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UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA 1'
AUG 6’57
Ob;
lective
CS/
VOL. IV, NO. 2
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
$2 PER YEAR
AUGUST, 1957
Court Rulings, Board Plans Mark Month
Twelve of these East Tennesseans comprised the federal court jury which con
victed seven persons last month on contempt charges for having conspired to in
terfere with desegregation of the Clinton High School. The others were alter
nates. Jury foreman was Powell May (front row, second from the left).
7 Found Guilty, 4 Freed
At Clinton Trial’s End
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
4 t 2: 09 p.m. July 23, ten men and two women filed into the well of
‘ the federal court room in Knoxville and stood quietly facing Fed
eral District Judge Robert L. Taylor.
The air in the room was oppressive. The court room’s airconditioning
system had been fighting a losing battle all day against the constant
opening and closing of doors as spectators, defendants, attorneys and
reporters moved about restlessly awaiting the jury’s decision.
The jurors had retired to deliberate
the case at 10:20 a.m. They had
lunched for an hour and a half. Now
they were standing before the judge 40
minutes after they returned from
lunch.
18 ORIGINAL DEFENDANTS
This was the end of a trial which
grew out of disturbances at Anderson
County’s Clinton High School last No
vember and December—a trial that
started off with 18 original defendants
hut due to vagaries of life and one
death, a trial that ended with 11 de
fendants.
The oppressive atmosphere of the
room became charged with unspoken
emotion.
At 2:10 p.m., the voice of tall, white
haired Powell May, the jury foreman,
spoke: “We find the following defend-
ents guilty: John Kasper, Lawrence
Brantley, William Brakebill, Alonzo
Bullock, Clyde Cook, Mary Nell Cur
ler, Willard Till. We find the remain-
defendants not guilty.”
Jury Foreman May, a retired West-
{ ern Union operations manager, did not
even read off the names of the de-
endants who were acquitted—Clifford
arter, a jobless truck driver; Edward
Nison Nelson, a grocery clerk; Virgil
eo Nelson, Henson’s brother and a
^rpenter; and Raymond Wood, a
"°usepainter.
r .. jury’s verdict, which took less
an a minute to deliver, ended a trial
had been more than six months
I ^“Uilding. And at the same time, it
J 'he stage for new legal develop-
I ■ * n the case as defense counsel
I Ij^^iately informed Judge Taylor
y will file motions for a new trial.
Cl yiL RIGHTS DEBATE
.yh e trial opened on July 8. On the
j j , e day the U. S. Senate started its
| q u at P on the civil rights bill and the
I sh^i'° n whether trials by jury
utd be eliminated in cases involving
j r , . na l contempt of court arising from
Clal issues.
I Ik,
'• t), e e 16 defendants who were still in
I ! ate Case when it came to trial (four
b^f r re ceived judgments of acquittal
J dia, 16 Case went to the jury) were
^Urt ^ w *th criminal contempt of
?, n ® rounc ts they allegedly vio-
*he injunction issued last fall by
'hth ?' ay l° r prohibiting interference
! Uin* P^ceful desegregation of
g n High School.
j Really, they were charged with
! ^Sating on the route Negro chil-
• iti °jlowed to and from the school
th^ f °rt to intimidate and prevent
*e re £ oni attending school. And they
Pay n, a, f ’ e d with beating up the Rev.
list . '. Turner, the young white Bap-
3i-o c *, ,r j}f ter who accompanied the Ne-
H>r e Udren to c l ass on Dec. 4, shortly
V J" the school closed temporarily
res t of the week,
the key charge was that the
defendants had conspired with Freder
ick John Kasper, the 27-year-old white
Citizens Council leader, in their effort
to keep the Negro children out of the
school.
Kasper has already been convicted
once of violating the injunction. He
has appealed this sentence to the U. S.
Supreme Court.
At the outset, Judge Taylor had let
it be known the government would
have to prove three basic points re
lating to the activities of each defend
ant before they could be found guilty
as charged:
1) The defendant had notice of the
injunction.
2) The defendant conspired with
Kasper.
3) The defendant committed the
overt act charged.
JURY AND COUNSEL
The first two days of the trial were
devoted to selecting a jury. Thirty-one
veniremen were questioned by both
government attorneys and various
members of the defense counsel
(there were 18 defense attorneys of
record) team, a team which varied in
size daily from eight to 10 members.
Of the 19 jurors excused, four were
Negroes, one of whom said under ques
tioning he favored segregation of the
races.
