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PAGE |&—APRIL 1961—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS GEORGIA r Negroes Boycott Chatham County MACON, Ga. he possibility of a total boy cott of Chatham County Ne gro schools loomed over the dismissal of a popular Negro principal. W.W. Law of Savannah, state presi dent of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said parents may be asked to keep the 14,500 Negro students in the Chatham system at home for a set period, pos sibly one day, as a protest against the firing of Principal Alflorence Cheatham of Johnson School at Thunderbolt, a suburb of Savannah. The school board office was picketed and 1,300 sudents at Johnson, as well as hundreds at Beach and Tompkins, two other Negro schools, refused to attend classes for four days as a result of the action. Cheatham, 33, who has a master’s degree from Harvard, had been in Savannah and principal of Johnson School for three years. He resigned in October, 1959—and says he has for gotten why—but was reinstated. Leaves Immediately Recently, when Cheatham was noti fied his contract would not be renewed after this term, he asked to leave immediately instead of finishing out the year. The white superintendent of schools, Leon McCormac, accepted the resignation and immediately replaced Cheatham with a Negro named Arthur Dwight. Cheatham now says he would return to Johnson if reinstated. Negro leaders say Cheatham antag onized the board of education by being a member of the NAACP, working in a Negro voter registration drive and insisting on the board’s upholding the rights of Johnson and its teachers. Supt. McCormac, who names the principals in the system, said neither Cheatham’s affiliations nor the sugges tions he made on behalf of the school or its teachers had anything to do with the decision not to rehire the Johnson principal. McCormac would not say what the reasons for the decision were, but he did say that the principal had written him an insulting letter. Cheatham said the letter was written in anger. No Negro pupils showed up at Johnson School on March 21 and 22. Some came back for classes on March 23 and 24, but 25 pickets strolled the grounds. They carried signs urging reinstatement of Cheatham and asking the new principal, Dwight, to leave. Picket Board Office On the previous Monday, March 22, the school board office had been picketed and 24 persons—one minister, one mother and 22 students—were arrested. The boycott apparently did not have the full backing of Savannah’s Negro leadership. An organization of business and professional men known as the Hub opposed the boycott. One of the Hub’s leaders is the Rev. O. W. Holmes, an uncle of Hamilton Holmes, one of two Negro students now attending the University of Georgia. Some of the Hub’s members are officers or members of the NAACP chapter in Savannah; but generally the Hub organization believes in negotia tion and gradualism, while the NAACP chapter, having initiated sit-ins and economic boycotts, is more action- minded. Board of Education President Edward J. Bartlett declined to comment on the controversy or to say whether the compulsory school attendance law would be enforced. Savannah Mayor Malcom Maclean refused to comment other than to issue a call for law and order and a return to school. Negro leaders said the school boy cott had nothing to do with the St. Patrick’s Day disorders in Savannah in which 150 Negroes staged a sidewalk parade in competition with the usual parade, and in which 12 persons were injured and 45 arrested after fist fights with whites broke out. ★ ★ ★ The State Department of Education announced that there were 299,199 Ne gro pupils in Georgia schools, 32 per cent of the total school enrollment in the state. The largest concentration of Negro students was 48 per cent in the Sixth Congressional District in Middle Geor gia. The smallest was eight per cent in the Ninth District in North Central Georgia. Negroes make up more than 50 per cent of the school enrollment in 49 of Georgia’s 159 counties. Five Georgia counties—all in North Georgia—have no Negro pupils. The state report said that all Georgia Georgia Highlights Negro students boycotted a Savan nah school over the dismissal of a popular Negro principal. A threat was voiced that the boycott would be extended to cover all Negro schools in Chatham County. The Georgia legislature wound up its 1961 session after passing Gov. Vandiver’s “open schools” package of recommended laws, and the gov ernor congratulated the legislators on their courage. Negro coed Charlayne Hunter ate at a student cafeteria on the Athens campus after U.S. Judge William A. Bootle issued a sweeping order open ing all “facilities and opportunities” to Miss Hunter and Hamilton Holmes, the only other Negro at the University of Georgia. A Negro applied for admission to Armstrong College, a state school in Savannah, and another Negro asked to be admitted to the Uni versity of Georgia. Negro leaders agreed to halt down town sit-ins and boycotts in Atlanta after white business leaders agreed to end segregation at downtown lunch counters as soon as the Atlanta schools are desegregated next Sep tember. teachers of both races get equal pay for equal qualifications and experience, and said that of the state’s building money for education, 54 per cent had been put into Negro schools. Legislative Action Vandiver Commends Legislators’ Action On School Problems N o General Assembly in this century has been confronted with such awesome responsibili ties as those you met face to face when you convened,” Gov. Ernest Vandiver told the legislature, whose members voted for an “open schools” package of bills recommended by the governor. Gov. Vandiver appeared before the House and Senate on the closing day of this year’s session, mentioned legislation which struck down Georgia’s school segregation laws and