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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—FEBRUARY. 1964— PAGE 7 GEORGIA Muscogee Sued; Bibb County Plan Ordered MACON F ive Negroes filed a suit Jan. 13 to desegregate Muscogee County (Columbus) white schools. The plaintiffs asked a preliminary in junction to permit them to enroll in Columbus white high schools and a permanent injunction to abolish segre gation in the same schools. U. S. Judge Robert Elliott promised a speedy hearing. The suit was filed for Janice A. Bryan and Deidre L Bryan by their mother, Helen M. Bryan, and for Jerry L. Lockett, Gwendolyn Lockett and Jim H. Lockett Jr., by their mother, Armanda Lockett. Defendants include the board of education of Muscogee County school district; Brice Carson, director of personnel; James Y. Moul trie, director of instruction;Nathan Pat terson, supervisor of service; and Wil liam Henry Shaw, superintendent of education. In Muscogee County, there are 41 white schools with 25,914 students and 17 Negro schools with 10,150 students. Negroes make up 28 per cent of the school population. Plan Ordered A U. S. District Court ordered the Bibb County (Macon) Board of Edu cation on Jan. 24 to submit by Feb. 24 a plan for a “prompt and reasonable start” toward desegregation of the pub lic schools. Judge W. A. Bootle signed a four- page order submitted to him by agree ment of attorneys for the Negro plain tiffs and the school board. An order form agreement was reached between attorney C. Baxter Jones, representing the board, and Donald L. Hollowell, Atlanta Negro attorney representing the plaintiffs. The order was then pre sented to the judge. After adoption and filing of the de segregation plan by the school board, the plaintiffs, 44 Negro children and their parents, will have 20 days in which to file objections, if any. Then the judge will set a date for a hearing on the plan and for further orders from the court. Bibb County Negroes first filed a re quest for desegregation more than nine years ago. The suit (Bivens et al v. Board, of Public Education etc. et al) was filed Aug. 14, 1963, after the Bibb hoard by an 11-4 vote turned down a Negro request for voluntary desegre gation. At the time, the board majority expressed a “deep conviction” that de segregated schools would be detri mental to both races. The earliest time that Negroes could i, atbn *tted to presently all-white schools presumably would be next Sep tember. There are 34 white schools in Bibb ounty with 21,083 students and 17 I 'tegro schools with 12,717 students. Ne groes make up 38 per cent of the school Population in the county. ctivities connected with school de- Missouri (Continued From Page 6) jj? first Negro student was admitted, far.?";? a W> ar ently have been no Negro Th y - memb ers. rolln? * nsbtute had a total full-time en- U e ent °f 227 students, including two Was ?q S ’ ™ autum n, 1955. Total faculty fiad 2.W autumn, 1963, the institute With t stuc * ents , including five Negroes, C0l, >Hent d faCUlty ^ ^ spobesman Cit^ A^ e dormitories of the Kansas grated ? bns htute are completely inte- n umbe ^“ ree students out of a total “g i" °f 125 students are Negro. Past so Ur evenin S faculty and in the tepresen? 6 , members °f our day faculty Haw a i; e ° a . variety of races, mixed “q Chinese, etc. lute to 1S t ? le P°hcy of the Art Insti- l he sam Gm ? ° y ab faculty and staff on that j s 6 bas rs as students enrolled— cr eed. hr re §ardless of race, color or by the p, 0WeVer ’ 1 have been informed tot, t 0 i eaa °1 the Faculty that he has Plication knowledge, received an ap- sit >ee join r ° m a ^ Tc ® ro teacher or artist teer of tbe institution in the sum- Was alsQ 6 ,,ihe visiting artists who s Peake r a ? ^ onor s Day Convocation Was tbe 1961-62 academic ” oodrnft ® ro artist, Professor Hale ’ Tlew York University. Georgia Highlights A school desegregation suit was filed in Muscogee County (Colum bus) and the Bibb County (Macon) board of eduaction was ordered to submit a desegregation plan by Feb. 24. In Washington, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to examine Atlanta’s reverse stairstep desegregation pro gram. Negro pupils who skipped school to participate in downtown demon strations in Atlanta may be discip lined. segregation cropped up in a third county, Spalding, when the Griffin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People issued a statement outlining desegrega tion requests and taking exception to the building of separate vocational schools now being planned under a re cent bond issue. The chapter said its members “protest the extravagance and waste in building two separate schools.” Griffin is about 35 miles south of Atlanta. Thirty-three per cent of the Negroes in the Spalding County school system are Negroes. The total school population is 8,687. * * * High Court To Examine Atlanta Stairstep Plan The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Jan. 13 to examine the 12-year reverse stair step desegregation plan used in Atlanta public schools. Under the plan, the 11th and 12th grades were desegregated in the 1960- 61 school year, the 10th grade was desegregated in the 1961-62 term and the ninth grade was opened to Negroes in former white schools last fall. The plan works on a pupil-transfer basis. Negroes want the planned span of 11 years for complete desegregation shortened to seven years and desegre gation based on redrawing of school zone lines. They argue that a dual system still will be in effect even after the plan is completely implemented and further contend that the staff will still be segregated. They said approval of the program runs counter to prev ious Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decisions and said the plan guarantees continuance of separate schools so completely that it has been adopted by