Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8—JUNE 1961—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Student Transfer Applications
Followed By Tests, Interviews
(Continued From Page 1)
cants—60—are from Howard High
School. Forty-one are from Washing
ton High, 14 from Turner, 11 from
Price, and six from Archer. Turner
High is the school that graduated
Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton
Holmes, the first Negroes to be admit
ted to the University of Georgia.
Eighty-eight Negroes asked to be
transferred to Grady High School.
Eighteen want to go to Northside, 16
to Murphy, 14 to Brown, six to West
Fulton, two to Fulton, and one each to
North Fulton, Bass, O’Keefe, Sylvan
and Smith-Hughes Vocational High
School.
Middle-Income Section
Grady is in the middle-income Pied
mont Park section of Northeast At
lanta. Northside is in the well-to-do
Buckhead section. Murphy is in South
east Atlanta; Brown is in the West
End section; and other schools to
which Negroes applied for transfer are
located in other parts of the city.
The white girl who asked to be
transferred is Sandra K. Melkild, an
11th grader at Northside, where 18 Ne
groes want to enter. Miss Melkild
wants to go to school at Dykes High,
near the northern city limits, where
there are no Negro applicants for
classes in September. Her transfer re
quest was denied, but she has appealed.
Negro students arrived in mass to
obtain transfer applications after
classes ended Monday, May 1. They
arrived in scores of cars made availa
ble by local NAACP and Negro church
leaders.
In some cases, the Negroes covered
their faces when photographers showed
up. Jesse Hill, who said he was asked
by many parents to represent the chil
dren, withheld the identities of the
students for fear of “intimidation.”
Mass Rally
The night before, Sunday, April 30,
Negro leaders had urged at a mass
rally that hundreds of students apply
for reassignment to white schools.
College integration leader Lonnie
King said: “We can’t afford to wait
any longer.” King, active in recent
sit-ins, told a meeting at the Friend
ship Baptist Church that the “secret
of success is in numbers.” He urged
that many applications be made be
cause, he said, “if we have only four
or five, they can put it off.”
Dr. Samuel Williams, president of
the Atlanta NAACP chapter, said the
meeting was held primarily to answer
questions on procedure. Copies of the
application procedure and of the cur
riculum at the Smith-Hughes Voca
tional School were distributed, and
Negro attorneys present advised appli
cants to fill out their forms as com
pletely as possible and turn them back
in quickly.
The Rev. Otis Moss Jr., vice presi
dent of the Atlanta NAACP chapter,
told those present that “the battles that
Sherman and Grant thought they won
in Atlanta and Savannah must be re
fought by . . . the pupils.”
Denied Report
L. Jim O’Callagham, president of the
Atlanta Board of Education, denied a
report that school officials have de
cided to limit desegregation to two or
three carefully selected schools. There
has never been even an informal dis
cussion of such a plan, he said. “We
are not going to play God,” the At
lanta board president said. “We are
going to accept blanks, and those
blanks are going to be processed by
administration officials and then dis
cussions will be made on each appli
cant.”
The application blanks were availa
ble at City Hall. Each form carried a
number, and the person who picked it
up had to sign a receipt for it. They
were handed out by Atlanta School
Supt. John Letson and his secretary,
Mrs. Fannie Knight.
Dr. Letson said the steps required to
obtain the forms were not a “deter
rent” to keep Negroes from applying
but an effort to keep up with the num
ber of applicants involved so that plan
ning could be done.
Negro attorney D. L. Hollowell, one
of the lawyers for the plaintiffs in the
Atlanta desegregation suit, said, how
ever, that some Negroes think it is
easier to “go to Yale than to transfer
from one public school to another in
Atlanta.”
Mayor William B. Hartsfield predict
ed that desegregation of the schools
Georgia Highlights
Applications for transfer to At
lanta white schools in September
were turned in by 132 Negro stud
ents. The Board of Education said
notification to those approved will
be made by June 15.
