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PAGE 12—NOVEMBER I960—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
DELAWARE
Five Additional Districts in State Enroll Negro Pupils
DOVER, Del.
F ive additional Delaware school
districts enrolled Negro pu
pils at white schools, making 24
desegregated districts. The state
has 93 districts. (See “School
Boards and Schoolmen.”)
The Delaware State Education
Association, the state’s largest
teacher’s group, recommended
that a Negro be appointed to the
State Board of Education. (See
“School Boards and Schoolmen.”)
School desegregation and civil
rights were raised in the Dela
ware political campaign during
visits by the two presidential can
didates. (See “Political Activ
ity.”)
Twenty-four of Delaware’s 93 school
districts are now desegregated. This
represents an increase of five over the
1959-60 school year. The information
was compiled by the Research and
Publications Division of the State De
partment of Public Instruction at the
close of school Sept. 30.
Joining the 19 previously desegre
gated districts were Marshallton, New
port, Hartly, Lewes and Seaford. Thir
teen Negro pupils are involved, with
three at Marshallton, four at Newport,
two at Hartly, one at Lewes, and three
at Seaford.
Kentucky
j
(Continued From Page 11)
though the percentage of Negroes in
these schools decreased.
The grin in total enrollment was due
entirely to the increase in the number
of Negro students. Total white enroll
ment continued to fall off.
Here are a few
of the key figures:
1960
1959
1958
Total enrollment
47,297
46.606
46,635
White enrollment
31,580
31,848
32,803
Negro enrollment
15,717
14,756
13,832
In bi-racial schools
37,931
39.431
36,450
In all-white schools
5,249
3,704
3,834
In all-Negro schools
4,117
3,469
6,351
White in
bi-racial schools
26,331
28,144
28,969
Negro in
bi-racial schools
11,600
11,287
7,481
Total No. of schools
75
75
74
Bi-racial schools
60
62
57
All-white schools
10
9
9
All-Negro schools
5
4
8
C'early pointed up is the great in
fluence a few pupils can exert on over
all statistics. Last fall, for example, one
junior high had two Negroes among
1,018 whites. This counted as 1,020 pu
pils attending a bi-racial school. This
year the same school has no Negroes
and the enrollment of 1,076 swung over
into the all-white column.
There continue to be many schools
with sizable numbers of both races. For
example: 275 whites and 230 Negroes;
208 whites and 201 Negroes; 245 Ne
groes and 178 whites.
Asked to explain the overall de
crease in degree of desegregation, an
assistant superintendent said that evi
dently more pupils are taking advan
tage of the voluntary transfer plan to
attend schools where their race pre
dominates.
STATE SUMMARY
The Kentucky Department of Educa
tion is preparing a special bulletin
which will show that the percentage
of Negroes in desegregated schools in
creased from 28 per cent in 1958-59
to 40 per cent in the 1959-60 school
year.
Of approximately 40,000 Negro stu
dents, 16,329 were in mixed classes last
year. This compares with 11,492 in
1958-59 and 313 in 1955-56.
The number of desegregated schools
increased from 41 in 1955-56 to 331 in
1958-59 and to 377 in 1959-60.
As can be seen by comparing these
figures with the table above, more
than two-thirds of the Negroes in bi-
racial schools were enrolled in the
Louisville school system.
UNDER SURVEY
The new president of the Kentucky
Conference of the NAACP, J. Earl
Dearing, announced formation of a
committee to study school integration
progress and submit plans for future
action.
Dearing was elected in September to
succeed James A. Crumlin. (SSN, Oc
tober) # # #
Two Delaware districts, Arden and
Claymont, both in New Castle County,
desegregated in 1953, prior to the Su
preme Court decision.
Eight desegregated in 1954, one in
1955, one in 1958, and seven in 1959.
SCHOOL POPULATION
Delaware’s school population, ac
cording to the report, rose to 82,206,
including 67,145 white pupils and 15,-
061 Negroes—18 per cent of the total.
A total of 6,734 Negro pupils go to
school with 36,431 white students.
