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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—MAY, 1963—PAGE 5
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- ARKANSAS
Student Center Directors Fear
Interracial Acts to Cost Jobs
LITTLE ROCK
Arkansas Highlights
Conference on Religion and Human Relations Formed
The Most Rev. Albert L. Fletcher, Roman Catholic bishop; African Methodist Epis
copal Bishop John D. Bright; Rabbi Ira E. Sanders; the Rt. Rev. Robert R. Brown,
Episcopal bishop; Methodist Bishop W. Kenneth Pope.
T he directors of the Wesley
Foundation student centers at
the University of Arkansas, Fay-
tteville, and at Arkansas State
College, Jonesboro, told the Ar-
tansas Gazette, April 13, that they
apparently were going to lose
their jobs because of their inter
racial activities.
Hey are James E. Loudermilk, as-
gstant director of the student center
at Fayetteville, and Don Franks, di
rector at Jonesboro.
But on May 1 the board of directors
of the Fayetteville district recommend
ed that Loudermilk be retained and
Jnade director next year, succeeding the
Rev. A. W. Martin, 71, who would re
main as a consultant until his retire
ment on Dec. 1.
This action went against the recom
mendation of the personnel committee
and is subject to approval by a higher
church committee which will meet
later in May.
The Rev. John A. Bayliss of Fayette
ville, superintendent of the Fayetteville
district of the Wesley Foundation, con
firmed that the personnel committee
had recommended that Loudermilk not
be retained next year, but said it was
not because of interracial activity. The
F.ev. A. N. Storey of Jonesboro, su
perintendent of the Jonesboro district,
said it was likely that Franks would
I not be reappointed next year, but did
not elaborate.
The university has about 20 Negro
students and the state college about
14. Both are state-supported schools.
The Wesley Foundation, a part of the
Methodist Church, operates student
centers at all eight state-supported
colleges.
The Rev. Mr. Bayliss said Louder-
aiilk was hired as assistant director at
the Fayetteville center for this year
because the director, the Rev. Mr.
Martin, was planning to retire after
this year. Now, he said, the Rev. Mr.
Martin had decided to remain longer
end the personnel committee decided
that it would not sustain two directors
•or another year.
‘Other Reasons’
Directors of Wesley Foundation
student centers at two state-support
ed colleges charged they were losing
their jobs because of their efforts to
promote interracial activities.
The state Supreme Court heard
oral arguments on the validity of four
1958 acts designed to restrict the
NAACP.
Religious leaders of Arkansas
formed a conference to combat racial
discrimination and segregation.
failed at least to face the issue of
whether the ministry of the Wesley
Foundation will be involved in the
kind of work that makes progress pos
sible in human relations. I would be
very sorry if the leadership of our
church didn’t uphold the right of the
ministry to become involved.”
At State College, where Franks is
in his first year as director of the Wes
ley Foundation student center, Franks
said that the controversy began last
fall with the first party of the year at
the student center.
A Negro girl, with permission,
brought three friends to the party.
Also at the party by invitation was
Robert Moore, dean of the college.
There were no complaints from the
students, Franks said, but Dean Moore
told him afterwards that allowing the
Negro students to attend was against
college policy.
Dean Moore said that since the stu
dent center was on college property,
Franks said, the student center should
abide by the college policy. The
executive committee of the Wesley
Foundation Board met 10 days later
and agreed.
Franks said the college allowed its
Legal Action
Negro students to sing in the choir and
play in the band, while on the campus,
and to eat in the Wigwam, the campus
snack shop, but not to eat in the col
lege dining halls, live in the dormi
tories or participate in the planned ac
tivities except for the military ball
each spring.
Franks said he told his students
that most of them were surprised at
the restrictions on the Negro stu
dents. He said the students in the stu
dent center then voted not to have
“planned” social activities if Negro
students could not attend. Negro stu
dents continue to take part in student
center activities, he said.
