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PAGE 8—AUGUST 1956—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Two Missouri Senatorial Candidates
Vie for Support As Integrationists
ST. LOUIS, Mo.
JJace relations entered a Missouri
political campaign for the first time
since the Supreme Court school de
cision this month when both leading
candidates for the Republican nomina
tion for U. S. senator bid for the Negro
vote with speeches in St. Louis.
Herbert Douglas of Neosho, a lawyer
who practices in Newton County, in
southwest Missouri, where George
Washington Carver was bom, pledged
himself, if elected, to combat racial dis
crimination and to work for improve
ment of economic opportunities for Ne
groes.
Carver’s life, he said, “shows to the
American people that if the Negro is
only given the chance and the tools to
work with, he can contribute greatly to
the American way of life. President
Eisenhower has appointed many Ne
groes to federal offices in which they are
demonstrating their ability.”
DESEGREGATION CITED
The candidate praised the Eisenhow
er administration for ending segrega
tion in the armed forces, in veterans’
hospitals and in Washington public
places. He also pointed with pride to
what he described as the beginning of
desegregation in public schools and a
gradual diminution of discrimination in
federal and private employment.
Douglas comes from a community
which was for a brief time the Con
federate capital of Missouri during the
Civil War. Neosho was one of the first
communities in the state to end segre
gation after the Supreme Court decision.
Both elementary and high schools were
integrated in September, 1954, absorb
ing 23 Negroes in the 12 grades. No in
cidents and no community opposition
were reported.
Shortly after Douglas’s speech his
principal competitor for the senatorial
nomination, Albert Schoenbeck of St.
Louis, made a similar speech in which
he pointed out that the Supreme Court’s
decision against school segregation had
been handed down by a chief justice
appointed by a Republican administra
tion. This claim drew a sharp rebuke
from Democratic leaders who likened it
to Vice President Nixon’s remarks about
a Republican-led Supreme Court, and
charged Schoenbeck with dragging the
court into partisan politics.
WINNER FACES HENNINGS
Whoever wins the Republican nomi
nation in the primary Aug. 7 will face
Sen. Thomas C. Hennings Jr. in the
November election. Hennings has no
opposition in the primary. Hennings was
one of the leaders of the unsuccessful
fight to bring civil rights legislation to
the Senate floor in the closing days of
the congressional session. In 1953 he
was one of the little band of northern
Democrats who voted, over Republican
and southern Democratic opposition,
for an anti-filibuster rule designed to
open the door for consideration of civil
rights bills.
Meanwhile many communities in Mis
souri are getting ready for their third
year of integrated schools, many others
for their second year, and some for their
first year.
Southern School News presents be
low a detailed picture of integration and
segregation in Missouri school districts
having Negro enrollments at the end of
the second academic year since the Su
preme Court decision. As previously re
ported, 114 out of 244 districts with Ne
gro enrollments have ended segregation
in whole or in part. These districts ac
count for some 58,000 of the 67,000 Negro
students in the state. Most of them are
concentrated in the large city systems
of St. Louis and Kansas City.
Of the 9,000 Negroes remaining in
segregated systems, about 1,000 are in
high schools and 8,000 in elementary
schools. Most of them are concentrated
in the “bootheel” counties of southeast
Missouri, along the Mississippi river.
Following are the districts and their
status at the end of academic year 1955-
56, together with the date of integra
tion where'it has taken place, and the
enrollments where available.
DESEGREGATED
ADAIR COUNTY: Kirksville elemen
tary (7 Negroes, 1,499 whites) and high
school, both 1954.
AUDRAIN COUNTY: Vandalia high
school, 1954. Mexico high school (80 N,
557 W), 1954; junior high, 1955.
BATES COUNTY: Butler high school,
1954; elementary (17 N, 540 W), 1955.
BOONE COUNTY: Centralia high
school, 1954; elementary (24 N, 430 W),
1955. Columbia high school (118 N, 866
W), 1954; elementary (374 N, 2,033 W),
1954. Ashland high school and element
ary, 1954. Sturgeon high school, 1954.
BUCHANAN COUNTY: St. Joseph
high school (133 N, 2,412 W), 1954; ele
mentary, (250 N, 7,214 W), also 1954.
CALLAWAY COUNTY: Fulton high
tidiool 1QM
CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY: Cape
Girardeau high school (45 N, 811 W),
1954.
