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PAGE 16—MARCH 1956—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
N. C. Governor, in Election Bid, Suggests New School Laws
RALEIGH, N. C.
pov. Luther H. Hodges, on Feb. 4
announced he will seek a full,
four-term in his present office and
at the same time gave the first inkling
of the type of school program he will
propose to the state legislature.
So far without opposition, Gov.
Hodges in his announcement repeated
his opposition to mixed schools and
reasserted his belief that the Su
preme Court decision “usurped the
rights of the states and the Congress.”
He said his plan of “voluntary
choice of separate schools is still
working and can continue to work.”
But he said if the policy is challenged,
“we propose to have legislation which
will provide tuition grants or trans
fers along the lines of the Virginia
proposal.”
Gov. Hodges said again, “Our
chief concern is the preservation of
our public schools for our children.”
Later he told a press conference he
plans to submit an interposition reso
lution to the legislature, making it
clear he considered it a resolution of
protest rather than nullification.
PLANS SUIT
William B. Rodman, state attorney
general, announced he planned to
bring a suit against the National As
sociation for the Advancement of
Colored People. (See “Legal Action.”)
Gardner-Webb College, a two-year
Baptist school, refused to admit a
Negro day student following action
by the board of trustees. (See “In the
Colleges.”)
At the same time the University of
Alabama was experiencing riots dur
ing the short stay on the campus of
a Negro coed, three Negroes told the
Associated Press they had encoun
tered no obstacles on the University
of North Carolina campus. (See “In
the Colleges.”)
Attorney General Rodman in an
appeal of the court decision allowing
the three Negroes to enter UNC,
asked the Supreme Court to reverse
its segregation decision (SSN, Feb
ruary). He invited attorneys general
of nine other Southern States to join
him in it. (See “Legal Action.”)
In Wake County Superior Court,
the NAACP filed suit to obtain a
court judgment denying the state’s
authority to require it to register as
a corporation and also as a group
seeking to influence public opinion.
Attorney General Rodman had in
formed the NAACP it was his opin
ion the organization was subject to
two state statutes. One governs “for
eign” corporations (those not domes
ticated in North Carolina) doing
business in the state and requires an
nual reports, plus a registration fee
based on the value of capital stock.
Violators are subject to a $500 fine.
The other law, known as the “Gray
Act” requires the registration of all
organizations which seek to influence
public opinion or legislation with the
Secretary of State. Failure to comply
constitutes a misdemeanor.
WILKINS’ ANSWER
In the suit, Roy Wilkins, executive
secretary of the NAACP, which is in
corporated under the laws of New
York State, contended the state laws
do not apply because the NAACP
does not function in North Carolina
as a corporation and is not “princi
pally engaged in influencing legisla
tion or public opinion.”
Wilkins said branches of the
NAACP in North Carolina are not
incorporated in the state and func
tion independently of the New York
corporation except in name. Branches
are without power to incur any obli
gations on the part of the national
group, he said.
Attorney General Rodman said he
welcomed the suit so the courts may
pass upon it. He said the reason the
NAACP doesn’t want to register in
this state is because it is “raising stu
pendous amounts of money” here and
doesn’t want to reveal the amounts
or their destination.
Rodman in another area invited the
attorneys general of Virginia, South
Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and
Texas “to join with me in asking the
Supreme Court to hear the appeal” of
the UNC case “permitting all of the
states to file briefs and make oral
arguments.”
None of the attorneys general at
the end of February had accepted
Rodman’s invitation, although sev
eral expressed interest. In the main,
they replied they felt they did not
have enough time to participate.
SIX FINED
In Greensboro, the six Negroes
convicted of trespassing for playing
golf on a privately-operated but city-
owned course were each fined $15 and
costs. All appealed to Guilford Su
perior Court.
In High Point, like Greensboro lo
cated in Guilford County, the city
council voted unanimously to open
its Blair Park municipal golf course
to use by Negroes. Nobody appeared
to protest the step.
Attorneys for Montgomery County
Negroes who are seeking an end to
school segregation filed a motion in
Greensboro to establish a three-judge
federal court for trial of the action.
Earlier Federal Judge Johnson Hayes
denied a request for the three-judge
court on grounds the suit’s allegations
then were confined to local officials
in Montgomery county and did not
allege that they were officers of the
state.
Later, however, Judge Hayes per
mitted the Negroes to amend their
complaint and allege Montgomery
officials are also state officials, acting
pursuant to state laws.
The State Advisory Committee on
Education reported to Gov. Hodges it
thought a plan making certain no
child shall be forced to attend an in
tegrated school can be worked out.
But it delayed a long-promised report
outlining the plan.
