Newspaper Page Text
page 8 —Oct. I, 1954 —SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Maryland
BALTIMORE, Md.
A s the opening day of school drew
to a close in Baltimore, school of
ficials were determined to carry out in
full the non-segregation policy adop
ted by the Board of School Commis
sioners shortly after the Supreme
Court decision in the segregation
cases. The heart of that policy, as ap
proved by the School Board on June
10, was that “all of the standards and
criteria . . . with respect to the ad
mission of pupils to schools, grades, or
curricula shall continue in force ex
cept that the race of the pupil shall
not be a consideration.”
Since Baltimore has never had
school districts, in the sense that the
word “district” is commonly used in
school matters, the policy meant that
any child in Baltimore would con
tinue to have the right to be admitted
to any school in the city, provided
the school of his choice was not al
ready overcrowded. Schools are “dis
tricted” in Baltimore only when they
become so overcrowded that it is nec
essary to limit attendance to children
living in prescribed areas.
The rules to be continued in re
spect to transfers from one school to
another were almost as lenient as
those governing first admittance.
Transfers because of changes of res
idence were to be routinely approved.
Transfers for other reasons were to
be approved by the two principals in
volved or by the appropriate assist
ant superintendent, subject to such
practical considerations as the rela
tive classroom sizes in the two
schools.
Elaborating in advance on the
transfer policy, Dr. John H. Fischer,
Superintendent of Public Instruction,
made it clear to the public and school
principals alike that “where a near
by school offers advantages to any
pupil, white or Negro, over the school
he now attends, and the parent re
quests a transfer, the request should
be granted.” The only qualifications
he added were that “only in rare in
stances should a young child be sent
far from his home to another school
and that older students in the mid
dle of secondary-level or vocational
programs should be transferred only
whether it is clearly advisable for him
to do so.”
Although not publicized, it was
considered a sufficient reason for
transferring, other factors being
equal, if a Negro parent desired his
or her child to have the experience of
being in a racially mixed school. And
conversely, by implication, a white
parent could request that his or her
child be transferred to an unmixed
school, if such were available.
Coercion Avoided
To avoid any move which might
be taken as coercive, school officials
had been careful to stick to any com
mitments made prior to the adoption
of the non-segregation policy. For
example, white parents in a chang
ing neighborhood had been told late
in the spring that their neighborhood
school would become colored in the
fall and that their children, about
200 all told, would be transported to
portable classrooms to be set up on
the grounds of a white school about
half a mile away. The parents were
assured, after the non-segregation
decision, that the plans for transport
ing their children to the new class
rooms would be honored, even though
the question was raised in NAACP
circles as to whether school officials
in this instance were not providing
free bus service so that white chil
dren could avoid integration.
The Baltimore plan, therefore, was
in effect to have voluntary integra
tion. There was to be no deliberate
mixing of school populations. There
was to be no compulsory integra
tion, such as occurs under a district
ing policy which requires all chil
dren in a given area, whether white,
colored or racially mixed, to attend
a given school. While the designation
of schools as “white” or “colored”
was dropped in Baltimore, the right
of parents to send their children to
the school of their choice was pre
served, insofar as school conditions
made it possible to preserve that
right
The answers to two questions
could not be known prior to the fall
registration of students: would there
be a rush of Negro pupils to enter
formerly all-white schools? And
what would the white reaction be?
School officials believed there
would be only a moderate amount of
mixing and that white resistance
would be negligible, but they could
not be sure. Baltimore, after all, has
as large a percentage of Negroes as
many communities in the deep South.
Of the 140,957 children in public
schools, 55,331 are colored, or just
over 39 per cent. And while in re
cent years the Negro has taken a
place beside the white man in some
areas of public and private employ
ment, many of the southern segre
gation traditions remain. Baltimore
neighborhoods for the most part are
either all-white or all-Negro, and
Negroes are barred, with few excep
tions, from white hotels, restaurants,
and places of amusement and recrea
tion.
