Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—SEPTEMBER, 1962—PAGE 9
son, in
sion in
•es, or-
rrds to
n two
ion of
ruling
a fed-
egated
te first
. Five
me de
ed ad-
egated
:s will
le took
■egated
families
a Negrc
/ere as-
.or higl
chargee
id asked
or Higi
metto is
nder the
all were
basis o
qualifiet
he said,
own ar
tered ii
on open
nior am
I official
accepts
were re
in Pain
lown be-
4 but i
superin-
s had re-
enior am
ave beei
i a mint
intenden
lofficiall:
1 be ap
i school
idition t
isegrega-
ever, the
be give
a polio
r transfe
gely bf
er or bo
ult.
at MiaB
iecondar
f the ek
etermint
iol boat
rshall V
t be use
m desef
year,
and whi 1
precede
rict coi*
submit 1
ite at 1
Mainly
legro $
iber. ^
usia A' 1
Dayto*
:ing tbd
her appl
nd Maif
attend
h CoUf 1
expand
were *■’
School
11)
West Virginia
(Continued From Page 7)
ing attorneys Aug. 9, U.S. District
Court Judge John A. Field Jr. told
them to file briefs by Oct. 1. The judge
explained he would want some time
thereafter to study the briefs before
setting a trial date. (Taylor v. Raleigh
County Board of Education.)
Conferring with Judge Field were
attorneys Fletcher W. Mann of Beckley,
representing the school board, and Wil
lard Brown of Charleston, state counsel
for the NAACP. The conference was
held in Beckley.
Raleigh was one of several southern
West Virginia counties in which the
NAACP sought to force racial desegre
gation in public schools six years ago.
The Raleigh case and all but one of
the others were settled without trial in
a series of conferences between school
board representatives and the deceased
Judge Ben Moore.
The Raleigh settlement involved an
agreement on a voluntary desegrega
tion plan, as did all of the others.
This agreement was first developed
at the close of a hearing in Greenbrier
County where Judge Moore succeeded
in getting the board and NAACP to
agree to a voluntary program of deseg
regation.
Several months ago, the NAACP pe
titioned Judge Field for reopening of
the Raleigh case, charging that school
districts have been altered to avoid de
segregation. The school board denied
the charge.
West Virginia Highlights
The 11 state-operated colleges and
universities will remove all questions
dealing with race and religion from
their application forms.
The school desegregation case in
Raleigh County, brought by the
NAACP against the board of educa
tion, will not be heard in federal
district court until sometime after
Oct. 1.
Schoolmen
Smith Cites Goal:
Equal Opportunity
State School Supt. Rex M. Smith
promised Aug. 1 that his department
will “spare no effort to insure that
every pupil has an equal opportunity
for a good education” in West Virginia.
Smith at a news conference labeled
the equal opportunity objective as the
major one of eight on his list.
He did not make any reference to
race in the discussion, but Smith has
been a consistent supporter of unsegre
gated education since he was a county
superintendent in upstate Monongalia
County.
He was chief school officer in that
county in 1954 when the U.S. Supreme
Court handed down its desegregation
ruling, and Monongalia was the first
county in the state to desegregate.
# # #
SOUTH CAROLINA
Testimony Heard in Suit
To Desegregate Clemson
COLUMBIA
A nother round in the legal
struggle of Negro Harvey B.
Gantt to gain admittance to Clem
son College was fought in U.S.
district court on Aug. 22, but the
results were inconclusive.
One unusual aspect of a hearing in
the case heard before Judge C. C.
Wyche, sitting in Greenville, was the
departure from the procedure the jur
ist has long followed in his court.
Judge Wyche, at the request of at
torneys for Gantt, allowed witnesses
to take the stand at the hearing. As a
result Clemson President Robert C. Ed
wards was subjected to a lengthy and
unexpected examination by Matthew
J- Perry, a Columbia lawyer represent
ing the 19-year-old plaintiff.
Gantt, a Charleston native who is
seeking to transfer to Clemson from
owa State University, testified himself
briefly.