“North Carolina is in a relatively
enviable position because of the 1955
assignment statute and the Circuit
Court decision in the McDowell
County case requiring the exhaustion
of procedures under that statute with
North Carolina boards and North
Carolina courts before complaining to
the federal court,” the committee
said. It added:
“... As the assignment statute does
‘Hurry! Into the Life Boat
Before It’s Too Late’
—Greensboro Daily News
not need further implementation
now, we will withhold further sug
gestions until they can be made with
more factual information, and, there
fore, more intelligently.”
Sen. James O. Eastland (D-Miss.)
spoke in Charlotte under the spon
sorship of the local chapter of the
pro-segregation “Patriots of North
Carolina, Inc.” There were 400 present
in the 9,000-seat auditorium. Sen.
Eastland was interrupted 38 times by
applause in his hour-long speech.
“The court has responded to a rad
ical pro-Communist political move
ment in this country,” Sen. Eastland
said. He called for an amendment to
the Constitution which would say
that “the court has no power to in
terfere with or place a limitation
upon the power of any state to regu
late health, morals, education, mar
riage and good order within the
state.”
SATTERFIELD OPPOSED
In Person County, Sam Byrd Win
stead said the segregation issue was
“mainly” responsible for his action
in announcing he will oppose Rep.
Byrd I. Satterfield, the legislature’s
most outspoken advocate of segrega
tion, in the May Democratic primary.
Winstead quoted Satterfield’s state
ment that the only way to keep Ne
groes out of the public schools will
be “to battle them at the doors.”
Declaring he favors segregation
himself, Winstead said, “I would
hate to see any fights at the school
house doors. I think this segregation
question can be settled on a more
peaceful basis.”
In a Chapel Hill meeting, members
of the N. C. Press Association passed
a resolution affirming their belief “in
the primary importance of the pres
ervation of the public school system
of our state.” The resolution also
pledged support “to Gov. Hodges in
his determination to maintain” the
public school system.
CHURCH RESOLUTION
At a meeting in Burlington, the
North Carolina Council of Churches
adopted a resolution by a unanimous
vote which said, in part, “Now that
the Supreme Court has spoken, we
urge that the churches as represented
in this Council accept the decision of
the court as the law of the land and
endeavor as fully as possible, in the
spirit of Christ, to realize an inte
grated public school system.”
Judy Genier, a 14-year-old white
girl of Moriah Center, N. Y., chose
to attend a Negro school in Asheville
because, she said, she felt she was
“wasting my life.” The school is a
combination boarding and day school
operated by the Methodist church.
Recently Judy received a letter from
Mamie Eisenhower, wife of the Pres
ident^ which said in part:
“It was gratifying to learn recently
about the wonderful work which you
are doing at Allen High School. You
are much to be admired for your
strength in making the road toward
integration a shorter one, and I want
to commend you for your courage
and foresight in taking your place
where you could accomplish so much
toward making our country a better
place for every citizen.”
Members of the board of trustees
of Gardner-Webb College, a two-year
Baptist institution in Boiling Springs,
decided against admitting any Negro
students. Action was taken in closed
session after a long discussion of a
report from a special committee which
conducted a survey of the problem.
The board said, “Because the pre
ponderant majority of the constit
uency of Gardner-Webb College re
porting their opinion in the survey
conducted by a special committee ap
pointed for the purpose were decid
edly against the admission of Negro
students and because the college can
not operate without their wholeheart
ed support and because the student
body was substantially divided on the
problem, we as a board of trustees
express as our opinion that we are
not ready for the admission of Ne
groes to Gardner-Webb College.”
UNC STUDIED
Reporter Bryan Haislip of the As
sociated Press Raleigh bureau went
to the University of North Carolina
in Chapel Hill to find out how the
first Negro undergraduates at the in
stitution were getting along after one
semester of work. The students are
three boys from Durham, Leroy and
Ralph Frasier and John Lewis Bran
don. They were admitted last Sep
tember on orders of a federal district
court.
“Not even startled expressions”
greet them on the campus, Haislip re
ported. Brandon fives in a dormitory
and the Frasiers plan to quit com
muting and do the same thing next
fall. “Their first semester grades were
about average, a scattering of C’s and
B’s,” Haislip wrote.
NO INCIDENTS
Leroy and Ralph went out for the
freshman swimming team but
dropped out when it became difficult
to meet practice sessions, Haislip
wrote. When all three are in dormi
tory rooms next year, they plan to
take part in extracurricular activities.
“This fall,” reported Haislip, “they
met no unpleasant incidents or diffi
cult adjustments to an all-white
campus.
Said Dean of Students Fred Wea
ver: “There is no special treatment
for them and no special require
ments.” He said they have caused no
student problems. A similar view was
expressed by Graham Rights of
Winston-Salem, president of the stu
dent YMCA, who said he kept in
touch with the Negroes at first in
case any problems arose. “There
simply weren’t any,” he said.
