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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JULY I960—PAGE 7
TENNESSEE
‘Resistance’ Possibility Cited in Chattanooga
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
P ossibility of “intense resist
ance” by the public was cited
by the Chattanooga Board of Edu
cation in its answer to a suit for
school desegregation, while plain
tiffs sought a speed-up of court ac
tion.
Federal court was asked to pro
vide an advisory jury in the case
for consideration of five issues
raised by the defense. But attor
neys for Negroes seeking desegre
gation said they saw “no general
issues as to any material fact in
this case.” (See “Legal Action.”)
An academic crisis gripped Van
derbilt University for more than
two weeks. The divinity school
faculty objected to the university’s
decision not to readmit the Rev.
James M. Lawson, a student who
had been dismissed in March in
connection with anti-segregation
activities. (See “In the Colleges.”)
The Chattanooga school board and
other defendants in a public school de
segregation lawsuit filed April 6 (Mapp
et al v. Board oj Education et al) told
federal district court they feared “in
tense resistance” from the public to
“such a radical change in the traditional
mores . . .”
Attorneys for the defense, who filed
three separate answers to the suit asked
U. S. District Judge Leslie R. Darr for
an advisory jury to sit in judgment on
five special issues they raised. The
lawyers said this would be a new pro
cedure in desegregation cases, and was
up to the judge’s discretion. They
claimed no legal right to the jury.
The issues would be:
• Whether there has been or is now
“any discrimination against Negroes in
schools” in use of funds for sa'aries,
books, etc.
• Whether the board of education
had “in good faith adopted and carried
forward a plan of elucidation, assess
ment and education looking toward an
ultimate solution of the problem of de
segregation. . . .”
• Whether the board had “correctly
assessed the temper of the community
and local attitudes toward desegrega
tion.”
• Whether there is danger of physical,
emotional or psychological damage to
students or citizens if immediate de
segregation is. ordered.
• What “reasonable period of time”
is required for the board to conwlete
and execute a desegregation plan?
WILL ASK JUDGMENT
Meantime, counsel for the plaintiffs
(parents of four Negro children) said
they would ask the court for a summary
judgment, either ordering complete de-
segregation immediately or requiring
the school board to submit a plan for
desegregation, as has been done in
Nashville and Knoxville.
Such a judgment would speed up ac
tion on the suit, the attorneys explained,
which normally would not go to trial
m less than a year. They contended that
a summary judgment is justified be-
cause, in their words, “there are no
general issues as to any material fact
® this case.”
The school board, its administrative
officials and city government officials
are defendants in the Mapp case.
The defendants denied they had failed
to adopt a plan in accordance with the
S. Supreme Court’s school desegrega
tion decision. They said the board
undertook to adopt an elucidation plan
sud process for the community in ac
cordance with the directions implicit in
me . . , decision.”
CREATED COMMITTEE
fil doing this, the board recalled it
announced in July 1955 its intention to
comply with the ruling, then continued
receiving the reaction and response of
o community” before it created an
mterracial advisory committee of 40
members, including 12 Negroes.
organizational meeting of this
® r .° u P m November 1955, the court was
mid “ended in a near-riot.” This led
.i ? ooard to decide that public meetings
,° *? size would contribute nothing
o the elucidation process,” so the board
a er brought small groups together “in
u atmosphere more conducive of the
^exchange of opinions and ideas.”
bus, the board told the court, it has
elucidation) in an unsympathetic atmos
phere” with this objective: “to avoid
racial deterioration of the quality of
public education” and to prevent “de
struction of public education.”
Noting that some “voluntary commu
nity professional, charitable and reli
gious groups” in Chattanooga have held
integrated meetings though “subject to
disapproval by a large part of the com
munity,” the board said the fact that
such meetings were held indicated
“tangible results” from its “elucidation”
policy.
Calling attention to issues raised by
lunch counter sit-in demonstrations and
similar activities, the school board con
tended that, “in view of the present
temper of a large segment of the popu
lation, these defendants are reluctant to
take a hasty step to desegregate the
schools . . .”
