About Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 1955)
PAGE 2—Jan. 6, 1955—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS Alabama West Virginia CHARLESTON, W.Va. total of 52,545 white and Negro children are attending 135 inte grated public schools in West Vir ginia this year as a result of the U. S. Supreme Court’s May 17 decision. These figures were released re cently by Dr. W. W. Trent, state superintendent of free schools. His department sent out question naires to West Virginia’s 55 county school superintendents, asking for a detailed report on integration. This survey, which produced the first complete statistical breakdown on integration in this border state, revealed that: (1) 27,337 white and 428 Negro stu dents are attending 49 integrated junior and senior high schools. (2) 24,198 white and 582 Negro children are attending 86 integrated elementary schools. (3) 88 school buses are transport ing 538 Negro and 3,421 white pupils at the same time. (4) 19 Negro schools have been abolished this year. JOB LOSSES NEGLIGIBLE Although some observers feared that most Negro teachers would lose their jobs as a result of integration, no definite discriminatory pattern has emerged in West Virginia. A total of 15 Negroes and 998 whites are teaching both white and Negro children. In West Virginia’s 26 counties that have integrated or partially inte grated schools, eight Negro teachers and five Negro principals have been dropped—as compared with 1953-54. But this doesn’t mean that all these Negro personnel bowed out because of integration. Some retired, some accepted jobs in other counties. A few without contracts weren’t re hired. No cases have been reported of Ne gro teachers with contracts who were dismissed in desegregated counties. Although three Negro principals didn’t keep their jobs, the number of Negro teachers increased from eight to nine in Monongalia County—which pioneered complete integration in West Virginia. COLLEGE PATTERN On the college level, another sur vey conducted by Dr. Trent’s office revealed that Negroes are attending 10 of the 11 state colleges, which were opened to Negroes last spring by the state board of education. A total of 1,245 Negro and 13,344 white students are enrolled at the 11 institutions. West Virginia State College at In stitute, near the capital city of Charleston, demonstrates what can happen under desegregation. * One of the nation’s outstanding Negro colleges, West Virginia State now has 182 full-time white students out of a total enrollment of 983. Many other whites are enrolled on a part-time basis since the Institute school is the only state-supported college in the Greater Charleston area. Three whites are attending West Virginia’s other former all-Negro college, Bluefield State at Bluefield just across the Virginia border. At West Virginia university, an estimated 21 Negroes are enrolled out of a sutdent body of 5,500. Marshall College at Huntington, second larg. est state school, has 35 Negro stu dents out of 2,926. Four Negroes are attending Shep herd College at Shepherdstown, which lies at the far tip of the state’s Eastern Panhandle. No Negroes applied for admission to Glenville State College at Glen- ville, the only state-supported school without Negro students. But Negro teachers have attended Glenville’s Attendance Officers Workshop foi several years. BULLETIN’ ARTICLE A recent article in the West Vir ginia Association of Higher Educa tion’s Bulletin pointed out that the “seed of desegregation of schools has been planted and cultivated in West Virginia for many years.” Educator M. B. Thomas explained that West Virginia University “was the first university of the South to follow the mandates of the U. S. Su preme Court decision in the Gaines case in 1938.” “A group of high state officials and educators met and decided that Ne groes would be permitted to enter the graduate and professional schools of WVU, but no publicity would be given it,” he wrote. Thomas cited two other examples of “the seed of desegregation” in West Virginia: 1. White students have been tutored at West Virginia state “over a long period of years.” 