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page 4—DECEMBER 1958—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
WEST VIRGINIA
School Blasting Puzzles Officialdom
In Absence Of Integration Friction
An early morning dynamite blast damaged the combined elementary-junior high
school at Osage, W. Va., Nov. 10. While one person described as having a reputation
for “racial bigotry” has been arrested, officials say they doubt the blast stemmed
from the fact the school has been desegregated for four years.
CHARLESTON, W. Va.
t 2:10 a.m. Nov. 10 an ex
plosion routed residents from
bed in the little mining town of
Osage.
What they feared was disaster at
one of their four coal mines; but
what they found was their school
a shambles from a dynamite blast
At Osage whites and Negroes worked
together, attended social functions to
gether, lived as neighbors, swam to
gether in the community pool. For these
reasons—and the fact that the Osage
school had been desegregated for three
years without incident—officials were
convinced the dynamiting could not be
blamed on the desegregation issue.
MOTIVE UNCERTAIN
The motive was a puzzle, they said.
The cause could only be a guess—and
the guesses ranged from “outside
trouble-makers” to the work of a
“prankster” or one mentally deranged.
Police held an unidentified 26-year-
old suspect, described as having a
reputation for racial bigotry. His cloth
ing was sent to the FBI laboratory in
Washington for examination. Mean
while, 24 federal and county officers
continued to search the area around the
damaged school for clues.
Osage is a recently incorporated
town of about 400 population located in
a deep valley about four miles from
Morgantown, seat of desegregated West
Virginia University. The county in
which it is located—Monongalia—was
the first in the state to complete de
segregation of its school system.
BELOW ECONOMIC AVERAGE
Osage also is at the mouth of what is
known as Scott’s Run, which harbors
four large coal mines within a range of
four miles. Its economic status is below
average, and its population has dropped
considerably in the last few years due
mainly to mechanization in the mines.
The dynamited school, a combination
elementary and junior high school, is a
17-room building of masonry construc
tion, well built and reasonably modern.
Ten of the rooms, including a gymnas
ium and cafeteria, were added in 1940
when the structure was remodeled.
Pupils of the first, second, third,
seventh, eighth, and ninth grades at
tended school in this building. Those of
the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades at
tended classes in the Osage annex, a
four-room school located on the hill be
hind the main building which was a
Negro elementary school before it was
desegregated in 1955. The annex was un
damaged by the blast.
26% NEGRO ENROLLMENT
Of the 360 children attending school
in the two buildings, 95 were Negroes.
Principal James W. Twigg said they got
along well together. This was confirmed
by Assistant State Supt. Rex Smith of
Charleston, who until last year was
Monongalia County school superinten
dent.
Both men said whites and Negroes
ate together in the school cafeteria.
They played together. On class nights
and at other social functions, white and
Negro mothers joined in serving re
freshments and the children followed
their example in games and dancing.
“Those people took pride in their
school,” said Smith. “Both races joined
in supporting the junior high athletic
teams and the school lunch program. No
one seemed to notice whether a person
was white or dark.”
COMMUNITY SPIRIT
The same spirit was noted in the com
munity, which is made up of houses
originally built by the coal companies
but which are now largely owned by
the occupants. Many of the houses have
been remodeled into what Twigg de
scribed as “very nice homes.”
The town council is made up of one
Negro woman, a white woman, and
three white men. The mayor is white.
Twigg is one who believes the dyna
miting was the work of “some pranks
ters” or an imbalanced person. He also
believes it was a relatively light charge.
At least, “whoever set the charge did it
about 15 feet from the building,” he said.
NOT PROFESSIONAL
“If it had been professional,” said
Twigg, “I’m sure he would have gone at
least 50 or 60 feet back up the hill to set
it off.”
Neither Twigg nor Smith believes the
dynamiting was the result of any inte
gration trouble in Osage.
The man arrested shortly after the
dynamiting is being held in jail on a
vagrancy charge. So far he has not been
linked to the dynamiting, which caused
an estimated $200,000 damage.
The Nov. 4 election gave the Demo
crats their biggest majorities in years,
and swept two Republican U.S. senators,
a Republican member of the U.S.
House of Representatives, a Republican
secretary of state, and a Republican
member of the state supreme court out
of office.
Only two of the Republicans had won
their right to serve at the polls—senior
Sen. Chapman Revercomb and Fourth
District Rep. Will Neal. They had been
elected two years ago, Revercomb to
finish the unexpired term of the late
Harley M. Kilgore, a Democrat, and
Neal to a seat previously held by M. G.
