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PAGE 2—JANUARY—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS VIRGINIA Corporation Organized To Provide Negro Schools SOUTH CAROLINA Anti-Segregation March Scheduled At Greenville RICHMOND, Va. A group or Prince Edward County white residents formed a corporation to provide private schools for the county’s Negro children, but there was no indication yet whether Negroes will participate. (See “Commun ity Action.”) A legislative committee called on the Virginia State Bar to inves tigate activities of Negro lawyers in desegregation cases. (See “Leg islative Action.”) The State Corporation Commis sion ordered the National Assn, for the Advancement of Colored People to make its membership list available for inspection by the state agency. The NAACP said it would appeal to the Virginia Su preme Court. (See “Legal Ac tion.”) Prince Edward County Negro chil dren, who have been without schools since last September, will have a private school system by February, if plans an nounced by Southside Schools, Inc., are carried out. Southside Schools, Inc., a non-stock, non-profit organization, was chartered by the State Corporation Commission Dec. 15. The charter was acquired by a group of white citizens of the county. J. Barrye Wall Jr., the registered agent, said letters would be sent to par ents of every Negro child who attended Prince Edward public schools last year to find out how many “want schooling and an opportunity for an education.” He said the hope is that classes will be gin in February. First public reaction from Negroes was negative. URGES NON-PARTICIPATION The Rev. L. F. Griffin, a Negro leader in the county, advised Negroes not to participate but rather to continue pressing for reopening of the county’s public schools. (The public schools ceased operation as of July 1, 1959, when the Board of Supervisors declined to appropriate school funds after federal courts had ordered the schools desegre gated. Subsequently, white citizens be gan operating a private school system for white children.) Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of the NAACP, said “We don’t think Ne groes ought to enroll.” He added that the NAACP believes the tuition grants law is unconstitutional and that there fore the association would not recom mend that Negroes make use of it. Wilkins made his remarks following a Christmas party for 500 Negroes at the Farmville armory Dec. 23. In a speech to the group, about half of whom were children, Oliver W. Hill, the NAACP’s chief attorney in Virginia, said “Some benighted individuals are trying to entice you away from your rights by promising you a private school.” Hill said publicly for the first time that Prince Edward Negro children may lose as much as two years of schooling while litigation is being conducted in an effort to force reopening of the public schools. He told his listeners that Christ “made the supreme sacrifice. All you will lose will be one or two years of Jim Crow education. But at the same time, in your leisure, you can gather more in basic education than you would get in five years of Jim Crow schools.” Robert D. Robertson of Norfolk, state president of the NAACP, predicted that “not more than a handful” of Negroes would enroll in the private schools. After its first session following incor poration, the 10-member board of di rectors of Southside Schools, Inc., issued this statement: “Due to the deep concern that we have in the education of the Negro children of Prince Edward County, Southside Schools, Inc., has been estab lished to give every child in the county an opportunity to receive a proper school education. AWAITED CITIZEN ACTION “The formation of this corporation was delayed because it was our opinion that responsible Negro citizens of the county should provide the leadership. There has been no action along this line, however, despite public offers from nu merous citizens of assistance to any re sponsible Negro in establishing a system of schools for the Negro pupils of this county. “This board believes that no further time should be lost in setting up and operating schools throughout the county of Prince Edward. “At the present time, our first steps will be to make a survey, and receive applications for admission to the schools of this corporation. As soon as these ap plications have been received, a deter mination will be made as to the location of the schools and the employment of qualified school teachers. Committees have been established by the corpora tion for these purposes. “Since tuition grants have been used in other communities of the state, the board of directors believe that these scholarships should be available to pu pils attending the corporation’s schools, and should cover operating costs for the February-June semester. We in tend to open schools in February. “Donations will be received by the corporation, but no concerted drive for such is expected to be made.” TUITION GRANTS Under state law, tuition