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PAGE 2—SEPTEMBER 1955—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
West \ irginia Desegregation More Widespread Than in 1954
CHARLESTON, W. Va.
r PHE spectre of court action hung
over West Virginia as school ad
ministrators prepared for the opening
of school Sept. 5, with desegregation
much more widespread than it was
a year ago.
Two court actions appeared likely
in opposite ends of the state, while
mutterings reminiscent of the segre
gation issue of last August were heard
in several other counties.
The Rev. C. Anderson Davis, presi
dent of the Bluefield Chapter of the
National Association for the Ad
vance of Colored People, said the
chapter “definitely” will bring suit
against the Mercer County Board of
Education in an attempt to force inte
gration.
And at Wellsburg, in the Northern
Panhandle, another court action
loomed as lawyers for Richard Wood
ward said they may go to court in
an effort to have the Negro teacher
put back on the payroll, despite his
four years’ absence from the Brooke
County system.
COUNTIES ANNOUNCE PLANS
Meanwhile, several counties which
declined last year to integrate their
white and Negro students, have an
nounced plans leading toward full
integration a few years hence.
Kanawha, most populous county in
the state with 55,500 school enroll
ment, has announced a two-year de
segregation program, with the first
step being taken this fall in the first,
second and seventh grades.
Wyoming Comity’s board of educa
tion announced also this month that
it intends to desegregate on a one-
grade-per-year basi6. First graders
will be integrated this year, second
graders next year, and so on until
completed.
These developments followed a
warning from Willard Brown, Char
leston attorney and legal adviser for
the state NAACP organization, that
six counties must show “positive evi
dence” of integration efforts or legal
action will be forthcoming.
The six counties named were Mer
cer, Greenbrier, Logan, McDowell,
Mingo and Fayette. Summers County
later was added to the list, if officials
there don’t comply with desegrega
tion in the manner the NAACP wants.
By and large, integration has moved
ahead rapidly in the past year.
At the beginning of school last year
four counties desegregated, and two
months later the number was in
creased to 12. Also, 17 had partially
desegregated, 10 had no Negro pupils,
and 16 postponed action.
This year, there are 11 counties
where desegregation hasn’t been
started, and the NAACP is dissatis
fied with developments in only seven.
In moving the integration question
from county school board meetings to
the courts, Brown says the NAACP
has no intention of antagonizing
school officials. But, he adds, “certain
counties have shown obvious hostility
to the (Supreme Court) order.”
In Mercer County, where court ac
tion has been promised by the coun
ty’s NAACP branch, school officials
say they are delaying integration until
they complete a building program
that will be finished next year.
They say partial or complete inte
gration now would have to be dis
turbed next year when the new build
ings are opened and redistricting of
school boundaries is undertaken to
compensate for the space provided in
the new buildings.
In Logan County, removal proceed
ings are being studied against the
president and vice president of the
Logan NAACP branch. The state or
ganization took the matter to the na
tional body after Dr. H. T. Elliott,
president, and Mrs. Mae V. Halsey,
vice president, announced they would
have no part in any legal action
against the Logan County Board of
Education.
This left the implication that Lo
gan will be one of the focal points for
a court battle from the NAACP. Lo
gan County, school authorities say,
still is studying the integration ques
tion.
GREENBRIER GETS PETITION
Another possible touchy spot is
Greenbrier County, which last year
was the scene of the first major out
break against integration in the state.
G. William Dunn III, heading an
NAACP delegation, took a petition to
the board early this month request
ing integration at the opening of the
new term.
Supt. D. D. Harrah said he wasn’t
certain what would be the outcome of
the request. Harrah declared that a
statement of poliey is needed from
State School Supt. W. W. Trent before
the Greenbrier board can feel con
fident its decision will be backed up
should new trouble break out.
Trent replied by referring back to
a statement he made to a meeting of
county superintendents on July 19:
“My advice to those who have not
yet begun desegregation is to begin
with the opening of the fall term. My
advice on June 1,1954 was that coun
ties desegregate as the number of
teachers, the number of buildings,
and other conditions permitted. I re
peat that advice now. Those counties
that delayed, awaiting a further de
cision of the Supreme Court, had that
decision on May 31 of this year.”
The state NAACP, two weeks after
pointing its finger at six non-com-
pliant southern counties, added Sum
mers County to the list where legal
action may be undertaken.
“Summers County officials have
shown no indication of planning a
positive program of integration,” says
state legal officer Brown.
Several of the state’s largest coun
ties, led by Kanawha, are moving
toward full integration with the fall
term.
Kanawha, Raleigh, Cabell, Ohio,
Wyoming and Marion will integrate
gradually over a period of several
years, and Wood this year will com.
plete integration, while Harrison will
complete the program in all but one
high school this year.
The State Department of Education
says it won’t have data on the num-
ber of children to be moved into
integrated schools until after the term
begins. Racial designations have been
removed from department records
and no means of making even an es
timate will be possible until county
superintendents submit reports next
month.
