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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JANUARY 1959—PAGE 7
TENNESSEE
One Major School System Mixed, More Lawsuits Likely
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
GREAT DEAL MORE LITIGATION
involving segregation-deseg
regation appears to be in prospect
for Tennessee in 1959.
Nashville, with the only major
school system in the state with
desegregation actually under way,
appears to be settling down to its
court-approved grade-a-year pro
gram with liberal pupil transfer
provisions—unless it is over
turned or altered by a higher
court.
Federal court action is likely before
next September on a suit filed by Ne
groes for desegregation at Knoxville.
At Chattanooga, there were strong hints
that a lawsuit of this kind is in the
offing.
At Memphis, court cases involving
Negroes’ use of public transit and li
braries were in the spotlight, with pos
sibility that the movement will turn
to schools. Memphis State University
is scheduled for desegregation in Sep
tember, and a group of Negro appli
cants may seek to get a court-ordered
speedup to February. (See “Legal Ac
tion.”)
Bomb-wrecked Clinton High School
will be rebuilt sometime this year, an
assembly of thousands was told as
Evangelist Billy Graham declared: “Hot
heads and cold hearts never solved
anything.” (See “Community Action.”)
Racist John Kasper was put under a
new cash bond of $2,000 pending appeal
to the state supreme court of his con
viction at Nashville for inciting to riot
in the 1957 school desegregation dis
orders. (See “Legal Action”)
also is counsel for the plaintiffs in this
case.
During this year, a Negro organiza
tion petitioned city officials to remove
segregation from all public facilities in
Memphis including schools and parks as
well as transit and libraries. No ac
tion has been taken on the petition.
KASPER AGAIN
Attorneys for John Kasper, under
conviction at Nashville on a charge of
inciting to riot during disorders ac
companying desegregation of the first
grade in Nashville schools in 1957, will
go before the state supreme court in
March in an effort to get the conviction
set aside.
A new trial for the New Jersey-bom,
self-styled “rabble-rouser” was denied
by Criminal Court Judge Homer B.
Weimar Dec. 15. He was freed on a
new cash bond of $2,000 posted by two
of his Nashville supporters, J. H.
Watson and E. D. Watson, who had
been his previous bondsmen.
Judge Weimar warned the bondsmen
they stood to forfeit their money if
Kasper’s second federal court convic
tion in connection with the Clinton dis
orders of 1956 is upheld by appellate
courts and he enters a federal prison
before the Tennessee high court acts.
DYNAMITE LAW VALID
The Tennessee Supreme Court affirm
ed a state law of 1957 making it illegal
for unlicensed persons to transport or
possess dynamite.
Dynamitings of schools, churches and
other property were pointed out by the
court when it upheld the two- to 10-
year sentence of Edward Cline on a con
viction of conspiring to dynamite Clin
ton High School last year.
FLORIDA
The eight-member Tennessee citizens’
advisory committee to the U.S. Civil
Rights Commission will be in Nash
ville Jan. 26 “to receive complaints
from anyone who feels he has been
wronged” as to housing, education and
voting.
Findings of the committee, “both good
and bad,” will be forwarded to the
commission, Chairman George R.
Dempster, Knoxville manufacturer and
former mayor, said following the group’s
initial meeting at Memphis Dec. 16. A
similar committee from Kentucky also
attended.
Other Tennessee committee members
are Richard A. Tripeer, past president
of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce
and president of Euclid-Memphis Sales,
Inc., vice chairman; Mrs. Ben Russell
of Greeneville, a leader in Presbyterian
women’s work, secretary; Maclin P.
Davis, Nashville, president of Tennes
see Foundry and Machine Co.; John H.
Hope II, Nashville, of the Fisk Uni
versity race relations department; and
three other Memphians, W. Percy Mc
Donald, Jr., attorney, Leslie Stratton
III, president of Stratton-Warren Hard
ware Co., and A. Maceo Walker, presi
dent of Universal Life Insurance Co.
and the Tri-State Bank.
NEGRO BUILDINGS BURNED
Two houses at Clinton owned by a
Negro in an all-white neighborhood
burned within a month — the first on
Nov. 21, the second a few hours after
Billy Graham’s appearance at the high
school. Police said they smelled kero
sene during both fires.
