Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 18—MAY, 1962—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
Criticise Southern Leadership
Appearing on a panel discussion of “The South, The Nation and The World’’ were,
from left: John A. Griffin, Florida State University; Harry S. Ashmore, editor-in-chief
of Encyclopaedia Britannica; Mark F. Ethridge, chairman of the board of the
Courier-Journal and Louisville Times; and William C. Baggs, Miami News editor.
KENTUCKY
Board Chairman Charges
Bias in Hiring Policies
LOUISVILLE
'he chairman of the Louisville
Board of Education charged in
a talk that some of the school sys
tem’s administrators are guilty of
racial bias in their hiring policies.
The superintendent disputed this.
Woodford R. Porter, first Negro elect
ed to the board and now serving as
chairman, claimed the bias affected a
variety of jobs including teachers and
skilled and semi-skilled workers.
Supt. Samuel V. Noe, when informed
of Porter’s statements, said he was “a
little surprised” at the charge. Noe said,
“The chairman, to my recollection, has
not discussed this with me. . . . Our
policy has been since I’ve been super
intendent to hire the best qualified per
son for any position. I doubt if there
has been any discrimination anywhere
along the line.”
Porter made it clear in his talk that
he considered neither Noe nor the board
to be responsible for any bias in hiring.
He said the fault lay with certain ad
ministrators under Noe, but he de
clined to identify them.
Noe Comment
Noe commented, “It’s unfortunate
that he should place the blame at an
other level. This is the superintendent’s
responsibility.”
On April 2, the day after Porter’s
talk, Noe met with an NAACP com
mittee in a previously scheduled session
on hiring policies. The NAACP group,
making allegations similar to those of
Porter, said they were undertaking an
intensive community-wide survey in an
effort to upgrade Negro job opportuni
ties.
Noe said, “We are only interested in
getting the best qualified individual for
the position.”
The two sides, however, were unable
to agree on just what is meant by
“qualified.”
Negro Teachers
Noe said he told the NAACP that the
number of Negro teachers in Louisville
schools had increased from 417 last year
to 443 now, while the white-teacher
total dropped from 1,324 to 1,321.
Overall, he said, the system has 797
Negroes among some 2,900 employees.
Among the Negroes were 11 principals,
nine assistant principals, and five coun
Kentucky Highlights
Charges of discriminatory school
hiring policies leveled by the Negro
chairman of the Louisville school
board drew a “surprised” denial
from the superintendent.
Southern educators, journalists
and politicians came in for caustic
criticism at a meeting of the South
ern Sociological Society for their
alleged poor leadership on desegre
gation.
The Commission on Public Higher
Education decided to proceed with a
study of Kentucky State College in
an effort to determine the future of
the predominantly Negro institution.
selors. Noe said seven of 59 maintenance
employees are Negroes, as are 140 of 332
operations employees—firemen, janitors,
maids, plant operators—and 197 of 431
lunch-division employees.
Of the 443 Negro teachers, he said, 83
are assigned to the nine schools with
desegregated faculties. Another 65 Ne
groes were listed as substitute teachers.
What They Say
Southern Leaders
Are Criticised
By Panelists
Some 350 members of the Southern
Sociological Society attending the
group’s annual meeting in Louisville
heard Southern leadership severely
criticised for failures in handling the
desegregation issue.
And from one speaker, editor William
C. Baggs of The Miami News, they
heard a prophecy: “We’ll work it out.
But if we don’t, the nation will die. The
issue is that basic.”
Baggs declared that the South “has
been caught up in this damnable racial
matter and it has fuzzed all our think
ing.” He said educational achievement
and the right to vote are the Negro’s
two basic rights and if these are as
sured, full rights will naturally follow.
Members of Panel
Taking part with Baggs in a panel
discussion were Mark F. Ethridge,
board chairman of The Courier-Journal
and The Louisville Times, and Harry
S. Ashmore, who was executive editor
of The Arkansas Gazette during the
1957 school desegregation strife in Little
Rock and now is editor-in-chief of
Encyclopaedia Brittannica.
Ethridge criticised Southerners in
Congress who, he said, maintain their
seniority because of small turnouts at
the polls.
He said voter turnout in Southern
states ranges from 41.77 per cent in
Texas to 25.44 per cent in Mississippi,
which compared with a national turn
out in 1960 of 63.66 per cent of the
electorate. Such low turnouts, he de
clared, are encouraged by Southern
senators who filibuster against a con
stitutional amendment which would
remove the poll tax in five Southern
states—the only five states in the nation
with such a tax.