However, despite the absence of
actual data, Supt. Trent made the
comment that “desegregation in West
Virginia has made much more rapid
progress than was expected when the
Supreme Court made its famous de
cision in May 17, 1954.”
The state’s colleges and university,
completely integrated a year ago, are
anticipating this fall a greater move
ment of Negroes and whites toward
colleges near their homes.
In the meantime, a special legis
lative committee is studying ways to
improve college curricula through
possible mergers of former Negro and
white schools.
This survey has been going on for
several weeks, and the final report
won’t be ready for submission to the
committee proper until after the col
leges open for the fall term.
Schools Open
Continued from Page 1
Missouri — School authorities said
80 per cent of all Negro boys and girls
will be in districts which have inte
grated pupils. A few additional dis
tricts have adopted integration plans
during the summer; most districts
which did not act a year ago are con
tinuing segregation. The total number
of districts now integrated is 114. SSN
Correspondent Robert Lasch reported
that the official attitude was “toward
compliance.”
* * *
north Carolina — Gov. Luther H.
Hodges appealed to both races for
“voluntary” segregation in a state
wide radio and television speech. The
speech came under attack from Negro
leaders. At least 14 petitions had been
filed in North Carolina communities
and more were expected. A private
school movement appeared in Wake
County and in Montgomery parents of
Negro children filed a suit against
the county board of education which
was in effect a suit against segrega
tion in any North Carolina public
school. SSN Correspondent Jay Jen
kins reported that the official attitude
was “hardening against” compliance
with the court decisions.
* * *
Oklahoma — Full-scale desegrega
tion was ordered in the Oklahoma
City school system—the state’s largest.
Desegregation to at least some degree
will be in effect this fall in at least
88 school districts out of 1,802. At SSN
deadline 75 junior high and high
school-aged Negroes had signed up at
previously all-white schools in Okla
homa City. The report of SSN Cor
respondent Mary Goddard indicated
that officially Oklahoma was moving
“toward compliance.”
* * *
south Carolina — Resistance to
school desegregation was increasing.
Ten petitions were on record by the
end of the month and economic pres
sure was being applied to Negroes
who signed them. The state’s official
15-man committee studying the seg
regation problem retained a legal staff
of six prominent attorneys to counsel
school authorities and defend them in
court actions. SSN Correspondent W.
D. Workman, Jr., reported the official
attitude “hardening against” the Su
preme Court decisions.
* * *
Tennessee—State Education Com
missioner Quill Cope said he did not
know of a Tennessee school system
planning desegregation this fall.
NAACP leaders said in petitions that
Negro children will be presented for
enrollment in designated white
schools in Knoxville and Nashville.
Knoxville’s city school superintendent
was instructed to “develop a specific
plan of action leading to gradual in
tegration of the public schools.” In
Chattanooga there was some adverse
reaction to the July announcement of
eventual compliance (no time was
specified) with the Supreme Court
decisions. SSN Correspondent James
Elliott reported the state’s official at
titude appeared to be one of “marking
time.”
* * *
Texas—More than 60 Texas school
districts (in the western and south
ern portions of the state) begin the
school year with some degree of inte
gration. San Antonio reversed its
plans and decided to wait a year. A
district judge held at Big Spring that
the state segregation law was invalid
in the light of the Supreme Court de
cisions; state authorities will appeal.
New Citizens Councils were organized
in several localities. SSN Correspond
ent Richard Morehead reported offi
cial state attitude still is for local
boards to go slow on desegregation
but state authorities have not attempt
ed to interfere in districts where in
tegration has been ordered. “During
August, perhaps because of Texas
Citizens Councils, opposition to inte
gration seemed to stiffen on local
level.”
* * *
Virginia—The State Bar Association
condemned (by a vote of 75 to 54)
“the present apparent tendency of the
U. S. Supreme Court... to invade by
judicial decision the constitutionally
reserved powers of the states of the
Union.” Powhatan became the sixth
county to put tight controls on ex
penditure of school funds so that
money for schools can be withdrawn
if the courts order integration. SSN
Correspondent Overton Jones report
ed the official attitude “hardening
against” Supreme Court decisions.
* * *
west Virginia—Court actions, one
of them designed to bring about de
segregation in Mercer County, loomed
as school bells sounded. Kanawha, the
most populous county, announced a
two-year program involving deseg
regation of first, second and seventh
grades this year. Desegregation has
been started in 44 out of 55 counties.
SSN Correspondent Frank Knight re
ported the official attitude was “to
ward compliance.”
Marshall
Continued from Page 1
advice and assistance of the state
conference of NAACP branches in
volved.
Q. What does the NAACP tactical
plan include in the way of: (a) Phys
ical presentation of Negro students at
formerly all-white schools in Sep
tember; (b) Presentation of petitions
to school boards; and (c) Legal action
in all or selected cases where stu
dents are refused admittance or peti
tions denied?
A. (a) Whether or not Negroes will
present their children at formerly
all-white schools this September de
pends solely upon the decision of the
local Negroes involved.
(b) We intend to continue pre
senting petitions to school boards in
every area where there is no action
leading toward desegregation.
(c) Legal action will depend upon
requests by Negro parents involved.
