About Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965 | View Entire Issue (July 6, 1955)
\ * \n? y Factual Southern School News Objective VOL. II, NO. I NASHVILLE, TENN. $2 PER YEAR JULY 6, 1955 Activity Spurred By Court’s Ruling (1) Alabama’s senate passed the Engelhardt pupil assignment bill. Gov. James E. Folsom said it could cause “complica tion” but declined comment on a possible veto. (2) Officials of school districts in four of Arkansas’ five largest cities, including Little Rock, revealed plans or thinking on integration; (3) Hoxie, small district in NE Arkansas, said it would inte grate for 1955-56 term. (4) Delaware awaited word from its reorganized board of edu cation. (3) In the District of Columbia a school board member charged integration is a “one-way street proposition” in the nation’s capital. (6) Florida’s legislature adopted an assignment act; its spon sor said “counties that want to keep segregated schools ll nder this bill can do so.” 7) J* eor £ia was awaiting a session of its education committee iormed to find legal means of circumventing the court de cision; meanwhile a petition was filed on behalf of Atlanta (8) £ egro P arents requesting integration. ) Kentucky’s board of education urged local school authori ng^ J? 8 to begin integration “as rapidly as possible”; ayne Co., with a small number of Negro children, was fun 1 t0 inte £ rate * In Louisiana segregation forces led by State Sen. W. M. nambach sought $100,000 in state funds to pay special attorneys retained to fight desegregation suits in parishes (in l: 0llntles ). i„ New Orleans a petition was filed by the Hi,. " * or ^ Paints in Orleans Parish asking “imme- (12) I*, m an ? concre t e steps” leading to integration. c Maryland some further integration was foreseen in one ounty this fall and possibly in two others; school authori- Worcester Co. said flatly it was not “feasible or P actical to act this year. SSN Begins 2nd Year; Format Altered §°cthern School News begins its a volume year this month in easjg Y altered format designed for tyjj. reac li n g and quick reference. &eir * f , tbe state reports lose none of ganm2 l ect i'? ty ’ they have been or - •eade ■ by ^ e P art ments” so that the me nts r ™ teres ted in specific develop- tW , s ^ ate 'by-state may turn ly , tbe Pages and find more easi- Thu * " e may be looking for. gati 0r . S : n f^ s °f segregation-desegre- each ln higher education appears in the r ^? ort under the heading “In Legal° 4 eges ’’ A&ain for example, beadm ct i° n ” is the departmental •ourt ff ,)° r news °f petitions, suits, legal h ’ n H s and actions by special lUotes °~! es ’ Further, significant the se}, 3 i ^ ec l arat ions bearing on ■Uider “mi sub i ec t may be found 4r° Ug , aat They Say.” And so on tlal j nt . e various categories of spe ech reSt * i, ith a state report begins as usual *ith , Umr nary of developments— C0v eraCTp O j.j exce Ptf° n s where full ^tpient d not warrant this new ho^* t0rs Southern School > f 0t J* tha t our readers will find Hd. o c ? TJ rn i . 0re attractive and more “^licy^ •, of course has not changed S t *ts typographical appear - Plans for this issue were developed at a meeting of correspondents in mid-June in Nashville at a “shop talk” session following a morning seminar with legal and educational experts. Correspondents heard: James C. N. Paul of the Institute of Government, Chapel Hill, N.C., on The Southern Education Report ing Service began its second year on July 1 under a new director, Don Shoemaker, former editor of the “Asheville (N. C.) Citizen.” Shoemaker succeeds C. A. Mc- Knight, who will return to news paper work later this month. At the June 12 meeting of the SEES board of directors, Shoemak er was formally elected executive director, and a member of the board of directors and executive commit tee. McKnight remains on the SEES board. Patrick McCauley, former Hunts ville, Ala., newspaperman, who has been doing graduate work in po litical science at Vanderbilt Uni versity for the past year, has also joined the SEES staff as assistant to the director. JN THE first month following the Supreme Court decision of May 31 calling for public school desegregation with “deliberate speed” much of the South was almost literally (see Knox’s cartoon on this page) going to “summer school.” Constituted authorities in state after state and community after community were making plans either to comply with the implementation order or to resist it. Observers called the consequence, (13) Mississippi’s official Legal Education Advisory Committee reiterated its opposition to desegregation “in any form whatsoever.” (14) l our large high schools in SE Missouri reported on the first year of unsegregated classes. (15) In Asheville and Charlotte (16), North Carolina, school au thorities began studies looking toward compliance with the court decrees while Gov. Luther Hodges announced appointment of the Advisory Committee on Public Educa tion authorized as a continuing study group on segregation by the 1955 legislature. (17) Oklahoma opened its college and university system to both races this fall and the State Education Department advised local school districts to begin merger at once; (18) Tulsa and nine other districts took action. (19) The Special Segregation Study Committee recommended that South Carolina schools be operated on the same segre gated basis as herefore and (20) Clarendon Co. officials said schools would be closed before mixed classes were allowed. (21) Tennessee’s board of education announced a gradual de segregation plan in the six state-supported colleges begin ning at the graduate level. (22) Texas Gov. Allan Shivers advised schools he sees no need to hurry into desegregation while (23) At San Antonio and El Paso (24) plans were announced to abolish segregation at least partly, beginning in September. (25) Virginia directed continued operation of segregated schools; (26) Prince Edward Co. may abandon its public schools entirely and is raising a private fund of $212,000 