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PAGE 12—JUNE, 1963—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
ARKANSAS
38 More Negro Students In Little Rock
Assigned to Formerly All-White Schools
LITTLE ROCK
he Little Rock School Board
announced May 13 the assign
ment of 38 more Negro students
to the formerly all-white schools
in the seventh and 10th grades
for next September.
There are 69 Negroes in the junior
and senior high schools this year of
whom five were graduated with the
class of 1963. The new assignments will
make 102 Negro students in the de
segregated schools next fall.
Supt. Floyd W. Parsons said 104 Ne
gro students had asked for assignment
to the biracial schools but that two of
them later withdrew their requests.
The school staff recommended that 41
of the 102 be granted, and the school
board approved 38 of the 41.
The figures on Negroes in desegre
gated schools follow:
School Attending Newly Total
Now
Assigned
Central High
20
13
29
(4 will be graduated)
Hall High
6
5
10
(1 will be graduated)
Technical High
2
2
4
Southwest Jr. High
1
0
1
Forest Heights
Jr. High
0
1
1
East Side Jr. High
17
2
19
Pulaski Heights
Jr. High
2
3
5
West Side Jr. High
20
13
33
Under the board’s regulations, Negro
students may enter the desegregated
schools only in the seventh and 10th
grades—that is, when they are finishing
elementary school and entering junior
high (the seventh grade), or finishing
junior high and entering senior high
(the 10th grade),
Unresolved Question
The announcement of these assign
ments left unresolved the question of
whether the desegregation plan would
be extended to the elementary schools—
grades one through six—in the fall of
1963.
Under the original plan approved in
federal court in 1956, the third or ele
mentary school phase was to be under
taken by the fall of 1963. But the court
since then has recognized a year’s de
lay when the high schools were closed
by Gov. Orval E. Faubus during 1958-59
to avert the second year of desegrega
tion at Little Rock. Whether the board
will go on to the elementary schools
next fall is not known.
At the time the new assignments
were announced, Supt. Parsons said the
board had not received, nor invited,
any requests from Negro parents for
their children to enroll in the elemen
tary schools.
Since then, the board has received
at least one such request. It was made
by Dr. Jerry D. Jewell, Negro dentist
who is president of the Little Rock
Branch of the NAACP. He asked that
his son, El din Jewell, 6, be enrolled
in the first grade of the Franklin Ele
mentary School, which now is ail-
white. Dr. Jewell said he liked the
surroundings at Franklin and wanted
his son to go to school there.
Franklin School is about two and a
half miles west of the Jewell home.
There is another white elementary
school about seven blocks from the
Jewell home and there are two Negro
elementary schools each about three
blocks away. But Dr. Jewell noted that
the school board in making use of the
state pupil assignment law had aban
doned its former system of assignments
according to attendance areas, which
was based solely on the proximity of a
student’s home to a school.
First-grade pupil assignments usually
are made in August, a few weeks be
fore school opens in September.
Branton Writes to Board
Wiley A. Branton, attorney for the
Negro plaintiffs in the Little Rock
school case (Norwood v. Tucker)
wrote the Little Rock School Board
May 27 urging the board to desegre
gate the elementary schools (grades
one through six) in September 1963
and asked a reply by June 10.
School officials declined comment.
The letter was not mentioned in a
regular board meeting on May 30.
Branton wrote that he assumed the
board had made plans for pupil as
signments next fall, asked what they
were and continued:
“It is the opinion of the plaintiffs
and their lawyers that the Little Rock
public school system should now be
desegregated at all grade levels from
i „„
Arkansas Highlights
Little Rock announced the assign
ment of 38 more Negro students to
its desegregated junior and senior
high schools for next September.
The Hot Springs branch of the
NAACP called on the Hot Springs
school board to desegregate the pub
lic schools next fall in more than a
token manner.
No Negroes were reported among
students who registered for the
1963-64 school year at Dollarway
School at Pine Bluff, which enrolled
two Negroes last year under a court-
ordered desegregation plan.
