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PAGE 14—FEBRUARY—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS LOUISIANA Jimmie Davis Defeats Morrison; Backed By Segregation Forces Board President Prefers Integration to Closing NEW ORLEANS, La. NEW ORLEANS, La. F ormer Gov. Jimmie H. Davis gathered Louisiana’s segrega tion forces into his camp and with them won the Democratic nomination for governor, tanta mount to election. (See “Political Activity.”) At Washington, the Justice De partment filed a motion asking the U.S. Supreme Court to re store 1,377 Negro voters to the registration roles in Washington Parish (county), one of the par ishes of Louisiana where Negroes had been purged from the voter lists. (See “Legal Action.”) Atty. Gen. Jack P. F. Gremil- lion argued before the Supreme Court on the Louisiana challenge to the constitutionality of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. (See “Legal Action.”) Emile A. Wagner Jr., a member of the Orleans Parish school board, was asked by the board for his resignation after he became involved in the recent state election, claiming he had a com mitment from Jimmie H. Davis that Davis would enjoin the board from integrating schools under federal court order. Wagner refused to resign. (See “School Boards and Schoolmen.”) Jimmie H. Davis, who served as Louisiana’s governor from 1944 to 1948, won the Democratic nomination for a new term beginning in May. He picked up strong segregation support in the Jan. 9 runoff against Mayor deLesseps S. Morrison of New Orleans. Davis faces States Rights candidate Kent Courtney, New Orleans publisher, and Republican candidate Francis C. Grevemberg, Baton Rouge real estate man, in an April 19 general election. Neither was considered likely to upset Louisiana’s traditional election of a Democratic governor. Davis won the Democratic nomina tion after he gained the second pri mary endorsement of State Sen. Wil liam M. Rainach, principal leader of the state’s segregation forces. In return for the support, which shifted 16 Rainach parishes to Davis in the runoff, Davis will appoint Rain ach as chairman of a state sovereignty commission on states rights and segre gation after taking office in May. SUPPORT EFFECTIVE An analysis of the second primary returns, when a record 88 per cent of the state’s 1,140,000 voters turned out at the polls, indicates the effectiveness of the Rainach endorsement and the segregation vote. Rainach got 143,000 votes as a candi date for governor in the Dec. 5 Demo cratic primary while Morrison got 278,- 000 and Davis 213,000. Rainach, the most vocal in the first primary on the subject of continued segregation, won 16 parishes in northern and eastern Louisiana. Each one of the 16 parishes voted overwhelmingly for Davis in the run off as Davis and Rainach campaigners lashed at Morrison on charges that the mayor was the candidate of the Na tional Assn, for the Advancement of Colored People. THREE HURDLES Morrison, like all of the original 11 candidates for governor, was also pledged to segregation but in the run off showdown he faced these hurdles: 1) As a Catholic, he was believed to be soft on the segregation issue. This counted heavily against him in Prot estant north Louisiana, where race feeling is much stronger than in the southern portion of the state. 2) Public transportation and city park facilities were integrated during his current term as mayor of New Orleans. He didn’t succeed in efforts to explain that neither the transporta tion nor the park was within his juris diction. 3) He was a “big city” man while Davis, from Shreveport, was considered a “country boy” more favorable to the smaller parishes of the state. Davis bid strongly for anti-Negro votes immediately after the first pri mary, charging that Morrison had re ceived the bloc vote of Negroes in the Dec. 5 voting. Two major newspapers—the New Or leans Times Picayune and the Shreve port Times—also pointed to Morrison’s Negro vote and supported Davis on the basis that he was better qualified to calm the political turmoil in the wake of Gov. Earl K. Long’s administration. GOT LONG’S SUPPORT Long supported Davis at the last minute, announcing he was voting for the man he succeeded in 1948 when he (Long) won his first four-year term as governor. On the basis of an analysis of the voting precincts dominated by Negroes, Morrison is believed to have gotten the vast majority of the 150,000 Negro votes. The mayor carried 22 of the 64 parishes, including Orleans. All of them were in the extreme southern parishes, populated heavily by Catholics and by Negroes. Davis not only won the 16 parishes that had given Rainach the first pri mary lead, but he also won the two parishes that had placed former Gov. James A. Noe first in the first pri mary and the one parish that had put State Comptroller William J. Dodd at the top of the Dec. 5 voting. Both Noe and Dodd endorsed and worked for Morrison in the second primary. Davis also made inroads on the Mor rison vote in south Louisiana, captur ing the Lake Charles and Baton Rouge votes. Morrison had led in both of these areas in the first primary. NEGROES DEFEATED Two Negro candidates for the Legis lature were beaten in the second pri mary. Both from New Orleans, law yers Lawrence Wheeler and Revius O. Ortigue were the first of their race to get into the runoffs for the Legislature during this century. Neither of them had the endorsements of the major political factions in New Orleans. After his defeat, Rainach was given a testimonial dinner in New Orleans as Citizens Council and vocal segrega tion support mounted for Davis, prin cipally on the basis that he was the most palatable to them in the choice between Davis and Morrison. Rainach said at the testimonial: “We can (by electing Davis) salvage a great deal we lost when I was not elected governor of Louisiana.” Davis’s position on segregation was never as strong as that of Rainach. Principally his position was this: “I think I have been as good a friend to the colored people as any Louisiana governor. I am for segregation and al ways will be. We will use all neces sary, proper and effective means to maintain our historic way of life and to preserve our southern traditions.” His platform committed him to sepa rate but equal facilities. In the running battle between the state and federal governments over Louisiana purges of Negro voters from the registration rolls, the Justice De partment asked the U.S. Supreme Court to restore 1,377 Negroes to the rolls in Washington Parish. The department action, filed Jan. 22, came as a surprise and Atty. Gen. Jack P. F. Gremillion of Louisiana an nounced immediate intention to op pose the motion. This is what happened: 1) Federal District Court Judge J. Skelly Wright at New Orleans issued a decree Jan. 11 ordering the Negroes returned to the registration rolls, en joining parish vote registrar Curtis M. Thomas from giving legal effect to any of the 1,377 challenges filed against Negroes between February and June of 1959. 