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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JANUARY 1961—PAGE 13
DRYLAND
Bi-racial County Schools
Have Big Negro Increase
( BALTIMORE, Md.
rpHE first statistical look at
*■ 1960-61 desegregation in Mary-
p land’s county schools shows a
record increase in the number of
Negroes attending formerly all-
ff hite classes. An additional 1,646
a ®- fjegro pupils are in hi-racial
E schools, according to figures com-
«c pii^ by the State Department of
^ Education, bringing the total in
county schools alone to 6,737. The
figures for Baltimore city, which
a* W ould swell the total, are not yet
Ml available.
L The number of bi-racial county
schools has risen in a year’s time from
”* 246 to 285. The increase of 39 schools
is the largest since the fall of 1957.
k All told, the Maryland counties have
843 schools, which means that just over
^ a third of them now have both white
^ and Negro pupils enrolled.
in 1959, and now has a bi-racial school
again. In those counties where some
mixing has taken place, the yearly
increases show a rather consistent
trend. The totals are these:
School
Desegregated
Number of
Year
Schools
Negroes
1955-56
69
991
1956-57
135
1,726
1957-58
184
2,771
1958-59
218
3,854
1959-60
246
5,091
1960-61
285
6,737
Also consistent is the fact that ex
tensive desegregation (numerically
speaking) has occurred in those count
ies that are actively seeking to close
separate schools for Negroes. Separate
Negro classes at designated grade levels
and, in some instances, entire schools
have been abandoned or converted to
other uses in Allegany, Washington,
Frederick, Montgomery and Baltimore
counties. All of these counties have
Negro enrollments of less than 10 per
cent, and together they account for
5,133 of the 6,737 Negroes attending bi-
racial county schools.
As previously reported, 14 of Mary
land’s 22 bi-racial county school dis
tricts now have some Negroes attend
ing classes with white children. One
county—Garrett—has no Negro pupils.
\ The remaining eight counties have de-
® segregation policies under which Ne-
groes may apply for admission to white
schools, but no applications have been
received.
ri The number of counties having some
desegregation has remained constant,
with one exception, since the fall of
la 1956. The exception is St. Mary’s
“ County, which in 1958 became the 14th
, desegregated county when two Ne
groes were enrolled at a white school;
it reverted to the segregated column
Most Complete
Among these counties, Allegany has
the most complete desegregation in that
all of its Negroes attend schools with
white children. Since there are so few
Negroes (303), less than half of Alle
gany’s schools are bi-racial, although
all are desegregated.
Washington County is down to a
single all-Negro school, which serves
an all-Negro residential area. Mont
gomery County has but three Negro
elementary schools remaining, with 73
ner cent of its Negro pupils in pre
dominantly white schools. Frederick
has more than half of its Negroes in
formerly all-white classes, and Balti
more County is near the end of its
program.
Closing out Negro classes in these
counties also has meant the desegre
gation of teaching staffs. As stated
earlier by Dr. David W. Zimmerman,
assistant state school superintendent,
no Negro teachers in Maryland have
lost their jobs because of desegrega
tion. “Whenever we’ve closed out
schools, Negroes have been assimilated
into the total staff,” he reported.
While the most extensive desegrega
tion has occurred in those counties ac
tively working toward the elimination
of a dual school system, a break in
the pattern is provided by Anne Ar
undel County. Beginning with the first
three grades in 1956, Anne Arundel has
been following a gradual and voluntary
desegregation program that this fall
reached the eighth grade. It now has
865 Negroes in predominantly white
classes, the third highest number
among Maryland counties. The num
ber has more than tripled in the last
two years as desegregation has reached
the secondary level, a change attribut
able to the fact that previously one
Negro secondary school served the
whole county.
Urban Desegregation
Although Anne Arundel is an ex
ception to one pattern, it fits squarely
into another: Much of the desegrega
tion in Maryland has occurred in urban
areas. Aside from Baltimore city, which
has the most extensive desegregation of
all, Maryland has four heavily urban
ized counties—Montgomery and Prince
George’s, which border on Washington,
and Anne Arundel and Baltimore
counties which are adjacent to Balti
more. Together these four counties
have 5,077 of the 6,737 Negro children
enrolled in formerly all-white schools.
