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PAGE 4—Nov. 4, 1954 —SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
District of Columbia
WASHINGTON, D. C.
HE opening bell at Anacostia High
School on Oct. 4 was the signal
for the start of a four-day demon
stration by white students against
racially-mixed classes.
The organized class-cutting spread
to two other former all-white schools
and six junior highs. Participating in
this truancy were 2,500 students, or
two per cent of the city’s 104,000
school population.
Trouble started at the beginning
of the fourth week of school. Two
weeks before, School Supt. Hobart M.
Coming had speeded up his original
one-year program of public school
integration.
He had authorized the transfer of
nearly 500 Negro high school students
to buildings nearest their homes and
similar shifts of 354 Negro junior high
students. These young people were
enrolled in District schools last year
and when the new term opened Sept.
13, they returned to the buildings
they attended last fall. The new non-
racial set of school boundaries pre
viously had applied to new students
only.
Believing the community had ac
cepted this acceleration of classroom
integration, Corning next asked grade
school pupils if they wished to exer
cise their “option” to shift to the
building now zoned to serve their
neighborhood without regard to race.
More than 2,300 Negro youngsters
requested such transfers. The rela
tively few denials were based on lack
of seat space.
Originally, school officials planned
to make the bulk of these student-
choice transfers at mid-year or in the
fall of 1955.
APPROVAL BY BOARD
The speedup was approved by the
board of education at its September
meeting and brought not a protest
from community organizations.
At the same time, however, the
community was reading and seeing
newspaper and television accounts
of anti-integration uprisings first in
Milford, Del. and later in Baltimore.
This publicity caused local educators
to become uneasy and to talk among
themselves about the contagion of
mob psychology.
Late in the day on Friday, Oct. 1,
the word of “trouble on Monday at
Anacostia High” had reached city and
school officials by way of the grape
vine.
Police Chief Robert V. Murray took
out of moth balls a preventive plan
which had been in operation—but not
needed—the first week of school. This
plan enabled police headquarters to
dispatch foot and mobile units to
trouble spots at a moment’s notice.
As early as 8 a.m. on Oct. 4, the
wide street in front of Anacostia High
was lined with uniformed police and
plainclothesmen. Parked cruisers
were occupied by some of the Dis
trict’s highest ranking police officers.
NEWSMEN ON HAND
So well-known was the “strike” ru
mor that on hand were representa
tives of the local press, the wire serv
ices, the New York Times, and radio
and television cameramen and news
gatherers. These reporters quietly
observed the scene without pencil or
paper showing, commenting to each
other that “maybe we won’t have a
story after all.”
By 8:45 a.m. the high school’s 43
Negro students had arrived and were
huddled nervously on the steps of
the school. A teacher opened the door
and the group filed into the building.
The sidewalk bordering the school
entrance was jammed with more than
1,200 white students who were talk
ing the usual teen-age chatter but
gave the impression of waiting for
something to happen.
The bell rang. About 500 of the stu
dents moved to the sidewalk oppo
site the school. Others hurried into
the building. Their action was her
alded by cries of “chicken,” “nigger
lovers” and loud boos by the stay-
away mob. Some 150 other students
circled the building and went to class
by the back entrance.
Inside the school, business began as
DR. CHARLES E. BISH
Shown Addressing McKinley
High School Students
Washington Post & Times-Herald Photo
usual. The inter-com system carried
a student leader’s voice saying The
Lord’s Prayer and the Pledge to the
Flag. Regular announcements fol
lowed. Some classes were one-third
filled, others had five or six in at
tendance. Teachers looked strained
but said nothing about the milling
group outdoors whose cries and
shouts were easily heard.
MARCH SUGGESTED
Outside, the crowd agitated and
then a hulking football player sug
gested a march. The students paraded
four abreast up and down the street.
