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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS —Sept. 3, 1954 —PAGE 15
Ashmore Book Traces
Origin of School System
the NEGRO AND THE SCHOOLS. By
Harrv S. Ashmore. University of North
Carolina Press. Chapel Hill, N. C. $2.75
and $1.50.
he Negro and the Schools, pub
lished by the University of North
Carolina Press on the eve of the
United States Supreme Court ruling
in the school segregation cases, has
earned general acceptance in both
the South and non-South as the most
complete and objective work of its
kind available to educators and lay
men who are concerned with the
practical results of the historic new
legal precedent.
The book, written by Harry S. Ash
more, a native of South Carolina and
now executive editor of the Arkansas
Gazette, traces the history of bi-racial
education in the United States from
its inception in the post-Civil War
period to the time of the Supreme
Court decision.
Here are set forth the major legal
trends under which the states were
allowed to maintain “separate but
equal” public schools under the
Plessy doctrine enunciated by the
Supreme Court in 1896, and over
turned by the Court in May. But the
legal history is developed in the con
text of the continuing change in race
relations in the nation—the univer
sal acceptance of legal segregation in
the Booker T. Washington era in the
South, the return of the franchise to
the Negro in the thirties and the un
leashing of new political forces, the
admission of Negroes to Southern
universities in the post-World War H
era, the ending of segregation in the
armed services, and the new anti-
discrimination policies adopted by
both major political parties.
Here too is a charting of population
trends in the periods of great out
migration of Negroes from the South,
which have pulled down the regional
proportion of Negroes to whites and
altered some of the basic social com
putations which had determined the
patterns of racial relationships.
While making no attempt to argue
the case for or against segregation,
Correspondence
Continued From Page 1
on the publication of a monthly publi
cation from September, 1954, througn
January, 1955, and a semi-monthly
publication from February through
June, 1955, a total of 15 issues at an
estimated cost of $1,000 per issue.
Other unknowns include the number
of persons other than our regular
correspondents who will be needed,
and the exact cost of printing and
mailing.
Our present budget projections, we
believe, are minimum and modest,
and we expect to re-examine them
after the first three months or so of
operation. Our Board has felt it wise
not to attempt to look beyond June
30, 1955 with respect to the opera
tions of the Reporting Service. The
decision on this matter can best be
niade after six to nine months of op
eration.
Request for grant
Now that our operating plans and
budget have been developed, we wish
to request that a grant of $99,200 be
wade by the Fund for the Advance-
went of Education to the George Pea
body College for Teachers, as fiscal
agent for the Southern Education
Reporting Service, for the purpose
°f supporting the initial establish
ment and operations of the SERS for
we period beginning' June 6, 1954,
wid ending June 30, 1955. This re
quest is based on our initial budget
estimate, a copy of which is enclosed
along with the minutes of the first
f < ?^ nee ^ n § s °f our Board and a copy
° * r • press release announcing the
es ablishment of the Reporting Serv-
lce.
We would appreciate the oppor
tunity to review with officials of the
anH t he ade 1 uac y °f this budget
£ , the requested grant at the
ti °q. t ee or f° ur months of opera-
imilarly, we would appreciate
e opportunity to review the whole
q estlon °f the future of the SERS
The Negro and the Schools sharply
defines the major problems now fac
ing the Southern states—whether
they choose to move toward inte
gration of their traditionally separate
schools, or attempt to maintain seg
regation in the face of the Court deci
sion. The book also contains charts
and tables with the latest figures,
states by state, that go into the meas
urement of both the progress and
deficiencies of the dual school system.
The book is the first product of
research conducted by some 50 ex
perts in the various fields involved,
most of them staff members of South
ern universities. The undertaking
was financed by a grant from the
Fund for the Advancement of Ed
ucation, an independent agency es
tablished by the Ford Foundation.
Three subsequent volumes are sched
uled for early publication, developing
the researchers’ findings in more de
tail in the fields of public school ad
ministration and finance, the actual
experience of non-Southern com
munities that have made the transi
tion from segregation to integration,
and the experience of Southern uni
versities with integration. These will
also be published by the University
of North Carolina Press.
