Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965, October 01, 1955, Image 1
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VOL. 11, NO. 4
Southern School News
Objective
NASHVILLE, TENN.
$2 PER YEAR
OCTOBER 1955
Legal Activity Marks New School Year
Court Roundup
27 Cases On
Dockets As
Year Begins
I F THE SECOND SUMMER since
the Supreme Court’s anti-segre
gation decision was a time when
Southern schoolmen boned up on
their “homework” trying to solve the
knotty problem of biracial education,
attorneys throughout the region have
been no less busy.
In addition to the 17 legal cases
pending prior to the May 31 Supreme
Court pronouncement on the subject
10 new cases have been put in the
legal mill since.
Most of the legal actions were fed
eral district court cases aimed direct
ly at gaining admission for Negro
students to formerly all-white
schools. But in at least one case, in
Georgia, equalization of separate fa
cilities was sought, and in another,
in Arkansas, equalization of teach
ers’ salaries was the issue.
In the state courts, there is a Texas
case in which maintenance of segre
gated schools is sought by means of
the financial lever, while a Louisiana
state court has been called on to
decide if $100,000 of public funds can
be used to finance the legal battle to
keep Negro and white students sep
arate. And in Florida, the state Su
preme Court is preparing to hear a
six-year-old case attacking segrega
tion in the state university’s law
school.
Most of the cases involve efforts to
win entry to primary and secondary
schools. However, in addition to the
Florida case concerning the state’s
institutions of higher learning, simi-
' ar cases are on file in Alabama,
North Carolina, Louisiana and Ten
nessee, and one is anticipated in
Georgia.
A state-by-state exclusive South-
ern School News rundown of the
status of the pending litigations fol
lows:
Alabama—A four-month stay of a
■"junction opening the doors of tl
University of Alabama has bee
fFanted by the Northern Distri
Gourt and upheld by the Fourth Cii
CU K- ^ ourt Appeals, but may 1
subject to a speedy review by tb
• S. Supreme Court. In this, tl
. F school segregation case pendin
p kbama, Authurine J. Lucy an
°F Ann Myers Hudson brougl
S f a ® a * ns *- the Board of Trustee
the University July 3, 1953 “unde
r e Fourteenth Amendment . . . t
caress the deprivation of equ,
secured by the Constitutio
l*e United States.” Court recorc
or f ^ as a ' c ^ ass action on whethe
in a practice of defendam
tj . en ylng Negroes admission at th
diversity of Alabama is unconsti
'utional »
A . * * *
j se nes of legal maneuvers de
whft, trial until June 29, 1955. ;
Wa ” t * me t ^ le requested injunctio:
w S ? ran ted. Motion for a new tri;
3 bled July 11, together with a
Special Offer
Southern School News
received a number of in
quiries concerning reprints of
.1 ° 8 P e cial June article, *‘What
p 6 Court Really Said,” by
hav ^°bert Leflar. We now
D . e a sufficient quantity of re-
g u nts on hand for the use of
» °° boards, PTAs and other
^bese may be obtained
f or n \n SN 31 the rate of 82-25
Paid rn copies > urafled post-
t>es I, , ateS ^ or * ar Ser quanti-
be quoted on request.)
i v lemo . . .
to the Board
Southern School News,
written and edited by a crack
corps of southern newsmen, is
the only regular, complete doc
umentary on what has hap
pened in the region since the
Supreme Court decision on
public school segregation.
It is available to school
boards and other interest
groups at the special bulk
rates of—
$1.50 @ to 5 or more per
sons sent to one address.
$1.75 @ to 5 or more per
sons sent to separate addresses.
Described by Newsweek as
“the talk of educators and
public officials throughout the
South” and pronounced “im
partial” by South magazine,
SSN is an indispensable tool to
the understanding of the pub
lic school issue.
To take advantage of the
special bulk rates, write “Pro
motion Director, Southern
School News, Box 6156, Ack-
len Station, Nashville, Tenn.”
alternate motion for an amendment
in the court’s finding of facts and
conclusion. Both motions were de
nied.
Arkansas—In Civil Action No. 2736,
in the Eastern District court, the case
of James Wise v. the Board of Direc
tors of Gould Special School District
No. 40 of Lincoln County, was begun
Jan. 9,1954 in an effort to secure equal
salaries for Negro and white teachers.
The defendants’ answer has been filed
in this case but hearing has been
postponed until Jan. 15, 1956.