Somone produced a cardboard sign
which said, “We want to pick our
own friends” and “Down with Corn
ing.” Next the group began singing
school songs. Many of the students
carried books and brown paper bags
with lunches, an indication they had
arrived with the intention of school-
as-usual.
News reporters began talking to
the teen-agers. Some said they had
heard reports on Friday that “the
thing to do” was cut class Monday.
Others said they “knew nothing” of
the demonstration, but “didn’t want
to be different from the rest of the
kids.”
Repeatedly, the students denied
that there were ringleaders. One girl
admitted: “We thought we’d have
some parent support but they seem
to have let us down.” A boy said:
“If Delaware and Baltimore can do
it, so can we ... we don’t want them
in our school.”
A bespectacled youth asked a re
porter, “Will we make the headlines
tomorrow?” The answer was: “Not
here son, but unfortunately, you will
in every Communist country . . .
this is the capital of the United
States, not just the southeast section
of your home town.” The boy was
seen to enter the school door a few
minutes later.
The truant students picked up a
suggestion that they walk the two
blocks to Kramer junior high and
lure their younger friends, including
brothers and sisters, gjit of class. Off
they went. The try was futile. Their
urging brought only a few heads to
the windows of the junior high.
ON TO EASTERN’
As the column of students again
marched past Anacostia, the shout
went out “On to Eastern.” Eastern
high school is across the Anacostia
River from the southeast section. Both
Eastern and Anacostia high schools
had all-white enrollments last year
and today serve racially-mixed
neighborhoods.
Acting Principal Eugene Griffith
came outside and talked to the stu
dents. He said: “I came out as your
friend, and I’m simple enough to be
lieve you are my friends. I’ve got a
big job to do inside the building and
I believe that is where you feel you
really ought to be. I am asking you
to report to class.”
The statement was drowned out by
catcalls and boos. The principal
shrugged his shoulders and walked
back toward the cshool. “Well, any
way, I tried,” he said.
At this point, a motorcycle police
man’s radio carried the staccato an
nouncement that trouble had begun
at McKinley high school. McKinley is
situated in a racially-mixed neigh
borhood of northeast Washington.
At McKinley, about 150 white stu
dents had walked out of classes. The
school has enrolled 419 Negroes and
598 white students. Principal Charles
Bish pleaded with the young people
to come inside and “talk the situation
over.” About 45 minutes later, they
agreed and marched into Room 130.
“You can get what you have off your
mind now,” Bish said.
STUDENTS GIVE VIEWS
There were shouts of “integration
will lead to intermarriage.” One girl
said: “I don’t like what is going on.
They have no right to go to school
with white people.”
Another girl added: “They make
comments and hand us slips of paper
with their name and phone number
and ask us to call them up. I’m afraid
to walk down the hall....”
A boy stood up and declared: “We
want it known that integration won’t
work. It won’t work if we have any
thing to do with it.”
Speaking next was a well-dressed
young girl: “You won’t like what I
have to say. But they have to go to
school with us now. We have to make
the best of it. They are human beings
just like us. We have to appreciate
them, live with them, tolerate them
and by doing this will build a better
school and a better city.”
This was met with yells of “you
dirty little Communist .. . you Com
mie...
Another boy stood up immediately.
He was president of the student
council. “I am for integration,” he
told the jeering students. “Let’s make
it work, it’s a practical lesson in de
mocracy.”
A teacher strode to the stage and
said: “All we ask is for a small thing,
integration. Can’t you see the great
harm if you don’t let it work?” She
was booed.
Dr. Bish raised his hand and looked
straight at the students. For the first
time they were silent. “I want to be a
good principal,” he said. “But I need
your help. The Lord knows I need
help now. This is a new road we must
travel. There are problems we must
face. There must be an answer. I ad
mit I don’t know the answers now,
but I need your help.”
ASKED FOR COMMITTEE
Bish asked the students to form a
10-member advisory committee to
study the problem and make sugges
tions and recommendations. “It will
take more than 10 of us to solve this
problem,” a boy said as the students
noisily left the school for the second
time.