“It looks to me like they were set
deliberately,” said Deputy State Fire
Marshal Virgil Kitts, who was sum
moned by local officers.
Owner of the houses was Charles
Underwood, 82.
COMMUNITY ACTION
A crowd estimated at 3,000 to 5,000
heard evangelist Billy Graham con
duct a one-day “crusade” at Clinton
Dec. 14 “to demonstrate to the world
that Clinton is a Christian, law-abiding
community—not one of violence and
hate.”
At the meeting, Anderson County
School Board President R. G. Crossno
announced the bombed high school will
be rebuilt sometime in 1959.
MONEY, LABOR GIVEN
He was presented a check for $27,-
000 by newspaper columnist Drew Pear
son, who campaigned for small indi
vidual contributions. Other funds avail
able include $45,510 in federal aid and
$73,000 in insurance, making the total
$145,510. Pearson said additional offers
of free labor and materials amounted
to $100,000.
Damage has been estimated from $70,-
000 to $210,000, depending upon opinions
of what type of reconstruction is needed.
U.S. Sen. Estes Kefauver told the as
sembly, gathered in the school gym
nasium and in a nearby grammar school
and church, that “confidence will be re
stored today in the feeling throughout
the world that the people of the United
States are tolerant and in favor of
law enforcement.”
A similar message was delivered by
Clinton Mayor T. L. Seeber, who called
for public courage in overcoming the
community’s international reputation
as a scene of disorder over racial is
sues.
A Chattanooga attorney, Joe Van
Derveer, told the Chattanooga Civitan
Club Dec. 5 Tennessee “has done less
than all of our sister southern states”
to prepare to “solve the problem of in
tegration.”
Van Derveer called for more strin
gent action to halt desegregation of
public schools — including replacement
of the Chattanooga school board by
the state legislature.
“I don’t know what the school board
thinks,” he said. “I can’t speak for
it. But I seriously doubt whether this
board of education is representative of
the citizenship of Chattanooga.” He said
it should be ousted and one named
“that is more representative of the
citizenship. .
CITES PLACEMENT ACT
If no such action comes, Van Derveer
suggested the city commission enact a
local school placement law similar to
that of Alabama which recently passed
a limited test in the U.S. Supreme
Court.
Tennessee has a similar law, enacted
in 1957 but questioned legally by a fed
eral judge, though not held invalid, in
the Nashville school case.
An organization of Chattanooga Ne
groes during the past year petitioned
the school board for desegregation, but
the board declined with a statement
that the proper time would be in the
future. A lawsuit has been suggested
by the Negro group.
# # #
At Memphis, an attorney for the Na
tional Association for the Advancement
of Colored People said he and associates
were considering an effort to speed legal
processes in their effort to hasten de
segregation at Memphis State Univers
ity.
H. T. Lockard reported the U. S.
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals at Cin
cinnati might be asked to hand down
an order requiring quick district court
action on a pending suit filed by four
applicants excluded from MSU after
passing entrance examinations last fall.
MIXING POSTPONED
The state Board of Education, which
had ordered all colleges under its juris
diction to admit all qualified applicants,
regardless of race, effective last Sep
tember, postponed desegregation of
MSU for one year shortly before the
1958-59 term began. Eight Negroes had
passed tests to enter.
Four of the eight asked U.S. District
Judge Marion Boyd to enjoin the delay.
The state attorney general’s office filed
for dismissal of the case, declaring the
suit should have been filed in a state
court. Judge Boyd has not yet set a
date for hearing the state’s motion.
Attorney Lockard said the prospect
of seeking a speedup of the case is based
on the plaintiffs’ desire to enter the
university when the second semester
begins in February.
OTHER CASES DEFERRED
Meantime, Lockard said no effort
Would be made to hasten court action
on two other cases backed by the
NAACP, seeking desegregation of Mem
phis public transit and public libraries.
A suit filed by a Negro challenging
racial seating on Memphis buses was
reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court
m a decision handed down Dec. 15.
