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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—NOVEMBER 1957—PAGE 15
Little Rock Is S. C. Discussion Topic;
Moderates* of State Publish Views
COLUMBIA, S. C.
he school integration crisis
in Little Rock was the cause
0 f most of the talk and some of
the action affecting racial matters
jjj South Carolina during the
month of October.
Condemnations of the Presi-
3 dent’s action in dispatching fed
eral t r0 °P s to Arkansas came
s from Gov. George Bell Timmer-
f , m an Jr. and numerous other
South Carolinians. (See “What
They Say.”) One county went so
E far as to withdraw financial aid
’ from its own National Guard
j units. (See “Legislative Action.”)
i A group of ministers published a
i booklet of “moderate” statements on
1 raC e relations, climaxing a year-long
effort to bring forth expressions other
> than those of “extremist” elements in
; the school segregation controversy.
■ (See “Community Action.”)
The National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People held its
state convention in Rock Hill. Several
Baptist churches of the lowcountry
and midstate joined in protesting “pro
integration” trends of the Southern
Baptist Convention. (See “Community
Action.”)
Public and private comment, accom
panied by occasional instances of overt
action (see “Legislative Action”) con-
‘ tinued to go on the record in South
Carolina during October as a result of
President Eisenhower’s maintenance of
federal troops at the Central High
: School of Little Rock, Ark.
Gov. George Bell Timmerman Jr.
made several statements during the
1 month on that situation. His first, pub
lished in newspapers of Oct. 1, endorsed
the refusal of Georgia’s Gov. Marvin
Griffin to participate in a conference of
southern governors with Eisenhower if
the general subject of integration were
to be discussed.
Later in the same week. Gov. Tim
merman publicly called upon the
President to explain to the people of
the United States just what laws he
*as operating under when he ordered
federal troops into the Little Rock situ
ation.
’’Lap in FACE’
On the same day, Oct. 3, Atty. Gen.
' C. Callison said the President’s action
“ad completely obliterated” state lines
*d was “a slap in the face” of the
“ngressmen who only recently had
T0 * e< d against legislative proposals
*Wch would have permitted the use of
an enforcing civil rights laws,
everal South Carolina congressmen
“nntinued to berate the President for
1 ™ Arkansas action, and Sen. Strom
urmond termed the action “one of
[•greatest blunders” of our time,
he St. George Lions Club, on Oct.
i ... telegraphed President Eisenhower
message: “The members . . . feel
our liberty is threatened, our in-
^hgence is insulted and our nation’s
: (j 6 ^ If jeopardized by the unconstitu-
■utort,l n l erven ti° n of federal troops
r i(l] “ae school integration situation at
utt le Rock.”
‘ sentT^ *^ lan "11111 residents of Kingstree
j, elegrams to the President protest-
! his “official substitution of naked,
brute force for the constitutional pro
cesses of the Republic.” They also wired
Gov. Orval E. Faubus of Arkansas, sug
gesting that he do nothing until “all
outside force is withdrawn.”
Circuit Judge J. Henry Johnson, ad
dressing the grand jury at Saluda on
Oct. 7, said “the vast majority of the
American Bar Association” believes
Eisenhower acted illegally in sending
troops into Arkansas.
Former Gov. James F. Byrnes, whose
late September speech on states’ rights
and school segregation received full
treatment in some of the northern press,
said in October that he had received a
surprising volume of mail as a conse
quence of the speech. “The response,”
he said, “would indicate that the pre
vailing view in the South has more
sympathizers in the northern states
than we expected from the northern
press and from northern politicians.”
ASK DRAFT BOARDS RESIGN
State Sen. James Hugh McFaddin of
Clarendon County in early October
urged Gov. Timmerman to ask all draft
boards to resign in protest against the
use of federal troops in Little Rock.
McFaddin resigned his own Army Re
serve commission as a major in protest
against the Arkansas action of Presi
dent Eisenhower.
Speaker of the House Solomon Blatt
of Barnwell County speaking at the
annual Laurens County Civic Club
meeting on Oct. 10: “Our people do not
want outside influences to come in and
run their schools for them; they do not
want, in short, anything more than to
be able to live and work and worship
according to their deeply ingrained
sense of the American way, which in
too many other sections is being cor
rupted by those who wish to move too
far too fast.”