Three Atlanta Negroes will be
admitted voluntarily to Georgia
Tech this fall without the necessity
for litigation, but ten Negro ap
plicants were turned down. A third
Negro student was approved for ad
mission to the University of
Georgia.
A new citywide organization was
formed in Atlanta to help bring
about a peaceable and orderly tran
sition of the white schools from
segregated to desegregated status.
Attorney General Robert Ken
nedy in a speech in Athens praised
handling of school desegregation at
the University of Georgia and said
the Department of Justice will move
swiftly and forcefully to enforce all
desegregation decisions of the feder
al courts.
would take place without trouble in
Atlanta. He said there would be “de
sultory efforts” to cause trouble, most
ly from outside Atlanta, “by people
who want to embarrass us,” but “we
have plans to deal with these prompt
ly and decisively.”
Gov. Ernest Vandiver charged that
the NAACP is attempting to foment
racial strife by urging great numbers
of Negro students to apply for trans
fer to white schools.
Vandiver said that he anticipated no
trouble would accompany school de
segregation in Atlanta but that state
police would be available to assist city
officials if needed to maintain order.
Mayor Hartsfield received a letter
from President John F. Kennedy prais
ing Atlanta’s approach to school de
segregation.
Dr. Letson, who has conducted meet
ings with white and Negro leaders from
all of the city’s high schools in prep
aration for desegregation, said he is
more optimistic now than when he
became Atlanta school superintendent
last year. He said he was encouraged by
evidence of maturity on the part of
high school students.
‘Peaceful Climate’
Dr. Leston said he has been work
ing, and will continue to work, to
create a “peaceful climate” for imple
mentation of the desegregation plan.
Students are being encouraged to ex
press themselves but to do it peace
fully, Dr. Letson said.
“No effort has been made to change
anyone’s opinion at this stage of the
game,” he said, “but we are letting it
be known that our expectation is for
conduct that will not bring discredit
on the system or the city.”
Nothing has happened to lead him
to assume there will be any trouble,
Dr. Letson said, but added that “reas
onable precautions will be taken as a
point of common prudence.”
The Atlanta Police Department is
maintaining official silence, but Mayor
Hartsfield and Police Chief Herbert
Jenkins have made it clear they intend
to stop trouble before it starts.
Resist In All Ways
Lester Maddox, a restaurant owner
and probably Atlanta’s best-known
arch-segregationist, said he and those
who think like him “plan to continue
to resist in all ways we can,” but does
not expect any violent demonstrations.
“There probably will be some small
gatherings near the school grounds,”
Maddox said, “but nothing as extensive
as the demonstrations in New Orleans.”
Maddox said there probably will be
violence within the schools in Sep
tember, but he believes it will be
brought on by the Negro students, who,
he contends, are accustomed to creating
and being surrounded by violent con
ditions. As far as he and his followers
are concerned, Maddox said, anti-Negro
retaliation to be taken in answer to
Atlanta school desegregation will be
in the form of organized economic
boycott.
A. C. (Pete) Latimer, former presi
dent of the Atlanta Board of Education
who resigned (SSN, May), is expected
to assume the duties of associate city
attorney for school matters June 1.
In The Colleges
Georgia Tech
Agrees To Admit
Three Negroes
eorgia Tech, a public, white,
engineering college in At
lanta, voluntarily agreed to admit
three Negro students for the fall
quarter and rejected applications
of 10 other Negroes.
Tech will be the second state col
lege to admit Negroes, the University
of Georgia having admitted two Ne
gro students in January.
A third Negro student was approved
for admission to the university in Ath
ens. Mary Francis Early, a music teach
er at John Hope School in Atlanta, will
be the school’s first Negro graduate
student. Miss Early, a graduate of
Clark College and a teacher in Atlanta
schools for four years, did not disclose
whether she planned to study only
during the summer or expects to obtain
a leave of absence as a teacher and
work for more than a quarter toward
her master’s degree.
Dr. Edwin Harrison, president of
Georgia Tech, said he made the decis
ion on accepting or rejecting the 13
Negro applicants after studying their
college entrance test scores, high school
records and other factors.
