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Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.
A RKANSAS will file a brief with
^ the United States Supreme Court
to set forth the state’s position on
public school segregation.
Atty. Gen. Tom Gentry agreed to
comply with a request from the State
Board of Education on Sept. 13 that
he file a friend-of-the-court brief.
The board made the request after re
ceiving petitions from 32 school dis
tricts in East Arkansas, the area of
the state with the highest percentages
of Negro population.
Gentry told the board and repre
sentatives of several of the petition
ing school districts that he was will
ing to file the brief “provided you get
me the facts and tell me what you
want to do.”
Gentry told them that the only
question now before the Supreme
Court was:
“How do you want the Supreme
Court to order you to integrate white
and Negro students?”
Gentry sent a telegram that same
day, notifying the clerk of the Su
preme Court of Arkansas’ intention
to submit a brief. (The deadline for
filing briefs has been extended to No
vember 15).
17 Petitions Filed
The request for intervention was
prompted primarily by petitions for
an immediate end of segregation
which had been filed with 17 Arkan
sas school districts by the Arkansas
Conference of Branches of the Na
tional Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People.
At the state board meeting Sept. 13,
Harold Weaver, chairman of the West
Memphis school board, presented the
petitions from the 32 school districts
asking the state board to request the
attorney general to participate.
Weaver said the Supreme Court
should fully realize the hardship a
decision might work on some districts
such as his own, which has 2,500
Negro pupils and 1,600 white students.
“It could tear our school system all
to pieces,” he said.
Weaver was joined in his plea by
W. E. Castleberry, superintendent of
schools at Newport; L. H. Polk, Crit
tenden County school supervisor, and
W. B. Nicholson, superintendent of
schools at Blytheville.
The petitions came from these
school districts: Holly Grove, Parkin,
Blytheville, Shawnee, Portland, De-
Witt, Osceola, Phillips County Board
of Education, Haynes, Dell, Marvell,
Vandale, Eudora, Rondo, Arkansas
County Board of Education, Arkansas
City, Watson, Dumas, Brickeys, Lee
County No. “G”, Weona No. 29, Poin
sett County No. 3, Marked Tree, Pal
estine, Desha County Board of Edu
cation, Lepanto, Barton, Earle, Mar
ion, Crawfordsville, Turrell and Hul-
bert-West Memphis.
Resolution Adopted
The board approved a resolution
presented by board chairman Marvin
K Bird of Earle supporting the re
quest for a brief from the attorney
general.
The resolution pointed out that 228
of the state’s 423 school districts op
erate dual systems for whites and
Negroes. It reiterated the board’s pol-
Ic y that school districts should con
tinue to work toward equalization of
educational opportunities through
Joint counsel between races at the
local level.
The resolution said the NAACP pe-
itions asking immediate integration
were “out of harmony” with the
b° a rd policy and with “the delibera
te order of the Supreme Court by
Y lc k ^he court is delaying its own
ec ree in order to get the views of all
southern states as to how any forth
coming decree should be imple-
m ented.”
The resolution also said:
c l° es n °t Question the me
Satirui „ ose seeking immediate desegr<
ODnnrt are a H Peking to improv
Sard + ltles for 311 children without re
iudg^nt ac t e u J e are ec * uall y ft™ in o,
outsider j hat pressure procedures b
to r>rAv of either race would ten
tog. 6nt friendl y» cooperative counsel
offi 6 k° ar d adjourned to Gentry’s
sai ? e ’ w ^ ere the attorney general
e w °uld be “pleased to file a
brief on behalf of the state where the
welfare of the state is concerned.”
However, Gentry said he would have
to have definite facts to give to the
Court and “nothing haphazard.”
State Education Commissioner
Arch W. Ford suggested that the in
terested East Arkansas school dis
tricts employ an attorney to assist
them in getting the facts and to work
with the State Education Department.
Ford said the department already had
a considerable amount of informa
tion on hand. He said that if the de
partment worked directly with the
school districts it might produce “too
much emotionalism.”
