High Bridge Trail State Park

On March 13, 1951, five African American children from the Prospect area lost their lives while riding a second-hand school bus from Robert Russa Moton High School when the rear of the bus was struck by a Norfolk and Western train at Elam crossing. The accident occurred about one month before the student walk-out at R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia. Fog and driving rain obscured the view of the train, which was running fifty minutes behind schedule, and after the bus made a precautionary stop and began to cross the tracks, the students saw its dim light. The children screamed and some ran toward the front of the bus before the train struck the rear, splitting the bus open; of the twenty-three riders, some were thrown off, ten were taken to the hospital, one was kept overnight, and five died at the site. Those who lost their lives were Winfield Paige, 14, Naomi Hendricks, 18, Dodson Hendricks, 15, Christine Hendricks, 18, and Hettie Dungee, 17.

Virginia · United States