Of the 10 men and two women se
lected for the final panel, all except
one, as indicated by interviews with
reporters after the trial, believe in ra
cial segregation. The one juror, a man,
said he was neutral on the question.
During the questioning of veniremen,
defense counsel made it clear that
there was a division among their ranks.
Kasper was represented by his own at
torney, J. Beniamin Simmons of Wash
ington, D.C. The remaining defendants
were represented by the 17 other law
yers, a group headed by Robert L.
Dobbs of Memphis as chief counsel, a
group which had been brought to
gether by the Tennessee Federation for
Constitutional Government.
FEDERATION FINANCED DEFENSE
The federation, a pro-segregation or
ganization with headquarters in Nash
ville, financed the defense for all of
the accused except Kasper, through the
“Freedom for Clinton Fund.” The fund,
according to its chairman, Jack Ker
shaw, a Nashville realtor, had received
approximately $8,000 in contributions
“from all over the country” and had
spent $6,000 by the time the trial start
ed.
The government’s case against the
defendants became readily apparent as
the first few days of testimony got
underway. Here’s the way it shaped
up:
Notice of injunction—The government
witnesses testified that Kasper had no
tice of the injunction because it was
JUDGE ROBERT TAYLOR
Significant Factor
actually served on him last August
when it was first issued as a temporary
restraining order, that Cook actually
read the injunction in the office of An
derson County’s sheriff, that Till had
the injunction explained to him at a
September school board meeting and
later discussed it with school board
members, that Bullock and Mrs. Cur
rier had it explained to them by a
Clinton attorney, and that Mrs. Currier
also had it explained to her on separ
ate occasions by members of the Clin
ton police department, that the remain
ing defendants had notice of the in
junction and its content through its
wide publication in local newspaper,
over radio and television.
TESTIMONY OF CONSPIRACY
Conspiracy with Kasper—Government
witnesses testified Kasper was seen
talking to Till in company of five Clin
ton High School girls on the day after
his arrival in Clinton last August. They
testified Kasper made his intentions
clear five days after his arrival in
Clinton by telling the principal of Clin
ton High School, D. J. Brittain, to
either remove the Negro students from
the school or resign.
They testified that Till and Cook
helped found the Tennessee White Cit
izens Council. They testified that Kas
per and Cook aided a group of Clinton
youngsters to form a club known as
the Tennessee White Youth. They tes
tified that Kasper attended Citizens
Council meetings and the youth club
meetings with the other defendants.
They testified that Clinton High
School was free from internal trouble
from the time the Labor Day disorders
were stopped until Nov. 20—the date
Kasper was acquitted on state charges
of sedition and inciting to riot. They
testified that from Nov. 20 up to the
closing of school on Dec. 4 internal
problems in the school increased.
WEEKLY MEETINGS
They testified that from September
through the end of November, Kasper
and the defendants—as individuals and
in groups—were seen meeting together
at least once a week in a Clinton cafe
owned by the late John Gates, a friend
of Kasper’s and a Citizens Council
member, one of the original defend
ants, who died in an insane asylum.
They testified that on the dates Nov.
27, 28, 29 and 30 and on Dec. 3 and 4,
all of the defendants except Kasper
and Till had at various times congre
gated on the route the Negro children
(See CLINTON TRIAL, Page 2)
TTalf a dozen key decisions—including the conviction of seven
.1. A principals in the celebrated Clinton, Tenn. case—announcement of
desegregation begun or planned in 25 more districts and halting of
integration plans in Texas dominated July developments in 17 southern
and border states.
Three North Carolina cities—Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston-
Salem, accepted a dozen Negro pupils into previously all-white schools
in the first desegregation announced in the eight-state Southeast and
Deep South area where resistance to the U. S. Supreme Court de
cisions has been strongest.
Meanwhile, the cities of Port Arthur and Galveston in Texas, to
gether with some smaller communities, dropped fall integration plans
because of a new state law which
gate without a vote of the people.
A Missouri survey showed that nine
more districts have desegregated and
that six more plan to do so in Sep
tember. Oklahoma had one more de
segregated district, with two more
planning a similar move in the fall.
Arkansas also reported desegregation
in effect in Lincoln (Washington
County) and planned in an additional
district—Ozark—making five such oper
ations scheduled for the state in Sep
tember.
Revised Southern School News fig
ures showed 694 school districts deseg
regated as of the end of the last school
year. Approximately 3,000 remained
segregated.
In September, according to present
indications, 18 more districts will de
segregate, raising the number to 712.
