The Loving Story
Monday, February 10, 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. in the Baxter Events Center
The Loving Story is a documentary film that tells the story of an important legal case—Loving
versus (the State of) Virginia. In 1967, this case led to the Supreme Court decision that legalized
interracial marriage throughout the United States.
Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter were married in Washington, DC, in 1958. At that time, 16
states still had laws against interracial marriage (also called “miscegenation”). When the
Lovings returned to their home state of Virginia, they were arrested and told that their
marriage was illegal because he was white and she was black and Native American.
The Lovings did not want to divorce, or go to prison, or leave the rest of their family in Virginia.
They didn’t have a lot of money or a lot of power, but they decided to fight the law. Their story
shows that it is possible for ordinary people to make extraordinary changes.
This story is an episode of the US Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960, which is
something Americans think about on Martin Luther King Day. But it is also a love story to think
about on Valentine’s Day!
"Their desire to simply live together as husband and wife in their home state led to a Supreme Court
ruling that overturned Virginia's law prohibiting interracial marriage and declared all such laws
unconstitutional." —Southern Poverty Law Center
"This story about the Lovings' courage and determination is enough to make viewers care deeply about a
legal decision." —Mother Jones
1967 ABC News report: http://abcnews.go.com/US/video?id=3278653