Newspaper Page Text
page 4—JANUARY 1958—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Educator
Heads Civil
Rights Unit
WASHINGTON, D.C.
W ithin a 24-hour period Presi
dent Eisenhower designated
Michigan State University Presi
dent John A. Hannah to be the
new chairman of the Civil Rights
Commission and set Jan. 3 as the
date for the commission’s first
meeting. (See “National Affairs.”)
Hannah, with a record favoring
racial integration, moves into the
spot vacated by former Supreme
Court Justice Stanley F. Reed
who resigned because commission
service would be “incompatible
with my obligations as a judge.”
To fill out the six-member com
mission, the administration ap
pointed former Florida Gov.
Doyle Elam Carlton.
The administration also made clear
that it will seek no new civil rights
legislation in the coming year, that it
favors instead a “cooling off” period on
this controversial issue.
STATE CONTROL PLANNED
And in drafting federal aid to edu
cation measures, the administration will
attempt to dodge the segregation issue
by proposing programs which will put
the states in control.
On the local level in Washington, Dis
trict School Supt. Hobart M. Coming
released student achievement records
for three Georgetown elementary
schools to answer parents’ complaints
that “low standards” were driving
Georgetown youngsters into private
schools. The achievement levels of the
pupils compared favorably with na
tional averages. (See “District
Schools.”)
To help deal with the integration
problem on a community basis, School
Board President Walter N. Tobriner
named a special committee to work
with redevelopment and urban renewal
officials. This was done amid warnings
from Washington planning officials that
current redevelopment projects in the
city might result in racial ghettos in
stead of “open communities that are
models for our future city life.”
The new Civil Rights Commission
chairman, John A. Hannah, has strong
moral convictions on civil rights. He
has backed integration in both aca
demic and military institutions.
One of Hannah’s first acts when ap
pointed president of Michigan State
University in 1941 was to integrate
Negro and white students in campus
dormitories. Soon afterward, he di
rected that all racial designations be
eliminated from student records.
After he was named chairman on
Dec. 23, Hannah said that he plans a
patient, “good-will” approach to inte
gration. Problems facing the commis
sion, he said, are “as important as any
confronting the American people to
day.”
‘NO ILLUSIONS’
“Wise men have struggled with them
for decades, and I have no illusions that
this commission will be able to produce
the final solution in a few months,” he
said. “However, I approach this task
with the attitude that men of good will
should be able to make some useful
contribution to the national interest.”
Hannah already was on the commis
sion as vice chairman when he was
moved up to the top spot. The commis
sion, authorized by Congress as part
of the civil rights bill passed in the
closing days of the 1957 session, has
authority to investigate alleged civil
rights violations and report to the
President.
Hannah succeeds Reed who resigned
Dec. 3, less than a month after he and
five others were named to the commis
sion. Reed informed President Eisen
hower that when he agreed to serve
he “permitted my desire to be of use
... to blind me to the weightier harm
ful effects of possible lowering of re
spect for the impartiality of the federal
judiciary.”
As a retired Supreme Court justice,
Reed is subject to recall for duty on
any federal bench except the Supreme
Court.
Also when he was a member of the
high court, Reed sat in judgment on
several civil rights cases, including the
1954 decision outlawing enforced seg
regation in public schools.
The selection of Carlton to fill the
vacancy on the commission immediate
ly drew criticism from Edward D. Hol
lander, national director of Americans
for Democratic Action, which favors
strong federal action in support of
civil rights.
COMMISSION CALLED ‘INCAPABLE’
Hollander noted that Carlton is the
third southern Democrat named to the
six-man commission. Hollander con
cluded that the commission now is “in
capable of performing the function for
which it was created.”
However, Sen. George A. Smathers
(D-Fla.) said Carlton “thoroughly un
derstands the depth and magnitude of
the problem” the commission faces.
Carlton was among the southerners
at the 1952 Democratic convention who
sought to tone down the party’s plat
form on civil rights. He was pledged to
Sen. Richard Russell (D-Ga.) at that
convention. In 1956, however, he headed
the delegation to the convention,
pledged to Adlai Stevenson. Carlton is
a 70-year-old Tampa (Fla.) lawyer.
LIKE ANY OTHER LAWS
Meanwhile, Atty. Gen. William P.
Rogers told his first full-dress news
conference that he intends to enforce
civil rights laws “the same as in other
areas, with no more belligerency and
no less.”
But the new attorney general said the
“best interests of the country” would
be served if no new request for civil
rights legislation were made during this
session of Congress. He declared time
was needed to see how the new statute
operates.
Ardent civil rights supporters, who
believe the recently-enacted legislation
is too mild, are expected to renew their
battle for a broader bill. But Rogers’
position will be viewed favorably by
southern Democrats who hold the most
influential positions in Congress, it was
said.
