NORFOLK, Va. —  The "Norfolk 17" were honored Sunday at the church that educated them 50 years ago when six of the city's all-white public schools closed under Virginia's defiant response to court-ordered desegregation.

Ten of the 14 surviving members of the Norfolk 17 _ who went on to integrate the public schools, enduring isolation and their classmates' scorn _ attended the service at the First Baptist Church, where they were remembered as fearless civil rights pioneers in the segregated South.

"We're here to celebrate history," the Rev. Robert G. Murray told the packed congregation. "All God's children deserve an education."

The 17 were among thousands of black students denied a place in the classroom during "Massive Resistance," Virginia's state-sponsored answer to the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling that declared school segregation unconstitutional.

"There were 17 stories. Each one of us has our own story. My brother died 14 years ago. His story is lost," said Patricia Turner, who along with her late brother James Turner Jr. was among the 17.

Virginia's Massive Resistance cut funds to any school that dared to integrate.

Schools were closed and private academies were created to educate white students who could afford the tuition. The policy primarily affected schools in Charlottesville, Norfolk and Prince Edward County, which continued its own homegrown version of school segregation until 1964.

In Norfolk, three all-white high schools and three junior high schools closed between September 1958 and February 1959 rather than accept black students.

The Norfolk 17 were turned away from those six schools. At First Baptist Church, the 17 said they found loving, attentive and demanding teachers.

In January 1959, state and federal courts declared that the school closings were unconstitutional. The Norfolk schools reopened in Feb. 2, 1959, and the 17 went on to attend the white schools, ending the era of Massive Resistance.

At school, the 17 were met by angry mobs and insults. Many said they were isolated from their white classmates during their high school years. The speakers mentioned Louis Cousins, who was widely depicted in a news photograph sitting alone in the Maury High School auditorium while white classmates were seated many rows away.

Cousins attended Sunday's celebration but did not speak.

"These people were alone," said John Charles Thomas, the first black justice on the Virginia Supreme Court and a product of the Norfolk public schools. "Every one of them was alone."

Thomas recalled the tumultuous era in which the young members of the Norfolk 17 integrated the city schools. The judge who ordered the schools reopened had a cross burned on his lawn, he said, and the civil rights movement was met with violence in many places.

"This was a dangerous time," Thomas said to nods and amens of the congregation. "Think of the courage that it took for all of them to do what they did."

Turning to the first two rows of the church, Thomas said, "Norfolk 17, God knows we're grateful."

Virginia established Brown v. Board of Education Scholarships for people whose education was disrupted or ended during Massive Resistance. The city of Norfolk plans to conduct events marking the 50th anniversary of the end of Massive Resistance next year.

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