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PAGE 16—SEPTEMBER 1958—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS SOUTH CAROLINA Status Quo Prevails; Two More Petitions Filed KENTUCKY Three More Districts End School Segregation COLUMBIA, S .C. n the eve of the 1958-59 school year opening, South Carolina’s pattern of segregated schools remained unchanged, the only apparent ripple being the filing of two integration petitions in Clarendon County. (See “School Boards and Schoolmen.”) Reaction of the Clarendon school officials was to cite state law which requires racial segregation in pub lic schools. South Carolinians in and out of pub lic office commented favorably on the re-election of Arkansas’ Gov. Orval E. Faubus and unfavorably on the action of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in overruling a district court order sus pending integration. South Carolina’s office holders also were critical of President Eisenhower’s statement indi cating use of federal troops again to en force federal court decrees. (See “What They Say.”) Two more petitions requesting the elimination of school segregation in Clarendon County have been filed with school boards of Districts 2 and 3, but no further legal action had been ini tiated by the end of August. Clarendon County’s District One (Summerton) provided one of the five cases ruled upon by the U.S. Supreme Court in its May 17, 1954 decision ban ning enforced segregation. That orig inal case, Briggs v. Elliott, resulted in a subsequent order from a three-judge district court that the schools be de segregated “with all deliberate speed,” but there has been no integration in the district. The latest petitions were aimed at the school authorities of the Manning and Turbeville sections of Clarendon Coun ty. The Manning petition, signed by six Negroes, and the Turbeville petition, signed by one, asked for reorganization of the districts on a racially non-dis- criminatory basis and cited the Su preme Court decisions as grounds for the requests. SAME REPLIES Lincoln C. Jenkins, Negro attorney of Columbia who represents the peti tioners, told Southern School News in late August that identical replies had been received from the two school boards affected. Both said the schools were being operated in accordance with existing law and the school officials did not think it wise to make any change. The replies also said the prevailing operation of the schools (on a segre gated basis) was to the advantage of the children of both races. Jenkins said further action was planned in behalf of the petitioners, but he declined to say what it was or when it would be forthcoming. INDICATES NAACP NOT INVOLVED Jenkins also reported he represented the petitioners as individual parents, conveying the impression that the peti tions were not actively sponsored by the National Association for the Advance ment of Colored People. The NAACP carried the Summerton case through the courts to its successful conclusion be fore the U. S. Supreme Court. Receipt of the petitions apparently caused little excitement. Superinten dent of Education L. B. McCord said: “I don’t anticipate any trouble in Claren don County.” The names of the peti tioners, which were withheld initially by the school boards, subsequently were published in the News and Cou rier (of Charleston) and other news papers. OFFICIALS ACCUSED OF APPEASEMENT Before the names were released, S. Emory Rogers, Summerton attorney and Citizens Council official, accused school officials of the Manning and Turbeville districts of “appeasement” in withholding the names. He added that the existence of active Citizens Councils in the two districts would have pre vented the filing of such petitions. Rog ers was one of the lawyers who defended the Summerton school board in the Briggs v. Elliott case. Officials of the two school districts discussed the situation with the state’s Special Segregation Committee. There after, the committee chairman, State Sen. L. Marion Gressette, of Calhoun County, said: “We are confident that they will handle the situation as it should be handled.” Meanwhile, public schools throughout the state began the 1958-59 school year on the segregated basis required by South Carolina law. Since 1953, the South Carolina General Assembly has enacted numerous statutes aimed at strengthening the state’s pattern of racially segregated schools. FACILITIES AT PEAK School facilities in the state are at an all-time high in terms of physical plants, due to the expenditures made since 1951 under the state’s school equalization and expansion program. That program, sup ported by a three per cent general sales tax, has resulted in the allocation of more than $187 million for school con struction and improvement through Aug. 