Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—August 1955—PAGE 5
Lines Drawn For Test in West \ irginia When Schools Open
4 Special Report
CHARLESTON, W. Va.
T he real test whether integration
will work in West Virginia reaches
its climax a few weeks from now
when, for most counties, whites will
be mixed with colored in school class
rooms regardless of protests on scat
tered fronts.
The lines that are being drawn are
almost those of Civil War days.
Southern counties, for the most part,
are having some difficulty. In the
northern counties integration gener
ally is being accepted without ques
tion.
This fact became self-evident at the
annual conference of county school
superintendents the latter part of July
at Jackson’s Mill in the central part
of the state. There the question of
desegregation was discussed at length.
Delegates reported that northern test
counties have intermixed with satis
factory results. The superintendent of
Greenbrier County, on the Virginia
border, said they tried and failed.
FEARED BLOODSHED
At the time, the story attracted na
tional attention, and now, almost a
year later, Supt. D. D. Harrah says
Greenbrier County rescinded its in
tegration order after reports reached
the board of education indicating
bloodshed might result if Negroes and
white matriculated at the same
schools.
Harrah remains on the “no com
ment” status, waiting to see what hap
pens in other counties, but it is ac
cepted that Greenbrier sooner or later
will adopt integration in all its
schools
Meantime, two other southern
counties are having their troubles.
Mercer, farthest south of all West
Virginia’s 55 counties and with Blue-
field, its county seat, spilling over in
to Virginia, announced on July 8 that
it intended to handle the matter of
mtegrating schools when the current
building program is completed. This
is figured to require 12 to 14 months.
The board of education told a 14-
member delegation of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People that it would work
°ut integration “as soon as practic
al 6 in accordance with the decision”
°f the Supreme Court.
As to the manner and time in-
''“ked in working this out,” the
board’s statement read, “it is the sole
responsibility of this board and not
a matter to be determined by any po-
tical or social group interested pri
vily in any particular race.”
NEGROES UNSATISFIED
Board President L. Fred Snead of
r ®ceton presided at the all-import-
aflt meeting and the statement was
Jaad by W. R. Cooke of Bluefield,
ard secretary and superintendent
01 schools. The NAACP delegation
* a s headed bv the Rev. C. Anderson
“avis of Bluefield.
But that decision didn’t satisfy the
’ e §ro leaders. Soon thereafter And-
1 “ sai d he thought that by Sept.
w the Mercer school board will be
6 u aware that the matter of inte-
cou * S ' n bb> e hands of the federal
but ac ^ ec ^ : “E won’t say more,
you can read between the lines.”
A
Cou E lrotes t also arose in Raleigh
deep in the southern sector
boa A state > where on July 26 the
h°ri tr>°^ e< ^ uca *E° n got plenty of reac-
ivhit ^ p Eans to begin integrating
and Negro children this fall.
^ en delegations of parents show-
» 0 j c B at a regular board meeting to
ijj, 6 bheir objections to plans for
in eight elementary schools
p* 6 county.
arent Cal Lilly, representing the
houj. Scao °l> set the tenor of the
, “^-a-half meeting when he
pi c u “te board: “Why did the board
^ °h u s first?”
^ N ' S TENTATIVE
U]J 0 Raleigh board had given it:
Itle hd I ^° US a PP rova E July 9 to recom-
that t T 0ns °E a special committei
in th 6 schools be integrate!
Ac ( tin § Board President A. P
op j u j f a* Beckley told the parent:
y 26 that the plans to integrafi
were purely tentative. “The board
has not officially adopted integration,
but has tentatively proposed plans
for it,” he said, adding that final board
approval still was necessary.
Leeber also told the delegations
totalling 250 persons that “the board
has a job to do, and has to comply
with the Supreme Court’s decision
and with the law. The board will try
to do the right thing for the best
interest of the colored and white. The
board doesn’t intend to impose hard
ships on your schools.”
In Kanawha County (one of six
counties of heaviest Negro popula
tion), largest in the state with more
than a quarter million population
and home of the capital city of
Charleston, Board Supt. Virgil L.
Flinn nipped a protest before it even
bloomed.
LETTER AND REPLY
Just back from the state superin
tendents’ association meeting, at
which he was elected president, Flinn
read a letter to the editor of the
Charleston Daily Mail from J. A.
Miles:
“I feel it is the duty of parents to
be present at a meeting of the board
on Sept. 7 and protest the mixing of
the two races. The board of education
claims they are obeying the law. How
can this be? I have always been taught
the laws of this country were made
by Congress and Senate of the U. S.
and not by the Supreme Court.”
Flinn replied to the letter by de
claring that plans for integrating
white and Negro students in Kana
wha County will be announced in
August. Saying that it was his opin
ion that segregation must end, Flinn
stated that “all provisions of federal,
state or local law requiring or per
mitting such discrimination must
yield to this principle (Supreme
Court opinion). There remains for
consideration the manner in which
relief is to be accorded.”
He added that the Supreme Court
didn’t order immediate desegregation
but local boards must proceed accord
ing to certain principles including
good faith, prompt and reasonable
start, deliberate speed and equitable
principles.
