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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—August 1955—PAGE 19
St. Louis Superintendent
Cites School ‘Success’
4 Special Report
ST. LOUIS. Mo.
I n the most comprehensive official
report yet given on the first year of
school desegregation in St. Louis,
Supt. of Instruction Philip J. Hickey
this month told the National Educa
tion Association convention in Chi
cago that the transition had been
“outstandingly successful.”
“We believe that the experience
through which the city is now passing
will eventuate in its becoming a more
unified and more democratic com
munity, and in its public school sys
tem’s becoming a more truly efficient
servant of such a community,” Hickey
said.
“We are also thoroughly convinced
that from the economic point of view
the community will receive greater
value for its tax dollar because of the
elimination of unnecessary duplica
tion of facilities, reduction in expenses
of transportation, and elimination of
waste in classrooms at a time when
dassrooms are at a premium.”
Having integrated its junior col
leges and special schools in Septem
ber 1954 and its high school in Febru
ary 1955, the St. Louis system is now
preparing to complete the process in
elementary schools and technical
high schools next September.
BOUNDARIES FIXED
Boundaries for the new elementary
school districts were announced last
Jan. 30, so that parents would have
plenty of time to learn about them.
Main considerations in drawing the
lines were school building capacities,
travel distance and traffic hazards.
I.B.M. cards on the basis of which the
districts were drawn contained no
data as to racial identity of pupils.
As in the case of high schools, pupils
already enrolled in a school but not
resident in its new district will be
granted the option of continuing to
attend that school, provided it is
not overcrowded, or of transferring
to the school in the new district where
they reside.
One highly salutary outcome of
elementary school redistricting,” the
St. Louis superintendent told the
®A, “will be the elimination of the
extremely high pupil-teacher ratio
which prevails in certain heavily
Populated areas in the central part of
the city.
While this problerh will not by any
m eans be eliminated, redistricting
correct glaringly incongruous
■tuations in which pupils living
11 j 3 ^ ew blocks of an underpopu-
ted school travel seven or eight
1 es across the city to a school with
^Uch higher pupil-room ratio.
An immediate result will be to
possible, by the erection of pri-
ory branch schools in areas of con-
on rated population, a greatly im-
°ved pupil-teacher ratio and a
ere equitable distribution of pupils
^een schools.
, In order that desegregation may
unrnediately effective at the begin-
0 f <f k tPle term, before the close
of Ca ?°* l as t semester the principal
How j e l ementar y school officially
the J. parent of each child of
Patt lSCOn l‘ nuance °f the segregated
as of this year and of the
ti v . . 1 ass ignment of his child, effec-
111 September.
PRI -N'CIPAL’S duties
^ Each principal, in cooperation with
es ^acuity, parents and other inter-
With r T' lZens b' s area, was charged
his Sc fT mg anc * wor hing to see that
cholog- , an d community were psy-
®*Wf U y Prepared for integration
Parat; ai ' ^he forms which these pre-
the to °b varied. They are on
system’ sirn P 1 y an extension of the
Pr°g,. * con tinuous human relations
“p. *
talh s u. C *f a ^ s an( l teachers have had
expejj educators who have had
e Le\vh nCe w hh integrated situations
PTav ere j Many joint meetings of
borin g ar l a Mothers Clubs of neigh-
heen heir} 6 an< ^ Negro schools have
k-reej a K ^ ra duation programs cen-
bn> ana ? Ut theme of American-
“C* human relations.
grated panels of white and
Negro high school students have made
addresses at elementary schools and
in the community. Mixed athletic
teams have been established in ad
vance by neighboring white and
Negro schools. Pupils of white and
Negro schools visited each other’s
classes.
“Television programs on various
aspects of integration have been
beamed into faculty meetings
throughout the city over St. Louis’s
educational TV station, KETC. Negro
and white practice teachers from the
integrated college have worked in
elementary schools throughout the
city. Area associations have been
formed in which key leaders of a
given community, both white and
Negro, plan and work together to see
that desegregation takes place on a
high plane.
“Summer playgrounds operated by
the board of education at the major
ity of elementary schools are deseg
regated for the first time this year.
It is expected that some very effective
integration work will be done at
them, as many are at least partially
staffed by students from the college.”
ADVANCE PLANNING
Hickey, speaking for all the school
officials who have carried through
the St. Louis integration program,
attributes its success to careful ad
vance planning such as that now go
ing on for the elementary schools, to
whole-hearted community support
and firm execution.
“St. Louis is what is generally called
a border city,” he pointed out, “with
a total population of about 875,000
of whom 175,000 or 20 per cent are
Negro. Its public school system in
May 1954 enrolled approximately 91,-
000 pupils, of whom 32,000 or 35 per
cent were Negro. About 30,000 chil
dren attend parochial or private
schools. In the public system, there
were in 1954 86 elementary schools,
7 high schools, 1 technical high school,
1 college and a number of special
schools for white students, and 35
elementary, 2 high schools, 1 technical
high school, 1 college and a number
of special schools for Negroes. The
instruction staff included 2,585
teachers, 847 of them Negroes.
