About Southern school news. (Nashville, Tenn.) 1954-1965 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1963)
PAGE 2—JULY, 1963—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS MISSISSIPPI Greenwood Salesman Indicted In Death of NAACP Secretary JACKSON A n outspoken segregationist of Greenwood, charged with murdering Medgar Evers, field secretary of the National Associ ation for the Advancement of Col ored People and leader in efforts to desegregate public schools in Mississippi, was indicted by the Hinds County Grand Jury on July 2. Evers, 37-year-old Mississippi-born civil rights leader, was shot to death at 12:35 a.m., June 12 when he stepped from his automobile as he returned home from a desegregation strategy meeting. He was shot in the back and died about an hour later in University Hospital without regaining conscious- Evers’ wife and three small children, plaintiffs in a federal suit to desegregate the Jackson public school system, were in the house. They rushed to the door when they heard the shot and found Evers on the kitchen doorsteps where he had managed to drag himself. Charged with murder in the slaying was Byron de la Beckwith, 42-year-old salesman of Greenwood and member of a pioneer family. Beckwith, a World War II Marine veteran and gun collec tor, was arrested June 22 by special agents of the Federal Bureau of In vestigation after a telescopic sight, mounted on a 1917 Enfield 30.08 rifle found near the scene, was traced to him from a Grenada firm where it was purchased. A “latent” fingerprint which cor responded with that of Beckwith was found on the sight. Bullet Identified The bullet which pierced Evers’ body was identified by FBI ballistic experts and was similar to that of several found in the chamber of the gun. The Hinds County Grand Jury was asked by District Attorney William Waller of Jackson to return a true bill against Beckwith. When given a preliminary hearing before Jackson Municipal Judge James Spencer June 24, Beckwith pleaded innocent. He was bound over to the grand jury, and held in jail without bond. Beckwith is represented by Stanny Sanders, former district attorney of Greenwood; Hardy Lott of Greenwood, and Hugh Cunningham, member of Gov. Ross Barnett’s Jackson law firm. Evers was buried in Arlington Na tional Cemetery in Washington June 19. Meanwhile, Charles Evers, of Chi cago, has been named acting field sec retary for the NAACP. He is a brother of the slain man. Evers was the first Negro to seek en rollment in the University of Mississip pi school of law in 1954, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court public school desegregation decision. He was rejected because he lacked qualifications and did not appeal his case to the courts. Instead, he became field secretary for the NAACP and continued his desegre gation efforts in that capacity. McDowell Sponsor Evers and his organization spear headed the recent enrollment of Cleve McDowell as the second Negro of rec ord in the University of Mississippi. McDowell was ordered admitted by District Judge S. C. Mize and was en rolled June 5 without incident, sharply in contrast to rioting in which two men were killed when James H. Meredith became the first Negro student in October, 1962. Evers was one of nine Jackson Negro parents who filed suit in federal district court at Jackson for desegregation of the Jackson Municipal separate school system. They we represented by at torneys of the NAACP legal education division. In a letter-opinion June 24, District Judge Mize, who had ordered Mc Dowell’s enrollment in the University of Mississippi school of law, dismissed the Jackson desegregation suit. Legal Action Court Dismisses Suits at Jackson Judge Sidney C. Mize of the South ern Mississippi Federal District Court, on June 24 dismissed two public school desegregation suits filed by parents of Negro children in the city of Jackson and in Leake County (Carthage). Medgar Evers A gun collector was accused The Jackson suit was filed by the late Medgar Evers, slain NAACP field rep resentative, and eight other Negro par ents of Jackson. The Leake County suit had been filed by a group of Negro parents headed by Dian Hudson. Judge Mize issued a letter-opinion in both cases, explaining that “pressure of other litigation and the necessity of getting to these MIZE particular cases as early as possible” prevented him from writing a formal opinion. In both cases, Judge Mize said “I have consid ered the record and briefs care fully and have reached the con clusion that the complaints should be dismissed.” Judge Mize’s letter-opinion said “the pupils applying for admission to these public schools are and have been con tinuously since the 1954-55 school ses sion assigned to schools or attendance centers in accordance with the pro visions of Chapter 260 of the Mississippi Laws of 1954.” He observed that “provision has been made by the board for the transfer of any student assigned to one attend ance center who desires to transfer to another attendance center, . . . none of the plaintiffs have ever requested a transfer from the school or attendance center to which they are presently as signed ... to any other center ...” The judge said “none of the plaintiffs have exhausted any of the administra tive remedies provided for in Chapter 260, Laws of 1954, or in any way at tempted to use any of the administra tive remedies provided by law.” Trustees’ Authority He said the law authorizes the trustees to assign pupils, designates the consideration in making the assign ments, provides application for review of assignments and permits a parent, guardian or other person having custody of a child to request a review of any assignment so made. Other sec tions, he said, provide appeals to the circuit court and for jury trial, and designate