The director of the Wesley Found
ation student center at Arkansas
State College, Jonesboro, lost his job
in May. He said it was because of his
interracial activities as the director
but the Wesley Foundation Board
said that there were other reasons.
the first through the 12th grades. It is
our contention that the School Board
is under a duty to inform the public
that applications will now be accepted
to all schools without regard to race
or color, and to give public notice as
to how such applications should be
filed.
“Will you please reply to this letter
by June 10, 1963, in order that I can
discuss the information with my
clients?"
, ★ ★ ★
Hot Springs NAACP Branch
Calls for Desegregation
The Hot Springs Branch of the
NAACP asked the Hot Springs school
board in a letter May 23 to desegre
gate the public schools beginning next
September.
The Rev. James Donald Rice, pastor
of the Roanoke Baptist Church and
president of the Hot Springs branch,
made the request by letter. Harry
Howard, school board president, and
Supt. Hugh L. Mills confirmed that the
letter had been received but declined
comment.
The minister said, “We are seeking
a reasonable plan which complies with
court decisions. We want the beginning
to be in good faith and not an at
tempt to circumlocute or delay or
merely give token recognition to inte
gration.”
The letter asked for a meeting with
the school board before the fall term,
but the Rev. Mr. Rice said he hoped
that a desegregation plan would be
completed by then and that the meet
ing would be merely one for informa
tion.
In the Colleges
The directors of the Wesley Founda
tion student center at the University of
Arkansas, Fayetteville, were retained
for another year but the director of the
one at Arkansas State College, Jones
boro, lost his job during May. They
had said during April that they thought
they would not be rehired because of
the interracial activities at their stu
dent centers, both of which serve de
segregated state-supported colleges
(SSN, May, 1963).
Following the recommendation of the
personnel committee of the Fayette
ville district on May 1, the Rev. James
E. Loudermilk and the Rev. A. W. Mar
tin were retained at the student center
at the university. The Rev. Mr. Martin,
who is 71, plans to retire Dec. 1 and
the Rev. Mr. Loudermilk will continue
in charge at Fayetteville.
At Jonesboro, the Wesley Foundation
Board of the Jonesboro District met
May 13 and voted 11 to 5 not to retain
Don Franks as director of the State
College student center, according to E.
O. Cherry of Jonesboro, chairman of
the personnel committee. Cherry said
the decision had nothing to do with
Franks’ or the student center’s inter
racial activity, but was based on the
failure of Franks to co-operate with
college officials and the Wesley Founda
tion.
Cherry said Franks had refused to
Last year, the parents of four Negro
children asked the Hot Springs board
to admit their children to the all-white
Jones Elementary School. Their re
quests came just a few days before the
start of school, and the board said it
was not in the public interest to make
the change at that time.
Hot Springs has one desegregated
class, in automobile mechanics, this
year, which meets off-campus.
★ ★ ★
Dollarway Registration
Held; No Negroes Listed
Next fall’s first-grade pupils were
registered May 31 in the Dollarway
School District at Pine Bluff, and Supt.
Charles Fallis said no Negro pupils
applied to the formerly all-white Dol
larway School.
This was a pre-school registration.
There will be another opportunity to
register just before school opens next
fall.
Dollarway is operating under a
court-ordered desegregation plan in
which the school district holds itself
ready to accept Negro pupils when
qualified only in the first grade of the
white school.
In the school year just ended, two
Negro students attended the Dollar
way School, one in the second grade
and one in the 10th grade.
Applicants Sought
The Pine Bluff Movement, a Negro
group which sponsored downtown sit-
in demonstrations during the late win
ter, has sent letters to numerous Pine
Bluff Negro families in an effort to
locate Negro children to apply for ad
mission to the all-white Pine Bluff
High School.
This was disclosed May 29 by L. D.
Poynter of Pine Bluff, president of the
Arkansas Association of Citizens
Councils, a segregationist group, and
confirmed by a spokesman for the Pine
Bluff Movement.