2. The late Gov. George W. Atkin son received an LL.B. degree from Howard University at Washington and for many years served on Howard’s board of trustees. COMMITTEE REQUESTED Another significant action on West Virginia’s integration front last month was a request that Gov. Mar- land create a state-wide human rela tions committee to promote “a gen eral education program dealing with human relationships.” A seven-man delegation from the State NAACP Conference proposed the interracial committee at a recent meeting with the governor. The NAACP petition said: This committee could serve a good pur pose in our state by gathering facts, M i making individual and group contacts, W | publishing certain materials, by offer® suggestions to the governor as well * other state and local officials, and by j ir: " moting a general education program. j A key function of the advisor! committee would be to help dire 0 < integration of West Virginia’s pubk schools. “The governor said he would stud! ' the idea and let us know,” said Att! ; T. G. Nutter of Charleston, preside® of the NAACP State Conference. h MONTGOMERY, Ala. N the past few weeks, White Citi zens Councils, similar to those previously reported in Mississippi, were organized in five counties in Alabama’s agricultural black belt. Prior to the organization of the first group in Selma, Dallas County, one of the founders explained the mission of the White Citizens Council this way: Committees will be formed, the spokesman said, with the duty of ana lyzing information about Negroes suspected of “agitation” to determine which are “all right” and which should be given the “pressure.” The Dallas group, at a rally in Selma, Nov. 29, disavowed all inten tions of violence. The “pressure” to be resorted to would be economic, it was explained. The Selma spokes man continued: “The white population in this coun ty controls the money, and this is an advantage that the council will use in a fight to legally maintain com plete segregation of the races. “We intend to make it difficult, if not impossible, for any Negro who advocates desegregation to find and hold a job, get credit or renew a mortgage. “We are not anti-Negro; we only want segregation maintained. And we are not vigilantes. We will op erate openly and violence is the fur thest thing from the minds of council members. “We have lived with Negroes all of these years without trouble, and it is our utmost desire to continue the happy relationship, but on a segre gated basis.” PRAISED, DENOUNCED This threat of economic sanctions against Negroes favoring integration was denounced by some newspapers and citizens, defended by others as a legitimate way to preserve segrega tion. Vincent F. Kilborn, prominent Mobile attorney, called on Montgom ery Circuit Judge Walter B. Jones, president of the Alabama Bar Asso ciation, to “denounce in the name of the bar” the White Citizens Councils movement. Kilborn wired Judge Jones: The bar of Alabama, sworn to uphold the constitution of the United States and our state, and to abide by the code of ethics your illustrious father first formu lated (Judge Jones’ father, once governor of Alabama, was author of a treatise on legal ethics) will be wanting in basic Christian duty toward our neighbors if we do not take the lead in crushing such movements as this. Most of us favor segregation, but we are unalterably against such movements as this plan to deny work, credit and basic human needs simply because some Negro exercises his right to advocate peaceably what he thinks ought to be done. We may disagree, but we must defend this right to think and speak as his own conscience dictates. THE JUDGE’S REPLY Judge Jones, in refusing to make such a denunciation as Kilborn re quested, answered: The State Bar Association is always concerned with the rights and privileges of our people. Segregation is a contro versial issue in our state today. Those who oppose it are using, as they have the right to do, all legal means within their power, and the forces of such social, political and economic pressures as they are able to mobilize. Those who favor segregation likewise will doubtless use all legal, social, poli tical and economic weapons at their dis posal in order to hold firm what they conceive to be their individual and com munity rights. The lawful exercise of those measures is the privilege of all such citizens. Neither side to this controversy can ex pect to be unopposed by counter mea sures. So long as measures taken by either side are within our constitutional frame work, no one can rightly complain. The bar of the state of Alabama in cludes all shades of political opinions and sects and races. Those favoring the abolition of segregation have been un hampered by bar association pressures of pronouncement in their political, econom ic and social movements looking to its abolition. Regardless of my feelings and with respect to the matters which you called to my attention, I do not feel that I, as president of the bar association, am au thorized to censor them unless I . . . should also take unto myself the right to censor political, social and economic activities looking to the abolition of seg regation. If, when all the facts are at hand, it should appear that any unlawful activi ties exist aiming at depriving any of our citizens of their constitutional and sta tutory rights, they have adequate reme dies in our state and federal courts, and will find those courts open to hear their complaints, and members of the Alabama bar ready to assert and defend the rights of our citizens. The five White Citizens Councils so far organized are all in counties where wnites, not Negroes, are in the minority. In Macon county, the population is 84% Negro; in Dallas county, 65%; in Marengo, 69.4%; in Hale, 70.3%; in Perry, 67.5.