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PAGE 4—OCTOBER, 1962—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
TENNESSEE
Separate School Desegregation
Plans for Memphis Given Judge
NASHVILLE
U S. District Judge Marion S.
. Boyd has set a hearing Dec.
3 on two separate plans for deseg
regation of the Memphis school
system which now is in its second
year of biracial classes.
One of the plans was submitted by
the Memphis Board of Education which
on Sept. 4 admitted 44 Negroes to seven
previously all-white schools after Judge
Boyd signed an order to place the plan
in effect temtwa’-ily, pending a hearing.
The school
board, under
orders by the
federal court to
speed up desegre
gation, offered the
plan five days be
fore classes began
for the fall term.
It proposed that
Negro students in
the first, second
and third grades
boyd be enrolled in bi
racial classes this year with an addi
tional grade to be desegregated each
year until all 12 grades have been
reached. (SSN, September.)
Since students already had registered
for the fall term under the board’s
previous desegregation policies, officials
said the full effect of the new plan
would not be likely before next year.
Would Include Teachers
On Sept. 12, Negro attorney A. W.
Willis Jr. filed a separate plan with
the court, calling for complete desegre
gation of all grades and faculties by
1965.
Willis said Judge Boyd will hear
both plans at the December hearing.
Obiecting to the board’s plan, Willis
said “there are no administrative prob
lems to justify” a grade-a-year deseg
regation program.
The Negro plan calls for desegrega
tion of grades one through six in the
fall of 1963, grades seven through nine
in the fall of 1964 and grades nine
through 12 in the fall of 1965.
All school-sponsored activities would
be desegregated on the same schedule.
Teaching staffs, however, would be
placed on a biracial basis in reverse
order. All high school teachers and
principals now employed or those hired
in the future would be reassigned next
year on the basis of merit and quali
fication rather than race. Junior high
teaching staffs would be desegregated
in 1964 and grade school faculties in
the final year of the plan.
Board’s Plan
Under the school board’s plan, no
provision was included for faculties.
Included in the board’s proposal was
a provision that Negro students in the
first three grades who live within the
boundaries of a white school district
but who already had been assigned to
Negro schools could appeal for transfers
to previously all-white schools.
The board’s plan, filed in response
to a July 16 order by Judge Boyd, is
based on a single set of geographic
boundaries for each school.
Judge Boyd’s speed-up order came
about three weeks after the U. S. Su
preme Court refused to review a de
cision by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court
of Appeals which struck down the plan
under which 13 Negro first-graders
were admitted to four previously all-
white schools last year. In effect, the
high court’s action upheld the appeals
court ruling that the Tennessee Pupil
Assignment Law could not be used as
a desegregation plan.
The school board had transferred
Negro students to biracial classes under
provisions of the assignment law last
year.
★ ★ ★
Negro attorneys have requested an
early hearing on their objections to a
revised desegregation plan placed in
effect Sept. 4 by the Knoxville Board
of Education.
Avon N. Williams Jr., Nashville at
torney representing Negro plaintiffs in
the suit, said objections to the plan
already have been
filed with U.S.
District Court.
Under orders by
the U.S. Sixth
Circuit Court of
Appeals to speed
up its original
grade-a-year plan
which began in
1960, the board
filed an accele
rated plan which
provided for bi-
WILLl AMS
Tennessee Highlights
Separate desegregation plans filed
by the Memphis Board of Education
and Negro attorneys have been set
for hearing on Dec. 3 before U.S.
District Judge Marion S. Boyd.
An early hearing in U.S. District
Court at Knoxville has been request
ed by Negro attorneys who filed ob
jections to the Knoxville Board of
Education’s revised desegregation
plan.
Middle Tennessee State College at
Murfreesboro on Sept. 20 admitted
four Negro students, the first of
their race to attend the institution
on a regular basis.
The Humphreys County School
Board, complying with a federal
court order to extend desegregation
through all grades, has enrolled
about 78 Negro students in five pre
viously all-white schools.
racial classes in the first four grades
this year. The original plan called for
only the third grade to be added this
fall.
