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Factual Sot VIObC30 ? r^.,^ J - ,&y 3AiNn 1 lfH b 31 ON O 3 N b 0 0 S 0 • I • , 21 101 is jKnr l it u im U V loot News Objective VOL. III. NO. 4 NASHVILLE. TENN. $2 PER YEAR OCTOBER. 1956 ]\|0B violence and boycotts upholding segregation in some areas while uneventful desegregation proceeded in others—sometimes within the same state—presented a contrasting picture of the new school year, now in its second month. National guardsmen or state police (or both) were summoned in Tennessee, Ken tucky and Texas. Minor demonstrations occurred in West Virginia and Maryland. Kentucky, mob action, parental boycott and a legal opinion combined to remove Negroes from two schools; at Clinton, Term., a dozen Negroes remained in a prev iously all-white high school after several days of violence. Texas Rangers moved Negroes from Mansfield High School at the instance of Gov. Allan Shivers after they had been enrolled there under federal court order. Meanwhile, an exclusive Southern School News survey showed that 650 individ ual school districts have completed or have begun the desegregation process. In cluding the school zones of the District of Columbia, the figure is 797, for a net increase of 208 since the beginning of the 1955 school year. (See table on Page 2.) (There are approximately 3,711 school districts having Negroes in the 17-state area plus the District of Columbia.) Among the districts which desegre gated without incident was the Louis ville system, where some 54,000 whites and 12,000 Negroes participated peace fully in a “top-to-bottom” switch-over to mixed schooling. REPORT ON SURVEY The SSN survey also showed 319,184 Negroes in “integrated situations” to gether with nearly 2,000,000 white chil dren. An “integrated situation” is one in which Negroes are either attending or are eligible to attend mixed schools or are enrolled in districts in which the desegregation process has begun. Ap proximately 2,400,000 Negroes still are in segregated districts. Additional desegregation recorded during September included a large number of districts not previously re ported in Missouri and Kentucky and one in Maryland. To the some 84 pieces of pro-segrega tion legislation enacted since the 1954 Supreme Court decision, Virginia added 23 measures. In a third state—Texas— an effort was under way to ban activ ities of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People through court action. There (at Tyler) testimony showed that Herman Marion Sweatt, onetime Houston mail-carrier who won entry to the University of Texas law school in the celebrated case (Sweatt v. Painter) which broke down the “sep arate but equal” doctrine in higher edu cation in 1950, had a contract with the NAACP calling for $11,500 which was the equivalent of his salary plus “un foreseen expenses” for three years. A Texas Negro publisher said in a public statement that a fund to help Sweatt go to college was raised by friends in Houston. National attention was focused on the District of Columbia, where a House subcommittee began open hearings on conditions within the District’s three- year desegregated system. A state-by-state summary of major developments during September fol lows: Alabama Two unsuccessful efforts were made by individuals to enroll children in all- white schools—in one instance a Negro child who is the ward of a white woman —as some Alabama PTAs “revolted” against the policies of the national or ganization. Arkansas A federal court heard the Hoxie case growing out of a months-long effort to interrupt the desegregation process), with the federal government intervening to back an injunction against pro-segre gationists. The State of Georgia, also intervening, charged the injunction denied segregationists their civil rights. Delaware A privately conducted public opinion sampling indicated that half the voters disapprove the U.S. Supreme Court de cision against public school segregation, reportedly surprising some observers who had expected a larger margin of opposition. District of Columbia House hearings concerning conditions in Washington’s school system began with testimony from schoolmen on standards, pupil behavior and other fac tors affected by integration. Some wit nesses reported Negro achievement' lag and discipline problems; others found the process satisfactory. The inquiry was both criticized and praised as the month ended. Florida A group of Florida business and pro fessional men, including a former gov ernor, announced organization of a nationwide movement to amend the U.S. Constitution so as to allow each state to settle its racial problems. Georgia Herman Talmadge, nominated over whelmingly to succeed U.S. Sen. Walter F. George, said he did not believe segre gation will break down in Georgia dur ing his lifetime. Kentucky Mob action at desegregating Clay, Sturgis and Weaverton schools brought national guardsmen to the scene in the first two instances and white boycotts in all three. Negroes were removed from Clay and Sturgis under a ruling by the attorney general. Meanwhile, desegrega tion proceeded peacefully in Louisville, Frankfort and scores of other com munities representing between 75 per cent and 85 per cent of the districts hav ing Negro pupils. Louisiana No additional Negroes enrolled in tax- supported colleges under Louisiana’s new segregation laws, which proponents were seeking to apply to mid-term registrations in order to remove the some 200 Negroes now studying at the institutions. Maryland Desegregation proceeded smoothly in most counties—some desegregating for the first time—with disturbances of a non-violent nature reported at four schools out of approximately 200 now admitting Negroes. Mississippi State officials laid plans for an Oc tober tour of New England newsmen as part of a program designed to acquaint “outsiders” with the state’s segregation pattern. Missouri With 184 districts out of 244 having Negroes now desegregated, observers studied a 63-page report holding the St. Louis school desegregation experience successful because t'he community had begun the process in other areas and was ready for this new step. North Carolina Voters approved by better than four to one the “Pearsall Plan” to maintain segregation through a private tuition payment system and local option school closing, with the plan coming under le gal challenge five days after the refer endum. Oklahoma One more district was desegregated as a move began in the “Little Dixie” area to conduct a referendum on school inte gration. South Carolina The state’s new anti-NAACP law is being challenged in the courts. The pro- (See DEVELOPMENTS, Page 2) Index State Page Alabama 