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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—OCTOBER, 1963—PAGE 11
ALABAMA
private School Planned
For Whites in Tuskegee
(Continued from Page 10)
Macon County, others waiting the open-
jug of the planned Tuskegee private
School, which was scheduled to begin
classes in an old home Oct. 1.
There was no walkout at the adjoin
ing elementary schools.
All the Negro students had been
admitted to grades 9 through 12. The
high school is part of the 12-grade
Tuskegee Public School.
There are approximately 47,800 stu
dents in the nine newly-desegregated
schools in the four cities.
At the end of the month, it seemed
highly unlikely that any whites would
return to classes at the Tuskegee High
School.
Athletics Cancelled
The football and basketball teams
cancelled all schedules. Students en
rolled at other schools in the county
or awaited the opening of the new
“freedom of choice” school which was
being readied on the strength of con
tributions, planned tuition, and hope
fully—though this remained in doubt—
state funds.
Mrs. W. T. Wadsworth, former teacher
and mother of two students who re
fused to attend the desegregated school,
said of the private school:
“I wouldn’t want you to underesti
mate our strength. . . . We want to
put a private school within the reach
(financially) of everybody as an alter
native to an integrated school.”
Mrs. Wadsworth said she and other
founders of the private school felt
desegregation had been forced on them
“by intimidation.” She added: “. . .
We are not fighting anybody—not the
school board, not the teachers or the
Negroes. We have no hatred. We just
believe this is right.”
Cliff Edwards, teacher and band di
rector at Tuskegee High School for 17
I years, was named headmaster of the
J new school Sept. 26. Mrs. Wadsworth
said a committee had reported on then-
visit to Prince Edward County, Va.
private schools and expressed the view
! that the plan for Tuskegee is feasible,
i Tuition was set at $10 per month
per family. But, she added, ‘It takes
more than this to operate and we are
asking for continued contributions.”
$23,700 Received
As of Sept. 26, Mrs. Wadsworth said,
$23,700 had been received.
A Montgomery school supply outlet
provided desks and chairs. Volunteer
workmen rushed to renovate the old
home on Main Street.
In all, some 250 white students left
Tuskegee High. More than 100 were
reported going to classes at nearby
Shorter, a few others at Notasulga.
With only Negro students left in the
public school, its future was in doubt,
since state appropriations are based on
average daily attendance. Some white
teachers transferred to other schools,
temporarily or permanently, but enough
remained to teach the Negro students.
One of the original 13, Eddie Mat
thews, a ninth-grade student, was re
ported Sept. 25 to have been suspended
or expelled for “insubordination.”
Wallace made personal contributions
of $100 each to the Tuskegee group and
to an organization in Birmingham
known as the West End Parents for
Private Schools, Inc. He urged other
Alabamians to contribute and offered
the “full resources” of his office to help
in the efforts.
State Attorney General Richmond
Flowers refused to give his opinion on
Birmingham Demonstrators
Schools were boycotted.
the validity of four Alabama laws au
thorizing financial aid to pupils at
tending private schools. Because he has
served as counsel for the Macon Board,
Flowers said, “Any opinion I might
give at this time could weaken their
case if it is tried in court. These laws
have never been tested, but they are
variances of laws of other states, main
ly Louisiana. Some of the laws they
are patterned after have been tested
and found invalid.”
The laws in question enable school
boards to close public schools for sev
eral reasons and to provide financial
support to students attending private,
nonprofit, nondenominational schools
where no public school is available.
They also purport to give protection
under the state’s Teacher Retirement
System to persons employed in such
schools. The Macon group reportedly
intends to attempt to force closure of
the Tuskegee High School under pro
cedures set out in statutes passed since
the 1954 school decision.
The Birmingham group announced
it had not given up in its efforts to
get private classrooms.
