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News
Objective
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
$2 PER YEAR
MAY, I960
Supreme Court Decision
Reaches Six- Year Mark
T
SHE SIXTH ANNIVERSARY of the
U.S. Supreme Court’s school
desegregation decision occurs this
month with six per cent of the
South’s Negro students now at
tending schools with whites.
The court handed down its rul
ing that public school segregation
was unconstitutional on May 17,
1954. An implementation decision
followed on May 31, 1955, direct
ing that desegregation proceed
with all deliberate speed.
At the time of the first decision,
17 southern and border states and
the District of Columbia required
segregation of the races in their
public schools. Other states out
side the area had laws or policies
that permitted racial separation in
their schools.
As the end of the sixth school year
approaches, complete segregation is
maintained in five states: Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and
South Carolina.
The other 12 states and the District
of Columbia have 182,104 Negroes at
tending classes with whites. Out of
the region’s total 3,039,133 Negro stu
dents, 524,425 of them attend schools in
districts that have desegregation either
in practice or principle.
ALL DESEGREGATED
All the bi-racial school districts of
Maryland, West Virginia and the Dis
trict of Columbia are desegregated but
the percentage of Negroes in schools
with whites varies: District of Colum
bia 82 per cent, West Virginia 50 per
cent and Maryland 22 per cent. Four
other states with a sizeable percentage
of Negroes attending bi-racial classes
are Delaware, 44 per cent; Missouri, 43
per cent; Kentucky, 28 per cent; and
Oklahoma, 26 per cent.
The number of Negroes in formerly
all-white schools ranges from one per
cent to .01 per cent in six states: Texas,
Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia
and North Carolina.
STATISTICS KEPT
Statistics kept by SERS and Southern
School News trace the developments
since the ’54 ruling. At the close of the
1956 school year, 450 school districts
were reported desegregated. In 1957,
270 were added and in 1958, 60.
At the fifth anniversary in 1959, 802
school districts were desegregated out
of the 2,909 in the region that were bi-
racial. This month, the records show
749 out of 2,849 bi-racial districts were
desegregated. The decrease in both fig
ures resulted from consolidation of
school districts in several states.
What happened to the five original
cases that brought about the historic
decision?
In 1955, all were remanded to the
lower courts from which they came.
For the three that originated at Wilm
ington, Del., Topeka, Kans., and the
District of Columbia, compliance with
the court order promptly ensued.
Two other cases remain on the court
dockets: Prince Edward County, Va.,
and Clarendon County, S.C. Develop
ments on both occurred in federal
courts as recently as April.
U.S. District Judge Albert V. Bryan
at Richmond ordered Prince Edward
to desegregate its schools on April 25.
But the decision had no practical effect
since the county abandoned its public
schools last year to avoid racial inte
gration.
Negroes and whites continue to at
tend separate schools in Clarendon
County, as they do in all South Caro
lina. However, a new suit filed in fed
eral court at Charleston April 13 seeks
an injunction against the dual school
system in Clarendon County.# # #
Desegregation Suits Filed
InTennessee;Other Major
Cases Involve Four States
S CHOOL DESEGREGATION SUITS filed
during April ranged from pe
titions entered for the first time to
one dating back to the original
1954 Supreme Court decision.
Negro attorneys in Memphis
and Chattanooga filed long-ex
pected suits seeking to desegre
gate public schools in the two
Tennessee cities. Both suits were
brought as “class” actions so as to
apply not only to the complainants
but to others similarly situated.
A new suit seeking desegregation of
Summerton schools in Clarendon Coun
ty, S.C., was filed in U.S. District Court
at Charleston. The action is distinct,
GEORGIA
Sibley Commission Favors
Local Option by 11-8 Vote
MACON, Ga.
THhe Sibley school study com-
mission submitted a sharply
divided (11 to 8) majority and
minority report on what Georgia
should do about the impending
Atlanta school desegregation and
the threat of closed public
schools.
A majority recommended a
“freedom of choice” plan. A mi
nority wanted to stand fast on
present segregation laws.
Gov. Ernest Vandiver said no special
session of the Legislature would be
held this summer. U. S. District Judge
Frank Hooper has set May 9 as a date
for a hearing, at which time he may
say when Atlanta must desegregate.
(See “Under Survey.”)
The long-awaited Sibley school study
commission report was made public
April 28. It was sharply divided, 11-8.