“As to mores and traditions with
respect to race, St. Louis was partially
Northern and partially Southern in
pattern. A significant fact, however,
is that while a segregated pattern
prevailed in a number of aspects of
city life, the responsible opinion
forming and leadership organizations
had during the preceding 10 years
become convinced of the need for
changing that pattern, and were
increasingly active and articulate in
implementing that conviction . . .
CONSTITUTION REVISED
“In 1945 the state constitution had
been revised from ‘Separate schools
shall be established for children of
African descent’ to ‘Separate schools
shall be established for children of
African descent unless otherwise pro
vided by law.’
“All changes of this nature had
received the endorsement of both
Protestant and Catholic churches and
of the synagogues, and were the
topics of commendatory editorials in
the local press. They had also been
specific objectives of a number of
social agencies.
“Hence during the preceding 10
years the St. Louis community had
been in the process of rejecting the
principle of segregation and adopting
the principle of integration. The
Supreme Court’s school decision was
consistent with rather than contrary
to the pattern of thought and action
which had characterized the pro
gress of the city for a decade.
“Immediately upon announcement
of the decision, partically all of the
leadership and opinion-forming or
ganizations communicated with the
board of education, urging it to pro
ceed with integration and pledging
their cooperation.”
The schools as well as the com
munity at large were ready, Hickey
declared. Teachers had been work
ing together across racial lines in
creasingly. For many years, courses
SUPT. PHILIP HICKEY
of study have been written and text
books selected by integrated teacher-
principal committees. The citywide
Elementary School Principals Asso
ciation had always included Negroes
in its membership. Since 1948 the Mis
souri State Teachers Association and
its St. Louis subsidiary had operated
on a non-segregated basis. Several
years ago, an Intergroup Education
Association of teachers and principals
was organized to improve the teach
ing of human relations.
INTERGROUP PROGRAM
Hickey attributed great importance
to the development over the past 10
years of a citywide human relations
program conducted on a scientific ba
sis and under expert leadership.
“The project has concentrated on
educating boys and girls to live to
gether cooperatively and with mutual
understanding,” said Hickey. “We
have not offered separate courses in
human relations but have introduced
materials and techniques in the vari
ous areas of learning—art, literature,
science, music, etc. — which would
conduce to the improvement of inter-
proup relations.
“Some co-curricular activities
which proved effective have been
auditorium programs presented at
one high school by pupils of another;
formation of an all-city student coun
cil, meeting monthly to discuss mat
ters of common interest to all teen
agers; an intergroup youth conference
sponsored by the National Conference
of Christians and Jews in cooperation
with public, private and parochial
schools, in which 100 adult leaders
from all walks of life have partici
pated as resource people; interracial
letter writing between schools; and
interracial high school athletic events.
“All of these activities took place
within the framework of Missouri law
and after consultation with the board
of education’s legal staff.
“Perhaps the most valuable aspect
of this work has been helping teachers
acquire skills in assisting pupils to
overcome artificial barriers to the
acceptance of each individual on his
own merits. Hundreds of St. Louis
teachers have attended summer
workshops in intergroup education
at Washington University, St. Louis
University, Harvard, Denver Univer
sity, Northwestern University and
the University of Chicago, many of
them going on scholarships awarded
through the National Conference of
Christians and Jews.”
SPECIAL CONSULTANT
“A full-time consultant in human
relations has devoted a major por
tion of his time and energies to help
ing teachers guide pupils in the art
of cooperative living.”
In view of this extensive prepara
tion, the board of education felt justi
fied in announcing its plan for step-
by-step integration on June 22, 1954,
just one month after the Supreme
Court decision.
“The plan made provisions,” Hickey
said, “for what in our judgment con
stitute three essential elements of any
satisfactory plan for desegregation of
a public school system—complete and
orderly integration of the schools,
minimum disruption of the educa
tional programs of students, and fair
and equitable protection of the in
terests of employes and candidates
(See MISSOURI, Page 20)
Bowles and His NAAWP
Reappear in Delaware
WILMINGTON, Del.
RYANT Bowles, president of the
National Association for the Ad
vancement of White People, was
more than ever in the news during
July in the southern part of Dela
ware.
(1) A jury of nine men and three
women (he called it “a white jury”)
acquitted him of two charges of hav
ing conspired to violate the state’s
school laws.
(2) His resignation as president
and a director of the National Asso
ciation for the Advancement of
White People was rejected by the
board of directors of the association
while a crowd of not less than 400
and not more than 800 gathered out
side his Houston, Del., home and
urged him to stay on.
(3) He is whipping up interest in
what may be a tremendous mass
meeting for Aug. 21 at which he may
launch an intensified anti-desegre
gation campaign in Delaware.
TEST THIS MONTH
The test of the Bowles’ strength
and influence will come on or about
Aug. 15. That is the deadline set by
the Delaware State Board of Educa
tion for all segregated school dis
tricts to submit plans for desegrega
tion or reasons why such plans are
not forthcoming.