Back across the city, the Anacostia
demonstrators marched toward Sousa
Bridge which spans the Anacostia
River on the way to Eastern High.
Precinct Captain William T. Murphy
walked at the head of the group. At
the approach of the span, he stopped,
wiped his forehead, and said:
“Okay now fellows, we’re not leav
ing Anacostia. This is your school.
You have no right over at Eastern.
They can settle their own problems.
All right, boys and girls, I’m telling
you . . . turn around.”
The teen-agers milled around a
minute or two. Then, the boys in the
front line yelled: “You heard what
the Captain said. Let’s go back.”
They did.
Murphy spurned a ride in a police
car and walked back with the stu
dents who again took up their stance
in front of the school. Murphy told a
reporter: “I thought they’d listen to
me. I know these kids. They know
me.”
Racial feelings have not been good
in the Anacostia community for a
number of years. Six years ago, there
was trouble on public transit buses
between Negro and white boys of the
area. Later, the Anacostia Recreation
Center, adjacent to the school, was
opened for use by both races. White
attendance at the large swimming
pool and other facilities fell off rap
idly.
In 1950, Washington celebrated a
Sesquicentennial. A play depicting
the Federal Union called “Faith of
Our Fathers” was part of the cele
bration. Part of the cast was sched
uled to present a skit at Anacostia
high school. There was one Negro
performer in the troup.
Mrs. Opal Corkery, then principal,
refused to let the performers appear
on the stage. She said students had
indicated a “riot” would have oc
curred if the mixed cast appeared.
The board of education investi
gated this incident and supported
Mrs. Corkley in her action. The school
board ruled further that white and
Negro persons could not mix in Dis
trict schools during school hours.
Gradually through the next two years
the school board shut its eyes to this
ruling which never was enforced.
Shortly before school opened this
year, Mrs. Corkley retired as princi
pal and accepted a teaching post in a
nearby segregated Virginia school.
She said integration had nothing to
do with her decision.
CORNING’S STATEMENT
Dr. Coming issued a statement ask
ing parents to see their children did
not take part in the demonstration.
The text of Coming’s statement
read:
The public schools of the District of
Columbia have for the past three weeks
been operating on an Integrated basis in
compliance with the decision of the Su
preme Court of the United States that
segregated schools are unconstitutional.
The students have accepted the program
adopted by the board of education and
have been continuing their school work
in compliance with the decision of estab
lished authority. Some, however, today
have unwisely followed the pattern of the
incidents in another school system and
have remained out of classes and have
tried to urge their classmates to do like
wise.
As superintendent of schools, I wish
to state that the schools are continuing
to operate in accoordance with the action
of the board of education and the Su
preme Court decision. I have confidence
in the judgment and citizenship of Wash
ington students and that they will not
endanger their educational program by
demonstrations of this sort. The school
year is only 180 days long and no stu
dent, particularly when in high school,
can afford to be absent unnecessarily.
The students who are absent from school
today should evaluate this experience in
terms of loss in school work. The parents
of these children should realize their re
sponsibility to the students and to the
community to see that their children are
in school and are not a part of such
demonstrations.
On the second day of the so-called
strike, another perfect Indian Sum
mer day, about 1,500 students refused
to go to class at Anacostia, McKinley
and Eastern high schools. In addi
tion, the crowd was larger by several
hundred younger students from six
contributory junior highs who joined
in the class skipping.
At Anacostia, members of the cler
gy walked among the students urging
them to return to class and to think
hard about what they were doing.
BRIDGE STORMING
The students, however, focused
their attention on storming Sousa
Bridge. Shortly before noon, some
500 to 600 blue-jeaned youngsters
marched across the Anacostia Flats,
headed up the hill and began a hair-
raising race across the bridge. The
teen - agers zigzagged across the
bridge, startling drivers, many of
whom braked their heads into wind
shields in attempts to avoid hitting
children. Motorcycle police raced to
unravel bridge traffic. Other police
piled out of their cars and literally
jumped between the children and on
coming cars.