Ethridge said this behavior strikes at
the right to vote, “the basic human
right.”
Press Criticised
He also criticised the press—for fail
ing to tell the real story of the racial
problem—and the intellectual commun
ity in Southern universities for failing
to speak out on the racial problem.
Ashmore deplored what he called the
“erosion” of intellectuals and univer
sities in the South. Universities should
take the lead in solving the problem, he
said, and shouldn’t be afraid of doing
so. “The governor can’t fire the whole
faculty,” Ashmore asserted.
New racial problems outside the
South are being created by vast migra
tion of Negroes, he said, and if the cities
Kentucky Desegregation
Biracial
County
School
Enrollment
Biracial
Date
Districts (119)
White
Negro
Schools
Grades
Deseg.
Adair
.. 1,650
128
4
1-12
1956-7
Allen
Anderson ....
Ballard
.. —
—
—
—
Policy
Barren
Bath
• • —
—
—
—
Policy
Bell
.. 304
9
2
Elem.
1956-7
Boone
.. 1,862
6
3
1-12
1955-6
Bourbon
.. 565
31
2
High
1960-1
Boyd (all-white)
Boyle
..
—
—
—
Policy
Bracken
.. 758
9
3
1-12
1956-7
Breathitt
.. 1,307
4
2
1-12
1956-7
Breckenridge
.. 1,787
167
4
1-12
1956-7
Bullitt
.. 3,463
35
5
1-12
1956-7
Butler
.. 1,330
9
2
1-12
1959-60
Caldwell
Calloway ....
_
_
_
Policy
Campbell (all-white)
Carlisle
—
—
—
—
Policy
Carter
888
2
1
1-12
1955-6
Casey
Christian ....
Policy
1956-7
Clark
.. 3,901
142
9
1-12
Clay
. . 884
12
1
High
1961-2
Clinton
73
3
1
Elem.
1955-6
Crittenden ...
.. 486
6
1
High
1955-6
Cumberland ..
.. 328
20
1
High
1959-60
Daviess
. . 5,111
78
12
1-12
1956-7
Edmonson ....
..
—
—
—
Policy
Elliott (all-white)
Estill (all-white)
Fayette
..12,508
418
17
1-12
1955-6
Fleming
.. 1,527
95
4
1-12
1956-7
Floyd
.. 1,968
18
3
1-12
1955-6
Franklin
Fulton
.. 1,024
16
1
High
1956-7
Gallatin
.. 202
6
i
High
1957-8
Garrard
Grant
.. 643
5
2
Elem.
1959-60
Graves
. .
—
—
—
Policy
Grayson (all-white)
Green
.. 503
12
1
High
1956-7
Greenup (all-white)
Hancock
.. 1,014
36
3
1-12
1956-7
Hardin
.. 3,015
69
5
1-12
1956-7
Harlan
.. 118
3
1
High
1960-1
Harrison
.. 1,693
13
6
1-12
1956-7
Hart
.. 492
51
2
High
1957-8
Henderson ...
.. 2,088
9
3
1-12
1956-7
Henry
.. 1,547
92
5
1-12
1957-8
Hickman
Hopkins
.. 2,535
22
5
1-12
1957-8
Jackson (all-white)
1956-7
Jefferson
Jessamine
..32,158
1,002
33
1-12
Johnson (all-white) —
Policy
Kenton
.. 2,083
7
3
1-12
1956-7
Knott
.. 1,038
19
3
1-12
1955-6
Knox
.. 1,672
28
2
1-12
1959-60
Larue
.. 1,317
62
3
1-12
1956-7
Laurel
.. 1,263
5
1
1-12
1960-1
Lawrence ....
.. 1,348
6
2
1-12
1955-6
Lee
.. 555
3
1
High
1961-2
Leslie (all-white)
Letcher
Lewis
9
5
1
Elem.
1959-60
Lincoln
.. 682
2
1
1-12
1961-2
Livingston ...
.. 475
1
1
High
1961-2
Logan
.. 2,678
61
4
1-12
1956-7
Lyon
Madison
.. 1,011
29
1
High
1956-7
Magoffin (all-white)
Marion
.. 752
62
2
High
1955-6
Marshall (all-white)
Martin (all-white)
Mason
.. 1,849
196
8
1-12
1956-7
McCracken ..
