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MISSISSIPPI SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—MARCH, 1964—PAGE II f t i 1 i i i i i s n |S r> Court Orders Three Systems Desegregated (Continued From Page 1) cataloguing all of the laws that may militate against this position, it suf fices to point to two. “The Mississippi constitution requires file maintenance of separate schools for white and colored children. (Art. 8, Section 207). Moreover, Section 6220.5, code of 1942, forbids the attendance of any member of the white race with Negro children in any public school of high school level or below on pain of fine, imprisonment, or both. “And,” the appellate court noted, “it is precisely because of this state en forced segregation of schools under Mississippi law that the District Court erred in dismissing the complaints.” Continuing, the Court of Appeals said: “It is undisputed in each case that appellants sought relief from the re spective school boards prior to suit in the form of petitioning for the activa tion of a practice of permitting the assignment of the minor appellants and their class to public schools without re gard to race. “This was an ample basis for the grant of the relief sought in the suits in view of the prior decisions of this court, where, as is the case in these school districts in Mississippi, the Negro appellants are not afforded a reason able and conscious opportunity to at tend any school, for which they are otherwise eligible, without regard to their race and color, and to have their requests for admission thereto fairly considered by the enrolling authorities. Other Cases Noted The court recalled a case involving Dade County, Fla., in 1959, when it held that “the petitioning of the school board for abolition of racial segregation in the public schools obviated the nec essity, where segregated schools were required, of exhaustion of administra tive remedies under the Florida Pupil Assignment Law.” (Gibson v. Board of Public Instruction of Dade County, Florida.) Referring to citations by the school boards of decisions in North Carolina, Maryland and Arkansas holding that administrative remedies must be ex hausted, the appeals court said they were based on “the rationale of the law and custom and practice in those states being such that applications for assignment by Negro children to white schools would be given good faith consideration and were possible of achievement.” “It is impossible to apply that ra tionale to Mississippi,” the court said. “There cannot be voluntary segrega tion where desegregation has been re quested until inhibitions, legal and otherwise, serving to enforce segrega tion have been removed to the extent that appellants and the class they represent are ‘afforded a reasonable a ud conscious opportunity to apply for odnussion to any schools for which they are eligible without regard to their face or color, and to have that choice a ' rl y considered by the enrolling authorities.’ ” “Rights . . . Proscribed’ . 'The court said “as matters now stand ln Mississippi, racial segregation in the Public schools is enforced, and the S *h e appellants here under the th Amendment to equal protection of ® law s are proscribed.” paving said that it was error for the uuct Court to dismiss their com- juts seeking relief from such pro- ription, it follows that each of the ru/rt r ?, Us ^ ^us be reversed,” the court ‘Upon remand, pending disposi- t i each on the merits, it will be pr 0 ° Uty °t the District Court to give r Uofi lPt consideration to the pending . ons of appellants for preliminary factions ” Th t^Hpo C ° Ur t asserted that “the grant of the^y relief pending a hearing on poll etu ts will in no wise deprive ap- appv s °t the other usual procedures hor^ - e an< t obtaining in civil ac- cop,’.^utuding the right to answer the issu^ts and to raise and litigate ipg u °t tact, if any there be, regard- Ip Jf m erits of each of these suits.” listed 6 Jackson suit, the first plaintiff of si 18 Uarrell Kenyatta Evers, son lri NAACP leader Medgar Evers, ^he parents who have inter- hrioios m t ' le Jackson case are Aleck his cbif , restau rant owner, in behalf of a«4 - uren, Jimmy, Claudia and Gale, Goodman, laudromat oper and q “shalf of his children, Doyle Mijtp^htiQn asserts that it represents s ke p o ^hildren and students who de- 1° be forcibly compelled to Mississippi Highlights The first public-school desegrega tion in Mississippi was ordered in a temporary injunction by a federal judge for Jackson, Biloxi and Leake County on a mandate from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The cases will be heard on their merits May 18. Separation of public-school pupils by sex is sought in a bill pending in the legislature. State legislators were asked to repeal a charter granted in 1871 to Tougaloo College, a biracial private institution. A state senator asked for an in vestigation as to why five Negroes, reportedly students of Rust College, were permitted to attend a lecture at the University of Mississippi. associate with” the nine Negroes seek ing desegregation of the Jackson schools and “others of their ethnic group.” The white parents state that “there is no modem psychological evidence of mental or educational injury resulting to Negro students by education in sep arate schools.” “Greater personality, stability and a higher degree of learning accomplish ments are achieved in the divided school system,” they said in the suit seeking to enjoin the Jackson school board from desegregating schools. Legislative Action Legislator Proposes Law to Authorize Segregation by Sex Segregation of public school students by sex was proposed in a bill intro duced in the current biennial session of the Mississippi legislature by a group of representatives headed by Frank Shanahan of Vicksburg. It is House Bill No. 290 and was referred to the education committee. The proposal would authorize any board of trustees of any school district to provide for the separation of stu dents according to sex “when it de termines that such separation is neces sary in the interest of the public or students.” Section One of the bill would give the school board the “authority to pro vide by assignment or re-assignment, or other appropriate means, for the separation of students according to sex, separately by classrooms or schools, when such board, in its discretion, de termines such separation will promote