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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—OCTOBER, 1963—PAGE 7
TEXAS
five Districts
Reveal School
Desegregation
AUSTIN
F ive more Texas districts re
vealed desegregation during
September, making 243 total an
nounced in the state.
Latest desegregation programs were
in Smiley, Gonzales County, which had
272 white students and no Negroes en
rolled last year; Grego y-Portland, San
Patricio County, 1,829 whites and no
Negroes last year; Florence, William
son County, 312 whites and no Negroes
last year; Bandera, Bandera County,
533 whites and no Negroes last year;
and Rocksprings, Edward County, 478
whites and no Negroes last year.
Evidently, these districts, with small
Negro populations, had been transferr
ing all Negro students to other districts
in the past. This fall, they desegregated
by board order.
An informal survey indicated that
about 60 per cent of all Texas public
school children—both white and Negro
—live in districts which are desegre
gated this fall. The state has about
2,000,000 white and 320,000 Negro pu
pils enrolled.
Reports from various districts in
cluded:
Houston—227 Negro children attend
ing 10 formerly all-white elementary
schools, desegregated through the
fourth grade.
Galveston—125 Negroes in desegre
gated classes with elementary students,
in the third year of a grade-a-year
program.
Abilene—Desegregation started last
January, had 52 Negroes this Septem
ber attending mixed elementary grades.
Del Valle (Austin suburb)—50 Ne
groes attending newly desegregated
classes, while 17 others requested con
tinued transfer to all-Negro schools in
the city. The district adjoins Bergstrom
Air Force Base.
Tyler—One of two Negro first-grad
ers to attend desegregated classes
transferred to an all-Negro grammar
school. This left a single Negro in the
city’s formerly all-white classes.
Hitchcock—10 Negroes enrolled in
formerly all-white schools, but princi
pals were instructed by the governing
board to admit no others until a bi-
racial committee completes its study of
how best to proceed with desegrega
tion in the coastal community.
Baytown—Another city near Houston
is considering a proposal that desegre
gation be ordered in the high school.
The idea is also under study by a bi
facial committee.
Dallas—Dr. W. T. White, superinten
dent, told 5,000 teachers attending an
opening convocation in the city that he
considers charges of discrimination
against Dallas Negroes in vocational
1 aining are “offensive” and incorrect,
tl, White said that a large part of
•he dropout problem among Negroes,
requently declining chances for voca-
>°nal training, is lack of realization
a *? on 8 the parents of the necessity for
e ducatio n
We have a problem in making them
Parents) understand it is not always
ecessary to hold a college degree to
Whi^ a success bb citizen,” said Dr.
—18 Negro children enrolled
1— , whites in the first grade, while
hon f 6aders the National Associa-
Ple ° r .Advancement of Colored Peo-
ve a - C ° nt ,! nUed to cr tttcize the g ade-a-
bte „ e dule as “too little and too
,\’eu^ nsde ^d A reporter for the Dallas
r ’ rev isiting the scene of a deseg-
scWi° n dispute in 1956, found this
re Rat , near Fort Worth to be still seg-
Wal i About 75 Negroes attend a
other* 6 ementar y-junior high and 25
(SSN \r t0 kif>h school in Fort Worth.
Form 0vem ber, 1956, and previous.)
TUot ec j ei "„ Ma y° r Lon Hubbard was
Pushed ' -We don’t want to be
and p 0 ar ° Und - But with both Dallas
feel cen . ort h schools integrated we
10 Mrm ,fhat in time it will come
' er ence t t 'hhri makes a big dif—
Ce from 1956
Qlvei ‘sity Band
4cce Pts Negro
^uiversitv ^'^ino, director of the
ypoujw. , ° Texas Longhorn Band,
.‘honed a N e gro had been au-
** of t L accepted as a member but
nd of September had not
i -i wmmmmm
Texas Highlights
Five more school districts an
nounced desegregation.
An informal survey indicated
about 60 per cent of all whites and
all Negroes reside in districts which
have at least started desegregation.
