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VOL. 7, NO. 7
NASFmILLE, TENNESSEE
$2 PER YEAR
JANUAP
GOV. JOHN PATTERSON
‘ . . . Hell to pat/’
ALABAMA
Governor Says
Violence Sure
If Schools Mix
MONTGOMERY, Ala.
G ov. John Patterson, noting
school desegregation troubles
in New Orleans, said this was
nothing compared to what would
happen in Alabama if integration
were attempted in this state. He
said he would personally cause
the federal government as much
trouble as possible in such a
showdown. (See “What They
Say.”)
Jackie Robinson, the former Brook
lyn Dodgers star, in a speech in Mont
gomery called Patterson “stupid.” “Ac
tions such as the governor’s are hurt
ing America,” Robinson said. (See
“What They Say.”)
The Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Dr.
Martin Luther King’s successor as
leader of the Montgomery Improvement
Association, urged Negroes to greater
efforts challenging segregation on all
fronts. He also recommended the for
mation of a statewide organization to
eo-ordinate the various groups now
working for integration in Alabama.
(See “What They Say.”)
Six of Alabama’s 11 electoral votes
were cast Dec. 19 for U. S- Sen. Harry
Byrd (D-Va.), as the states’ rights
electors predicted intensified integra-
ll °n moves under the Kennedy admin-
cation. (See “Political Activity.”)
Gov. John Patterson again predicted
l ence ^ and when school integration
S .tempted in Alabama,
v * y°u think they’ve had trouble in
^ew Orleans,” he said Dec. 7 at a
Ws conference, “just wait until they
(See ALABAMA, Page 5)
Few New School Laws Expected
As 14 State Legislatures Convene
By TOM FLAKE
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
T^ew new laws concerning
-*• school segregation and deseg
regation were in prospect as
Legislatures of 14 Southern and
border states prepared to convene
during 1961.
The probability of a legislative letup
came after almost seven years during
which nearly 300 laws, resolutions and
state constitutional amendments have
emerged in Southern states in efforts
to prevent, restrict or control school
desegregation. A few such measures
were passed in anticipation of the Su
preme Court’s 1954 desegregation
decision.
These actions have included pupil
placement (assignment) laws, provisions
for private schools and for tuition
grants, authority to close schools, re
peal of compulsory attendance laws,
and penalties against organizations and
individuals who advocate desegregation.
Protests against the court decision have
ranged from resolutions of interposi
tion to statements deploring judicial
trends.
Only in Louisiana, where legislators
were to continue in their third con
secutive extraordinary session, and in
Georgia were there early indications of
major actions on the subject this year.
Their courses are related closely to de
velopments in New Orleans and At
lanta, where federal courts have
ordered desegregation.
State legislative sessions were
scheduled for 1961—most of them to
begin this month—in Delaware, Mary
land, Missouri, Oklahoma and West
Virginia, and border states; in the mid
dle states of Arkansas, North Carolina,
Tennessee and Texas; and in five Deep
South states—Alabama, Florida, Geor
gia, Louisiana and South Carolina.
All the border and middle states
have desegregated public schools, al
though in widely varying degrees. In
the lower part of the South, Florida
and Louisiana each have bi-racial
schools in one district by court order;
Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and
South Carolina retain completely seg
regated schools.
Reasons Differ
Reasons given for the expected lack
of legislation on the subject differ
somewhat according to geography.
The border states, now proceeding in
the main toward nonracial school
policies, have made few legislative
moves in the wake of the U.S. Su
preme Court’s desegregation decisions.
Exceptions have been several instances
of repealing or modifying laws contain
ing requirements for segregated schools.
Lawmakers in those states show
little inclination now to touch on the
subject. This is true in Oklahoma, for
instance, despite the fact that statutes
LOUISIANA
Court Refuses Return
To School Segregation
NEW ORLEANS, La.
tF’he U. S. Supreme Court re-
fused Louisiana’s plea that
New Orleans schools revert to a
segregated basis during a period
of new litigation. In a broadly
worded rejection of the request
for a stay of a lower court decis
ion, the Supreme Court justices
said in effect that Louisiana had
run its course on legal actions to
halt desegregation. (See “Legal
Action.”)