further procedure with refer ence to appeals. “The provisions of this law do not compel integration,” the court declared, “but give full authority for a child or a parent to request assignment to a school of his choice and provide a full and adequate remedy to redress any wrong if any occurs. Statutes of this type have been upheld repeatedly by the courts. Among the first courts to pass on such an act was the Fourth Circuit in Carson v. Board of Educa tion .... They (the court) held that a suit could not be maintained until the administrative remedies had been ex hausted, relying upon many authorities cited in the opinion and which are re ferred to herein. In the Carson case, the court said: “ ‘The federal courts manifestly can not operate the schools. . . . Where the state law provides adequate administra tive procedure for the protection of such rights, the federal courts mani festly should not interfere with the op eration of the schools until such administrative procedure has been ex hausted and the intervention of the federal courts is shown to be neces sary.’ . . . “The filing of a general petition for desegregation of the school system can not take the place of the requirement that the individual plaintiff must ex haust his administrative remedies. . Moreover, in Bush v. Orleans Parish School Board . . . the court pointed out that when the Bush case was decided that there was no pupil assignment statute on the books. In the Shuttle- worth case, . . . the court pointed out that the plaintiffs had exhausted their administrative remedies. For this reason the complaint in these cases should be dismissed as prematurely brought, but there are other reasons for which it should be and must be dismissed. “From the record in these cases it is shown that none of the plaintiffs have been denied entrance to any of the schools. Neither of the plaintiffs have sought and been denied the right to transfer from one school to another. Before one can claim a remedy he must show that he had been denied a legal right. The complaint apparently in one complaint attempts to desegregate the entire school system without showing that any particular one has been de prived of or denied any right and, par ticularly no one of the plaintiffs in the present cases attempt to show that he has been denied a constitutional right. The Fifth Circuit has pointed out definitely that before the injunctive process will be given it must appear that the plaintiff himself has been denied a right. See Brown v. Board of Trustees, wherein the plaintiff sought to bring a class action without showing that plaintiff had been denied individ ually any constitutional right. . . . There are authorities where the constitutional question is properly brought into issue by individual pupils or their parents making proper efforts to gain attend ance at a particular school, but none that I have been able to find where someone who brought the action before he had been denied any constitutional right. “For these reason, I am of the opinion that the complaints must be dismissed.” ★ ★ ★ U.S. District Judge Sidney C. Mize on June 17 dismissed school desegrega tion suits filed against the Biloxi and Gulfport school systems by the U.S. attorney general on behalf of children of the armed forces and federal em ployes in the “impacted” area where federal funds have been granted to re lieve overcrowding due to the added enrollments of the Negro children. Mississippi Highlights Medgar Evers, Negro civil rights faculty losses. leader of Mississippi and father of three children seeking desegregation of Jackson public schools, was shot to death June 12. Byron de la Beck with of Greenwood was charged with Negro Cleve McDowell registered in the University of Mississippi school of law without incident and was given a “courteous” reception by students. murder and indicted. Suits for desegregation of the Jack- son public school system and schools in Leake County (Carthage) were dismissed by U.S. District Judge Sid ney C. Mize on grounds the plaintiffs had not exhausted their full admin istrative remedies. U.S. District Judge Sidney C. Mize dismissed school desegregation suits filed by the U.S. attorney general against the Biloxi and Gulfport school systems, both in federal im pacted areas. Law School Dean Robert J. Farley of the University of Mississippi re tired following desegregation of that division. A faculty member listed 39 Three hundred federal troops on the “Ole Miss” campus were with- drawn and assigned to federal prop, erty nearby. Negro student James Meredith said the troops should be maintained since state officials have refused to guarantee protection of “certain individuals.” The University of Mississippi sum mer school registration set a record. Jackson officials named the city’s first Negro policeman and announced that recreational facilities and public libraries had been desegregated. However, demands by Negro leaders for school desegregation were reject- ed on grounds that this was before the courts. Judge Mize ruled that the federal government cannot file such suits be cause only an individual can go to court in a civil rights case. The government, in its suits, had contended that segre gation was harmful to the morale of the military personnel at bases nearby who have children in the schools of the two cities. ★ ★ ★ U.S. District Judge Sidney C. Mize on June 26 delayed until October a hearing on a desegregation suit filed by Negro parents against the Biloxi Mu nicipal Separte School District. The suit was brought by Dr. Gilbert R. Mason on behalf of his son, as a class action for 23 other Negro children. The delay forestalled any likelihood of a preliminary injunction sought by the Negroes so that the schools could be desegregated during the coming fall term. In