Of 97 schools in the desegregated dis
tricts, 71 have both white and Negro
pupils.
A preponderance of the desegrega
tion has taken place in New Castle
County, the most northern of the
state’s three counties. The city of Wil
mington, for instance, with a school
enrollment of 13,083, has 7,194 white
pupils and 5,889 Negroes. Twenty-one
of 22 of its schools have both Negro
and white pupils. The growth of the
number of Negroes in the school popu
lation follows a general population
trend of the city.
Other schools with a large number
of Negroes attending school with
whites include Rose Mill-Minquadale
(202), New Castle (143), Newark (216)
and Caesar Rodney (47).
MILITARY DEPENDENTS
The majority of those at Caesar Rod
ney are enrolled at the Dover Air
Force Base school, which serves more
than 1,000 homes occupied by military
dependents.
Caesar Rodney has administrative
control over the school, but the inte
gration policy at all grade levels was
established by the federal government.
Caesar Rodney still maintains a Ne
gro elementary school, as does nearby
Dover, although both districts are tech
nically desegregated.
The percentage of Negroes in the to
tal enrollment in state schools remained
about constant at 18 per cent, accord
ing to the report.
The total number of teachers reached
3,688, including 3,017 whites and 671
Negroes.
The average annual salary of white
teachers was $5,750, $50 more than for
Negro teachers.
The difference, a spokesman said,
was caused by the fact that many
cities in the white districts pay a local
supplement, while the majority of the
Negro teachers are in State Board dis
tricts and receive the pay set by the
General Assembly.
If all teachers received only the state
salary, Negroes would probably receive
more than the whites, the spokesman
added, because the majority of Negro
teachers have more advanced training.
The report reveals that the number
of schools desegregated has risen from
31 in 1956-57 to 71 this year.
White enrollment has climbed from
54,505 five years ago to 67,145, while
Negro enrollment has increased from
11,410 to 15,061.
★ ★ ★
NEGRO FOR SCHOOL BOARD
Earlier, the Interracial Committee of
the Delaware State Education Associ
ation requested Gov. J. Caleb Boggs
to appoint a Negro member to the
State Board of Education, which is
composed of two members from each
of the three counties in the state.
In addition to a formal letter, the
committee sent a sub-committee to a
conference with the governor to fol
low up the recommendation.
The committee’s recommendation was
made public in the October conven
tion issue of the Delaware School Jour
nal.
Gov. Boggs took no action on the
request. Consequently, the committee
voted to “recommend to the next gov
ernor of Delaware that a competent
Negro be appointed to the State Board
of Education.”
FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS
Five other recommendations by the
committee were;
1) That the professional growth con
ferences for teachers be continued and
supported by DSEA.
2) That the conferences on human
relations for Student Council leaders
be continued, and that the idea of mak
ing these conferences for junior high
students be considered.
3) That increased use of the lending
library and kits of publications on hu
man relations and integration, availa
ble through the DSEA office, be en
couraged through increased publicity.
4) That the Interracial Committee
continue to encourage and be prepared
to supply speakers for meetings upon
request.
5) That the committee continue its
interest in current happenings and
commend or censure various organiza
tions for their actions.
In late October Dr. Luni I. Mishoe,
professor of physics and chairman of
the Division of Natural Sciences at
Morgan State College, Baltimore, Md.,
was named president of Delaware State
College.
He replaces Dr. Jerome H. Holland,
who resigned to accept another posi
tion.
Dr. Mishoe, as a result of his doc
toral dissertation in mathematics, was
invited to spend
two terms at Ox
ford doing ad
vanced research
o n mathematical
theory.
He received his
bachelor’s degree
from Allen Uni
versity, Columbia,
S. C., in 1938, and
his master of sci
ence degree from
the University of
Michigan in 1942. He received a doctor
ate from New York University in 1953.