Gentry said desegregation had been
declared “the law of the land and we
are going to have to abide by it.”
Text of Statement
This is the board statement of Sept.
13:
At the last regular quarterly meeting
of the board in June (June 14) 1954, the
State Board of Education made a brief
statement of policy regarding the Su
preme Court decision and our state public
schools. This announcement was made
after a careful study of the Court’s de
cision and possible effects of the decision
on the public schools of this state. Our
previous statement was given to the news
papers and also mailed to local school
districts by the commissioner of educa
tion.
The policy statement of the board in
June contained the following:
Under our present law the State
Board of Education acts only in an
advisory capacity to local school
boards. The local board itself is the
governing body of the local school
district and its decisions are final.
Therefore, decisions must be made by
the local school board, but within the
limitations and restrictions provided
by law. Our present state law pro
vides for segregation in the public
schools and any decision by a local
board providing for integration of the
races is premature, as the Supreme
Court in its opinion stated that fur
ther arguments would be heard and a
decree entered. We do not know when
the decree will be entered or what
it will provide. In the meantime,
members of both races at the com
munity level should continue as they
have in the past in working coopera
tively and effectively in a friendly
effort to achieve better and substan
tially equal schools for all children,
without regard to race.
It is important to keep in mind that
policy decisions are made by local
school boards. The public school sys
tem in America calls for local control
of schools and the state functions in
the area of leadership only in such
vital statewide matters as the one in
volving segregation of the races.
Since the action indicated above was
taken at our June meeting, much discus
sion has taken place throughout the state,
and many reports have been made by
local school leaders and citizens to mem
bers of the board and to the department
staff members.
Petitions have recently been received by
several local school boards wherein peti
tioners seek immediate desegregation. In
the light of these events this board feels
the need for further clarification or re
statement at this time, as follows:
1. It is the opinion of this Board that
local school districts should continue to
work in a friendly, cooperative plan in
bringing about equalization of education
al opportunities between the races. This
should be accomplished through joint
counsel between the races at the local dis
trict level.
2. It is our considered judgment that
petitions recently received by local dis
tricts requesting immediate desegregation
and any others of similar nature which
may be received by local school boards
of this state are not only premature but
are out of harmony with the above-stated
policy, which is calculated to improve
schools and keep the lines of communica
tion open between the races at the local
level.
3. It is our further judgment that
these petitions demanding immediate de
segregation are equally out of harmony
with the deliberative order of the Su
preme Court by which the Court is de
laying its own decree in order to get the
views of all southern states as to how any
forthcoming decree should be imple
mented.
4. This board does not question the mo
tives of those seeking immediate desegre
gation. We are all seeking to improve
opportunities for all children without re
gard to race. We are equally firm in our
judgment that pressure procedures by
outside leaders of either race would tend
to prevent the friendly, cooperative coun
seling indicated above.
5. This board has received requests
from some of the districts receiving pe
titions requesting immediate desegrega
tion, urging that we support them in re
questing the attorney general to accept
the invitation extended by the United
States Supreme Court to file a friend of
the court brief in the cases now pending
by the Court and for which the Court has
not entered decrees. We are glad to com
ply with this request and hereby urge
the attorney general of the State of Ar
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS — Oct. I, 1954—PAGE 3
PLAN ARKANSAS BRIEF—Arkansas Atty-Gen. Tom Gentry (left) con
fers with Harold Weaver, (center) chairman of the West Memphis School
Board, and Marvin E. Bird of Earle, chairman of the state Board of Educa
tion, about filing a brief with the United States Supreme Court. Gentry
agreed to submit the brief to give Arkansas’s situation in regard to the Su
preme Court decision on segregation in public schools.
kansas, on behalf of these petitioning dis
tricts, to prepare such a brief and pre
sent it to the Court, along with those
from other southern states.
It has been the custom of this board
to serve as a coordinating agency for lo
cal school boards when faced by such an
emergency as now confronts the 228 dis
tricts operating dual schools in this state.