—
—
—
—
Policy
McCreary (all-white)
McLean
.. 1,026
12
2
1-12
1956-7
Meade
.. 565
15
1
High
1956-7
Menifee (all-white)
Mercer
.. 994
27
4
1-12
1956-7
Metcalfe
Monroe
Montgomery
Morgan (all-white)
Muhlenberg
Nelson
.. 1,141
68
4
1-12
1956-7
Nicholas
Ohio
• •
—
—
Policy
Oldham
.. 910
11
2
Elem.
1956-7
Owen
.. 1,209
110
5
1-12
1958-9
Owsley (all-white) —
—
—
Policy
Pendleton ....
.. 221
4
1
Elem.
1955-6
Perry
.. 2,367
55
6
1-12
1955-6
Pike
.. 1,469
18
3
1-12
1956-7
Powell
.. 985
21
2
1-12
1956-7
Pulaski
.. 457
6
1
High
1956-7
Robertson ....
.. 493
5
1
1-12
1956-7
Rockcastle (all-white)
Rowan (all-white)
Russell
640
11
1
High
1955-6
Scott
.. 1,871
235
5
1-12
1956-7
Shelby
Simpson
Spencer
. . 223
5
1
High
1955-6
Biracial
County
School
Enrollment
Biracial
Districts (119)
White
Negro
Schools
Grades
Deseg.
Taylor
Todd
Trigg
Trimble
.. 554
1
i
High
1961-2
Union
Warren
.. 1,152
34
1
1-12
1957-8
Washington ..
.. 1,231
15
3
1-12
1961-2
Wayne
.. 1,789
58
5
1-12
1955-6
Webster 0
Whitely (all-white)
0
0
0
1959-60
Wolfe (all-white) —
—
—
—
Policy
Woodford ....
Totals ...
Independent
Districts (90)
Anchorage
.. 1,626
.125,387
297
4,022
6
233
1-12
1956-7
Ashland
.. 3,650
185
6
1-12
1955-6
Augusta
.. 309
1
1
1-12
1956-7
Barbourville .
.. 563
17
2
1-12
1955-6
Bardstown 780
Beechwood (all-white)
Bellevue (all-white)
Benton (all-white)
107
2
1-12
1958-9
Berea
.. 173
16
1
High
1956-7
Bowling Green
Burgin 320 42 1 1-12 1956-7
Campbellsville
Carlisle
. 415
20
2
1-12
1955-6
Carrollton ....
. 985
25
3
1-12
1961-2
Catlettsburg ...
.
—
—
—
Policy
Caverna
. 759
Ill
3
1-12
1957-8
Central City ..,
,
—
—
Cloverport (all-white)
—
—
—
Policy
Corbin (all-white)
Covington ....
. 5,708
144
9
1-12
1956-7
Cynthiana ....
. 273
12
1
High
1956-7
Danville
. 528
5
1
High
1956-7
Dawson Springs
(all-white)
Dayton (all-white)
Earlington
East Bemstadt ,
, —
—
—
Policy
Elizabethton ..
. 1,661
320
4
1-12
1956-7
Eminence
157
26
1
High
1956-7
Erlanger
. 1,774
83
3
1-12
1955-6
Fairview (all-white)
Falmouth
. 478
21
1
1-12
1955-6
Frankfort
. 308
35
1
High
1956-7
Ferguson
Fort Thomas (all-white)
Fulton
182
15
1
High
1958-9
Georgetown ...
928
141
2
1-12
1956-7
Glasgow
—
—
—
—
Policy
Greenup
212
21
1
High
1955-6
Greenville
—
—
—
—
Policy
Harlan
NA
NA
NA
NA
1959-60
Harrodsburg ..,
332
25
1
High
1956-7
Hazard
, 1,380
182
4
1-12
1956-7
Henderson
. 2,426
213
6
1-12
1957-8
Hopkinsville ...
370
1
1
Elem.
1958-9
Irvine
424
5
1
Elem.
1956-7
Jackson
465
8
2
1-12
1955-6
Jenkins
Leitchfield .....