CARROLL COUNTY: Carrollton high
school, 1954; elementary (30 N, 787 W),
1955. Norbome high school, 1954.
CASS COUNTY: Harrisonville high
school, 1954; elementary (13 N, 366 W),
also 1954. Pleasant Hill high school,
1954; elementary (5 N, 480 W), 1955.
CLAY COUNTY: Excelsior Springs
high school, 1954. Liberty high school,
1954.
CLINTON COUNTY: Lathrop high
school, 1954. Plattsburg high school, 1954.
Cameron elementary (4 N, 626 W), 1955.
COLE COUNTY: Jefferson City high
or»l 1Q ^4
COOPER COUNTY: Pilot Grove high
school, 1954. Boonville high school (51
N 305 W1 1955
DADE COUNTY: Greenfield high
school (5 N, 185 W), 1955; elementary
(8 N, 500 W), also 1955.
DAVIESS COUNTY: Gallatin high
cpVi rwi1 1Q
DUNKLIN COUNTY: Kennett high
school (18 N, 331 W), 1954. Malden high
school, 1954.
FRANKLIN COUNTY: New Haven
high school, 1954. Washington high
school, 1954; elementary (21 N, 375 W),
1955. Union elementary (8 N, 616 W),
1955.
GREENE COUNTY: Springfield high
school (46 N, 2,016 W), 1954; junior high
(74 N, 2,832 W), also 1954; elementary
(196 N, 7,380 W), also 1954.
GRUNDY COUNTY: Trenton high
school, 1954; elementary, also 1954.
HENRY COUNTY: Clinton high
school, 1954. Windsor elementary (8 N,
39? W1 1955
HOWARD COUNTY: Fayette high
school (15 N, 165 W), 1955.
HOWELL COUNTY: West Plains high
school, 1954; elementary (8 N, 831 W),
1955.
JACKSON COUNTY: Independence
high school, 1954. Kansas City high
schools and elementary (12,000 N, 52,000
W), 1955.
JASPER COUNTY: Carthage high
school, 1954; elementary (35 N, 1,510
W), 1954.
JEFFERSON COUNTY: De Soto high
school, 1954. Festus high school (65 N,
450 W), 1955.
JOHNSON COUNTY: Holden high
school, 1954. Knob Noster elementary
(15 N, 339 W), 1955. Warrensburg ele
mentary (49 N, 742 W), 1955.
KNOX COUNTY: Edina elementary,
1954.
LACLEDE COUNTY: Lebanon high
school (8 N, 721 W), 1954.
LAFAYETTE COUNTY: Higginsville
elementary (46 N, 409 W), 1955. Lex
ington high school (95 N, 485 W), 1955.
Mayview elementary (17 N, 144 W),
1955.
LAWRENCE COUNTY: Mt. Vernon
elementary (1 N, 368 W), 1954
LEWIS COUNTY: Canton high school,
1954; elementary (15 N, 358 W), 1955.
LaGrange high school, 1954; elementary
(48 N, 308 W), 1955. Lemo elementary,
1954.
LINN COUNTY: Brookfield high
school, 1954. Laclede high school, 1954.
Marcelline high school, 1954; elementary
(17 N, 545 W), 1955.
LIVINGSTON COUNTY: Chillicothe
high school (12 N, 497 W), 1954; ele
mentary (33 N, 1,089 W), 1955.
MACON COUNTY: Bevier high
school, 1954; elementary, also 1954.
Macon high school, 1954.
MADISON COUNTY: Fredericktown
high school, 1954
MARION COUNTY: Palmyra high
school, 1954. Hannibal high school (97
N, 837 W), 1955.
MISSISSIPPI COUNTY: Charleston
high school (112 N, 326 W), 1955.
MONITEAU COUNTY: California
high school, 1954; elementary (7 N, 499
W), 1955. Jamestown high school, 1954.
Tipton high school, 1954.
MONROE COUNTY: Paris high
school, 1954 Madison high school, 1954;
elementary, also 1954
MONTGOMERY COUNTY: Mont
gomery City high school, 1954; element
ary (52 N, 253 W), 1955. Wellsville high
school, 1954; elementary (14 N, 308 W),
1955. Jonesburg elementary, 1954.
MORGAN COUNTY: Versailles high
school, 1954; elementary (20 N, 661 W),
1955.
NEWTON COUNTY: Neosho high
school and elementary, 1954.
NODAWAY COUNTY: Pickering high
school and elementary, 1954.
PERRY COUNTY: Altenburg ele
mentary, 1954.