The Negro and the Schools was ex
tensively and sympathetically re
viewed by most of the nation’s news
papers, and has been universally
praised for its objectivity. It is be
ing used as a handbook by many
educators as they carry out one of
the work’s major premises—“in the
end the new patterns will have to be
hammered out across the table in
thousands of scattered school dis
tricts, and they will have to be shaped
to accommodate not only the needs
but the prejudices of whites and Ne
groes to whom these problems are
not abstractions but the essence of
their daily lives.”
The book is available in both hard
back and paper editions at all book
stores, and also may be ordered in
quantity at discount rates directly
from the University of North Caro
lina Press, Chapel Hill, N.C.
after the first six to nine months of
operation. Naturally, we are not at
this time suggesting or requesting
that the Fund for the Advancement
of Education commit itself in any
way to support beyond June 30,1955.
We appreciate the fact that the
Fund has already made a deposit of
$2,500 to the George Peobody College
for Teachers to be used in defraying
costs of initial establishment of the
SERS and we understand that this
amount will be treated as an advance
payment against the anticipated grant
herein requested.
Provisions have already been made
with the business office of Peabody
College to maintain a full and ac
curate record of all expenditures of
the SERS and to render a full ac
counting to the Fund for the Ad
vancement of Education for the peri
od beginning June 6,1954, and ending
June 30, 1955. It is also understood
that any portion of the requested
grant which remains unused will be
returned to the Fund.
Sincerely,
Virginius Dabney
(Note: SERS has since been incor
porated under Tennessee law as a
general welfare corporation.)
New York, N. Y.
July 14, 1954
Mr. Virginius Dabney, Editor
The Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond, 11, Virginia
Dear Mr. Dabney:
am delighted to respond to your
letter of July 5, 1954 to Mr. Clar
ence Faust, in which you request
support for the recently established
Southern Education Reporting Serv
ice for the fiscal year ending June
30, 1955.
We understand that the Board of
Directors of the SERS will maintain
an impartial reporting service to pro
vide accurate and unbiased informa
tion concerning the adjustments
which various communities in the
southern region make as a result of
the Supreme Court’s recent opinion
and forthcoming decrees in the five
cases involving segregation in the
public schools.
We understand further that the aim
of the SERS is to assist responsible
local and state leaders in the southern
area, and particularly school admin
istrators, in developing practical and
constructive solutions to their own
particular school problems by sup
plying them with objective facts
about the developments in other
communities. We also understand
that Mr. C. A. McRnight, editor of
The Charlotte News has agreed to
serve as executive director of this
program for the coming year, that
headquarters have been established
in Nashville, Tennessee, and that ar
rangements have been made to re
cruit a small staff to work with Mr.
McKnight. In addition, we under
stand that eighteen field correspond
ents have been selected to provide
the basic information from the Dis
trict of Columbia and the seventeen
states whose public school laws are
affected by the recent Supreme Court
opinion.
We note from your letter that the
proposed budget for the coming year
is an initial estimate and that you
propose to review the whole question
of the future of the SERS after the
first six or nine months of operation
and that at an earlier date you will
review the adequacy of the estimated
budget. We shall, of course, be
pleased to discuss these questions
with you whenever you feel it ap
propriate. We note that in your let
ter you emphasize that the Fund
could not or should not commit it
self to additional support beyond
June 30, 1955.
With these understandings, I am
pleased to advise you that the Fund
is granting $96,700 to George Peabody
College for Teachers, in accordance
with your request, to support the ac
tivities of the Southern Education
Reporting Service for the period be
ginning June 6,1954 through June 30,
1955. This grant supplements our
earlier grant of $2,500, described in
my letter addressed to Mr. Herbert
Clark of George Peabody College
dated June 23, 1954, thus aggregating
a total allotment of $99,200 to this
program for the period indicated.