This will be determined on the local
level. We will not come into the pic
ture until we are requested to do so
by the local unit involved.
Q. Is the NAACP going to stick to
the legal arena, or are there plans
also for political or economic influ
ence to be used?
A. There is no doubt that the
NAACP will continue the legal phase
of this program and will urge intelli
gent use of the ballot locally and na
tionally to bring about compliance
with the Constitution of the United
States insofar as the removal of racial
prejudice is concerned.
Q. In the hearing of the Clarendon
County case you said the NAACP le
gal staff was studying the question of
abolition of the public schools, appar
ently with the view of preventing
even this “last resort” from being
used. What do your investigations
show to be: (a) Your chances of suc
cess in such a move; and (b) The
grounds on which abolition of public
schools may be contested?
A. We are convinced that there are
legal avenues open to stop the aboli
tion of public schools in any of the
southern states. For obvious reasons,
we are not willing to discuss details
of this program except when and if a
law suit is necessary.
Q. If a state chooses to abolish its
schools outright rather than desegre
gate and if there is no way of pre
venting this, will the NAACP push
the fight to the extent of forcing this
ultimate act?
A. Threats of abolishing public
schools as well as other threats of
un-American action will not deter
the NAACP in its program.
Q. How is this legal campaign,
which may well grow to vast propor
tions, to be financed?
A. The legal program will be
financed, as in the past, through vol
untary contributions from Americans
throughout the country.
Q. Has the NAACP received any
pledges of legal assistance from white
attorneys in the South?
A. The NAACP has always enjoyed
the legal assistance from white attor
neys in many areas of the deep South,
many of whom worked closely in the
preparation of briefs and arguments
in the Supreme Court cases. These
same lawyers will continue to work
with us.
Q. Is it the policy of the NAACP
to keep up legal pressure to force
desegregation even in areas where
developments tend in that direction?
Specifically, is the situation in Ken
tucky, where petitions have been
filed and threats of legal action made
despite announcements of plans or
policies favoring desegregation, a true
reflection of NAACP policy?
A. Answer to this question involves
matters of general local policy. If the
local people are convinced that the
local school board has taken some
concrete steps toward desegregation
and is working in good faith to de
segregate as rapidly as possible, there
would be no petitions. Petitions are
filed when any of the above condi
tions are not apparent. In such in
stances there might be understand
able errors of judgment. Whenever
these occur, we can always work
them out.
Q. NAACP has announced its op
position to most of the so-called
“gradual” desegregation plans, urging
instead immediate and abrupt
changes in the school pattern. Does
this mean you feel the principle of
the constitutional rights involved is
more important than possible indi
vidual or group benefits some persons
claim will come from gradual deseg
regation or even from continued seg
regation?
A. From a legal standpoint, we be
lieve that whatever is done must be
done in conformity with the decision
of the Supreme Court which ex
cludes any time for consideration of
personal feelings or disagreement
with the principles of law already
established. On the other hand, the
decision requires that local school
boards “make a prompt and reason
able start toward full compliance with
our May 17, 1954 ruling.” After this
is done the burden is on the school
board to stablish that additional time
is necessary in the public interest and
is consistent with good faith compli
ance at the earliest practicable date
This is the law of the land. We in
tend to act strictly within the letter of
this dcision.
There has been an increasing body
of scientific research available in re
cent years which shows conclusively
that desegregation is accomplished
best when done as expeditiously as
possible. These studies also show that
delay and procrastination are used
by the opposition to build up the type
of resentment which makes eventual
desegregation more difficult.
Q. NAACP has said it recognizes
administrative difficulties which can
slow the process of desegregation
What is the longest you are preparei
to wait for these problems to be
solved?
A. We have canvassed our experts
in the field of public school adminis
tration and are assured by them that
there are no administrative details
which could not be worked out in the
space of months at the outset. That is
the reason we intend to continue to
push toward desegregation in most
areas of the South by not later than
September 1956.
* * * *
Noting that various southern states
have taken different tacks in their ef
forts to preserve their segregate 0
school systems, some of them de
signed to force the issue in state ad
ministrative agencies and courts in
stead of in the federal courts, Mar
shall was asked just how the NAAb
plans to meet these efforts in specif
states.
Of the situation in Alabama,
a student assignment law has beer-
passed designed specifically to thro
recourse into administrative chann®
and the state courts, he said,
have completed research on the A
bama plan and are convinced ^
that plan is just as uncons titutio
as previous plans.”
On the question of teacher firing^
some states moving toward deseg
gation, he said: “In Oklahoma
indeed, in Missouri and one °!j _. 0
other southern states where
teachers are being fired, we are ^
ing research preliminary to ^
tion to protect the rig 1 "*"
teachers. This is being
request of the teacher
and their teacher organizations-
On the question of withhol^^
public funds from schools
regation is under attack, Mar^^ t
asserted: “Our research is 0 f
complete to challenge the ng
states like Virginia and South ^
olina to refuse funds for public s
systems operated in accordance
the U. S. Constitution.”
, the
done at
themself-