central Point area of Caroline County, Virginia who were arrested in 1958 for violating Virginia's felony law against interracial marriage; and
WHEREAS, following their conviction in the Caroline County Circuit Court, their sentence was suspended, provided they did not return to their Central Point home or the Commonwealth of Virginia as a couple for 25 years; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Loving then wrote to United States Attorney General Robert F Kennedy asking for help; and
WHEREAS, the Lovings fought their way to the United States Supreme Court and nine years later their conviction was overturned and all anti-miscegenation laws nationwide ended in a case known as Loving vs. Virginia; and
WHEREAS, an annual celebration known as Loving Day is held on June 12 in communities throughout the nation to commemorate and celebrate the anniversary of the 1967 Supreme Court decision; and
WHEREAS, the Loving case has a special significance in the history of Caroline County and the County is proud to have been home to these civil rights pioneers who removed the last vestiges of state-sanctioned segregation and fought for the civil right to love.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Caroline County Board of Supervisors hereby commemorates the June 12 anniversary of the Loving vs. Virginia Supreme Court decision and joins communities throughout the nation in celebrating Loving Day.
Adopted this 24th day of May 2011.
(Signed)
Clerk to the Board
(Signed)
Chairman