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^3 Factual M./O \i]0. 3 Southern School News £01 Objective VOL. 10, NO. 3 NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE SEPTEMBER, 1963 the region 150 Mo chool Districts Desegregate ALABAMA Governor Bars Negroes’ Entry At 3 Schools MONTGOMERY A labama’s first public-school desegregation occurred quiet ly at Huntsville on Sept. 9, but state troopers on orders from Gov. George C. Wallace prevented Negroes from entering schools which federal courts had ordered desegregated in Birmingham, Mo bile and Tuskegee. Schools in the four cities were to have opened the week before, with admission of a total of 24 Negroes to previously all-white schools, but the openings were delayed on order from the governor, accompanied by deploy ment of state troopers. When the schools did open Sept. 9, troopers under an executive order from Wallace turned away Negroes but al lowed white pupils to enter school buildings in Birmingham, Mobile and Tuskegee. The governor did not in clude Huntsville in this order. He gave no immediate explanation for the omis sion. Later on Sept. 9, five federal Judges in Alabama’s three judicial districts issued orders restraining Gov. Wallace from further interference with school desegregation. St •d in Id 11. i- ial I it ' jn- 14 0° 20. ch' is t th« in id>' President Scores Wallace Late that afternoon in Washington, President Kennedy issued a statement accusing Gov. Wallace of being “des perately anxious to have the federal government intervene in a situation in which we have no desire to intervene.” The President charged that Wallace was motivated by “his own personal and political reasons.” He said the gov ernor knows that (1) the U. S. gov ernment must carry out court orders; (2) most citizens of the four cities are willing “to face this difficult transition with the same courage and respect for he laws as did communities in neigh - °ring states,” and (3) “. . . there was and is no reason or necessity for inter vention by the federal government un- ess he wishes and forces that result.” Kennedy said the government would . ° whatever was necessary to see that enal orders for desegregation were Jj^ed out in Alabama, but he added: e hopeful that Gov. Wallace will nable the local officials and communi- r 6s *° meet their responsibilities in this ffard as they are willing to do.” j _ n ^he morning of Sept. 10, the Presi- G n federalized the Alabama National ar d. That was the situation at SSN’s Pre sstim e . Gov , V ' Wallace's actions were opposed . eeal school boards and officials, and c ^ ar - ts and others in the affected iw' "bite parents taunted troopers the schools, and in Huntsville (See WALLACE, Page 2) h This Issue Report, ^bama , Kansas .... 2 1 P^aware 19 ^rida ° f Columbia 1 ^gia : Jj f e htuck y * fe^iana ^ “ SSSS-. > r-S*' ::::::::::::::: i« Ih'ginia 7 Only the Faculty Was Admitted Teacher (left) and Principal E. W. Wadsworth approach school. SOUTH CAROLINA Total Reaches 1,129; Largest Since 1956 TJublic schools in the Southern and border region opened for the A 1963-64 year with at least 150 districts desegregated for the first time. It was the largest number of public school districts to begin biracial classes in any year since 1956, when more than 200 systems dropped racial barriers. This makes 1,129 districts with white and Negro stu dents attending classes together in the 17-state region. Districts desegregating for the first time included 130 that acted voluntarily and 20 districts that were ordered to begin biracial classes by the federal courts. The number of newly desegregated districts was more than three times the 46 systems that admitted Negroes to previously all-white schools in the fall of 1962 and over four and a half times the 1961 total of 31. 962 Voluntary Actions Since 1954 Since the 1954 Supreme Court decision, an estimated 962 districts have acted voluntarily to bring about desegregation policies while an estimated 167 others have been ordered by federal courts to admit Negroes to previously all-white classes. The region has a total of 3,053 districts in which both whites and Negroes attend school; there are a total of 6,197 districts in the region. Violence flared in Alabama, which experienced the first public school desegregation below the college level, and in a few other dis tricts in other states in the region. In South Carolina, which also began desegregation of its first public school district, there were other inci dents of trouble related to desegregation of the Charleston district and the University of South Carolina. (See accompanying story.) In 11 States Charleston Desegregates Schools Without Fanfare This year’s newly desegregated districts were scattered throughout 11 of the states in the region. The states and the number of districts to desegregate included: Alabama, four; Arkansas, two; Florida, six; Georgia, three; Ken tucky, 16; Louisiana, one; North Carolina, 21; South Carolina, one; Tennessee, 11; Texas, 61, and Virginia, 24. Opening of the fall term left Mississippi the only state in the region to maintain segregation in all elementary and high schools. The newly desegregated districts included 113 which were reported in a survey by Southern School News in its August issue and 37 which announced desegregation policies, or were ordered by the courts to begin biracial classes, since the survey was completed. Here is a state-by-state summary of desegregation activity in districts which began biracial classes for the first time, including a repeat listing of the districts from the August SSN survey: Schools Open With Incidents COLUMBIA HARLESTON BECAME the state’s first and only desegregated school district on Sept. 3, when 11 Negro children began classes with whites in four high schools. At the same time 15 Negro Catholics, taking advantage of a special order by Bishop Francis H. Reh, head of the South Carolina Diocese, attended formerly all-white parochial schools in the seaport city. Although Charleston historically has been a center of opposition to Negro movements, the desegregation took place with even less fanfare