Dr. Mishoe, 43, began his teaching
career at Kittrell College in North
Carolina, and later spent two years
on the Delaware State faculty. He
joined the Morgan State staff in 1948.
For five years he spent the summer
months as a research mathematician
MISHOE
in the Ballistics Research Laboratory
at the U. S. Army Ordnance Provin|
Ground, Aberdeen, Md. Since 1957 ht
has been a special consultant to thfl
Ordnance Corps.
Dr. Mishoe and his wife have fout
children, the oldest 13, the youngest
10 months.
School desegregation and civil rights
issues, which hadn’t been mentionej
previously in the Delaware political
campaign, were brought into the staff
by the two presidential candidates, i
Sen. John F. Kennedy, addressing
25,000 persons at the New Castle
County Airport near Wilmington, first
opened the issue. Kennedy said:
“How are you going to provide for ,
the implementation of the Supreme
Court decision of 1954?”
Then he hit hard at the civil rights
issue.
“Mr. Nixon sent Sen. Goldwate
through the South saying he does not
mean anything he says on civil rights,
and Sen. Scott of Pennsylvania through
the North assuring the Negroes that
he is with them all the way.”
Nixon visited Delaware three days
later and also touched the issue.
ROBINSON ARRIVED
Three days after Nixon’s departure
Jackie Robinson arrived in Wilming- ,
ton and endorsed the Republican can- ,
didate.
“I sincerely believe that Nixon will 1
do his best in the field of civil rights; '
said Robinson, the first Negro to play t
major league baseball.
Robinson lashed out at Kennedy's ,
action in “reaching down into his bag
of tricks and coming up with Lyndoi '
Johnson.” This, he said, counteracted 1
the civil rights plank in the Demo
cratic Party’s platform.
Robinson spoke at Howard Higt
School, which earlier in the month had
been emptied by a bomb threat. How
ard has 432 Negro pupils, one white
# # f
—
FLORIDA
Negro Leaders Attack Slow Pace of Desegregation
MIAMI, Fla.
N egro leaders announced after
a tactical conference in Mi
ami that they considered the pace
of school desegregation in Florida
to be “unbelievably slow.” Thur-
good Marshall, NAACP’s legal
counsel, said a suit was being con
sidered to show that Dade
County, after two years of token
integration, still maintained a ba
sic pattern of segregation. (See
“School Boards and Schoolmen.”)
Emphasis has been shifted to
registration rather than litigation,
a spokesman said in urging all
Negroes to register and vote to
win civil rights, including school
integration. (See “Political Activ
ity”)
The Governor’s Commission on
Race Relations reported there
were “strong indications of rising
racial tensions in Florida.” (See
“Community Action.”)
Dade County, with three desegre
gated schools, generally has been re
garded as the first school district to
break Florida’s pattern of complete
segregation. But national leaders of the
NAACP, in Miami for a conference
on the course of school integration,
declared that, even in Dade County,
the state’s basic policy of segregation
continues.
This is proven, said Thurgood Mar
shall, constitutional attorney for the
NAACP, in the case of the Air Base
Elementary School, where desegrega
tion has been in effect for two years.
Graduates of the school, which
serves children of personnel at nearby
Homestead SAC Base, have been as
signed on a racial basis to segregated
schools, he said.
Last spring’s graduating class in
cluded 100 white and three Negro chil
dren. The white children were assigned
to the all-white Redland Junior High
School and the Negroes to the all-
Negro Mays Junior High.
NONE CONTESTED
None of the Negro parents contested
the assignment. One requested a pub
lic hearing but failed to show up when
the matter was scheduled.
The school board told the parents
that under its policy there are no Ne
gro or white schools in the county.
School records refer to them as “pre
dominantly Negro” or “predominantly
white.”
The NAACP is considering a suit to
prove its contention that the school
board is continuing a segregation pol
icy. Negro graduates of the air base
school have been interviewed toward
this end.