Although no hearing on the revised
proposal had been set, 87 Negro stu
dents were enrolled in biracial classes
in the first four grades at the beginning
of the fall term.
The Knox County Board of Educa
tion, which voluntarily began a grade-
a-year plan in 1960 for schools sur
rounding Knoxville, also accelerated
its plan to include fourth-grade stu
dents this fall, enrolling 30 Negroes in
three previously all-white schools.
In a ruling on April 3, the U.S. Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the
position of Negro plaintiffs who con
tended the grade-a-year plan was too
slow. (Goss et al v. Knoxville Board
of Education, SSN, April.)
In the Colleges
Negroes at MTSC;
Al! State Colleges
Biracial Except One
Four Negroes were enrolled at Middle
Tennessee State College at Murfrees
boro on Sept. 20, becoming the first
of their race to attend the state-sup
ported college on a regular basis.
Dean of Admissions John Weems said
the students included three at the
undergraduate level and one who is
engaged in graduate studies.
Desegregation of the college, which
this summer admitted four Negro stu
dents for special studies in science, art,
education and guidance work, was quiet
and orderly, officials said.
Total enrollment at the college for
the fall term reached nearly 3,800.
Although no Negroes had attended
MTSC on a regular basis previously,
the college as well as five other state
institutions of higher learning have
been desegregated by policy since 1957
when the State Board of Education
removed race as a factor in admissions.
Only one of the colleges, Tennessee
Polytechnic Institute at Cookeville,
opened the fall term with no Negro
students, officials said.
Enrollment figures at some of the
colleges and universities were not ex
pected to be complete until about Oct.
10 and, in some cases, only estimates of
the number of Negro students were
available because no record is kept by
race.
Austin Peay State College at Clarks
ville, which first admitted Negro stu
dents to biracial classes in 1956 under
a plan later rejected by the U.S Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals, reported no
significant increase in the number of
Negro students over last year when 15
were enrolled. Final figures, however,
were not yet available.
East Tennessee State College at John
son City, which also began biracial
classes in 1956, estimated that 35 Ne
groes are among its 5,485 students en
rolled for the fall term. Forty-one
Negro students were enrolled last year.
Three Universities
Memphis State University, which
desegregated its classes in 1959 re
ported a slight increase in the number
of Negro students over last year when
80 were enrolled. Dr. Cecil C. Hum
phreys, MSU president, explained that
no records are kept by race and that
no actual count had been made.
Most of the increase, Dr. Humphreys
said, occurred in the graduate school.
“We have a few more than last year.”
he added. Total enrollment at MSU is
about 7,500.
The sixth institution governed by the
State Board of Education is predomi
nantly Negro Tennessee A & I Uni
versity at Nashville. No American white
students are enrolled. However, A & I
previously has admitted non-Negro
students from Iran and Iraq.
The University of Tennessee, which
admitted Negroes to graduate studies
under a federal court order in 1952
and began biracial undergraduate
classes in 1961, reported that enrollment
figures would not be final until Oct.
10. Based on estimates, however, offi
cials said about 75 Negroes are studying
at the Knoxville campus compared with
97 last year. About 50 of the Negro
students are in graduate level classes,
a spokesman said.
Enrollment reports from the univer
sity’s branches at Memphis, Martin and
Nashville are incomplete, the official
added. Three branches listed a total of
10 Negro students last year.
Unlike the other state colleges and
universities, the University of Tennes
see is not governed by the State Board
of Education. Its activities are directed
by a separate board of trustees.
Schoolmen
County Extends Desegregation
To Grades Outside Court Plan
About 78 Negro students are attend
ing biracial classes in the Humphreys
County school system which extended
its court-ordered desegregation pro
gram to all 12 grades with the begin
ning of the 1962-63 school year.
Supt. Homer Bell said the students
were enrolled in previously all-while
classes at McEwen, East End, Lakeview
and Waverly elementary schools and
at Waverly High School.
The high school section of North
Reed School in Waverly, a Negro
school, was closed because of low en
rollment and 26 Negro students were
transferred to biracial classes at Waver
ly Central High, Bell said.