Burnside, Democrat.
Revercomb and Neal were elected at
the same time Cecil H. Underwood was
elected governor—the first Republican
in a quarter-century to hold the gover
norship.
REPUBLICANS APPOINTED
Between then and last summer Demo
crats died who had been secretary of
state, member of the Supreme Court,
and U.S. senator, and Underwood named
Republicans as their successors. John D.
Hoblitzell Jr. of Ravenswood followed
the late M. M. Neely into the Senate.
Democrats elected to the top offices
Nov. 4 were: Rep. Robert C. Byrd of
Sophia and former Rep. Jennings Ran-
lolph of Elkins, to the U.S. Senate;
Ken Hechler of Huntington, Fourth
District representative; Joe F. Burdett
of Pt. Pleasant, secretary of state; and
Harlan Calhoun of Moorefield, member
of the supreme court.
The Legislature, which was almost
evenly divided after the 1956 elections,
also went overwhelmingly Democratic—
the House 85-15, and the Senate 23-9.
This will mean greater difficulty for
Gov. Underwood in trying to pass a pro
gram, but several legislative sources say
it augurs well for education. Some of
the biggest gains made for education
have come under Democratic rule in this
state.
STATES’ RIGHTERS ACTIVE
The West Virginia States’ Rights
Democratic Committee, a small organ
ization centered in Huntington, an
nounced shortly before the election it
would support the Republican U.S.
senatorial candidates and Republicans
running for the House of Representa
tives.
Only Arch A. Moore of Glen Dale,
running for re-election to his First Dis
trict congressional seat, won as a Repub
lican. His opponent was former Rep.
Robert H. Mollohan of Fairmont.
States’ Rights President William Tyler
said the organization hopes to have its
own candidates in 1960. The group is
approximately two years old.
POSITION EXPLAINED
R. J. Wilkinson Jr. of Huntington,
States’ Rights write-in candidate for
governor in 1956, said the support of the
Republican senators was given at his
insistence. He explained:
“The Democratic Party in West Vir
ginia is hopelessly divided on the states’
rights issue, and we are all hopeful
that our followers throughout the state
will rally to the support of Sens. Rever
comb and Hoblitzell and the Republican
congressional candidates.”
Wilkinson noted that while most
members of the group privately favor
segregated schools, as an organization it
is not so committed.
FAVOR LOCAL OPTION
“We believe,” Wilkinson continued,
“that all of our state laws relating to
the subject of segregation should be en
forced, until amended or repealed in the
proper legal fashion; and that, if repeal
ed, provision should be made for decid
ing such issues as whether to have seg
regation or integration, on the county
level.”
He said also that “there is absolutely
no reason for having segregated schools
in most of West Virginia, and both the
governor and members of the state Leg
islature (Democratic and Republican)
should be honest with the voters and
tell them why they do not seek to
change our law instead of acting the
role of non-conformists.”
The desegregation issue didn’t come
into the campaign at any time except
when the States’ Righters made their
public announcement.
The recent election started school su
perintendents and their school boards
looking at financial statements with the
eye to sounding out public sentiment on
special levy elections.
Their activity was triggered by pas
sage of the Better Schools Amendment,
a constitutional referendum which gave
county school systems the right to call
elections on levies that would be double
those previously legal in West Virginia.
Also, the levies can stay in effect for
five years under the amendment, rather
than the previous three years.
60% APPROVAL REQUIRED
But no county school system can put
the levies into effect without prior ap
proval of 60 per cent of the voters in the
county. Passage of the amendment al
lows for levy elections worth many mil
lions of dollars in potential general
revenue to the 55 counties.
Another amendment—one that makes
the state superintendent an appointive
rather than an elective state official—
was approved by the voters Nov. 4. It
means that state Supt. R. Virgil Rohr
bough, an outspoken desegregationist,
will be out of a job when the votes
from the 55 counties are certified to
Gov. Underwood. He supported the
amendment.
The new superintendent will be ap
pointed by the state Board of Educa
tion hereafter, and the viewpoint locally
is that Rohrbough will get the appoint
ment. He has served as an ex-officio
member of the board since being elected
last year as successor to W. W. Trent,
24 years in the office.
NON-PARTISAN DEPARTMENT
Rohrbough, like Underwood and
Revercomb, is a Republican, but he has
operated the office as non-partisan,
taking the view that since the county
school systems by law are non-partisan
the state department should be that way
also.