Dr. W. T. White, school superin
tendent at Dallas, termed “offensive”
and incorrect the charges of dis
crimination against Negroes in vo
cational training.
A federal court at Houston was
asked to speed up desegregation of
kindergartens in the public schools,
now scheduled for 1972.
The first Negro was accepted by
the University of Texas marching
band, while a student interracial
group urged complete desegregation
in other areas.
A junior college at Athens, in East
Texas, accepted seven Negroes in its
first desegregation.
picked up his uniform or appeared for
practice.
Desegregation of the marching band
has been an objective of campus inter-
acial groups. Other musical organiza
tions at the university are open to
Negroes. Director DiNino said seven
Negro musicians had been auditioned
for the band in the past eight years but
none had been invited to join because
they lacked a “great, burning desire”
to become a member.
Meanwhile, the Campus Interracial
Committee presented a petition to the
Board of Regents asking for full de
segregation of dormitories, intercol
legiate athletics, faculty and staff.
Regents Chairman W. W. Heath
noted that a dormitory desegregation
suit awaits decision by a federal
judge. (Sanders v. Ransom, SSN, July,
and previous)
On intercollegiate athletics, Heath
reiterated that the University of Texas
does not plan to take any unilateral
action without approval of seven other
Southwest Conference schools.
Texas institutions of higher learning
generally reported sharp increases in
enrollment this fall. The University of
Texas passed 22,000, up about 1,000
from last year. The University of
Houston, new to the state system, had
nearly 18,000 enrolled, 28 per cent
more than last year while it was mu
nicipally controlled.
★ ★ ★
Texas A & M University, which
started accepting women and Negroes
as students this year, admitted two
Negroes as undergraduates and two to
graduate classes.
Henderson County College, at Athens
in East Texas, enrolled seven Negroes
in its first year as a biracial institution.
Legal Action
Negro Seeks Entry
To Kindergarten
Joe Anderson, Houston Negro, asked
a federal court to order local schools
to admit his 5-year-old daughter, Jo
Ann, to an all-white kindergarten.
The court-approved desegregation
program calls for continued segregation
in kindergartens until 1972. Anderson
termed this “unjustifiable.”
His application was “a motion for
further relief” in the original Houston
desegregation case, Ross. v. Rogers.
Under Survey
Poll Shows Whites
Oppose U.S. Suits
A survey of white Texans by the
Texas Poll indicated that 23 per cent
of those participating thought the fed
eral government should sue for deseg
regation of schools and 69 per cent
thought not.
The poll, which did not include the
one-quarter of the population who are
Negroes and Mexicans, showed over
whelming disfavor for President Ken
nedy’s proposed civil-rights legislation.
However, 54 per cent approved use of
federal poll-watchers to see that Ne
groes are permitted to vote.
Only 32 per cent of those surveyed
approved the manner in which U.S.
Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy
is handling his office. Joe Belden, who
conducted the poll, said the Attorney
General is “one of the most unpopular
figures the poll has found in 23 years.”
GEORGIA
Three More Schools in State’s
University System Desegregate
MACON
HE NUMBER of public schools OI
higher education which are
now desegregated or have been
desegregated in the past rose to
eight as the 1963-64 college term
opened late in September.
New desegregation took place at
Columbus College, Valdosta State Col
lege and Savannah State College. De
segregation had previously occurred at
the University of Georgia at Athens,
Armstrong College of Savannah, and
Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
Desegregation also had been effected
earlier at Georgia State College in At
lanta and West Georgia College at
Carrollton.
A Negro teacher enrolled in a sum
mer school course at West Georgia,
but her name was not released. There
are no Negroes now at West Georgia.
Six Negroes are attending Georgia
State College.
Fifteen Negroes are attending the
University of Georgia. Eight of the Ne
groes are in Athens. Walter Danner,
university registrar and admissions of
ficer, said seven off-campus enroll
ments are graduate students taking part
in an Atlanta area teachers program.
The eight enrolled on the campus at
Athens include one student taking Sat
urday courses only, Danner said.
A white soldier became the first of his
race to register at Savannah State Col
lege, scene of earlier racial demonstra
tions.