We have received word from
President Hill that the George Pea
body College for Teachers will be
happy to render fiscal and accounting
services for the SERS from the pres
ent time through June 20, 1955. We
are delighted with this arrangement
and I am taking the liberty of send
ing President Hill a copy of this let
ter. We assume that you and Mr. Mc
Knight will submit a report of the
activities of the SERS shortly follow
ing June 30, 1955, including an ap
propriate financial acounting for our
records. As is customary in such
cases, any portion of the funds not
used for the purposes of this grant
are to be returned.
We propose to make payments un
der this grant according to the fol
lowing schedule: $25,000 in July, 1954;
$25,000 in October, 1954; $25,000 in
January, 1955; and $21,700 in April,
1955.
It is the Fund’s policy not to make
public announcements of grants, but
rather to leave this to the grantee.
We would, however, appreciate re
ceiving an advance copy of any pub
licity release you may make so that
we may check any reference to the
Fund.
On behalf of the Board and officers
of the Fund, I wish to say finally that
we are delighted that you and your
associates are undertaking this im
portant project. We are pleased to be
of assistance in this important pub
lic service. We look forward with
eager anticipation to the results from
the Southern Education Reporting
Service.
Sincerely yours
John K. Weiss, Treasurer
Nashville, Tenn.
July 6, 1954
Dear Mr. Faust:
r J'HE Board of Directors of the
Southern Education Reporting
Service at its meeting in Nashville on
June 6, 1954 passed a resolution re
questing the George Peabody College
for Teachers to serve as fiscal agent
for the SERS for the period ending
June 30,1955.
Peabody is very happy to under
take to render these services.
I have examined the letter of July
5 from Mr. Virginius Dabney, Chair
man of the SERS Board of Directors,
to the Fund for the Advancement of
Education requesting a grant of $99,-
200 to support the operations of the
SERS. At this time I would like to
indicate the willingness of Peabody
College to accept this grant in behalf
of the SERS and to render the fiscal
services described in Mr. Dabney’s
letter.
I believe you have on file a copy
of a letter from the Bureau of In
ternal Revenue certifying the tax-
exempt status of Peabody College un
der Section 101-6 of the U. S. Internal
Revenue Code. I wish at this time to
certify that this tax-exempt status
is still valid.
Sincerely,
Henry H. Hill
New York, N. Y.
July 14, 1954
Dr. Henry H. Hill, President
George Peabody College for Teachers
Nashville, Tennessee
Dear Dr. Hill:
r T'HANK you so much for your let-
of July 6 to Mr. Faust. We ap
preciate your willingness to accept
the grant in behalf of the Southern
Education Reporting Service, and I
have written to Mr. Dabney that we
are making the grant to George Pea
body College for Teachers. A copy
of my letter is enclosed.
Thank you also for the verification
of your tax-exempt status. You will
be receiving a check in a few days.
Sincerely,
John K. Weiss
Assistant Vice President
Maryland
Continued from Page 7
cational leaders of Baltimore “for
their immediate implementation of
the Supreme Court decision” and also
the state superintendent of schools
and the State Board of Education “for
the unequivocal statement of intent
to conform to the mandate of the Su
preme Court.”
ACTION OF CONFERENCE
The conference heard reports on
the problems which may arise from
integration and adopted a series of
“assumptions.” Three of these were
as follows:
We assume that in each county specific
plans will be made for preparing teachers
and administrative personnel, both white
and Negro, for integrated schools. We be
lieve there are many negative factors,
emotional and attitudinal, which can be
eliminated through careful planning and
preparation.
We assume that there will be specific
plans for preparing pupils, both Negro
and white, for integrated schools. Chil
dren reflect in their personalities the
mores of the community in which they
live. Planning and preparation will pay
large dividends in Americanism.
The school children are but one popu
lation of many concerned with this prob
lem. We assume that each county will
make specific plans to enlist the coopera
tion of parents, community leaders and
community agencies, both Negro and
white, in the development of positive at
titudes for integrated schools.