Lengthy Discussion
Perry s motion to call Dr. Edwards
stimulated a lengthy discussion be
tween the judge and the attorney. Fin
ally Judge Wyche agreeed, but noted:
, ^ ve never had oral testimony at
ese hearings. You are delaying my
ecision by asking to put witnesses on
e stand and giving the defendent a
chance to reply.”
Defense counsel William L. Watkins
0 Anderson objected to the ruling,
f ,. tln l g ’ AVe are not prepared for a
tun-dress trial at this time.
The hearing concerned a plaintiff’s
request for a permanent injunction re
raining the college from refusing to
ac , and act expeditiously, on applica-
y° ns °f Negro residents of the state.
Gantt, a former high school
° all standout, has made several at-
en l er Clemson’s school of ar-
i ecture in the past two years,
i } er Judge Wyche rules on the in-
m c . lon ’ the case will proceed on its
]j e f S ' request for injunctive re_
f r ^ vas designed to gain admittance
t erjn an tt at the start of the September
Dr. Edwards, under questioning, sup-
Gantt Glemson contention that
a _ ,. Was turned down because his
Dl P tf 10n was not submitted in com-
coTWri ° rm the time the cut off for
that* era h° n of transfer students and
avail f? trance test scores were not
Te 6 at , tha t time.
j ept - 6 Plaintiff’s position is that the re-
cri - ? n resu lted solely from racial dis
crimination.
lenm? y questioned Dr. Edwards at
g roe on college policy concerning Ne-
seekf ant * on interviews of students
dentadmission. The college presi-
i- ai his institution had “no policy”
'‘nevp Sard t0 Negr °es and that he had
tl°n from C a 1V N d eg r a o.” 0mpleted aPI>UCa '
S. C. Highlights
Federal Judge C. C. Wyche re
versed his usual policy and permitted
testimony at the Aug. 22 hearing on
Charleston Negro Harvey B. Gantt’s
request for an injunction that would
restrain all-white Clemson College
from denying admittance to him and
other similarly placed Negro stu
dents.
A veteran South Carolina political
reporter predicted that the state’s
public schools would be desegre
gated within 18 months.
Dr. Edwards testified that interviews
with applicants are designed to “assess
intangibles” but that they are not given
in all cases. He added that the college
has not determined whether or not an
interview will be necessary in the
Gantt case. Asked how long it would
take for Gantt to complete his applica
tion if given the opportunity, Dr. Ed
wards replied: “That rests with Mr.
Gantt.”
During the examination, Judge
Wyche repeatedly objected that “all
this (testimony) is in the record.” At
another point, he told Gantt’s lawyer,
“I might even say you had the nerve
to send me a proposed order for setting
this hearing.”
The judge took the matter under ad
visement at month’s end.
South Carolina’s public schools
opened Aug. 29 on a completely segre
gated basis and only quick, affirmative
action by Judge Wyche on Gantt’s re
quest for an injunction can prevent
the state’s colleges from maintaining
their all-white position. The state is
one of three left with no mixing of
white and Negro students at any level
of its educational system.
What They Say
School Desegregation
Seen Coming to S. C.
Within 18 Months
William E. Mahoney, veteran political
reporter, wrote in the Seneca Journal-
Tribune that South Carolina will be
“integrated” within 18 months.
The newsman, who has close connec
tions in the office of Gov. Ernest F.
Hollings and other government circles,
wrote:
“We are going to integrate. And the
total force of legal minds that this state
can assemble won’t change it. It’s polit
ical dynamite, so don’t ask a politician.
But they’re of one mind now: the end
(See S.C., Page 11)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
HEW Official Reaffirms Intent
To End Aid To Segregated Areas
WASHINGTON
he new Secretary of Health,
Education and Welfare, An
thony J. Celebrezze, announced
Aug. 22 that he plans to follow
through on a recommendation by
his predecessor to halt federal aid
to some “impacted” school dis
tricts in the fall of 1963 unless
they stop practicing racial segre
gation.
Last March former HEW Secretary
Abraham A. Ribicoff told Congress that
after September, 1963, the federal gov
ernment will regard segregated schools
as no longer “suitable” for federal
grants toward the education of children
whose parents live and work on gov
ernment installations.