2) The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, also at New Orleans, stayed the effect of Judge Wright’s decree on Jan. 21 pending a hearing of the ap peal filed by defendants. 3) The Justice Department action followed the next day in Washington. In his original ruling, Wright en joined four individual members of the Washington Parish White Citizens Council from filing vote challenges “which have as their purpose or effect discrimination based on race or color against any registrants of Washington Parish . . .” Also at Washington, Gremillion ar gued the Louisiana case that chal lenges the constitutionality of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. The case is before the court on the appeal of the government. Three fed eral judges sitting in Shreveport, La., declared earlier that the rules of the commission were unconstitutional. This decision blocked the commis sion’s attempt to conduct a public hear ing at Shreveport, where 16 north Louisiana voter registrars were to face questioning on scores of complaints by Negro voters that they had been dis criminated against. The Shreveport federal court said the commission failed to provide for having the accused registrars face their accusers, with the right of cross ex amination. SAYS AUTHORITY EXCEEDED Gremillion argued in Washington that the commission exceeded its con stitutional authority when it summoned the registrars to a one-day hearing in Shreveport. It was scheduled July 13 but never was held. He pointed out that the state had attempted to learn from the commis sion the names of the 67 Negroes who claimed that their voting rights were denied. “The record,” he said, “is replete with my cooperation with the com mission. Yet every time we turned around we met with commission se crecy, with authority and policy de cision not authorized by Congress.” Deputy U.S. Atty. Gen. Laurence E. Walsh told the Supreme Court that parish registrars need not fear a Civil Right Commission hearing. He said the commission is merely investigative and has no judicial power. Lloyd J. Rittiner, president of the Orleans parish school board, disclosed in New Orleans Jan. 8 that the ma jority of the board had asked for the resignation of board member Emile A. Wagner Jr. because of Wagner’s in volvement in the gubernatorial cam paign. Wagner, at the forefront of citizens council actions, announced his sup port of Jimmie H. Davis for the Demo cratic nomination for governor, say ing Davis had pledged to him to have the state enjoin the school board from integrating under federal court order. The school board is under an order from U.S. District Court Judge J. Skelly Wright to submit to him a plan of integration for the Orleans public schools, which have 46,752 Negro stu dents as compared with 39,592 whites. RITTINER’S STATEMENT Rittiner said Wagner refused to re sign. The board president said in a public statement: “The majority of the members of the Orleans parish school board are dis appointed that Emile A. Wagner Jr. persists in becoming involved in the state political campaign. We have told him that if he is that much interested in the campaign, he should resign or take a leave of absence from the board. He has refused to do this, and as he is an elected official, the board is power less to do anything about it. “However, we do not believe he is acting in the best interests of the Orleans public school system by per sisting in his campaigning. “The school board further feels that regardless of any commitment from any candidate, the board is better in formed about and more capable of handling its problems than any candi date in the gubernatorial race.” AGAINST FEDERAL AID The Louisiana School Boards Assn, met in annual session at New Orleans and, among other actions, adopted a resolution opposing federal aid to edu cation. Maximum efficiency in the school systems, the association said, can “best be secured only if we avoid and re sist transfer of authority to centralized regional or Washington levels.” Acceptance of federal aid, said the group, would result in a loss of “local voice or control and certain erosion of state sovereignty.” # # # L loyd J. Rittiner, elected pres ident of the Orleans Parish (county) school board in Decem ber, says he would rather see public schools integrated than closed. Heading the state’s largest pub lic school system, Rittiner said his five-member board is in a squeeze play between the federal and state governments and prob ably will turn back to the federal courts for a solution. The Orleans board is under orders from U.S. District Court Judge J. Skelly Wright to offer a desegregation plan by May 16. Wright has not said when he wants the plan implemented, but the presumption is he wants school to be gin integration on s grade-by-grade basi next September. “The federal gov ernment says we can not operate segregat ed schools,” said Rit tiner. “The state says we cannot operate in tegrated schools and has the power to close the schools. “We must submit a rittiner plan to Judge Wright by May 16. We don’t have one. If we do submit one we cannot implement it because of the state law. Somewhere along the line the court is going to have to tell us what to do. “I am a segregationist. I think it is to