Savannah, Mobile and Birmingham schools, where only a handful of Negroes have been admitted to previously all-white schools. Previously Upheld The Negroes asked U. S. District Judge Frank A. Hooper of Atlanta for a speedup order but he denied it. The Fifth U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals was appealed to, but that court upheld the plan on June 17, 1963, by a 2 to 1 vote. The U. S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case some time next fall and then hand down a written opinion. There are 50,473 white and 45,711 Negro students in the Atlanta schools. It was reported in the January, 1964, Southern School News that 52 per cent of the Atlanta school population is Negro. This is erroneous. The cor rect figure is 48 per cent. Figures on the Atlanta schools are Department of Education estimates since the city sys tem does not report by race. Miscellaneous Demonstrators May Face Discipline Atlanta Negro school students who skipped classes to participate in down town demonstrations may be discip lined. J. Y. Moreland, principal of Wash ington High School, said no decision had been reached on the exact nature of the discipline. He said 70 or 80 of Washington’s 3,200 students walked out to join a group of about 150 Ne groes who sang and staged a sitdown strike in front of Mayor Ivan Allen’s office and unsuccessfully attempted to obtain service at two short-order res taurants. John Lewis, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee which led the marchers, said the high- school pupils were recruited “to play hookey for freedom” in an attempt to emphasize what he called overcrowded conditions and inadequate facilities at Negro schools in Atlanta. Disciplinary action normal in cases of truancy would be taken against stu- TEXAS Two Church-Related Institutions Announce Desegregation Policies SADLER AUSTIN B aylor (Baptist) and Texas Christian (Disciples of Christ) universities enrolled Ne gro undergraduates in evening classes for the new semester in new desegregation programs. Five Negroes enrolled at Baylor, which is located at Waco. Its trustees announced a desegregation program in November. (SSN, December.) Twelve more Negroes registered for evening classes at TCU in Fort Worth, making a total of 40 Negroes there. None applied for enrollment as regular undergraduates. Its trustees a few days earlier had voted for immediate, full desegregation of all facilities. While di vision of the board’s 32 members at tending the special meeting was kept secret, the decision was announced as less than unanimous. Chancellor M. E. Sadler strongly rec ommended the move in a two-hour closed session, which was described as “spirited.” TCU, operated by the Disciples of Christ, is located at Fort Worth. Its divinity school has accepted students of all races for 15 years. Negroes also have attended TCU evening classes, mostly conducted off- campus at Gen eral Dynamics’ aircraft factory and at Carswell Air Force Base. Two years ago, the final two years of a nursing de gree course was opened to Negroes as well as whites. The latest action opens all depart ments and facilities of the college, in cluding dormitories, on a nonracial basis. Coach Abe Martin told question ers that he has no immediate plan to recruit Negro football players. TCU’s desegregation leaves Rice Uni versity as the only one among eight schools in the Southwest Athletic Con ference to continue racial bars, al though none of the others as yet has Negroes on its varsity teams. Two Ne groes are candidates for track at the University of Texas. Rice University’s trustees are seeking court permission to eliminate the all- white policy imposed by its founder’s will. TCU has 6,800 students enrolled. Sev eral applications by Negroes to enroll as undergraduates have been turned down in the past. Church, faculty and student groups have urged integration. ★ ★ ★ President Julius Glickman and Vice President Greg Lipscomb of the Uni versity of Texas Students Association wrote a letter to U.S. District Judge Ben Rice Jr., urging him to expedite decision of a lawsuit to desegregate all university-owned housing. (Sanders v. Ransom, filed Nov. 8, 1961). The case has been heard and rebut tals were filed finally on July 9, 1963. Judge Rice has been hospitalized fol lowing surgery in recent weeks. The student officials’ letter told the judge that demonstrations probably would continue until the court an nounces its decision. The University of Texas maintains separate dormitories for white and Negro girls. Some hous ing for men is biracial; some all-white. ★ ★ ★ At Prairie View A&M, all-Negro in fact but desegregated by policy, Presi dent E. B. Evans reported satisfactory progress in negotiating complaints from students. A faculty committee has been meeting with a group called Students for Equality, Liberty and Freedom (SELF). Student government leaders all re signed last October in protest against certain administration policies. Nego tiations so far have dwelt with chang ing the student government, greater access to laboratory and library, and more dormitory space. dents found to have been absent with out excuse, according to Dr. Raul Stephens, assistant superintendent of schools. The action came a few days after Negro leaders, following lengthy and acrimonious debate, accepted a “battle plan” designed to “totally desegregate the city of Atlanta.” Texas Highlights Baylor University enrolled five Negro undergraduates in evening classes, and Texas Christian Uni versity enrolled 12, also for even ing classes, in new desegregation programs. TCU trustees in a split decision had just approved immedi ate, complete integration of its fa cilities. Patrons filed a federal court law suit to speed up grade-a-year deseg regation started at Denison Independ ent School District. After a hearing, U. S. District Judge Joe