STRIKE QUESTION
Replying to a question of what
would be done if parents or pupils
strike, Flinn said: “I shall attempt
to the limit of my ability to have en
forced the laws of West Virginia.”
The Kanawha board has three
scheduled meetings in August and
will announce plans and extent of
integration at one of them, Flinn add
ed. Board members and administra
tors hope to have the integration com
pleted by, or during, the 1956-57
school year and expect to get it well
under way this fall.
There seems to be little if any dis
agreement on two points of integra
tion. This is complete desegregation
of transportation of boys and girls
and elimination of marginal schools
Schools other than marginal schools
may be closed this year, but it will
be only in areas where the integration
won’t cause overcrowding.
While these flurries were going on
in the southern sector all went well
in the northern area of the state.
An example of this was the descrip
tion of Rex M. Smith, superintendent
of Monongalia County schools, who
told his fellow superintendents at
Jackson’s Mill how smoothly his
county inaugurated integration last
fall. Except for a few playground
“displays,” he said, the program was
completed without incident.
The merger of the races in Monon
galia schools was made easier by a
series of meetings between white and
Negro leaders, Smith said, where
problems on both sides of the issue
were outlined. He cautioned against
mass meetings, and also warned
against backtracking once integration
was decreed.
Nine of the 13 Negro teachers were
given jobs. The other four had only
emergency certificates and didn’t
seek reappointment. Three of the four
Negro schools in the county were
used as integrated schools and the
fourth will be turned into a junior
high school this fall.
STUDENTS ACCEPT
Students accepted integration well,
he said. One boy took his place on
the Morgantown (home of the state
university) high school football
squad, and at school dances the Negro
pupils danced only with one another
but sat at the tables with white pu
pils.
In the future, Smith said, Negro
teachers will not be the target of dis
crimination when teaching assign
ments and jobs are given out, but the
white-Negro population ratio will be
maintained on the countywide staff.
Harrah, the Greenbrier superin
tendent, at the same meeting, told the
two-score school heads: “We’ve had
our experience. We’re now going to
sit tight and watch yours.”
Robert Smith, Hancock County su
perintendent, declared, “I would
rather lead than be pushed.” He ex
plained this thesis thus:
“A court order fomented by radi
cal elements who seek integration
will cause white groups to balk.”
Hancock County’s seat is Weirton,
big steel center on the tip of the
northern panhandle of the state, and
Smith observed that Negroes in his
county want integration as soon as
possible, but Olin C. Nutter, superin
tendent of Cabell County schools
across the river from Kentucky, said
they hold the opposite viewpoint in
his county.
Another opinion expressed was
that of Wyoming County Supt. Jeff
Morgan, who said, “There are pos
sibly twice as many counties coping
with the problem in a positive manner
this year as they were last year.”
A spot check by the Charleston
Gazette disclosed that integration
will be pushed this fall in the large
upstate counties of Wood, Marion
and Harrison. Among those marking
time in the southern part of the state
are Fayette, McDowell and Mingo.
Integration was completed last
fall in Raldolph, Taylor and Upshur,
as well as Monongalia, all of which
have small Negro populations.
Louisiana Gets $100,000 to Fight
NEW ORLEANS, La.
ouisiana’s integration - segregation
activity today still centered
around a controversial grant of
$100,000 to the state attorney gen
eral’s office to hire attorneys to fight
integration suits on local levels.
The grant was made by the Board
of Liquidation of the State Debt, a
constitutionally-created body which
makes emergency fiscal appropria
tions when the Legislature is not in
session.
Under Louisiana’s constitution, the
board of liquidation can disperse up
to $1 million each year, with no spe
cific department or board to receive
more than $100,000.
State Sen. W. M. Rainach of Sum-
merfield, chairman of the Joint Seg
regation Committee of the legislature,
requested the $100,000 for the at
torney general’s office, following a
closed meeting attended by Gov.
Robert Kennon, Atty. Gen. Fred S.
LeBlanc, State Supt. of Education
Shelby M. Jackson and representa
tives of the Louisiana School Super
intendents Association.
Out of that closed meeting came
a decision that the state is responsible
for defending a policy of school seg
regation.
GRANT MADE JULY 7
At the time of that closed meeting,
Sen. Rainach said that the money
would be used to hire “the best legal
brains in the state” to fight integra
tion suits. Since the grant was made
July 7 there has been no comment
from segregation leaders.
However, the Baton Rouge News
Leader, a Negro weekly, in an edi
torial has attacked the action. The
weekly questioned whether the tax
payers’ money could be used “to fight
a ruling of the Supreme Court of the
land ... Taxpayers would be within
their jurisdiction if they sought an
injunction against the state board of
liquidation...”
The editorial also suggested that if
the money is actually turned over to
the segregation committee, the Na
tional Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People should pe
tition the board for a like amount.