9 Arkansas 13 Delaware 10 District of Columbia 6 Florida n Georgia 10 Kentucky 3 Louisiana 5 Maryland 8 Mississippi 2 Missouri 12 North Carolina 7 Oklahoma 12 South Carolina 4 Tennessee 15 Texas 14 Virginia 16 West Virginia 5 110 Colleges Of 208 Open To Negroes Approximately 110 tax-supported col leges and universities of the 208 such schools in the South now admit Negro students in practice or in principle. About 100 of these schools in the Dis trict of Columbia and in 12 of the 17 southern states have Negroes on their campuses. All institutions of higher learning in Oklahoma, Missouri, Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky operate under non-segregation policies, but Negroes have not applied for admission to some of them. States which do not' admit Negroes to white public colleges or universities, or to public schools at any other level, in clude Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. NO MISSISSIPPI APPLICANTS Mississippi has had no Negro appli cants for admission to any of its white public colleges this year. Alabama, which had one Negro on the campus of its state university briefly last winter, re ceived two applications. South Caro- nna’s Clemson Agriculture and Mech anical College has received applications rom two Negroes. Both the University of Georgia and the University of Florida aw schools are involved in court actions with Negroes seeking admittance. 'HO colleges and universities r °ughout the region now willing to accept Negro students represents an in crease of six over the 104 identified in t «ch. Three of them are in Texas and ree are in North Carolina. Since most colleges, particularly in I 6 border and mid-South states, no °uger keep student records showing ?.®, fbe number of Negroes actually en- 0 ed in formerly all-white colleges is 0 certain. The number probably does 0 exceed 2,000 during the regular ler ms. ^OLLMENT DOUBLE m t S * S a ^ mos f double the number esti- 1 , ea ® public colleges and universities it . year by Dr. Guy Johnson of the co Versity North Carolina. He also tend PUted that about 2 > 000 Negroes at- w >. ea summ er sessions at formerly all- te schools last year. leg state -by-state summary of the col- jjjj® ®*fuation in those areas which ad- j ns f, Negroes to their tax-supported A L 01 * higher learning follows: a ll_ r “ ansas —All eight of the formerly c* 1 ** colleges have Negroes on S9 ^ Us in compliance with the non- s ^. e ? a bon policy established for the N e _ In 1955. Estimates of the number of t° j ° students enrolled range from 50 c ° , . graduates and undergraduates o n lne d, with each school having from tain ° Negroes. The state still main- s one all-Negro school. War 6 a ^ Vare —The University of Dela- s eV( f , as Emitted Negro students for the ra years bu t there is no estimate of p^ber attending. The only other lcly supported college in the state is Delaware State College, predom inantly Negro. District of Columbia—The formerly Negro and white teachers’ colleges have been merged, leaving for purposes of this count one integrated institution. 29 KENTUCKY COLLEGES Kentucky—All eight of the formerly white public colleges now admit Neg roes, though it is uncertain whether Negroes have applied at all of them. A recent tabulation of colleges and uni versities, public and private, showed 29 schools with Negroes enrolled. The number of Negroes on formerly all- white campuses was estimated last spring at 550, with the University of Louisville having “several hundred” Negroes. The Negro enrollment at the University of Kentucky this fall was down slightly, to 83. The state still main tains a predominantly Negro college which has five or six white students en rolled in night classes. Louisiana—Four of the seven state supported colleges formerly for white students now accept Negroes. Negro enrollment in these schools is expected to drop from about 400 to less than 200 this fall under the new segregation legislation (Acts 15, 249, 250 and 252) adopted in July. (See Louisiana report, Page 5). The state has two all-Negro institutions. Maryland—All 10 of the formerly white tax-supported colleges and uni versities now operate under non-segre gation policies, though last year no Negroes applied at two of them or at three of the seven private white schools which receive state financial support through scholarship grants. Maryland last year had three all-Negro institu tions. Missouri—Missouri last year enrolled Negro students at 10 of the 15 formerly all-white colleges and universities which now operate on desegregated bases. Enrollments varied from perhaps two hundred at Harris Teachers College in St. Louis to “a few” at Central Mis souri State College at Warrensburg. Predominantly Negro Lincoln Univer sity had 10 to 20 white students last year. North Carolina—With 11 publicly- supported colleges mainly for whites and six for Negroes, North Carolina this fall had 19 Negroes enrolled in four di visions of the consolidated university system. The University of North Caro lina at Chapel Hill has seven Negro graduate students and four undergrad uates; North Carolina State College at Raleigh has five Negro undergraduates; Woman’s College at Greensboro has two Negro undergraduates and Gaston Technical Institute has one Negro study ing auto mechanics. Oklahoma—All 22 publicly-supported colleges and universities in the state op erate on an unsegregated basis, includ ing Langston University which is predominantly Negro. There is no esti mate either of the total Negro enroll ment or the number of schools which actually have Negro students on campus. NONE AT SENIOR LEVEL Tennessee—Six of the seven public colleges and universities in the state op erate under policies of non-segregation at the graduate level and the senior level in the undergraduate divisions. The exception is the University of Tennessee which accepts Negroes at the graduate level only and had some 32 enrolled at its Knoxville campus and its extension centers last year. Negroes also attend Austin Peay State College (two last (See COLLEGES, Page 2) Top to bottom desegregation began in Louisville, Ky. public schools (above) last month with only a few minor incidents reported. A hundred miles to the west, however, national guardsmen escorted Negro children into formerly all-white schools at Sturgis and Clay (below). The upper photo shows a mixed 10th grade class at Eastern High School where about 25 Negro pupils enrolled in the student body of about 1,800. The bottom photo shows an uncertain 10-year-old Negro being directed toward the Clay school from which he was later excluded under an opinion by the Kentucky attorney general. Protests, Peaceful Integration Mark Month