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Maryland
BALTIMORE, Md.
rpHE Maryland General Assembly
concluded its 90-day session on
April 4 without having passed either
pro-integration or anti-integration
measures, thus bearing out the pre
diction of veteran legislators that the
whole subject of racial relations
would be kept as far under wraps as
possible at the 1955 meeting.
Still in committee when the legisla
tors closed up shop were two bills
championed by the Maryland Petition
Committee and the Baltimore Asso
ciation for States Rights.
One would have provided state aid
for children attending private schools,
and the other would have amended
the Maryland compulsory school at
tendance law to make it unnecessary
for white children to attend schools
with Negro teachers or Negro stu
dents.
The two anti-integration groups
tried most of the session to find a
senator or delegate willing to intro
duce their proposals and succeeded in
having it done “by request” only in
the waning days of the meeting. No
hearing was held on the bills.
Sen. Harry A. Cole, a Baltimore
Negro lawyer, succeeded in getting a
favorable committee report on his
“public accommodations” bill but lost
out by a 19-9 vote when it was re
ferred back to committee. The meas
ure would have forbidden discrim
ination against Negroes in all types
of public accommodations, including
amusement places, hotels, hospitals
and public schools. It carried a stiff
penalty clause which bothered some
of the senator’s fellow Republicans
who voted with the Democratic ma
jority.
RATIFICATION FAILS
Toward the close of the session Sen.
Cole introduced a resolution to have
Maryland ratify the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States
Constitution, that being the keystone
of Negro legal efforts to obtain equal
rights under state laws. The resolu
tion received a 12-11 vote on second
reading and a 13-12 vote on third
reading, but 15 votes were needed
for passage. Maryland, California, and
Kentucky were cited the only three
states of Civil War vintage that have
not ratified the Fourteenth, which
was added to the Constitution 87
years ago.
On the legal side of racial issues,
both the state and Baltimore city de
cided to appeal the decision of the
Fourth U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals
ruling out enforced segregation at
Public recreational facilities. The case
had grown out of Negro complaints
°f segregation at a city-owned and
operated beach at Fort Smallwood
juM a state-owned and operated
beach at Sandy Point on Chesapeake
Virginia
Continued from Page 6
u'eir relatively low level of educa-
.'onal attainment and to the higher
Wcidence of illegitimacy among Ne-
Sroes than among whites. The Negro
«*ers called this a “below-the-
u attack . . . totally out of har-
of on y with the gentlemanly conduct
Virginia’s governmental officials
and citizens.”
(4) The Virginia division of the
oierican Association of University
° me n, meeting in Staunton April
H-16
urged public officials of this
j 6 " ma k e every effort to provide
r erly compliance with the momen-
°Us decision” of the Supreme Court.
o a Sroup said also that “local school
cials should be given considerable
edibility to deal with the complex
' ems raised by integration.” The
aauw
picked as its state project for
“Integration in the schools—
0 lems of implementing Supreme
Urt decisions.”
The Prince Edward County
Ati i Supervisors, meeting on
jgj. Postponed adoption of the
ber°~t** after hearing a num-
p u j,° c *tizens say they do not want a
to h 10 ^ aX ^ or sc 'hools if the money is
boa ^ or integrated schools. The
has until May 31 to act.
Bay, near the western end of the new
bay bridge. State park officials made
the decision to appeal, and then city
park officials followed suit, saying
“we do not want the city and state
groups going in opposite directions.”
In another legal action, Federal
Judge Roszel C. Thomsen, who was
reversed by the Circuit Court in the
recreation cases, ruled against dis
missing the suit of Negro students to
obtain admission to the white ele
mentary school which the Cecil
County Board of Education operates
under a leasing arrangement at Bain-
bridge Naval Training Center, in the
northern section of Maryland. Judge
Thomsen is holding the case until late
summer to see (1) if the Supreme
Court sets up a desegregation plan
and (2) if the naval base school is to
be continued next fall. The county is
building a new school to take its
place.