For the past 10 years, Chattanooga has
“provided separate but in many cases
superior facilities and schools for per
sons of the Negro race,” the defense
stated, noting that teacher pay for
whites and Negroes has been equal for
at least 15 years.
Judge Darr said he would set a date
sometime after July 8 to hear plaintiffs’
motion for summary judgment. A deci
sion on selection of an advisory jury
also was pending.
MOTION DENIED
The Circuit Court decision revoking
the state charter of Highlander Folk
School is headed for the State Supreme
Court. Circuit Judge Chester C. Chattin
on June 24 denied a motion for new
trial of the case.
A highlight of Judge Chattin’s deci
sion last February was his holding that
Tennessee’s school segregation law still
applies to private schools though not to
public schools. Thus, he ruled that
Highlander’s policy of holding racially
integrated workshops was illegal.
The school, in mountainous Grundy
County, is continuing its program dur
ing the period of litigation. Summer
work includes courses in how white
southerners can help Negroes register
and vote and in preparation of young
people for entering integrated high
schools and colleges.
In Nashville, City Judge Andrew J.
Doyle retired charges against 63 Negro
college students arrested in March in
connection with sit-in demonstrations
at restaurants in two bus terminals. He
had continued their cases four times
because “maybe the situation will work
itself out.”
Nashville sit-ins ended with a deci
sion by downtown merchants to open
lunch facilities to both races, and Judge
Doyle said the cases would be reopened
only “if there is any further trouble
which warrants it.”
Several dozen other cases involving
demonstrators are pending on state
charges before the grand jury, however,
and some City Court convictions are on
appeal to Circuit Court.
Following the faculty members’ deci
sion, “because it is now possible for the
Lawson affair to be resolved honor
ably,” the three Negro students who
had announced their withdrawal said
they wanted to return. University offi
cials indicated there would be “no com
plications.”
Lawson, who enrolled in Boston
University for the summer, indicated
he would consider return to Vanderbilt
for the degree, to be awarded him either
on transfer of credits from Boston or on
his completing written Vanderbilt ex
aminations by Sept. 15.
WOULDN’T WITHDRAW
The Negro Methodist minister, a
former missionary in India, had been
dismissed from Vanderbilt after he had
declined a request from the executive
committee of the board of trust that he
withdraw. The dismissal was based on
what the university called his refusal to
disavow a program of civil disobedience
in connection with sit-in demonstrations
by Negroes seeking desegregation of
Nashville store lunch counters.
During the controversy, the deanship
was offered to Dr. Walter J. Harrelson,
former dean of the Chicago Theological
Seminary already scheduled to join the
Vanderbilt faculty this fall as a profes
sor of Old Testament. After seeking
unsuccessfully to mediate, Harrelson
turned down the deanship and also re
signed as a professor, saying he sup
ported the stand of the faculty. He
later joined the others in withdrawing
their resignations.
Supporters of the Rev. Mr. Lawson,
32, a native of Pennsylvania and former
resident of Masillon, Ohio, who came to
Nashville with the Fellowship of Re
conciliation, again raised issues of racial
discrimination and of academic freedom.
He had been working with the Nash
ville Christian Leadership Conference,
a Negro organization, and said he had
counseled with students in the sit-ins.
UNIVERSITY'S STAND
The university contended that race
was no factor, and that the issue was
violation of a university rule against
lawlessness—not a question of academic
freedom.
In closing the case, Chancellor Brans-
comb said Vanderbilt “has taken the
lead among private southern institutions
in opening its doors to qualified Negroes
of this region . . . Our record in this
area is unassailable . . . Vanderbilt . . .
stands on the principle that racial
progress in the South must be based on
obedience to law. There cannot be one
principle for whites and a different one
for Negroes. The law has been . . . the
basis for much of the Negro’s progress
»
The divinity school faculty concluded
it still did not accept Branscomb’s views
on the issues of the case, nor did it ap
prove dismissal of Dean Nelson. But the
educators told the chancellor they be
lieved there “is some chance of saving
the divinity school” under his proposals.
In a statement, they said the school
“must continue to serve the church and
to work realistically toward a solution
of the crisis now besetting the South.”