COUNCILS PROBE ASKED
Both the Justice Department and
President Eisenhower were asked by
the AFL-CIO “to launch an immediate
and full-scale investigation into the ac
tivities of the so-called citizens councils
now operating in Mississippi, Alabama,
Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louis
iana, South Carolina and Florida, or
anywhere else they may be operating, to
determine if their activities and meth
ods violate any federal statute or the
Constitution.”
This resolution was passed at the
AFL-CIO convention in Atlantic City,
N.J., Dec. 10 when it was pointed out
that while the white Citizens Councils
have worked “tremendous damage on
the moral standards of various areas”
they “do not represent the total senti
ment of the South.”
Early reports concerning the Eisen
hower administration’s federal school
aid proposals indicated that federal aid
for public school construction, signifi
cantly, was missing. Instead the pro
gram being drafted is aimed at meet
ing the challenge of Soviet scientific
successes by giving the states money to
expand science and mathematics educa
tion and to provide scholarships for
gifted students.
TO AVOID CONTROVERSY
Uppermost in the administration’s
thinking is the need to avoid those con
troversies which have defeated past
school aid measures. Every effort is be
ing made to keep control on the state
and local level while supplying federal
funds.
Despite parents’ protests that “low
standards” were driving Georgetown
youngsters into private schools,
achievement records showed that pu
pils at the Fillmore, Hyde and Jackson
schools are equal with or ahead of the
national norms in most subjects.
Comparison of the results over the
past three years showed no noticeable
pattern of increase or decrease in pupil
achievement.
In ordering release of the records
for third, fifth and sixth graders, the
school board ordered that the schools
be identified as “A,” “B” and “C” to
avoid damaging any school’s reputation.
Test results follow:
ACHIEVEMENTS VARY
School A—Third graders, month or
more ahead of the national average in
every subject; fifth graders, several
months behind; sixth graders, one
month behind in spelling but up to 15
months ahead in other subjects.
School B—Third graders, one month
behind in spelling, two months behind
in arithmetic computation but ahead in
arithmetic reasoning; fifth and sixth
graders, ahead of the national average
in every subject including a lead of
almost three years in sixth grade read
ing ability.
School C—Third graders, one month
behind in reading and spelling but
ahead in other subjects; fifth graders,
behind in spelling and arithmetic com
putation but ahead in other subjects;
sixth graders, ahead of the national
average in all subjects.
RESIDENTIAL STUDY
In naming a committee of three school
officials to work with city planners,
School Board President Tobriner was
acting on a suggestion of Frederick
Gutheim, staff director of a joint con
gressional committee studying metro
politan area problems. However, when
Gutheim made his suggestion he was
serving as a consultant to the real estate
firm handling redevelopment in south
west Washington. In a letter to Tobriner
Gutheim stated:
“By working together with housing
and redevelopment officials it should
be possible for the school system to
deal with the integration problem on a
community basis as well as within the
school system.
“Many problems that are difficult to
solve solely within the school environ
ment might prove easier to deal with
on a broader scale.”
SCHOOLS CAN HELP
The schools, he said, must join in the
effort to rehabilitate slums in such a
manner as to attract families to remain
in town instead of fleeing to suburbia.
“In many cities, like Detroit, the local
public officials have abandoned any at
tempt to create a genuinely integrated
community in the redevelopment area
but have assumed that the entire com
munity will be occupied by Negroes,”
Gutheim emphasized.
“This may be politically expedient
but the long range consequences of
this policy can only lead to racial ghet-
toes, as bad from any democratic point
of view as the slums which they have
replaced.”
Gutheim observed that schools as
community institutions should be the
primary place that Negro and white
families come together and work to
gether and learn to respect each other
Southern School News
Southern School News is the official publication of the Southern Education
Reporting Service, an objective, fact-finding agency established by southern
newspaper editors and educators with the aim of providing accurate, unbiased
information to school administrators, public officials and interested lay citizens
on developments in education arising from the U. S. Supreme Court opinion of
May 17, 1954 declaring segregation in the public schools unconstitutional. SERS
is not an advocate, is neither pro-segregation nor anti-segregation, but simply
reports the facts as it finds them, state by state.
Published monthly by Southern Education Reporting Service at 1109 19th Ave.,
S., Nashville, Tenn.
Second class mail privileges authorized at Nashville, Tenn., under the authority
of the act of March 3, 1879.
OFFICERS
Frank Ahlgren Chairman
Thomas R. Waring Vice-Chairman
Don Shoemaker Executive Director
Patrick McCauley, Assistant to the Executive Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Frank Ahlgren, Editor, Memphis Com
mercial-Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
Harvie Branscomb, Chancellor, Vander
bilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
Luther H. Foster, President, Tuskegee
Institute, Tuskegee, Ala.