The appointment will come sometime
in December, after the election returns
are certified to Gov. Underwood, and the
state board meets.
The Kanawha County Board of Edu
cation may be the first in the state to
Southern School News
Southern School Newt 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, IB79.
OFFICERS
Frank Ahlgren Chairman
Thomas R. Waring Vice Chairman
Edward D. Ball Executive Director
Patrick McCauley, Assistant to the Executive Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Frank Ahlgren, Editor, Memphis Com
mercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
Edward D. Ball, Exec. Dir., Southern Ed
ucation Reporting Service.
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, Editorial Page Editor,
Miami Herald, Miami, Fla.
Bert Struby, General Manager, Macon
Telegraph and News, 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
James E. Miller, Managing Editor,
Delaware State News
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Erwin Knoll, Staff Writer, Washing
ton 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
Emile Comar, Staff Writer, New Or
leans States & 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
Arthur B. Johnsey, Raleigh Bureau,
Greensboro Daily News
OKLAHOMA
Leonard Jackson, Staff Writer, Okla
homa City Oklahoman-Times
SOUTH CAROLINA
W. D. Workman Jr., Special Corre
spondent, Columbia, S.C.
TENNESSEE
Tom Flake, Staff Writer, Nashville
Banner
Wallace Westfeldt, Staff Writer,
Nashville Tennessean
TEXAS
Richard M. Morehead, Austin Bureau,
Dallas N»ws
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.
Return Postage Guaranteed
call a special election under the Better
Schools Amendment. Kanawha, the
state’s most populous and considered
the richest, is fully desegregated.
The school board’s Citizen’s Advisory
Committee is winding up its work now
that may lead to an election next sum
mer. Approximately $15 million is need
ed to meet the county’s most pressing
school needs.
The bombing at Osage brought a
flurry of comment in West Virginia
newspapers. Here’s what some of them
said:
Charleston Gazette—“Wh.ile no evi
dence has been uncovered to prove that
segregation extremists set off the shame
ful explosion at the Osage school in
Monongalia County, everything points
to them, and to the added fact that they
are turning to desperate measures to re
kindle the flames of racial hatred. We’re
confident that this will not happen.”
Morgantown Post—“We doubt if there
is another county in all the United
States where complete racial integration
in the public schools has been effected
with less visible and audible dissatisfac
tion than in Monongalia. Not only have
there been no incidents of disorder or
resistance; there has been an affirmative
acceptance of integration as an element
in our program of school improvement.”
‘SHAME . . . ANGER’
Huntington Advertiser—“Every self-
respecting resident of West Virginia, on
learning of the dynamiting of the Osage
integrated school in Monongalia County,
must have felt a twinge of shame and
then a surge of burning anger. The re
action might have been tempered some
what by the announcement of officials
that the explosion did not result from
racial troubles in the county. There
have been no such troubles.”
Twice in Charleston this month the
racial question was discussed—first at
the West Virginia Education Associa
tion state convention and second at a
Charleston Junior Chamber of Com
merce meeting.
The nation “looks to West Virginia
for help in integration,” Dr. Karl H.
Burns, assistant executive secretary of
the National Education Association, told
members of the WVEA. He said also:
“It is unthinkable that a nation which
has made so much progress in science in
10 years can recede 100 years to Little
Rock.”
‘STOP PUSHING’
Taking a different view was Thomas
B. Marshall of Jackson, Miss., vice presi
dent of the U. S. Junior Chamber of
Commerce, in his address before the
Charleston Jaycees. He said:
“I think enough trouble has been
stirred up in Arkansas and elsewhere
to slow down the progress of school in
tegration. More progress will result if
the integration forces stop pushing
things right now.”
Marshall predicted that school inte
gration and full equality for Negroes
“eventually will come years from now in
Mississippi and the rest of the Deep
South.” But, he added, “it won’t come
about in a reasonable amount of time
without a full-fledged war.”
A gradual movement toward equality
is already under way, he noted, with
each generation softening its views on
the racial issue more than the one pre
ceding.
Morris Harvey College, a segregated
private institution in Charleston, will
begin a drive for $193,000 in December—
the first of several projected annual
campagns aimed at closing the gap be
tween student tuition and college op
erating expenses.
“Colleges will never become self-sup
porting from student income if they are
going to render the services expected of
them,” said President Leonard Riggle-
man, in explaining the board’s decision.
“The difference between a college’s
operating expenses and its tuition rev
enue must be made up from either taxes
or private philanthropy,” he added.
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