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Virginia
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS —Sept. 3, 1954 —PAGE 13
RICHMOND, Va.
HE Supreme Court’s anti-segrega
tion decision of May 17 found the
State of Virginia without any official
plans for meeting the problems the
decision necessarily creates.
Gov. Thomas B. Stanley and the
General Assembly both had taken the
position that any action prior to the
court’s ruling would be premature.
At the local county and city level,
there was little that school and gov
ernmental officials could do except
look to the state for leadership.
Broad public school policies are set
by the State Board of Education,
whose members are appointed by the
governor. He also appoints the state
superintendent of public instruction.
Each city and county (127 in all)
constitutes a school division, headed
by a division superintendent. This of
ficial is appointed by the local school
board from a list approved by the
State Department of Education.
Except in one county where they
are elected by popular vote, mem
bers of local school boards are ap
pointed to their positions. Generally,
boards in cities are appointed by the
city councils, while those in the
counties are appointed by school elec
toral boards. Members of these elec
toral boards are selected by the cir
cuit judges, and their only function
is to name the division superinten
dents.
In 1950 Virginia spent $100,200,000
on schools, or 2.8 per cent of its total
income of $3,551,000,000. Per capita
income in Virginia that year was
$1,147.
Virginia’s 140,438 Negro public
school children represented 25.2 per
cent of the total enrollment of 416,364
in 1952. Compared with 1940, the 1952
figures showed a 13.1 per cent in
crease in white students and an 11.7
per cent increase in Negro pupils.
Expenditures per pupil in metro
politan districts of the state rose
from $64.80 in 1940 to $184.77 in 1952,
and in rural districts from $35.70 in
1940 to $109.54 in 1952.
Two hours after the Supreme Court
announced its decision on May 17,
Gov. Stanley issued a statement in
which he expressed confidence that
the people of Virginia would receive
NEW ORLEANS, La.
J^OUISIANA, a Deep South state,
has not accepted the Supreme
Court’s ruling that segregation in the
public schools is unconstitutional.
Prior to the court’s opinion of May
17, there was a general feeling that
nothing would be changed. That feel
ing continues.
The issue has not come up in any
political campaign. Indeed, it would
seem that the Supreme Court opinion
never really happened.
In 1950-51, the city of New Orleans
began an extensive school building
program with a two-fold purpose—to
provide schools in new population
centers, and to replace obsolete build-
bigs in older sections.
The question of possible integration
was not a factor in the building pro
gram, nor was there any statewide
plan at that time either to retain
segregation, or to circumvent the Su
preme Court’s ultimate ruling.
Louisiana is proud of its public
school system. The recent session of
the legislature set aside roughly one-
balf ($300,000,000) of the state’s
biennial budget for education.
In 1950, although Louisiana ranked
41st in per capita income, it was third
ln Percentage of income spent on
Public schools.
LOCAL AUTHORITY
The state’s school system is virtual-
y autonomous .at the local level,
owever, the State Department of
ducation holds two strong strings—
eacher certification and financing.
To be a member of a public school
acuity, a teacher must first fill quali-
nf Ca ^.? ns set forth b y the State Board
Education, an elective body, and
administered by the State Depart
ment of Education.
Almost one-half of the expense of
the ruling “calmly” and would “take
time to carefully and dispassionately
consider the situation before coming
to conclusions on steps which should
be taken.”
He continued:
It had been hoped the provisions of our
State Constitution and previous decisions
of the court would be upheld, but the
court has come to a different conclusion.
... I contemplate no precipitate action,
but I shall call together as quickly as
practicable representatives of both state
and local governments to consider the
matter and work toward a plan which
will be acceptable to our citizens and in
keeping with the edict of the court. Views
of leaders of both races will be invited in
the course of these studies.
On the following day, May 18, the
governor issued a further statement
which said, in part:
Now that it appears assured the deci
sion of the Supreme Court will not affect
the public schools during the term open
ing next fall, we shall have time to give
full and careful consideration to means
of arriving at an acceptable solution.
OTHER REACTION
The first public reaction to the de
cision from Dowell J. Howard, Vir
ginia’s Superintendent of Public In
struction, was a statement in which
he said: “There will be no defiance of
the Supreme Court decision as far as
I am concerned. We are trying to
teach school children the law of the
land and we will abide by it.”