This board hereby makes available the
professional staff of the Department of
Education on a consultative basis to as
sist in any way possible the attorney gen
eral and the local school boards, upon
request, in order that all facts relative
to conditions in Arkansas may be brought
to the attention of the Court.
Reply from the NAACP
Thad D. Williams of Little Rock, a
member of the Legal Redress Com
mittee of the Arkansas Conference of
Branches of the NAACP, issued this
statement in reply to the state board:
On May 17, 1954, the United States Su
preme Court ruled that the 14th Amend
ment of the Constitution of the United
States prohibited the separation of white
and Negro children in public schools. This
ruling was an interpretation of the 14th
Amendment of the United States Consti
tution which was adopted on July 28, 1868,
by 30 of the then United States, including
the state of Arkansas. Therefore, segrega
tion in public schools is not only illegal
now but has been since July 28, 1868. Still
more, the Arkansas statute providing for
segregation in public schools is likewise
unconstitutional now and has been since
July 28, 1868.
Sept. 13 also produced the surprise
report that 11 Negro children had
been attending school with white
children at Charleston, in West Ar
kansas, since Aug. 23. On Sept. 10, five
Negro girls had enrolled at Fayette
ville High School and at that time
were believed to be the first Negroes
to register at a public white school
below the college level in the Confed
erate South.
The Associated Press quoted H. M.
Orsburn, president of the Charles
ton school board, as saying that the
move had been made to save spending
“a lot of money on Negro schools” and
that the integration had proceeded
quietly and “things seem to be work
ing out fine.” The reports said the 11
Negroes were attending school with
about 600 white children and that one
of the 11 was in high school.
There had been reports that
Charleston planned to desegregate
but Charleston school officials had re
fused to comment.
Orsburn was quoted by the Associ
ated Press as saying that “We put it
up to the taxpayers on a money-sav
ing basis” and that the district would
save about $4,500 this school year,
mainly in tuition and transportation
of Negro students to nearby Fort
Smith.
Publicity Avoided
On Sept. 17, W. W. Haynes, super
intendent of Charleston schools, told
SERS that the Associated Press re
port was not entirely accurate but he
would not correct the errors because
officials of the district had agreed to
avoid any publicity.
“It is our own problem and we
worked it out ourselves,” Haynes
said. He said that there had been ob
jections to the publicity received and
that “we think the less publicity we
have the better it will be.”
State Education Department figures
for last year showed the Charleston
district had 19 school age Negroes,
with 12 of them in school on a segre
gated basis, and 470 white students.
When Fayetteville High School be
gan classes Sept. 14, two more Negro
students—a boy and a girl—had en
rolled to bring the total to seven
Negro students among about 500
white students.
Wayne White, superintendent of
Fayetteville schools, said Sept. 17 that
the integration was “going smoothly”
and without incident.
White said that it cost about $5,000
last year to send Negro high school
students to Fort Smith and Hot
Springs.
“Last year we finished the school
year with only $159 in the bank,” he
said. “Segregation was a luxury we
no longer could afford.”
White pointed out that only 400 of
the 20,000 Fayetteville residents were
Negroes and only 1.8 per cent of the
school population was Negro.
“I suppose that if our people lived
in areas where the Negro population
is large, they never would have gone
along with this move,” White said.
White said that “most of our Negro
patrons have approved the decision
but none of them ever agitated for it.
We’ve had some agitation from white
groups to end segregation. In fact,
before we announced our decision to
integrate (on May 22) one group of
white people had hired a lawyer to
help bring about integration.”
White said that the Negro children
would have all privileges of white
students and would be welcome to
take part in all school activities.
Separate Elementary School
He said the decision to retain seg
regation in the elementary schools
was due primarily to the wishes of
Negro parents.
“One Negro woman leader ex
plained to me that the Negroes think
they should keep their little children
separate and prepare them gradually
for attending school with white chil
dren,” White said.
White said another factor cited by
Negro patrons was that the Negro el
ementary school is near the largest
Negro residential area and is used by
Negroes as a civic center.