773
21
2
1-12
1956-7
Lexington
. 3,498
84
5
1-12
1955-6
Liberty
949
2
1
1-12
1958-9
London
, 1,077
34
2
1-12
1955-6
Louisville
.26,190
15,206
59
1-12
1956-7
Ludlow (all-white)
Lynch
Mayfield
525
11
1
High
1956-7
Maysville
222
35
1
High
1956-7
Middlesboro
Midway
331
77
1
1-12
1956-7
Monticello
813
39
2
1-12
1955-6
Mt. Sterling
Murray
503
2
1
High
1956-7
Newport
. 2,421
141
4
1-12
1955-6
Owensboro ....,
. 3,469
69
7
1-12
1955-6
Paducah
3,435
140
7
1-12
1956-7
Paintsville (all-white)
Paris
945
6
2
1-12
1960-1
Pikeville
587
16
1
High
1956-7
Pineville
666
37
2
1-12
1956-7
Providence
—
—
—
Policy
Richmond
323
74
1
High
1955-6
Russell (all-white)
Ravenna (all-white)
Raceland (all-white)
Richmond
323
74
1
High
1955-6
Russellville ....
233
25
i
High
1956-7
Science Hill (all-white)
Scottsville
Shelbyville ....
. 1,225
62
3
1-12
1956-7
Silver Grove (all-white)
Somerset
620
38
1
High
1956-7
Southgate (all-white)
South Portsmouth (all-white)
Springfield ....
187
47
1
High
1961-2
Stanford
. NA
NA
NA
NA
1958-9
Stearns (all-white)
Van Lear (all-white)
Walton-Verona
591
25
3
1-12
1956-7
West Point ....
221
27
1
Elem.
1956-7
Williamsburg ..
799
40
2
1-12
1955-6
Williamstown ..
202
2
1
Elem.
1956-7
Totals
.75,274 18,036
174
State Totals 200,661
22,058
407
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can’t handle the resulting problems
they will become dead and static. And
since this is now an urban society, he
continued, dead cities will mean a dead
society.
Ashmore said he was optimistic about
progress so far, but noted that it was
achieved only after a negative, primi
tive fight. “The people in the South are
coming back to reality after an emo
tional binge,” he said.
Industrial Leaders
Another session of the sociological
society heard a paper on industry-seg
regation relationships from M. Richard
Cramer, an instructor at the University
of North Carolina. The paper was based
on his doctoral dissertation which fol
lowed a survey of five Southern com
munities.
Cramer concluded that industry-
minded Southern community leaders do
not appear to be any more receptive to
racial desegregation than other leaders.
This finding was in spite of “the much
publicized interruption in Little Rock’s
industrial progress that was suffered
after the desegregation controversy
there in 1957 and 1958,” he said.
Cramer said it was his conviction
that “the movement for equal rights
for Negroes will have to receive its
impetus from sources other than the
recognized white community leader
ship” in the Deep South.
In the Colleges
Study to Chart
Kentucky State’s
Role for Future
The Council on Public Higher Edu
cation agreed to undertake a study of
the predominantly Negro Kentucky
State College with a view to charting
the school’s future role.
The study had been requested by the
college’s board of regents on the recom
mendation of President Rufus B. At
wood. (SSN, April and previous.)
Meanwhile, Gov. Bert Combs in a
speech at Frankfort, state capital and
site of Kentucky State, said the college
is a valuable asset and nothing will be
done to hurt it. “My objective will be
to improve and make better use of the
school,” he said.
Combs suggested that the college has
great potentialities for adult education
because almost 8,000 state employees
live in the Frankfort area.
“Personally, I do not think that in the
near future we can expect any devel
opments which would detract from the
college’s position as the center of Negro
culture in Kentucky,” Combs declared.
# # #
Altus
(Continued From Page 17)
dent in a school play since Altus Higk
was desegregated and she was cast i n
a maid’s role, Davis said.
“I’ll be frank—I hate segregation-
the Negro principal declared. “I ba ' e
never encouraged a child to stay ' in
Lincoln) or go. None of the teacher 5
has either. We wouldn’t try to keep
them at Lincoln, even if it meant 0
i° bs -” 3()
Davis, who has been in Altus
years and is in his 19th year as P r ‘ r ‘
cipal, said the Negroes in Altus a cce j.
the situation. Most come here to P 1 ^
cotton and have no interest in P jsn
ing desegregation, he said.
An outstanding exception, one ^
whom both Negro and white resid®n ,
of Altus point with pride, is John
radondo. He was one of the fir 5 * j
groes admitted to Altus High Sc
and ended up valedictorian of the s ^ ,
ior class of 1959. He was voted by ^ i
classmates as the one “most likely
succeed.” He received a $10,000 ^jp
year General Motors Corp. scholar^, (
and is now attending Oklahoma ^
University.. (See Oklahoma report-
issue) . a
John is the 12th of 17 children (
family that lives in a three-room ’ p
in Altus. & "