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PAGE 4—JANUARY 1956—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Special Session of N. C. Legislature
Predicted After Segregation Report
Southern School News
Southern School News Is the official publication of the Southern Education
Reporting Service, an objective, fact-finding agency established by southern
newspaper editors and educators with the aim of providing accurate,
unbiased information to school administrators, public officials and interested
lay citizens on developments in education arising from the U. S. Supreme
Court opinion of May 17, 1954 declaring segregation in the public schools
unconstitutional. SERS is not an advocate, is neither pro-segregation nor
anti-segregation, but simply reports the facts as it finds them, state by state.
Published monthly by Southern Education Reporting Service at 1109 19th
Ave., S., Nashville, Tenn.
Application for second class mailing privilege is pending at Nashville,
Tenn.
OFFICERS
Virginius Dabney Chairman
Thomas R. Waring Vice-Chairman
Don Shoemaker Executive Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Frank Ahlgren, Editor, Memphis Charles S. Johnson, President, Fisk
Commercial Appeal, Memphis, University, Nashville, Tenn.
Tenn. C. A. McKnight, Editor, Charlotte
Gordon Blackwell, Director, Institute Observer, Charlotte, N.C.
for Research in Social Science, Charles Moss, Executive Editor,
University of N.C. Nashville Banner, Nashville, Tenn.
Harvie Branscomb, Chancellor, Van- Don Shoemaker, Exec. Director Sou.
derbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. Education Report,ng Seme.
..... _ , - . , Thomas R. Waring, Editor, Charles-
Virgin,us Dabney, Editor, Richmond +on NewJ & Courier Char | es ton,
Times-Dispatch, Richmond, Va. ^ q
Coleman A. Harwell, Editor, Nash- Henry I. Willett, Superintendent of
ville Tennessean, Nashville, Tenn. Schools, Richmond, Va.
Henry H. Hill, President, George P. B. Young Sr., Publisher, Norfolk
Peabody College, Nashville, Tenn. Journal & Guide, Norfolk, Va.
Patrick McCauley, Assistant to the Executive Director
CORRESPONDENTS
ALABAMA MISSOURI
William H. McDonald, Editorial Robert Lasch, Editorial Writer, St.
Writer, Montgomery Advertiser Louis Post-Dispatch
ARKANSAS
Thomas D. Davis, Asst. City Editor, NORTH CAROLINA
Arkansas Gazette Jay Jenkins, Raleigh Bureau
-r, .,.,. nr Chief, Charlotte Observer
DELAWARE
William P. Frank, Staff Writer, OKLAHOMA
Wilmington News Leonard Jackson, Staff Writer,
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Oklahoma City Oklahoman-Times
Jeanne Rogers, Education Writer, er ., ITU / ~ AD1 -.|, K | A
i n i o t- lj ij SOUTH CAROLINA
Washington Post & Times Herald , . , _
W. D. Workman Jr., Special Cor-
' ^ ... ,. „ ... . ... . respondent, Columbia, S. C.
Bert Collier, Staff Writer, Miami
Herald TENNESSEE
GEORGIA James Elliott, Staff Writer, Nash-
Joseph B. Parham, Editor, The ville Banner
Macon News Wallace Westfeldt, Staff Writer.
KENTUCKY Nashville Tennessean
Weldon James, Editorial Writer,
Louisville Courier-Journal TEXAS
LOUISIANA Richard M. Morehead, Austin Bu-
Leo Adde, Editorial Writer, New reau, Dallas News
Orleans Item v/ioriuiA
MARYLAND « 2 , • , w 'ter
_ , , , —j., . ■ ... ., Overton Jones, Editorial Writer,
Edgar L. Jones, Editorial Writer, , , ,
_ r • c Richmond Times-Dispatch
Baltimore Evening bun
MISSISSIPPI WEST VIRGINIA
Kenneth Toler, Mississippi Bureau, Frank A. Knight, Editor, Charles-
Memphis Commercial-Appeal fon Gazette
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RALEIGH, N. C.
brief report from the Advisory
Committee on Education height
ened speculation that the North Car
olina General Assembly will be
called into special session to deal
with the school segregation prob
lem.
The report from the seven-mem
ber group was submitted to Gov.
Luther H. Hodges, who released it
without any comment except a note
of thanks to the committee for its
“diligent” work. Thomas J. Pearsall
of Rocky Mount is chairman of the
group.
After saying that the committee
deliberations were proceeding “sat
isfactorily,” the report added:
“We believe that in the near fu
ture we can submit a report which
will strengthen the assurance of the
preservation of our public schools,
and yet not require any child of any
race to be forced to attend a mixed
school against his will.”
STATES STUDIED
This part of the report followed a
statement that the committee’s staff,
State Rep. W. W. Taylor Jr. and
Thomas Ellis, had made “detailed
reports” on studies they conducted
of conditions in Georgia, Mississippi,
Louisiana and Virginia.
Pearsall said the report will not be
ready until after the first of the year.
Top officials say the report almost
certainly will require some type of
legislation.