than that which attended the entrance of Harvey B. Gantt to Clemson College last Jan uary. When Gantt, a Charleston native in cidentally, broke the state’s college color line, he was heavily guarded by state troopers who virtually sealed off the upcountry campus to head off possible violence. Only one or two city policemen— mostly crossing guards—were in evi dence at each school on Aug. 30, when the Negroes enrolled, and on Sept. 3, when classes began. Charleston Mayor J. Palmer Gaillard WASHINGTON EGISLATIVE PROSPECTS for the administration’s civil rights program including measures de signed to accelerate the pace of school desegregation, remained in doubt despite the formidable dis play put on by 200,000 Negroes and whites who massed in Wash ington Aug. 28 to demonstrate “for jobs and freedom.” Leaders of the March on Washington, whose platform included a demand for total school desegregation this year, met with Congressional leaders before the mammoth demonstration and with President Kennedy afterward. From the former, they received as surances that Congress would not ad journ this year without acting on a civil rights package. From the latter, said, however, that other police units were poised and could have been on the scene in minutes had trouble arisen. The mayor said he had left it up to Gov. Donald S. Russell to send agents of the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) if he felt it necessary. It was learned that both SLED and FBI agents were on the scene as “observ- ers. Bomb Threat “A young male voice” called Rivers High and said that a bomb was planted in the school set off to explode “in 20 minutes.” Principal Frank M. Hart quickly called a fire drill, and the building was emptied in 90 seconds. Police arrived and searched the prem ises. Less than half an hour after the alarm had sounded, children were back in their classrooms. Hart wrote the hoax off as a child’s prank. “This occurs from time to time,” he added. In the building at the time were two of the 11 Negroes admitted to the public schools. They were Jacqueline Ford, 12, and Millicent Brown, 15, (See SCHOOLS, Page 22) they received praise for the “orderly manner” in which the march was car ried out and the comment that “the cause of 20 million Negroes has been advanced” by it. But the civil rights leaders received only lukewarm support on Capitol Hill for their suggestion that the civil rights legislation be strengthened by the ad dition of the so-called Title in power, which would give the Justice De partment broad authority to initiate actions for injunctive relief in civil rights matters. A more limited form of Title III, permitting Department inter vention in school desegregation cases under certain conditions, is included in the administration package. Chairman Emanuel Celler (D-N.Y.) of the House Judiciary Committee, who had earlier predicted that the civil rights package would reach the floor of the House of Representatives Alabama Public attention was focused upon Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace, who used state troopers to interfere with desegregation scheduled to begin un der court order in Birmingham, Mobile, Macon County (Tuskegee) and Hunts ville. The state troopers forced a delay in the opening of classes at Tuskegee, where 13 Negroes had been accepted in biracial high school classes. The gov ernor then sent troopers to Birming ham but he made no move to stop the enrollment of two Negroes at the previously all-white Graymont Ele mentary School the next day, Sept. 4. Violence in the city resulted in closure (See DESEGREGATED, Page 17) by about the third week of September, told the civil rights leaders that the timetable might be delayed by the long Labor Day recess. The legislation is expected to en counter difficulties in the powerful House Rules Committee, necessitating the time-consuming process of a dis charge petition to bring it to the floor. On the Senate side, where a civil rights filibuster is considered all but inevitable, leaders are agreed that waiting for a House-passed version offers the best chance of enactment. But there continues to be much disa greement over the controversial public accommodations section of the Presi dent’s program, as well as over the order of precedence between civil rights and the tax cut bill. President Kennedy has stressed the importance (See DESPITE, Page 5) In Five States I ncidents connected with school desegregation occurred in five states as schools opened for the new year in late August and the first week of September. The incidents of shootings, explosions and telephoned threats in South Caro lina, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas districts were related to new school de segregation. In Louisiana, fire damaged a Catholic parochial school desegre gated since last year but boycotted completely by students. Since the Supreme Court decision on school desegregation in 1954, the 1961- 62 school year has been the only one completely free of school desegregation violence. The acts of violence reported in the first weeks of the new school term in clude: Baton Rouge, La. — Initial desegre gation of East Baton Rouge Parish schools, beginning with the 12th grade, included on opening day one tele phoned bomb hoax and one quickly dispersed picket. Birmingham, Ala.—The home of a Negro leader and attorney, Arthur D. Shores, was bombed twice within 15 days. The second bombing, on the night of Sept. 4, damaged the home and injured his wife. Rioting touched off in the Negro community by the latter explosion resulted in the death of one Negro and the injury of several persons, including policemen. Earlier in the day, city police had quickly quelled jeering disorders outside two of three schools desegregating for the first time, by order of federal courts. Buras, La.—Our Lady of Good Har bor, which has been boycotted by stu dents since it desegregated in the fall of 1962, was damaged by a gasoline fire and explosion on the night of Aug. 27. The parochial school in Plaquemines (See FIVE, Page 24) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Prospects for Program in Doubt