Bishop Asks Caution
Bishop W. Kenneth Pope of Little
Rock, head of the Methodist Church in
Arkansas, was out of town when this
news came out, but he returned the
next day and issued a statement calling
for caution in judging the reports that
the directors would be relieved because
they had encouraged interracial ac
tivities.
The Wesley Foundation student cen
ters are conducted by local bodies, not
the bishop, and he said he had not had
time to get the details of the situa
tions, but “Whatever may be involved
in the recent differences, two words
need to be said.
“The first is that the Methodist
Church has made it quite clear that it
stands for the dignity of human beings
and against discrimination among
races. This position is based upon the
teachings of Jesus as recorded in the
New Testament and upon His spirit in
the world. Nothing that has or may
happen will keep the Methodist
Church from its steady movement to
ward justice and the Christian rela
tionship between all races and peoples.
The Gospel of Christ is for the whole
world.
“The second is that no individual or
group has a monopoly on the best
method or methods to obtain these
goals. There is always the possibility
of making mistakes.
“It has never been easy to be Chris
tian but this is our main concern. We
have no other obligation or interest.
A good starting point is to have pa
tience, respect honest differences and
keep our Christian spirit. With this, we
have faith that God will show us the
way.”
Community Action
Church Leaders
Attack Segregation
Church leaders at Little Rock called
a meeting April 22 to make a start to
ward wiping out racial segregation.
They called segregation and discrim
ination sinful.
About 100 persons from 40 churches
and religious organizations attended by
invitation. Among them were the Cath
olic bishop of Arkansas, the Methodist
bishop of Arkansas, the Episcopal bis
hop of Arkansas, the Christian Meth
odist Episcopal bishop for Arkansas,
the African Methodist Episcopal bishop
for Arkansas, the president of the Ar
kansas Council of Churches, the rabbi
of Temple B’nai Israel and the execu
tive secretary of the Baptist State
Convention.
They formed the Greater Little Rock
Conference on Religion and Human
Relations. This is designated a local
counterpart of the National Conference
on Religion and Race, which held its
first meeting at Chicago in January.
The Rev. Colbert S. Cartwright, min
ister of the Pulaski Heights Christian
Church and chairman of the meeting,
said of it, “For the first time in our
history the religious forces of this
community have united in a common
ongoing religious witness.”
What They Say
Little Rock Called
‘Most Integrated’
The Negro magazine Jet in its edi
tion of April 4 reported that Little
Rock was “just about the most inte
grated city in the South.”
One Negro leader, L. C. Bates, field
secretary for the NAACP, said Little
Rock was a better place for Negroes to
live just before the 1957 school crisis
than it is now. But Jet said that all
other Negro leaders in Little Rock dis
agree.
Arguments
Court Hears 4 Segregation Law
Both Martin and Loudermilk said
that they thought there were other
Masons for the decision not to re-
jjPP°fflt Loudermilk. Said Martin,
S come up over what we
aught were very modest activities on
^ alf of better relations between the
aes. We think we’re dealing with
oung people who have a stake in all
things. We think they should be
„ ;/ - ® the opportunity by the powers
tte' ° e • t0 *°°k ^ nto these things, to
ilv '* A aa ^ on: ^ other words, to become
wit W* because th^ are g°hig to
pay most of the price.”
*ith“ hwt the difficulty began
ijsti- <n , a saaaall group of extremely con-
■',[ et , a ' ve Persons” in the Central
hj- lat Church of Fayetteville, the
rersitv Methodist church in the uni-
Clt y- He said that the Pastoral
i-WcW, *" omn aattee of the Central
»- “ad adopted a resolution ask-
>f
xpoe:
io*
'•S that
neither he nor Loudermilk be
?ear a !,j to *he student center next
co®' aot bg ^t if they were, that they
riuaii' 4 the n 0We< * to appear in the pulpit
V i en ‘ ral n ChUrCh '
c e * -hath jl nembers of the Central
fg^haa said, are upset because
pros' *r participated last Decem-
affe® >aty stu dent protest on the uni-
iS'Usipg f am P Us against segregated
Sid, h e y the university. Also, he
>0 Hcin g « an< ? Loudermilk had been
aD^" try . quietly and by persuasion”
)l •°ti hj rm S about some desegrega-
13^ '’Mhui, e downtown businesses of
c ° Ut ^ Chu^ S t rVative faction of the Cen-
^ sapf “hjected to all of that,
^ chtrrob ^ c ^ use they believe that
., holv ex * sts to approve and
100* . Mhch -, eV ? r ything that the society
r P " ’Pprovp k T Ve d°es. They want us
but not object,” he said.
