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PAGE 16 — Oct. I, 1954 —SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Kansas
TOPEKA, Kansas
s a defendant in the consolidated
cases which brought on the U. S.
Supreme Court’s May 17 decision, the
Topeka Board of Education never
argued for segregation.
More than a year prior to the rul
ing, each member of the six-person
board stated he or she favored and
would vote for the end of segregation
in the Kansas capital city’s 24 ele
mentary schools as soon as it could
be worked out.
What the Topeka board defended,
and was joined by the state attorney
general in doing so, was the principal
of state’s rights. Their argument was
that the Constitution specifically gave
the states control of public education,
and that only Congress and not the
judiciary had the right to end segre
gation.
Kansas’ permissive segregation law
delegated only to first-class cities the
right to maintain segregated elemen
tary schools if they wished. Only one
city, Kansas City, had legal permis
sion to have Negro high schools.
(In Kansas, cities are classified by
population—3rd class: 0 to 2,000; 2nd
class: 2,000 to 15,000; 1st class: More
than 15,000.)
“We want it understood we are
not defending segregation,” said Atty.
Gen. Harold R. Fatzer, “but we are
defending the Kansas statute enacted
by the legislature many years ago
(1867) establishing the policy that
segregation in schools should be left
up to the local governments.”
The Topeka Board of Education
once voted against joining with the
attorney general in filing a brief. The
board finally permitted its attorney
to help prepare the brief on condition
that “the only issue to be argued will
be the constitutionality of the Kansas
law and not the moral rightness of
segregation.”
On the same night—Dec. 1, 1952—
two motions were made by board
vice-president Jacob Dickinson to
end segregation. The first was tabled,
and the second withdrawn when
board members reached a “gentle
man’s agreement” to bring the mat
ter to a vote sifter the Supreme Court
acted.
Reason for the Delay
Reason given for wanting to delay
the vote was that some members did
not think the “timing was good” since
the Supreme Court then was con
sidering the Topeka appeal and four
others. One board member said, “We
don’t have the right to impair the
cases from other states at a delicate
time like this.”
Eight months later, in August, 1953,
three new board members took of
fice. On Sept. 4, 1953, then board
president Jacob Dickinson offered a
new motion to abolish segregation.
Unexpectedly at 12:30 a.m. that Tues
day morning, the board voted five to
1 to “terminate segregation in the
elementary grades as rapidly as prac
ticable.” That was eight months be
fore the Supreme Court acted.
The best method to accomplish in
tegration was left to Supt. Wendell
R. Godwin, who two years earlier
had come to Topeka from the top
school job in Hutchinson, Kansas, the
only first class city in the state which
never practiced segregation.
Thus far, Godwin has recom
mended and obtained approval of
Steps I and II of his integration plan.
Step I, integrating pupils in two dis
tricts in the so-called “better” part of
town took effect at the beginning of
school, 1953. Only nine Negro pupils
were involved out of some 1,600 pu
pils in the two buildings.
Step II was effective this fall of
1954, and integrated 12 more elem
entary districts involving only 113
Negroes out of 4,819 students. The
biggest problem is yet to come—four
white elementary schools in districts
with large Negro populations, and
four all-Negro schools in virtually
the same areas. These eight non-in-
tegrated schools have 639 Negroes
out of a total of 2,118.
Godwin refuses even to hint at
what Step in will be. He will not
present his recommendation until
January, 1955.
The Topeka board never asked for
nor received any volunteer sugges
tions for effecting the changeover to
mixed elementary schools. The pub
lic here showed almost complete
apathy.
During the many sessions of the
Topeka board when segregation was
discussed, only once did white resi
dents attend. And then it was a dele
gation of 10 persons from a district in
which many Negroes five. They were
divided about half and half over the
issue.
The Negroes took a more active in
terest, particularly when the board
did not rehire six Negro teachers in
the spring of 1953 in anticipation of
the Supreme Court ruling. The board
rehired these teachers later when the
Supreme Court announced postpone
ment of its expected spring hearing
to the fall term.
The letter sent to the Negro teach
ers at the time of the firing was per
haps a clue to things to come:
Due to the present uncertainty about
enrollment next year in schools for Negro
children, it is not possible at this time to
offer you employment for next year. If
the Supreme Court should rule segrega
tion in the elementary grades is uncon
stitutional, our board will proceed on the
assumption the majority of people in To
peka will not want to employ Negro
teachers next year for white children.
No further discussion of the Negro
teacher issue has come before a pub
lic board meeting.
Throughout the long lower court
fight and appeal period, no city or
state officials, except the attorney
general, spoke out on the subject.
Topeka received no offers from the
other cities with segregation wishing
to join in defending permissive seg
regation.
Action in Other Cities
While Topeka was discussing the
question, several other Kansas cities
quietly abolished segregation. Both
Wichita and Pittsburg acted before
Topeka.
