Timeline: 1966
July 15: Vernon L. Barkstall became the Executive Director of the Urban League of Champaign County.
Urbana Consolidated School District #116 is the first district in Illinois to institute a desegregation plan for its elementary buildings. The decision was prompted by the work of members of the Black community, the Ellis Drive 6: Carlos and Willetta Donaldson, Paul and Shirley Hursey, Jo Ann Jackson, and Evelyn Underwood.
Champaign Community Schools District Unit #4 was invited to attend a School Administrators Conference in New York co-sponsored by the Urban League and Teachers College of Columbia University to plan for the integration of their schools.They were one of two Illinois districts invited, the other being the Chicago Public Schools. Those attending were Dr. Eugene H. Mellon, Supt. of Schools, Donald J. Porter, president of the Board of Education, Vernon Barkstall, Director of the Champaign County Urban League, and Eugene Suggs, president of the board of the CC Urban League.