In the Colleges
Vivian J. Malone
Returns to Classes
Without Incident
Vivian J. Malone signed up for fall
classes at the University of Alabama
Sept. 19 in an atmosphere far different
from that of her entry last June when
Gov. George C. Wallace attempted to
block the door to her and James A.
Hood (SSN, July).
It was quiet Sept. 19. Six National
Guardsmen stood by almost unnoticed.
Hood, who withdrew in August on
the advice of a physician, did not
appear for registration as he had said
he would. He still faced a faculty in
vestigation into accusations he allegedly
made against the University in a speech
before a Negro rally in Gadsden (SSN,
August, September).
Said Miss Malone of her reception,
which was described as almost cordial:
“It was quite different from last time.
I hope it will stay this way, because
I want to get down to work.”
A teacher asked if everything was
going all right, a white male student
held open a door for her and another
chatted briefly with her on the campus.
★ ★ ★
Negro Begins Studies
At Florence State
Wendell Willkie Gunn, 20-year-old
Negro, was admitted to Florence State
College at Florence Sept. 11, the first
of his race to attend the 108-year-old
institution.
His admission, ordered by by U.S.
District Judge H. Hobart Grooms of
Birmingham Aug. 29 (SSN, September),
was without incident.
What They Say
Shock, Grief, Expressed Over Church Blast
Most of the comment on racial issues
in Alabama in September centered on
Ae Sept. 15 church bombing in Bir
mingham.
Some blamed Gov. George C. Wallace,
who himself denounced the “dastardly
acts by a demented fool who does not
° ve either the white or black people
w Alabama.” The bomber, Wallace said,
has universal hatred in his heart.”
Wallace continued to call for Presi-
ent Kennedy’s defeat in 1964, blaming
e administration and the Supreme
? Ur J f° r contributing to the situation
" ch led to the bombing.
n Sept. 10, when President Kennedy
^neralized Alabama’s 17,000 National
,J* ar d troops to prevent Wallace from
ni * ng them to block desegregation of
e schools in four cities, Wallace said:
Kennedy’s ‘Alabama Garrison’
m . * s brings the most potent instn
bv tk ^ orce ' n the world, directc
Sene ! ru thless hand of the attome
TR e 5 ’ a S a * ns t the people of Alabam
s ona ] enned ys have now taken pei
hson T^ mand their Alabama gai
ti on , "e federal courts, by injunc
frotn th' 6 removed every state troop<
to ]; ee e that I have assigned ther
in th;/ 1 peace at various schoo
sumed k Sta [ e ' ’ ■ • Air. Kennedy, cor
taken y dou btful re-election, h:
forces !° mpIete charge. The Kenned
iailin„ ^ : ay * n 8 the predicate for tf
“Is th " e governor of Alabama,
been ar J S being done because it h;
ht som e <n ? nced that I might participai
When° t * le P res i den tial primaries
Political come around to jailir
Mother 1 ° pponen ts, we will have take
' at ° r shin° n ^ s * e P toward a military die
^Ples 0 f ,'! n b we have several ex
'■ Central 6S f ’ n the banana republic
Asked n< ? South America.”
- court h et h er he intended to abic
re Pli ed j ese gregation orders, Wallac
observe”u W what an y° n e can c
bayou!, the orders ... I can
»ev er . s with my bare hands an
to c g bt anvu. n ^ eC * t0 wa S e that so:
bght witk- ay ’ • • • tVe shall continu
thm the law.”
birtni * * ★
thj s am , bfayor Albert Boutwe
Hin g . statement concerning th
0h a ever
6 e *>sted conceive that any
W1 th suob 1
It is inconceivable. It’s just shocking.
I don’t want to speculate about the
future. But I fear that the situation
will become worse.”
Boutwell said he called Wallace as
soon as he heard the news and asked
for state help. By late afternoon on
the day of the bombing 150 troopers
had arrived and others followed.
Police Chief Jamie Moore also ap
pealed for state help.