The city-by-city story is this:
WICHITA—8,369 non-white out of
168,279 population. Integration is on
a voluntary system. Students may go
to the nearest school, but don’t have
to. Result: Negroes are attending
white schools in small numbers, but
no white students have changed
schools. The Wichita system had 38
Negro teachers now, though none is
Negro teachers now. though none is
teaching white students. Three
schools still are attended only by
Negroes.
LAWRENCE—1,932 non-white out
of 23,351 population. Lawrence had
only one Negro school, two blocks
from a white school. The schools were
integrated by putting the older stu
dents in one building and the younger
ones in the other. Now the newer
school, which formerly had a 45-pupil
all-Negro enrollment, has 110 pupils
of both races, affording a saving, and
easing overcrowded conditions in the
other school, according to Supt. W. D.
Wolfe. This fall, Lawrence hired a
master’s degree graduate of the Uni
versity of Kansas to fill a new posi
tion working with both races. Jesse
Milan, a Negro, is supervising phys
ical education for all eight elementary
schools, serving in the afternoons as
junior high physical education in
structor and counselor. There are no
other Negro teachers.
SALINA—629 non-white out of
26,176 population. The Salina board
of education passed a regulation in
February, 1954, permitting students
to attend the school nearest their
homes. The results are the same as
at Wichita. The eight previously all-
white schools now have these num
bers of Negroes enrolled out of a
total of 4,323 pupils: 15, 29. 14, 3, 5, 3,
4, 5. Fifty students remain in all-
Negro schools with two teachers.
KANSAS CITY—26,710 non-white
out of 129,553 population. Of the total
school population of 24,130, there are
5,360 Negro pupils—about one-fifth,
the biggest percentage in the state.
On Sept. 13, 1954, the board of edu
cation passed a resolution to begin
integration immediately in all schools,
completing it as rapidly as classroom
space can be provided. About half
the Kansas City elementary schools
now have Negroes enrolled, but the
total number of Negroes involved is
only 153. Sixty-five Negroes enrolled
in previously all-white junior and
senior high schools. Supt. F. L.
Schlagle said the situation in Kansas
City is eased by the fact that 80 per
cent of the Negroes live in one dis
trict. The board ruling also included
a goal of “avoiding any disruption in
the professional life of career teach
ers,” which Schlagle said meant that
Negro teachers—all 175—will be in
tegrated.
PARSONS—1,252 non-white out of
14,750 population. Integration has
been effected in two of the three dis
tricts where Negroes live. Integra
tion in the third district would result
in impossible overcrowding until a
new school is built.
ATCHISON—1,271 non-white out
of 12,792 population. Unofficial “capi
tal” for southern sympathizers in
Kansas during the Civil War, Atchi
son began two years ago to integrate
its schools, starting with the seventh
and eighth grades. Right after the
Court’s decision, all schools but one
were integrated, and it will be
integrated next fall. One Negro teach
er, Printice Gary, 36-year-old vet
eran, was transferred this fall without
fanfare to teaching all-white sixth
graders. Supt. Charles W. Lafferty
reports no protests, and plans to in
tegrate the five remaining Negro
teachers next fall.
LEAVENWORTH—2,053 non
white out of 20,579 population. Supt.
Hugh Bryan said Leavenworth is “to
ease into integration” this fall. Kin
dergarten and first grade pupils were
permitted to attend school in their
own district. Only eight Negro stu
dents were involved out of the total
elementary count of 2,201. Two Negro
schools which go through the eighth
grade have 368 pupils. Like Atchison,
Leavenworth has had segregation for
100 years. Bryan said he “couldn’t
keep the peace even in Leavenworth”
if the city’s 16 Negro teachers were
integrated.
COFFEYVILLE—2,185 n o n-white
out of 17,113 population. The city has
two Negro elementary schools with
an enrollment of 333 out of a total
school population of 2,388. Coffey-
ville has 11 Negro teachers. Supt.
Victor A. Klotz said the only action
being taken is “studying school pop
ulation trends. We do not anticipate
any changes prior to next fall. What
they will be will depend on the de
cision of the Supreme Court.” Coffey -
ville is located right on the Oklahoma
line.
FT. SCOTT—607 non-white out of
10,335 population. Supt. John F.
Haberbosch said the situation is
“status quo,” waiting on further court
action. The city has one Negro elem
entary school with 77 pupils and four
teachers. Total enrollment in grades
one to eight is 1,140. The crowded con
ditions of all schools and the defeat
of one bond issue, with another com
ing up, would make any shift of pu
pils impossible, Haberbosch said.
The 1954 Kansas school census
showed 21,785 Negro students be
tween the ages of five and 21, out of a
total of 489,573, or about four per
cent.
Of this number, 17,228 live in first-
class cities where segregation was
permissible. The 11 first-class cities
have a total school population of
152,069.
(The Kansas report was written by
Anna Mary Murphy. Education Editor of
the Topeka Daily Capital.)
Delaware
(Continued from Page 4)
by 1,002 persons opposing integration.