MONTGOMERY DEBATE
In Montgomery County, just north
and west of the District of Columbia
line, the great debate on school inte
gration continued strong during the
first weeks of April (for background
information see the April 7 issue of
Southern School News). By April 20
nearly all the PTA units in the county
had taken action on the recommenda
tion of the executive committee of the
County Council of Parent-Teacher
Associations that integration in all
grades in all sections of the county
be made effective at the start of the
1955 fall term.
On April 20 the full county council
met to take its position. The evening
meeting had promised to be a lively
one because the voting in individual
PTA units had shown that about 25,
mostly “down-county” PTAs favored
full integration in the fall, while a
somewhat larger group of PTAs,
mostly representing “up-county”
sentiments, favored gradual integra
tion plans. In the middle was a
slightly smaller group with varying
opinions as to the timing of integra
tion.
The meeting drew 204 registered
delegates, lasted three hours and in
volved balloting on 15 amendments
and amendments to amendments. A
feature of the evening was the first
participation by a Negro delegate un
der a new charter arrangement which
admitted Negro PTA units to the
council. The debate was vigorous, and
on one amendment the voting was as
close as 107-96. But on the climactic
ballot, the Council decided by a US-
74 vote to accept the recommenda
tion of full integration in the fall,
with this clause added “or as soon
thereafter as practicable.”
NEGRO SCHOOLS TOURED
An interesting aspect of the whole
Montgomery County approach to the
integration question was a tour which
75 members of various PTA units
made in late March of a half dozen
colored schools in the county. Four of
the schools were small “down-coun
ty” substandard schools which would
be abandoned under an integration
program. The other two were new
and spacious secondary schools, most
ly serving “up-county” areas which
might receive some white students
under an integration program.
Both the Washington Star and The
Maryland News, a county weekly
published at Silver Spring, used the
word “shocks” in their headlines to
describe the effect of the substandard
colored schools on the visiting PTA
representatives. Montgomery County
has by far the greatest per capita
wealth in the state, largely because of
the heavy “down-county” concentra
tion of federal government workers.
And yet the visitors found 104 Negro
children in one three-classroom
frame structure, and 58 children in
two rooms at another.
In still another school, a 50-year-
old converted church, 93 first-to-sixth
grade pupils were in three rooms,
with no assembly room, no cafeteria
and no inside toilet facilities, and the
visitors were informed that the pupils
took care of the janitoriai work.
The county board of education has
said the substandard schools will be
closed but has not said when. The
board’s position on the timing of the
integration remains an indefinite one,
although it is the first county board
in Maryland to have made a definite
statement of its integration plans.
The board’s formal statement in
March said that it would integrate
county schools when advised by the
Maryland attorney general that no
legal barriers exist, and that “the
same policy of integration shall pre
vail throughout the county, provided
however, the superintendent, with the
approval of the board, shall have the
discretion to vary the timing of inte
gration as conditions warrant.”
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY
In nearby Prince George’s County,
which like Montgomery County is
partly rural and partly a suburb of
Washington, the county board of edu
cation has appointed 22 school and lay
people, including five Negroes, to a
desegregation study committee. But
the county board definitely wishes to
avoid a repetition of what happened
in Montgomery County when the
tentative voting and disagreements in
a similar study group were publi
cized in conflicting newspaper stories
in advance of final action. In setting
up the committee the Prince George’s
board unanimously passed the follow
ing resolution:
“Be it resolved that members of the
Board of Education, its employes or
any member of the Fact Finding
Committee on Desegregation be di
rected that they are not to appear be
fore citizens’ groups or other inter
ested persons nor at any time to
discuss the work of this committee
nor how desegregation in Prince
George’s County will be designated
until such time as the Board of Edu
cation is prepared to state its policy
on this matter.”
POLICY STATEMENT
The parent body of all county PTAs
is the Maryland Congress of Parents
and Teachers, which last November
voted in annual convention to sup
port the efforts of state and local
boards of education to bring about
school desegregation with a maximum
of local control. In March the Board
of Managers of the Congress issued
an additional policy statement which
said:
“Since the Maryland Congress of
Parents and Teachers at its last con
vention affirmed this organization’s
obligation to abide by the decisions of
the Supreme Court and state authori
ties regarding segregation in the
schools, it must be recognized that
aimless discussion and resolution
passing for or against segregation
must be considered against the policy
of the Maryland Congress.