PETTIS COUNTY: Sedalia high school
(129 N, 843 W), 1954.
PHELPS COUNTY: Rolla high school
and elementary, 1954.
PIKE COUNTY: Clarksville high
school and elementary, 1954. Louisiana
high school (39 N, 208 W), 1955.
RANDOLPH COUNTY: Moberly high
school (48 N, 430 W), 1955; elementary
(99 N, 1,215 W), also 1955.
RAY COUNTY: Hardin high school
and elementary, 1955.
ST. CHARLES COUNTY: St. Charles
high school (84 N, 645 W), 1955; ele
mentary (54 N, 1,036 W), 1954.
ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY: Bonne
Terre elementary (9 N, 598 W), 1955;
high school, 1954. Farmington high
school, 1954; elementary (18 N, 757 W),
1954.
STE. GENEVIEVE COUNTY: Ste.
Genevieve high school, 1954; elementary
(7 N, 353 W), 1955. St. Mary’s high
school, 1954.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY: Berkeley high
school and elementary, 1954. Brentwood
high school, 1954. Clayton high school
and elementary, 1954. Ferguson high
school, 1954; elementary (101 N, 2,729
W), also 1954. Kirkwood high school (48
N, 1,157 W), 1955; elementary (345 N,
3,654 W), 1954. Ladue high school and
elementary, 1955. Maplewood-Richmond
Heights elementary (49 N, 425 W), 1955.
Maryland Heights high school, 1954;
elementary (49 N, 425 W), 1955. Nor
mandy high school and elementary, 1954.
Ritenour elementary (222 N, 5,350 W),
1955; high school, also 1955. Riverview
Gardens high school, 1954; elementary
(14 N, 2,415 W), 1955. Wellston high
school, 1954; elementary (107 N, 848
W), also 1954.
SALINE COUNTY: Marshall high
school (14 N, 443 W), 1954. Slater high
school, 1954.
SCOTT COUNTY: Benton high school,
1954. Sikeston high school (54 N, 606
W), 1954.
SHELBY COUNTY: Clarence high
school, 1954. Shelbina high school, 1954;
elementary (9 N, 345 W), 1955. Hunne-
well high school, 1954.
STODDARD COUNTY: Bell City high
school, 1954.
CITY OF ST. LOUIS: high schools
February, 1955, elementary September,
1955; 32,000 N, 58,000 W.
Mississippi
(Continued from Page 7)
get the credit for retarding more chil
dren than any man living.”
Addressing his Mound Bayou audi
ence, Dr. White said “the Negroes of
the South should have intestinal forti
tude enough to rise up against those who
are not sincere in their leadership dur
ing this troubled age.
RAPS POWELL RIDER
“We should think straight and refuse
to allow our youth to lose the oppor
tunity of education,” he said. “Did you
know that Congressman Powell’s
amendment to the school bill deprived
113,000 teachers of classrooms in the
South—against approximately 3,000 Ne
gro teachers in non-segregated areas
above the Mason-Dixon line?
“For honor and votes, our Negro boys
and girls have been deprived of the op
portunity of a fair chance in education
because desegregation has failed to take
its turn; knowingly, that all we have
left is a chance to educate the oncoming
generations.
“. . . I don’t believe you are going to
throw away your churches, schools, hos
pitals, businesses, insurances, newspa
pers, refuse to sing ‘Nobody Knows de
Trouble five Seen, Nobody Knows but
Jesus,’ just to sit, eat and ride with a
white person,” Dr. White said in his
address.
SCHOOL BOARDS
AND SCHOOLMEN
Preliminary plans for DeSoto County’s
first public high school for Negroes have
been approved by the Mississippi Edu
cational Finance Commission in charge
of the new Negro-white equalization
program. They call for expenditure of
$360,000 in state funds, plus local monies,
for an 18-classroom facility to care for
an enrollment of 850 students. A cafe
teria, combination auditorium-gym
nasium and home economics rooms are
additional facilities in the program
ming.
Other Negro schools approved by the
state commission include an elementary
STILL SEGREGATED
AUDRAIN COUNTY: Laddonia ele
mentary (17 N, 360 W). Vandalia ele
mentary (48 N, 400 W). Mexico elemen
tary (233 N, 1,549 W).
BUTLER COUNTY: Neelyville ele
mentary (114 N, 275 W). Poplar Bluff
high school (140 N, 934 W); and ele
mentary (165 N, 2,241 W).