The additional schools having both
white and Negro pupils in the current
school year are in the following count
ies:
Anne Arundel, 4; Baltimore, 8; Cecil,
2; Frederick, 3; Harford, 2; Howard, 1;
Montgomery, 14; Prince George’s, 4;
St. Mary’s, 1; Talbot, 1. This totals 40.
Carroll County has one less bi-racial
school than last year, so that the net
increase in desegregated schools is 39.
Aside from counties already men
tioned, the list of those having addi
n-
in
il
is
r-
et
liS
le
id
If
- 1 1
.e
I
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t
i
i,
i
Arkansas
(Continued From Page 12)
crisis of 1957. Carl was a sophomore
in Central that year.
In the four pages dealing with Little
Rock, the Cregers vigorously criticize
Gov. Faubus for his handling of the
cr >sis, the action of extremist leaders
a nd the harassment of the Negro pupils
that year.
Their conclusion is that the Negroes
are going to get their rights, with or
without the help of the whites, and
we would like to help.”
★ ★ ★
,0n a visit to Little Rock, Dr. Hein-
nc h Hellstern, head of the relief or-
? a nization of the Evangelical Church
0 , Switzerland, issued another re
minder that American race problems
®* ve international implications.
“Little Rock is now the most famous
American city, besides New York and
Chicago. Every boy in our country
knows the name of Little Rock,” he
said.
“Events like you had in Little Rock
and like those in New Orleans now
have repercussions all over the world,”
Hellstern declared. “Your people must
understand that the world has changed.
They must understand that it is not
just a local event—it has a world as
pect. If your people will realize this,
they will understand better their own
federal government.”
★ ★ ★
At the annual meeting of the Little
Rock Chamber of Commerce, Dec. 14,
it was announced that Little Rock had
obtained its first new industry since
the school crisis of 1957. This was ac
complished by getting Arkansas resi
dents, including Winthrop Rockefeller,
to chip in money to buy the East Texas
Engineering and Manufacturing Co. of
Tyler, Tex., and merge it with Hamlin
Products Inc. at Little Rock, to create
150 new jobs at Little Rock.
★ ★ ★
Negro students from Philander Smith
College resumed their sit-ins at Little
Rock in late November and early De
cember. They went to the lunch coun
ter in the downtown Woolworth store
four times in the period Nov. 29-Dec. 9.
This store’s policy is to close the
food counter but to do nothing other
wise; it does not call the police or
ask the students to leave. But some
one does call police each time, and
on the second sit-in, seven Negro
students were arrested when the police
asked them to leave the counter and
they didn’t.
After that, police didn’t intervene
and one day’s sit-in lasted more than
six hours. # # #
DESEGREGATION IN FORMERLY WHITE MARYLAND
COUNTY SCHOOLS
(Compiled By Maryland Department of Education)
County
Schools
in District
Desegregated Schools
Number Negro Pupils
1959
1960
1959
1960
1959
1960
Allegany
34
34
15
15
303
303
Anne Arundel
70
70
28
32
568
865
Baltimore *
97
102
59
67
1,371
1,517
Calvert
15
16
—
—
—
—
Caroline
11
10
—
—
—
—
Carroll
23
24
5
4
39
44
Cecil
24
25
10
12
54
96
Charles
15
15
1
1
2
9
Dorchester
30
29
—
—
—
—
Frederick
36
36
18
21
582
797
Garrett **
18
18
—
—
—
—
Harford
24
25
12
14
195
219
Howard
18
18
3
4
10
12
Kent
13
13
—
—
—
—
Montgomery
107
117
53
67
1,521
2,356
Prince George’s
125
134
26
30
255
339
Queen Anne’s
14
14
—
—
—
—
St. Mary’s
19
19
—
1
—
1
Somerset
20
19
—
—
—
—
Talbot
15
14
2
3
12
19
Washington
50
51
14
14
179
160
Wicomico
22
22
—
—
—
—
Worchester
20
18
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Total
820
843
246
285
5,091
6,737
* Does not include Baltimore city schools.
** Has no Negro pupils.
tional bi-racial schools includes sev
eral working on stairstep desegrega
tion programs.