J. Fisher took under ad visement desegregation lawsuits filed by Negroes at Beaumont and nearby Hamshire-Fannett ISD. A lawyer for Negroes at George town argued in U. S. Circuit Court that the stairstep plan of desegrega tion is unconstitutional. Wounded Gov. John Connally drew Don Yarborough, a liberal Democrat who ran him a close race in 1962, as an opponent for this year’s nomi nation. Legal Action Lawsuit Filed To Speed Plan In Denison ISD Denison Independent School District, in North Texas, was named as defend ant in a lawsuit seeking to speed up the “stairstep” de segregation start ed in September, 1963. The case filed in U.S. Dis trict Judge Joe W. Sheehy’s court at Sherman on Jan. 9, 19 6 4, named Donald Price and Melvin Price, minors, as plaintiffs against Denison ISD, the City of Denison, and H. W. Goodgion, superintendent of schools. Ten Negro parents of 16 school-age children signed the petition for com plete desegregation of the Denison schools in September, 1964. Ten Negroes enrolled last fall in desegregated first- grade classes. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit describe this grade-a-year voluntary program as “too little and too late.” ★ ★ ★ Federal Judge Joe J. Fisher took two school desegregation cases under advisement, after hearings at Beau mont, and a ruling is expected this spring. One case, Brown v. Hendrix, filed Sept. 9, 1962, is for desegregation of Beaumont ISD. The board in Septem ber, 1963, initiated without court or der a stairstep 12- year program starting in the first grade. The petitioners, whose children are in higher grades, want Judge Fisher to order them en rol 1 e d without waiting on the stairstep program. The second case, Richard v. Christ, filed Sept. 18, 1962, seeks desegregation of Hamshire-Fannett School, also in Jefferson County. Its governing board has not adopted any desegregation plan, and the hearing was of Negro patrons seeking an order for the school board to admit their children. Judge Fisher heard the two cases together. Stairstep schools desegregation also was attacked before the U.S. Fifth Cir cuit Court of Appeals, meeting in Houston, in a case involving George town ISD (Miller v. Barnes, filed Sep tember, 1962). The Central Texas dis trict has ordered grade-a-year desegre gation to start in September, 1964. Price A. Ashton of Austin, attorney for 30 Negro children plaintiffs, said FISHER this does not comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decree for “deliberate speed” in that Georgetown’s full de segregation would be delayed until 1975, or 21 years after the Supreme Court held compulsory segregation of public schools to be unconstitutional. None of the 30 plaintiffs would benefit by this plan, Ashton said. William S. Lott, attorney for the Georgetown board, said that complete desegregation this year would over crowd existing all-white schools in the district. ★ ★ ★ Eleven former students of Rice Uni versity, including U.S. Rep. Albert Thomas (D.-Houston), filed a petition with State District Judge Phil Peden, asking favorable consideration of a suit filed by the school’s trustees to construe the founder’s will so Negroes could be admitted and tuition charged (Rice v. Carr, filed Feb. 21, 1963). William Marsh Rice, in a bequest of funds that started the college in 1891, specified that it would be operated for white students only and without any tuition charge. Trustees want the court to let them disregard these restrictions as being outmoded. One group of Rice ex-students has called for strict construction of the will, and opposes the trustees’ request (SSN, July, 1963). Miscellaneous Texas Klan Leader Dies Horace Sherman Miller, 62, of Waco, self-styled leader of “The Aryan Knights of the Ku Klux Klan” died during January. His organization ap parently gained few followers in Texas, even during the height of the racial desegregation controversy a few years ago. Miller wrote prolifically to editors of various publications, the Waco City Council and others, and once sent Klan application blanks to the British royal family and members of Parliament. His writings mostly were highly critical of racial integration. ★ ★ ★ Four thousand persons turned out for a reception honoring Mrs. Charles E. White, Negro member of the Houston school board. Sponsors said the number was about 10 times as many as they had expected to attend the Rice Hotel func tion. None of Houston’s other school board members was present. There has been a rift between Mrs. White and other members (SSN, January). Political Action Don Yarborough To Face Connally Don Yarborough, 37-year-old Hous ton attorney, announced he will again oppose John Connally for the Demo cratic nomination for governor. Con nally, who won nomination over Yar borough and then won a hard race against Republican Jack Cox in 1962, is still recuperating from the bullet wound inflicted on Nov. 22 when Pres ident Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Yarborough, a political liberal with strong support from Negroes, Latin- Americans and labor union members, said he felt Texas voters are entitled to a choice between his political phil- sophy and Connally’s more conserva tive views. C. S. Weakley Jr., a Dallas insurance man, has announced as a Republican candidate for the office. Don Yarborough is no relation to U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarborough, although their political philosophy and following are similar. Sen. Yarborough will be opposed for Democratic renomination by John Van Cronkhite, a Dallas public-relations man. Seeking the Republican senatorial nomination are Jack Cox, a Brecken- ridge oil man who was Gov. Connally’s opponent two years ago; George Bush, Houston oil-drilling executive and son of a former U.S. Senator from Connec ticut; Dr. Milton Davis, Dallas surgeon; and Robert Morris, Dallas lawyer.