CALLAWAY COUNTY: Auxvasse
elementary (22 N, 179 W). Fulton ele
mentary (163 N, 877 W).
CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY: Oak
Ridge elementary (16 N, 137 W).
CARROLL COUNTY: Norbome ele
mentary (8 N, 286 W).
CHARITON COUNTY: Brunswick
elementary (55 N, 325 W). Keytesville
elementary (69 N, 284 W). Mendon ele
mentary (12 N, 350 W). Salisbury ele
mentary (39 N, 308 W).
CLAY COUNTY: Liberty elementary
(87 N, 883 W).
CLINTON COUNTY: Plattsburg ele
mentary (46 N, 533 W).
COLE COUNTY: Jefferson City ele
mentary (182 N, 2,193 W).
COOPER COUNTY: Pilot Grove ele
mentary (8 N, 133 W). Boonville' ele
mentary (104 N, 627 W).
DAVIESS COUNTY: Gallatin ele
mentary (10 N, 377 W).
DUNKLIN COUNTY: Kennett ele
mentary (167 N, 1,472 W). Malden ele
mentary (40 N, 1,022 W).
FRANKLIN COUNTY: Pacific ele
mentary (22 N, 409 W).
HENRY COUNTY: Clinton elemen
tary (22 N, 890 W).
HOWARD COUNTY: Armstrong ele
mentary (19 N, 56 W); Fayette junior
high and elementary (105 N, 277 W).
Glasgow elementary (102 N, 153 W).
IRON COUNTY: Ironton elementary
(11 N, 370 W).
JACKSON COUNTY: Independence
elementary (114 N, 3,952 W).
JEFFERSON COUNTY: DeSoto ele
mentary (28 N, 815 W). Crystal City
elementary (58 N, 341 W). Festus ele
mentary (68 N, 806 W).
JOHNSON COUNTY: Holden elemen
tary (11 N, 422 W).
LACLEDE COUNTY: Lebanon ele
mentary (27 N, 1,261 W).
LAFAYETTE COUNTY: Lexington
elementary (55 N, 465 W). Odessa ele
mentary (12 N, 566 W).
LEWIS COUNTY: LaBelle Elemen
tary.
LINCOLN COUNTY: Troy elemen
tary (45 N, 700 W).
LINN COUNTY: Brookfield elemen
tary (20 N, 759 W).
MACON COUNTY: Macon elemen
tary (31 N, 407 W).
MADISON COUNTY: Fredericktown
elementary (13 N, 745 W).
MARION COUNTY: Palmyra ele
mentary (28 N, 270 W). Hannibal ele
mentary (180 N, 2,365 W).
MISSISSIPPI COUNTY: Charleston
elementary (399 N, 841 W).
school in Warren County to cost $64,237;
a high school at Vaiden in Carroll Coun
ty, to cost $159,000; and an elementary
school at Hattiesburg in Forrest County.
Gov. Coleman, who favors Mississippi
remaining in the Democratic party and
seeking solution of its troubles within
that framework, will control the state
delegation to the Democratic national
convention which convenes in Chicago
Aug. 13.
He won that control at the July 16
convention in Jackson, and also defeated
an effort to set Aug. 29 for an “after
Chicago” state meeting to take stock of
what was done by the national party.
The governor won adoption of a com
promise proposal calling for reconven
ing of the convention on petition of 20
per cent of the 280 convention votes, or
on call of a majority of the 18-member
state executive committee.
As chairman of the delegation, Gov.
Coleman will be the state’s representa
tive on the national convention plat
form committee which meets in Chicago
Aug. 6. The woman member will be Mrs.
Matthew Harper, receptionist at the ex
ecutive mansion and wife of an assist
ant attorney general.
ACCEPTABLE PLATFORM
Gov. Coleman feels that the platform
on civil rights will be acceptable to the
South. He does not believe party lead
ers will “drive the South from the party
by a platform it cannot accept”
“The action of the voters in a mod
erate state like North Carolina in de
feating two members of Congress be
cause of their refusal to sign the South
ern Manifesto should be notice to the
nation and to certain figures in the
Democratic party that the South has
no intention of submitting to an un
constitutional Supreme Court decision
[on school integration],” Gov. Coleman
MONITEAU COUNTY: Tipton ele
mentary (16 N, 323 W).
MONROE COUNTY: Paris elemen
tary (31 N, 200 W). Monroe City ele
mentary (74 N, 283 W).