Talbot County, which began desegre
gation in the lower three grades amid
demonstrations and a brief boycott in
1956, has been proceeding quietly a
grade a year since then. The oldest of
the desegregated Negro children have
now advanced to the seventh grade,
mixing a secondary school for the first
time.
Of the nine Eastern Shore counties,
only Talbot and Cecil have some mixed
classes. Cecil opened all grades to Ne
groes on a voluntary transfer basis in
1955, when 12 entered two white
schools, and now there are 96 in 12
schools.
In both Harford and Howard count
ies, desegregation moved unward to
the ninth grade this fall. Both have
about the same proportion of Negro
nunils. but the extent of desegregation
has been consistently different. Ho
ward. predominantly rural in charac
ter, has never had more than a few
Negroes seek admission to white
schools. This vear there are 12 in four
schools, the largest number in five
vears of desegregation. Harford, on the
other hand, has had steady pressure
toward desegregation, largely from Ne
groes connected with two large mili
tary bases. This year 14 of 25 Harford
schools are bi-racial.
Other counties in which more than
half of the schools are bi-racial are:
Montgomery. 67 of 117; Frederick. 21
of 36; and Baltimore County, 67 of
102.
The remaining Maryland county with
a stairstep plan—Charles County in
Southern Maryland—has had all of its
desegregation confined to one school,
located in a community which also has
a military base and draws a cosmopoli
tan population. After moving a grade
a year through the fourth grade,
Charles added the fifth and sixth grades
this fall, completing desegregation on
the elementary-school level. With the
second highest (45 per cent) propor
tion of Negro pupils among Maryland
counties, Charles now has nine Negro
children in its bi-racial school. The
most in any previous year was five in
1956. In the past three years there were
only two.
Counties registering a gain in the
number of Negroes attending formerly
all-white schools are as follows:
Anne Arundel 297
Baltimore ... .146
Carroll 5
Cecil 42
Charles 7
Frederick ....215
Harford 24
Howard 2
Monteomerv .835
Prince Geor.’s 84
St. Mary’s .... 1
Talbot 7
1.665
Washington County recorded 19 few
er Neoroes in mixed classes, so that
the net increase in all counties t°tals
1 646. The change in Washington
Countv stems from a nowilation de
cline. since the conn tv school svstem
is fullv desegregated with the excep
tion of one Neoro school sennno an
all-Neoro area The county is one that
currently suffers from on economic
depression, which no doubt explains
the decline.
Aside from A11e»anv Countv. which
has desegregated all its Negro nunils,
no statewide enrollment figures are
available to show wh’t proportion of
Negroes in each countv now attend
bi-racial schools. The total number in
volved is what places the desegregation
figures in context. This larger picture
of desegregation in Maryland awaits
the release of white and Ne«ro en
rollment statistics by the St°te De
partment of Education. Of eoual sig
nificance will be the release of Balti
more city statistics by city school of
ficials. # # #
Courts Busy with School Desegregation Cases as Year Begins
number of school deseg-
re gation suits pending in fed-
j*al courts at year’s end indicated
^ litigation on the issue would
, ee P school officials and courts
bUs V during 1961.
a™? 16 New Orleans case was the most
v ® during December as Louisiana
J^ned for ways to block the deseg-
Rari I?* 1 ^ >e ’ ns carried out in Orleans
un der federal court order. The
Orleans school board asked the
r eti ^ UDreme Court for permission to
djjjQ tile schools to a segregated basis
tii e question of sovereignty was
a Dallas school board plans to seek
Rearing of a U.S. Fifth Circuit
b] 0 , °f Appeals decision that
tep, , 6 ti out a pupil transfer plan pat-
tj 0l) 11 ^fter Nashville’s. A desegrega-
suit involving another Texas city,
fedJl, ° n , has been set for hearing in
Th « >Urt on Jan. 30.
^^^lattanooga, Tenn., school board
H
lera]
‘■he B court as ordered. A hearing on
h^jPu^d plan was set for Jan. 9.
County, Tenn., preparing to
tile first four grades this
Iace s as ordered by federal court, still
% a hea rmg on the portion of the
lie J lng ti>r teacher integration.