15. The distribution has been al most 59-50 between white and Negro schools, although early disbursements were predominantly for Negro schools. Population shifts within some of the larger cities have resulted in redistribu tion of school facilities. One such change becomes effective this fall with the switch of Courtenay Elementary School at Charleston from white to Negro occupancy. Negro school enrollment in Charleston has increased at a fast rate due in part to the continuing movement of white Charlestonians to suburban areas, and a decline in white enrollment in parts of the city. Developments in the Little Rock, Ark., school case continued to draw comment from prominent South Carolinians. Election of Gov. Orval E. Faubus to a third term in Arkansas was described by S. C. Atty. Gen. T. C. Callison as clearly vindicating the Arkansas gov ernor and “demonstrates the fact that the people of Arkansas are not ready to accept the theory that the federal courts may enforce their own decrees.” Former Gov. James F. Byrnes said: “It is evident the voters of Arkansas registered their disapproval of the use of federal troops in the Little Rock school.” South Carolina newspaper editors commented unfavorably on the decision of the Eighth Circuit Court in over ruling District Judge Harry J. Lemley’s suspension of integration at Little Rock. EISENHOWER CRITICIZED Later in the month, when President Eisenhower indicated that he might again dispatch federal troops to enforce integration orders at Little Rock, South Carolina congressmen severely criti cized his statement. Sen. Olin D. John ston said: “The President has lost sight of the fact that we all are solemnly pledged to uphold the Constitution of the United States [which] says nothing whatever about the federal courts run ning the public schools of the state.” Sen. Strom Thurmond said: “I am ex tremely disappointed with the President. It seems that he will never learn that the traditions of a people cannot be changed through the application of raw force.” Differing views were expressed earlier by ministers attending the 13th Annual Connectional Christian Educa tion Congress at Allen (Negro) Univer sity at Columbia. The Rev. W. L. Hilde brand of South Boston, Va., told the African Methodist Episcopal ministers at the Congress: “The age of integration is upon us, Gov. Faubus, Gov. Timmerman, and Sen. Byrd notwithstanding. . . . Integra tion is not a far-off event. We are on the stage whether we like it or not. Our only choice is will our role be active or passive?” The Rev. H. M. Nelson, of St. Peters burg, Fla., said: “Our church must lead this fight for total integration.” County Judge J. Segar Gravatt of Virginia addressed the Fairfield Citizens Council on Aug. 14, saying: “The country faces a great crisis in constitu tional government because of the usurpation of power by the Supreme Court.” Democratic party leaders from all states of the Southeast met in Columbia Aug. 9 and 10 in what was described as “a work conference” aimed at develop ing liaison between the southern Demo crats and exchanging ideas on party organization. The meetings were closed, but at a press conference Aug. 10, Hugh Clayton, national committeeman from Mississippi, termed the gathering a suc cessful effort to bring Democratic lead ers together for the good of the party. No mention was made of third party talk or of any possible defection from the national party. There was some acknowledgment, however, that anti- southem statements from National Chairman Paul Butler and the Demo cratic Advisory Council hampered party activities in the South. BETTER LIAISON AIM The meeting was an outgrowth of ef forts by South Carolina’s new state chairman, Thomas H. Pope, to achieve closer cohesion among Democrats of the southern states between now and the 1960 presidential election year. Those in attendance at the Columbia confer ence were “regulars” in the sense of having stood by the Democratic party in the face of considerable defections by some Democrats for Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. If racial matters were discussed, they were not disclosed to the press. James McBride Dabbs, a South Caro linian who heads the Southern Regional Council, is the author of a new book which raps segregation as an unnec essary and unsavory vestige of bygone days. The book was published Aug. 18 by Alfred A. Knopf. Dabbs places heavy stress on the economic aspects of segregation, ascrib ing much of its inception and perpetua tion to economic factors. He belittles southern fears that the end of segrega tion would bring an end to southern culture and scoffs at fears that any appreciable inter-breeding or lowering of scholastic standards would result from integration. Dabbs is a one-time college