A majority wanted state constitutional
changes to permit local freedom of
choice in schools forced to desegregate.
SOUTH CAROLINA
New Clarendon Suit Filed
Challenging Segregation
COLUMBIA, S. C.
A new suit challenging segre
gation in Clarendon County
was filed in federal court during
April.
Another federal action was
brought in Darlington County
against expulsion of three stu
dents from a Negro high school.
(“See Legal Action.”)
Defendants in numerous cases
involving Negro demonstrations
against segregation were tried
during April, with the majority
being convicted and sentenced to
pay fines or serve jail terms. (See
“Legal Action.”)
The South Carolina General Assem
bly continued study of various pro
posals affecting segregation but did
little in the way of enacting new meas
ures. (See “Legislative Action.”)
The American Assn, of University
Professors released a report criticizing
South Carolina authorities and Negro
college officials for the dismissals in
1958 of certain faculty members at two
Negro schools at Columbia. (See “In
the Colleges.”)
Sen. Strom Thurmond (D-SC),
states’ righter and segregationist, drew
opposition in the forthcoming Demo
cratic primary from an elderly Colum
bian who charged that the southern
(See SOUTH CAROLINA, Page 3)
A minority, saying there could be no
such thing as “token integration,” rec
ommended that Georgia stand pat on
its constitutional and statutory segrega
tion laws.
Gov. Ernest Vandiver said there
would be no special legislative session
this summer to act on the commission
reports, contending such a session
would be “fruitless.” If the Legislature
does not meet this summer, voters can
not consider any proposed constitu
tional changes until November 1962.
REPORTS READ
Meanwhile, the reports were being
read with interest by U.S. Judge Frank
Hooper of Atlanta. Urged by Negroes
to order desegregation of Atlanta
schools by next September, Judge
Hooper had said he would wait until
after the commission reported before
deciding. He has set a new hearing for
May 9.
The commission, created by the Leg
islature to take a reading of the public
pulse on the school desegregation is
sue, heard more than 1,800 witnesses
representing, or purporting to repre
sent, more than 115,000 persons. Hear
ings were held in each of Georgia’s 10
congressional districts.
Under the chairmanship of John
Sibley, Atlanta banker, the commission
also held two supplementary hearings
and sent a special group to Virginia to
investigate private school conditions in
Prince Edward County.
SIGNED REPORT
The majority report was signed by
Sibley, Rep. Howell Hollis, Sen. John
W. Greer, Chairman Robert O. Arnold
of the State Board of Regents, Univer
sity System Chancellor Harmon W.
Caldwell, State School Supt. Claude
Purcell, Georgia Press Assn. President
Homer Rankin, Samuel J. Boykin,
Charles A. Cowan, Zade Kenimer and
John W. Dent.
The minority report was signed by
commission Vice Chairman John P.
Duncan, head of the Georgia Farm
Bureau Federation; J. W. Keyton, pres
ident of the Georgia County Commis
sioners Assn.; Sens. Wallace L. Jemi-
gan and H. Eulond Clary; and Reps.
J. Battle Hall, Render Hill, George
Brooke and H. Walstein Parker.
AMENDMENTS OFFERED
Two proposed constitutional amend
ments offered in the majority report
would:
1) Specify that no child shall be
compelled against the will of parents
or guardians to attend an integrated
school and that such children shall be
re-assigned or given a direct tuition
grant.
2) Authorize the Legislature to es
tablish local school units that could
(See GEORGIA, Page 2)
except in general purpose, from the liti
gation that commenced 10 years ago as
Briggs v. Elliott and brought about the
1954 decision ruling segregation uncon
stitutional.
At New Orleans, the Orleans Parish
school board asked U.S. District Court
Judge J. Skelly Wright to set aside his
order for a desegregation plan by May
16.
The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Ap
peals in Philadelphia was asked to set
aside Delaware’s grade-a-year deseg
regation plan approved by a lower fed
eral court in 1959. An attorney for 42
Negroes argued that the original de
segregation order, dating back to 1957,
provided for admission to all levels.
In another legal development during
the month, a federal district judge or
dered 14 Negroes admitted to a Pulaski
County, Va., white high school in Sep
tember. A federal appeals court upheld
the Alexandria, Va., school board’s re
fusal to admit five Negro children to
white schools on the basis of residence
and academic standing.