grants of up to $250 a year in state and local funds are available to children who wish to attend schools other than the public schools to which they normally would be assigned. The private school system for whites in Prince Edward is being financed by donations, and no tuition grants are be ing received. Operators of the system fear that acceptance of public funds, even through tuition grants, might jeopardize the private status of their school system and make it subject to federal court desegregation orders. In commenting on the move for Ne gro schools, the Farmville Herald, pub lished in the Prince Edward county seat and edited by J. Barrye Wall Sr., said: “The NAACP leaders who forced the closing of the schools have done nothing to provide education. In fact, many of those responsible for the closing of public schools have left the county, leaving the residents here to suffer and to work out their own salvation ... “We [citizens of Prince Edward] have been used as a pawn in a great game of national, possibly international politics, and the time is for us to be Prince Edward County citizens again, working for the betterment of our own county, free from those who would use us for ulterior motives, and this done, leave us to solve the problems left be hind.” GOVERNOR CRITICIZED In the second of 10 district rallies planned in the state (See December 1959 Southern School News for back ground), segregationists continued their attack on Gov. J. Lindsay Almond Jr. John W. Carter, vice chairman of the Crusaders for Constitutional Govern ment and a Danville city councilman, told a rally at Charlottesville that Al mond is “now the fair-haired boy of the liberals and antis in this state.” Referring to the governor’s an nouncement that he would recommend enactment of a sales tax in Virginia, Carter continued: “It has become increasingly clear in recent days that the governor has abandoned conservative Virginians and joined forces with the liberals and the antis, evidenced by his recommenda tion for an additional tax burden for our people in the form of a sales tax, which has long been the theme song of the liberal element of the state.” LEGISLATORS ATTEND An estimated 75 persons attended the rally, which was sponsored by the Crusaders and the local chapter of the Defenders of State Sovereignty and Individual Liberties. Both of Charlot tesville’s representatives in the state Legislature were present. J. O. Hoge, president of the Blacks burg chapter of the Defenders, said he planned to resign from that position be cause he does not approve of the tactics being used by the organization. He said that in forming the chapter last spring, he and other organizers wanted to find a way to preserve con stitutional government and not to attack Gov. Almond and others in authority who, Hoge said, are doing all they can to preserve segregated schools. Charles E. Leadman, a leader in War ren County’s anti-integration faction, has been defeated for re-election as business agent of the Textile Workers Union at the American Viscose Corpora tion plant at Front Royal. He lost 822 to 748 to Glenn Kauffman. The union in cludes both white and Negro members. A large portion of the financial sup port for the private school system, set up in Warren last September when pub lic schools closed, came from regular contributions from TWU members at the plant, and Leadman was instru mental in arranging for their participa tion. The week before his defeat for re- election to the office he had held for 14 years, Leadman said that the NAACP was sponsoring a move to oust him. LEGISLATIVE ACTION The General Assembly’s Committee on Offenses Against the Administration of Justice has recommended that the Virginia State Bar consider whether Negro attorneys in desegregation cases have been guilty of unprofessional con duct. The State Bar is an official arm of the state government. In a report to the governor dated Dec. 14, the committee said it had examined many of the plaintiffs in the Warren and Prince Edward County school cases. The report continued: “The great majority testified that they neither paid nor were asked to pay any legal fees or expenses, and that their understanding was that such payments were all to be made by the NAACP. They further testified that they had never been consulted concerning the commencement of any school litigation or consulted as to its conduct after suit was commenced, and that they had never known they were plaintiffs in any such litigation until that information reached them from outside sources.” A similar investigation into how the Floyd County school case was begun revealed that the “same pattern of NAACP activity was present,” the com mittee said, adding that “all counsel fees are payable by it (the NAACP) and not by those referred to as ‘plaintiffs,’ the litigation is fully controlled by the NAACP, and certain of the apparent plaintiffs have no desire to be parties to litigation and never intended to re tain counsel of record as