Robert M. Scriber, 26, a New York
City native stationed at nearby Fort
Stewart, registered as a senior, he said,
after courses offered by other schools
he checked “didn’t quite fit” his needs.
He will take night classes.
Scriber said, “As far as I can see this
is just another college.”
Savannah State officials said whether
he remains at the school would be left
with the Board of Regents.
Valdosta Admits Two
Two Negroes were admitted to Val
dosta State College without incident
Sept. 17. Miss Drewnell Thomas, 17,
and Robert Pierce, 18, joined more than
300 white freshmen in an assembly
orientation program. They were ad
mitted voluntarily.
“We decided to go along with the
reputation Valdosta has gained in race
relations,” Dr. Ralph Thaxton, presi
dent, told the assembly. He cited de
segregation of a trade school and the
public library in Valdosta and said he
was thankful there were no incidents.
A Negro student voluntarily was ac
cepted by Columbus College. It was be
lieved the student was a June honor
graduate of Negro Spencer High School
in Columbus but Dr. Thomas Y. Whit
ley, president of Columbus College, de
clined to identify him.
Georgia Tech enrolled 10 Negroes for
fall classes.
Armstrong College, of Savannah, a
white school, enrolled its first Negro
student for summer classes and he re
turned for the fall term.
Three Negro students were enrolled
without incident at Mercer University,
a Baptist school in Macon. They in
cluded Sam Jerry Oni, 22, of Takoradi,
Ghana, Africa, and Bennie Stephens, 17,
of Macon, but school officials would not
disclose the name of the third, a trans
fer from Negro Fort Valley State Col
lege.
Miscellaneous
Board Member Asks
Diploma Be Voided
Roy Harris, a member of the State
Board of Regents, called for the diploma
of Charlayne Hunter, a Negro, to be
voided following
her marriage to
Walter Stovall of
Douglas, Ga., a
white classmate.
An interracial
marriage is illegal
in Georgia and a
secret one is con
trary to univer
sity rules. Harris
said the Negro
girl’s diploma,
which she receiv
ed from the University of Georgia last
June, should be voided on grounds she
obtained it “through false pretenses.”
Georgia Highlights
The total number of schools de
segregated in the University System
of Georgia climbed to eight. Three
new schools admitted Negroes and
five had desegregated earlier.
The 12th grade of Glynn Academy
at Brunswick was desegregated with
out incident after an appellate court
overturned a U. S. District Court de
cision.
The Bibb County Board of Educa
tion asked a U. S. District Court to
permit it to submit a desegregation
plan for court approval after 44 Ne
groes filed suit for desegregation of
public schools in Macon.
★ ★ ★
Police investigated a bomb scare at a
Negro vocational school in Albany, the
third such incident at a Negro school
in Dougherty County in a week.
Schoolmen
Brunswick Academy
Enrolls Negroes
Without Incident
Glynn Academy at Brunswick was
desegregated quietly Sept. 16 by six Ne
groes in a voluntary desegregation plan
which a federal court unsuccessfully
tried to upset.
Three Negro boys and three Negro
girls entered the academy without inci
dent about two hours after white stu
dents began their third week of classes.
Glynn is the only white school in the
southeastern Georgia port city. It is the
-fourth School system to be desegregated
in Georgia. Atlanta began admitting
Negroes to former white schools in 1961
and Savannah and Athens desegregated
this fall.
The Glynn County Board of Educa
tion had tried to desegregate volun
tarily on Aug. 28, the beginning of the
1963-64 term, but a last minute court
order granted by U. S. District Judge
Frank Scarlett at the request of a group
of white parents and students thwarted
the action. The white group contended
it would harm the white schools and
would be of no benefit to the Negroes.
Judge Scarlett ordered the board to
submit a desegregation plan and submit
it to a lengthy administrative process
before implementation but the U. S.
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept.
12 reversed Scarlett’s injunction and
ordered admission of the Negroes.
What They Say
Speaking to the 63rd annual conven
tion of the Peace Officers Association
of Georgia at Columbus, Gov. Carl E.