Atty. Gen. William B. Rodman was
among those who speculated that a
special session will be held. “I think
it probably will be held before the
next school term,” he said.
It is expected that the special ses
sion, if one is held, will be in June
or July, 1956. State Democratic pri
maries, the winners of which are as
sured of office, will be held in May
and among the candidates is ex
pected to be Gov. Hodges seeking re-
election. Thus a session before May
is counted unlikely.
A three-judge federal court in
Richmond sent back to North Caro
lina a suit by Negroes seeking to
gain admission to the schools in
McDowell County. The court held
that the Negroes had not exhausted
their remedies in the state courts
and another portion of the decision
was interpreted here as meaning
“class action” is not involved. In
other words, each suit will have to
be tried separately for each pupil.
The state remedy set up by the
1955 General Assembly provides that
local boards have complete authority
over the assignment and enrollment
of pupils. Pupils who appeal from the
decisions of such boards have the
opportunity to go directly into Su
perior Court.
GOLF INCIDENT
In Greensboro, after six Negro men
were arrested and charged with tres
passing when they played golf on Dec.
7 at the Gillespie Park Golf Course,
City Council voted Dec. 19 to cancel
the lease on the course and sell it to
private interests. About half of the
75-acre tract is city land and the re
mainder is owned by the school
board. Council voted also to close the
city-owned Nocho Park (Negro) Golf
Course and convert the land into an
extension of the city dump.
Ernest Edwards, professional at
Gillespie, said the six were denied ad
mission when they attempted to pay
greens fees. He told them club mem
bership is required. The six left their
money at the clubhouse and went out
and played nine holes.
The course now up for sale was
leased from the city by a private
corporation for $1 a year and was
started by the WPA in 1940. It was
completed with a $2,000 city appro
priation in 1950. Also in 1950 the city
completed construction of the Nocho
Park course and leased it to a non
profit corporation composed of Ne
groes. Meanwhile, trial of the six men
on trespass charges was postponed in
Municipal-County Court on motion
of the solicitor, who said he had been
informed the defense had subpoeaned
all city records pertaining to the Gil
lespie course.
In Greensboro, federal Judge
Johnson J. Hayes entered a ruling in
the Montgomery County school case
which may result in a three-judge
federal court hearing of the case.
Earlier, Judge Hayes ruled the case
should be heard by a single judge
because the suit’s allegations were
confined to local officials who were
not undertaking to discharge any
duties for the state, outside of Mont
gomery.
SUIT AMENDED
But on Dec. 16, Judge Hayes per
mitted the Negroes, suing to enter
white schools, to amend the suit by
adding a new section. The addendum
alleges that the county school board
and county school superintendent
are officers of the state of North Car
olina.
The Negroes seek an injunction to
prevent segregation in the county
schools and also a ruling that the
state’s school segregation law is un
constitutional. The latter charge has
focused unusual attention on the
case, considered a key one in North
Carolina. Judge Hayes gave the at
torney for the schools until Jan. 20
to file an answer to the amended
suit.
Gov. Hodges, in a statewide tele
vision and radio “Report to the Peo
ple,” said “prominent colored lead
ers” are among the many North Car
olinians who are supporting what he
called his “voluntary separate school
attendance plan.” He is convinced,
he said, the plan “is the best ap
proach” because it is based on the
belief that “in the interest of keep
ing our public schools” the different
races “of their own free choice, will
attend their own schools.”
Later at a press conference he had
a comment on the Patriots of North
Carolina, Inc., an organization claim
ing upwards of 20,000 members
which has as its objective “to main
tain the purity and culture of the
white race and Anglo-Saxon insti
tutions.”
The governor was asked to com
ment by W. E. Horner, publisher of
the Sanford Herald, who said the
Patriots—in his county, normally a
Democratic stronghold—are headed
by a Republican.
“I think, if properly directed [the
Patriots] can be quite a force for
good in this problem—and I have no
evidence it is not properly directed.
After all, they do have a very strong
organization [the NAACP] with a
well organized campaign on the oth
er side. If moderately handled, it
can render valuable service.” The
governor added he was not in favor
of extremes on either side of the
question.
‘PROCEED WITH PROBLEMS’
In a speech to school superintend
ents in Durham, Hodges said they
should not let the race question de
ter them from proceeding with other
school problems, such as building
and teacher needs.
At the same meeting, U. S. Sen.
Sam J. Ervin said he favored federal
aid to schools. He said the present
national shortage of 182,000 teachers
and 250,000 classrooms cannot be
met “unless the federal government
will release some of its tax sources
for the use of state and local govern
ments.”
Person County Rep. B. I. Satter
field told an audience of 60 persons
in Durham, “The only difference be
tween the NAACP and the governor
and the Advisory Committee is the
NAACP would like to see the schools
fully integrated next fall and the
governor wants it in 15 or 20 years
—or as fast as you can ram it down
the throats of the people of North
Carolina.” Hodges replied, “I have
no desire to comment on irresponsi
ble statements.”