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s
action, there were several major devel
opments:
• A three-judge federal court ruled
on the Orleans Parish (county) school
board’s funds, which were tied up in
the federal-state-local struggle over
school desegregation, and the court cited
three state officials for contempt in
refusing to pay teachers at New Or
leans’ two desegregated schools. (See
“Legal Action.”)
• Gov. Jimmie H. Davis’ adminis
trative leaders, blocked in their at
tempt to pass an additional one cent
sales tax on grounds that it was needed
to start a grant-in-aid private school
system, sponsored and passed unani
mously resolutions condemning as
“tyrannical” the contempt citations
against Lt. Gov. C. C. Aycock, House
Speaker J. Thomas Jewell and State
Education Superintendent Shelby M.
Jackson. (See “Legislative Action.”)
• The Legislature adjourned its third
special anti-integration session on Dec.
22 to go home for the Christmas holi
days and in doing so failed to grant
promised pay to New Orleans 4,000
teachers, principals, and school secre
taries whose pay was due Dec. 23. The
Legislature blamed the federal court
decisions, saying the hands of the Leg
islature were now tied and no pay would
be forthcoming until federal judges
modified restraining orders against
Louisiana’s lawmakers. (See “Legisla
tive Action.”)
A second front opened on Louisiana
school desegregation as the U.S. Fifth
Circuit Court of Appeals set Jan. 18
for a hearing on appeals from desegre
gation orders of two other Louisiana
parishes and six trade schools. (See
“Legal Action.”)
The embattled Orleans Parish school
board continued to hold the reins of
the only desegregated public school
system in the state, but the first six
weeks of compliance with federal court
orders had brought violence, harass
ment, and an almost totally effective
boycott of the two schools desegregated
Nov. 14. (See “School Boards and
Schoolmen.”)
Both the Orleans Parish School Board
and the State Board of Education elect
ed new presidents. (See “School Boards
and Schoolmen.”)
Business and professional men of
(See LOUISIANA, Page 8)
‘Like Sheep .
Greensboro Daily News
New Orleans States-ltem
Ford Foundation Grants SERS $390,000
4 Ford Foundation has
granted $390,000 to the South-
. rn Education Reporting Service
the biennium July 1, 1961,
for
jk° u gh June 30, 1963. Notifica-
Pro the Foundation had ap-
n the grant was given to
Ahlgren, editor of the
c l Commercial-Appeal and
^^an of the SERS board of
n n , ct °rs, who made the an-
s5r ent -
w as established in 1954 by a
to^ Southern editors and educa-
to cqjj ho felt the need for an agency
ieqjvg , an d disseminate accurate, ob-
ttientg • m f° rma tion about develop-
0. § m education arising from the
Pubij c u P r eme Court decision in the
. school desegregation cases.
r - T Jtri e j support for the project has
k-5- 0rn the Ford Foundation since
I n fining.
Pfog rai /( Ues ting extension of the SERS
Sfeti tor another two years, Ahl-
*H ar ^]° te to the Foundation:
y anyone has questioned the
need for SERS or the value and qual
ity of its services since 1954. While it
is hazardous to predict the future, the
need would appear to be as great dur
ing the next several years.
Story Not Ended
“The story which SERS was estab
lished to cover has not ended—nor is
the end in sight. In the border states
the adjustment to the Supreme Court
decision has been relatively rapid. The
buffer states have accepted the
decision as the law of the land and
have made moves in the direction of
compliance. But the hard-core states
remain adamant. Here will be the bat
tleground of the next few years.
“While new patterns of resistance un
doubtedly will emerge in some areas,
the pace of compliance is quickening in
others. The years immediately ahead
could be the crucial ones. For SERS to
stop now would be to abandon the job
before it has been finished.
“This would be a disservice and a
handicap to all those who have relied
upon SERS for information which
would be difficult, if not impossible,
to obtain anywhere else. Those who
turn to SERS for facts are the in
fluential leaders who in large measure
will shape the future. These include
federal, state and local government of
ficials, educators, attorneys, editors
and newsmen, judges, students, church
men, sociological researchers and con
cerned laymen.”