congratulated legislators for showing a “high degree of courage” in solving problems. The administration bills specifically repealed: Act 82 of 1955, which forbade state or locals funds for schools ex pecting to desegregate; Act 11 of 1956, which provided for the closing of schools and extending of tuition grants; Act 7 of 1959, which permitted the governor to close a single school in a system ordered desegregated; and Act 212 of 1959, which banned ad valorem taxes for mixed schools. Not Repealed Acts 383 and 197 of 1956 apply to segregation generally, not just school segregation, and were not repealed. Neither were Acts 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 of 1956, which set up machinery for disposing of property and dealt with regulation of private schools. The Office of Legislative Counsel, however, said the separate but equal provision of the Constitution of Geor gia, as well as all other school segre gation statutes not specifically repealed are of no validity in view of direct court rulings and implications in the new laws recommended by Vandiver and passed by the legislature. Still Kept Busy The legislature still kept busy on the segregation-desegregation front, passing some measures and killing others. The House voted 72-44 for formation of a Georgia Sovereignty Commission, but 103 votes were required for a majority, and the bill authored by Rep. John Sheffield of Brooks County was 31 votes shy. Sheffield said the commission would have decided what course was best on school desegregation and then would have proposed laws to be adopted. Approval was given to a proposal that a Senate Educational Rights Com mission be set up. Members would have the power to investigate any incident of partiality shown to those seeking to integrate any school or college, or any incident that might deprive opponents of integration of their rights of free speech and peace able assembly. The committee will report to the Senate, the state attorney general and the solicitor general of the circuit con cerned. Senator Dan Hart of Quitman, chairman, said members of the com mittee would visit North Carolina to see how that state has handled its desegregation problem. A resolution asking the Boards of Regents of the University System of Georgia to bar the press from college campuses during any future desegre gation crisis died in the House Rules Committee. The resolution, sponsored by Rep. David Newton of Colquitt County, said press coverage of the University of Georgia desegregation was in a large part “responsible for the disorders which occurred.” Newton said the bill was not designed to restrict freedom of the press but to “preserve order.” The House killed a resolution urging the Board of Regents to investigate the University of Georgia faculty and textbooks used on state campuses. Rep. Chappelle Matthews of Clarke County (Athens) said it was “one of the most vicious things” he had ever seen and would endanger the university’s ac creditation. A law setting up age limits for public college applicants—21 years for new applicants for undergraduate work and 25 years for graduate studies— was repealed (See “In the Colleges”). The law, designed as a segregation measure, was imposed two years ago on Gov. Vandiver’s recommendation. The House Education Committee unanimously vetoed any repeal of compulsory school attendance laws. A Senate bill would have made school attendance compulsory only in segre gated school districts. The Senate turned down an amend ment to the recently-passed student grant-in-aid law, which the author of the amendment, Senator Erwin Mitchell of Dalton, said would have set up “safeguards and curbs” on when grants would be available. Legal Action Court Opens School Cafeteria and Pool To Negro Students TVining rooms at the University of Georgia and all other facili ties—the swimming pool in parti cular—were ordered opened to Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes, two Negro students who are the only ones of their race attending the school with some 7,500 whites. The ruling was given by U.S. Dis trict Judge William A. Bootle after Georgia Attorney General Eugene Cook asked for clarification of the judge’s earlier desegregation order. Negro attorney Donald L. Hollowell of Atlanta, representing the Negro stu dents, had asked that Miss ,Hunter be permitted to eat in a university dining hall. He explained that the girl had an upset stomach from ir- regular eating habits and that Holmes, with ex amination time coming up, would not always be able to drive her in his car to meals off campus. Miss Hunter lives in a dormitory suite with kitchen facilities, and Holmes lives with a Negro family in a private home in Athens. Both have used uni versity library facilities, but few extra curricular facilities. After Hollowell made the request, Cook asked the judge for clarification. Hollowell then asked that the clarifi cation cover all facilities, since it appeared state officials were unable to work those problems out without a more sweeping order. Cook agreed. Judge Bootle’s order opened all “facilities and opportunities” to both Miss Hunter and Holmes. Miss Hunter and Holmes on March 20 completed registration without inci dent for their second quarter of studies, and that night the Negro girl ate her dinner in a student cafeteria. There were no incidents. Most of the students had already finished their meals, but the hundred or so still there paid little attention. No university officials or policemen escorted the Negro coed, although several officials were seen in side the cafeteria. HOLLOWELL School Over Community Action Businessmen Agree To Desegregate With Public Schools D esegregation of Atlanta schools in September will signal a start to end segregation in Atlanta downtown stores. Busi ness leaders and Negro leaders, who have been working for some time to effect a satisfactory end to the sit-in movement in Geor gia’s capital, agreed that lunch counter segregation would end when school segregation ended. Influential Negroes said they would urge their followers to stop all sit-in demonstrations, boycotts and picketing at department stores, restaurants and lunch counters. Gov. Ernest Vandiver said Atlantans and Georgians must exercise “restraint” in facing changes which will take place next fall, and repeated his often-made plea for voluntary segregation. Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield congratulated “all sides . . . upon a fair and statesmanlike approach to this situation.” He said settlement of the sit-in dispute “puts us all on our mettle” to prevent disorder. He warned against “outside interfer ence” by “profes sional rabble- rouses,” saying rumors had been heard that they intend to come in from other parts of the South, but they would be “dealt with most sternly.” ★ ★ ★ The Macon Council on Human Re lations asked the city and county government to re-examine laws and attitudes on desegregation so that an orderly transition in changing local practices can be made without disturb ing the traditional racial harmony of the community. Macon has had none of the sit-in and other racial demonstrations which have disturbed other cities. The school system is segregated although a peti tion requesting desegregation was filed with the Bibb County Board of Edu cation several years ago. In response to a request by the Macon Council on Human Relations that immediate planning for a “new era” in race relations begin, Dr. H. G. Weaver, president of the board of edu cation, said a special committee would be named to take the request under study and report back. In the Colleges Negro Marine Asks To Attend Classes At White College A 26-year-old Negro applied for admission to Armstrong College in Savannah, a state- supported white school in the University System. Cpl. Alfred Owens, who fives in Savannah and is stationed at the near by Parris Island Marine Corps recruit depot, asked to enroll in the evening school at Armstrong. He was the first Negro to apply for admission to a state-supported white college since two Negroes were admitted to the Uni versity of Georgia in Athens in January. Owens said he preferred to enroll in Armstrong rather than in Savannah State College, a Negro school, because: (1) he likes the curriculum at Arm strong better; (2) it would be more convenient to walk to Armstrong from his home than to drive several miles to Savannah State. Owens, who intends to study to pre pare for entering the ministry, said his application had never been dis cussed with the Savannah NAACP chapter, and he did not apply at Arm strong for publicity. Attorney General Cook notified Arm strong officials that the school would violate the state age-limit law if it admitted Owens. The law bars graduate students of more than 25 years of age unless they could show they were prevented from applying because of military service. The age-limit law was repealed by the 1961 session of the General sembly, but Gov. Vandiver had not signed the measure. A third Negro applied for ai to the University of Georgia in At She is Mary Frances Early, an At music teacher who graduated froj] same Atlanta school, Turner fn as Charlayne Hunter and Holmes, the university’s first two X gro students. Dean G. B. Huff of the grad® school said the application was get® routine processing. : What They Say State Superintended Puts Responsibility On Local Officials SI N< F: 0 A s the Georgia EducatJ p; Association, a state organ® tion of white teachers, opened: annual convention in Atlant: State School Supt. Claude Puree said it was up to the superinte dents of local school systems! make Georgia’s new, open schot laws work. These laws passed at the 19t session of the legislature, provided local option parents of cM: ren in desegn gated school: Passed to mai sure that tli public schools ft main open, Ik laws give pares a choice of sell ing children desegregated pub lic schools or set regated prival: schools. Dr. John Letson, superintendent a Atlanta schools, told a civic club and ence that tragic events in school if segregation in other cities have pro vided and object lesson for what ms be avoided in Atlanta. ‘Accomplished With Dignity’ “The goal of all must be to accom plish peacefully and with dignity wb we are required to do,” said the sup«j intendent. The school system has be® ordered by a federal court to desegre gate by May 1 but it is expected t begin in September, 1961. James V. Carmichael, a Georgia in dustrialist and one-time gubematort contender, commenting on a one bilk dollar Air Force contract received - Lockheed Aircraft Corp., which - expected to provide 5,000 more jobs c Georgia, said the federal govern®?' never would have awarded the contra® to a company with huge facilities ' Georgia if the recent legislature not wiped segregation laws from books. - Scott Nixon, a Richmond C°^ (Augusta) political figure, said country should proceed with the & gration of Indians” before i° T p : desegregation of Negroes on '' ' people of the South. # Kentucky (Continued from Page 6) mentary School is named for the L°' ville superintendent who died las* ■ ^ after planning and carrying ^ school-desegregation program °* Carmichael was in the national international spotlight after being moned to the White House to be., j ored personally by President hower. M iscellaneo us Charlayne Hunter Is Employed By Louisville Times /^harlayne A. Hunter, one & ^ two Negro students ^ '^re- rolled this year at the d eS ^ | gated University of became the first of h e] " * ot employed on the news s The Louisville Times. Miss Hunter, 19, will take a 1 ism interne position with p newspaper this summer, manage ^ itor Norman E. Isaacs said. s*®. She is a sophomore jo urn , 0 rt 1 dent at Georgia. She wifi v3C a<i f ! Louisville during the summer