About Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1963)
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 !■>)