Pine Bluff school officials had no
comment.
The letters said, in part:
“There is a great possibility that
they will be enrolled without a court
order and will have the approval of
the Pine Bluff community, thus elimi
nating the possibility of intimidations,
as has been the case where court order
has forced integration in the past.”
With the letters were blank forms
for the parents to fill out, giving per
mission for their children to apply.
There was no indication from the
Pine Bluff Movement what response
the letters were getting from the Negro
families.
★ ★ ★
East Side Junior High School at Lit
tle Rock inducted nine eighth grade
students into the National Honor So-
take advice or counsel about his work,
that his immaturity and lack of train
ing had been reflected in his work and
that the student center had made an
“extremely poor showing” under his di
rection. He said the student center un
der Franks had reached probably the
lowest number of students since it was
placed on the campus. Franks, who is
24, is not an ordained minister, as most
student center directors are.
Negro Participation
Franks had said in April that the
trouble began when he allowed Negro
Methodist students to take part in the
activities of the student center. After
the decision of the personnel commit
tee, Franks said the committee had
conceded that he had not violated any
policy of the Wesley Foundation, which
would have been grounds for not re
taining him. The committee’s report
that the student center wasn’t reach
ing enough students was the first time
he had heard that objection, he said,
“and I don’t feel like this is really be
hind the reasons they wanted the
change.”
Most of the members of the founda
tion board declined to discuss the vote
on Franks. The Rev. D. J. VanCleve of
Jonesboro said he had voted against
Franks partly because Franks had
“centered his main chain of thought on
ciety, the top scholarship and leader
ship group, this year. Three of them
were from the 17 Negro students now
attending East Side in its second year
of desegregation.
Miscellaneous
Governor Disclaims
Stand of Editorial
In His Newspaper
An editorial appeared in the May 24
issue of The Arkansas Statesman, the
weekly newspaper owned by Gov. Or
val E. Faubus, advising Gov. George C.
Wallace of Alabama to abandon defi
ance of the federal government and to
turn to peaceful and legal means of re
sistance.
It was written by an acting editor,
and Gov. Faubus said he disagreed
with it.
The editorial said in part: “By now,
it should be evident to Governor Wal
lace, from the experiences of Arkansas
and Mississippi, that defiance of the
federal court orders can result only in
a prolonged and unnecessary statewide
strife. Even though the governor’s in
tentions be in the best interest of the
majority of the citizens of Alabama, he
will find himself without support of the
citizens he represents. It happened to
Gov. Orval Faubus in 1958 and to
Gov. Ross Barnett in 1962. It seems
that although the situation be distaste
ful to some and an infringement on
the right of the individual state to gov
ern itself, defiance of federal orders
only leads to trouble for the state.”
The editorial was quoted in a front
page story in the Arkansas Gazette and
it was only when he saw the Gazette
the next day, in Siloam Springs in the
far northwest comer of the state, that
Gov. Faubus learned of the editorial in
his paper.
Governor’s Comment
Faubus said, “I did not write it. I
don’t know where it came from. I do
not know who put it in the paper and
it does not conform with my views. I
would not write an editorial like that
and attempt to advise someone in such
difficulties and face the possibility of
embarrassing them. The governor of
Alabama is doing what he said he
would do in his campaign. I am in sym
pathy with him. In view of his cam
paign promises, I don’t think he can
back up and let the federal government
take over in Alabama. My policy on
integration is still the same: That it
should be resisted step by step by
whatever means is available.”
It was learned that the editorial was
written by Merrill Porter, 24, acting
editor of the Statesman but whose
this race thing.” Dr. Veon Kiech of
Jonesboro said he had voted against
Franks because he was in a controversy
that could hurt the program next year.
Members of the student center came
to Franks’ defense. Miss Joan Hass of
Marmaduke, a senior and spokesman
for the students, disputed the charges
made by Cherry. She said a petition
signed by more than 30 students had
been presented to the Wesley Founda
tion Board asking that Franks be re
tained.