Sanders warned
that the state will
not tolerate out
bursts contrary to
the public inter
est. “Thank God,”
Sanders said, “we
have had no Bir-
minghams
in Georgia, and
with the help of
the Almighty and
the c o n -
tinued alert and
considered application of our laws, we
will have none.”
Earlier in the month, speaking to the
Petroleum Council of Georgia at Pine
Mountain, Sanders disagreed strongly
with the defiant attitude of Alabama
Gov. George Wallace toward desegre
gation, and said racial violence in AJa-
bama points up the wisdom of Georgia’s
approach to the civil rights problem.
★ ★ ★
Hugh G. Grant of Augusta, the first
president of the States Rights Council
of Georgia, said that segregation stands
by Gov. Orval Faubus of Arkansas,
Scarlett had been overruled earlier
this year by the same circuit court in a
case involving desegregation of Savan
nah schools.
The Glynn board said voluntary de
segregation was the only alternative to
a federal court desegregation suit it
considered certain to be filed.
The six Negroes admitted to the
Brunswick school are all 11th and 12th
graders.
Negro Suit Answered
In Macon, the Bibb County Board of
Public Education, answering a school
desegregation suit filed by 44 Negro
children and their parents, asked the
U. S. District Court to let it prepare
and submit a desegregation plan for
court approval.
A pre-trial hearing on the suit
(Bivins, et al. v. Board of Public Edu
cation of Bibb County, Georgia, et al.),
originally filed Aug. 14, was expected
to be set for Oct. 11 before U.S. Judge
W. A. Bootle. At that time a decision
is expected to be made on whether to
hear the case on a motion for pre
liminary injunction or to combine that
with a trial on the merits.
In its answer filed by attorney C.
Baxter Jones, the board said that since
repeal of all general state laws requir
ing school desegregation and a 1963
Bibb Superior Court ruling that the
segregation provision of the board’s
1872 charter is unconstitutional, there
is at present no statutory or charter
impediment which would prevent com
pliance by the board with any proper
order from the court.
The answer said none of the plain
tiffs have sought admission to white
schools but noted it has operated segre
gated schools and before last March re
ceived requests that the system be
reorganized on a desegregated basis.
It was clear from the language of the
board’s answer that it would not at
tempt to reopen questions already
settled by the U. S. Supreme Court.
Reverse Transfer Asked
In Savannah, Christine McCullough,
a Negro girl who entered Savannah
High School Sept. 3, asked to be trans
ferred back to the Negro school she
attended last year, according to Supt.
Thord M. Marshall. He said she told
him she did not feel she could keep the
pace at Savannah High.
Miss McCullough, one of 20 Negroes
to enter two former white schools in
the Chatham County system this fall,
was told to stay at Savannah High
while her request for transfer is con
sidered.
In Columbus, the Muscogee County
Board of Education on Sept. 16 ap
proved a plan for desegregating schools
with the 12th grade in September, 1964.
Classrooms would be desegregated one
(See GEORGIA, Page 8)
Gov. Ross Barnett of Mississippi and
Gov. George Wallace of Alabama “have
served to arouse millions of white citi
zens ... to a realization of the tragic
breakdown of our historic system of
constitutional government.”
Grant spoke in Statesboro during an
organizational meeting of the Bulloch
County Citizens Council and urged or
ganization and expansion of such
groups throughout the nation.
In Atlanta, the Georgia Council of
Churches called on ministers to initiate
and participate in interracial commit
tees.
★ ★ ★
In a speech before Georgia Pilot Club
members at Callaway Gardens, Dr.
Waights G. Henry, president of La-
Grange College, said Negroes can and
must be given opportunities to become
first class citizens but that this does not
mean immediate and full desegregation.
Dr. Henry cited “a cultural lag that
will take more time to overcome” and
said it is not immoral to recognize it.
He said hotels, dining places and
public transportation must be desegre
gated now but as for giving Negroes
better jobs, Dr. Henry said more such
jobs already are open to them than they
are qualified to fill.
Governor Warns Against Racial
Outbursts, Criticizes Wallace