“Instead, under the wording of the
resolution passed at the convention,
county councils and local groups
should undertake the type of study
and discussion which will promote
the welfare of all children under
whatever program is to be applied
locally.”
KITS DISTRIBUTED
To assist local groups in this “study
and discussion” of desegregation
methods, the Intergroup Relations
Committee of the Maryland Congress
has distributed this spring some 50
kits of resource material to county
PTA councils, boards of education,
and the like. The kits include the
statements of the governor, state
board of education, and others on
compliance with the Supreme Court
decision, some pamphlets on human
relations, a copy of the Baltimore
Sun’s series of articles on prejudice,
an issue of the Southern School
News, a summary of Ashmore’s The
Negro and the Schools, and allied ma
terial. The Intergroup Relations Com
mittee has said that it will:
1. Act as a clearing house on mat
ters which concern the PTA and seg
regation.
2. Organize and disseminate infor
mation collected from all possible
sources.
3. Hear suggestions for improving
the efficiency of this program.
4. Plan for workshops on this sub
ject.
5. Keep the membership informed
through monthly notices in the Bul
letin of the Maryland Congress.
6. When advisable, cooperate with
other agencies studying this same
problem.
The kits of resource material and
the call for local PTA “study and dis
cussion” have been quite recent de
velopments, and as yet there have
been no reports on how much activity
they have stimulated. When reports
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—May 4, 1955—PAGE 7
come in, they will be recorded in
Southern School News. Meanwhile,
some county boards of education and
county school superintendents are re
porting tentative steps toward meet
ing problems arising from the Su
preme Court decision.
TWO COUNTIES AT WORK
On the Eastern Shore, where the
proportion of Negro to white pupils
ranges from 23 to more than 40 per
cent, the boards of education of two
counties have announced that they
will meet together to discuss integra
tion questions, since both counties
have similar problems. The two
counties and the percentage of colored
children in their school populations
are: Queen Anne’s 27.5, and Kent
28.9.
In response to a letter of inquiry
from the Maryland reporter for
Southern School News, the superin
tendent of Queen Anne’s County
schools, Harry C. Rhodes, wrote as
follows:
“In Queen Anne’s County consider
able attention has been given by va
rious groups in consideration of the
possible effects that integration will
have on the school system. The Queen
Anne’s County Board of Education
has discussed the various possibilities
from many points of view.
“Likewise, there is organized in this
county a Superintendent’s Advisory
Council of lay citizens. This council
during the past two years has given
some consideration to the problem.
“We have not appointed any so-
called ‘Desegregation Study Group.’
We have not felt that this was needed
until we did get the final decree from
the Supreme Court.
“Very serious consideration has
been given to the building program,
so that any integration taking place
in this county will not place us in the
position where we have built schools
for which there would be no use.”
KENT COUNTY PLANS
The superintendent of Kent County
schools, Reade W. Corr, responded to
a similar letter of inquiry in this way:
“The Supreme Court’s decision has
been discussed by our board (of edu
cation) on several occasions and with
various employes and citizens in an
informal manner. We have a library
shelf devoted to the topic. Several
books have been reviewed by the
president of the board of education
and me. Experiences in other places
convince us that integration problems
have been handled most effectively
and efficiently:
“1. When the matter has been left
in the hands of the school people,
“2. When the board has established
definite policies and announced same
in advance,
“3. When a lay committee, com
posed of both races, has met with the
board in an advisory capacity to de
velop policies.
“Our board feels that no definite
local action should be taken until the
Supreme Court issues a formal de
cree. At present we feel that it would
be wise to delay appointing a lay
committee until such a decree is is
sued. We have revised our long-range
building plans. These plans are in a
state of flux awaiting the appropria
tion of additional funds for construc
tion purposes. We have conducted
several principals’ meetings and
teachers’ curriculum committee
meetings on an interracial basis. In
fact, the principal of our Negro high
school has been attending the high
school principals’ meetings regularly
for the past several years.”