As part of the crowd reached the
far end of the bridge, top police offi
cers tried to stop the rush toward
Eastern high. These men were kicked,
cursed and scratched by both boys
and girls. Finally, the students were
driven back by words and a few
pushes.
Near the end of the first-day stu
dent demonstration, Samuel Spencer,
president of the board of district
commissioners, made this statement:
The students of our schools and the
adult citizens of our city have given a
fine example of responsible American
citizesnhip by the successful manner in
which they have been carrying out the
integration program in our schools during
the past three weeks.
The Commissioners have every confi
dence that both students and adults will
continue to do so, that you will meet
your responsibilities as peaceful, law
abiding citizens and that you will coop
erate with the school authorities in carry
ing out the law of the land as laid down
by the Supreme Court.
MEETING ARRANGED
Through efforts of a minister, Ana
costia school officials and leaders of
the demonstration agreed to meet the
following day at the school stadium
to talk things over.
Police were under orders to tell
the students to go to school or go
home. Chief Murray announced that
a section of the District Code dealing
with unlawful assembly would be en
forced to prevent unruly demonstra
tions.
Said one mother watching the
marching students: “They’re wasting
their time talking to these children.
Those kids are having the time of
their lives. They don’t want to go to
school and they’ve hit on a good way
out.”
A policeman, perspiring in the near
90 degree heat, said: “A good rain
would stop all of this foolishness.”
At McKinley high, more than 100
students refused to attend class. They
were advised by Principal Bish they
would be carried as absent and un
excused. “I’ve taken all the stuff I’ll
take,” he said, “I’ll play it my way
now and I’ll play it fair.”
A short time later, Bish met with
a student committee and made the
following points:
1. We’re going to work within the
framework of the law and the law is
integration. You can’t change it. You
don’t have to come to McKinley. You can
go to a private school. But if you come to
McKinley, you’re coming to an integrated
school.
2. All the right in this situation isn’t
on one side. There have been serious mis
takes made on both sides in our efforts
to adjust and they have to be rectified
as we go along, just as we do with all
our mistakes. Since McKinley is going
to be an integrated school, we might just
as well try to make it the best integrated
school.
Meanwhile, 200 McKinley and Taft
junior high students gathered across
the street from school board head
quarters in downtown Washington.
Some carried signs protesting inte
gration. Police escorted three of the
demonstrators inside Franklin Ad
ministration Building for a confer
ence with Assistant School Supt. Nor
man J. Nelson.
A half hour later, the trio emerged
and asked their followers to return
to school, pending completion of
plans for formation of a grievance
committee. With a few mutters, the
crowd broke up. It was decided they
would attend an assembly the follow
ing day at McKinley to learn how
the committee would work.
Nelson reported that the three stu
dents with whom he met presented
their case intelligently and with the
utmost frankness and respect. He said
he outlined to them the over-all con
cept of integration and how it had
been planned in the District school
system and asked their indulgence
over the rough spots.
TAFT SCHOOL INCIDENT
At Taft junior high, Principal John
Koontz said the Tuesday opening
bell found about two-thirds of the
900 student enrollment milling rather
aimlessly about in front of the school.
There was no organization, Koontz
said, and by circulating among them
casually he was able to persuade all
but about 100 to enter classes.
(Koontz two weeks later was ap
pointed principal of Anacostia High.)
At Eastern high school about 300
white students gathered noisily in
front of a nearby delicatessen. The
youngsters obviously were in a holi
day mood. Typical of their mood was
the oft-heard remark, “it’s fine just
to be standing around here like this
without having to go to school.”
Eastern’s 1,900 enrollment is one-half
Negro.
On Tuesday, police grew sterner.
Two adults were arrested near Ana
costia high on charges of disorderly
conduct. A handful of juveniles were
taken into custody and released to
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