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V
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—NOVEMBER 1956—PAGE 13
Two S. C. Lawsuits Hold
Spotlight During Month
r awsuits in both federal and state
courts held the center of the stage
in South Carolina’s continuing school
segregation controversy during October.
A three-judge federal court at
Charleston heard arguments on a case
growing out of South Carolina’s new
law forbidding the employment by
municipal, school district, county or
state agency of any member of the Na
tional Association for the Advancement
of Colored People. The court will not
hand down a ruling until further briefs
are submitted.
A $120,000 libel suit against the
Sumter branch of the NAACP was set
tled for $10,000 in the Third Circuit
Court of Common Pleas at Sumter.
In a segregation case involving recre
ation rather than education, the U. S.
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, at
Richmond, upheld the dismissal of a fed
eral lawsuit seeking admission of Ne
groes to a South Carolina state park.
The park in question was closed earlier
this year by the state legislature when
it became involved in litigation.
The validity of a South Carolina law
enacted in 1956 was challenged Oct. 22
in federal court at Charleston. The law
in question forbids the employment of
any NAACP member by any agency of
muncipial, school district, county or
state government. The suit testing the
new law was brought by 18 Negroes
who formerly taught at the Elloree
Training School, at Elloree, in Orange
burg County.
The Negroes were among 24 teachers
who either resigned, or whose contracts
were not renewed, when they failed to
execute a questionnaire inquiring into
their membership in the NAACP and
atitude toward racial segregation in the
public schools. The questionnaires were
circulated by School Supt. M. G. Austin
Jr. as a means of complying with the
state law banning NAACP members
from employment as public school
teachers. The case is docketed as
Ola L. Bryan et al v. M. G. Austin et
al.
The plaintiffs contended before Fed
eral Judges John J. Parker, Ashton H.
Williams and George Bell Timmerman
that their constitutional rights were
violated by application of the new state
law. Their attorney, Jack Greenberg,
argued that “the right to join is a part
of the freedom to speak,” and that the
plaintiffs were denied the “equal pro
tection of the laws” guaranteed by the
14th amendment in that the state law
singled out the NAACP for discrimin
atory legislation.
PROPRIETY QUESTIONED
Defense attorneys David W. Robin
son and Robert McC. Figg Jr. said that
CaSe was not P ro P er ly before the
oheral court, since the plaintiffs have
not sought relief through administrative
agencies or in the state courts. Judge
tinker said from the bench, however,
at South Carolina has passed a law
o ecting these rights [of speech and of
ssociation ]. These are the basis of our
onstitutional liberties.”
The state of South Carolina was rep
resented at the hearing by Atty. Gen.
T. C. Callison and his first assistant,
James S. Verner Jr., appearing as
“friends of the court.” Callison said that
“the real problem is one of who operates
the school system—federal authority.”
Verner added this: “The NAACP has
reached a point of no return as far as
South Carolina is concerned. They are
disturbing the domestic tranquility and
causing enmity and bad feelings be
tween people who have always lived
together. We do not wish to have its
members teaching in our schools.”
The court gave the attorneys 20 days
in which to file additional briefs, with
10 more days in which to file replies.
CONSENT VERDICT
In state court at Sumter, opposing
attorneys in the $120,000 libel suit
against the NAACP agreed on a consent
verdict of $10,000 for the plaintiff as
the case moved into its second day of
trial. The suit was brought by former
State Sen. Shepard K. Nash, attorney
for the two Sumter County school dis
tricts which were requested by Negro
petitioners to be reorganized on a
racially non-discriminatory basis last
year.
Among some 30 petitioners who there
after asked that their names be with
drawn was Roland E. Blanding, who
said this in his letter of withdrawal:
“I read the petition which was pre
sented to me very carefully and it did
not request integration of the two races.
The petition I signed requested the
leaders from both races to talk over
the problems which have arisen in an
attempt to find a solution.”
After publication of that letter in the
Sumter press, the executive committee
of the Sumter NAACP issued this
statement, which likewise was pub
lished:
“He (Blanding) not only signed after
reading the petition, but on one occasion
directed others how to sign them. Either
he is double-talking or the officials who
released his statements to the press are
wording these retro-actions (sic) to fit
the Citizens Committees.”
FILED SUIT
That statement prompted Nash to file
suit, contending in his complaint that he
was the official responsible for issuing
releases, and that the NAACP group
had maliciously and knowingly sought
to injure his reputation. His suit was
docketed as Nash v. H. P. Sharper et al.