t°U<le^ largeS ksue Evaded
vj** 0^ T^d the personnel com-
- ^ e e , Lesley Foundation dis-
' p that! 1116 h^u® b y making
M* V*, hetwi_ thf committee had to
-- he n him and Martin next
-ujff ^ ^ of w? rete d it as a move to
Martin wn ia them because be
O lo? U ^tireij, uld reach the manda-
ha^d Fayetteville church
:X.& C* -f*— ««*
to * e . ministry of the
ptv.,.. t lts obligation to a
I would be very dis-
■jsic*
£
the
pesonnel committee
Oral arguments over the constitu
tionality of four segregation laws
adopted by the special legislative ses
sion of 1958 were heard April 22 by
the state Supreme Court.
They are on appeal by both sides
from the Chancery Court of Pulaski
County where Judge Murray O. Reed
had ruled that three of them—Acts 12,
14 and 16—were unconstitutional but
had upheld Act 13. The plaintiff is the
NAACP and the defendant is the state.
All four of the laws are part of a
package of legislation submitted to the
special session by
Bruce Bennett,
attorney general,
and described by
him as being
aimed at restrict
ing the NAACP.
Act 12 would
allow a county
judge (in Arkan
sas, the chief ad
ministrative offi
cer of a county)
to call for the
membership records of any organiza
tion he deemed to be interfering with
the operation of the public schools.
Act 13 would allow the attorney
general to obtain a court order for
the examination of the records of any
organization he deemed to be evading
the payment of state taxes.
Act 14 would amend the definition
of barratry to include the instigation
of lawsuits on school desegregation.
Act 16 would make it illegal to so
licit or donate money to help support
a desegregation lawsuit
George Howard Jr. of Pine Bluff,
state NAACP president and a lawyer,
argued for the NAACP, and the state
was represented by Jack L. Lessen-
berry, assistant attorney general. Ben
nett attended but took no part in the
argument.
Opposing Arguments
Howard said that the laws were
aimed at the NAACP and that their
mere presence in the lawbooks had
caused the NAACP to lose members
and contributions. While no attempt
has been made to enforce any of the
four laws, “the NAACP does not have
to be completely destroyed before it
can come in and seek relief,” said
Howard.
But Lessenberry said that since no
LESSENBERRY HOWARD
action had been taken under the laws,
there was nothing for the court to
rule on, the NAACP is basing its at
tack on “future circumstances.”
On Act 12, Howard said that the use
of it would be an invasion of privacy
and would interfere with a person’s
right to contest in court the actions
of a school board.
Lessenberry said that the state had
the right to see private records when
it had a “compelling interest” in them,
but that a later law—Act 225 of 1959—
had superceded Act 12 so that it
would not matter if the court threw it
out.
On Act 13 Howard argued vigorously.
It would let an attorney general act
capriciously, he said, even to the point
of acting on the basis of a bad dream.
Lessenberry said that no attorney
general would act without cause and
that “If the state has the power to
tax, then it certainly must have the
power to make investigations to see
that the tax laws are carried out.”
On Act 14 Howard said that it was
vague and even had come incomplete
sentences in it.
Lessenberry said that it was sim
ply a codification of the common law
on barratry, which is the offense of
stirring up unnecessary lawsuits. With
out it Arkansas residents would lose
needed protection, he said.
Chief Justice Carleton Harris com
mented that the state has other laws
on barratry, but Lessenberry said that
they were not adequate.