The policy would affect only a mi
nority of the districts receiving school
aid as “federally impacted” areas, since
a larger portion of the assistance is
allocated in behalf of federal depend
ents who do not live on government in
stallations. HEW officials contend that
the statutes governing the aid program
permit them to make a finding of “suit
ability” in the case of children living on
federal property, but not in the case of
those who live on private property in
the communities in which they attend
school.
Survey Planned
HEW plans to survey 70 federal in
stallations to determine local practices
with respect to segregation. The depart
ment hopes to talk local officials into
desegregating schools serving children
of military personnel.
If the officials refuse, and if a base has
a sufficient number of children, HEW
will have to decide by January whether
to engage in a crash program of build
ing desegregated schools on the in
stallation.
Celebrezze’s confirmation of Ribicoff’s
policy was stated in a telegram to Clar
ence Mitchell, Washington director of
the National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People. The sec
retary’s action came amidst NAACP
demands for “immediate steps” to pro
vide desegregated schooling for children
of personnel at two Virginia installa
tions.
Celebrezze told the NAACP that in
accord with Ribicoff’s announced policy,
the United States Commissioner of Edu
cation will provide desegregated educa
tion for the base children, presumably
by 1963, “or make other suitable ar
rangements.”
First Complaint
The first NAACP complaint involved
Ft. Lee, Va., which houses the Army
Quartermaster School. Some 1,500
school-age children of Army personnel
live on the installation, and 1,273 of
these, including 104 Negroes, are depen
dent on the public schools of Prince
George County. Since the county’s Ne
gro schools are far from the Army base,
Prince George County sends the 104
Negro children to all-Negro schools in
Petersburg, about five miles away in
Dinwiddie County. The county pays for
their tuition and for the 30-minute bus
ride to and from Petersburg.
During the past year, Prince George
was entitled to $224,328 in federal “im
pacted area” funds for operating ex
penses incurred in behalf of the on-
base children. The county has also re
ceived substantial federal assistance for
school construction.
County School Board Chairman R. F.
Livesay told a reporter that federal aid
is a “considerable part” of the $1.3 mil
lion school operating budget.
^ ill He Keep ’til November?
D. C. Highlights
HEW Secretary Anothny J. Cele
brezze reaffirmed his department’s
intention to cut off federal “impacted
area” aid next year from segregated
schools serving children who live on
government installations.
A special social studies curriculum
was announced for a Washington
junior high school as part of an
effort to combat “voluntary resegre
gation” of its neighborhood.
Secretary of Labor Arthur J. Gold
berg was nominated to the Supreme
Court, succeeding Justice Felix
Frankfurter.
The Senate Judiciary Committee
on Sept. 7 approved by a vote of 11-
4 the judgeship nomination of for
mer NAACP counsel Thurgood
Marshall.
A District government survey
showed that 68.5 per cent of the
school system’s employes last June
30 were Negroes.
“If the government threatens to cut
off aid, then we would have to decide
whether to integrate our schools,” he
said.
In response to an NAACP protest
about the Ft. Lee situation, Army Sec
retary Cyrus R. Vance told Mitchell
that the Army does not sanction segre
gation in any program under its con
trol, but “the choice here is to allow its
children to attend schools designated
by the school board or not attend
schools at all.”
Vance’s reply was termed “wholly
unsatisfactory” on Aug. 22 by W. Lester
Banks, executive secretary of the Vir
ginia NAACP.
Second Case
The second case involves Fort Bel-
voir, the Army Engineer Center in
Fairfax County, Va., near Washington.
The NAACP asked HEW on Aug. 31 to
investigate charges of public school dis
crimination against children of military
personnel at the post.
Banks charged that “both the Ft. Bel-
voir command and the Fairfax County
school authorities are guilty of discrim
ination against junior and senior Negro
high school students.”
Belvoir children beyond the seventh
grade must attend schools off the post.
There are four desegregated elementary
schools on the installation.
Ft. Belvoir authorities said that most
of the junior and senior high students
attend schools in Fairfax County. They
said the installation provides transpor
tation to and from the schools, but that
county officials determine which schools
the individual students attend.
