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VIRGINIA
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—NOVEMBER 1958—PAGE 13
Schools Remain Closed In Three Cities; Opening Prospects Clouded
RICHMOND, Va.
A BIG QUESTION MARK Tiling
over the future of Virginia’s
public school system as 12,700
children remained away from
their regular classes in nine inte
gration-closed schools in three lo
calities.
Division of sentiment among
Virginians — though not neces
sarily in the same proportion—
was indicated when the Virginia
Congress of Parents and Teachers
defeated by a 557-557 tie vote a
resolution supporting “massive
resistance,” and then endorsed by
a razor-edge margin of two votes,
515-513, a resolution favoring
local option as the best solution to
the school segregation problem.
(See “School Boards and School
men.”)
In Norfolk, where six high and
junior high schools are closed, City
Council set Nov. 18 as the date for an
advisory referendum on whether Coun
cil should ask the governor to allow
the city to re-open the schools on an
integrated basis. (See “Community Ac
tion.”)
MORE COURT ACTION
On the legal front, attacks on the
constitutionality of Virginia’s “massive
resistance” laws were made in a test
case in the state Supreme Court of
Appeals, while a federal district judge
ruled that publicly-paid teachers could
not serve in private schools which dis
criminate against members of any race.
And in Norfolk, three different fed
eral court suits were filed aimed at
forcing the re-opening of six closed
schools. (“See “Legal Action.”)
In the political arena, Dr. Louise
Wensel, independent candidate for Sen.
Harry F. Byrd’s seat in the U. S. Sen
ate, continued her attacks on the state’s
segregation policy, but observers vir
tually were unanimous in the view
that Byrd would be re-elected easily.
PRIVATE SCHOOLING PUSHED
In Norfolk and Warren County, ad
ditional moves were made to provide
private schooling for pupils from closed
public schools. By the end of October,
it appeared most of the children of the
nine closed schools were receiving in
struction either in private classes or in
public schools of other localities.
Section 129 of the Virginia Constitu
tion was a center of attention last
month as Virginians debated the state’s
future course in the segregation crisis.
The section provides “the General
Assembly shall establish and maintain
an efficient system of public free schools
throughout the state.”
BYRD CHARGED
On Oct. 20, State Del. John C. Webb
of Fairfax County charged U. S. Sen.
Byrd and other state political leaders
were conducting an “undercover
drive” aimed at amending the Constitu
tion to permit abolition of the public
schools.
Key leaders of the dominant Demo
cratic Party organization in the state
denied knowledge of any such move.
CONTEND ACT’S DEAD
Some lawyers argued Section 129 al
ready was dead. The theory is that
when the Supreme Court knocked out
Section 140 of the state Constitution—
the section providing for racially seg
regated schools—it automatically also
killed Section 129.
If Section 129 is held by the courts
still to be valid, then it is possible that
Virginia’s future course in the segrega
tion fight may be set by a referendum
to determine whether the people want
to retain or eliminate the requirement
for a statewide public school system.
SENTIMENT UNKNOWN
As of now, no one can say with cer
tainty what the preponderant sentiment
of the people of Virginia is as to how
best to maintain segregation or mini
mize integration in the schools.
The race issue completely overshad
owed everything else in the annual
convention of the state PTA in Rich
mond Oct. 20-22.
On the first day, observers reported
sensing strong “massive resistance”
sentiment in the convention when a
fighting anti-integration speech by Gov.
J. Lindsay Almond drew whoops and
cheers and 11 interruptions by applause
in 15-minutes. The governor strongly
denied he was “an enemy of public
education,” and declared he was not
going to “destroy public education in
Virginia” by assigning Negroes to white
schools.
‘RESISTERS’ BEATEN
The following day, however, the in
cumbent PTA administration defeated
by a 2-to-l majority a group of candi
dates nominated from the floor by sup
porters of “massive resistance.”
The crucial test came on the third
day when two resolutions dealing with
the race crisis were presented.
The first, supported by all-out segre
gationists, called for support of the
state’s “massive resistance” policy.