their lawyer.” Acting under provisions of a 1924 statute, the State Corporation Commis sion on Dec. 15 ordered the NAACP to make its membership list available for inspection. The 1924 law empowers the SCC to inspect the books of any association or corporation soliciting subscriptions or contributions for any cause. Oliver W. Hill, the NAACP’s chief at torney in Virginia, said the association would be willing to furnish a detailed statement showing all funds received and how the money is disbursed. But Commissioner Ralph Catteral said that would not constitute full compliance with the law. Hill argued further that the same is sue—disclosure of NAACP members and contributors—is being litigated in state and federal courts. These cases involve laws enacted in 1956. Catterall said he didn’t see how those cases would affect a 1924 statute. On petition of the NAACP, Federal District Judge Albert V. Bryan of Alex andria made the SCC a defendant in a case involving the NAACP membership list. Hill said the SCC’s order of Dec. 15 would be appealed to the state Su preme Court. BOARD DUTY REMOVED Federal District Judge Walter E. Hoffman on Dec. 9 issued an order re lieving the Norfolk school board of any responsibility to deal with the State Pu pil Placement Board. (Beckett v. School Board of the City of Norfolk.) In November, the state board, in order to avoid a contempt citation by Judge Hoffman, assigned four Negroes to predominantly white schools in Norfolk, the first such assignments it had ever made. (See December 1959 Southern School News.) In his latest order, Judge Hoffman said that the Placement Board’s ad mitted policy of denying interracial school transfers was unconstitutional. “Thus the melody of massive resist ance lingers on,” he said. “To require ... local school boards to adhere to their constitutional duties would be futile when the exclusive power of place ment and enrollments vests in the Pu pil Placement Board. “The school board of the city of Nor folk, having endeavored since August, 1958, to meet the great problems of ra cial mixing in the public schools in the face of adversity, and having had re markable success in such efforts, should no longer be hampered by a statute constitutional on its face, but uncon stitutionally applied, wherein the (placement) board admittedly has no intention of performing its duties in a constitutional manner.” In another action, Judge Hoffman dis missed the Newport News’ pupil place- COLUMBIA, S.C. egro organizations in Green ville and elsewhere, backed by the state organization of the National Assn, for the Advance ment of Colored People, were preparing in December for a New Year’s Day protest march on the Greenville airport. The “pilgrim age” was being arranged to protest racial segregation of passengers at the airport and in particular an October incident involving Jackie Robinson, appearing in Greenville as a speaker before an NAACP rally. (See “Community Action.”) Reports continued to emanate from Washington that the Civil Rights Commission was about to announce the members of a South Carolina advisory committee, but nothing official had been disclosed by late December. (See “Miscel laneous.”) A mass march predicted to involve some 5,000 Negroes was scheduled to be held in Greenville on Jan. 1 as a protest against racial separation in waiting rooms at Greenville Municipal Airport. The incident which prompted plans for the protest march occurred Oct. 25, when Jackie Robinson, one-time Negro baseball player and now a business ex ecutive, was asked to leave the white waiting room at the airport and to wait in the facilities provided for Negro passengers. He was in Greenville at the time to address a statewide conference of NAACP members. Another incident involving racial segregation at the airport is now in federal court. A suit was brought against the Airport Commission by Richard B. Henry, Michigan Negro em ployed by the Air Force at Self ridge Field, after he had been requested to wait in the Negro waiting room at the Greenville airport. His suit was dis missed by District Judge George Bell Timmerman but is on appeal. The New Year’s Day march on the airport is being sponsored by the Greenville Ministerial Alliance (Negro) and the local unit of the Committee on Racial Equality, known as CORE. The Rev. J. S. Hall is chairman of CORE in Greenville and is pastor of Spring- field Baptist Church, where the “pil grimage” was slated to start. Negro participants were expected to drive to a point some distance from the airport terminal building, walk from that point to the building, read a resolution and have prayer inside the building, and then disband. DECLINE COMMENT Greenville authorities and police offi cials thus far have declined comment on the march except for a suggestion ment plan as “nothing short of con temptuous.” He directed the school board to submit a new plan by March 15. (Adkinson v. School Board of New port News.) The Newport News plan simply pro vides that pupil