TOLD TO ADMIT NEGROES
Bethel College, a Cumberland Pres
byterian institution at McKenzie, in
west Tennessee, was told to begin ad
mitting qualified Negro ministerial stu
dents “as soon as feasible.”
The general assembly of the Cumber
land Presbyterian Church, which oper
ates the college, instructed Bethel
trustees to determine what educational
assistance is needed by Negro church
men “until the admission plan can be
implemented.”
Trustees had suggested that segrega
tion be continued for the time being,
particularly in view of the court ruling,
now on appeal, that the law requiring
segregation still applies to private if not
to public schools. The trustees also noted
the lack of facilities for Negroes in the
college town and cited strong pro
segregation sentiment in that part of
the state.
individual super-leader such as Booker
T. Washington or Walter White to a sort
of mass leadership” without many single
“minority group spokesmen.’’ He called
this “a sign of maturity.”
Harold Fleming, executive director of
the Southern Regional Council, told the
130 participants from 20 states, “We’re
going to have to accept the fact that we
live in a time when everything is hap
pening at once in race relations . . .”
Unless this is accepted, he said “the
next 10 years will be a terribly difficult
period . . . and those of us who survive
the violence and hatred will be busy
picking up the pieces of all our major
institutions.”
The Rev. James M. Lawson Jr., now
enrolled in Boston University following
his dismissal from Vanderbilt Univer
sity, said anti-segregation demonstra
tions by young Negroes are more than
“youthful rebellion against adult au
thority.” They are “too mature” for
that, he asserted, “and our aims are far
too clear to be merely a negative pro
test.”
COMMUNITY ACTION
The Tri-State Fair, an annua, exposi
tion at Memphis for Negroes, has been
suspended for 1960 “because of the spirit
of the times.” It had been scheduled for
its 47th year in October.
The Mid-South Fair at Memphis tra
ditionally has been limited to white
people and the Tri-State Fair has been
held at another time on the same fair
grounds.
A “shift of emphasis” has occurred
in Negro leadership, Dr. Herman H.
Long told the annual Race Relations
Institute at Fisk University in Nashville.
Long, director of the institute, said
the transformation had come “from the
Sen. Estes Kefauver and his re-elec
tion opponent, Judge Andrew T. (Tip)
Taylor of Jackson, opened their cam
paigns with sharp differences as to civil
rights and other issues involving race.
The Democratic primary will be held on
Aug. 4.
Taylor said Kefauver had “turned his
back” on Tennessee and aligned himself
with “a group of ultra-northern liberals,
do-gooders and one-worlders.” Ke
fauver said he was proud to be called
a liberal and said his support for the
civil rights bill was based on his support
for unrestricted voting. # # #
MISSISSIPPI
14 New Laws Placed on Statute Books
been
struggling toward this goal (of
Nashville’s 88-year-old Vanderbilt
University went through more than two
weeks of academic crisis in June. A
breach between the university admin
istration and its divinity school faculty
grew out of the dismissal of a Negro
divinity student in March.
The period of dissension began May
30 after Chancellor Harvie Branscomb
decided against the divinity school’s
proposal to readmit the Rev. James M.
Lawson for the summer term. Divinity
School Dean J. Robert Nelson and 10
of his faculty members submitted their
resignations in protest and an 11th
resigned later.
Next day, three Negro divinity stu
dents said they were dropping out of
Vanderbilt and an estimated 16 others
among the school’s approximately 200
enrollment indicated they would not
return. Meanwhile, three white gradu
ates said they were returning their
diplomas.
A variety of efforts to settle the con
troversy continued until June 15, two
days after Branscomb set forth two al
ternatives under which the Rev. Mr.
Lawson might receive his bachelor of
divinity degree, although without at
tending further classes at Vanderbilt.
NORTON NAMED ACTING DEAN
In the end, 10 of the faculty members
withdrew their resignations on the
chancellor’s invitation, although Dean
Nelson’s resignation was accepted, effec
tive immediately. Named acting dean
later was Dr. Herman A. Norton, pro
fessor of church history, who had not
joined in the resignations.
JACKSON, Miss.
ourteen new laws stemming
from the U. S. Supreme
Court’s 1954 school desegregation
decision were placed on the Mis
sissippi statute books at the 1960
biennial session of the Legisla
ture. (See “Legislative Action.”)