Needing only a simple majority of one
vote to pass, it was defeated by a tie
vote of 557 to 557.
The next resolution supported local
option in the solving of the school
question, a course strongly opposed by
the state government administration.
This resolution squeaked through 515 to
513; the change of one vote among the
1,028 cast could have beaten the meas
ure.
The approved resolution said in part:
“We recognize that the problem [re
sulting from the Supreme Court ruling]
in the different communities of Virginia
will best be solved by different ap
proaches and, therefore, efforts to main
tain an effective education program
available to all children will take many
forms throughout the state.
“Therefore, we recommend that dis
tricts, councils, locals and individual
PTA members support the local option
solution to the segregation program in
schools, which would permit them to
follow that course of action which will
best serve education in their com
munity.”
Kentucky
(Continued From Page 12)
mediate integration of all public-school
classes.
A board spokesman, noting that
grades 10 through 12 had been desegre
gated two years ago and that “more in
tegration would come as facilities per
mit, ’ said the remodeled building would
be needed even when all grades are in
tegrated.
„ '^ le spokesman said there would be
Ro surplus room” even after two new
e ementary schools are built. Because
of overcrowding, Richmond last year
ad some classes on a half-day basis
ut now has obtained rooms in five local
churches for five classes.
WHAT THEY SAY
Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam of Wash-
mgton, president of the Methodist Coun-
«l°f Bishops, in Louisville for an Oc-
°ber discussion of Methodist world
services:
Segregation is fundamentally a sin
1 « * S ° ne thing to pass a lot of reso-
u mns against segregation, another to
Say *t effectively in action.”
Bishop Paul E. Martin of Little Rock,
head of the Methodist church in Ar
kansas and Louisiana, who before he
got to Louisville had spoken in favor
of racially integrated schools said in a
statement to Little Rock newspapers
and on television: “I can do more in Ar
kansas if I make my statements in Ar
kansas.”
3 THINGS TO DO
Fletcher Martin, former city editor of
The Louisville Defender and now of
The Chicago Sun-Times staff, in a
Louisville speech:
“A Negro who goes North feels geog
raphy has solved his problems, but soon
finds there’s more prejudice in parts of
Illinois than in Little Rock . . . There are
three things Negroes must do to hasten
all forms of desegregation: be equipped
to hold any job, take advantage of all
educational opportunities, and show in
terest in and take part in all civic ac
tivities.”
Gov. A. B. (“Happy”) Chandler, on
Arkansas Gov. Faubus’ integration
policies and the Little Rock referendum
on private schools:
“All of these evasive things are just
an attempt to get around the law . . .
Nobody is above the law. I don’t feel we
should ask the people for permission to
obey the law. My obligation is to execute
the law.”
# # *
Although the PTA delegates, by a
narrow margin, rebuffed “massive re
sistance,” some editorialists of both pro-
and anti-“massive resistance” news
papers in Virginia and adjacent Wash
ington, D.C., expressed the view the
vote was not necessarily indicative of
the feelings of the people of the state
as a whole.
These papers pointed out that active
PTA members, and especially those
likely to be named as delegates to the
state convention, have more than aver
age interest in the public schools and
might be expected to be more con
cerned with keeping them open than
would the average citizen.
NORFOLK REFERENDUM
In Norfolk, where considerable senti
ment has been expressed in favor of
asking the governor to allow the city
to re-open the six closed schools on an
integrated basis, City Council on Oct.
20 unanimously called for an advisory
referendum on the subject on Nov. 18.
Voters will be asked:
“Shall the Council of the City of
Norfolk, pursuant to state law, petition
the governor to return to the city con-
Deadloek at the Intersection
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
trol of the schools, now closed, to be
operated on an integrated basis as re
quired by the federal court?”
Under the law, if both the scb~
board and local governing body of a
city or town request it, the governor-
may, if he wishes, return a closed
school to the locality to be operated on
an integrated basis.
NOT BINDING
The Norfolk school board asked the
council to make such a request of the
governor, but the council decided in
stead to seek the people’s advice. The
referendum results will not be binding
on council.