Developments state by state during
April were:
Alabama
The 13 Negroes who applied for ad
mission to the University of Alabama’s
Extension Service Center in Montgom
ery will not be enrolled for the spring
quarter, university authorities an
nounced. Two Negroes have made new
attempts to enter the state vocational
training school in Mobile. (Page 3)
Arkansas
Negro plaintiffs in the Little Rock
case filed a 66-page brief arguing
against the use of the pupil assignment
law and for expansion of the desegrega
tion plan. (Page 7)
Delaware
Caesar Rodney School District and
the State Department of Public In
struction exchanged letters in sharp
disagreement over the registration and
transfer policy for Negro pupils at the
second-grade level. (Page 2)
SSN Readers
Sent Notices
For Renewals
Southern School News renewal
notices have been sent to hun
dreds of SSN readers whose sub
scriptions expire next month with
the end of Volume 6.
This is a reminder to those whose
subscriptions expire with the June
issue to renew now and maintain a
continuous factual and objective
record of segregation-desegregation
developments in the South.
Although schools soon will be
taking vacations, present indications
point to an active summer of seg
regation and desegregation develop
ments prior to school openings next
fall. Don’t lose track of these de
velopments by failing to renew
promptly.
* * *
A revised Statistical Summary,
collected and published by South
ern Education Reporting Service,
will be ready for distribution this
month.
The semi-annual report covers
the status of school segregation-de-
segregation in the 17 southern and
border states, plus the District of
Columbia. It includes pertinent
data, state by state, on enrollment,
teachers, colleges, legislation and
litigation.
The summary, including revisions,
is available for $1 a year from
Southern Education Reporting Serv
ice, P.O. Box 6156, Nashville 12,
Tennessee.
District of Columbia
Congress passed its second civil rights
bill since Reconstruction Days—impos
ing stiff penalties for interference with
court desegregation orders. Washington
School Supt. Carl F, Hansen reported
that five years of school desegregation
had given students rising achievement
levels, better teaching efficiency and
more educational services. (Page 16)
Florida
Two court actions raised the prospect
that a number of additional suits to de
segregate schools will be filed in Florida
state and federal courts. (Page 15)
Georgia
The Sibley school study commission
announced its long-awaited findings,
issuing both a majority and minority
report. U.S. District Judge Frank A.
Hooper will hold a hearing on the At
lanta school desegregation case May 9
after having studied the commission re
port. (Page 1)
Kentucky
Democratic and Republican candi
dates for the U.S. Senate made it clear
at a “summit conference” of Negro
leaders that school desegregation will
not be a campaign issue. (Page 13)
Louisiana
Mass student resignations from all-
Negro Southern University followed the
suspension of 18 students who led
equal-rights demonstrations in Baton
Rouge. Student and university figures
on the number of students who re
signed varied widely. (Page 14)
Maryland
Republican Sen. J. Glenn Beall re
ported that his poll showed a majority
of Marylanders do not want school in
tegration to move faster. A poll last
August showed that 52 per cent of his
constituents favored integration. (Page
9)
Mississippi
The current Legislature passed a bill
authorizing local trustees to close pub
lic schools on threat of integration, an
authority previously reserved to the
governor. Eight other bills with racial
angles either had passed or were pend
ing. (Page 4)
Missouri
Integration of public schools was re
ported to be working out smoothly and
without difficulty at Jefferson City.
(Page 6)
North Carolina
Negro student leaders from 11 south
ern states and the District of Columbia
agreed at a meeting in Raleigh to form
a southwide committee to co-ordinate
their segregation protests. (Page 11)
Oklahoma
A National Conference of Christians
and Jews official predicted Northeast
High School in Oklahoma City will
have Negro students for the first time
this fall. (Page 9)
South Carolina
Federal action was brought in Dar
lington against the expulsion of three
Negro high school students. (Page 1)
Tennessee
Two school boards adopted grade-a-
year desegregation plans like that
originated in Nashville. (Page 5)
Texas
Both Houston and Dallas, the state’s
two largest school districts, are under
federal court orders to announce deseg
regation plans during May. (Page 12)
Virginia
Private segregated schools, set up in
several communities to avoid public
school integration, generally reported
successful operations. (Page 10)
West Virginia
An attorney for the National Assn,
for the Advancement of Colored People
asked a federal court to retain an old
school desegregation suit on its docket
pending investigation of complaints of
non-compliance. (Page 13) # # #