% In only five other coun ties, none of them yet organized, is the Negro population in relation to the total population as high as 65% (the lowest of the percentages in the above organized counties). All of these predominantly Negro counties are in the old cotton-tobacco area in the central part of the state. More than 1,200 white men from Black Belt areas attended the White Citizens Councils rally in Selma, Nov. 29. Contributions totaled $1,800 as 600 Dallas county men signed up as charter members. The three principal speakers were from Mississippi, where similar coun cils had already been formed. The three Mississippians were Rep. J. S. Williams and Sen. T. M. Williams of the Mississippi legislature, and the Rev. M. H. Clark, a Presbyterian minister. Rep. Williams emphasized that the Mississippi organization is “not one of violence.” He continued: “The citizens committee of Missis sippi is not a Ku Klux Klan, but our purpose is to give a direct answer to the National Association of Colored People. We have a heritage in the South for which we should ever be vigilant . . . The NAACP’s motto is ‘The Negro shall be free by 1963’— and shall we accept that? “We can’t have it, for if we do, it would ruin the economic system of the South. The men of the South are either for our council or against it. There can be no fence-straddling.” Object of the councils is, he said, “the honor-bound and Christian cause in which we are working to preserve segregation.” SUPREME COURT HIT The Rev. Mr. Clark charged in his address that the segregation issue was “catapulted upon us by nine obscure men on the Supreme Court.” He added: “The Supreme Court is not a legis lative body but it is designed to fol low precedent of the law and to in terpret the law. It is not designed to make a declaration of policy for the nation.” Sen. Williams said: “We are charged with defying the U. S. Supreme Court. The time has come when citizens should sacrifice something for their country and we need leadership in this fight.” Williams also severely criticized leaders of the Methodist Church for their recent statements favoring in tegration. MARENGO MEETING At the Marengo county organiza tional meeting in Linden, Ala., Dec. 6, Alabama State Sen. Walter C. Giv- han charged that the ultimate goal of thte NAACP “is to open the bed room doors of our white women to the Negro men.” Some 400 white men attended the meeting. “This is a white man’s country, it always has been and always will be,” Givhan said. “It is our duty to train our boys and girls to fight the same battle as we are now fighting.” Givhan was critical of Walter White, head of the NAACP, and said that it was the goal of those favoring integration to elect a Negro vice president in the near future. “And after that happens, what would prevent them from assassinat ing the President, thus making the Negro become President. . . You say it can’t happen here, but I say it can and will unless we stand up and fight ... As far as integration in the schools is concerned, the whole U. S. Army is not big enough to force that upon us.” Dr. Lawrence Crawford, chairman of the Perry county WCC, also warn ed in his address of racial intermar riages: “Only through organizations such as this can we keep the Negroes out of our schools, out of our churches and out of the bedrooms of our white wom«n.” Dr. Crawford quoted one member of the Perry County Board of Regis trars as saying: “If the WCC had been organized a year ago to back us up, no Negro would have been registered to vote.” McCain Pitts, Selma attorney who spoke at the Linden meeting said that if any Negro attempted to enter a Selma school “there is going to be blood spilled on the campus.” Several speakers urged that the “economic pressure program” be be gun immediately. Organizational meetings of the other county Councils were of lesser size. Only 50 white men attended the meeting in Notasulga, Macon County, Dec. 15 to organize a chapter in the home county of the famed Tuskegee Institute for Negroes. The meeting was closed to reporters. METHODISTS DISSENT A special committee of Methodists from six southern states was formed in Birmingham to preserve racial segregation in Methodist churches. The program adopted at the meet ing is in avowed opposition to the Methodist Church Council of Bishops, which