In addition to the question, the refer
endum ballot will also carry a para
graph “for information only,” explain
ing that if the schools should be
re-opened on an integrated basis, all
state funds would automatically be cut
off and parents of children attending
those schools would be required to pay
“a substantial tuition” for each child.
EDUCATION ESSENTIAL
In its resolution addressed to council,
the school board said that the need for
“a system of free public education is
absolutely essential to the well-being
of the city of Norfolk. The board con
tinued:
“It is now perfectly apparent that
under the decisions of the United States
Supreme Court, such public education
cannot be had without some measure of
integration.”
The board also warned that “basic
resources are being dissipated” and
that navy personnel and ships might be
transferred to other ports if schools re
mained closed.
TEACHERS ASK OPENING
The Norfolk Education Association, a
professional organization for some 1,100
white teachers, voted 487 to 89 for a
resolution which asked council to seek
return of the schools to the locality for
operation on a desegregated basis, if
they could not be operated any other
way.
In the meantime, the NEA was sup
porting a program of “community tu
toring classes” to help children from
the closed schools to continue their
education. Details of this program in
Norfolk and of private classes in War
ren County and Charlottesville are car
ried in a separate story on page one
of this issue of Southern School News.
The Virginia Education Association
Oct. 30 approved a resolution express
ing “grave concern” over closing of the
schools and urging the governor to call
a special session of the legislature to
assure continued operation of the
schools.
Attorneys for the 17 Negro pupils
who had been ordered enrolled in the
Norfolk schools temporarily ended their
legal efforts to force re-opening of the
schools.
They withdrew their petition Oct. 10
when Federal District Judge Walter E.
Hoffman told them that they were pro
ceeding against the wrong parties.
They had asked an injunction against
the Norfolk school board, but Judge
Hoffman said the governor had taken
over control of the schools and that he
(the governor) was not named in the
petition.
Late in October three separate suits
were filed in federal district court at
Norfolk attacking the constitutionality
of Virginia’s anti-integration laws and
asking for injunctions against keeping
the schools closed. One of the suits was
filed by a group of white parents, the
second by the parents of one white
child and the third by the NAACP at
torneys. All three suits name Gov. Lind
say Almond among the defendants, and
all allege that closing the schools de
prives the children of equal protection
of the law under the Fourteenth
Amendment.
A “Rally for Open Schools” held at
the Norfolk arena on Oct. 13 drew about
1,000 persons, considerably fewer than
sponsors of the event had anticipated.
Negro attorneys had a measure of
success in another federal district court
in the Charlottesville and Warren
County cases. (Allen v. School Board of
Charlottesville, and Kilby v. School
Board of Warren County.)
The attorneys had asked Judge John
Paul to declare Virginia’s school-clos
ing law invalid and to order the re
opening of schools in the two localities.
VALIDITY UNDECIDED
Judge Paul declined to pass on the
validity of the law, explaining the same
question already was under considera
tion in a state supreme court case.
But he did say that he was “not wil
ling to countenance” the operation of
private schools with publicly-paid
teachers, since it would be “in clear
violation of the mandate of the United
States Supreme Court.”
The ruling caused the Warren County
Educational Foundation to postpone
until later in the month the opening of
private classes in which it had expected
to use public school teachers. Later,
teachers not on the state payroll were
obtained.
In Charlottesville, City Attorney John
S. Battle Jr. advised the school board
there was no reason why public school
teachers couldn’t continue in the
private program until such time as that
program was shown to be discrimina
tory by refusing to admit a Negro ap
plicant.
STATE LAW ATTACKED
In the state supreme court test case,
which was initiated by the state ad
ministration, a court-appointed lawyer
argued that Virginia’s anti-integration
laws violate six sections of the state
Private Schools
(Continued From Page 1)
school teachers—like those in Norfolk
and Warren County—are still receiving
their state salaries, it appears the
Charlottesville private school arrange
ment will be jeopardized if any Negro
child tries to participate. Until then,
however, the theory is the private sys
tem has not been proven discrimina
tory, and therefore the teacher may
continue to serve.
In Warren County, the private classes
are being taught by former public
school teachers.