Later, a group of 20 representatives
of the large number of anti-integra-
tionists met with the school board
and Dr. George R. Miller, Jr., state
superintendent of public instruction.
Chief complaints against the school
board were that the people had not
been informed of the plan in advance
and the school board was too hasty.
Milford School Closed
Tuesday, Sept. 21, Dr. Raymond
C. Cobbs, superintendent of the Mil
ford schools, announced that schools
would be closed until further notice
because of telephoned threats he had
received late Monday night.
Dr. Cobbs also said that during a
meeting the night before “opponents
of integration” had been outside the
windows and doors of the meeting
room making noise and beating on
the windows with poles.
In the meantime, the Rev. Ran
dolph Fisher, president of the Mil
ford NAACP, revealed that the 11
Negro students might be asked to
stay away from school for several
days “but only to give the opponents
of integration the opportunity to un
derstand that they must respect the
decision of the Milford board of edu
cation to admit Negroes.”
Also on this Tuesday, Harry E.
Mayhew, a Democratic member of
the school board, resigned. He is a
candidate for election to the General
Assembly but gave no immediate rea
son for resigning.
By this time, the story was begin
ning to get national attention.
Wednesday, Sept. 22, the schools
were still closed and the anti-integra-
tionists were reported out to get Supt.
of Schools Cobbs to resign. In the
meantime, Mr. Mayhew issued a rea
son for his resignation from the
school board, “A condition has arisen
in which I no longer feel my services
to be in the best interests of the Mil
ford board of education.”
Boggs Calls Conference
Thursday, Sept. 23, a conference
was called by Gov. J. Caleb Boggs.
Attending were Atty. Gen. Young,
members of he Milford school board,
high ranking state school officials and
representatives of the anti-integra-
tionists.
Mr. Young advised the Milford
school officials they would be violat
ing even the “separate but equal”
provisions of the State Constitution if
they refused to admit Negro students
to the white high school, since, in his
opinion, the necessity of traveling
from Milford to Dover constituted an
“inequality.”
Thursday, Sept. 23, while Milford
schools were still closed, the scene
shifted to the state’s capital, Dover,
where the state board of education
met. About 50 newsmen from out-of-
state newspapers, radio and television
were on hand. Some had flown in via
chartered plane. The quarters of the
state board of education were
crowded with camera men and heavy
TV equipment.
After a lengthy meeting behind
closed doors the state board of edu
cation issued an order that the Mil
ford schools be reopened on the fol
lowing Monday, Sept. 27, and that
the Negro children be continued on
the rolls of the white high school.
The state board also criticized
the Milford Board of Education for
not having first consulted with it be
fore admitting the Negro students.
So, while the schools of Milford
were ordered reopened, the board
decided to ask Gov. Boggs to seek
an advisory opinion from the State
Supreme Court.
After the state board announced
that the Milford schools would re
open but criticized the local board
for the way it went about admitting
the Negro children, the three re
maining members of the Milford
board resigned in a body.
Friday, Sept. 24, Gov. Boggs is
sued a statement, asking that all
citizens of Milford cooperate in the
reopening of the schools on the fol
lowing Monday. He also asked peo
ple to stay away from the schools
while youngsters were going there.
In the meantime, in the absence of
a local school board, the state de
partment of public instruction pre
pared to take over the administra
tion of the Milford school district
Saturday, Sept. 25, the NAACP,
which had precipitated the original
segregation suits in Delaware, an
nounced it stood ready to represent
the interests of all 11 Negro young
sters and their families. The attorney
general and Delaware state police
started their investigation into the
reported threats of violence earlier
in the week made against members
of the Milford board of education.
The Delaware State Education As
sociation (a professional educational
association) and the Federation of
Delaware Teachers, an AFA affiliate
both came out with strong state
ments, commending the Milford
Board of Education for having en
tered the 11 Negro students.
The DSEA, representing some
2,200 members throughout Delaware,
urged “sober and fruitful adjust
ment toward an integrated school
system, with careful consideration
by all parties concerned and with
the interests of the children para
mount.”
Committee Appointed
Gov. Boggs also announced the
appointment of a committee of five
state officials to work with him on
a human relations program looking
toward the future. He confessed that
perhaps he had erred in not having
appointed such a committee earlier.
Sunday, Sept. 26: A rally of some
4,000 persons from Milford and vicin
ity was held at the Harrington Air
port near Milford to hear speeches
by local anti-integration leaders and
particularly Bryan Bowles, of Wash
ington, self-styled president and
founder of the National Association
for the Advancement of White
People.
Monday, Sept. 27: School reopened
at Milford with 15 state troopers and
10 Milford police on hand. The cam
pus swarmed with newsmen, photo
graphers and radiomen, and also with
about 350 men and women who
fringed the pavement and hailed the
entry of almost empty school buses
as they lumbered in from the coun
tryside to the school grounds. Ten of
the 11 Negro children enrolled in the
Milford High School arrived amid
stony silence. Eight were in auto
mobiles followed and preceded by
police cars. Two came in buses.
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