Two proposed amendments to
the state constitution of 1890 were
approved for submission to the
voters in the November general
election. (See “Legislative Ac
tion.”)
The State Advisory Committee
to the U. S. Civil Rights Commis
sion declined a request of the lat
ter agency for a statewide survey
of voter registrations. It came as
the Regional Council of Negro
Leadership in Mississippi submit
ted five reasons to the state group
as to why Negroes were reluctant
to register and vote in some coun
ties. (See “Community Action.”)
Possibly the most far-reaching of the
bills passed and signed into law by
Gov. Ross Barnett was Senate Bill
1923. It gives local trustees authority
to close schools facing integration or
threatened with integration. At a previ
ous session, the Legislature had re
stricted that power to the governor.
In connection with the two statutes
now on the books, the latest act points
out that its constitutionality or validity
shall not be affected by the former
statute.
Reasons set out for action by the lo
cal trustees include:
1) When closure will be to the best
interest of a majority of the educable
children of the territory served.
2) When it is to the best interest of
a majority of the children enrolled in
any such school.
3) Or when closure will promote or
preserve the public peace, order or
tranquility of the district.
REMAIN CLOSED
Schools will remain closed until or
dered reopened by the local trustees.
Petitions for reopenings, in order to be
recognized by the trustees, must be
signed by three-fifths of the qualified
electors of the school district and
three-fifths of the qualified electors
who reside in the territory comprising
the attendance center. A qualified elec
tor is listed in the act as a person
properly registered and qualified to
vote in a countywide election, who is a
resident of the school district involved,
is qualified to vote in an election of a
school trustee and, if residing in a
municipal separate school district, to
additionally be qualified to vote in a
citywide election.
Any action of the trustees can be
appealed to chancery court, but pend
ing its decision the schools remain
closed. During closure, teacher salaries
will continue to be paid.
FAR-REACHING LAW
Another new statute deals with
churches whose congregations are split
on the parent denominational body’s
views and statements relative to inte
gration. Senate Bill 1619 stemmed from
statements of certain “parent” jurisdic
tional bodies favoring integration.
The law permits two-thirds of the
adult local beneficiaries to go in court
and have trustees of the church prop
erty removed and new ones appointed.
The law is designed to retain owner
ship in the local congregations.
Other new laws designed to
strengthen the state’s hold on segrega
tion:
• Senate Bill 2010—Provides that
when any minor child seeks to enroll
in any public school, one of his par
ents or guardians may be required to
accompany him.
• Senate Bill 1907—Provides that a
general guardian of a minor shall not
file any suit, complaint, action and ad
ministrative and quasi judicial pro
ceedings on behalf of such minor with
out approval of the Chancery Court.
• Senate Bill 1980—Provides that no
minor child may attend any school in
any school district except in the school
district of his residence, unless law
fully transferred under the student-
assignment statute.
• House Bill 425—Provides that
whenever any student enrolled in any
school or educational institution, pub
lic or private, is arrested and convicted
of a misdemeanor, the authorities in
volved must report it to officials of the
school district or educational institu
tion in which the student is enrolled.
• Senate Bill 1509—Provides that
persons who are prohibited from mar
rying by reason of race or blood who
shall cohabit or be guilty of a single
act of adultery of fornication, shall be
guilty of a felony and upon conviction
sentenced to prison for 10 years.
Five bills dealing with sit-in lunch
room or wade-in beach demonstrations
in protest to segregation were in the
group of new enactments. They deal
with “obstructing, inciting, trespass and
disturbing the peace.” They enlarge on
previous misdemeanor statutes and in
crease penalties to a maximum fine of
$500 and six months in jail.
VOTING LAWS
Two new laws deal with voter regis
tration and the filing of false state
ments with the federal Civil Rights
Commission in its varied fields of in
quiry.
Senate Bill 1883 repeals a section of
a 1955 extraordinary legislative session
act that required applications by voters
for registration be numbered and filed
as permanent records. It applies in
cases where no appeal has been or is
taken from the ruling of the registrar.
(See MISSISSIPPI, Page 8)