The case went to trial on Oct. 4. Con
siderable time was consumed as Circuit
Judge Steve C. Griffith put to each pros
pective juror a number of questions
posed by the two Negro attorneys rep
resenting the defendants, Matthew J.
Perry and Lincoln C. Jenkins. Those
questions asked whether the jurors held
any prejudice against Negroes generally,
against the Sumter NAACP branch in
particular, and similar considerations
growing out of the racial aspects of the
case.
Three members of the venire admitted
prejudice and were disqualified by the
judge. Three others said they opposed
the NAACP objectives generally but
held no special prejudice against the
Sumter branch which would keep them
from rendering a fair verdict. They were
not disqualified but were eliminated
from the jury by counsel. One of the two
Negroes drawn on the venire was dis
qualified because of membership in the
NAACP. The other was eliminated by
counsel for the plaintiff.
The case was well into the second
day of trial, with defense attorneys
seeking to prove that Nash had not
actually suffered damages, when a set
tlement was announced in open court.
AFFIRM DISMISSAL
In mid-October, at Richmond, the U.
S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals af
firmed a lower court dismissal of a law
suit seeking a federal court order to
open Edisto Beach State Park to Ne
groes. The suit (Etta Clark, et al. v.
Charles H. Flory, state forester, et al.)
attacked state statutes which restricted
the Edisto Beach park to whites, but had
been dismissed by District Judge Ash
ton H. Williams after the South Caro
lina General Assembly had ordered the
park closed.
GREENVILLE ACTION
In Greenville, there is some confusion
as to when and whether a suit for
school integration will be initiated by
the local NAACP branch. Last year, an
integration petition was submitted by a
group of Negroes to the school board,
which thus far has made no public
statement concerning what action, if
any, it intends to take on the request.
The board was sent a letter in Sep
tember by NAACP attorney Donald
James Sampson indicating that the in
tegration efforts would be moved “into
a more formal stage” if some reply were
not received from the school board
within a month. At month’s end, how
ever, Sampson said he was “not in any
grand hurry” to bring suit, although he
contended that the board was duty-
bound to “do something positive”
toward complying with the Supreme
Court’s desegregation decision.
Meanwhile, there were some indica
tions that the NAACP might push for
school integration on the high school
level by next September. The Rev. E. J.
Green, president of the local NAACP
branch, said the Greenville group still
planned to seek immediate integration
in the city schools.
REFUSED REVIEW
The U. S. Supreme Court on Oct. 15
refused to review lower court decisions
which denied injunctions against the
segregation in elementary schools of a
dark-skinned people known as “Turks.”
The Turks, who live generally in an
enclave of western Sumter County,
claim descent from Mediterranean-stock
soldiers who served with Gen. Thomas
Sumter in the American Revolution. The
lower courts have ruled that they have
no case in federal court until they ex
haust administrative remedies provided
for under South Carolina law.
Former Gov. James F. Byrnes, on
Oct. 5 before a Kiwanis-sponsored
luncheon meeting at Sumter: “Next to
peace on earth, there is no issue [but
race relations] so fateful so far as our
people are concerned ... Race relations
is not only the problem in which south-
North Carolina
(Continued From Page 12)
^ ere should be an acceptance on the
^ the dominant group to recognize
® Neg ro as a citizen, and I mean a
, a ' SS c hi ze n. This, unfortunately, is
North Carolina has failed to do.”
g u , so * n Winston-Salem, Mrs. Ruby
e larprT “^AACP regional director, de-
^ ed, “There is a new Negro. We’re
ty ng to keep on fighting until we win.
m ov ' V ? n 4 ho intimidated . . . We must
e * n a now spirit. And we must re-
our that old spirit that tells us to love
to We must have God if we’re
Ed ITOR speaks
of^ re ensboro, Editor Tom Lassiter
spoil 6 ( WeekI y Smithfield (N.C.) Herald
del av ° . t ^ le Notary Club. He said any
ti 0t) In integration obtained by adop
ts? , t . he Pearsall Plan should be used
peopi e hy the state to prepare the
of Sfi e t° r the inevitable abandonment
and t gre ( f a tion in the public schools”
tiop ° huild bridges of communica-
facej , aer °ss the chasm between the
hi ^
tin ; mston-Salem, Dr. John W. Rus-
Ch u astor of the Belmont Methodist
the hi Nashville, Tenn., spoke to
Coy e es torn North Carolina Methodist
all r ® ac e. "Do we dare to believe that
h the Si are a hh e ?” he said. “We do
and k, Urc h cares enough to have vision
e action to tell its people so.