Atty. Gen. J. Lindsay Almond told
reporters that he felt “a satisfactory
solution may be reached which would
not necessarily mean the abandon
ment of separate but equal schools.”
Gov. Stanley and four Negro lead
ers—including Oliver W. Hill, head of
the Virginia legal staff of the Na
tional Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People—conferred
on May 24. The Negro leaders said
later they had asked Virginia to as
sume leadership among the Southern
states in moving toward integration
and had urged the Governor to do
nothing to jeopardize the jobs of
Negro teachers.
Meanwhile, Gov. Stanley had in
vited the governors of all other
Southern states to meet here on June
10.
On May 27 the State Board of Edu
cation advised city and county school
operating the public schools is borne
by the state, through a per educable
child fund, an equalization fund, and
a teachers pay fund.
At present, the sum of $48 is paid
to each local school board for each
child of educable age (7 to 17) within
the board’s area. This figure is ar
rived at by dividing the number of
educable age children as of each Jan.
1 into the amount appropriated by the
legislature for the fund.
The equalization fund is allocated
on the basis of actual need as shown
by a comparison of school income
from all sources in a given parish with
school needs. Equalization funds are
not earmarked for any particular ex
penditure, but may be used to cover
any expenses of the parish board.
The size of the equalization fund is
fixed by the state constitution, which
requires that one-fourth of the total
state public school fund go into the
equalization fund. The other three-
fourths goes to the per educable child
fund.
The state also contributes to teach
er salaries. In the past, the formula
was based on a comparison of mini
mum pay (as established by state law
in 1948) with the amount being paid
by individual school boards in the
1947-48 year. Each parish was treated
individually, with the state making
up the difference between what the
parish was paying and what the law
set as a minimum.
A new formula is currently being
devised. It will cover all school board
employees, whereas the old law
covered only teachers.
Local boards retain full control
over hiring of teachers, the placing of
school buildings, and the size and cur
riculum of schools.
In 1948, Louisiana had 276,662 white
sdhool children and 169,048 Negro
boards to continue segregation dur
ing the school year beginning in Sep
tember. The board quoted an opinion
from Atty. Gen. Almond, which said,
in part:
Pending a final adjudication, it is my
opinion that Section 140 of the Constitu
tion of Virginia and the statutes of Vir
ginia enacted pursuant thereto, remain
intact and unimpaired, imbued with full
legal vitality and efficacy.
Section 140 of the State Constitution
says: “White and colored children
shall not be taught in the same
school.”
The state law to which Mr. Almond
referred says: “White and colored
persons shall not be taught in the
same school, but shall be taught in
separate schools, under the same gen
eral regulations as to management,
usefulness and efficiency.”
The attorney general’s opinion led
Dr. J. M. Tinsley, of Richmond, presi
dent of the Virginia Conference,
NAACP, to remark that “if we left it
to the attorney general, it would be
1965 or after” before integration were
accomplished.
RESOLUTION ADOPTED
On June 19 about 20 members of
the state legislature from Southside
Virginia, where the proportion of
Negroes in the population is large,
met to discuss the court’s ruling, and
adopted a resolution which said, in
part:
We desire to have recorded our unal
terable opposition to the principle of in
tegration of the races in the schools and
that we hereby pledge to the people of
our district and to all the citizens of Vir
ginia our determined purpose to evolve
some legal method whereby political sub
divisions of the state may continue to
maintain separate facilities for white and
Negro students in schools.
On June 11 Atty. Gen. Almond de
clared: “I’m satisfied of this—Negro
teachers are not going to be engaged
in Virginia to teach white children.
No child of any race is going to be
compelled to attend a mixed school.”
On June 25 Gov. Stanley issued a
statement saying that “careful
thought” should be given to the re
peal of Section 129 of the state con
stitution which requires the General
Assembly to maintain a system of
public free schools throughout the
State.
Said the Governor:
While this provision has been in the
constitution a long time, it is apparent to
me that the matter now belongs more
school children. Negroes numbered
37.9 per cent of the total school child
population. This was a nine per cent
increase in the number of white
children since 1940, and a 17.1 per
cent increase in number of Negro
children.
There is no breakdown showing
expenditure of funds for white and
Negro schools, since both are handled
from the same general funds, both on
a statewide and local basis.
Louisiana was one of the few south
ern states that had its legislature in
session at the time of the Supreme
Court ruling.