to assure white teachers of salaries. (27) West Virginia closed its school for colored deaf and blind at Institute and merged with formerly all-white Romney school for Deaf and Blind. “Legal Questions Yet Unanswered;” Dr. Arnold Albright, associate direc tor, Southern States Cooperative Program in Educational Administra tion on “Problems Facing School Ad ministrators,” and Dr. Herman Long, director of the Race Relations Insti tute, Fisk University, on “Broad Community Problems Posed by the Court Decision.” All three talks, with question-and- answer periods, were presented only for background information. In his discussion of legal ques tions Paul pointed out that the United States Constitution “nowhere requires states to provide a free edu cation for their children. That’s strict ly up to the individual states.” He said he did not believe abolish ing public schools would be attempt ed, but he listed what he called five “evasion” methods: 1. A wait-and-see policy by local school boards who defer action until forced by a law suit or court order. 2. A free private education system with private schools leased to citi zens’ corporations and tuition grants- in-aid provided. 3. Re-enactment of state segrega tion laws placing schools under the state police power. (Continued On Page 16) once described as the “fragmenta tion” of Southern attitudes and posi tions, now the “atomization” of that pattern. For there were developments within states widely at variance sec tion by section and community by community. TWO CITIES ACT For example, North Carolina had adopted no state policy beyond pupil assignment and enrollment legisla tion provided by the 1955 General Assembly, but two of the larger cities in that state had announced plans looking toward compliance. As SSN went to press, the Texas Board of Education told local school districts (July 4) they must solve their own problems but ordered the distribution of state funds “regard less of whether or not the schools are segregated or non-segregated.” Earlier, in June, El Paso and San Antonio had announced plans to abol ish segregation, at least partly, in Sep tember. A further press-time development: In Norfolk, Va., the city school board announced it approved the principle of integration as laid down by the U. S. Supreme Court. The board said, however, it was powerless to act un til present state law is changed. Nor folk (29.4% Negro) was the first dis trict in Virginia to make such a dec laration. In Virginia the impact of the May 31 decision was felt in Prince Ed ward County when the federal dis trict court at Richmond received a mandate from the U. S. Supreme Court “to take such proceedings and enter such decrees consistent with the opinions of this (Supreme) Court as are necessary and proper to admit to public schools on a racially non- discriminatory basis with all delib erate speed the parties (Prince Ed ward Negro children) to this case.” And in Alabama, in what was called the first test of segregation laws in the South since the May, 1954, de cision, a federal judge in effect or dered opening of the doors of the University of Alabama to any Negro applicant—an apparent “class action.” • At the end of June, then, the South wide pattern appeared to be as fol lows: South Carolina, Louisiana, Missis sippi and Georgia remained firmly in the so-called resistance or “opposi tion” group. Additionally and also as to preponderant state attitudes, Virginia and Alabama seemed to be moving into this group. The so-called “wait and see” states could have been described in part as “wait and see—some more” states. While Tennessee had ordered grad ual desegregation at the college level, there was no general action affecting the lower schools. Florida had adopted an assignment bill. North Carolina awaited the deliberations of a new study commission. Missing from the “wait and see” group for the first time were Texas, Oklahoma, Maryland, Arkansas and Kentucky—either on the basis of state action or local action. Oklahoma, Maryland and Ken tucky were moving toward or into compliance. Delaware’s largest city, Wilmington, was moving further in its desegregation program. Desegre gation was largely accomplished in West Virginia. Desegregation affect ing about 75 per cent of its Negro Summer School —Knox in Nashville Banner pupils had been accomplished in Missouri. • The month saw new or renewed activity by both segregation and de segregation action groups. Citizens Councils were active in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and to some ex tent in Arkansas. A Knights of the White Christians group was organ ized in Louisiana “for the purpose of preserving Christianity, States’ Rights, Segregation and the Tradi tions of the South as well as the Purity of the White Race.” There was some Ku Klux Klan activity in South Carolina. 5,000 AT RALLY Some 5,000 persons attended a White Citizens Council rally at Sel ma, Ala., to hear former Gov. Her man Talmadge of Georgia and Cir cuit Judge Tom P. Brady of Brook- haven, Miss. Talmadge described the Supreme Court decision as “the greatest single blow that ever has been struck against constitutional government.” In Nashville, Term., there was an nounced formation of the Federation for Constitutional Government, which said it intended to restrain education officials from desegregat ing their school systems on grounds of the unconstitutionality of segrega tion without constitutional authority for such action from the state. Or ganizers included Prof. Donald Da vidson of Vanderbilt University and several prominent businessmen. The principal protagonist group, the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People, was active during the month in most states (related in detail in the state reports). (Continued On Page 16) Index State Page Alabama 2 Arkansas 3 Delaware 13 District of Columbia 5 Florida 5 Georgia R Kentucky 8 Louisiana 12 Maryland 10 Mississippi 4 Missouri 16 North Carolina 6 Oklahoma 7 South Carolina 14 Tennessee 9 Texas 12 Virginia 15 West Virginia 8