Officials Guessed Right
As it turned out, school officials
were right on both counts. The two
days of registration before school be
gan, and the registration that con
tinued on opening day itself, made
it apparent early that there was to be
no large-scale move on the Negroes’
part to enter white schools. In the
few formerly white schools that were
located in racially mixed neighbor
hoods, the enrollments of colored
children was heavy. In the majority ,
of white schools, however, the Negro
enrollment was either light or non
existent.
As for the white reaction, it too was
extremely light. The change was gen
erally accepted without either pub
lic applause or protest as one more
step in the gradual emergence of Ne
groes in formerly all-white fields of
human activity.
When preliminary enrollment fig
ures were completed and released by
the school board on Sept. 16, or close
to the end of the second week of
school, it was revealed that only 1,376
colored children, or 2.5 per cent of
the total Negro enrollment, had cho
sen to go to formerly all-white
schools in preference to all-Negro
schools. While 12 of the 20 formerly
white junior and senior high schools
had become “integrated,” the pro
portion was very small—169 mixed
with 8,287 white students. In con
trast, 12,696 colored students entered
or remained in all-Negro secondary
schools.
The largest number of Negroes on
the secondary level in a formerly
white school was at Southern High
School, where there were 36 in a
student body of 1,780. No Negroes
applied for courses in the junior col
lege operated as a part of the Balti
more public school system.
Elementary Figures
On the elementary level, 38 pre
viously all-white schools out of
about 80 reported Negro enrollment,
but again fhe total was small: 1,205
colored children in schools which had
a total enrollment of 54,464. In con
trast, 37,879 Negroes entered or re
mained in all-Negro schools.
In one elementary school which
had to be districted during the sum
mer because it was so crowded, and
the district included both white and
colored residential areas, the Negro
enrollment was quite high—321 out
of a student body of 703. There was
also considerable mixing in four oth
er elementary schools, where re
spective enrollments were 105 Ne
groes, 185 whites; 152 Negroes, 765
whites; 117 Negroes, 837 whites, and
107 Negroes, 168 whites. But 16 out of
the 38 mixed elementary schools had
less than 10 colored children in at
tendance, and five of these 16 had
only one Negro apiece.
The other side of the integration
picture—the entrance of white stu
dents into previously all-Negro
schools—was almost too limited to be
mentioned. The reverse movement
occurred in only three elementary
schools, which had enrollments, re
spectively, of 1 white student, 1,108
Negroes; 3 whites, 557 Negroes; and
2 whites, 1,291 Negroes. These three
schools, to keep the total picture in
SUPT. JOHN H. FISHER
Baltimore Follows His Lead
perspective, were considered as col
ored schools in the figures above per
taining to how many Negroes re
mained in colored schools as opposed
to those who entered previously all-
white schools.
At only one public school was
there trouble which may or may not
have been stimulated in part by ra
cial feelings. The school was one
which had served a public housing
project for Negro war workers. The
housing project was in an advance
stage of abandonment and demoli
tion, leaving only 107 Negro children
in the school. The overflow of chil
dren in a large, new white school in
the area was, therefore, assigned to
the formerly Negro school.
On opening day, the parents af
about one-third of the white pupils
kept their children out of the school,
protesting that it needed repairs and
painting, that the playground was in
poor shape and that an open cesspool
nearby created a hazard.
School Superintendent John Fisch
er took personal charge of the situa
tion ordering immediate repairs and
painting and conducting a poll to see
whether white parents wanted their
children to remain in the school or
be transferred to all-white schools
which, physically more attractive,
would necessarily have larger num
bers of pupils per classroom.
Some observers felt that behind
the protest strike lay resentment over
the assignment of white children to
a previously Negro school. If so, the
results of the poll did not show that
the resentment was widespread. More
than half of the white parents elect
ed to have their children remain in
the school, and the remainder were
transferred to two other schools. The
final enrollment: 107 Negroes, 168
white children.