Warped emotions, unintelligent state
ments, quick reactions all have stirred
up hatred and even violence. What we
in the South need to remember now is
that 87 schools in our area have inte
grated without the aid of the military
but with peace, love and understand
ing.”
SCHOOL BOARDS
AND SCHOOLMEN
The Tarboro school board unanimous
ly voted to decline to accept the resig
nation of a fellow board member, the
Rev. S. Grayson Clary, Episcopal min
ister. Clary tendered his resignation on
Sept. 8, the day citizens of the state
approved the Pearsall Plan for schools
—a plan he openly had opposed. He said
he had offered the resignation to spare
the board any possible embarrassment.
In the resolution refusing the resigna
tion the board said it “feels that an ex
pression of a minority opinion is the
right of every individual citizen in a
democratic nation.” The county in which
Tarboro is located—Edgecombe—voted
for the Pearsall Plan by a 10 to 1 margin.
In Raleigh, the State Board of Educa
tion allocated $2,490,648 for 33 school
construction and betterment projects
scattered across the state. The alloca
tion brought to $34,525,846 the amount
expended from the $50,000,000 school
bond issue approved by the voters in
1953.
Also in Raleigh, the Wake County
commissioners voted to ask the Local
Government Commission to approve a
plan to call a vote on a $6,500,0000 school
bond issue and a 32-cent supplementary
tax for county schools. Of the amount,
about $3 million would go for county
school buildings and $3 500 000 for city
school buildings.
In Charlotte, school consultants rec
ommended that Charlotte and Mecklen
burg County spend nearly $23 million in
the next five years to build 29 new
schools and add to existing ones. They
urged that $10,875,000 be appropriated
immediately to relieve the more pressing
needs. By 1968, the consultants predict
ed, senior high schools in the county
will have 6,000 students, compared to
the present 2,000.
In Greensboro, the city school board
was asked by Negro members of the
Dudley High School PTA to give the
school permission to use the senior high
(white) gymnasium for basketball games
this year. The board has not answered
the request.
In Asheville, the Ministerial Associa
tion of Asheville and Buncombe County
elected as its president the Rev. N. M.
Avery, Negro pastor of Hill Street Bap
tist Church. The white and Negro asso
ciations merged last year.
JAMES F. BYRNES
‘No Issue So Fateful’
emers are interested. But they should
realize that so far as questions affecting
that problem are concerned, they need
look to neither the national Democrats
nor the Republican party for assistance
... There is no justification for efforts
to make the segregation decision of the
Supreme Court a partisan political is
sue. Neither party should receive credit
or blame for that decision.... While it
is not fair to criticize either political
party for the decision, every American
is free to criticize the decision.... You
and I must continue to do what is right
[for the Negroes] and we must continue
to stand fast in our determination to
maintain segregated schools in South
Carolina.”
John H. Calhoun, president of the At
lanta branch of the NAACP and a for
mer resident of Greenville, at a Green
ville NAACP meeting: “We must get to
the place where the radical white man
and the member of the NAACP can sit
down together with ministers as ref
erees and confer.” Calhoun also said he
admired the “atmosphere of good will
existing here in Greenville.”
U. S. Rep. John L. McMillan, of the
Sixth congressional district, speaking in
Johnsonville on Oct. 1 as chairman of
the District of Columbia Committee of
the House of Representatives (which
committee ordered the investigation of
the Washington schools): “The Repub
lican members of the investigating com
mittee have stayed away from the hear
ings. They apparently have their rea
sons. But regardless of whether they
attend or not, this investigation will be
completed.”
Thomas R. Waring, of Charleston, ed
itor of the News and Courier, speaking
on Oct. 23 to the Summerville Chamber
of Commerce: “Propagandists and poli
ticians have blown up stories about seg
regation until the rest of the country
believes it is a dirty word. The southern
white man has been ridiculed and pil
loried before the nation, and indeed
throughout the world, until he is one
of the under-privileged minorities of the
earth.” Waring urged that every south
erner become a self-appointed agent to
combat hostile race propaganda.
U. S. Sen. Herbert Lehman (D.-N.Y.)
alleged in October that Negro service
men in South Carolina were barred from
taking extension courses offered by the
University of South Carolina. His state
ment to the press made specific refer
ence to Donaldson Air Force Base, near
Greenville, and to Fort Jackson, at Co
lumbia.
The publicity subsided when officers
at the military establishments con
cerned said no such problem existed.
The commander of the Donaldson base
said that no Negro airmen had been
barred from USC extension courses be
cause none had applied. “There is no
‘situation’ here,” said Col. E. Wade
Hampton, “the case has never come up.”