professor who now farms in the Mayesville com munity of Sumter County. # # # West Virginia (Continued From Page 14) behind the national educational aver age. Kanawha County completed its pro gram of desegregation two years ago. West Virginia colleges, which en rolled approximately 26,000 students last year, anticipated a total part-time and full-time enrollment this fall of 29,000 students. H. K. Baer, executive secretary of the state Board of Education, cited a 20.4 per cent increase in summer students at state colleges as evidence that more West Virginians are seeking a higher education. In Kanawha County, where privately- endowed Morris Harvey College is segregated and state-supported West Virginia State is desegregated, college enrollment was expected to go above 4,000. State anticipates a total enroll ment of 2,200 whites and Negroes; Morris Harvey 2,000 whites. The Charleston area will have a new institution of higher learning this fall— the Graduate Center of Science and Engineering, a branch of the Univers ity. It opens Sept. 12 on the West Vir ginia State campus. Like other state-operated institutions, it will be desegregated. The center was created by act of the last Legislature and must be self-supporting. Another West Virginia college, Storer, appears closed for good. Opened after the Civil War at Harpers Ferry as a private Negro college, Storer re mained in existence until the Legisla ture withdrew its state subsidy in 1955. The Legislature felt it could no longer support a segregated college— even to the extent of the $20,000 Storer got each year—after state colleges were desegregated. Bluefield State College, in difficulty since it was changed in 1954 from a Negro to a desegregated college, ex pects enrollment this fall to be 100 above the 425 enrolled last year. In 1957-58 Bluefield had 75 white and 350 Negro students. In answer to an SSN questionnaire. West Virginia college presidents said they have no new plans this fall in the desegregation field. Their schools are open to students of all races, they said in effect, and nothing more can be done. # # # LOUISVILLE, Ky. ENTUCKY BEGAN ITS 1958-59 school year with four added high schools and three new dis tricts enrolling Negroes for the first time this September. There were no incidents. It was the fourth successive year in which the state’s official program of compliance has been expanded. The schools enrolling Negroes for the first time were: Fulton City, in Southwest Kentucky, where 20 Negroes were enrolled along with 161 white children; Bardstown Independent, in Central Kentucky, where six ninth grade Negroes were admitted with 225 whites; and two Nelson County high schools nearby— Bloomfield and Old Kentucky Home, the former enrolling 11 ninth grade Negroes and 179 white children, the latter enrolling three ninth grade Ne groes and 322 white pupils. The Nel son County development followed elimination of the ninth grade at the Bardstown Training School for Ne groes. In addition, Owen County High, under court orders planned to add eight Negroes to its 356 white students on Sept. 8. At Sturgis High, where National Guardsmen were called out to put down disorders in 1956, 25 Negroes re turned without incident on Sept. 2. None appeared at nearby Clay, where the courts ordered the school opened to Negroes last year. SCHOOL STATISTICS New-year statistics (and estimates) at a glance: Total public school enrollment: 560,000 whites, 40,000 Negroes (from a school-age census showing 680,595 whites, 46,920 Negroes). Census increase over last year, reflected in the enroll ment estimate is 9,357. Total school districts: 215. Districts with no school-age Negroes: 44. Bi- racial districts: 171. Desegregated dis tricts (with programs ranging from one or two to all grades, though 20 in this announced classification last year ac tually had no mixed classes): 117. Dis tricts with no announced plans: 54. No districts are planning to “re segregate” to the knowledge of Dr. Robert R. Martin, state Superintendent of Public Instruction. MORE MONEY Total state-and-local school budget for the new year is $132 million—$100.6 million from state-aid and local min imum-tax yields, an increase of $6 million over last year, and about $32 million from school taxes in excess of minimum legal requirements. Overcrowding will still exist in some schools, but will be lessened by the building of 700 additional classrooms in each of the past two years (under local district revenue-bond financing totaling $22.3 million in 1956-57—double that of the year before—and $17.1 million in 1957- 58.) A similar increase of about 700 new classrooms is expected in 1958- 59. The three new districts desegregating this fall, all at the high school level, are Fulton City and Owen County (both under