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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.