“I think it is very tough on the child
involved when he goes to an integrated
school and then goes to a segregated
school,” said Marshall. “It is tough
psychologically.”
MEETING SOUGHT
The meeting with Marshall was
sought by local NAACP leaders, who
said that legal attacks on school segre
gation have been stalled by the re
luctance of parents to go through the
lengthy process of appeal set up in the
pupil assignment law.
As a result, said the Rev. Theodore
R. Gibson, Dade County NAACP chair
man, there are no cases or appeals ac
tive against the school board.
Speaking generally, Marshall de
clared after hearing reports of local
developments that “the pace of school
integration in Florida has been unbe
lievably slow.”
Dade County lost one of its desegre
gated schools when the lone white pu
pil at Orchard Villa Elementary re
quested and was granted transfer to a
white school.
The girl remained last year when the
school was desegregated. It then be
came predominantly Negro and this
year, she began classes with 802 Ne
groes. Her father, asking for the trans
fer, said his daughter’s Negro class
mates were' “against” her.
The State Democratic Voters League
vigorously campaigned throughout
Florida for all qualified Negroes to
register and vote in the national elec
tion.
The goal, said Dewey Richardson of
Tampa, state president, was to in
crease registration by 200,000. The move
had the Approval of the Democratic
presidential candidate, Sen. John F.
Kennedy. (The League voted to sup
port Sen. Kennedy and all Democratic
candidates at state and local levels).
“I hope you and other Negro leaders
will continue your efforts to get each
and every American to the polls,” Ken
nedy wired Richardson.
Richardson and Francisco Rodriguez,
Tampa lawyer and NAACP legal coun
sel, said the drive was being given top
priority. “Registration has superceded
litigation in importance so far as civil
rights, including school integration, are
concerned,” said Rodriguez.
Although final figures were not avail
able on a racial basis, registration of
ficials reported substantial gains in al
most every section of the state, with
total registration exceeding two mil
lion for the first time.
COMMUNITY ACTION
The Governor’s Commission on Race
Relations reported “strong indications”
of rising racial tensions in Florida. It
urged every city which has not yet
set up bi-racial committees to do so
at once.
This is particularly called for in
areas where there are concentrations
of college-educated Negro youths, the
commission said. This was believed to
be a reference to Jacksonville and
Tallahassee, where there has been ract
friction in the past year. Neither citj j
has taken steps to set up such com
mittees with official status.
Such committees, organized in 1* ]
cities, have been effective in consider |
ing grievances and seeking solutions t
the committee reported. The commis- ;
sion felt that more should be done ,
It appealed directly to civic and busi-
ness leaders to take the lead.
In a special memo to these com- |
munity leaders, the commission out
lined facts which contributed to rac> I
tensions and suggested ways that bi- ;
racial groups could act. <
By serving as a “sounding board .
said the memo, these committees serf*
as a safety valve when pressures ten*
to reach the stage of explosion. It sug
gested that local leaders work to i®
prove educational, housing, recreation 2 i
Richard Francis Parker, former Fl° f \
ida State University student sentence
to a 90-day jail term for taking P ; (
in racial disturbances in Jacksonvi® 1
last August, asked the Florida Supre® 1 '
Court to release him on a writ of b 2 <
beas corpus. A decision was expend <
shortly. j H j
Meanwhile, Jacksonville religious
civic leaders worked to improve nub ^
tions between the races as an aft e -
math to the disorders. The Jackson •
viile Ministerial Alliance issued a stbjfj 1
ment on race tensions, which it s3 '' '
had been under consideration by ‘
special committee for more than *
year. This urged five steps to ra®-" .
and social harmony:
To help open all possible chan 1 ®’; ,
of communication and study that l e2 ' (
to greater understanding between j
sons of all races and minority groups t
To assure the freedom of <
utterance to all those who would ^
late the Gospel to social problems. 1
To work for a free society wh® 1 ^ *
all persons, regardless of race a r ® '
(See FLORIDA, Page 13)