Donald S. Russell, president of the
University of South Carolina, publicly
denounced “irresponsible politicians”
who would “pervert American foreign
policy into an ill-advised instrument to
promote their own highly-debatable
domestic programs.” Russell’s remarks,
delivered Oct. 1 before the Bamberg
Lions Club, were occasioned by foreign
reaction to the use of federal troops in
the Little Rock crisis.
In late October, Russell resigned as
president of the university, effective
Nov. 30, in what is considered to be a
preliminary to his running for governor
of South Carolina next year.
The Horry County Board of Commis
sioners on Oct. 2 formally withdrew the
county’s financial support from local
National Guard units in a protest
against President Eisenhower’s federal
izing of the Arkansas National Guard
to enforce court-directed integration
of the Little Rock white high school. At
the same time, the county’s governing
board, supported by the legislative
delegation, withdrew permission for use
of any county facilities by agencies of
the armed forces, including recruiting
services.
The action was taken by resolution
in which it was said that the possi
bility of Arkansas-type action might be
attempted in South Carolina. The
board’s decision drew divided reaction
from Horry County residents. National
Guard officers said the militia would
continue to function as usual, since the
county’s allotment of funds was a rela
tively small amount ($1,200) and was
used for heat, light, water and general
Kentucky
huilH- ^ on ^ tnue d From Page 14)
Bg , S plan that he said would
est for racial integration.
e board had approved over
5j e a plan to build two e
sgjj , ry schools in the near future. C
Sgfr. . e , . * the board should erect c
th e in a central location
t^jT, 1 y which all children of eleme
th^ * c hool age could attend,” rati
: ° ne which would be pi
ingj.,, antl y_ Negro, the other predoi
Hfr lQ y white, but both with “a sir
-I? y °L either race, placing tl
*y at a disadvantage.”
severe ^ n ^ e ^ ro students, includii
vi]j e from the University of Loui
C itl2 ’f°wed up at a meeting of tl
v Ule n S ^ ounc iL °f Kentucky in Loui
tail n 3. But they didn’t stay.
r d Dee Grubbs, chairman of tl
Citizens Councils, telephoned the police
when he and other council members
arrived at the hall they had rented for
the meeting. Acting Night Police Chief
P. M. Fry, accompanied by six other
policemen, answered the call. They sug
gested to the Negroes that they “quietly
leave,” but made it clear they wouldn’t
force them to do so.
Chief Fry told Council members that
they had a right to “have someone on
the door” (to keep Negroes out), but
that “once they’re here, I’m not going
to move them.” He told the Negroes he
felt the Council, having rented the hall,
had a right to hold a private meeting.
The Negroes said they felt that hand
bills advertising the meeting (“to sup
port this white movement”) made it a
public one.
“The only thing we’re interested in,”
said Chief Fry, “is law and order. We
aren’t going to have any trouble.”
About 45 white persons, including
several small children, stayed for the
meeting, heard Chairman Grubbs assail
President Eisenhower for “treason” in
the Little Rock crisis.
# # #
maintenance of National Guard facili
ties in the county.
Later in the month, a new National
Guard Armory was dedicated in
Charleston, with a dedicatory speech in
which State Sen. T. Allen Legare Jr.
said: “Throughout the South thousands
of patriotic, longtime National Guards
men will be giving serious thought to
resigning. Some communities will take
punitive actions against the Guard and
your recruiting program will suffer.
“I believe that because time is on our
side, and because we have gained many
sympathizers over the entire country
. . . the big show in Little Rock was
planned in an attempt to rush things
up ... Be careful, be patient, be cour
ageous.”
Another Charleston legislator, Rep.
Arthur Ravenel Jr., has suggested that
the South Carolina General Assembly
create a S. C. Commission of Informa
tion which would initiate a financial
maneuver to gain control over various
northern newspapers, magazines, radio
and television stations. The commission
would create a business agency which
in turn would sell stock in the amount
of $100 million with which to purchase
northern information media. Investors
would benefit from financial returns
and at the same time would be assuring
ways and means of getting “the south
ern viewpoint” across to non-southern
audiences.
Raymond Moley, newspaper and
magazine columnist and one-time ad
viser to the late President Roosevelt,
commented on the “calm” prevailing in
South Carolina and commended the
Negro schools of Charleston County he
visited on a recent trip to the state.