The City Council met briefly and
adopted a resolution expressing sorrow
to the families of the four children. “It
is time,” the resolution said in part,
“for every one of our citizens to wake
up to the reality that resorting to sav
agery is not a solution to any problem.”
Public officials, private citizens,
church and civic organizations over
the state issued statements deploring
the murders and the atmosphere in
which they occurred. Many resolutions
pointed directly at Wallace.
On Sunday, Sept. 22, ministers in
churches over the state devoted sermons
to the tragedy as thousands over the
country marched in memory of the
slain.
‘Criminal Atrocity’
Alabama’s congressional delegation
unanimously condemned the “heartless,
criminal atrocity.” Such “heinous acts,”
said Alabama’s eight congressmen and
two senators, ‘have added to our al
ready heavy burden of fighting for the
rights of people to govern themselves.”
A 33-year-old Birmingham lawyer,
Charles Morgan Jr., told the Birming
ham Young Businessmen’s Club the
day after the bombing that all the
white people of the city, because of
their inaction or hypocrisy, were re
sponsible for the deaths.
Invited to speak at Yale University,
Morgan told his New Haven audience
that Yale must share the blame. Yale
and Harvard men in the South “are
more concerned with family, golf, busi
ness and respectability,” he said.
“Where were the Yale men, when the
bomb went off?”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who
rushed to Birmingham after the bomb
ing, said in Richmond, Va., Sept. 27
he would call for resumption of dem
onstrations in Birmingham unless city
officials met Negro demands in a few
days. He would, he said, call for a
boycott “on everything produced in
Birmingham and on all business firms
operating there.”
He demanded good-faith negotiations
between local Negroes and the business
community, a declaration by the City
Council calling for compliance with
the “law of the land,” that the city
request Wallace to remove troopers
from the city and that the city hire
Negro policemen.
“If these are not done in the next
few days,” King said, “I can see no
alternative but to resume demonstra
tions.”
Proposal Rebuffed
Two Negroes whose homes have been
targets of recent bombings, rebuffed
King’s proposal. Attorney Arthur D.
Shores and millionaire businessman
A. G. Gaston, in a joint statement, said
they opposed “additional outside inter
ference” while presidential advisers
Kenneth C. Royal and Earl Blaik were
trying to “bring the leaders of the
. . . community together with a view
to solving our problem.”
Shores, prominent in desegregation
suits for a number of years, served
as attorney for Negro students James
A. Hood and Vivian Malone in their
successful bid to enter the University
of Alabama last June.
Dr. E. C. Overton, member of the
City Council, said new demonstrations
such as those proposed by King would
be disastrous.
The Only Honorable Way
Brooks, Birmingham News
Commenting on the Shores-Gaston
statement, Mayor Boutwell said: “I
think we have seen a real breakthrough.
. . . We have fine Negroes here and
I have found out they can work with
the city and have good communica
tions with us.” Less than one per cent
of the city’s population have been
involved in demonstrations which have
made the headlines, Boutwell added.
Shortly after the Shores-Gaston
statement, a group of 53 Birmingham
lawyers urged citizens to comply with
Supreme Court rulings, stating that the
tribunal’s decisions “upon questions
arising under the U.S. Constitution are
the law.” The public has the right to
criticize court decisions, the lawyers
said, but not the right of disobedience.
They added:
“(1) No man is above the law. (2)
The courts cannot permit violence to
delay or defeat the law. (3) Without
law and obedience to its rule, neither
this city, this state nor this nation
can survive. (4) The citizen’s obligation
to obey the law cannot be modified
by an election or by personal prefer
ences, because the law exists to protect
all, minority and majority alike.”
Asks Base Closing
Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of
the NAACP, called for the Federal
Government to close down Maxwell Air
Force Base at Montgomery immediately
and to “cut off every nickel and every
dime going into Alabama” in reprisal
to racial incidents, particularly the
church bombing.