On Act 16 Howard argued that its
provisions would make a crime of the
act of an individual or organization in
providing legal assistance to poor per
sons.
Associate Justice Frank Holt of Lit
tle Rock had disqualified himself in
the cases of the four 1958 laws because,
as prosecuting attorney at Little Rock
before he was elected to the Supreme
Court, he had defended them in the
lower court. As a special judge to re
place Holt in this instance, Gov. Orval
E. Faubus appointed Boyd Tackett of
Texarkana, former congressman.
★ ★ ★
NAACP Head’s Brother
Seeks Trial Transfer
Briefs were filed April 10 and 11 in
Federal District Court at Little Rock
in the attempt by William M. Howard,
33, of Pine Bluff, to have his trial on
criminal charges transferred from the
Circuit Court of Jefferson County to
Federal Court.
Howard, the brother of George How
ard Jr., state NAACP president, is
charged with assault with intent to
kill and carrying a concealed weapon.
The charges came out of an incident
at the Dollarway School, Pine Bluff,
where Howard had gone Jan. 22 to
pick up the only two Negro children,
one of them his niece, who attend the
school.
In the incident, a white student,
Johnny Irvin, 18, suffered a minor stab
wound.
Brief Filed
Prosecuting Attorney E. W. Brock
man Jr. filed his brief April 10 saying
that Howard’s petition for a transfer
should be denied because no state law
had encroached on his constitutional
rights and that Howard could receive
a fair trial in Jefferson County Circuit
Court.
The laws on assault with intent to
kill and carrying concealed weapons
apply regardless of race, Brockman
said, and the laws on the selection of:
juries do not mention race. If How
ard’s complaint were take at face value,
Brockman said, he could not get a fair
trial in federal court either “because
the juries in both federal and state
courts are composed of citizens of
Arkansas.”
Howard’s brief was submitted the
next day by Wiley A. Branton of Pine
Bluff and Atlanta and by Frank H.
Heffron, Jack Greenberg and Con
stance Baker Motley, all of New York
and all attorneys for the NAACP.
Howard’s brief said that when a
defendant is “denied or cannot en
force” his civil rights in the state
courts, he is entitled to get his case
transferred to the federal court. The
brief said this is exactly the kind of
situation Congress had in mind when it
authorized the removal of civil rights
cases to federal courts.
“This is an extreme case justifying
this court in departing from the prece
dent. It is obvious that the hostilities
aroused against Negroes in Jefferson
County who are involved in the school
desegregation case would make a fair
trial nearly impossible. It is also ap
parent that the petitioner suffered
criminal prosecution for his innocent
conduct while malefactors of the white
race enjoy immunity,” the brief said.
The brief said that Howard had
picked up the two Negro students at
the Dollarway School and was leaving
when a stone hit his car and broke a
window. He got out of his car and
started walking toward a telephone
booth, the brief said.
“On his way toward the highway,
he heard a sound behind him and
turned around. A white student, John
ny Irvin, struck him a glancing blow,”
the brief said.
“Petitioner faced Johnny Irvin who
drew back his arm to swing again
with a metal object in his right hand.
Petitioner grabbed the knife from his
pocket and began swinging it in a wide
arc in front of him in order to keep
Irvin away. Irvin walked into the
knife and was cut.”
Howard had a knife in his pocket
because he normally uses one in his
work at a service station, the brief
said.
★ ★ ★
The plaintiffs in eight lawsuits
against the estate of the late Little
Rock Police Chief Eugene G. Smith
filed notice April 16 in Federal District
Court at Little Rock that they would
appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of
Appeals at St. Louis.
District Judge Gordon E. Young dis
missed the suits March 22 after a trial.
The nine plaintiffs, seeking $50,000
each, contend that their civil rights
were violated by Smith and the Little
Rock police as the police were break
ing up a segregationist march on Cen
tral High School Aug. 12, 1959.
Judge Young called them part of
“an unlawful and riotous assembly”
and ruled that none of their rights
had been violated.