the best interest of the people of New Orleans of both races to have separate schools. “If, however, I am faced with a choice (Continued From Page 11) board—including overcrowding, finan cial burden for new schools, different achievement levels, and the impact on a predominately southern society—can not be used for subverting constitu tional rights, Redding says. RELEASE DATE SET Meanwhile, the Laurel Board of Education has set Feb. 12 for an opinion release on a hearing held Jan. 19 on bias charges made by Alonzo H. Shockley Jr. over his dismissal as principal at the Paul Laurence Dunbar School on charges of insubordination. The hearing was ordered bv the Delaware Supreme Court after Shock- ley, a Negro, charged that his dismis sal in 1957 came about because he tried to enroll his daughter in a white school at Milford. At the hearing, the Laurel Board of Education denied charges cited by Shockley’s attorney, Joseph H. Geoghe- gan, that his client’s dismissal came for racial reasons. Shockley, through Geoghegan, ar gued that he was not permitted to present his evidence of anti-Negro bias at the school board meetings in 1957 when other evidence of his al leged insubordination was introduced. The Supreme Court, on Dec. 12, 1959, reaffirmed an earlier stand upholding the Laurel board in dismissing Shock- ley for insubordination, but ordered a rehearing on the bias charges. The decision by the Laurel board is also subject to further review by the courts. Testifying at the hearing for the Laurel board were Clarence Evans; former board members Harry McAl lister and Carlton Tyndall; Ford M. Warrington; and Mrs. Katherine Henry, secretary to Leon B. Elder, superin tendent of schools The General Assembly will be asked by the State Youth Services Commis sion to authorize sale of the state’s three training schools and construc tion of a single, coeducational, racially integrated institution. The merger would involve Ferris School for Boys, Kruse School (for Negro girls) and Woods Haven School for Girls. The existing schools were called “outmoded” by Donald G. Black- bum, executive secretary of the com mission. Estimated value of the three schools is one million dollars. It will be proposed to the Assembly that the school be built outside the of integrating or closing I am already on record as favoring integration to the extent that it is necessary to comply with law.” Rittiner, head of an engineering firm and one of the more outspoken mem bers of the board on the integration is sue, said he is seeking some method of polling voters or parents of school-age children of New Orleans on whether to integrate or to close public schools. “If most of the people were in favor of closing the schools I would support the closing—but I think it would be a mistake,” Rittner said. “If you have an integrated school system the people would have a choice. “Those who had no objection to send ing their children to integrated schools could send them. But if the schools were closed there would be no choice. Those persons who had no objection to integrated schools would, like the others, have to find private schools for their children. “I don’t think most of the people could afford the private schools and don’t know what other solution there is.” Rittiner said he does not believe the Orleans school board, which has fought the issue of integration on a single suit since shortly after the original U.S. Su preme Court decision on segregation, has “any more legal rope to pull on.” The Supreme Court, he said, does not care about the constitutionality or un constitutionality of state laws on the segregation-integration issue “and there fore we can’t fall back on the state laws.” Under state law, Louisiana is empow ered to close integrated schools and support private schools. # # # Wi'minvton metropolitan area, where land costs are lower. The Assemb’y also will soon receive a building bill from the State Board of Education, which delayed submit ting other than emergency requests during 1959. At its January meeting, the state board approved three small building programs for Negro schools in lower Delaware. Included was Bridge ville 220, addition to existing school of two classrooms, cafeteria, and other im provements, $226,000; Frankford 206, addition to two classrooms and other improvements, $142,000. and Mil’sboro 204, health unit, tractor, $8,200. Total cost is $376,200. The state board also reported prog ress in its efforts to bring about con solidation in some of the smaller downstate districts, but the integration question has stalled proposed mergers in some cases. This is true in the Dover and Caesar Rodney districts, which the state board has urged to join and build a com prehensive high school. Dover, in 1954, integrated at the academic level in the high school, but Caesar Rodney did not. Later, the two schools suspended athletic relations because Dover in sisted that its Negro players be allowed to compete whether the games were played at Caesar Rodney or Dover. Caesar Rodney agreed to play against Negroes in Dover, but not at Caesar Rodney. Both schools, in building requests submitted to the state board in 1959, proposed to renovate their high schools. But the state board has thus far re fused to approve the requests, and in stead has suggested a merger. MISCELLANEOUS The International Latex Corp. plant at Dover has been cited by the Presi dent’s Committee on Government Con tracts in Washington as an example of progress in eliminating discrimination in employment. The company has hired seven Negro workers, and also has “made arrange ments to use the facilities of Delaware State College, where enrollment is pre dominantly Negro, to provide advanced training for its white laboratory tech nicians,” the citation said. The committee launched negotiations with the Latex company last July after the company had tried to hire Negroes in its Dover plant but had been un successful because of resistance of white employees. “No Negroes were employed even though Negroes constituted 25 per cent of the popu'ation in the area, and its work force numbered about 2,600,” the report said. # # # Delaware