Overshadowing the whole situa
tion is the unusual fact the Delaware
General Assembly will be in session
throughout the summer and possibly
through the fall and winter, ready to
take any action.
There still pends in the state sen
ate a bill offered by Sen. Walter J.
Hoey, Democrat, of near Milford, who
is regarded as a close friend of
Bowles. This bill would wipe out the
state board of education and put
Delaware’s school system under the
administration of a single commis
sioner of education.
The state board of education met
on July 15 to accept two new ap
pointees of Gov. J. Caleb Boggs, to
reorganize—and then to tackle the
question of desegregation.
The new members are Vincent A.
Theisen of Wilmington (Republican),
an attorney and formerly chief depu
ty attorney general of Delaware, and
Irvin S. Taylor of Odessa (Demo
crat) , an insurance man.
The board elected a woman pres
ident for the first time in the history
of the department of public instruc
tion. She is Mrs. Edgar W. Buchanan
of Dover.
After considerable discussion, the
board issued the following statement
regarding desegregation (among
those who approved it were board
members from Southern Delaware
where desegregation is very gen
erally opposed in any form.):
“On May 31, 1955, the Supreme
Court of the United States, in an
unanimous opinion, outlined the man
ner in which desegregation should
be accomplished in the states which
prior to that date had segregation
laws in the field of public education.
“The opinion reiterated the funda
mental constitutional principle that
racial discrimination in public edu
cation is unconstitutional. The court
directed that each of these states
‘make prompt and reasonable start’
toward a full compliance with the
court’s ruling.
SINGLE SYSTEMS’
“The state school authorities in
such states and the local boards of
education were directed to establish
single systems of schools in which
all children regardless of color or race
would be instructed.
“While recognizing that additional
time may be necessary to carry out
the court’s ruling in an effective man
ner, the Supreme Court nevertheless
place upon the states and local boards
the burden of establishing that ad
ditional time is necessary in the pub
lic interest and is consistent with
good faith compliance with the court’s
decree at the earliest practicable date.
“The state board of education of
Delaware fully intends to carry out
the mandate of the United States Su
preme Court decision as expeditiously
as possible. It recognizes that com
munities differ from one another in
tradition and attitudes; therefore, the
actual carrying out of the integrative
process may require a longer period
of time in some parts of Delaware
than in others.
“On June 11, Aug. 26 and Sept. 7,
1954, the state board forwarded to
the local school boards of education
or school trustees copies of proposals
relating to the ending of segregation
in their respective districts.
“The local boards were requested
to present to the state board tenta
tive plans for desegregation in their
local districts.
ASKED FOR PLANS
“The time is now at hand when all
local boards shall submit such plans
in order to comply in good faith with
the decree of the Supreme Court
which requires a ‘prompt and reason
able’ start toward full compliance.
The state board, therefore, reiterates
the need for receiving the plans of
the local boards. So that the state
board may be fully informed of such
progress at its August meeting, all
such reports shall be in our hands
by Aug. 15,1955.
“In the spirit of serving as a guide
to the local boards in arriving at a
proposal for ending segregation in
their respective school districts, we
are furnishing data or suggestions.”
The state board of education then
outlined “suggestions to local boards
as a guide to the preparation of a
plan to end segregation in their re
spective school districts”;
“ITEMS TO BE CONSIDERED IN
PLANNING—In the preparation of
a plan the following are essential
data: (a) Total number of children
to be served in the district or districts
involved, (b) Total number of chil
dren who can be housed in the build
ing or buildings available, (c) De
termination of the number of teach
ing positions to be used, (d) Possible
number of pupil applicants to be ex
pected. (e) Attendance rules and re
quirements.
“SUGGESTIONS WHICH MAY BE
CONSIDERED IN PLANNING — It
is suggested that in formulating plans
to end segregation local boards may
desire to consult with a committee
composed of lay and professional
groups in their districts in order that
such groups may contribute to the
planning and may, in turn, become
acquainted with the problems, if any,
involved. The function of this com
mittee would be solely advisory to the
local board of education.
KEEP TEACHERS
“It is the sincere hope of the state
board of education that all teachers
presently employed and who have
had successful experience will be re
tained in whatever pattern of inte
gration that is ultimately developed.
“For the sake of educational con
tinuity and for the sake of maintain
ing an adjustment status of individ
uals, it is strongly suggested that,
where possible, pupils be allowed to
complete the grade grouo in which
they are presently enrolled, e.g., a
student attending elementary school,
grades 1-6, should be allowed to com
plete the six grades in that particular
school situation. The same suggestion
applies to the junior high school and
the senior high school divisions.
“School districts may contain one
or more attendance areas. If more
than one attendance area is contained
in a school district, the following
must be taken into consideration:
“(a) Gerrymandering—It is ob
vious that schools in physical areas
inhabited largely or altogether by
Negroes will be attended mostly or
entirely by Negro children. The
same will be true of certain schools
in white sections. This results from
(See DELAWARE, Page 20)