Sen. Lister Hill called the proposal
“cruel and inhumane.”
The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and the
Rev. A. D. King (brother of Dr. King)
announced “definite” plans to organize
a march on Montgomery “even if our
blood flows in the streets.”
Alabama officials and congressmen
called on the White House to stop the
march.
Lee C. White, special counsel to
President Kennedy, said that while the
White House had received no formal
notification of such a march, “It has
been suggested that if there is to be
such a demonstration, city officials,
including police, would be well advised
to discuss in detail with the march
leaders the many different problems
involved.”
White’s reply, in the form of a letter
to U.S. Rep. George Grant, pointed to
the recent demonstration in Washing-
Double Standard on the ‘Hot
Line’
TO MOSCOW
< Peace,
NUCLEAR
TEST BAN
TREATY,
I ^ ETC, •£
Military _
invasion -
• LYNCH GOV,
WALLACE,:
X ETC, U.
TO ALABAMA
Howie, Jackson Daily News
Books
and the Issue
The following books on race re
lations have been received by the
library of Southern Education Re
porting Service.
RACE: CHALLENGE TO RELIGION
edited by Mathew Ahmann
The essays are based on the papers
and statements presented at the Na
tional Conference on Religion and Race
in Chicago from Jan. 14-17, 1963.
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMA
TION
by John Hope Franklin.
In addition to providing the principal
outlines of the history of the proclama
tion document, the author discusses
“its general significance to contempo
rary as well as to later generations.”
BEFORE THE MAYFLOWER: A HIS
TORY OF THE NEGRO IN AMERICA
by Lerone Bennett Jr. Johnson Pub
lishing Co., Inc., Chicago, 1962, 404
pp.
The book, which grew out of a series
of articles originally published in
Ebony magazine, deals with the role
of the Negro in The United States from
1619 to 1962.
Delaware
(Continued from Page 9)
Sept. 30, but totals will not be avail
able until late October.
One of the two Sussex members at
first opposed the proposal by Zutz, but
Dr. Hiram Lasher later voted with the
other board members to request the
legislation.
Dr. George R. Miller, Jr., who will
retire in December as superintendent of
public instruction, warned that some of
the small schools exist with good rea
son within special districts.
The sub-100 schools, by county:
New Castle: Arden, Iron Hill, Town
send.
Kent: Farmington 39, Little Creek 85,
Oak Point 20, Rose Valley 79, Wiley’s
93, Cheswold 143, Fork Branch 145,
Kenton 140, Lockwood 142, Mt. Olive
155, Union 158, Viola 156.
Sussex: Gumboro 37, Lincoln 3, Rox-
anna 31, Blocksom’s 218, Concord 216,
Delmar 212%, Drawbridge 197, Ellen-
dale 195, Greenwood 222, Lincoln 194,
Nassau 198, Owens Corner 213, Rabbits
Ferry 210, Rehoboth 200, Ross Point 215,
Warwick 203, Warwick 225.
ton as an example of the results of
“careful preparation.”
The archbishop of the Mobile-Bir-
mingham Catholic Diocese, Thomas J.
Toolen, said in a pastoral letter that it
is “difficult to understand how a civil
ized human being could have in his
heart such hatred for a fellow human
being as to desire to destroy life be
cause a man’s color is different from
his own.”
Archbishop Toolen called for a “re
turn of peace and sanity in our state
and diocese.” He said hatred was more
abhorrent when it kills innocent chil
dren, concluding that the city of Bir
mingham is “slowly being destroyed,
for neither business nor industry will
come into a city in which there is
so much hatred and destruction.”
In Montgomery, a statement was read
from Methodist pulpits Sept. 22 con
demning acts of violence, but also
expressing the hope that the planned
march on the state Capital would not
be held.
“We call upon our own people to
join in promoting an atmosphere of
calm and reason and seek to influence
all the people to settle their differences
in lawful and peaceful ways,” the
statement said.