Advice Sought
The advice of hundreds of interested
parties, including alumni, members of
the board of regents and legal authori
ties, was sought on the matter, ac
cording to Dr. Harrison. “I believe I
have made the only possible decision
concerning these applicants,” he said.
The Tech president did not list rea
sons for turning down 10 of the Negro
applicants but he did say none was
rejected on the ground of a personal
interview, which is one of the admis
sion requirements.
The Negroes accepted are Ford
Greene, Ralph A. Long Jr., and Law
rence Williams, all from Atlanta.
Speculation was that the school
hopes to avoid litigation by Negroes
that could lead to a federal court in
junction similar to the one that forced
the University of Georgia to admit
Negroes, but Harrison did not say this
was so.
Governor Objects
In a letter to the Atlanta Constitution,
Gov. Ernest Vandiver objected to a
headline on the Tech story: “Vandiver
Defends Tech Integration.” The gov
ernor wrote that “nothing could be
father from the truth . . .”
Vandiver said the decision to admit
the Negroes was made by the Board
of Regents and the officials at Georgia
Tech, over whom the chief executive
has no authority. The governor said:
“Mixing of the races in Georgia col
leges and classroom is indefensible,
wrong and against the best interests of
all the people of this state, whether it
be by federal decree or otherwise. As
governor of Georgia, I am against inte
gration, and the policy of the state is
against integration . . .
“I want to make it clear that I have
not defended integration at Georgia
Tech or anywhere else, and do not
agree with race mixing anywhere, at
any time, under any circumtances.
Moreover, throughout my entire life, I
have vigorously opposed race mixing
and will continue to do so.”
As Atlanta Goes—?
Arkansas Democrat
Robert F. Kennedy
‘Can do no less . . .’
R. A. Siegel, Tech alumni president,
said the alumni association “accepts
these decisions and supports fully the
action that has been taken.”
Joe McCutcheon, president of the
Tech student body, said Dr. Harrison
handled the situation well and pre
dicted desegregation “will be very
peaceful.”
Georgia Tech, founded 76 years ago,
has a current enrollment of about
5,000 students. Only 48 of them are
coeds.
The three Negroes who will enter
Tech said they primarily are interested
in getting a good education and the
social life at the school is of relatively
little importance.
Greene ranks first in his graduating
class at Turner High School. Long
ranks fourth scholastically in the same
class. Williams is a Washington High
School senior.
★ ★ ★
Tommy Cochran of Butler and Ernest
P. Davis of Gainesville, two students
indicted on charges of taking part in
a desegregation riot at the University
of Georgia in Athens earlier this year
(SSN, February) have been reinstated
at the school and were readmitted for
the spring quarter.
Community Action
New Group Forms
To Solidify City
Against Violence
A n organization was formed
to solidify Atlanta against
violence and disorder when the
public schools are desegregated
and to avoid the troubles of Little
Rock and New Orleans through
a calm transition in September.
Named the Organizations Assisting
Schools in September (OASIS), the
movement had the assistance from
HOPE (Help Our Public Schools)
leaders (SSN, May).
The group of 46 city-wide organiza
tions is campaigning to create a “cli
mate of calm, dignified acceptance of
desegregation in the fall.” The organ
izations include Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions,
Civitan clubs and others.
OASIS is divided into four groups:
civic and service, religious, and youth
serving organizations and a speakers’
bureau.
Mrs. Philip Hammer, general chair
man of OASIS and a leader in the
Georgia League of Women Voters, said
OASIS was formed after key com
munity leaders called on Dr. John
Letson, Atlanta superintendent of
schools, in February and asked what
they could do to help prevent Atlanta
from becoming another Little Rock or
New Orleans.
Step Up Meetings
“OASIS plan to step up discussions
and meetings throughout the summer,”
Mrs. Hammer said. “When schools re
open next September, every citizen will
become familiar with the facts of de
segregation and the role he can play
in insuring responsible compliance with
the law.”