Of these, only about 15 will be in states
outside the border region. The districts
include the larger cities of Nashville,
Tenn., and Little Rock and Fort Smith,
Ark., together with the three North
Carolina cities.
®
In key court decisions the Fourth
Circuit Court sustained a ruling against
Virginia’s pupil placement act, and the
schools of Dallas, Tex. were ordered to
desegregate, but at no specific time. A
suit against Florida’s placement act was
dismissed while the Fifth Circuit Court
ruled against a lower court which dis
missed a desegregation suit in Dade
(Miami) County. A federal district
judge in Delaware, in the first decision
of its kind, ordered wholesale desegre
gation of segregated schools in the
state.
The state of Mississippi reported
difficulty in floating school bonds, as
did the university system of Georgia,
where the state auditor blamed the
“segregation bugaboo.” However, At
lanta accepted low bids on bonds for
10 new schools, including seven for
Negroes.
A summary of major developments
state-by-state follows:
Alabama
A bill gerrymandering most of Tus-
kegee’s Negroes out of the city limit
and thus out of a vote in municipal
affairs became law as Negro voting,
rather than school desegregation, dom
inated the state’s affairs.
Arkansas
Little Rock, planning high school de
segregation in September, heard pro
tests from segregationist groups but
said it would go ahead. One more dis
trict was reported to have desegregated
and another announced desegregation
for September.
bars aid for schools which desegre-
district court which had ordered dis
missal of a school entry suit against
segregated Dade (Miami) County.
Meanwhile, the same district court dis
missed a suit challenging Florida’s 1956
pupil placement law.
Georgia
Two Georgia gubernatorial candidates
were debating the degree of segrega
tion which each espoused. The Georgia
Education Commission got a go-ahead
on a $376,000 campaign for a nationwide
defense of the state’s segregation policy.
Kentucky
Both Louisville and its county, Jef
ferson, said there would be no integra
tion of faculties in desegregated schools
for the time being despite a request
from the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People.
Louisiana
An effort to remove Democratic Na
tional Committeeman Camille Gravel,
who endorsed the partv’s 1956 civi * 1 2 3
rights plank and predicted eventual
school desegregation, apparently was
stalled by a ruling of the national com
mittee.
Maryland
A district court decision upholding
Harford County’s “selective integra
tion” (screening of prospective Negro
students) plan was under fire from the
NAACP, which announced an appeal.
Mississippi
High costs of Mississippi’s equaliza
tion program were borne home in in
creased budgets and mounting interest
rates for school bonds, the latter de
velopment causing the state to with
draw a $10 million offering and to clan
smaller offerings to in-state investors.
Missouri
A survey showed nine more school
districts desegregated with six others
planning a similar move in September.
North Carolina
In the first projected desegregation in
the Southeast, three Piedmont cities
accepted 12 Negro punils for enrollment
in previously all-white schools under
the state’s Pupil Assignment Act.
Oklahoma
Tentative settlement in a federal
court case opened the state school for
the deaf to Negro registrants. Some
faculty integration in Oklahoma City
may occur this fall because of the clos
ing of two Negro schools.
South Carolina
An effort by some ministers to obtain
“moderate” expressions of sentiment on
school segregation-desegregation was
INSIDE
State Reports
Alabama
4
Kentucky
10
Oklahoma
12
Arkansas
. 7
Louisiana
5
South Carolina
13
Delaware
II
Maryland
12
Tennessee
6
Dist. of Columbia
10
Mississippi
15
Texas
8
Florida
14
Missouri
14
Virginia
I*
Georgia
2
North Carolina . .
3
West Virginia
9
Special Features
Clinton After the Trial 6 Norfolk-Newport News Case Decision. 16
Fifth Circuit Court Rulings in Dallas, Dade County Cases 8 and 14
Text of Decision in Delaware Cases. I I
Delaware
In the first such ruling of its kind, a
federal judge ordered all school districts
of the state desegregated. State and
local authorities planned to appeal to
higher courts.
District of Columbia
Washington’s school board approved
a request for $58.2 million to operate
the schools in fiscal 1959—a record
budget for the desegregated system.
Florida
The Fifth Circuit Court reversed a
disclosed by Gov. George Bell Timmer
man, who criticized it by inference.
Tennessee
Zones for first grade integration in
the schools of Nashville this fall (under
court order) were disclosed as op
position mounted. In a nationally prom
inent case, a jury at Knoxville con
victed seven and acquitted four de
fendants in a contempt-of-court case
involving disturbances last year at
Clinton.
(See COURT RULINGS, Page 2)