‘NO TIME FOR RIFTS’
In an article in the Raleigh News
and Observer, Chancellor Edward
Kidder Graham of Woman’s College,
University of North Carolina, wrote:
“Now is no time for rifts in the ranks
of education. Perhaps rifts are not
the greatest danger. The greatest
danger is that we shall allow our
selves to drift, unaware that emo
tionalism will take over. . . . What
we need to do more than anything
else in education in North Carolina
at this particular moment in our his
tory is to close ranks, and to pre
sent a united front on the preserva
tion of our public schools. We owe
this to our children . . . We owe it
to our tradition, and we owe it to our
future.”
James P. Sifford, school superin
tendent of Stanly County, received
a petition bearing the names of 24
Negro parents asking that their chil
dren be allowed to attend a white
school. Sifford said the board will
consider the petition at its next reg
ular meeting. Negro signers live in
the New London and Richfield sec
tion. They seek to have children ad
mitted to the all-white New London
schooL
The Halifax County Chapter of
the NAACP asked the county board
of education to integrate the races in
the public schools and set September
of next year as the target date. Hali
fax’s population is 56.51 per cent Ne
gro. The board referred the request
to the county advisory committee.
Afterwards, the Rev. F. L. Bullock,
Negro member of the advisory com
mittee, told the board he thought
“10 to 15 years” will be required to
put desegregation into effect in Hal
ifax.
Negro representatives of the Ra
leigh Citizens Association asked the
Raleigh school board to name a com
mittee made up of a cross-section of
the city’s population for the purpose
of proposing “immediate” steps
toward compliance with the deseg
regation decree. The board took the
request under advisement.
The first Negro student to apply
for admission to a Baptist college
in the state, after the Baptist State
Convention left the question to the
individual college boards of trustees
(Southern School News, December,
1955) was John W. Logan of Route
2, Forest City, who applied for ad
mission to Gardner-Webb Junior
College. Logan said he would not at
tempt “forcible admission” and that
he was applying because the college
was so much nearer than the nearest
Negro college. A committee of trus
tees will recommend what action to
take in February. Meanwhile, the
Trinity Baptist Church, located near
the college, announced it will with
hold financial support from Gardner-
Webb if Logan is admitted. Logan
told college officials he would be a
day student if admitted.
Trustees of Chowan College in
Murfreesboro, a 100-year-old Bap
tist-supported junior college, unan
imously passed a resolution saying
Negroes will not be admitted. The
action came in a resolution which
said, in part, “Chowan College unites
social training and academic devel
opment and these two cannot be
divorced. . . . We believe in and
teach the principles of the Christian
home. Chowan students therefore
must be of the social range to be ac
cepted in the homes of our com
munity.”
STUDENTS FAVOR ‘EQUALITY’
Without a dissenting vote, the Stu
dent Legislature at Woman’s College
adopted a resolution “favoring
equality in admission policies and
use of facilities to all students, re
gardless of race.” Twenty-four stu
dents favored the resolution, none
opposed it, but five abstained from
voting.
Presented by the campus Political
Affairs Committee, the resolution in
its preamble said, “It is believed that
desegregation will and should be ac
complished, and because it is also
believed that the aim of equal op
portunity for all cannot be achieved
under the existing educational sys
tem.”
Subsequently, the faculty mem
bers of Woman’s College by a 95-25
vote adopted a resolution saying
they believe qualified students “of
any race” may be incorporated sat
isfactorily into classrooms of the
consolidated University of North
Carolina. One part of the resolution
said: “We are confident that the uni
versity will continue in its tradition
of giving educational leadership to
the state by showing that the prob
lems associated with desegregation
can be met intelligently and with
good feeling; and to this end, we
pledge our efforts to meeting our
professional responsibilities in order
that the university may better serve
all people of the state.” Philosophy
Professor Warren Ashby presented
the resolution.
The Rev. W. Wilbur Hutchins,
pastor of the First Baptist Church in
Sanford, resigned from the Sanford
Board of Education’s advisory com
mittee on segregation because, n e
said, “It is my personal conviction
that there is little I could do, of *
constructive nature, in continuing
serve as a member of the comm 1 '
tee.” His resignation came one on-
after newspapers reported the or
ganization of a county chapter
Patriots, Inc., ardent pro-segregate
group. The chairman of the advisor?
committee, Ralph Monger Jr. and Vf'
J. H. Byerly, a member, accepted 0
fices in the new chapter.
Besides organizing Patriot
ters in Lee and Alamance county
supporters of the organization an
nounced plans for a statewide me
bership drive.
The N. C. Council of Human Rej^ ,
tions sponsored a meeting “to 13111 '
together representatives of local &
terracial groups for an exchange
ideas and experiences” in the p 1 ,
Point YMCA Dec. 10. Sixty-^
persons heard Thomas A. Van
director of adult education 111 oI1
Baltimore public schools, s P e "^ re -
that city’s experiences in d ese: *
gating its schools. Communities r
resented included Charlotte,
boro, High Point, Raleigh and Cm 1
Hill in North Carolina and Rock
S.C.