All was quiet for three days, and
then a resolution was introduced in
the 100-man House of Representa
tives censuring the Supreme Court
for what was described as a “usurp
ing of power.”
It passed the House with only three
dissenting votes, and was given ap
proval by the 39-man Senate with
only one “nay” ballot.
THREE KEY BILLS
Some 30 days later, three bills were
introduced and later passed.
One of them provides that all pub
lic elementary and secondary schools
shall be operated separately for white
and Negro children and that “this
provision is made in the exercise of
the state police power to promote and
protect public health, morals, better
education and the peace and good
order of the state, and not because of
race.”
The second provides that the State
Board of Education shall not approve
any public schools which violate the
segregation provision. This bill also
prohibits the granting of free school
books or other school supplies, or
state funds for the operation of school
lunch programs to any school violat
ing the segregation provision.
The third gives to local superin
tendents of public schools the power
to designate within each parish the
particular public school each pupil
should attend, and that no school
properly in the hands of the Assembly. It
Is not my thought to do anything to de
stroy the public school system, but rather
to enable the legislature to deal with all
phases of the complex problem now con
fronting us. The Assembly can reach the
proper solution only if it has full rein and
can act in accordance with its best judg
ment on the over-all situation, rather
than on a piece-meal basis. . . .
It is apparent from the volume of com
munications I have received that the
overwhelming majority of the people of
Virginia favor separate schools, that they
believe the maintenance of such a system
to be in the best interest of both races,
and that they expect their state govern
ment to do everything proper and reason
able to preserve this system. . . .
I am convinced separate schools are in
the best interest of all the people of the
commonwealth. In order that my position
may be clearly understood, I should like
to state further that I shall use every legal
means at my command to continue segre
gated schools in Virginia.
By mid-August, the governing
bodies of approximately 15 of Vir
ginia’s 98 counties had adopted reso
lutions urging the retention of segre
gation in the schools.
On Aug. 28, Gov. Stanley named a
32-man bipartisan legislative com
mission to study the problems raised
by the court’s ruling and to prepare
a report and recommendations to him
and the General Assembly.
He asked the all-legislator group
to meet with him in Richmond Sept.
13 to organize and begin its work.
EARLIER PLAN ABANDONED
This action confirmed indications
that he had abandoned original plans
to appoint a citizens commission, in
cluding some Negro representatives.
In a prepared statement, Stanley ex
plained that after “further thought
and many discussions with citizens,
school officials and legislators,” he
had concluded that “a legislative
commission will be the best” for the
job.
This is so, he said, “primarily be
cause any program relating to the
public school system must be con
sidered and acted upon first by the
General Assembly.” He added: “The
more first-hand information mem
bers of the Legislature can obtain,
the better equipped they will be to
deal with the problem.”
The complete roster of the commis
sion includes:
From the Senate: Sens. Robert F.
Baldwin Jr., Norfolk; Robert Y. But
ton, Culpeper; Curry Carter, Au
gusta; W. C. Caudill, Giles; Charles
R. Fenwick, Arlington; Earl A. Fitz
patrick, Roanoke; Mills E. Godwin
child “shall be entitled to be enrolled
to enter into a public school until he
has been assigned thereto by the su
perintendent.” However, a system of
administrative appeal from the su
perintendent’s assignment is pro
vided.
These bills, as finally passed, were
watered down from the original ver
sions introduced after discussions led
by Gov. Robert Kennon.
The Catholic Church, too, was in
fluential in attempting to soften the
bills. For instance, one section of one
bill provided that attorneys who
handled cases protesting the new
laws would be automatically con
sidered for disbarment. That section
was amended out of the bill.
Primarily through pressure from
the Catholic Church, the so-called
“segregation bills” were amended to
apply only to public schools.
PAROCHIAL PLAN DROPPED
However, the Catholic Church has
not been able to go through with its
plans to integrate parochial schools,
despite the fact that Louisiana is
heavily Catholic.
Archbishop Joseph Rummel at one
time announced that he was consider
ing a plan for the integration of Cath
olic schools. Public reaction was so
great, even from prominent Catholic
lay leaders, that the Archbishop later
announced that the Catholic Church
will make no move toward integra
tion in advance of similar steps in the
public schools.
In New Orleans, almost one-half of
the city’s school children attend Cath
olic or other private schools.