She said most of the students thought
Franks was doing a good job. “We feel
that in efforts toward bettering campus
racial relations and toward guidance of
primary social concern, we have had
little co-operation from the board and
from college officials,” she added.
At Little Rock, Bishop W. Kenneth
Pope of Arkansas said he did not know
whether the racial issue was considered
in the board’s decision on Franks. “The
church is quite definitely pronounced
in the direction of the integrity of the
individual and brotherhood,” he added.
“It doesn’t say just exactly what to do
or what not to do, however.”
Franks is not a member of the
Methodist Conference, not being a min
ister, and does not come under the
jurisdiction of the office of the bishop,
Bishop Pope said.
Director of Student Center Fired
Wiley Branton
‘The plain truth . . .’
name is not listed on the masthead.
Porter said it was his idea, not the gov
ernor’s.
What They Say
Hays Recalls Stand
In School Crisis
Brooks Hays of Little Rock, the for
mer congressman now a special assist
ant to President Kennedy, delivered
four lectures at Hendrix College, Con
way, one of which was called “Reflec
tions of a Troubled Moderate,” given
on April 30.
To an audience of about 200, he re
ported that he had heard the “roar” of
Negro aspirations in 1954 and consid
ered most of their desires to be legiti
mate. He said he had taken a moderate
stand in the 1957 Little Rock school
crisis because of a principle “that I
should never do anything that would
be an affront to human dignity.”
★ ★ ★ *
Branton Criticizes Delay
In Pine Bluff Action
Wiley A. Branton of Atlanta, Negro
lawyer who formerly practiced law at
Pine Bluff and now is director of the
Voter Education Project of the Southern
Regional Council, criticized both the
Pine Bluff School Board and Pine Bluff
Negro leaders for the delay in start
ing school desegregation at Pine Bluff
He spoke May 13 at a meeting spon
sored by the NAACP at the St. John
A.M.E. Church.
The Pine Bluff School Board called
in Negro leaders in 1955, Branton said
and told them that no lawsuit would
be necessary, that the board would act
voluntarily to desegregate the schools
The board made a plan which was to
be put into effect in 1957, he related,
but then the Little Rock crisis began
the day before the 1957 school term
was to begin and the Pine Bluff boar
delayed its desegregation start.
“They said the time was not righ-
Branton said. “The next year, they sal
the same thing. Pine Bluff Negroes <* re
forgetting their heritage of leaders >P
when they let the whites tell them t a
“We intend to do something but le
wait until the time is right,’ ” Bran
said. “The Negro leadership ought
be called on to explain why sometrun
hasn’t been done. The school boa
hasn’t lived up to its promises,
plain truth is that these people h ere
the South are not going to do a „
more than you and I make them °-
★ ★ ★
State Attorney General
Scores ‘Outside Agitators
“Someone is now sending outside a&
tators and troublemakers back in o
state in an effort to foment strife a
turmoil,” said State Attorney Gen ^
Bruce Bennett in a speech May
the Kiwanis Club at Blytheville.
He named the Rev. Martin G.go
King, Wiley Branton and ‘ the
preacher from Nashville who ran^
demonstration over there. A ^
Bennett was pessimistic—he said 1 ^
apparent that racial tension m .
South would get worse before * j e
better—he called for the respo ^
elements in all classes of socie
“repudiate these troublemakers- te -
When Bennett was asked if ap -
ment about outside troublema
plied also to the Rev. Billy forrn ei
gis and Edwin A. Walker, e en t.
maior general, he declined co
The Rev. Mr. Hargis and ^
came to Little Rock May _ ( 0 u r
their current “Operation A e <j e r
of the nation. Walker, as c ° , - ct in
of the Arkansas Military V ^ g( j er al
1957, was in charge of tne tt j 0 n
troops sent to enforce a desegr®
/Cao ARKANSAS. Page !■>)