Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 12 —Nov. 4, 1954 — SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Missouri
THE MAP ABOVE shows the status of Missouri school district policies on
integration and segregation during first academic year following Supreme
Court opinion. Counties shown in solid black or cross-hatched are those with
Negro school population of more than 100 pupils.
Black counties are those where school districts covering most of the school
population have adopted total or partial integration in some form. Cross-
hatched areas represent those counties where school districts covering most
of the school population have retained segregation for this year.
Black dots indicate school districts in counties with less than 100 Negro
pupils which have adopted some form of integration this year.
ST. LOUIS, Mo.
TVEARLY complete reports re-
' ceived by the Missouri State De
partment of Education at Jefferson
City show that integration in some
form has begun in school districts
accounting for 75 per cent of the
state’s Negro pupils.
This does not mean that three out
of four Negroes are now attending
formerly white schools. The process
of ending segregation in Missouri
typically begins at those school levels
where the absorption problem is least
serious. Hence many Negro pupils in
districts which have started desegre
gation are still attending separate
schools. Yet in most of the districts
which have taken the first step it is
generally understood that other steps
will promptly follow—that desegre
gation at all levels will be completed
in a year or so.
State Commissioner of Education
Hubert Wheeler has received reports
that integration in some form has be
come effective in 110 school districts.
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Of 466 districts reporting, 289 have
no Negro pupils. Of the remaining
177 districts with Negro pupils, 110
or just about two-thirds report they
are operating some form of integra
tion. These break down as follows:
Integrated high school but segre
gated elementary school: 58 dis
tricts.
Integrated elementary schools hut
segregated high school: 11 dis
tricts.
Continued operation of Negro
school, but Negro pupils given
option of attending other schools:
11 districts.
Integration at both elementary and
high school level: 30 districts.
Altogether, the state has about
63,000 Negro pupils, of whom 44,000
are concentrated in the four largest
cities—St. Louis (33,000), Kansas
City (10,500), St. Joseph (400) and
Springfield (350). In all of these cities
desegregation has begun this year.
Apart from these cities, the largest
concentrations of Negro pupils are
found in two regions—“Little Dixie,”
and “the Bootheel.”
Little Dixie is a bloc of counties
straddling the Missouri River in the
central section of the state. It gets its
name from the fact that it was settled
by deep Southerners and even today
shows some of the political charac
teristics, such as a predominantly
Democratic vote, of the South.
The Bootheel comprises the south
east corner of the state along the
Mississippi. It is Missouri’s cotton
country. Most of it lies south of
Louisville, and some of it south of
Richmond.
As the accompanying map shows,
desegregation has begun in Little
Dixie and in the Bootheel, as well as
in other sections. In both areas, how
ever, the number of Negroes still at
tending segregated schools exceeds
the number in integrated districts.
In the Bootheel some form of inte
gration has been adopted by Cape
Girardeau (178 Negro pupils), Jack-
son (40), Sikeston (430), Bell City
(230), Kennett (142) and Malden
(75). But segregation has been re
tained this year throughout Missis
sippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot and
Butler counties, with total Negro
school enrollment of some 7,500.
CENTRAL MISSOURI
In central Missouri, integration
plans are now in effect in districts
with total Negro enrollment of about
1,700, while segregation has been re
tained, at least for this year, in dis
tricts with total Negro enrollment of
about 2,150.
Few districts in areas of large
Negro school population have unified
their elementary schools. Generally,
integration starts at the high school
level, where the Negro pupils are
fewer.
In all sections of the state, the first
steps toward integration have been
taken without incident.
As previously reported, one school
board in the Bootheel—Clarkton—
voted to integrate and then, in the
face of parent protest, reverted to
segregation. Curiously enough, the
neighboring town in which Clarkton
has been sending its Negro elemen
tary pupils has itself adopted inte
gration at the high school level. Like
wise the county seat, Kennett, 18
miles south of Clarkton, has inte
grated its high school this year, 9
Negroes attending the same school
with 363 white youngsters.
Supt. H. Byron Masterson of Ken
nett reports that “the Negro students
have entered into high school life and
we have had no problems arising
from the situation. The white stu
dents readily accepted the colored
students, electing one to a senior class
office.”
The Kennett school board an
nounced its decision to desegregate
last July, and the public accepted it
without protest. Kennett is a town
of 8,700 population.
Reports from other Missouri com
munities follow:
SIKESTON. (pop. 11,600; 20 Negro
high school pupils in enrollment of
675—about 3%).
This Bootheel town, in Scott coun
ty, formerly sent its high school
pupils to Charleston, 16 miles away.
Supt. Lynn Twitty believes that the
Sikeston Board of Education was the
first in the state to take positive ac
tion. It was on June 1 that the board
announced that Negro pupils in the
11th and 12th grades would be ac
cepted in the Sikeston high school
during the coming year. The board
acted early in order to give the pub
lic three months to think about the
matter and to “cool off” if necessary.
No cooling off proved to be needed.
The general community feeling, ac
cording to Supt. Twitty, was that the
decision had been wise.
