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VOL. IV, NO. 4
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
$2 PER YEAR
OCTOBER, 1957
Violence, Some Mixing Highlight Month
Arkansas Gfl26tt6
A squad of paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division escorted nine Negro students into Little Rock’s Central High
School following their assignment to duty in that city to quell anti-integration demonstrations. Employment of the federal
iroops, generally viewed as a crisis in the segregation-desegregation controversy, drew varied responses from public officials
and the press throughout the region.
The Little Rock Story: Documentary
The following is a documentary account of events in Little
Rock, Ark., in September following court action and school
hard statements in late August finally opening Central High
School to an expected 17 Negro students.
Because of space considerations, some of the documents
have been excerpted.
On Sept. 2 Gov. Orval E. Faubus announced over television
that he had ordered National Guard troops and State Police
lo surround the high school. Here is the text of the conclud
ing part of his speech:
Units of the National Guard have been, or are now being
mobilized with the mission to maintain or restore the peace
and good order of this community. Advance units are already
on duty on the grounds of Central High School.
I have informed Chief Lindsey, director of the Arkansas
State Police, of the developments and he is now mobilizing
a force to act as an arm of the State Militia in maintaining
or restoring the peace and order of the community and to act
® eve ry way possible to protect the lives and property of
ie citizens of Pulaski County.
CHECKED, verified reports
This is a decision I have reached prayerfully. It has been
made after conferences with dozens of people and after
“>e checking and the verification of as many of the reports
*8 possible.
The mission of the State Militia is to maintain or restore
wder and to protect the lives and property of citizens. They
*i|l act not as segregationists or integrationists, but as
soldiers called to active duty to carry out their assigned tasks.
Hut I must state here in all sincerity, that is is my opinion
'yes, even a conviction, that it will not be possible to restore
? to _ uiaintain order and protect the lives and property of
e citizens if forcible integration is carried out tomorrow in
e Schools of this community. The inevitable conclusion,
■jerefore, must be that the schools in Pulaski County, for
i 6 I™ 16 being, must be operated on the same basis as they
j e been operated in the past.
. appeal now for reason, clear thinking and good order.
I. j Us a U be good citizens and continue as a people and as
Lc 6 ’ u P° n the road of progress on which we have so
•"“'usiastically embarked,
lae Public Peace Will Be Preserved.
thereafter to pursue the plan heretofore approved by this
court.
It is, therefore, by the court ordered that the defendants,
and each of them, as the Little Rock School Board and as
the superintendent of Little Rock public schools, integrate
in accordance with the plan approved by this court the senior
high school grades in the Little Rock School District forth
with.
The injunction entered by this court on Aug. 30, 1957, upon
application of these defendants shall remain valid and in
full force and effect.
Thereupon the school board declared:
The latest order of the federal court is clear, and the plan
of desegregation ordered by the federal court is still in full
force and effect.
Little Rock Mayor Woodrow W. Mann was critical of the
governor’s action. He issued this statement:
If it were not for my own respect for due process of law,
I would be tempted to issue an executive order interposing
the city of Little Rock between Gov. Faubus and the Little
Rock school board.
The people of Little Rock recently had a school board
election and elected by an overwhelming vote the school
board members who advocated a projected court-approved
Little Rock plan [of gradual integration].
CLAIMS TENSIONS CREATED
The governor has called out the National Guard to put
down trouble when none existed. He did so without a re
quest from those of us who are directly responsible for
preservation of peace and order. The only effect of his action
is to create tensions where none existed.
I call the governor’s attention to the fact that after almost
a week of sensational developments brought about by his
own action, the Little Rock police have not had a single
case of interracial violence reported to them. This is clear
evidence that the governor’s excuse for calling out the Guard
is simply a hoax.
Sept. 3 guardsmen surrounded the school. No Negroes
red. That evening federal Judge Ronald N. Davies,
pj? 3 faring, made the following statement to the Little
•j. * school board, which had asked Negroes not to attend
' school:
order will issue tonight, directing you to put into
forthwith the plan of integration which you presented
L l u< Tge of this court and which was approved by him and
Court of Appeals of the Eighth Circuit sitting in St.