Whether the counties will under
take any such preparatory program
depends on the findings of the com
mittee of school superintendents set
up by the State Board of Education to
study the ways and means of bring
ing about integration on a state-wide
basis.
In Baltimore, where integration is
to begin in September, no psychol
ogical preparations have been made
or special techniques enunciated or
“do’s” and “dont’s” distributed, except
for Dr. Fischer’s speech at a special
teachers conference in June, at which
he said that “there is abundant evi
dence that good will and good sense
are widely distributed among our
people and that those qualities are
characteristic of both our races.” Dr.
Fischer says that his department be
lieves in a policy of “doing what
comes naturally” when mixed groups
meet, rather than magnifying the
problem by discussing it ahead of
time.
NO ORGANIZED OPPOSITION
Both city and state school officials
say they know of no organized resist
ance to school integration, and it is
true that the Supreme Court decision
has been received quietly throughout
most of Maryland. But at least one
group is working against integration
—the Maryland Petition Committee,
the address of which is General De
livery, Jessups, Md. A letter of in
quiry as to meetings which the com
mittee has held and the support it has
received brought forth the answer
from Mrs. D. B. Wieland, secretary,
that “we do not consider it approp
riate at this time to disclose full de
tails as to our procedures and ac
complishments.”
As part of the readjustment init
iated by the Supreme Court decision,
the Housing Authority of Baltimore
City decided on June 26 to eliminate
segregation in its thirteen low-rent
public housing projects. Several
months will be required to put the
new policy into effect, G. Cheston
Carey, chairman of the authority ex
plained, but immediate steps will be
taken toward “eliminating the factor
of race in the selection of eligible
tenants.” The change, which some ob
servers believe will pose more prob
lems than school integration, was
made in recognition of “a clear trend
toward the abandonment of policies
sanctioning segregation.”
Texas
Continued From Page 11
compulsory segregation. Local boards
have taken these requests under ad
visement. According to one view,
there will be no effort made in court
to admit a Negro to public school in
Texas until the U.S. Supreme Court
writes its decree. The appearances
before local boards, according to this
view, are mainly efforts of Negro
leaders to get on record and to con
vince their followers that the pressure
for ending segregation will be kept
up.
In some counties, particularly West
Texas where there are few Negroes,
local authorities might welcome a
chance to admit all children to the
same school. Transporting a few chil
dren, sometimes 50 miles or more
daily, is inconvenient and expensive.
In such areas, racial prejudice usually
is less than in places where Negroes
live in great numbers.
Most Texas Negroes live in the
eastern third of the state and in cities
like Houston and Dallas.
ONLY ONE INCIDENT
The only violence in Texas so far
attributed to the school segregation
occurred on July 18 in Sulphur
Springs, Northeast Texas.
Two shotgun blasts and seven .38
caliber pistol slugs were fired into
the home of Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Ridge
at night, when the couple was away.
Ridge is local chairman of the
NAACP and had petitioned the Sul
phur Springs school board the week
before to admit Negroes.
The Associated Press reported that
“For two years, parents of several
Negro school children have been
picketing the town’s only school for
Negroes on grounds its facilities are
not equal to those for white children.
Ridge has said he has nothing to do
with the picketing.”
Texas educators, discussing seg
regation, usually point out that
Spanish-speaking students in Texas
add to the difficulty of their problem.
This racial minority, about as numer
ous as Negroes, are a social, health
and economic problem also. Most of
these children come from Mexican
parentage.
Notice
With a few exceptions, all per
sons on the mailing list of “South
ern School News” have either re
quested that this publication be
sent them, or a request has been
made for them. For example,
local superintendents have been
covered by blanket requests
from their chief state school of
ficers.
There was not time prior to
publication of the first issue to
exchange correspondence with
officials of several associations
and to receive requests covering
their memberships.
Because of the documentary
nature of the first issue, SERS
decided to distribute several hun
dred copies to newspapers and
public libraries before official re
quests were received. This does
not signify any change in SERS
policy—that “Southern School
News” is distributed upon direct
or indirect request only.