The parent organization in Atlanta
may branch out into Macon, Savannah,
Columbus, Augusta and other Georgia
cities once school systems in other areas
of the state are ordered desegregated,
Mrs. Hammer said.
The civic and service group of
OASIS is headed by W. Joe Scott, a
retired school principal. He has ar
ranged several meetings in various
school communities over the city.
Two Atlanta ministers direct the re
ligious group. Church officials have
been contacted and a “Law and Order
Sunday is planned in Atlanta just
prior to the opening of schools m. I
desegregated basis in September. ' •
Numerous youth-group leaders M
meet in June to discuss the situatj I
Desegregation was discussed at t?
spring encampment of the Y-1?
Council, with Dr. Letson as one of ^
speakers, and Hi-Y boys are to have
similar session. J i
Warren Jones of the Atlanta Tqj- I
master’s Club heads the Speakers’gT
reau. OASIS spokesmen said a nutaC ;
of speakers have made addresses^ 1
over Atlanta to explain desegregatjf i
plans and to emphasize what *. i
termed the need for the change to £
accepted without disorder.
A digest of Atlanta’s pupil
ment regulations was mailed to Ijj
churches and organization preside®, 1
in Atlanta.
The executive committee of the
lanta Bar Association adopted unajj. i
mously a statement asking all Atlanta®
to abide by the desegregation ruli®
and to maintain peace. The specjj
responsibility of lawyers to encourag
respect for the courts and the law w®
emphasized in the resolution.
★ ★ ★
Georgia political leaders decided tt
continue the Georgia States’ Right,
Council after a non-publicized meet®;
at the executive mansion of Gov. Era-
est Vandiver. The Atlanta Journal said
it was informed the organization would
be continued in operation mainly as “)
psychological weapon against tin
NAACP.”
The question of whether the count
will have a fund-raising dinner, as t
has annually in past years, still is un
decided. Roy V. Harris of Augusta, i
member of the board of regents, n
in favor of it. Gov. Vandiver is report
edly against it because he is fearful
that any violence accompanying school
desegregation in Atlanta this fall wii
be charged to the council.
W hat They Say
Kennedy Promises
Swift Enforcement
Of Court Rulings
IT S. Attorney General Robert
^•Kennedy spoke at Law Day
ceremonies at the University of
Georgia in Athens May 5 and de
clared that the Department of
Justice will act swiftly and force
fully to enforce all federal court
desegregation ridings.
He was not applauded during ip
speech, but at its conclusion was giv®
a 30-second standing ovation by stu
dents and others present.
No state politicians were on halt
except Griffin Bell, the governor’s chic
of staff. The public officials who de
pend on a statewide vote for elect**
reportedly were frightened off by re
ports that Kennedy would drop a ci' t
rights “bombshell” in his speech.
Kennedy said he would do his l* 5
to end racial discrimination every
where, including within his own de
partment. and he deplored discruni 112
tion outside the South.
The attorney general praised s' 3
officials and university students 35
faculty members for their action
January when the school was desegre
gated. “You endured a difficult or« e ,
and when your moment of truth can*
he said, “the voices crying ‘force’ ^
overridden by the voices of reason-
Hunter in Audience
Charlyne Hunter, who with H aI T 1 .
ton Holmes was one of the two
groes to be the first of their race
to enter the university, was
audience as the attorney general sp 0 *^
Kennedy said the graduation ^
Holmes and Miss Hunter “will
out question aid and assist the
against Communist political m® 10
tion and guerrilla warfare.” , e ;r
He said, “When parents send
children to school this fall in ^ ^
peaceably and in accordance witn .
rule of law,” in a reference to d -
regation planned in Georgia’s caP a „J
in September, “barefoot Burmese .
Congolese will see before then *
Americans living by the rule of
‘Must Be Respected - J
Kennedy said Americans must ■
another Little Rock or New
and said the decisions of the
“must be followed and respecte
however much we might disagl^
them.” ffi-
Prior to Kennedy’s arrival ui
ens, police arrested five men—f' v0
Athens and three from Atlanta ^
staged an impromptu downtown
(See GEORGIA, Page 9)