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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—SEPTEMBER 1959—PAGE 9
VIRGINIA
Fifteen Schools Integrate;
Fairfax Litigation Filed
RICHMOND, Va.
he number of Negroes at
tending integrated public
schools in Virginia apparently
will increase from last year’s 51
to at least 58 this year, while the
number of integrated schools will
increase from 11 to at least 15.
Four new segregation suits
have been filed, one in Fairfax
County in Northern Virginia, one
in Floyd County in the southwest,
one in Grayson County and two
in the town of Galax, also in the
southwest. Six Negroes in Gray
son County and two in the town
of Galax are seeking admission to
the Galax High School. Grayson
and Galax have no Negro high
schools and send Negro pupils to
Wytheville 40 miles away.
In Prince Edward County,
where public schools have been
abandoned, white citizens con
tinued planning for a private
school system for white children.
Some Prince Edward Negro chil
dren were attempting to enroll in
public schools in other counties.
(See “School Boards and School
men.”)
As the early September opening
dates for Virginia schools drew near,
it appeared desegregation would be in
creased slightly in Norfolk and Arling
ton, would remain unchanged in Alex
andria, and would begin for the first
time in Charlottesville.
Warren County was the big question
mark. As August ended, it was uncer
tain whether white children would re
turn to the integrated Warren County
High School or would attend private
classes as they did last year.
This was the picture, community by
community:
Norfolk
Last spring there were 17 Negroes
scattered among 7,200 whites in three
high and three junior high schools. The
school board recommended to the State
Pupil Placement Board that two addi
tional Negroes be admitted this fall,
one of them to an elementary school.
The Pupil Placement Board turned
down the recommendation and was
then ordered by Federal District Judge
Walter E. Hoffman to appear in court
as a defendant in the Norfolk desegre
gation suit.
After a two-day hearing Aug. 27-
28, during which the three members
of the Placement Board testified they
followed the policy of assigning Ne
groes only to Negro schools, Judge
Hoffman ordered the two Negroes ad
mitted to the formerly all-white
schools. He also ordered the admission
of two others who previously had at
tended Negro schools. So the total
aumber of Negroes in formerly white
schools in Norfolk will increase from
H to 21 when schools open in that
<% on Sept. 8.
Arlington
Hour Negroes were among 1,075
whites in a junior high school last
spring. A federal district court has or
dered 12 more Negroes admitted to
(* ree schools. The three schools in-
c *ude the one which was already de
segregated and two others, one a high
school and the other an elementary
school.
On Aug. 21 the school board voted
n °t to appeal the federal court order,
which had been issued by District
“Udge Albert V. Bryan.
Alexandria
Nine Negroes were among 2,300
whites in three schools last spring. Ap
parently this situation will remain the
same.
Charlottesville
One high and one elementary school
Were closed down last fall under Vir-
gmia’s then-existing no-integration
aws after Negroes had been enrolled
y court order. In February a federal
c curt permitted the schools to re-open
i ter city school officials announced
Plans to begin desegregation this Sep
tember. The school board has now as
signed nine Negroes to the elementary
school and three to the high school.
Segregation by sex will be tried as
an experiment in some class levels in
Charlottesville during the 1959-60
school year, Supt. Fendall R. Ellis has
announced. He said boys and girls will
be separated at certain class levels
(not yet announced) in every school
in the city and that it would be
“strictly an experiment.”
Warren County
The big question in Warren County
was this:
Would the Warren County Educa
tional Foundation operate a private
high school during the 1959-60 school
year as it did last year?
Here is the background:
When federal courts ordered 21 Ne
groes admitted to the white Warren
County High School last fall, the school
was closed under the state’s no-inte
gration laws. Of the 1,044 white stu
dents enrolled there, nearly 800 began
attending classes in a private school set
up by the Educational Foundation.
In February of this year, after all le
gal appeals by the county had failed,
the high school re-opened. The 21 Ne
groes showed up, but no whites. The
white children continued attending the
private school.
During the summer, Warren County’s
first high school for Negroes—Criser
High School—was completed, and there
seemed to be a feeling among the
whites in the county that segregated
schooling could be resumed this fall.
There was a widespread opinion that
the 20 Negroes (one has finished
school) would voluntarily attend the
new Negro school, or that by assign
ment on the basis of geographical dis
tricts they could be required to attend
that school.
When registration for Warren County
High School was held last month, 336
whites and 18 Negroes signed up.
HOLD MASS MEETING
Subsequently, at a mass meeting at
tended by about 1,000 white citizens,
the Warren County Educational Foun
dation was requested to hold a regis
tration to determine how many chil
dren wanted to attend private classes
again this year. The foundation was
asked to operate a private system if an
“overwhelming majority” of the white
high school children of the county de
sired to attend and if their parents
“can pay in advance the necessary
costs” ($220). Hugh D. McCormick,
foundation president, defined an “over
whelming majority” as 65-70 per cent
of the approximately 1,000 white stu
dents eligible to attend the high school.