The Colleges Farley Retiring As 4 01e Miss’ Law School Dean Robert J. Farley, who retires Sept. 1 after 18 years as dean of the Univer sity of Mississippi school of law, which was recently desegregated without inci dent, said in Jackson June 21 that, “The white muslim branch of the Citizens’ Councils has attempted in recent years to have me ousted.” “However, I withstood their attempts and remained,” he said in an address before the law school alumni meeting during the recent convention of the Mississippi State Bar. Dean Farley asserted that “some members” of the faculty have come' under criticism in recent years since the 1954 school desegregation decisiot of the United States Supreme Court be cause “we taught what we thought the law is.” The 64-year-old dean, who reaches the mandatory retirement age of 65 in December, said he had asked “my friends” on the college board “not to make a fight for an extension.” Exten sions are usually granted year-to-yeai for persons in “strategic positions” u: to 70 years of age. “My staying on would bring in a fight and I don’t think there is anything to be gained by it for the university, Dean Farley said. Moving to Florida Dean Farley announced that he is joining the faculty of the University of Florida law school. In his address before the “Ole Miss law school alumni, Dean Farley re counted asserted pressures by street! pro-segregation groups and politicals because of his position. He said eco nomic intimidation seems to be the P n ' mary method of the white musto branch of the Citizens Councils.” “I remained at ‘Ole Miss’ even thoug- I had learned back during the depr«‘ sion that a man can make a living wl “, amount of ability,” he saio ta or a maximum (See MISSISSIPPI, Page 3) ‘Not One Rude Remark,’ McDowell Says Cleve McDowell, Negro who was en rolled without incident in the Univer sity of Mississippi law school June 5, told newsman he was well pleased with his acceptance by white students. “I appreciate the way I was re reived and at this time I have not heard even one rude remark,” he said. His appearance on the campus con trasted sharply with the rioting which marked the entrance of James H. Meredith as the university’s first Negro student of record eight months prev iously. Meredith returned to the school for the summer session June 6, the day after McDowell registered. His registra tion was uneventful. Prior to McDowell’s arrival with two federal marshals under a Mississippi Federal District Court order, Gov. Ross Barnett in Jackson issued a statement that “it would be unwise and futile for the state of Mississippi to enter into a physical or shooting combat with the United States Army. Such would un doubtedly result in death or injury to many of our people.” Gov. Barnett had been urged by some of his leaders to attempt per sonally to block McDowell’s entry on the campus in a peaceful manner. How ever, he decided against that, but as serted that “Cleve McDowell’s attempt to enter the campus and register in the school of law meets with our positive and determined protest and our sov- erign state proclaims to all our sister states that these acts are in violation and utter contempt of the right of our people, as guaranteed by the federal constitution. “The federal authorities must, there fore, accept the responsibility for his (McDowell’s) entry and his presence upon the grounds at the university.” During McDowell’s enrollment, he was escorted by Bums Tatum, six-foot- six-inch chief of the campus police. Cleve McDowell Well pleased The 21-year old honor graduate from Jackson State College for Negroes asked newsmen not to “pursue me or ask for any information that might hinder my studies.” “I am going to Ole Miss to get a degree in law,” he told a news confer ence. “I want that understood in the beginning.” Although only two federal officers were with McDowell when he drove onto the campus, about 60 others were in evidence around the grounds. The Negro student was accompanied by John Dear, justice department attorney. He was assigned a room in Baxter Hall, the dormitory in which Meredith stays. McDowell is carrying seven hours of study. In addition to legal history, he is taking legal bibliography and civil law. The campus newspaper, The M . sippian, printed a picture on its . page of McDowell walking across^ j campus with the caption: “New Student.’ In an editorial, Student Editor J<* in an editorial, stuaem , a; Lee III said “Ole Miss students^ every opportunity to duplicate 11®^ erally triggered riot of Sept. 30 ^ ^ McDowell’s entrance” in attribu ^ peacefulness of the campus to ^ integrity and sound judgment ° $ Miss students” and the “well and expedient handling of the ment by university authorities. liti be< No Do ant cor I An 30i Troops Removed In another development, i federal troops stationed at the r sity for the protection of Mein i rc removed from the campus an near ft to semi-permanent quarters ° n federal lands. ^ V Earlier, State Attorney Gen feC ., T. Patterson had filed a pe tlt10 , 0 f 0* eral court at Oxford for yial troops. It has not been called ' . Col. William Lynch, comI "T, t . s** the “Ole Miss Army conning Re conditions indicated there is ^ un- need for Army personnel ai Oil! it , onl sefi dig sch, 3 r j L •auj »as Ml) versity.” , Meredith questioned the se rti»C the removal of the troops, ^>ses- was “for obvious political P u e S, tie, kfie by Gi % v 51 ★ ★ ★ , Uni v ,- Dr. E. Phay, provost for * ho0 l,j£ s lb LJT. Hi. riuxy, c C hO<? A< :rC\ sity of Mississippi summer r- June 13 that enrollment f° t jn <• “has soared to the secon university’s history. imversity s 0 j He said figures from g to i ne saiu - . ... a - Registrar Robert EUls f ° ca mpi> s J ^ 2,248 students were on th n 11. and that the total reg^ T 0 f Is v ^d, Sh S % 0tl K
