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TENNESSEE
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—FEBRUARY, 1963—PAGE 7
Putnam County Voluntarily Admits
NASHVILLE
utnam County experienced
its first school desegregation
0 n Jan. 21 when two Negro stu
dents from a burned school were
accepted at two previously all-
white high schools.
Rosetta Darty, 18, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. A. C. Darty of Algood, en
rolled as a senior at Algood High
School. Herman Peake, the 14-year-old
foster son of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin
Carver of Cookeville, entered Cooke
ville Central High as a freshman.
Clyde McAlpin, principal at Algood,
said the girl attended classes without
incident. “I had already been instruct
ed by the county school board to ac
cept the student,” he said.
The principal at Central, Lester King,
said the attitude of his approximately
1,000 white students was “very good.”
“I believe they will give us full co
operation on the matter,” he said.
The new desegregation gives Tennes
see a total of 26 school districts that
have policies permitting Negroes to
attend classes with whites. The state
has another 117 districts with students
of both races but the schools are
segregated.
Both Negro students involved in the
Putnam County desegregation former
ly attended Darwin High School, which
had students from four counties. Fire
destroyed the school plant at Darwin
in early January and both the high
school and elementary classes are be
ing held in neighborhood church build
ings.
The Putnam County Quarterly Court,
a quasi-legislative body, on Jan. 2
postponed action on a school board
proposal to authorize $280,000 for re
building the Darwin school. The magis
trates named a committee of five
Negroes “to work with their people and
with members of the school board in
order to bring about a fair and feas
ible conclusion to this situation as
soon as possible.”
¥ ¥ ¥
Sevier County Adopts Plan
For School Desegregation
Sevier County, in East Tennessee, has
adopted a three-year school desegrega
tion plan that provides for a year’s
delay between stages of the program.
After several months of study, the
school board decided on a plan that
would desegregate all Sevier County
high schools in the 1963-64 year. The
program would not advance into other
grades until the 1965-66 school year,
when all 12 grades would be desegre
gated.
Sevier County’s Negro population is
relatively small. Only eight Negroes
will be involved in the county's de
segregation of the high schools next
fall. Negro groups had requested the
new policy because the eight students
had to be transported to schools in
Knox County, with some of the Negroes
traveling as far as 50 miles.
Legal Action
U.S. Judge Orders
Jackson To Admit
Four More Negroes
U.S. District Judge Bailey Brown di
rected the Jackson school system to
enroll four more Negroes in schools
with whites when the spring semes
ter opened on Jan. 21.
The judge issued the order as a pre
liminary action in a desegregation suit
and said other legal questions raised
by the suit could be settled later. City
Attorney William T. Diamond said the
school board would comply, and the
four Negroes entered the white classes
without incident.
Brenda Kay Monroe, 16, became the
first Negro student at Jackson High
School. The other three plaintiffs, Har
old Dwayne Walker, 11, Georgia
Springfield, 6, and Maria Martin, 6,
were admitted to Alexander Elemen
tary School, which already had four
Negroes among its pupils.
Jackson first desegregated its schools
voluntarily during the 1961-62 school
year. Two Negroes attend Union High
School. The city now has 10 Negroes
in desegregated classes at three schools.
The City Commission, which operates
as a school board for the West Ten
nessee city, did not adopt an official
plan but announced they were follow
ing provisions of the Tennessee Pupil
Assignment Law in granting transfers.
The suit named the city and Madison
County school s y st e m s as co-de
fendants, charging that they based their
assignment policies on the invalid state
assignment law. The attorney for the
Negroes, Avon Williams Jr. of Nash
ville, asked Judge Brown to order the
board to submit a desegregation plan.
The judge denied the motion but said
he would grant the temporary injunc
tion for the four Negroes and later
order general desegregation of both
school systems. Brown said the defense
had conceded it operated a racially seg
regated school system.
“These four children applied and
have been turned down. The conclusion
is that the administrative system of
the city school board is to block de
segregation,” he said. “The history of
the Tennessee Pupil Placement Act, the
fact there is no school districting and
testimony in this court show clearly
that the reason they were denied was
because of color.”