VARIOUS FINANCES
Financing of the schools is being
handled in a variety of ways. Pupils
are charged a small fee. But in Norfolk,
for example, the $20 tuition fee at
Tidewater Academy is not nearly
enough to pay teachers’ salaries and
other costs, so campaigns are being
waged to raise funds from the public.
The Warren County Educational
Foundation has announced a goal of
$175,000 to finance its operations for
the remainder of this school year.
Members of the Textile Workers
Union of America, Local 371, at the
American Viscose Corp., Front Royal
voted 235-49 to assess themselves a
dollar a week for the Warren private
schools. When national AFL-CIO
headquarters found fault with this as
sessment, the employes then voted to
constitution and the 14th Amendment
to the federal constitution.
Attorney Samuel H. Williams of
Lynchburg, in a brief filed with the
court, maintained the laws violate these
sections of the state constitution:
Section 1—By depriving citizens of a
locality of “the enjoyment of life and
liberty” and their property in the form
of school buildings.
Section 11—By depriving citizens of
their school property without due proc
ess of law.
Section 63—By providing for special
assessment and collection of taxes for
school purposes contrary to the re
quirement that tax laws be general in
nature.
Section 129—By failing to maintain
the public school system required by
this section.
Section 136—By interfering with the
power of local authorities to determine
local school taxes.
Section 52—By failing to meet a tech
nical requirement (as to the fund cut
off law only) that the purpose of an
act must be stated in the act’s title.
As to the federal constitution, Wil
liams said the state laws violate the
14th Amendment’s provision against
racial discrimination, as interpreted by
the U. S. Supreme Court.
Here are other developments in Vir
ginia’s school crisis during October.
The Alexandria school board voted to
reinstate a Negro mother who had been
fired from her job in a school cafeteria
because she was among the plaintiffs in
a desegregation suit filed against the
board. Board Chairman Robert C.
Howard quoted school Supt. T. C. Wil
liams as saying his original action in
firing Mrs. Blois Hundley had been
“hasty and not well considered.” (See
last month’s Southern School News for
background.)
PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS MIXED
A number of Catholic parochial
schools of the Richmond Diocese (which
includes most of Virginia), are operat
ing on an integrated basis for the
fourth consecutive year. The Rev. J. L.
Flaherty, superintendent, says no racial
breakdown of the number of students
involved is available, as reports by race
are not made by the individual schools.
The total enrollment of all the schools
in the diocese is 31,059.
The League of Women Voters cir
culated a letter urging Virginians to
speak out in defense of the public
school system. The letter referred to
the Supreme Court’s “clear and un
equivocal decision” on desegregation.
The Virginia NAACP, holding its an
nual conference in Hampton Oct. 10-12,
set its sights on a 50,000-membership
for 1959. The present state membership
is about 27,000. Plans were made to try
to increase Negro voting. The confer
ence was told that only 131,626 of 422,-
663 Virginia Negroes who are 21 or
over are registered to vote.
# # #
voluntarily contribute the $1 a week as
individuals.
All these private school efforts are
being carried on without any statewide
direction or co-ordination. However, a
group of leading segregationists have
set up the Virginia Education Fund to
raise money to assist local organiza
tions which are operating or will op
erate such schools. Former Gov. Thom
as B. Stanley is chairman of the ad
visory board, and Lewis S. Pendleton
Jr., Richmond lawyer, is president.
As to curriculum, there is little or no
laboratory work in the private schools.
The emphasis is on the academic sub
jects, and textbooks and equipment
are scarce. At Norview Methodist
Church in Norfolk, for example, each
of the 24 members of a typing class has
to provide his own typewriter.
Since there are no adequate cafeteria
facilities, most of the classes are held
in the morning, adjourning in time for
children to go home for lunch.
To some adults, one heartening as
pect of the Virginia school crisis has
been the demonstration by some chil
dren of an intense interest in getting
an education. One pretty teen-age girl
in a “tutoring group” at Norfolk told
a reporter:
“Before our school was actually
closed, if somebody had told me I’d
miss being in school I would have told
them they were crazy. But not now.”
# # #