Editing Greensville County, Virginia (section)

== History ==
Greensville County was established in 1781 from [[Brunswick County, Virginia|Brunswick County]]. The county is probably named for Sir [[Richard Grenville]], leader of the settlement on [[Roanoke Island]], 1585. There is also belief that it may be named after [[Nathanael Greene]], a major general of the [[Continental Army]] and one of [[George Washington]]'s brightest officers.

An early chapter of the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] was formed in Greensville County and Emporia (the county seat) in May 1940, under the leadership of dentist Dr. F. A. Sealy, of [[Boydton, Virginia]] and president of the [[Mecklenburg County, Virginia]] branch. However, he died in 1943, as efforts to desegregate the county's schools began with the assistance of attorney [[Oliver Hill (attorney)|Oliver Hill]].<ref>First Annual Founders' Day program at Greensville County High School June 23, 2007, pp. 15-27</ref> After service in World War II, Hill's colleague [[Samuel Wilbert Tucker|Samuel W. Tucker]] moved to Emporia, married a schoolteacher and became the county's only African American attorney, as well as a leader in desegregating schools across Virginia.<ref>Nancy Noyes Silcox, Samuel Wlbert Tucker: The Story of a Civil Rights Trailblazer (Fairfax, Virginia: History4All, 2014) pp. 61-62</ref>