Writing in both his syndicated column
and in Newsweek magazine, Moley said
that “Messrs. Eisenhower, Warren,
Brownell and other architects of the
present federal policy of integration”
would do well to duplicate his visit.
The State Educational Finance Com
mission on Oet. 10 allocated $340,753
for construction under the school
building program initiated in 1951. To
date, a, total of $178,711,832 has been
allocated. Recent allocations have
brought the white apportionment al
most up to the monetary level of that
for Negro schools, which received the
greater percentage in the early years
of the program.
A Negro member of the North Caro
lina State College band ate with his
fellow band members in the Clemson
College dining hall on Oct. 5 and there
by precipitated a petition of protest
from South Carolinians of the Pee Dee
section of the state. Clemson and N. C.
State played football at Clemson on
that date, and the Negro student from
North Carolina took part in band ex
ercises and ate in the Clemson mess
hall afterwards.
The incident drew a petition, signed
by more than 1,000 persons in the Lake
City area, asking Gov. George Bell
Timmerman Jr. to see that similar in
cidents did not occur in the future lest
they create a “foot in the door” for
further abridgment of the state’s stand
against racial integration.
Dr. R. Frank Poole, Clemson presi
dent, said on Oct. 18 there would be
no further incidents of the sort at
Clemson, and that the state school
would comply “to the fullest extent”
with state laws requiring segregation.
Sen. Strom Thurmond, addressing the
United Daughters of the Confederacy
at Rock Hill on Oct. 17, called for the
dismissal of Democratic National Chair
man Paul Butler. A similar suggestion
had been made in September by State
Democratic Chairman Neville Bennett,
who said he planned to call for a series
of “southern unity” meetings among
Democratic leaders of the South.
Gov. George Bell Timmerman Jr., in
an interview with the Southern School
News correspondent, said: “There is no
lack of unity of thought among the
southern people. I believe they are
united in their political thinking. But
trying to organize the political leaders
is like running up against a brick wall.
It is something I cannot reasonably
explain... The need for southern co
operation and unity has been great for
a number of years.’’
Integrated Class
—The Columbia State
State Sen. John D. Long of Union
County said on Oct. 18 that “the
eventual political salvation for the
South will lie in a third national party
formed with the help of various west
ern states . . . The state [Democratic]
party should either stay in the national
party and abide by its actions or get
out of the party entirely.”
RIVERS RAPS EISENHOWER
Rep. L. Mendel Rivers, of South
Carolina’s First Congressional District,
returned from a European trip during
the latter part of October with the as
sertion that he would devote his ener
gies toward nullifying the support he
gave President Eisenhower in the 1952
Presidential election.
Rep. John L. McMillan, of the Sixth
District, reported that he had been
asked by two Russian Communists at
a London reception whether the
American people believe in states’
rights, referring to the Little Rock epi
sode.
Five South Carolina ministers cul
minated a year-long project on Oct. 23
with the publication of a booklet,
“South Carolinians Speak,” containing
“moderate” expressions on race rela
tions from 12 men and women of the
state.
The booklet is being given wide
initial distribution to persons thought
to be interested in the problems of race
relations and is being placed on sale at
newsstands. Its publication was ar
ranged by the Revs. John B. Morris
and John S. Lyles, both of Dillon;
Ralph E. Cousins, of Marion; Joseph R.
Horn III of Florence, and Larry A.
Jackson, formerly of Florence but now
in Santiago, Chile. Their purpose was
to generate the expression of “mod
erate” views to counter what they
considered to have been the dominant
position of “extreme” views in recent
years. (Excerpts will appear in the
next issue of Southern School News.)
NO TIME FOR GRADUALNESS’
The state convention of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People was held at Rock Hill
during the weekend of Oct. 19-20. The
NAACP director of branches, Gloster
B. Current, in an Oct. 18 address, said
“there is not time for gradualness in
Florida
(Conitnued From Page 14)
“We further believe,” said Ervin,
“that the district courts will now give
the most respectful consideration to the
finding of the Florida Supreme Court
that disruption of the university sys
tem would occur if Negro students
were permitted to enter at this time.”
FIGHT TO CONTINUE
Hawkins and his attorneys said the
legal fight, which began in 1949, will
continue.