No incidents were reported as the
Humphreys County Board of Education
complied with a U.S. District Court
order to extend biracial classes to all
grades, Bell said. The superintendent
said Negroes enrolled in each of the
12 grades.
U.S. District Judge William E. Miller
ordered the school system to desegre
gate the first five grades in January,
1962 after a suit was filed in behalf of
Negro students. (Carethers et al v.
Humphreys County Board of Education,
SSN, December, 1961.) Miller also di
rected that the remaining grades be
desegregated at the beginning of the
current school year.
Eight Negroes were enrolled in three
previously all-white schools last Jan
uary as the desegregation plan was
placed in effect.
The Humphreys County school sys
tem in Middle Tennessee has a total
enrollment of about 2,725, including an
estimated 150 Negroes.
★ ★ ★
Chattanooga school officials reported
that an additional Negro student began
attending biracial classes at Sunnyside
School on Sept. 7, bringing to 45 the
total number of Negroes enrolled in
desegregated schools.
The additional student had enrolled
prior to the opening of school but did
not report for the first day of classes
on Sept. 5 when the Chattanooga
Board of Education began its court-
ordered desegregation program.
Forty-four Negroes began attending
biracial classes in the first three grades
of six previously all-white schools on
Sept. 5.
Hamilton County schools, which vol
untarily began desegregation in the
first three grades of six previously all-
white schools. The Hamilton County
Board of Education operates schools
surrounding Chattanooga, Tennessee’s
last metropolitan city to begin deseg
regation in the public schools.
Southern School News
Southern School News is the official publication of the Southern Education
Reporting Service, an objective, fact-finding agency established by Southern
newspaper editors and educators with the aim of providing accurate, unbiased
information to school administrators, public officials and interested lay citizens
on developments in education arising from the U. S. Supreme Court opinion of
May 17, 1954, declaring compulsory segregation in the public schools unconstitu
tional. SERS is not an advocate, is neither pro-segregation nor anti-segregation,
but simply reports the facts as it finds them, state-by-state.
Published monthly by Southern Education Reporting Service at 1109 19th Ave.,
S., Nashville, Tennessee.
Second class postage paid at Nashville, Tennessee.
OFFICERS
Bert Struby Chairman
Thomas R. Waring Vice Chairman
Reed Sarratt Executive Director
Tom Plaice, Director of Publications
Jim Leeson, Director of Information and Research ....
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Frank R. Ahlgren, Editor, The Commer
cial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
Harvie Branscomb, Chancellor, Vander
bilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
Luther H. Foster, President, Tuskegee
Institute, Tuskegee Institute, Ala.
C. A. McKnight, Editor, Charlotte Ob
server, Charlotte, N.C.
Charles Moss, Executive Editor, Nash
ville Banner, Nashville, Tenn.
Felix C. Robb, President, George Pea
body College, Nashville, Tenn.
Reed Sarratt, Executive Director, South
ern Education Reporting Service
John Seigenthaler, Editor, Nashville
Tennessean, Nashville, Tenn.
Don Shoemaker, Editor, Miami Herald,
Miami, Fla.
Bert Struby, General Manager, Macon
Telegraph and News, Macon, Ga.
Thomas R. Waring, Editor, The News
& Courier, Charleston, S.C.
Henry I. Willett, Superintendent of
Schools, Richmond, Va.
Stephen J. Wright, President, Fisk Uni
versity, Nashville, Tenn.
CORRESPONDENTS
ALABAMA
William H. McDonald, Assistant Edi
tor, Montgomery Advertiser
ARKANSAS
William T. Shelton, City Editor, Ar
kansas Gazette
DELAWARE
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Delaware State News, Dover
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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ton Post
FLORIDA
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Herald
GEORGIA
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News
KENTUCKY
James S. Pope Jr., Sunday Staff,
Louisville Courier-Journal
LOUISIANA
Patrick E. McCauley, Editorial
Writer, New Orleans Times-Picayune
MARYLAND
Edgar L. Jones, Editorial Writefl
Baltimore Sun
MISSISSIPPI
Kenneth Toler, Mississippi Bureau,
Memphis Commercial Appeal
MISSOURI
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St. Louis Post-Dispatch
NORTH CAROLINA
Luix Overbea, Staff Writer, The
Journal-Sentinel, Winston Salem
OKLAHOMA
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homa City Oklahoman-Times
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State, Columbia
TENNESSEE
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Banner
TEXAS
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VIRGINIA
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Richmond Times-Dispatch
WEST VIRGINIA
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P.O. Box 6156, Acklen Station, Nashville 12, Tennessee.