Although there has been public
resistance to integration at the public
school level, Negroes have been ad
mitted to the Louisiana State Univer
sity Graduate School since 1950. Mil-
ton M. Harrison, assistant to LSU
President Troy H. Middleton, reports
that the number of Negro graduate
Jr., Suffolk; Garland Gray, Sussex;
James D. Hagood, Halifax; A. S. Har
rison Jr., Brunswick; S. Floyd Land-
reth, Galax; G. Edmond Massie,
Richmond; W. Marvin Minter, Ma
thews.
From the House: Delegates
Howard H. Adams, Northampton; J.
Bradie Allman, Franklin County;
Joseph E. Blackburn, Lynchburg;
Orby L. Cantrell, Wise; Russell M.
Cameal, Williamsburg; C. W. Cleaton
Mecklenburg; John H. Daniel, Char
lotte; Harry B. Davis, Princess Anne;
Charles K. Hutchens, Newport News;
Baldwin G. Locher, Rockbridge; J.
Maynard Magruder, Arlington; W.
Tayloe Murphy, Warsaw; Samuel E.
Pope, Southampton; Harold H. Pur
cell, Louisa; James W. Roberts, Nor
folk; Vernon S. Shaffer, Shenandoah;
W. Roy Smith, Petersburg; J. Ran
dolph Tucker Jr., Richmond; C.
Stuart Wheatley Jr., Danville.
The commission will elect its own
chairman.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
The commission includes at least
two members from each of the 10
Congressional Districts, with the
largest representation going to areas
having the heaviest Negro popula
tion.
In part, the Governor’s statement
said:
“I am therefore appointing a fairly
large Commission on Public Educa
tion, composed of 32 members of the
Legislature. I am inviting the com
mission to ascertain, through public
hearings and such other means as
appear appropriate, the wishes of the
people of Virginia; to give careful
study to plans or legislation or both,
that should be considered for adop
tion in Virginia after the final degree
of the Court is entered, and to offer
such other recommendations as it
may deem proper as a result of the
decision of the Supreme Court affect
ing the public schools.”
Meanwhile, the Richmond Diocese
of the Roman Catholic Church, which
includes most of Virginia, has an
nounced that Negroes will be ad
mitted to Catholic parochial schools
this fall for the first time. Where
there are both white and Negro
Catholic schools, segregation will
continue, but where there are no
schools for Negroes, Negro children
will be permitted to attend the white
schools, it was explained.
students has steadily increased, as fol
lows:
No. Negro
Term Graduate
Students
Summer Session, 1951.... 1
1st Semester, 1951-52.... 5
2nd Semester, 1951-52.... 11
Summer Session, 1952.... 38
1st Semester, 1952-53.... 19
2nd Semester, 1952-53.... 26
Summer Session, 1953.... 108
1st Semester, 1953-54 51
2nd Semester, 1953-54... 58
Summer Session, 1954.... 230
Immediately after the Supreme
Court ruling, five Negroes registered
and were admitted as undergraduates
in summer school at Southwestern
Louisiana Institute, a small, previous
ly all-white college at LaFayette, La.
Loyola University of the South, a
Jesuit college in New Orleans, has ad
mitted Negro students as undergrad
uates for the past five years. Assistant
Dean Bernard A. Tonnar, S. J., re
ports that Negroes are matriculated in
three departments: the School of Law,
the School of Graduate Education,
and the Institute of Industrial Rela
tions. Says Dean Tonnar:
The School of Law first admitted Ne
groes two years ago, and five matriculated.
Since then two have been excluded for
scholastic deficiencies. The three remain
ing ones are doing well. We admitted last
summer session one Negro lady to the
School of Graduate Education. This slim
mer we had only one Negro applicant for
graduate work, and since the student did
not fulfill the requirements, he was not
admitted.
State Superintendent of Education
Shelby Jackson has not commented
publicly on the segregation issue, but
the general opinion of state educa
tors seems to be that Louisiana, as a
last resort, will attempt to hold its
segregation line by an “in effect” sys
tem. One prominent educator, who
declined to be quoted by name, said:
We are not considering abolishment of
the public school system as a means to
retain segregation. Our main aim will be
to maintain an ‘in effect’ system of segre
gation on a local basis, primarily by the
planning of new schools so that they will
follow the natural pattern of segregation.
Louisiana