So Other Incidents
Except for this episode, Baltimore’s
school integration program went
ahead, in the words of school board
President Walter Sondheim, Jr., “. . .
so smoothly there is no need for com
ment.” The professional school staff
has echoed these sentiments, saying
that there have been no unusual in
cidents to report as yet. The typical
reaction among Negroes was probably
expressed by one mother whose small
child was admitted to a previously
white school across the street whereas
formerly she would have had to walk
a dozen downtown blocks. “This
means a great deal to me,” the moth
er said. “Now I won’t have to worry
about traffic.”
The headmaster of a large private
school in Baltimore, checked for
SERS, reported that he had received
no applications from parents seeking
private education for their children
to avoid having them in racially
mixed public school classes, and he
said he had heard of no rush of appli
cants to other private white schools
in the Baltimore area. The Catholic
schools in the city went on a non-
segregated basis at the same time as
the public schools.
Dr. J. Carey Taylor, assistant
school superintendent in charge of
secondary education, said, when
asked to comment on the small num
ber of Negro transfers, that school
principals may have discouraged
some moves by pointing out the long
er distances to be traveled and dis
advantageous classroom sizes. Par
ents had the right of appeal to him,
however, if principals had declined
to approve a move. Dr. Taylor said
that no more than half a dozen such
cases had been referred to his admin
istrative level, and all but one of
these requests had been granted.
Most of the referrals were from one
school where the white principal has
shown indications of not being in
sympathy with integration.
Dr. Taylor believes that the small
number of Negro transfers is proof
that most pupils still prefer to go to
schools nearest their homes, if not
because of friends and associations,
then because of the time and money
saved in transportation to distant
schools. Another reason, frequently
cited, is that colored schools in Bal
timore have been made as nearly
equal to white schools as possible, so
that in many instances there are no
particular advantages to changing .
Dr. Bernard Harris, Sr., Negro
member of the school board, said in
an interview for the SERS that as
far as he knew “everyone was get
ting what he wanted.” A vigorous
proponent of Negro rights, Dr. Har
ris said he had received only one
complaint of a Negro child not being
treated fairly, and he would not com
ment on it because he said he was
not yet certain that the complaint was
justified.
Dr. Harris explained the small per
centage of Negroes in formerly white
schools by saying that both the white
and Negro populations in Baltimore
appreciate that the mixing must be
done slowly. He said the Negro com
munity had accepted school integra
tion “soberly” and wanted it to stick.
He added that Negro parents were
watching how the colored children in
predominantly white schools were
making out and that next year more
mixing might take place.
NAACP leaders in Baltimore also
had no complaints about the way in
tegration had progressed. A possible
issue had suggested itself back in
July, when no Negro teachers had
been assigned to white or mixed
classes at the time when the school
board announced that all vacancies
for the fall term were filled. But new
vacancies occurred between July and
the opening of school, and two math
ematics positions in a practically
solid white junior high school were
assigned to Negro teachers, plus a
French post in another white school.
School officials are moving with great
caution in this phase of the integra
tion program, but they are moving.
Two more Negro teachers are sched
uled to take over predominantly
white classes in October.
While school officials were quietly
congratulating themselves on the un
troubled first weeks of their integra
tion policy, legal action was threaten
ing. The National Association for the
Advancement of White People and its
local affiliate, the Maryland Petition
Committee, filed a mandamus suit in
the Superior Court of Baltimore
City to force the city to maintain sep
arate schools for Negroes with Negro
teachers. Judge John T. Tucker gave
the school board 15 days to show
cause why it should not be required
to continue segregated schools. The
grounds for the NAAWP action were
not published, so it could not be im
mediately established whether or not
the Baltimore suit was closely akin
to that brought earlier in the Dis
trict of Columbia and rejected.
Elsewhere in Maryland
Elsewhere in Maryland, a situation
quite different from that in Baltimore
prevailed. The State Board of Educa
tion, which sets the policy for schools
in the counties, had indicated on May
26 its acceptance of the Supreme
Court decision in a resolution which
said, in part, that “no program of in
tegration can be put into effect until
the decision of the Supreme Court
becomes final and an effective date is
set by the Supreme Court.” The res
olution also said, “This statement does
not imply, however, that the State
Board of Education and the local
school authorities, upon whom the
major burden of solving the problem
will fall, should delay in analyzing
the situation and making plans for
implementing the decision of the
Court.”