The case had been dismissed at Mem
phis June 27 by a three-judge panel
which held there was no actual con
troversy between O. Z. Evers, Negro
Postal employe and former Chicago
Policeman, and the Memphis Transit
Co. The panel said Evers was not a
regular bus rider, and boarded a bus
l?r the purpose of starting a lawsuit,
the unanimous Supreme Court said
his fact was insignificant.
Now, Judges Boyd, William E. Miller
ot Nashville and John D. Martin of
he Circuit Court of Appeals must meet
an h set a date to try the case. The
suit seeks a declaratory judgment
olding a Tennessee bus segregation
w unconstitutional, plus an injunc-
>on against local enforcement of the
law.
hlRRARY HEARING SET
Hearing on a suit seeking to end seg-
gation in Memphis public libraries is
e hr district court for Jan. 20. Lockard
Governor Asserts No County Ready For Integration
MIAMI, Fla.
chool officials of five larger
counties met secretly with
Gov. LeRoy Collins to discuss
school integration problems. The
session, held at the mansion to
avoid publicity, resulted in a
statement by the governor that
no county in Florida is ready for
integration. (See “School Boards
and Schoolmen.”)
Federal Judge Joseph P. Lieb
ruled, in a long pending case, that
six Negro children are not en
titled to an order admitting them
to a white school “at this time.”
NAACP attorneys promptly ap
pealed to the Fifth Circuit Court
which already has ordered an
other Florida county (Palm
Beach) to show good-faith com
pliance with integration rulings.
(See “Legal Action.”)
Despite these developments Dade
County went ahead with plans for a
“voluntary” desegregated school.
The expected legislative fight over
school segregation continued to heat
up. (See “Legislative Action.”)
Officials of five county school systems
met secretly with a number of state and
county officers in Tallahassee to dis
cuss segregation.
Though the session was held at the
governors mansion to avoid publicity,
and none of the participants would be
quoted directly, several newspapers re
ported the theme was the necessity for
some “limited integration” to strengthen
the Pupil Assignment Law against court
attacks.
It was proposed that the five larger
counties represented make a simultan
eous start toward desegregated schools
to lessen expected criticism.
The Associated Press reported: “In
formed sources said there was disagree
ment as to whether attempts should be
made for voluntary integration in areas
where it could be carried on without
disturbance, or whether the start should
await the actual court order.”
ABANDONED HOPE
As pressure built up for some clari
fication of the unusual meeting, Gov.
LeRoy Collins told his news conference
he had abandoned hope for a voluntary
start toward peaceful integration in any
Florida community.
Disclosing that Dade (Miami), Hills
borough (Tampa), Pinellas (St. Peters
burg), Broward (Fort Lauderdale) and
Palm Beach counties were represented
at the secret meeting, the governor said:
“There was no agreement as a group
to do anything and the matter is still up
to the individual counties. But no school
official was willing to proceed volun
tarily with any token integration.
“The general feeling was that there
would never be any integration until it
is ordered by the courts.”
RACIAL CLIMATE SHIFT
Some token integration would have
been accepted several months ago, Col
lins said, but added the “racial climate”
has shifted to the point where “there
are few moderates left.”
“The ranks of people willing to be
open-minded, fair-minded and reason
able about this are thinning.”
The governor said legal attacks on the
Pupil Assignment Act will continue.
(See “Legal Action.”)
“We would feel more confident if there
was some token integration somewhere,
but it is clear that this cannot be forced
on the people. It looks as if the situation
will just have to get worse and worse.”
Following the governor’s statement,
several of the local officials who attend
ed backed up his stand.
COURT MANDATE FIRST
Supt. J. Crockett Farnell of Hills
borough County said there will be no in
tegration in the Tampa area “until and
if a Supreme Court mandate is handed
down.
“While people who know agree that
some integration would strengthen the
Pupil Assignment Law, it was generally
agreed in Tallahassee that integration
would not be experimented with.
“The intent and purpose of the Pupil
Assignment Law is not to prevent inte
gration but to have a slight amount of
integration. But I don’t think anyone
would administer it that way.”