The foundation held a registration,
as requested, and a total of 530 students
signed for private classes. This was less
than the minimum 65 per cent referred
to by McCormick.
In the light of those figures, the
foundation’s board on Aug. 24 defeated
a motion which would have commit
ted it to operate private schools this
year. Six of the 15 members present
supported the motion.
The board then unanimously adopted
a resolution saying it would operate a
school if buildings, money and teachers
were available. Committees were ap
pointed to look into these matters. The
board was scheduled to meet again on
Sept. 3 to decide definitely whether it
would operate a school.
The board’s delay in making a de
cision was criticized by Charles E.
Leadman, business agent of the textile
workers’ union at the American Vis
cose Corporation. During the last
school year the 2,000 members of the
union contributed $1,600 a week toward
the private school through deductions
from their paychecks, and Leadman
said the union would support the foun
dation again if requested. However, the
corporation’s management has said it
would not operate a paycheck deduc
tion program this year.
Officials of the Viscose Corporation
also have said that they have been
having difficulty attracting management
personnel and technicians because of
the uncertainty of the school situation
in the county.
Warren County schools originally
were scheduled to open Aug. 31, but
the opening was rescheduled for Sept.
8.
Prince Edward County
The Prince Edward School Founda
tion announced it hoped to open pri
vate segregated classes about Sept. 10.
Registration will be held on open-
rI ir A ini S a ’n G0 -' Ahnond, right foreground, confers with the State Pupil Placement Board, the board’s attorney, and Atty
Gen. A. S. Harrison concerning an order directing the board to appear before Federal District Judge Walter E. Hoffman for
member* a" se / re 8 atl « n case - Lef ‘to right around the table are: Hugh V. White of Nansemond. board
member, A B. Scott of Richmond, board attorney; Beverly H. Randolph Jr. of Richmond, board member- Attv Gen
Harrison. Andrew A. Farley of Danville, board member, and Gov. Almond. y
mg day. The foundation has received
about 1,490 applications for admission,
according to Roy R. Pearson, founda
tion administrator. The foundation
earlier had estimated that there are
about 1,590 white children in Prince
Edward who would be eligible for pri
vate schooling.
Most of the classes will be held in
church Sunday school buildings.
The State Corporation Commission
has issued a charter to a new organi
zation in Prince Edward named Pa
trons, Inc. The charter says that the
group’s purposes are to provide assist
ance “for such educational, religious
and charitable achievements and pur
poses as may be deemed desirable by
its board of directors.” A spokesman
said the initial purpose is to hold title
to school buses acquired by parents.
Some Negro children from Prince
Edward have applied to public schools
in nearby counties, but it is not known
how many, if any, will be accepted.
The Lunenburg County School Board,
for example, decided to defer action on
three applications until after schools
open Sept. 2 and it can be determined
whether there is room for outside stu
dents.
The Prince Edward School Board
announced that it would not seek pay
ment of the school funds which the
state constitution requires to be made
available to each locality. It originally
had been thought that Prince Edward’s
share of this money—about $45,000—
might be used to maintain the closed
public schools. But the attorney general
ruled, and the board’s counsel agreed,
that the funds could be spent only for
teachers’ salaries or for children’s tui
tion. This development raises doubts as
to whether any money will be spent in
Prince Edward to maintain and safe
guard the schools.
The U. S. Treasury Department has
ruled that contributions to the Prince
Edward Educational Foundation are
deductible for federal income tax pur
poses.
TEACHER CONTROVERSY
A report that the Falls Church
School Board had declined to hire a
teacher because she is of Japanese de
scent was a subject of controversy in
that Northern Virginia city of about
10,000 population.
The Northern Virginia Sun published
the first report, saying the applicant
was Mrs. Yukiko Tamashiro, Hawaiian-
born wife of the Sun’s photo editor.
The action on her application took
place at a closed session of the board.
In a subsequent meeting, after the
news story had been picked up and
published by papers throughout the
world, board members Lytton Gibson
and H. P. Strople asked that the offi
cial record show Supt. Irvin Schmitt
had made no recommendation concern
ing Mrs. Tamashiro’s appointment and
that the board took no official vote on
hiring her. Strople said if there
had been a vote, he would have voted
for her, the Sun reported.
The Sun quoted Gibson as say
ing at the subsequent meeting that he
had opposed Mrs. Tamashiro’s appoint
ment not because she was of Japanese
descent but because she was a member
of the League of Women Voters.
Mrs. Tamashiro, 35, has described
herself as a third-generation American
of Japanese descent. Her husband is a
second generation Japanese-Ameriean.
The couple moved to Falls Church
from Middletown, N. Y., in January.
After the Falls Church board turned
her down, Mrs. Tamashiro obtained a
teaching position at a private school in
a nearby community.
Falls Church has about 2,100 white
students. The few Negro children
(about 25) are sent to Negro schools
operated by Fairfax County.
The state Department of Education
reported there was a net gain of 1,097
degree-holding teachers in 1958-59, as
compared to the previous year. The lat
est tally shows 24,979 with degrees.