There also is pending in Arkansas’
Western District court a suit in which
Negro patrons of the Bearden District
in Ouachita County are seeking
equalization of educational facilities.
Filed in 1952, this suit included a sup
plementary request that schools in the
Bearden district be operated on an
unsegregated basis, which portion of
the suit has been reactivated since the
Supreme Court decrees of May 17,
1954 and May 31, 1955. Federal Judge
John E. Miller of Fort Smith has
promised to rule in this case in the
October term of court at El Dorado.
Florida—Two state cases are pend
ing here. In one of them, the state
Supreme Court is expected momen
tarily to rehear the suit begun in
1948 by Virgil Hawkins and four
other Negro plantiffs to prevent the
University of Florida from denying
them admission to the law school.
Only the Hawkins case remains ac
tive. The plaintiff claimed in bring
ing the action that equal facilities
were not available to him elsewhere
in the state.
In August of 1950, the state’s high
est tribunal held that while the offer
of the state to grant the plaintiffs
out-of-state scholarships did not sat
isfy the constitutional requirements,
the alternate plan for a law school at
Florida A. & M. guaranteed them
their full rights and met the state’s
obligation to furnish equal educa
tional opportunities.
Hawkins took his case to the U. S.
Supreme Court, contending that seg
regation in education is unlawful
even if facilities offered the two
races are equal, and the U. S. court
sent the case back to the Florida Su
preme Court for final adjudication in
light of its own mandate for desegre
gation.
In the second case, the five chil
dren of Allen Platt are suing the
J^S public schools in southern and border states began classwork with apparent record enrollments for the 1955-
56 year, legal activity over the segregation-desegregation issue increased markedly across the region.
In the first summary of its kind, Southern School News counted at least 27 cases filed or pending in the lower
courts. Ten of these suits had been instituted since the May 31 implementation ruling of the U. S. Supreme Court;
eight in the past month.
The school controversy in some areas appeared to be moving from the school board to the court room.
Meanwhile a preliminary tabulation of attendance figures showed that 134,000 Negro children are now attend
ing mixed schools in eight former segregation states and the District of Columbia.
Of these, nearly 67,000 were rep
resented by the nation’s capital. In
a District registration of about 106,-
000, more than 63 per cent were
Negro children—up two per cent
from last year.
Official and private groups oppos
ing desegregation were increasingly
active during September. Texas
(where some 65 school districts now
admit Negro pupils to former all-
white schools) granted a charter to
the Citizens Council. Many new
councils were organized in South
Carolina. A strong protest movement
appeared to be developing in south
ern Delaware.
As in months past, there were no
mixed classrooms at the public
school level in Georgia, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, North
Carolina, South Carolina and Vir
ginia.
Where petitions were filed in some
of these states, Negroes seeking de
segregation continued to withdraw
their names either voluntarily or
under economic pressure.
At the college level, Negro under
graduates were enrolled for the first
time in previously all-white state-
supported colleges in Arkansas, and
the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill became the first major
university in its area to admit Negro
undergraduates—following a court
ruling (which is being appealed).
A state-by-state summary of ma
jor developments follows:
Alabama
In the first application of the state’s
new “placement” law, a six-year-old
child was refused admission to a
Covington County school. Economic
Lake County school board and Supt.
C. A. Vaughn, Jr., in an effort to re
gain admission to the white school
at Mount Dora from which they were
ejected on grounds that they had Ne
gro blood.
Filed in January on the advice of
Gov. LeRoy Collins, the suit contends
the children are of Cherokee Indian,
and not Negro, ancestry. Dragged out
by a series of legal maneuvers, the
case, which has taken on political
overtones, has not been set for hear
ing. Judge Truman G. Futch now has
pending before him a motion to dis
miss on grounds that he lacks juris
diction in the case.
Georgia—In Civil Action No. 3923
in the Northern District court of
Georgia Mattie Jean and Fannie R.
Aaron are suing the Atlanta Board of
Education, through their mother,
Willie R. Aaron, seeking equal school
facilities for approximately 20,000
Negro children. Filed in Atlanta
Sept. 19, 1950, this case named the
individual board members and the
city superintendent as defendants.
In a second case, Horace T. Ward
filed suit against the Regents of the
University System of Georgia June 23,
1952, seeking admission to the Uni
versity of Georgia Law School for
himself and “for others similarly sit
uated.”