Under increasing pressure to make a
start toward integrating schools, the
Dade County school board is expected
to take a stand Nov. 6.
S. D. Phillips, a newly-appointed
member, said he will propose a reso
lution dealing with the question at that
time. Phillips would not say what ac
tion he would suggest.
The Dade County Council on Com
munity Relations for the third time
asked the school board to take some
definite action. This time, the Council
proposed a plan. Steps include:
(1) Desegregate the entire school
system at the same time. (2) Continue
current procedures wherever possible.
(3) Establish assignment and promo
tion of teachers on merit only. (4) Re
district on the basis of sound educa
tional practices. (5) Enlist the support
of the community.
our approach to integration . . . Thank
God for Gov. Faubus. He has hastened
integration five years by opening the
eyes of the country to the kind of
thinking that will call out the National
Guard to keep nine Negro students out
of Little Rock High School.”
Terming segregation “a dead duck,”
he added. “All the tactics of a Tim
merman or a Byrnes are out of place
in a jet, a missile age. The southern
way of fife they talk about can’t exist
in this age.”
Several additional Baptist churches
in October followed the lead of others
which had earlier passed resolutions
opposing integrationist tendencies with
in the Southern Baptist Convention.
The Orangeburg Baptist Association, a
volunteer organization of 33 churches
in the Orangeburg area, adopted by a
vote of 34 to 24 a resolution opposing
integration in Baptist educational insti
tutions and hinting at “further action
in protest thereof” if such practices are
continued.
Gov. George Bell Timmerman Jr.
made a strong attack against the Ku
Klux Klan on Oct. 22 after a Green
ville Klan leader was quoted as having
said “the governor is with us.” In an
interview with the Greenville Pied
mont, Gov. Timmerman denounced the
Klan and said: “This is, I believe, an
other attempt to smear me as a south
ern official who is genuinely concerned
by the racial problems facing us today
. . . No responsible southerner who is
genuinely interested in helping the
South solve its problems is going to
pick a name like that [KKK] for his
organization.”
PROTEST FAIR RECESS
A group of seven Negroes at Rock
Hill asked local school officials to can
cel a half-holiday scheduled so that
students could attend the York County
Fair. The Negro parents said some
children were denied rides and were
called abusive names at the fair
grounds. School officials denied the re
quest, explaining that attendance at the
fair was neither encouraged or dis
couraged but that the half-holiday had
been scheduled as a convenience to
those who wished to attend.
A few days earlier Rock Hill police
confirmed reports of a clash between
about 30 Negroes and a smaller group
of whites at the fairgrounds.
A flurry of publicity was stirred up
when Sen. John D. Long and others of
the Union County legislative delega
tion said in early October that they
had ordered 10 sub-machine guns and
1,000 rounds of ammunition “to repel
any invasion by federal troops or any
one else violating our laws.” Subse
quently Sheriff J. Harold Lamb said
that “riot guns” (shotguns of the type
used by police agencies) were contem
plated rather than submachine guns.
The situation quieted with Sen.
Long, Sheriff Lamb and others agree
ing that the state’s laws on segregation
would be enforced. # # #
The council spokesmen said a study
showed only 16 of the 90 elementary
schools and three Negro and nine
white schools at the junior high level
would have mixed classes.
Gov. Collins, in a press conference,
said the pupil assignment law, passed
to maintain segregation, could also be
used to expedite integration.
“It offers a broad field of flexible
decision on the part of local authori
ties in dealing with the matter of ad
mitting students,” Collins said.
A group of musicians, about half of
whom were Negroes, cancelled a sched
uled appearance at the University of
Florida because they feared racial
trouble. Ralph Bridges, Atlanta book
ing agent for the Leonard Feather En
cyclopedia of Jazz, said the reason was
“simply because of all the racial trou
ble in the South in the schools.”
CROWD AT CRESTWOOD
A crowd of 100 gathered at the
Crestwood High School near Eglin Air
Force Base when Sheriff Ray Wilson
received a call asking protection for
Negro children who wanted to enroll.
When no Negroes showed up, Wilson
said the call apparently was a hoax.
He said he would consider any at
tempts to desegregate the schools as
“inciting a riot.”
“I’ll have to use the law to keep
down any disturbances,” Wilson said.
# # #