ADJACENT TO DELAWARE
The Eastern Shore of Maryland, it
should be understood, backs up to
that long southern leg of Delaware
where Bryant Bowles and his Na
tional Association for the Advance
ment of White People have been
actively fanning opposition to de
segregation. The ’Shore also joins
a section of Virginia on the south
to form, with Delaware, the geo
graphic unity known as the Delmarva
Peninsula. This area has economic
unity as well as geographic, because
of the chicken broiler industry com
mon to that section of all three states,
and by tradition it has cultural unity
as well, particularly in regard to a
“Deep South” attitude toward racial
relations.
The Eastern Shore, then, is an area
where school officials are sensitive io
the need to move more cautiously in
planning compliance with Supreme
Court directives. But the need to move
cautiously has not dissuaded school
officials from moving at all. In addi
tion to Quen Anne’s and Kent Coun
ties, some steps have been taken by
Somerset County, where 40.8 per cent
of the school population is colored.
BOARD ENDORSEMENT
The Somerset County Board of
Education has formally endorsed the
state board of education’s acceptance
of the Supreme Court decision and
has put itself on record as willing to
be guided by the c ourt’s recom
mendations for implementing that de
cision. The county superintendent of
schools, C. Allen Carlson, reports
that the following steps have been
taken:
“1. Small committees of colored
citizens have met with the superin
tendent to discuss desegregation as it
may affect Somerset County.
“2. The same procedure has been
used with small committees of white
citizens.
“3. The next step is for a commit
tee of mixed races to meet and study
problems of mutual concern.
“4. Our school building plans have
not been changed in any way because
of the Supreme Court opinion. Our
building program has proceeded since
1950 as funds became available. The
present phase is to eliminate sub
standard buildings and at the same
time to provide for the growing en
rollments by consolidation.”
WORCESTER COUNTY
Another Eastern Shore county,
Worcester, has a 36.4 to 63.6 ratio of
colored to white school children, and
one of its towns is right next door to
troubled Milford, Del. Worcester
County has not appointed a de
segregation study group or changed
any of its school building plans in
view of the Supreme Court decision.
But school officials have been trying
in a calm way to consider what lies
ahead. The county school superinten
dent, Paul D. Cooper, writes that:
“Immediately after the segregation
decision of the Supreme Court was
made known we made a spot map
study of the entire county to see just
what effect integration would have.
We conducted informal surveys of
opinions toward the decree, primarily
through discussion with white and
colored teacher groups.
“I have discussed the matter with
several groups in the county, speak
ing for the board of education . . .
(and) the implications of the court
decision have been discussed before
at least three service groups by per
sons other than myself.”
CAROLINE COUNTY
From Caroline County, a ’Shore
section with a 1-3 ratio of Negro to
white children, Supt. W. Stewart
Fitzgerald writes:
“Nothing has been done in this
county except to sit tight and wait
until such time as the Supreme Court
hands down its final decrees. Denton
(the county seat) is within 25 miles
of Milford, Del., and we are con
vinced that if we try to anticipate
what the Supreme Court will finally
do we will be running into trouble.
The position we take is the same as
the one expressed by Gov. McKeldin
during the last campaign—that he
represented the law. I feel that if we
act in accordance with the law, we
shall not have too much trouble in
Caroline County.
School officials in the remaining
Eastern Shore counties report posi
tions similar to that of Supt. Fitz
gerald—namely, that public state
ments on and discussion of desegrega
tion should await final Supreme
Court action.
Some 370 Negro school teachers in
the area belong to the Eastern Shore
Professional Group, which in April
held its annual conference in Dor
chester county. The theme was “The
Role and Adjustment of the Com
munity in Human Relations.” The
main speaker was Dr. Earle Jackson,
formerly a professor at Maryland’s
Morgan State College, and now prin
cipal of a Wilmington, Del., high
school. Dr. Jackson told his audience
that teachers, parents, and children
must be educated to meet the prob
lems of school integration and that
different communities must integrate
their schools as they see fit, in keep
ing with the Supreme Court decision.
Reports on developments in other
Sections of Maryland will be carried
in subsequent issues of Southern
School News.