R. L. Patey, Jackson’s city educa
tion commissioner, had testified that
the Negroes were not denied admis
sion because of color. He had told the
court that the students failed to fol-
Negroes
low correct administrative procedures
in seeking admission.
The county was excused from the
hearing on Jan. 19 because none of the
children involved had applied for ad
mission to a county school. Jack Man-
heim, Madison County attorney, said
he would file a motion to have the suit
against the county schools dismissed.
Madison County has no desegregated
schools.
¥ ¥ ¥
Justice Department Enters
School Desegregation Suits
The U.S. Department of Justice has
entered the Knoxville and Davidson
County school desegregation cases, now
pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The appeals in both cases attack the
provisions allowing a student to trans
fer from a school in which his race is
in the minority.
The government entered as a “friend
of the court.” The brief signed by
Solicitor General Archibald Cox and
four aides said that the transfer plans
were based solely on race, tended to
peserve segregation, and were unconsti
tutional.
The Justice Department brief said
that just as the school board must justi
fy a delay in desegregation, it must
also “justify provisions of the integra
tion plan which reintroduces racial
classifications and appear to support
resegregation.”
“At least, the school board must
demonstrate convincingly that the pro
visions are necessary to meet educa
tional problems. Here, no such evidence
exists. No proof was even offered that
the transfer provisions were needed
to effect an orderly transition . . .”
Miscellaneous
Negro Recommended
Tennessee Highlights
Putnam County voluntarily admit
ted two Negroes into formerly all-
white high schools after the Negroes’
school had burned. It was the coun
ty’s first school desegregation.
Sevier County voluntarily adopted
a school desegregation plan to begin
in the high schools next fall and to
move into the elementary grades in
1965-66.
Jackson, Tenn., admitted four more
Negro students into schools with
whites, under a court order issued by
U.S. District Judge Bailey Brown.
The U.S. Department of Justice has
acted to enter the Knoxville and Da
vidson County school desegregation
cases, now being appealed to the U.S.
Supreme Court.
administrative officer at Vanderbilt
since 1946. Under his administration
Vanderbilt voluntarily admitted Neg
roes to the graduate and undergradu
ate divisions.
★ ★ ★
Austin Peay State College at Clarks
ville has signed a 6-5, 210-pound Negro
basketball player, believed to be the
first Negro ever to sign an athletic
scholarship to a predominantly white
state school in Tennessee. L. M. Ellis
played freshman ball for Drake Uni
versity last year and will be ineligible
to play for Austin Peay for one year.
Austin Peay gained attention last
year when trackman Kenneth Hughes
became the first Negro athlete to par
ticipate at a white state college in Ten
nessee. Hughes was not on a scholar
ship.
Austin Peay is in the Ohio Valley
Conference. Other schools in the con
ference have had Negro athletes, in
cluding Murray State College, More-
head State College and Eastern Ken
tucky State College, all in Kentucky.
Austin Peay reportedly was also re
cruiting Negro football players this
year.
¥ ¥ ¥
Four More Universities Purchase
Microfilm Copy of SERS Library
If our more universities have
purchased “Facts on Film,”
making 45 libraries in the nation
where the microfilm copy of the
SERS collection on race relations
is available for research.
The latest annual supplement, cov
ering the period July, 1961, through
nne, 1962, is being mailed to subscrib-
ers this month. This 16-roll supplement
the largest of any year.
Complete copies of the series, now
numbering 100 rolls of 35mm microfilm,
a j e ^ ocate d in 23 states and the District
Columbia. The latest purchasers of
. ® Facts on Film” are Yale Univer-
s, ty, New Haven, Conn.; Northern Illi
nois University, De Kalb, Ill.; Southern
niversity, Baton Rouge, La.; and Vir-
^ Union University, Richmond, Va.
acts on Film,” with its annual sup-
ementS’ records all the printed mat-
gpL ex ^ e Pt books, collected by the
°n th ^ brary at Nashville since 1954
U . ® subject of race relations in the
1 e d States. The collection includes
Conference
(Continued from Page 6)
man ,
rights 1U be rece * ve d as brother—his
his n ri your r ights; his pain, your pain;
SEEK*’ yoUr Prison.