1 ® ere is a partial text of the order:
I-, j.,.' T- Heretofore in this action said defendants submitted
s c °urt a Plan of Integration for the Little Rock school
HSi encompassing the beginning of integration at the
l^ool level on Sept. 3, 1957, with gradual integration
® other grades thereafter; and that said plan was ap-
|w"IHy this court by decree entered in this cause on
k* 7 - 1956, which was appealed to the Eighth Circuit
°f Appeals and by that court approved on April 26,
* 2
Sept. 2, 1957, as a consequence of the actions of
'*ty a uthority of the state of Arkansas in stationing mili-
-f V( g 'y irc ls at the Little Rock Central High School to “pre-
‘]4ts e P ea ce and good order,” the above-named defend -
| ‘W ^ Verse d the position taken by them in the Plan of
j 011 referred to above and requested Negro students
V *° a ff en d the Little Rock High School and other high
J (. s tlo f to do so until the legal dilemma was solved.
3 ^ EVIDENCE INSUFFICIENT
4iy ev idence presented to this court reveals no reason
J ^ot k or ® na l Plan of Integration approved by this court
i It _ carried out forthwith.
, c ° n cluded that the defendants should be directed and
etii 0j . , . integrate in the Little Rock School District the
H»h schools immediately and without delay, and
On Sept. 4, troops barred nine Negroes who appeared at
the school. Judge Davies asked U.S. Attv. Gen. Herbert
Brownell to order an investigation. Gov. Faubus then sent
the following telegram to President Dwight D. Eisenhower:
. . . The question at issue at Little Rock this moment is
not integration vs. segregation. Peaceful integration has been
accomplished for sometime in the University of Arkansas,
state-supported colleges, and in three more of our largest
public schools—Fort Smith, Ozark, Van Buren. It is impos
sible to integrate some of our schools at this time without
violence. The Supreme Court recognized that conditions in
each community must be considered and I have interpreted
your public statements to indicate that you are in agree
ment with this premise.
The question now is whether or not the head of a sovereign
state can exercise his constitutional powers and discretion
in maintaining peace and good order within his jurisdiction,
being accountable to his own conscience and to his own
people.
Certain units of the National Guard have been placed on
duty to preserve the peace and good order of this commun-
ity. You as a military man—know that the commander
must have the authority and the discretion to take the neces
sary steps warranted by the situation with which he must
deal.
WOULD TAKE HIM INTO CUSTODY
I am reliably informed that federal authorities in Little
Rock have this day been discussing plans to take into cus
tody, by force, the head of a sovereign state. This would be
in complete disregard of the constitutional guarantees of
the separation and independence of the three branches of
government and the rights and powers of a state. As the
duly elected governor and representative of the people of
Arkansas, I can no more surrender these rights than you
could surrender the rights of the duly elected chief execu
tive of our nation . . .
I must follow the precedent set by you as a chief executive
when you declined to have your administrative aides sura-
(Continued On Page 2)
U. S. Troops in Arkansas;
751 Districts Integrated
"ITiolence, marked by crowd demonstrations, the first bombing of a
" school in the South, and the first dispatch of federal troops to a
scene of school strife claimed the spotlight in the 17 southern and
border states while the number of desegregated districts rose to 751
. out of 2,985 known to have pupils of both races.
Armed paratroops of the U. S. 101st Division were sent to Little
Rock, Ark., under President Eisenhower’s orders in late September
after the Arkansas National Guard, acting under orders of Gov. Orval
E. Faubus, had barred nine Negro students from all-white Central
High School. (A documentary account of the controversy appears on
this page and on page two.)
Meanwhile, at Nashville, Tenn., 19 first-graders entered previously
all-white schools amid crowd disturbances and the dynamiting of an
elementary school. Police restrained demonstrators, of whom a score
were arrested, and by the end of the month the school scene was
peaceful. Eight of the Negro pupils were withdrawn.
Kentucky reported 105 desegregated
school districts as against 99 last month
and Oklahoma added two more. The
total this month, which included dis
tricts desegregated previously but not
reported, was 11 higher than the 740
reported in the September issue of
Southern School News.