Coleman A. Harwell, Editor. Nashville
Tennessean, Nashville, Tenn.
Henry H. Hill, President. George Pea
body College, Nashville, Tenn.
C. A. McKnight. Editor, Charlotte Ob
server, Charlotte, N.C.
Charles Moss, Executive Editor, Nash
ville Banner, Nashville, Tenn.
George N. Redd, Dean, Fisk University,
Nashville, Tenn.
Don Shoemaker, Exec. Director, Sou.
Education Reporting Service
Bert Struby, Editor, Macon Telegraph,
Macon, Ga.
Thomas R. Waring. Editor, Charleston
News & Courier, Charleston, S.C.
Henry I. Willett, Superintendent of
Schools, Richmond, Va.
CORRESPONDENTS
ALABAMA
William H. McDonald, Assistant
Editor, Montgomery Advertiser
ARKANSAS
William T. Shelton, City Editor, Ar
kansas Gazette
DELAWARE
William P. Frank, Staff Writer, Wil
mington News
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Eve Edstrom, Staff Writer, Wash
ington Post & Times Herald
FLORIDA
Bert Collier, Staff Writer, Miami
Herald
GEORGIA
Joseph B. Parham, Editor, The Macon
News
KENTUCKY
Weldon James. Editorial Writer,
Louisville Courier-Journal
LOUISIANA
Leo Adde, Staff Writer, New Orleans
Item
MARYLAND
Edgar L. Jones, Editorial Writer,
Baltimore Sun
MISSISSIPPI
Kenneth Toler, Mississippi Bureau,
Memphis Commercial-Appeal
MISSOURI
William K. Wyant Jr., Staff Writer,
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
NORTH CAROLINA
Jay Jenkins, Raleigh Bureau Chief,
Charlotte Observer
OKLAHOMA
Leonard Jackson, Staff Writer, Okla
homa City Oklahoman-Times
SOUTH CAROLINA
W. D. Workman Jr., Special Corre
spondent, Columbia, S.C.
TENNESSEE
James Elliott, Staff Writer, Nashville
Banner
Wallace Westfeldt, Staff Writer,
Nashville Tennessean
TEXAS
Richard M. Morehead, Austin Bureau,
Dallas News
VIRGINIA
Overton Jones, Associate Editor,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
WEST VIRGINIA
Thomas F. Stafford, Assistant to the
Editor, Charleston Gazette
MAIL ADDRESS
P.O. Box 6156, Acklen Station, Nashville 5, Tenn.
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and live together side by side in the
same community.
“This must be done if the redevelop
ment effort is to result in open com
munities that are models for our future
city life and if they are to be attractive
to families now tempted to move to the
suburbs and even to those now living
in the suburbs who will be tempted
to move back into the central city. . . .
“If the schools do not respond to
this challenge there is a real danger
the entire objective of urban redevelop
ment may be frustrated.”
His warning was similar to one from
another Washington planner, Carl Feiss,
who cautioned against letting Wash
ington become a “welfare city or a
(See DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Page
7)
D. C. Enrollments Compared
Washington, D.C. public school enrollment for Oct. 18, 1957, com
pared with enrollment on Oct. 19, 1956.
Oct. 18, 1957
Oct. 19, 1956
Difference
Elementary Schools
White ....
.. 18,162
20,113
-1,951
Negro ....
.. 54,604
50,112
+4,492
Total ...
.. 72,766
70,225
+2,541
Junior High Schools
White ....
.. 6,599
7,256
— 657
Negro ....
.. 13,311
13,274
+ 37
Total ...
.. 19,910
20,530
— 620
Senior High Schools
White ....
.. 5,245
5,482
— 237
Negro ....
.. 8,354
7,360
+ 724
Total ...
.. 13,599
13,112
+ 487
Vocational High Schools
White ....
857
795
+ 62
Negro ....
1,531
1,327
+ 204
Total ...
.. 2,388
2,122
+ 266
Americanization School
White ....
728
683
+ 45
Negro ....
+ 45
Total ...
728
683
Capitol Page School
White ....
35
28
+ 7
Negro ....
2
2
0
Total ...
37
30
+ 7
Veterans High School Center
White ....
1
_ 1
Negro ....
613
609
+ 4
Total ...
613
610
+ 3
D.C. Teachers College
White
377
400
_ 23
Negro ....
696
769
— 73
Total 1,073
GRAND TOTALS
1,169
— 96
White ....
.. 32,003
34,758
—2,755
Negro ....
.. 79,111
73,723
+5,388
111,114
108,481
+2,633