In 1957, Kelly and Margaret Alexander petitioned the local Charlotte school board to allow their son, Kelly Alexander Jr., to transfer schools into an all-white elementary school. Their reason, according to the form, was that his current school "is not not a desegregated school." The board later reviewed his application (along with several dozen more) and decided to admit only four black students that year into previously all-white schools. Alexander's application was one of the rejected requests that year.