SOME WITHDREW
However, Negroes withdrew from an
Ozark, Ark., school which had a de
segregation policy, and North Little
Rock cancelled its high school desegre
gation. No Negroes appeared at offi
cially desegregated Clay, Ky., and one
Negro child was withdrawn from a
Maryland school after community pro
test.
At a session of the Southern Gover
nors Conference at Sea Island, Ga.,
chief executives of five states sought
and gained an appointment with Presi
dent Eisenhower for Oct. 1 in Wash
ington, D. C., in order to discuss the
Little Rock school crisis. The President
provided that the whole subject of
school segregation-desegregation be
discussed. Guv. Marvin Griffin of Geor
gia withdrew.
A summary of major developments
state-by-state follows:
Alabama
Public schools opened on a segre
gated basis with an incident at one
school in Birmingham where a Negro
minister was beaten after trying un-
sucessfully to enroll his two daughters.
Arkansas
Two districts desegregated their
schools as planned, but a third tried
desegregation and abandoned it, and a
fourth called it off. The fifth district
with desegregation plans—Little Rock
—saw state troops at first block Negro
pupils, then demonstrations following
withdrawal of the militia, and finally
federal troop enforcement of the deseg
regation order under President Eisen
hower’s direction.
Delaware
State school officials readied a deseg
regation plan for all segregated districts
but said they would not release it
pending a court decision.
District of Columbia
The new president of the District’s
board of education said the one-year
integration plan had made the change
over from segregation a success.
Florida
Police barricades were erected around
a Pompano Beach school after rumors
that Negroes would attempt to enroll
there. None appeared.
Georgia
Southern governors, meeting at Sea
Island, arranged a conference of five
of their number (one later withdrew)
with President Eisenhower to discuss
the Little Rock situation and school in
tegration generally.
Kentucky
Minor disturbances occurred at Stur
gis, where 18 Negroes enrolled under
protection of state police and where,
last year, National Guard troops were
maintained for 18 days. The state now
reports 105 desegregated districts.
Louisiana
Schools opened uneventfully—and
segregated—with little tension and no
violence reported.
Maryland
Whites and Negroes were reported
attending classes together in 275 of the
state’s 1,000 schools, while some dis
orders occurred at one school, and a
lone Negro child was withdrawn from
a second school.
Mississippi
Schools opened segregated and with
out any entry petitions being filed as a
study showed a Negro population shift
into Jackson, the capital city, with
whites moving to the suburbs.
Missouri
A third-year integration study in
Kansas City showed that shifts in
school population largely followed the
general housing pattern, as it in turn
altered.
North Carolina
The state’s three newly-desegregated
school districts were reported quiet a
few weeks after schools opened though
one Negro girl withdrew from a Char
lotte school after reported white stu
dent harassment.
Oklahoma
Two more school districts were de
segregated—both as the result of court
action.
South Carolina
Public schools opened peacefully—
and segregated—and a Negro college
which had accepted a white Hungarian
refugee lost acceptance of its graduates
for teacher certification, reportedly be
cause of the presence on the faculty of
three persons whom the president had
sought unsuccessfully to remove.
Tennessee
With three exceptions, Tennessee’s
school districts remained segregated.
Schools opened without incident this
year at Clinton, strife-torn in 1956, and
a building was bombed in Nashville as
first-grade desegregation was completed
under police protection.
Texas
The Dallas school board voted to ap
peal court-ordered desegregation for
the mid-winter term.
Virginia
A last-minute court order averted a
showdown in Arlington County on
whether schools would be closed to
prevent integration. Use of the pupil
placement law was restrained by a
court in Richmond.
West Virginia
The state became the first to end
segregation in all its biracial districts
when Hampshire County opened two
of its schools to Negroes.
# # #
Index
Alabama
. 4
Kentucky
10
Oklahoma
| |
Arkansas
. 3
Louisiana
. 9
South Carolina .
. 13
Delaware
8
Maryland
14
Tennessee
A
Dist. of Columbia
14
Mississippi
8
Texas
16
Florida
10
Missouri
12
Virginia
7
Georgia
15
North Carolina
5
West Virginia
12