Banks said the protest to HEW was
initiated after the Fairfax County
NAACP branch was unsuccessful in
persuading officials to “correct discrim
ination in the education of military per
sonnel dependents.” The Washington
NAACP branch later joined in the pro
test.
Meanwhile, legislation to extend and
expand the “impacted areas” aid pro
gram is bottled up in subcommittees of
the House and Senate. The present au
thorizing legislation expires June 30,
1963. The subcommittees have scheduled
several meetings to act on the extend
ing legislation, but have failed to mus
ter quorums for the action.
Government Officials
To Become Teachers
In Unique Program
A unique blue-ribbon social studies
curriculum will be instituted this month
at Paul Junior High School in North
west Washington as part of an effort to
cope with “voluntary desegregation” of
a neighborhood—the flight of whites
and mass influx of Negroes.
The project, developed by parents of
Paul students and other residents of the
neighborhood, was announced Aug. 4. It
has the active support of the Board of
Education, the District Commissioners
and the White House.
Paul Junior High has maintained high
academic standards in recent years
while its neighborhood has undergone
rapid social transition. The student
body has changed from 100 per cent
white to 60 per cent Negro.
‘Crossroads’ Situation
This situation “struck us as being a
crossroads,” said Lee White, Assistant
Special Counsel to President Kennedy
and one of the residents instrumental
in drafting the new social studies pro
gram. The pattern in many cities—and
in many District schools—has been that
when the proportion of Negroes to
whites in a school rises substantially,
the school quickly becomes all-Negro.
“It has been recognized for a long
time in connection with urban renewal
problems that some attention should be
given to what has become known as
voluntary resegregation,” White said.
Through the efforts of Neighbors, Inc.,
a community action group, and other
organizations, about 50 white families
have recently moved into the Paul area,
where Negroes are also moving in,
White said. Professional families—gov
ernment officials, journalists, scientists
and diplomatic personnel of both races
—are among the new residents.
To serve the children of these fami
lies, the new social studies program will
attempt to marshal Washington’s gov
ernment resources. Cabinet members
and other government officials have
agreed to work with students.
(See D. C., Page 13)
Judiciary Committee Approves
Thurgood Marshall Nomination
The Senate Judiciary Committee
on Sept. 7 voted 11-4 to approve Thur
good Marshall’s nomination to be a
federal circuit court judge in New
York.
The four voting against recommend
ing Marshall’s confirmation by the
Senate all are Southern Democrats:
James O. Eastland, committee chairman,
Mississippi; Olin D. Johnston, South
Carolina; Sam J. Ervin Jr., North Caro
lina; and John L. McClellan, Arkansas.
Marshall, former general counsel to
the National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People, played a
key role in many of the South’s major
school desegregation court cases. South
ern senators have been accused of
deliberately stalling on confirmation of
his nomination.
Subcommittee Vote
Johnston is chairman of a subcom
mittee that conducted hearings on
Marshall’s nomination, first submitted
by President Kennedy almost a year
ago. The subcommittee was reported
Aug. 29 to have voted 2-to-l to recom
mend rejection of the appointment.
The subcommittee completed its
lengthy hearings on the nomination
Aug. 24. Called as a witness at the final
hearing, Alfred H. Kelly, professor of
history at Wayne State University,
testified that a humorous remark by
Marshall which he quoted in one of his
papers had been picked up and dis
torted during the subcommittee hear
ings. Kelly had quoted Marshall as say
ing, “When us colored folks take over,
every time a white man takes a breath
he will have to pay a fine.”
Kelly said that for the subcommittee
to take this remark and “treat it as a
threat or even a philosophical observa
tion” was “absurd, even grotesque in its
bizarre distortion of reality.”
President Confident
President Kennedy was asked about
the delay in the confirmation of Mar
shall’s appointment at his Aug. 22 press
conference and replied:
“I think it has been much too much
delayed. I am confident, in fact I am
sure, that the Senate will not adjourn,
and I have been given those assurances,
that the Senate will not adjourn with
out action being taken by the United
States Senate on the Thurgood Marshall
appointment.
“When it does come to a vote, and
it will, it is my judgment the Senate
will confirm him overwhelmingly.”