Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—Feb. 3, 1955—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
District of Columbia
WASHINGTON, D.C.
'J'HE District board of education ap
proved mid-year promotions as
its last major pupil integration step
until next fall and reappointed Supt.
Hobart M. Corning to his fourth
three-year term.
On Jan. 31, 1,018 junior high grad
uates entered high schools according
to new non-racial boundaries. Of the
students promoted, 571 came from
schools of the old Negro division and
525 came from formerly white schools.
One hundred and twenty-two of
the students from former all-Negro
schools were promoted to six former
all-white high schools. One Negro
boy moved from an integrated for
mer white junior high into a voca
tional high which has retained its
Negro enrollment. No white students
were promoted to former Negro
schools.
During the January school board
meeting, Mrs. Margaret J. Butcher,
Negro member, questioned the fact
that no white students were graduat
ing into the former Division H
schools. “It is thoroughly incredible
that no white students reside in these
school zones,” she said.
“Integration in Washington is a
one-way proposition,” Mrs. Butcher
charged. Earlier this month, she told
an assembly at Morgan State College
in Baltimore that the Washington
school system is still more than 98 per
cent segregated.
Quoting figures released by the
American Friends Committee, Mrs.
Butcher said desegregation in the na
tion’s capital has proceeded “only
slightly” since the Supreme Court de
cision. “We have not accomplished
the degree of integration in our pub
lic schools for which we’re given
credit outside Washington,” Dr.
Butcher said in her address to the
college students.
QUOTES SCHOOL STUDY
She said the American Friends’
study shows that in the District only
40 per cent of the public schools have
a student body that is 2 per cent in
tegrated. The other 60 per cent of
the schools are either more than 98
per cent Negro or more than 98 per
cent white, she said.
Dr. Butcher, a paid employe of the
National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People while
on leave from her teaching post at
Howard University, blamed the “fail
ure of complete integration” on the
fact that “our plan for integrating
schools has been permissive rather
than mandatory.”
This month, Mrs. Butcher told the
school board she believed there had
been racial discrimination in some
pupil assignments. Her charges are
being investigated by school officials.
Mrs. Butcher said it was her un
derstanding that both Eastern and
Anacostia high schools had refused to
enroll new Negro students since Oc
tober—thus violating a policy that
all new students be enrolled accord
ing to new non-racial boundaries.
Both former white high schools were
involved in the brief fall student
demonstrations against integration.
TWO AGAINST CORNING
When the board of education on
Jan. 19 voted on Coming’s reappoint
ment as superintendent, Mrs. Butch
er and two other members opposed
it. The vote was 6 to 2. Mrs. Frank
S. Phillips, board vice-president, and
Mrs. Butcher voted “no.” Member
Robert R. Faulkner did not mark his
ballot.
Both Mrs. Phillips and Faulkner
have believed Corning moved too
fast on integration. Mrs. Butcher be
lieved he didn’t move fast enough.
Explaining her negative vote, Mrs.
Butcher gave the press this statement:
“I wish it to be fully understood that
my inability to vote for Supt. Coming
carries with it no connotation of per
sonal animosity or recrimination. In
view of the critical statements I have
issued during the past year and a
half—and the facts that supported
them—I could not possibly support
the reappointment of the administra
tor who built such a record. My state
ments speak for themselves.
“I have been told that a unanimous
vote would strengthen the morale of
the community. I have never con
ceded that there is any virtue in una
nimity. I would not choose to make
such a concession at the expense of
my most profound inner convictions.”
In an editorial urging Coming’s re
appointment, The Washington Post &
Times Herald said: “. . . Dr. Corning
has faced up to and dealt resolutely
with, the tough job of transforming
a dual school system into an inte
grated school system. That this
change has been accomplished so far
with very little disorder or friction
is certainly due in large measure to
his planning and administration. He
is certainly the man to see the inte
gration job through to completion.”
Currently, Corning and his staff are
preparing a full-scale reorganization
of top school officers, many of whom
hold parallel jobs demanded under
segregation. This report will be given
to the school board at its February
meeting.
PROBLEM STUDENTS
Coming is also looking for a solu
tion to teen-age problem students
whose behavior has come to light in
integrated school situations. School
officials are considering seeking a
special appropriation from Congress
to hire additional teachers to set up
separate classes for these young peo
ple.
Most of the students assigned to
such classes, Corning said, would be
Negroes newly integrated into former
white schools.
Requests for the special “social ad
justment” classes have come from
principals of white junior and senior
high schools integrated last fall by
the transfer of large numbers of Ne
gro students out of overcrowded
schools.
Mrs. Butcher publicly has declared
that some Negro school principals
“dumped” undesirable Negro stu
dents into the former white schools
last September. She said “real inte
gration” instead of “mechanical
transfers” of students would have
prevented this.
Corning said the number of prob
lem cases are sufficient enough to be
of “very serious concern.” He said
“one child of that kind can make more
trouble in a school than hundreds of
other children, in taking the time of
teachers away from their attention
of the other children.”