assignments be left to the state Pupil Placement Board. Judge Hoffman said the new plan must show what procedures are to be fol lowed by the school board and superin tendent in considering pupils’ applica tions. Federal District Judge Albert V. Bryan indicated on Dec. 3 that he would not order the Alexandria school board to adopt a positive desegregation plan. (Jones v. School Board of the City of Alexandria.) Frank D. Reeves, attorney for 17 Ne gro children seeking admission to white schools, asked the judge to order the board to adopt a plan presenting “specific steps” toward desegregation. But Judge Bryan said that a general plan would not “guarantee a lack of discrimination any more than the method now in effect.” That method is the handling of each application sep arately, on the basis of a six-point pupil assignment plan. However, the judge did not issue a formal ruling, but rather took the mat ter under advisement, along with an other request from Reeves that Alex- (See VIRGINIA, Page 9) (from Police Chief P. P. Oakes) that many legal aspects are involved in the proposal. The pilgrimage was scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 1 with a talk by Mrs. Ruby Hurley of Atlanta, southeastern regional secretary of the NAACP. The Rev. Mr. Hall’s statement con cerning the march included these ob servations: “We hope the pilgrimage to the air port will hasten the day when we will beat our political swords into pruning hooks, and our political spears into plowshares. We hope we will soon be able to sing ‘My Country ’Tis of Thee’ when the words will be applicable to every citizen.” The march on the airport is the first mass demonstration of its kind sched uled by Negro groups in South Caro lina. It has the endorsement of the state conference of the NAACP, according to a statement issued Dec. 9 by the Rev. I. DeQuincey Newman of Spartanburg, president of the state NAACP confer ence. Jackie Robinson apparently will not take part in the protest march. He told United Press International in early De cember that he planned to spend New Year’s Day with his family but com mented that it was “encouraging” to learn of a protest march against “in justice.” LEADERSHIP CHANGES State leadership of the NAACP changes hands Jan. 1, effective date oi the resignation of Newman. The Spartanburg minister, pastor of Silver Hill Methodist Church at Spar tanburg, announced Dec. 12 that he is relinquishing the state presidency of NAACP branches to become a staff member of the national organization of the NAACP. He likewise is resigning as pastor of his Spartanburg church. Another minister, the Rev. Horace P Sharper of Florence, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, is expected to step up from the post of first vice president to succeed Newman within the state NAACP organization. (See SOUTH CAROLINA, Page 7) Prince Edward (Continued From Page 1) would be willing to put the glass in “and hope to get paid sometime.” The board’s two present employes— Supt. T. J. Mcllwaine and a clerk— haven’t been paid since July. However, they’re still on the job in the board’s office in the Prince Edward courthouse. The two also are employes of the school board of adjacent Cumberland County, since the two districts have the same superintendent, clerk and office. But Cumberland is a county of much smaller population than Prince Edward and pays only about a third of the total salaries of the school employes who serve both counties. Even though Prince Edward schools are closed, the office continues to handle many requests for transcripts and for information about former students. The 1,500 former white pupils are attending a private school system set up by segre gationists, but the 1,700 Negro children have no schools. BUILDINGS FOR SALE As for the school board itself, Chair man Andrews says that service on that body is taking more time now than formerly, what with the financial and other problems. Among those other problems, for example, is what to do with funds left in the treasuries of num erous school clubs when the public schools ceased operation. The board also is trying to sell two small school build ings that that were abandoned several years ago. How do the four farmers, one doctor and one retail lumberman who consti tute the board feel about the closing of schools? Chairman Andrews (the lumberman) says they don’t express themselves on the subject publicly. He also says that as far as he knows, they all plan to continue serving despite the curious situation in which they find themselves. Meanwhile, the county's chapter of segregationist Defenders of State Sover eignty and Individual Liberties has adopted a resolution hailing the super visors’ “unyielding representation of the expressed will of the people in refusing to appropriate any funds for public schools in the county.” The resolution adds that the supervisors’ stand “is in promotion of the peace and good order of the general welfare of all of the peo ple” of Prince Edward County.