Peopu a re ign of courage in which the
(’indin °* w *fi- ma ke their faith their
"'■UinJ] comm itment; in which men
’A'hich V"** ^ or justice and love; in
not f-iiunches and synagogues lead,
c'T.now.
oERK
is prjm f rei Su of prayer in which God
the n,,: anc i worshiped as the Lord of
idols f a |, er ^' before Whom all racial
and to vtTL "h° makes us one family
lit ma i . ° m we are all responsible.
;>on l ^Lml appeal we affirm our
“ s sential 1g * ous commitment to the
Jd*n Un j 1 t^ity and equality of all
<o Ivor)- * r ^ 0 d. We dedicate ourselves
^Ht a v , g ? ther 10 ma he this commit-
eali , f ac tor in our total life.
Work t POn the American people
I. in th e ° pray ^ to act courageous-
'fgnity , aase of human equality and
Snate *** is still time, to
J aclsm Permanently and de-
ty th 6 tbe historic opportu-
to ? c ient nmt given us for healing
this f ptl J re m the human family,
°r the glory of God.
news stories, editorials, letters to the
editor, and editorial cartoons from
newspapers and magazines; reports;
pamphlets; court decisions; speeches;
and the three SERS publications—
Southern School News, Race Relations
Law Reporter, and the Statistical Sum
mary.
Filmed by Pike
James E. Pike of Tennessee Micro
films filmed the series. Pike also is di
rector of restoration and reproduction
for the State of Tennessee.
“Even though this year’s supplement
is much larger,” Pike said, “the index
ing is more precise and the material is
easier to locate than in any previous
supplement.”
The card catalog for the library,
which also is filmed, has been refined
by the staff this past year to avoid
duplicated references. At the same
time, many more cross references were
entered to aid the researcher. The card
catalog provides a voluminous, classi
fied index to developments in the field
of race relations.
Improvements also were made in the
printed index, which accompanies the
film. Each item in the library is as
signed a microfilm code number. By
using these code numbers, the user of
the microfilm can go directly to the
roll and frame of the film on which the
desired item appears.
Five Installments
The initial installment of 44 rolls
covers the period from 1954 through
June 1958. The first annual supplement,
from July, 1958, through June, 1959,
consumed 14 rolls. The 1959-60 supple
ment contains 12 rolls; and the 1960-61
supplement, 14 rolls.
Positive prints of the series are avail
able on non-perforated Recordak film
and may be used on any standard 35mm
or 16-35mm microfilm reader. All the
prints meet archival requirements, be
ing processed at or above the specifica
tions established by the Bureau of
Standards.
Prices on the microfilm were reduced
during the past year and the annual
supplements were made available on an
individual basis. The first installment
and the three annual supplements
through June, 1961, are available com
plete for $1,500. Purchasers of the entire
series may buy the fourth and succeed
ing supplements at $300 each. If pur
chased separately, any one of the sup
plements would cost $350, and the 1954-
58 installment $750.
Locations of the complete “Facts on
Film” series are, by states:
Alabama—Tuskegee Institute; Arkan
sas—University of Arkansas, Fayette
ville; California—the University of Cal
ifornia at Los Angeles; Connecticut—
Yale University, New Haven; District
of Columbia—U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights; Florida—University of Miami,
Coral Gables; Georgia—Atlanta Uni
versity, Emory University and Southern
Regional Council, all of Atlanta, and
the University of Georgia, Athens; Illi
nois—Northern Illinois University at
De Kalb, University of Chicago, and
the University of Illinois at Urbana;
Kentucky—University of Kentucky at
Lexington; Louisiana—Dillard Univer
sity at New Orleans, Northwestern
State College at Natchitoches, and
Southern University at Baton Rouge;
Maryland—Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore; Massachusetts — Harvard
College Library, Cambridge; Michigan
—Michigan State University, East Lans
ing; Mississippi—University of South
ern Mississippi, Hattiesburg; New
Hampshire—Dartmouth College, Han
over; New York—Brooklyn College in
New York, Cornell University at Itha
ca, and the New York Public Library’s
Schomburg Collection; North Carolina—
A&T College at Greensboro, North
Carolina College at Durham; Ohio—
Ohio State University, Columbus;
Pennsylvania—University of Pennsyl
vania, Philadelphia; South Carolina—
University of South Carolina, Columbia,
and Winthrop College, Rock Hill; Ten
nessee—A&I State University and Fisk
University, Nashville, and Memphis
State University, Memphis; Texas—
North Texas State College, Denton;
Virginia—Radford College at Radford,
Virginia State College at Petersburg,
and Virginia Union University at Rich
mond; Wisconsin—University of Wis
consin, Madison.