“We made no special preparation
for entry of the Negro children into
the schools,” says Supt. Twitty. “We
felt that our student body would ac
cept it better if we assumed that
their behavior would be correct.
“Our assumptions have thus far
been correct, in that we have had
absolutely no trouble. Our white
youngsters have apparently accepted
the Negroes as individuals with no
particular bias because of their color.
“We have found that the reactions
of the average high school age
youngster are in most cases based
on somewhat sounder reasoning than
those of many older individuals.”
Negro pupils are transported on a
separate bus.
In elementary and junior high
schools, Sikeston has a Negro en
rollment of about 400. These pupils
continue to attend an all-Negro
school. They live in the section near
est to the school and thus, in Supt.
Twitty’s view, constitute a logical at
tendance area. The school which
they attend is “equal in every respect
to our other schools and in some
cases is superior,” says Supt. Twitty.
“The elementary children would be
permitted to go to other schools if
they so desired.”
BELL CITY. (pop. 482; 21 Negro
high school pupils in total of 196—
about 10 per cent).
This is another southeast Missouri
town, in Stoddard county, about 23
miles north and west of Sikeston.
Supt. H. C. Kinder claims that Bell
City was the first school in the state
to integrate successfully, its session
beginning earlier than many districts
elsewhere in order to permit a cot-
ton-picking vacation in September
and October.
The high school opened Aug. 9.
The school board had decided to in
tegrate a month earlier, but made no
newspaper announcement, merely
passing the word around informally.
On the first day, many Negro moth
ers accompanied their children to
school, evidently fearing trouble.
There was none.
Two and a half months later, Supt.
Kinder reports, “the teachers and
students have accepted the Negro
students into our student body very
graciously. Little mention is made of
the situation.” He continued:
At one time two girls requested that a
separate toilet stool be assigned to the
colored girls in the girls’ rest room. This
matter was disposed of by saying that
this would be segregation. The question
came up later in the board of education
meeting and was disposed of in the same
manner.
There have been a few incidents on our
crowded school buses. Some of the Negro
girls claimed the white boys “jostled”
them when the bus started up or stopped
suddenly. Some of the colored girls
claimed that some of the white boys
would occupy a whole seat on the bus
so they could not sit down.
This only went on one day or so. The
boys were called to the office, likewise the
colored girls. The matter of integration
was thoroughly explained to them and
their cooperation requested. This incident
only involved four white boys and three
of the colored girls. We have heard noth
ing further of it.
Of course it is not unusual for some
of the white boys to jostle the white
girls on the bus, to, and give them a little
trouble in other ways.
Very few parents have even mentioned
integration to me. A few stated that they
did not like it, but knew that they could
do nothing because this would be un
constitutional. I have heard of a few
families that were bitterly opposed to the
change, but they have made no formal
complaint to me or to the Board of Edu
cation.
White and Negro boys play bas
ketball together and one Negro will
probably make the school team.
White and Negro girls play volley
ball together. In the study hall, at
the library table and in the lunch
room, the colored students seem to
segregate themselves voluntarily,
especially among girls, the boys gen
erally mingling more.
Bell City is saving $5,000 a year by
not sending its high school students
to Charleston.
The town has 213 Negroes in ele
mentary school, out of a total en
rollment of 731—a ratio of 29 per
cent. The Negroes are attending
their own school as usual. None ap
plied for admission to the white
school. According to Supt. Kinder,
“Negro community leaders and some
of the parents say they want their
own elementary school with Negro
janitor, bus drivers and teachers.
But they do insist on the school be
ing modem and equal in every re
spect to the white school.”
JACKSON, (pop. 3,700 ; 40 Ne
groes in total school enrollment of
998—about 4%).
The county seat of Cape Girar
deau County in southeast Missouri,
Jackson had been sending its Negro
high school students to a segregated
school in Cape Girardeau, 11 miles
away. Last year this building burned.
At a joint meeting of the Cape Gi
rardeau and Jackson boards of edu
cation, it was decided to abolish seg
regation in grades 9 to 12.
Shortly afterwards, the Negro
teacher who had been under contract
to the Jackson board of education re
signed. This left the board in a po
sition to abolish segregation in the
elementary schools as well, and this
was done. The former Negro school,
built in 1947, is now used as a pri
mary building for both Negro and
white children.
“The board received whole-heart
ed support from all the churches,
civic organizations, clubs and espe
cially the parents,” says Superin
tendent of Schools R. O. Hawkins.
“Integration has been complete in
both academic and sports fields. One
of the varsity football players is
colored, one substitute is colored, and
the Junior High team has five col
ored players on the squad.
“The most important factor is the
democratic feeling prevalent in this
town. The school people should be
given credit, but the townspeople
themselves are the ones that should
receive the real praise. To some the
change has been unwelcome, but
everyone has accepted the fact that
it is unavoidable and should be faced
as the American people have faced
their problems in the past—with in
telligence and a conscientious effort
to iron out difficulties.”
INDEPENDENCE, (pop. 36,963; 21
Negro high school students in total
enrollment of 2,013—about 1%.)