Largest Delaware Area to Complete Desegregation
WILMINGTON, Del.
ilmington — the largest school
district in Delaware and located
in the northern neck of this state that
borders the Mason-Dixon line—will
desegregate its schools completely,
beginning in September.
Wilmington, which has been taking
integration in steps during the past
two school years, has a Negro school
population almost 34 per cent of the
total enrollment.
No one can predict at this time what
influence this all-out step will have
upon the nearby school districts that
have integration on varying scales.
A move has been taken by the Wil
mington chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People that has been inter
preted as another step that perhaps
will lead to one or more law suits
affecting several southern Delaware
school districts, including Milford.
DELAWARE’S ROLE
Most of the attention of the out
spoken integrationists and segrega
tionists in Delaware has been oc
cupied by the events in Alabama and
other southern states.
It is interesting to note—in passing
—that Lincoln’s birthday was marked
by a superficial review, on the part
of some speakers, of the role of Dela
ware in the antebellum days of the
late 1850’s. There are some who think
that Delaware’s position in the cur
rent controversy will not be different
from her status in the 1850’s and
1860’s.
The action of the Wilmington Board
of Education authorizing 100 per cent
desegregation beginning with the
1956-57 school year caused little or
no commotion in the city.
The only expressed objection came
from the NAACP. While the Wil
mington NAACP, through its presi
dent, Wagner Jackson, praised the
Wilmington Board of Education, it
was a qualified praise.
THREE OBJECTIONS
The three objections listed by the
NAACP against the Wilmington
Board of Education resolution, calling
for full integration, were (1) the
absence of any statement about the
faculty assignments in the Wilming
ton schools; (2) the provision urging
students to continue attending their
present schools; (3) the retention of
the so-called “open door” policy un
der which parents can ask for transfer
of their children from one school zone
to another.
Jackson’s statement, in part, was:
“There is no question of our most
sincere approval of the action of the
Wilmington Board of Education. We
are still concerned, however, with
the manner in which the remaining
steps will be taken.
“The retention, for example, of the
old, so-called ‘open door’ policy with
respect to transfers is a case in point.
Those provisions urging the con
tinued attendance of certain pupils in
their present schools is another.
“We note, too, the absence of any
statement regarding the appointment
of all faculty personnel to any school
from a single list of qualified candi
dates.
“Thus, the manner in which these
remaining steps are administered will
determine whether or not—in fact—
all segregation will be abolished in
September. Loose or unconscientious
administration can render any declar
ation of policy ineffective.”
20-YEAR POLICY
Some days later, at a press con
ference, Dr. Ward I. Miller, super
intendent of the Wilmington schools,
explained that the “open door” policy
is 20 years old in Wilmington and that
transfers of pupils are made only if
parents ask for them and if there is
room in the schools the parents want
their children to attend.
He noted that since integration was
started in Wilmington, in the fall of
1954, not more than 50 requests for
transfer of pupils have been made—
including requests from Negro and
white parents.
As for the faculties of the schools,
Miller explained teachers are as
signed to schools after conferences
with the school principals and that
where there are Negro students in
what used to be a white school “it
is our responsibility to put Negro
teachers there; and the reverse is
true.”
STAFF MAKEUP
He added, “The assignment of
teachers to schools will depend upon
the conditions surrounding each case,
such as the wishes of the teachers and
the principals, as well as the degree to
which the student population is inte
grated.”
At present, Wilmington has 74 ad
ministrators, supervisory officials and
special function teachers of which 66
are white and eight are Negro.
There are 17 principals in Wilming-
f°n 12 white and 5 Negro; four vice
principals (3 white and one Negro);
614 teachers—460 white and 154 Ne
groes.
The State Board of Education,
which has asked all school districts
to submit plans for integration or
reasons why they can not integrate at
this time, has now received a request
from Louis L. Redding of Wilmington,
one of the attorneys who brought the
original integration suit in the Chan
cery Court of Delaware and on up
to the Supreme Court.
Redding, counsel for the NAACP
in Delaware, has asked the State
Board of Education to demand im
mediate integration in eight school
districts, including Milford, Laurel.
Seaford and Milton, which are in the
southern part of the state.
He told the board that these dis
tricts have taken no action toward
integration and that the expressed
attitudes of the school officials °
these districts “constitute a negation
of the announced policy” of the Sta
Board of Education.
The board has deferred action on
Redding’s request. Observers inte r "
pret his requests as the basis for wha
might develop into litigation before
the Court of Chancery of Delaware-
LEGAL ACTION
The name of Bryant Bowles, P re ?
dent of the National Association °
the Advancement of White PepP
popped into the news during Fen
ary when his attorneys asked Supe
ior Court Judge Charles L. Ferry
to allow them to withdraw from
$260,000 libel suit filed by
against a Dover, Del., business man-