Race integration has had the effect
of bringing the long-time problem of
bad-behaving and emotionally mal
adjusted students to a head, Corning
said. “Integration has brought to the
light of day many of these cases,” he
added.
“A lot of children have been trans
ferred into an entirely new atmos
phere,” Coming said, adding: “Quite
naturally, the adjustment of some of
those children to new conditions
would be slower than that of others,
particularly if they were behavior
problems before.”
Part of the problem, Coming said,
stemmed from the fact the white
schools exercised less strict discipline
than the Negro schools. Now, he
added, with Negro students in a
“freer situation” the effect has been
that they let off steam.
Coming said he doesn’t believe the
grade schools have many problem
cases at this time. He pointed out
there now are only two or three
classes for emotionally maladjusted
junior and senior high students in
the entire school system. These, he
said, are for boys only. Principals
have told Corning that a large num
ber of their present “problem chil
dren” are girls.
One principal of an integrated for
mer white high school told Corning
he felt more like a “warden than an
educator.” This man, an ex-marine
officer, said the language of some of
the transferred Negro girls “would
blister the skin off your back.”
TEACHERS’ COLLEGES
Meanwhile, officers of the public
school system’s two teachers’ colleges
are planning the merger of the pro
grams of the institutions—which will
take place before the summer session.
Eventually, the colleges will be
united in a large high school to be
renovated for that purpose. This
summer, the school will operate in
one of the two present small college
buildings.
Presidents and department chair
men of the two colleges now are
working out the combining of curric
ula which will result in new
course offerings and requirements.
Said one college president: “We
are coming up with a stronger pro
gram than either school had sep
arately.” The college presidents have
been told by Coming to include grad
uate work offerings in the summer
program. A fifth year of instruction
leading to a master’s degree was au
thorized last year by the school board
which set no deadline for start of
this expansion.
At present, Wilson Teachers Col
lege, a former all-white institution,
has an integrated student body.
Miner College continues to have a
predominantly Negro enrollment.
College officials said that new re
quirements for degrees, when ap
proved, will not be mandatory for
students who already have started
their college program. Most freshmen
and sophomores are expected to fit
into the new requirements by the
time they begin work on their majors
in the junior year, officials said
MERGER ADVANTAGES
These examples of how a merged
teachers’ college will benefit students
were cited by officials of both
schools:
1. A stronger field of speech edu
cation. Wilson for years has had no
dramatics course, but a good speech
improvement course. The reverse is
true at Miner.
2. A better foreign language offer
ing. Wilson has never had a major in
Spanish while Miner had the only
Spanish professor and “miserably
small” classes in this course.
3. Business education will be of
fered all students. Such a course has
been offered at Wilson, but not at
Miner because of lack of funds.
4. An improved student teaching
program for all students. Wilson has
offered a full semester of practice
teaching in the secondary schools
while Miner offered only a half se
mester on this level.
The curriculum merger is moving
along without difficulty, except that
a few professors want to “hang onto
a pet course” that others would like
to drop from the elective list, officials
said.
RULING ON BOYS CLUBS
The board of education this month
notified the directors of the Metro
politan Police Boys Clubs that they
could not continue to use District
school space after hours unless they
dropped their present bar against
Negro membership.
At present a club is operating in
the Brookland school. The club has
an enrollment of 1,700 boys, all white.
The club uses showers, lockers, and
a small recreation space in the
school.
The school board by letter told
club officers that their policy of race
segregation violates the public
school system’s new non-discrimina
tion rules. Its action followed receipt
of a letter protesting the club’s racial
barriers from the Washington Chap
ter of the American Veterans’ Com
mittee. The letter was sent on behalf
of 29 community organizations.
The Boys’ Club directors recently
stood pat on their present segregation
policies after another all-white club
was forced to abandon quarters at
All Souls’ Unitarian Church because
of notice by church officials that con
tinued segregation would not be tol
erated. The church has since organ
ized its own nonsegregated club.
On Jan. 10, the Supreme Court de
nied a request by the Federation of
Citizens Associations of the District
to file arguments in the current
school desegregation cases. The Fed
eration lost out in Federal District
Court last November when it sought
an injunction against the school
board’s integration plans. It said the
board was acting precipitously.
Of the Supreme Court denial, at
torney for the Federation, D. C. Col-
laday said: “I think that’s going to
end it. Now with this denial by the
Supreme Court I’d say we’re
through.”
Southern School News
Southern School News is the official publication of the Southern Education
Reporting Service, an objective, fact-finding agency established by southern
newspaper editors and educators with the aim of providing accurate,
unbiased information to school administrators, public officials and interested
lay citizens on developments in education arising from the U. S. Supreme
Court opinion of May 17, 1954 declaring segregation in the public schools
unconstitutional. SERS is not an advocate, is neither pro-segregation nor
anti-segregation, but simply reports the facts as it finds them, state by state.