Kentucky—An answer was filed
Sept. 11 in one of the most recent
school segregation cases by attor
neys for the Adair County Board of
Education in response to a suit inau
gurated Sept. 1 in the Eastern Dis
trict Court at Bowling Green. Filed
on behalf of 28 Negro high school
and elementary grade students, the
suit asked that a three-man court
declare unconstitutional a constitu-
(See 27 CASES Page 13)
‘The South’s Liberty Bell’
Charlotte (N.C.) Observer
prisals against signers of petitions
reported from three counties (in all,
13 petitions have been filed in Ala
bama). Preliminary enrollment fig
ures up 20,000, about one-third
Negro.
Arkansas
Hoxie continued in the spotlight,
with White America groups protest
ing integration and the FBI investi
gating certain aspects of the contro
versy. Seven Negro undergraduates
enrolled in previously all-white state
colleges.
Delaware
Opposition to desegregation rising
in south Delaware as the state count
ed 1,230 of 10,500 Negro scholastics
in mixed classes. The legislature
was preparing to deal again with a
controversial $44 million school bond
issue.
District of Columbia
Eighty per cent of 169 public
schools now have mixed classes.
Nocn-o registration increased for
1955-56.
Florida
No desegregation in public schools.
Pupils at two Air Force base schools
(federally-onerated) attending mixed
classes. Additional petitions filed.
Georgia
States Rights Council gaining im
petus on a non-factional, statewide
basis. Atlanta began seven-point
desegregation study, with four peti
tions filed.
Kentucky
“Splinter” integration reDorted in
volving 300 or fewer of 43,361 school-
age Negro children. With Lexington
schools opened to Negroes, only 21 of
estimated 2 632 eligible children ap
plied. Kentucky’s first court action
under way. No anti-desegregation
activity reported in state.
Louisiana
State awaiting court tests of $100,-
000 fund appropriated to fight de
segregation suits and of two of three
legislative acts adopted to preserve
segregation.
Maryland
Four thousand of 92,000 Negro
school children in state believed at
tending mixed classes, with integra
tion in effect in eight of 23 counties
plus Baltimore city:—where 63 Ne
gro teachers are employed in inte
grated schools as against six last year.
Pro-segregation groups reported in
creasingly active.
Mississippi
State’s official Legal Educational
Advisory Committee presented six-
point plan to preserve segregation,
endorsed by 60,000-member Citizens
Council. Among other things, plan
would bar stirring up of litigation
state lawyers who might appear in
and require “screening” of out-of
suits.
Missouri
Estimated 85 per cent of state’s
Negro children attending mixed
classes. Survey shows 135 of 172 high
school districts having Negro enroll
ment in process of desegregation.
North Carolina
Gov. Luther Hodges reports “for
the present” his voluntary segrega
tion program is meeting “over
whelming” acceptance. First Negro
undergraduates admitted to Univer
sity of North Carolina.
Oklahoma
Survey shows 264 schools with
mixed classes. Total of 127 Negro
teachers dismissed to date as result
of statewide policy of desegregation.
South Carolina
Activity of Citizens Councils in
creasing. State government has inte
gration petitions under investigation.
Total school enrollment up about
15,000 to 570,000.
Tennessee
Protests heard as 85 Negro junior
and senior high school pupils enter
federally-supported Oak Ridge
school system. Chattanooga educa
tion comissioner withdraws pro-de-
segregation statement. Integration
suit filed in Nashville, while Negro
PTA in Davidson County, seeking
equal school, says it prefers segrega
tion.
Texas
Federal judge rules Dallas may
continue to operate schools he finds
“separate but equal.” Sixty-five of
1,800 districts desegregated, with
two per cent of Negro scholastics
now eligible to attend Texas schools.
Citizens Council activity increasing.
Virginia
Gov. Thomas B. Stanley to call
special session of legislature (prob
ably in mid-November) to deal with
school issue. Norfolk Negroes denied
admission to all-white school with
school board later turning over
building for all-Negro occupancy.
West Virginia
Raleigh County rescinds desegre
gation order affecting 20,418 white
pupils and 3,040 Negro pupils as state
reports all but 10 of 55 counties hav
ing begun to remove racial distinc
tions in schools. State’s first anti
segregation court case filed in federal
court at Charleston.
Index
State Page
Alabama g
Arkansas 9
Delaware 10
District of Columbia 5
Florida 15
Georgia 13
Kentucky 6
Louisiana n
Maryland 2
Mississippi 4
Missouri 5
North Carolina 16
Oklahoma 7
South Carolina 3
Tennessee 12
Texas 14
Virginia 6
West Virginia 11