The “Facts on Film” series from 1954
through the third supplement, for 1960-
61, is available at Howard University,
Washington, D.C.; Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale; Louisiana State
University, Baton Rouge; the New York
City Public Library’s Acquisitions
Branch and New York University, New
York City; the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill; and Prairie View
A&M College, Prairie View, Tex.
For Chattanooga
School Board Post
The Chattanooga Council for Co
operative Action has urged the ap
pointment of a Negro to the city school
board. The term of George Hudson Sr.
has expired and Hudson requested
that he not be considered for reap
pointment.
The council, which represents many
Negro organizations, declared that
about 42 per cent of the city’s popula
tion is Negro and they were due a
member on the board.
¥ ¥ ¥
Raymond B. Witt Jr., vice chair
man of the Chattanooga school board,
received the Distinguished Service
Award from the Tennessee State School
Boards Association in Nashville on
Jan. 10.
Witt, a lawyer, was praised for his
work in the peaceful transition of Chat
tanooga schools from a desegregated
system last year.
★ ★ ★
The new president of the Chattanooga
NAACP outlined a 12-point program
for 1963 in his inaugural address on
Jan. 13. President James R. Mapp listed
as one goal:
“Assurance to Negro teachers and
principals that advancement will be
solely on training, experience and
merit. This would include an assistant
superintendent “at this time.”
In the Colleges
Chancellor Heard
Succeeds Branscomb
Dr. Alexander Heard, former dean
of the graduate school of the Universi
ty of North Carolina, succeeded Dr.
Harvie Branscomb
as chancellor of
Vanderbilt Uni
versity at Nash
ville on Jan. 31.
The 45-year-old
Heard is one of
the nation’s best
known political
scientists and he
recently was
chairman of a
presidential com
mission on elec
tion campaign costs. A native of Geor
gia, he was in the diplomatic service
during World War II.
Branscomb announced his resigna
tion last year after serving as chief
HEARD
Mississippi State College’s basketball
coach, Babe McCarthy, said in Mem
phis that the “unwritten” law pro
hibiting Mississippi school teams from
competing in biracial athletic events
may be shelved. McCarthy said his
team may break the precedent if it
wins another Southeastern Conference
title this year.
In past years, his championship
teams have been unable to enter the
NCAA tournaments.
“Everywhere I go, people ask me the
same thing,” McCarthy said. “In the
past, I’ve always answered ‘no com
ment,’ but now I’m telling everybody
that things look better than they ever
have.”
Texas
(Continued from Page 3)
stitution ... We have not provided
equal opportunities for them in the
South. I think, of course, we should
proceed to desegregate in an orderly
fashion. But our problems must be rec
ognized at the same time .. .”
★ ★ ★
Vice President Johnson, a Texan, and
Gov. John Connally are close political
and personal friends. They have made
considerable progress in attracting sup
port of Negroes, Latin-Americans and
other “liberal” minority groups. Negroes
in large numbers attended Connally’s
inaugural—unusual for Texas—and also
were present for a $25-a-plate Demo
cratic “Victory Dinner” fund-raising on
the night before the inauguration.
Miscellaneous
Back-Cover Ads
Arouse Complaint
At Austin, a housewife’s complaint
brought an announcement that public
school book covers given away here
after will bear advertisements that “can
be universally used by all students.”
This policy was announced by Supt.
Irby Carruth after an Austin woman
complained that some covers contain
advertising that is “an insult to Negro
children.”
Apparently this refers to an Austin
ice skating rink, which advertises on
some covers. Negroes have picketed the
place because the owner has a whites-
only policy.