Harry Truman’s home town in
Jackson county formerly sent Negro
high school pupils to a segregated
Kansas City school. Kansas City
having begun to end segregation, In
dependence this year is integrating
its high school students.
Acting Supt. O. L. Plucker reports
no problems worthy of mention,
though he thinks there may be more
when unification reaches the ele
mentary school level. The Negro
students participate in a wide range
of student activities in addition to
regular classwork, including athlet
ics and dramatics. Teachers have
accepted the Negroes in mixed
classes on the same basis as any
white student. Public reaction has
been quiet. Although some persons
do not approve of the change, there
has been no open opposition.
Conscious efforts were made to
prepare community opinion for the
transition. Publicity was given in
newspapers to the reasons for the
change, conferences were held with
Negro staff members and students.
All pastors discussed the problem at
Sunday morning services, and a joint
conference of school patrons and
ministers was held to discuss it.
COLUMBIA, (pop. 31,974; 501 Ne
gro pupils in total enrollment of
2,900—17 per cent.)
This central Missouri city is the
seat of the University of Missouri,
which ended racial restrictions on
admission with the beginning of the
present academic year. In the public
school system, segregation has been
ended in theory but in practice re
mains effective, due to districting
combined with residential distribu
tion of the Negro population.
The board of education voted last
July to permit Negro and white
children to attend the secondary
schools of their choice. The option
applies to junior high or senior high
school, grades 7 to 12. The Negro
schools continue to be operated, but
Negro attendance there is not legally
compulsory.
Six Negro students chose to attend
the formerly white high school, and
110 chose to continue at the Negro
high school. At junior high, six Ne
groes chose to attend the formerly
white school, and 78 continued at the
Negro school.
On the elementary level, district
lines were drawn around the Negro
elementary school, which formerly
served the whole city. All children
who five in this district (all Ne
groes) are required to attend the
Negro school. Negro children living
outside the district were given the
option of attending the elementary
school nearest them, or continuing to
attend the Negro school.
The effect is to continue the school
in the heart of the main Negro resi
dential section as a Negro school. Of
the Negroes living outside the dis
trict, two have chosen to attend one
formerly white elementary school,
and 11 to attend another. Four other
elementary schools have no Negroes.
The situation has recently brought
a protest from 35 parents of children
at the school where 11 Negroes en
rolled. They have asked the board
of education either to move the Ne
gro pupils out of their school or to
see that all other schools also enroll
Negroes. The parents said they did
not object to integration in high
school and junior high, which oper
ate city-wide, but did object to the
elementary school situation.
Supt. Neil C. Aslin says it is too
early to draw final conclusions “but
it is hoped that the transition can be
made gradually and without inci
dent.”
KIRKSVILLE. (pop. 11,110. 8 Ne
gro pupils in total enrollment of
2,000—four-tenths of one per cent.)
In northeast Missouri, only 27
miles from the Iowa line, Kirksville
had operated a Lincoln school for
Negro children until this fall, when
the board of education voted to close
the school. There are now three Ne
groes in one elementary school, four
in another and one in the junior high
school. “There have been no inci
dents and things are going quite
well,” Supt. O. Wayne Phillips re
ports. “We see the colored parents
at PTA meetings.”
CARTHAGE, (pop. 11,188. 45 Ne
groes in total enrollment of 2,201—
2 per cent.)
In southwest Missouri 16 miles
from Joplin, Carthage has ended
formal segregation in both elemen
tary and high schools, although one
all-Negro elementary school contin
ues to be operated.
Negro high school students former
ly were sent to a segregated school
in Joplin. Now they attend the Car
thage school, numbering 12 in an
enrollment of 708. One of their num
ber has been elected vice president
of the senior class and another re
porter for the junior class. Both are
halfbacks on the football team.
At the elementary level, five Ne
gro children who live close to one of
the white schools have been enrolled
in that school. Other Negroes con
tinue to attend the Lincoln school,
which is nearest to their homes. Two
Negro teachers constitute the teach
ing staff.
“The community, teachers and
student body have accepted this
nonsegregation plan and there has
been no criticism nor any unpleas
ant situations,” says Supt. J. L-
Campbell. “The Negro children are
courteous, polite and considerate of
others, and are cooperating in every
way.”
SPRINGFIELD, (pop. 72,109. 342
Negroes in total enrollment of 12,800
—2 per cent.)
As previously reported, this south
western Missouri city kept open i* 5
Lincoln school for Negroes but P er '
mitted Negroes to attend a white
school nearer their homes if they
chose. Slightly more than half en
rolled in white schools. Now the firs*
Negro teacher has been added to the
staff of the formerly all-white jun
ior high school, as a librarian. She
was transferred from the staff of the
Lincoln school as part of a plan of
the school board to utilize the serV'
ices of 16 Negro teachers now at
Lincoln when it is closed next yesf-
Another step in desegregation
took place when the Parent-Teachers
association at Lincoln School becam e
a part of the city-wide P.T.A. coun*
cil.