What They Say
Citizens’ Council
Leader Protests
Board’s Silence
Ralph Lewis, president of the Jack-
son Citizens’ Council, said on Sept. 7
that his organization “resents the fact
that the white people were not told”
in advance of the admission of four
Negro students to previously all-white
Alexander Elementary School in Jack-
son.
“We have good reason to believe that
the NAACP knew of the commission’s
action long before the action was taken,
possibly as soon as the end of the last
school term.” Lewis declared.
The Jackson City Commission, which
also serves as the board of education,
announced on Sept. 4—opening day of
school—that the Negroes had been en
rolled along with two others who at
tended Tigrett Junior High School in
1961-62. Although no desegregation
plan has been approved by the board,
school officials said last year they would
follow provisions of the Tennessee
Pupil Assignment Law in granting
transfers.
In his statement, Lewis said:
“It seems to reason that if they are
going to deal with the NAACP that
they would at least also deal with us
on an equal basis. We are a segment of
the community and deserve at least
that much.”
No incidents were reported in con
nection with the desegregation, officials
said.
★ ★ ★
A federal official working on racial
employment problems said in Nashville
on Sept. 18 that a lack of educational
opportunity is preventing many Ne
groes from obtaining jobs in federal
offices.
John Hope II, assistant executive di
rector for federal employment ®
President Kennedy’s Committee «
Equal Employment Opportunities f®
Minority Groups, made the statemeJ
during a two-day series of meeting
with federal officials.
“I have found quite a constructs
attitude in the Nashville area,” Hop
said, but he contended that there *
no private school in the Nashville are
where a Negro can receive stenograph
or clerical training. Hope said Negro*
have not been interested in this type
of training in the past because jot
were not available to them. # # ;
STATEMENT REQUIRED BY THE ACT C
AUGUST 24, 1912, AS AMENDED BY 1#
ACTS OF MARCH 3, 1933, JULY 2, 1*
AND JUNE 11, 1960 (74 STAT. 208) SHO*
ING THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEM®'
AND CIRCULATION OF SOUTH!®;
SCHOOL NEWS, published monthly 1
Nashville, Tenn., for October, 1962.
1. The names and addresses of the P®
lisher, editor, managing editor, and bus
ness managers are: Publisher, South®
Education Reporting Service, 1109 19th A®
S., Nashville, Tenn.; Editor, Reed Sarr®
1109 19th Ave., S., Nashville, Tenn.; M®
aging editor, Tom Flake, 1109 19th Ave., s
Nashville, Tenn.; Business manager, n<@
2. The owner is: Southern Education ®
porting Service, 1109 19th Ave., S., NS?
ville, Tenn. 3. The known bond hoi®®
mortgagees, and other security holders °f\
ing or holding 1 percent or more of
amount of bonds, mortgages, or other '
curities are: None. 4. Paragraphs 2 an®
include, in cases where the stockholder
security holder appears upon the booIM
the company as trustee or in any c '
fiduciary relation, the name of the P eI *
or corporation for whom such trustee is
ing; also the statements in the two P®
graphs show the affiant’s full knowledge ®
belief as to the circumstances and c 0 ^.
tions under which stockholders and se c ^
ity holders who do not appear u:X)- n _
books of the company as trustees, *!.
stock and securities in a capacity other
that of a bona fide owner. 5. The aveP
number of copies of each issue of this
lication sold or distributed, through ^
mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers
ing the 12 months preceding the date sh°
above was: 4,375. ,<
REED SARh^
Sworn to and subscribed before me
27 day of September, 1962. *
(SEAL) Shirley
(My Commission Expires May 1. 1
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