NEW MADRID COUNTY: Canalou
elementary (78 N, 257 W). Kewanee ele
mentary (148 N, 160 W). Lilboum ele
mentary (366 N, 662 W); and high
school (45 N. 160 W). Marston elemen
tary (76 N, 312 W). Matthews elemen
tary (128 N, 432 W). New Madrid ele
mentary (150 N, 350 W) and high school
(148 N, 115 W). Parma elementary (94
N, 434 W). Portageville elementary (85
N, 425 W). Risco elementary (57 N, 704
W). Conran elementary (96 N, 361 W).
PEMISCOT COUNTY: Braggadocio
elementary (34 N, 343 W). Caruthers-
ville high school (127 N, 353 W) and
elementary (356 N, 1,111 W). Cooter
elementary (34 N, 395 W). Deering ele
mentary (125 N, 675 W). Hayti elemen
tary (488 N, 723 W) and high school
(235 N, 175 W). Hayward elementary
(276 N, 670 W). Holland elementary
(209 N, 402 W). Steele elementary (255
N, 951 W). Wardell elementary (168 N,
555 W).
PETTIS COUNTY: Sedalia elementary
(262 N, 2,392 W).
PIKE COUNTY: Bowling Green ele
mentary (37 N, 354 W). Louisiana ele
mentary (56 N, 527 W).
PLATTE COUNTY: Parkville ele
mentary (25 N, 1,315 W). Platte City
elementary, (21 N, 298 W).
RALLS COUNTY: New London ele
mentary (22 N, 247 W).
RANDOLPH COUNTY: Huntsville
elementary (45 N, 275 W).
RAY COUNTY: Henrietta elementary
(16 N, 131 W). Richmond elementary
(37 N, 652 W).
ST. CHARLES COUNTY: Wentzville
elementary (67 N, 377 W).
STE. GENEVIEVE COUNTY: St.
Marys elementary (16 N, 100 W).
ST. LOUIS COUNTY: Eureka ele
mentary (38 N, 1,680 W). Webster
Groves high school (295 N, 1,298 W) and
elementary (313 N, 3,940 W)—both
planning to integrate in September,
1956.
SALINE COUNTY: Marshall elemen
tary (101 N, 929 W). Slater elementary
(64 N, 301 W). Malta Bend elementary
(11 N, 188 W).
SCOTT COUNTY: Benton elemen
tary (61 N, 616 W). Sikeston elementary
(310 N, 1,970 W). Morley high school
(15 N, 140 W) and elementary (110 N,
446 W).
SHELBY COUNTY: Clarence ele
mentary (22 N, 193 W).
STODDARD COUNTY: Bell City ele
mentary (212 N, 519 W). Essex elemen
tary (39 N, 371 W). Gray Ridge ele
mentary (141 N, 797 W). Warrenton
elementary (16 N, 557 W). Wright City
elementary.
WASHINGTON COUNTY: Potosi ele
mentary (46 N, 1,720 W).
said. “If efforts are made at the national
convention in Chicago to insult the con
victions of the South in this regard, it
will probably result in the worst defeat
ever suffered by the Democratic party
and could be the end of the party.”
The governor asserted, however, that
“as yet, there is no justification for a
bolt or walkout of the national conven
tion.”
STENNIS FOR UNITY
Keynoting the Democratic state con
vention, Sen. John C. Stennis (D.-
Miss.) said, “Provided the way of hon
or remains open and our problems and
positions receive recognition, there are
positive reasons why we need to be a
part of a national party and a part of
the Democratic party.”
“If we stand alone, we are a minor
ity,” he said. “Today, the conservative
wing of the Democratic party is the only
effective bloc of conservative political
influence in American government. A
look at the executive orders, the Su
preme Court decisions, the attorney
general’s program of the last three years
will confirm this statement...
“Our appeal,” Sen. Stennis said, “must
be broad enough to capture the imagi
nation of Democrats, independents and
other solid citizens throughout the na
tion who believe as we do. A reaction
in our favor in other parts of the nation
has already started because the prac
tical effects of recent judicial usurpa
tions of power, including school inte
gration, are being felt in other areas.
TACTIC PAYING OFF’
“This approach is already paying off
in the Congress as bills designed to curb
the grasping legislative hand of the po
litical minded Supreme Court move
closer to passage ...
“We must be in on the crucial deci
sions where matters vital to us are being
considered,” he said.
The second anniversary of the Mis
sissippi Association of Citizens Councils
“dedicated to preservation of segrega
tion,” was observed this month without
any sort of program.