Principal Medium
The principal medium through
which SERS disemminates information
is Southern School News, a monthly
publication to which correspondents in
17 states and the District of Columbia
contribute. These are the areas in
which segregation in the public schools
was required by law. All of the cor
respondents are newspaper writers or
editors.
In collaboration with the Law School
of Vanderbilt University, SERS pub
lishes “Race Relations Law Reporter”,
a quarterly. It presents, completely and
impartially, such basic materials as
court cases, legislation, orders and
regulations.
Semi-annually a summary of statis
tics for the region as a whole and for
each of the 17 states and the District
of Columbia is published.
Daily SERS receives more than 50
leading newspapers and clips all that
they pidnt about the school segregation-
deseregration question. These clippings
are classified and cataloged. Including
books, magazine articles, reports,
pamphlets, speeches, laws, court decis
ions and other miscellaneous materials,
the SERS library now contains more
than 800,000 items.
This entire library has been micro
filmed, and under the title “Facts on
Film” is available for use in 40 leading
college, university and public libraries.
Annual supplements of the microfilm
are issued to keep it up to date.
Writers and scholars from through
out the United States and from other
countries make extensive use of SERS
reference services.
Since its founding, SERS has pub
lished two books—“With all Deliberate
Speed” in 1957 and “Southern Schools:
Progress and Problems” in 1959.
George Peabody College for Teach
ers serves as fiscal agent for SERS.
# # #
specifying separate schools for whites
and Negroes remain unrepealed while
the state pursues a definite policy of
compliance with the desegregation
decree. The reason: officials consider
segregation measures void in any event
and prefer not to open the school code
to amendments which might invite dis
sension about other school issues.
Farther South, the paucity of legis
lative proposals in most states is not
attributed necessarily to any lessening
of official reluctance to desegregate—
nor to any appreciable letup in several
states’ attitude of all-out resistance.
Rather, it appears to be largely a
matter of (1) reliance on existing
statutes, at least for the time being, or
(2) watchful waiting to see what hap
pens before making further major
moves. Some lawmakers believe they
have legislated virtually to the limit
of feasibility and indicate they find it
difficult to produce new ideas; others
make it clear that they will recognize
no limit and will continue to be quite
prolific.
Nine Southern States Use
Pupil Assignment Plans
A prime factor in the prospect for
legislative lulls in a number of in
stances is the pupil placement (as
signment) plan. Nine states in the area
have such laws, all similar, which list
various factors other than race for
guiding administrative decisions on
which school a child shall attend.
Three of these laws have withstood
somewhat limited federal court tests,
and their legal future is believed prob
ably to be contingent upon the role
that race plays when the factors are
applied. (Eugene Wyatt’s article,
Southern School News, December)
Such laws are on the statute books
of Alabama and North Carolina (both
held “not unconstitutional” on their
face), Arkansas (held constitutional on
its face), Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee,
Texas and Virginia. (In Tennessee, a
court noted in 1958 without passing on
constitutionality that the law does not
preclude racial distinction from being
taken into account and that nothing in
the act is “inconsistent with a con
tinued policy of racial segregation.”)
Survived Litigation
Having survived litigation at least
up to a point, placement thus is consid
ered by some officials, legislators and
school administrators to he a means of
minimizing bi-racial school attendance
within sanction of the federal courts.
In the middle Southern states, place
ment laws are being applied increas
ingly by local school boards, with ap
probation or at least acquiescence of
state governments. For some of them,
pupil placement evidently was “the end
of the row.”
In the Deep South, however, except
possibly in Florida, there were clear
indications that lawmakers were un
willing to stand only on pupil place
ment provisions.
With token desegregation under
(See SOME STATES, Page 2)
On the Inside
State Reports
Arkansas 12
Delaware 15
District of Columbia 14
Florida 15
Georgia 3
Kentucky 16
Maryland 13
Mississippi 14
Missouri 4
North Carolina 6
Oklahoma 16
South Carolina 5
Tennessee 6
Texas 14
Virginia 7
West Virginia 7
Texts
Louisiana 8
Special Articles
Judge Leslie Darr 6
Facts on Film 4
New Orleans Parents 10
State-by-State Summary 13
We Were Asked 11