OFFICERS
Virginius Dabney Chairman
Thomas R. Waring Vice-Chairman
C. A. McKnight Executive Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Frank Ahlgren, Editor, Memphis
Commercial Appeal, Memphis,
Tenn.
Gordon Blackwell, Director, Institute
for Research in Social Science,
University of N. C.
Harvie Branscomb, Chancellor, Van
derbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
Virginius Dabney, Editor, Richmond
Times-Dispatch, Richmond, Va.
Coleman A. Harwell, Editor, Nash
ville Tennessean, Nashville, Tenn.
Henry H. Hill, President, George
Peabody College, Nashville, Tenn.
Charles S. Johnson, President, Fisk
University, Nashville, Tenn.
C. A. McKnight, Editor (On Leave)
Charlotte News, Charlotte, N. C.
Charles Moss, Executive Editor,
Nashville Banner, Nashville, Tenn.
Thomas R. Waring, Editor, Charles
ton News & Courier, Charleston,
S. C.
Henry I. Willett, Superintendent of
Schools, Richmond, Va.
P. B. Young Sr., Editor, Norfolk
Journal & Guide, Norfolk, Va.
CORRESPONDENTS
ALABAMA
William H. McDonald, Editorial
Writer, Montgomery Advertiser
ARKANSAS
Thomas D. Davis, Asst. City Editor,
Arkansas Gazette
DELAWARE
William P. Frank, Staff Writer,
Wilmington News
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Jeanne Rogers, Education Writer,
Washington Post & Times Herald
FLORIDA
Bert Collier, Staff Writer, Miami
Herald
GEORGIA
Joseph B. Parham, Editor, The
Macon News
KENTUCKY
Weldon James, Editorial Writer,
Louisville Courier-Journal
LOUISIANA
Mario Fellom, Political Reporter,
New Orleans Item
MARYLAND
Edgar L Jones, Editorial Writer,
Baltimore Evening Sun
MISSISSIPPI
Kenneth Toler, Mississippi Bureau,
Memphis Commercial-Appeal
MISSOURI
Robert Lasch, Editorial Writer, St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
NORTH CAROLINA
Jay Jenkins, Staff Writer, Raleigh
News 4 Observer
OKLAHOMA
Mary Goddard, Staff Writer, Ok
lahoma City Oklahoman-Times
SOUTH CAROLINA
W. D. Workman Jr., Special Cor
respondent, Columbia, S. C.
TENNESSEE
James Elliott, Staff Writer, Nash
ville Banner
Wallace Westfeldt, Staff Writer,
Nashville Tennessean
TEXAS
Richard M. Morehead, Austin Bu
reau, Dallas News
VIRGINIA
Overton Jones, Editorial Writer,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
WEST VIRGINIA
Frank A. Knight, Editor, Charles
ton Gazette
MAIL ADDRESS
P. O. Box 6156, Aclden Station, Nashville 5, Tenn.
The high court gave no reason for
its action. The Federation’s petition
was only one of a long list of other
requests for court action which were
denied similarly.
In his argument for filing an ami
cus curiae (friend of the court)
brief, Colladay said:
“The Federation does not oppose
desegregation but holds that the plan
which the board of education has
adopted involves unnecessary speed
of action and many hardships upon
the school children.”
The board’s action of “mandatory
and compulsory” integration was
called “most unreasonable.” The Fed
eration said the anticipated imple
mentary decrees by the Supreme
Court “should adequately protect the
rights of all children of school age.”
Delaware
Continued From Page 3
sembly. The Milford story is a part
of the Delaware pattern. But it is by
no means typical or representative of
the present situation of the Negro.
There is abundant evidence to show
that Delawareans in growing num
bers are helping Negroes break out
from the ‘traditional barriers’ par
ticularly in employment.”
Another example of racial thinking
in some Catholic circles in Delaware
was the decision of the Knights of
Columbus in Wilmington to accept
Negroes as members. This was con
sidered unprecedented among K of C
areas in the state.
And also during the month, a bas
ketball game between Salesianu®
Catholic high school and Rehobott
Beach high school was cancelled ten 1 '
porarily because it was discovered b!
the Rehoboth Beach school peopb
that a young Negro was playing ° r
the Catholic high school team.
There was no outward opposite 1
on the part of the Rehoboth Bead-
school against playing Salesianun
but it was thought wise not to pj®
the game in Rehoboth Beach wbi?
is in Sussex County. The game is
be played perhaps in the WilmingWj"
area. The Salesianum Catholic hi?
school, conducted by the Obi? 1
Fathers, was literally the first hi?
school of any group in Wilming 401
to break down the racial barrio*
That happened two years ago.
However, all these events in
ware are regarded as “marking tb"*
events or fillers since the big stoO^
yet to come, perhaps next moB
That is what the State SuprO^
Court will say about the legality
10 Negro students attending the
ford school. The admission of th
students to the Milford white h»
school in September of 1954, p reCJ j^,
tated what has come to be k®° .
everywhere as the “Milford ^
dent.”