Meanwhile, the NAACP, through
its field secretary in Louisiana, Clar
ence A. Laws of New Orleans, has
said it will match “dollar for dollar”
state funds appropriated to fight
school desegregation. In a public
statement, Laws said:
“We of the NAACP in Louisiana
believe that the $100,000 granted by
the board of liquidation to aid parish
(county) school districts in defying
the Supreme Court decision to de
segregate public schools is as un
constitutional as it is unmoral.
“The NAACP plans to test to the
limit the legality of this nefarious
grant.
“We will match dollar for every
dollar misappropriated and misused
by the opponents of freedom and op
portunity to win implementation of
integration in public schools.
“And our cause will ultimately win
because it is the legal and righteous
cause.”
However, local integration leaders
have let it be known that they are
considering no “immediate” action
in the courts.
The granting of the $100,000 has
also come under the attack of one
state senator—Smith Guthrie of Pon-
chatoula, a small town on the out
skirts of Baton Rouge.
Guthrie, one of the oldest members
of the State Senate—both in years
and in length of service, has an
nounced he is opposed to the appro
priation because it is “excessive and
wasteful.”
Sen. Guthrie added that he felt
that the state attorney general’s office
has a staff of “good lawyers.” He
continued: “It is simple and childish
for us to attempt to circumvent the
constitution of the United States in
our local courts, be they state or
federal courts.”
LEGAL ACTION
Two cases are pending in federal
courts asking the abolishment of
segregation.
One deals with Orleans Parish,
which is coincidental with the limits
of the City of New Orlenas.
The other deals with St. Helena
Parish (county) a rural area in mid-
Louisiana with a heavy Negro popu
lation. Both cases have been pending
since September, 1952.
In both cases, petitioners request
the courts to restrain the school
boards of both parishes from “main
taining a policy of discrimination
against Negro children.” Both are
awaiting responsive pleadings, with
Aug. 15 set for the St. Helena case
and Sept. 1 for the Orleans case.
Three organizations formed to
combat integration of public schools
have been in the news.
One, the Knights of the White
Christians, has been threatened by
the City of New Orleans with prose
cution because it failed to get a city
permit to solicit funds for the group.
Asst. City Atty. Raoul Sere has said
that the group—organized to “pro
tect and preserve segregation”—will
be prosecuted if it can be shown that
it has collected any fluids as a result
of an advertisement which appeared
in New Orleans newspapers.
HELD VIOLATION
City Revenue Collector Lee G.
Lowe has notified Alvin A. Cobb,
named as sponsor of the organization,
that the advertisement violates a city
ordinance requiring a city permit to
solicit funds for charitable or civic
purposes. Lowe cited an advertise
ment in which it was stated: “Knights
of the White Christians need the help
of all loyal Southern white Chris
tians to protect and preserve segre
gation, states rights and traditions of
the South.”
Lowe, in a letter to Cobb, said the
organization was requesting contri
butions of $3 from women and $5
from men .
Penalty for violation of the city
ordinance, he said, is a $100 maxi
mum fine or 90 days in jail, or both.
Meanwhile, the Southern Gentle
men, a similar organization with
headquarters in Baton Rouge, has
established a chapter in Walker, La.,
a small town to the east of Baton
Rouge.
THIRD ORGANIZATION
A third organization, the Society
for the Preservation of State Gov
ernment and Racial Integrity, has
sent out membership forms through
out the state. Listed as president is
Harry P. Gamble of New Orleans
with the Rev. Louis A. Parker, vice
president, and R. Kirk Moyer, sec
retary-treasurer.
Listings for honorary vice presi
dents include J. Stewart Slack, for
mer chairman of the board, Louisiana
State University board of supervi-
Integration
sors; Clarence A. Ives, dean emeritus,
LSU, and James Robert, dean emeri
tus, Tulane University.
Louisiana State University had its
first apparent taste of violence since
integration on the graduate level was
begun in 1950.
Two Negro graduate students were
hit with a blast of bird shot from a
shotgun as they walked across the
campus the night of July 19. They
were identified as Herbert Anderson,
25, of St. Francisville, La., and Louis
Hadnot, 30, of New Iberia, La.
Both received treatment at Baton
Rouge General Hospital where their
condition was reported “not serious.”
University authorities have said
they do not believe the case was
racially inspired since because of the
darkness it was almost impossible to
see if the students were Negroes.
A total of four petitions have been
filed around Louisiana asking for
integration of public schools.
Two have been filed in New Or
leans, one with 17 names and one
with 60. Both were filed June 20.
A third petition was filed in La
fayette, requesting an end to segre
gation from the first grade through
high school.
The fourth was filed in Baton
Rouge by the NAACP chapter in
that city.
No action has been taken in any
instance.
The segregation issue has already
reached the gubernatorial race, still
some six months away.
Lt. Gov. C. E. “Cap” Barham of
Ruston said in a speech at Ville Platte
July 4 that he was flatly “opposed”
to integration of the public schools.
New Orleans Mayor deLesseps S.
Morrison—an unannounced candi
date at this time—told a group of
political leaders in up-state DeSoto
Parish (county) that he did not be
lieve the state’s people wanted inte
gration at this time.