Extension courses are taught at
Greenville High School and the govern
ment pays 75 per cent of the required
tuition for servicemen. Enrollment is on
an individual basis and under the rules
of the institution. No college level classes
are conducted on the base, although 92
airmen are taking USC extension
courses and three others are enrolled in
other college programs.
Elementary, high school and voca
tional classes are held at the base on an
unsegregated basis, according to Capt.
W. C. Oltman, base information services
officer. He added that the Air Force does
not practice segregation, but that airmen
participating in an off-base program
must conform to the rules of the insti
tution.
The State Educational Finance Com
mission in October allocated $749,354 for
school construction under the state’s
equalization and expansion program
launched in 1951. Of this amount, $453,-
064 was allotted for white projects and
$296,289 for Negro projects. Altogether,
a grand total of $170,631,119 has been
allocated since the beginning of the pro
gram five years ago. Of that total, 52.5
per cent has gone to Negro schools.
POLITICAL ACTIVITY
The school segregation issue contin
ued to be featured prominently in South
Carolina political debate and activity
during October. The stand of both na
tional parties on that question is
largely responsible for the organization
of a third ticket in the state, under the
name “South Carolinians for Independ
ent Electors.” These electors have
pledged their votes to Sen. Harry F.
Byrd of Virginia and have dedicated
their efforts to the preservation of con
stitutional government, states’ rights,
and public school segregation. Spokes
men for the independents are highly
critical of both Democrats and Republi
cans with respect to segregation and
what they contend is an ominous en
croachment upon the rights of the states.
Democrats and Republicans in the
state, meanwhile, are attacking each
other on the same segregation issue.
State Democratic Chairman Neville
Bennett released a strong criticism of
President Eisenhower on the strength of
Rep. Adam Clayton Powell’s quotation
of the President’s stand. (Powell has
subsequently admitted having misquoted
the President with respect to putting
school trustees in jail if they were con
victed of contempt of court.)
In condemning the statement attrib
uted to Eisenhower, Chairman Bennett
said:
“It is well understood throughout
South Carolina that any effort to mix
the races in the public schools will re
sult in the immediate closing of the
school or schools affected until the dif
ficulty is removed. There is no power
in the Presidency or in the U. S. Su
preme Court that can alter this situa
tion in South Carolina.”
CRAWFORD REPLIES
His statement drew this rejoinder
from Mayor L. P. Crawford of Clemson,
Republican nominee for the Senate seat
held by Olin D. Johnston:
“President Eisenhower did not make
this law or encourage it. Eight Demo
crat-appointed justices did, and these
cases came before the court during the
Truman regime and encouraged by
Bennett’s own party. Bennett’s man
Truman started integration in the armed
forces and his party continues to sup
port it.”
The largest Ku Klux Klan rally re
ported in South Carolina in years was
held Oct. 6 at Spartanburg. A staff cor
respondent of the Greenville News esti
mated the crowd at between 6,000 and
10,000 persons. The program followed
the usual KKK pattern of speakers talk
ing from the bed of a truck, denounc
ing the Supreme Court’s school desegre
gation decision. Reference was made
during the rally to the existence of a
rival Klan group, identified as the As
sociation of South Carolina Klans and
charged with giving “a black eye” to the
“U. S. Klans, Knights of the Ku Klux
Klan.”
A meeting sponsored by the South
Carolina Klans was held in Newberry
County near Pomaria on Oct. 20.
Another Klan meeting was held near
Rock Hill on Saturday night, Oct. 6,
with some 200 men and women in at
tendance.
Practically all such meetings are con
ducted by robed Klansmen and include
the burning of a cross.
UNION CHARTERED
A new labor union, dedicated to the
preservation of racial segregation in the
South, has been granted domestication
in South Carolina by Secretary of State
O. Frank Thornton. The organization,
known as the United Southern Em
ployes Association, Inc., already is in
corporated in North Carolina, with
headquarters at Southport.
Membership in the labor organization
entails meeting this requirement:
“Every applicant for membership
shall sign in his application a promise
to attempt, in a legal manner, to main
tain and support the southern tradition
of segregation in education and society
of the white and Negro races without
discriminating against or violating the
civil rights of any other person or per
sons.”
Oconee County Negro teachers were
honored in mid-October by the Seneca
Kiwanis Club with certificates of serv
ice to the community. Similar awards
went to white teachers at a separate
ceremony.
This year marks the first time the
school teachers have been thus recog
nized.