federal court orders), and Bardstown Independent. Fulton, in southwestern Kentucky, has a total school-age population of 602 whites, 131 Negroes. Its high school last year enrolled 198 white pupils. By board announcement, following federal district court orders previously re ported in Southern School News, it planned to enroll 23 Negro pupils on Sept. 2. DESEGREGATES Owen County, in north-central Ken tucky, has a total school-age popula tion of 1,704 whites, 91 Negroes. Last year the Owen County High School enrolled 356 white pupils. In a pattern similar to that at Fulton—court orders after suit by the NAACP—school Supt. Howard Smith said late in August he anticipated enrollment of eight Negro pupils on Sept. 8. The Owen County school board was also ordered last February to make “a prompt and reasonable start” toward integration of elementary grades. Coun ty voters will be asked in the Novem ber election to approve a tax increase to finance new elementary school con struction. If they fail to do so, James Crumlin, Louisville attorney and Ken tucky NAACP head, said on Aug. 21 his organization “probably would press for integration in present facilities.” Supt. Ted Crosswaite of Bardstown last spring announced September would bring the first “formal” integration in Bardstown High School—at the ninth grade level. The high school last year enrolled 219 white pupils and this year expected several Negro pupils to trans fer from the Bardstown Training School, which last year had a total high school enrollment of 83 but which no longer will have a ninth grade. This “formal” program follows what Crosswaite termed “a four year period of gradually effecting integration.” The earlier steps included opening gyms and playgrounds of white schools to Negro students, and the “partial integration” of individual classes at Bardstown High in such subjects as typing and indus trial arts—a program extended this month to mathematics and science. EXTENDED PROGRAMS Districts with announced plans to ex tend established integration programs this year included Wayne County, Hop kinsville and Owensboro. Wayne County, under Supt. Ira C. Bell, was the first Kentucky district to announce and initiate a desegrega tion program—in the summer of 1955. Last year Wayne County High School enrolled 581 white and seven Negro pupils, and two county elementary schools with a white enrollment of 170 each enrolled two Negro pupils. On Aug. 18 the county system opened a new $400,000 elementary school at the southern city limits of the county seat, Monticello (an independent district whose high school last year had 265 white and 17 Negro pupils). The new school’s enrollment, which permitted the abandonment of 18 small rural schools, is 751 whites, 20 Negroes. THIRD GRADE MIXED In Hopkinsville, which has a school- age population of 2,071 whites and 928 Negroes (in the elementary system, 1,468 whites and 642 Negroes), the board of education on Aug. 16 an nounced plans to integrate third grade pupils in September. This follows first grade integration in 1956, second grade integration in 1957, under a system largely prevalent in Kentucky whereby parents of pupils in integrated classes can transfer them to other schools with the superintendent’s permission. The board statement indicated that the rate of future integration “will be determined each year in terms of what will appear a practical and workable solution.” OWENSBORO PROGRAM An example of the gradual and “vol untary” planning common to many Kentucky districts is that of Owens boro, which prepared to end all com pulsory segregation in the city system in September. In September 1955, the board of ed ucation permitted Negroes at Western High School to take courses at Senior and Owensboro Technical High schools not available at Western. In September 1956, the board opened its three high schools to students of any race. In September 1957, junior high schools, grades 7 through 10, were opened to all students. LOWER GRADES INVOLVED In May 1958, the all-white board by unanimous vote announced the Septem ber opening of Grades 1 through 6 in any school to all children, a step rec ommended by its racially mixed Inte gration Committee, with the whole pro gram capped by this declaration: “No child in Owensboro from grades 1 to 12 shall be denied enrollment in any public school of this city because of his race.” Emphasis on free choice and per missive features of the program so far has met with an absence of friction— and a high degree of voluntary segre gation. Owensboro has a total school- age population of 7,551 whites and 567 Negroes (in the elementary schools, 3,440 whites and 362 Negroes). Last year Owensboro High enrolled 756 whites and 21 Negroes; Technical High enrolled 173 whites and 8 Negroes. # # *