had adopted a resolution sup porting the outlawing of racial seg regation in public schools. Nine bishops from the Southeast did not vote in favor of the resolution, ac cording to Bishop Clare Purcell of the North Alabama Methodist Confer ence. No action has been taken to abolish the all-Negro Central Juris diction of the Methodist church, which includes Negro churches and missions. Sidney W. Smeyer, Birmingham at torney and lay leader, warned that many northern and eastern Metho dists favored abolishing the Central Jurisdiction, which could, he said, “mean the end of segregation within the church.” “I will warn you a vain and again,” Smeyer said, “that there are going to be times when we are going to have to stand up and fight for our convic tions.” Although only 60 ministers and lay leaders were formally invited to the Birmingham committee meeting, more than 200 attended. They came from churches in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina. Dr. Guy McGowan, pastor of Bir mingham’s Highlands Church, said: “We note with exceeding grave concern efforts being made within our church for sudden and drastic changes in the organic structure of our church and in social relation ships between the races on the con gregational level.” The resolution, aimed at preventing the abolition of the all-Negro Central Jurisdiction, urged churchmen to: 1. Use all rightful means to oppose any statement by Methodist publications or groups who will seek to change the pres ent law of the church governing white and Negro members. 2. To devise a plan of informing Meth odists of efforts to promote a policy of racial integration within the church. 3. To request all delegates to confer ences to oppose any such movement. 4. To request Methodist leaders to pre sent statements to church members on how the abolition of the Central Jurisdic tion would affect the church and its agencies. 5. To recommend that groups be or ganized to confer with Negro leaders re garding problems that may arise out of the “racial tension engendered by leaders of radical groups.” Smeyer said efforts would be made to send delegates to the 1956 General conference who favor continued church segregation. COLLEGE DESEGREGATES The first all-white college in Ala bama to accept Negro students— Spring Hill College in Mobile—re ported Dec. 22 that there had been only one incident since the doors were opened to Negroes in September. Rev. Albert S. Foley, S.J., associate professor of sociology at Spring Hill, said one prospective woman student decided not to register when she learned the school would admit sev eral Negroes to its regular day classes. Other than this, Father Foley said, the first few months of integration have been uneventful. Spring Hill, founded in 1830, is one of Alabama’s oldest colleges. It is a four-year Catholic liberal arts col lege offering, in addition to the regu lar liberal arts course of study, cur ricula in pre-med, pre-law, business administration and pre-engineering. Enrollment in day classes this year is 670, including six Negro freshmen —three women and three men. Six other Negroes, all men, are attending night classes at Spring Hill. Night en rollment is 390. Negroes comprise 33.8% of Mobile County’s total popu lation, 35.5% of the city of Mobile. DECISION BACKGROUND The present integration experiment —which is not so much an experiment as a first step in the college’s new policy of integration—dates back to the summer of 1951. Several Negro Sisters from Mobile’s two Negro convents were admitted to summer school classes so that they could maintain their teacher credits. Negro Sisters were later admitted to Saturday classes during the regular semester sessions. In September, 1953, three Negro men were admitted to the collet ^ evening classes. In his commence ^ ment address last June, Spring H® 1 . j president, the Very Rev. Andrew ^ Smith, S.J., said that the col)® ^ would abide by the Supreme Co6l*| May 17 decision. President Smith native of Natchez, Miss., served, dean of the college for some 20 y e ^ t( before his elevation to the preside! 1 ■ tl Formerly a men’s college, Sprj 5 ' * Hill became coeducational in the of 1953. This year a new club, tt Coed Club, was chartered on ^ campus. The founders were told tc the dean that under the school'sJj _ c policy the club must be chartered^ sr interracial, which it was. Negro ^ men regularly attend meetings, F 3 rf er Foley said. . h As to how the new Negro stud ^ cj have been accepted, Father f, th explained that they seem to eX Kjjfr ^ ence some isolation, and some • ^ culty in getting acquainted and ■ ing their way around. But, he a so do most freshmen, in some 01 Since Negro students comprise 1% of the total enrollment, ^ presence is hardly noticed, he sa