As its own first step toward imple
menting the decision, the State Board
of Education early in June named
a five-man committee of school su
perintendents to develop an integra
tion program for Maryland and to
work with the attorney general’s of
fice on the brief to be presented be
fore the Supreme Court, when the
school segregation cases are re
opened. No word was forthcoming
from the committee from June
through the middle of September, but
it was understood that the commit
tee’s report, when prepared, would
be substantially the same as the at
torney general’s brief.
State Officials Silent
Except for Mr. Parker’s generalized
statement of Maryland’s position and
that of the State Board of Education
three months earlier indicating that
Maryland public schools would com
ply with the Supreme Court’s de
cision, when final decrees were hand
ed down, state and county officials
remained almost wholly silent as to
just what steps would be taken when
the time for desegregation comes. In
this vacuum of official silence, sev
eral small anti-integration groups be
gan to build up a following.
The Maryland Petition Committee,
previously mentioned as an affiliate
of the National Association for the
Advancement of White People, who
claimed to have signers of its anti
integration petition in nearly all of
Maryland’s 23 counties, after having
started out in a small way at Jessups,
near the District of Columbia line, in
early summer.
In Southern Maryland, where the
percentages of Negroes in relation to
total county population run high, a
group in Anne Arundel County op
posed to integration was circulating
in late summer a West River Proc
lamation, and in nearby Calvert
County a States Rights Committee
was distributing a Prince Frederick
Resolution. Smaller groups were re
ported to be active on Maryland’s
eastern shore.
The first large gathering of persons
opposed to integration was on Sept.
15 at Southern High School in Anne
Arundel County. About 400 attended
the meeting, initiated by the West
River group, and heard the West Riv
er Proclamation read. The salient
points in the proclamation are these:
1. That any action taken in this state in
consequence of the recent opinion of the
Supreme Court should be based only upon
due process of state law sanctioned by
the people through referendum, and not
merely upon arbitrary or temporary office
holders or appointed commissions.
2. That in order to assure equal pro
tection of the law to each race and to
prevent development of an inferiority
complex in any child, no child shall be
compelled to undertake public education
under instructors not of his own race
without consent of his parents or guar
dians.
3. That the administration of free
schools should be conducted on the prin
ciple of maximum local control with the
objective of the greatest satisfaction of all
participating students, subordinating nei
ther the majority to the minority nor the
minority to the majority.
4. That to accomplish these objectives
it is essential to give local populations a
direct voice in the selection of their own
boards of education and their school trus
tees, and that these locally designated rep
resentatives should retain the authority
to establish equitable administrative pol
icies for selection of instructors and for
admission to the various schools in their
responsibility and to make plans neces
sary for expansion and assignment of fa-
cilties.
The Southern High School meet
ing was called under the temporary
name of the Maryland PTA Council
for Separate Schools. The use of this
name was immediately challenged by
officials of the Maryland Congress of
Parents and Teachers on the grounds
that its board of governors had pre
viously issued a statement that the
Maryland Congress would cooperate
with school agencies in bringing about
compliance with the Supreme Court
decision and that local PTA’s were
bound by their charters not to work
against a position taken by the Con
gress.
In the field of higher education,
the University of Maryland prepared
for its fall term with a new president,
Dr. Wilson H. Elkins, formerly
Texas, and a new policy of admitting
Maryland Negroes to all undergrad
uate courses. The graduate schools
had previously been opened to col
ored students.
Dr. Elkins told reporters that the
assimilation would be “very easy this
year,” because of the small number
of Negro applicants, and that no dis
crimination in housing, classes or oth
erwise would be shown them. By
mid-September only seven Negroes
had applied, and of these, three had
been accepted, one rejected on aca
demic grounds and the status of the
others was still pending.