Negro students are being admitted
to some white parochial schools in
Arkansas this fall—in areas where
the Roman Catholic Church has not
provided separate schools for Ne
groes.
This policy was made known Au
gust 8 by Bishop Albert L. Fletcher of
the Diocese of Little Rock, which in
cludes all of Arkansas, in a letter read
in churches of the Diocese.
On Sept. 19, the Rev. John
W. Kordsmeier, superintendent of
schools for the diocese, said that two
Negro students had been enrolled for
the first time with about 150 white
students in St. Joseph’s elementary
school at Paris. Father Kordsmeier
said that eight Negroes were attend
ing St. Scholastica’s Academy at Fort
Smith, a boarding school for high
school girls, with about 160 white stu
dents. He said that two Negro girls
had been attending the school for the
past two or three years. Father
Kordsmeier said other schools may
have enrolled Negroes with whites
but that complete figures would not
be available until after October 1.
Excerpts from Letter
In his letter, Bishop Fletcher said:
“There is nothing to get excited
about. I am merely outlining what
has been the constant teaching of the
Church . ..”
He wrote that “the goal of the
Church in this Diocese will be that no
Catholic student is refused admission
to a Catholic school on account of race
or color.”
Bishop Fletcher said “it is espe
cially urgent” that Catholic Negro
children be admitted to “any Catholic
school available” in places where
there is no Catholic school especially
for them.
“Each case will be submitted to me
by the pastor,” he said, “along with
his reasons for thinking either (a)
that the Negro child should be ad
mitted to the local Catholic school or
(b) should be permitted to attend
public school.”
He said that in places where there
were Catholic schools especially for
Negroes, “the same spiritual urgency”
did not exist for admitting them to the
white Catholic schools.
When the letter was issued, the
Rev. John M. Bann, secretary to the
Bishop, said he expected few Negro
children to enter white Catholic
schools this fall.
“There are probably less than 500
Negro Catholics of school age in the
state,” he said, “and where they are
concentrated in sizable numbers, we
have special schools for them.”
Father Bann said the Church had
seven grade schools and two high
schools in the state for Negro Catho
lics. The high schools are at Little
Rock and Pine Bluff. The grade
schools are at Little Rock, Pine Bluff,
Fort Smith, Helena, Hot Springs,
Conway and North Little Rock.
Negroes who petitioned for an early
end of racial segregation in Little
Rock public schools were assured
Sept. 9 that the Little Rock School
Board was making “honest studies”
toward the eventual integration of
white and Negro students.
Virgil T. Blossom, superintendent
of the school district with the largest
student population in Arkansas, said
that studies toward the development
of a plan for integration would be
completed in 30 to 60 days. (Little
Rock’s population of 102,000 is about
25 per cent Negro. Last year’s average
enrollment of 17,354 students was 24.2
per cent Negro.)
Blossom’s remarks were to a group
of Negro school patrons headed by
Wiley A. Branton of Pine Bluff, a
Negro attorney representing the
NAACP.
Negro patrons in 16 other Arkansas
school districts have filed similar
NAACP petitions and asked for meet
ings with school boards. Patrons and
NAACP attorneys have met with sev
eral of the school boards to outline
their position.
More Funds Needed
On August 27, the Advisory Coun
cil on School Finances—which serves
the State Education Department, the
Arkansas Education Association and
the Congress of Parents and Teachers
—said that Arkansas schools would
have to have an additional $12,500,000
a year from the state legislature to
keep the schools at their present level
and to meet some minimum goals for
improvement.
The goals include the equalization
of teachers’ salaries, facilities and op
eration of Negro schools with the
white schools without any decrease
in services at the white schools.
The schools now receive about 29
million dollars a year from the state.
The trustees of Fort Smith Junior
College, a private tuition-supported
school, voted Sept. 21 to deny admis
sion to four Negro students who had
tried to enroll the week before.
The board, which said it had noth
ing “personally against the admission
of Negro students,” said the decision
was made because it was feared the
admission of Negroes would have a
harmful “impact” on the financial
condition of the school.