Jri Sc , ate Jan. 9 figured importantly
'-'■S. rv°° . desegregation in Georgia.
jCriiw j Ct Judge William A. Bootle
^Uiy ei J!f~ he would try to rule on the
^se tj v Georgia desegregation
tiiat date. On the same day the
a desegregation plan to a
Georgia General Assembly was sched
uled to convene; there was some doubt
that school desegregation would be an
issue in the session.
An important new suit filed in Flor
ida asked that the Duval County school
board be permanently enjoined from
operating segregated public schools.
Near the end of the month, the court
gave the board an extra 30 days to re
ply to the suit. Florida now has school
suits pending in six counties: Duval,
Volusia, Dade, Palm Beach, Hills
borough and Escambia.
The Delaware Board of Education
completed a new statewide desegrega
tion plan in December to be considered
by federal district court. The U.S. Third
Circuit Court of Appeals had rejected
the state’s grade-a-year plan.
Desegregation suits were the high
lights of school activity in North Car
olina in December. A federal judge had
under consideration arguments in the
case of a Negro seeking admission to
an all-white school in the already de
segregated Chapel Hill school system.
Two suits combined against the Dur
ham school board directly attack the
constitutionality of the state’s pupil
placement law. Arguments in these
cases and in the much-amended Cas
well County case were to heard dur
ing the same court term. A suit by
eight Negro children seeking admis
sion to all-white Mecklenburg County
school was scheduled for trial in Feb
ruary. Since the suit was filed, the
county school system has merged with
the desegregated Charlotte city schools.
Other major developments during
December included:
Alabama
Gov. John Patterson said New Or
leans’s school desegregation problems
were nothing compared to what would
happen in Alabama if integration were
attempted. (Page 1)
Arkansas
Gov. Orval E. Faubus offered his as
sistance to Gov. Jimmie H. Davis of
Louisiana in the New Orleans school
situation. (Page 12.)
Delaware
The state will spend almost four mil
lion dollars for construction at Negro
schools. (Page 15.)
District of Columbia
The opening of Congress on Jan. 3
was expected to bring another battle
over the Senate’s filibuster rule, but
indications were that it would be only
a token effort. (Page 14.)
Florida
Volusia County school board attor
neys pushed their attack on a school
desegregation suit filed by both Ne
groes and whites. (Page 15.)
Georgia
Georgians continued to debate the
problem facing Atlanta with the de
segregation of its schools scheduled for
next September. (Page 3.)
Kentucky
The State Department of Education
reported 287 Negro teachers were serv
ing in bi-racial schools. (Page 16.)
Louisiana
The Legislature recessed from its
third consecutive special session after
strongly criticizing the federal courts.
(Page 1.)
Maryland
The first statistical look at 1960-61
desegregation in Maryland county
schools showed a record increase in
Negroes attending formerly all-white
classes. (Page 13.)
Mississippi
A legislator urged Gov. Ross Barnett
to call a special legislative session be
fore the regular 1962 assembly to re
examine and strengthen segregation
laws. (Page 14.)
Missouri
The number of Kansas City public
schools having bi-racial student bodies
has increased each year since 1955, a
recent study shows. (Page 4.)
North Carolina
The new governor, Terry Sanford
will send his two children to Raleigh’s
only desegregated school after he takes
office in January. (Page 6.)
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City schools have modified
somewhat a strictly administered policy
that has kept Negroes from transferring
to schools where they would be in the
minority. (Page 16.)
South Carolina
Parents of Negro students at Charles
ton protested construction of additional
classrooms at a Negro school and
sought transfer of a number of Negro
children into white schools. (Page 5.)
Tennessee
The first Negro undergraduates—at
least three—are expected to be admitted
to the University of Tennessee on Jan.
3 (Page 6.)
Texas
A decision of the U.S. Fifth Circuit
Court of Appeals criticized the Texas
referendum act, which has slowed de
segregation since 1937. (Page 14.)
Virginia
A group of Prince Edward County
Negroes tentatively planned a boycott
of white merchants after the county
board of supervisors rejected their
petition for re-opening public schools.
(Page 7.)
West Virginia
A bill to create a West Virginia Hu
man Relations Commission has been
drafted for the consideration of Gov.-
elect W. W. Barron. (Page 7.)
# # #