Dade County school officials said that,
despite the adverse decision of the con
ference, they were continuing to study
the proposal for a voluntary desegre
gated school. Planning centers around
the Orchard Villa school in an area
rapidly changing from white to Negro.
Surveys of parents, pupil and teacher
reaction showed a majority would ac
cept such a school, though many white
parents said they would expedite their
plans to move.
Atty. Gen. Richard W. Ervin said
there had been “no dissension” at
the Tallahassee meeting. “Everyone
agreed that the main aim was to save the
public schools of Florida.”
The first school suit filed in Florida
two and one half years ago—Gibson et
al v. Board of Public Instruction of Dade
County—was decided by U.S. District
Judge Joseph J. Lieb on its second round
through the courts. Judge Lieb ruled:
• The six Negro plaintiffs were not
entitled to an order for admission to
white schools at this time. He said they
had failed to exhaust all the adminis
trative remedies in the law, which pro
vides for successive appeals at county
and state levels before resorting to state
courts.
• The Pupil Assignment Law was as
adequate a plan for desegregation as
the proposal of the plaintiffs for imme
diate across-the-board integration. The
Pupil Assignment Law was not a direct
issue in this case, being eliminated by
pre-trial stipulation which later was
renounced.
• The state constitutional provisions
for “separate but equal” school facili
ties was no longer valid. This, also, was
not an issue in the case. The Florida
Supreme Court had accepted this prin
ciple in a decision (Hawkins v. State
Board of Control) more than two years
ago.
LOCALITIES MAY PROCEED’
Atty. Gen. Ervin interpreted the rul
ing as validation of the state Pupil As
signment Law and said that local school
boards may now proceed to settle their
segregation problems “without interfer
ence.”
It means, said Ervin, the Pupil As
signment Law is valid on its face.
Meanwhile, a school suit, Florida’s
third at the elementary level, was filed
in Hillsborough County in behalf of five
Negro families.
Francisco A. Rodriguez, NAACP at
torney, said he will ask a federal injunc
tion against the school board’s practice
of segregation and a declaratory decree
that would order the school board to be
gin some plan of integration.
PLAN HARDSHIP PLEA
The five plaintiffs are all residents of
rural areas who are transported con
siderable distances past white schools.
NAACP attorneys hope to make an
additional showing of hardship in this
class suit.
The Hillsborough school board or
dered all-out resistance and authorized
employment of additional legal counsel
in the case.
“If the court rules against the assign
ment law [directly under attack in this
suit for the first time] I don’t know what
we’ll do” said Supt. Farnell.
In another area, the Florida Supreme
Court ruled that the NAACP must open
its membership lists for the interim
legislative committee investigating the
role communism is playing in the efforts
to integrate Florida schools. The com
mittee has a right to study the lists, but
not to confiscate them, the court ruled.
READY TO RESUME
Several Negro witnesses defied the
committee during hearings in Miami last
year and were cited for contempt. The
committee has been marking time pend
ing outcome of this case, but is now
ready to resume its work.
The court opinion, written by Justice
Campbell Thornal, has attracted con
siderable attention in legal circles. It
challenges the exclusive right claimed
by the federal government to investigate
and prosecute sedition. There can be
sedition, too, against a state government
and a state has the right to protect it
self, the court opinion said.
Segregationists continued active in
preparation for the legislative session
which begins in May.
Sen. J. Harvie Belser of Bonifay, who
once threatened to resign because the
Senate failed to adopt stringent segrega
tion laws, called for a committee of law
yers—five citizens and five legislators—
to draft stronger racial laws.
Sen. Dewey M. Johnson of Quincy,
president-designate, said he was willing
to go along with the proposal. “We cer
tainly need a special committee to work
in this field,” he said. Johnson already
has proposed laws allowing state aid for
private schools and a draft is being made
of such a bill.
STRAW VOTE SHOWS SPLIT
But a poll by the Associated Press
showed the legislators closely divided on
the question. The AP reported that a
straw vote showed 10 of those replying
would abandon public schools to main
tain segregation, while 11 would not.
“They don’t think the situation is that
serious—yet,” the dispatch said.
Several of those who responded said
(See FLORIDA, Page 9)