Twenty-six Negro pupils filed suit in
federal district court at Alexandria
asking admission to eight Fairfax
County schools. (Blackwell v. Fairfax
School Board.)
In addition, the brief asked that
Judge Albert V. Bryan order the school
board to submit a “complete and com
prehensive plan” for a “prompt and
reasonable start” toward desegregation.
A few days prior to filing of the suit
the school board adopted a desegrega
tion plan, but details were not made
public. News reports said it was un
derstood, however, that the plan calls
for a grade-by-grade program to be
accomplished over a 12-year period.
Negroes constitute about five per
cent of the county’s total school en
rollment.
A suit seeking admission of 12 Ne
groes to white high schools in Floyd
County was filed in U. S. District
Court at Roanoke Aug. 28.
Floyd County has about 2,500 white
students and 125 Negroes. It has no
high school for Negroes. A preliminary
hearing on the suit was set for Sept. 8.
The National Association for Ad
vancement of Colored People has
COLUMBIA, S. C.
A group of Negro pupils ap
plied for reassignment to
white schools in Clarendon Coun
ty, which was one of the five
school districts figuring in the
Supreme Court’s 1954 desegrega
tion decision, but the action was
described as a “paperwork” ma
neuver and actual enrollment was
not anticipated. (See “School
Boards and Schoolmen.”)
Despite this development, Au
gust found South Carolina schools
preparing for a new school year
with expectations of record en
rollments of both whites and Ne
groes, and with no change in the
traditional policy of racial sep
aration in the public schools. En
rollment on a statewide basis
seems certain to surpass the 600,-
000 mark. (See “School Boards
and Schoolmen.”)
A South Carolina newspaper
editor, Thomas R. Waring of
Charleston, proposed that a
Southern Foundation be created
to tell the South’s side of the seg
regation controversy. (See “What
They Say.”)
Federal Judge George Bell
Timmerman, a frequent critic of
the Supreme Court’s desegrega
tion decisions, denied a Negro’s
motion to enjoin Greenville air
port officials from segregating Ne
groes at the airport terminal.
(See “Legal Action.”)
Some 15 to 18 Negro students have
applied for reassignment to white
schools in district one of Clarendon
County. This district figured in the Su
preme Court’s 1954 desegregation de
cision as one of five southern school
asked Judge Brockenbrough Lamb of
Richmond Chancery Court to dismiss
the suit in which the Virginia State
Bar has charged the Negro organiza
tion with the “unauthorized practice of
law.” (Commonwealth of Virginia v.
NAACP; see last month’s Southern
School News for background.)
The NAACP denied that it domi
nates or controls school desegregation
cases in which it participates. It told
the court:
“In all cases . . . the commence
ment, prosecution and conduct . . .
have been controlled by the litigants
and their attorneys.”
The Negro organization also chal
lenged the jurisdiction of the Chancery
Court, contending that all cases in
which the NAACP has provided aid
have been before federal, rather than
state, courts.
The U. S. Senate on Aug. 12 by
voice vote confirmed President Eisen
hower’s nomination of state Sen. Ted
Dalton to be federal judge for the
western district of Virginia.
Dalton, twice the Republican candi
date for governor, was a critic of the
state’s policy of massive resistance to
integration. His confirmation was not
opposed by Virginia’s two Democratic
senators.
systems under attack for racial segre
gation.
The applications for reassignment,
apparently filed Aug. 28, took Claren
don school officials by surprise. No
steps had been taken toward integrat
ing the schools although the district is
under orders from both the district
and higher federal courts to eliminate
racial barriers “with all deliberate
speed.” The county superintendent,
the Rev. L. B. McCord, said flatly:
“There will be no Negroes in the
schools of Clarendon County when they
open.” (Clarendon white schools are
scheduled to open Sept. 3, and Negro
schools, Sept. 14.
Lincoln C. Jenkins Jr., Negro attor
ney, of Columbia, who is representing
the pupils seeking reassignment, indi
cated to Southern School News that
the effort is being made by “paper
work” at this stage. He said that if the
students physically present themselves
for admission, it would not be with his
approval.
The chairman of the school board,
Cantey W. Sprott, said the applications
would be referred to the board at its
next meeting. He did not say when
that meeting would be.
Clarendon County school officials and
white citizens have been adamant
against integration. The particular
school district affected has a ratio of
Negroes to whites amounting to eight
to one in some communities. The dis
trict has one white and one Negro high
school, one white elementary and three
Negro elementary schools. All buildings
are described as modem and well-
equipped.
Public statements have been made
repeatedly by white spokesmen that
the schools would be closed rather than
be integrated. State law provides for
such closing by the automatic curtail
ment of state funds to integrated
schools.
South Carolina school officials an
ticipate another record enrollment,
this time well beyond the 600,000 mark,
when the state’s public schools begin
the 1959-60 academic year. Many of
the schools opened this year on Aug. 31,
(See SOUTH CAROLINA, Page 10)
# # #
SOUTH CAROLINA
Negroes Ask Reassignment
In Clarendon’s Schools