or preserve the public peace, order, or tranquility of the school district, or the health, morals or education of the students.” ★ ★ ★ Senator Seeks Repeal Of Tougaloo’s Charter A bill was introduced in the Missis sippi legislature last month seeking re peal of an 1871 statute which granted a charter to Tougaloo Southern Christian College. The proposal stems from par ticipation by Tougaloo students and some faculty members in antisegrega tion demonstrations. Introduction of the measure followed a public statement by Lt. Gov. Carroll Gartin proposing a legislative investi gation of the institution, located about seven miles north of Jackson. “I want some official state agency to investigate that so-called college to see if it is doing what it was authorized to do under a charter granted by the state,” the lieutenant governor said in charging that Tougaloo College “is a haven for political agitators and possi bly some Communists.” “Tennessee got rid of the Highlander Folk School which was a hangout for Communists and agitators and we ought to see if we have the same situation right here in our backyard,” Lt. Gov. Gartin asserted in an address to the Jackson Exchange club Feb. 17. Tougaloo College in recent years has accepted white students, mostly from other states. Previously, it was a pre dominantly Negro institution with a biracial faculty. Dr. A. D. Beittel, white president of the church-supported institution, said he would welcome an investigation “by an honorable and dependable commit tee which would report honestly what they see and learn.” “I would not, however, welcome an investigation by the Citizens Council,” he added. Dr. Beittel questioned whether the state has a right to investigate a pri vate institution although it operates under a state charter. He said the school is supported by the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ. Questions also were raised as to the right of the state to investigate, as well as to repeal the charter granted in 1871. Authors of the bill seeking repeal of the college’s charter are Sens. Bradford Dye Jr. of Grenada; Jim Buck Ross of Pelahatchie, and George Yarbrough of Red Banks, the senate president pro- tem. The bill, S. B. 1672, is before the judiciary committee headed by Sen. E. K. Collins of Laurel. Charter Quoted The preamble of the charter reads in part: “Whereas, the highest welfare of the state requires that ample provision be made for the education of all its citi- bens, and . . . “. . . whereas, said association (Amer ican Missionary) is not under the ec clesiastical control of any religious denomination and said university is to be accessible to all, irrespective of their religious tenets, and conducted on the most liberal principles for the benefit of our citizens in general . . .” The charter points out that the pur pose is “for the instruction of students in the arts and sciences, in the learned professions, and in all the branches of liberal and professional education as taught in the best colleges and uni versities of our country.” The trustees were also empowered to “organize any or all of the departments of a university at any time, when in their judgment the interests of the institution and the public wants re quire.” SACSS Notified Dr. Beittel said he had advised the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, which has given the college accreditation, of the pend ing legislation. Charles Evers, Mississippi field rep resentative for the NAACP, said Feb. 24: “I have notified the SACSS that Mississippians interested in education are hopeful that the association will keep a watchful eye on the legislature’s planned evasion and attempt to dis credit or eliminate Tougaloo College, a near century old oasis of enlighten ment in the educational desert that is Mississippi.” Proponents of the legislation indi cated that repeal of the charter may eliminate tax exemptions given such institutions. There were differences of opinion as to whether that can be done. Meanwhile, a white instructor at the biracial college reported to police that he narrowly eluded a threatening masked man and more than a dozen others who blocked his car on Feb. 23 as he drove to church services at Fond- ren Presbyterian Church (white) in north Jackson. The report was made by William Hutchinson, instructor in speech and dramatics, who has taken no public part in a series of racial demonstrations by other faculty members and students. In The Colleges Senator Seeks Probe Of Negro Admissions To Campus Lecture State Sen. Edwin L. Pittman of Hattiesburg on Feb. 25 demanded an investigation to determine why five Negroes were admitted to the Univer sity of Mississippi chapel at Oxford for a speech by television commentator Howard K. Smith. The Negroes were reported to be students at Rust College for Negroes at Holly Springs, near Oxford. Campus police said the Negro stu dents were asked to remain in a ca pacity-filled Fulton Chapel until the crowd of 1,200 left at the end of the speech, which centered largely on the civil-rights struggle. The Negroes were hissed when they entered the chapel and when they left. In asking for the investigation, Sen. Pittman said “as far as I know there aren’t any Negro students at Ole Miss.” “I think we ought to find some an swer as to why these five were ad mitted,” he said on the Senate floor. University officials said Smith spoke on the campus as part of a lecture se ries attended by residents of Oxford and other nearby areas. Schoolmen Greenville Negroes Denied Admission Five Negro students of Coleman High School in Greenville, disciplined for walking out in protest to no Lincoln Day program, sought voluntary admis sion to the white Greenville High School Feb. 13. They made no formal application for enrollment but appeared at the white school and told the prin cipal, “We just want to go to class.” They were advised that disciplinary action at one school was recognized at others and were not permitted to attend class. They left and no further effort has been made to attend classes at the white school. Arkansas Continued From Page 7) versial.” The meeting was held at mid- afternoon in the Dunbar Community Center, a municipal facility for Negroes. ★ ★ ★ The Urban League of Greater Little Rock has found that negotiation is the most effective way of attaining equality for the Negro, Dr. H. Solomon Hill of North Little Rock said at the league’s annual meeting Feb. 8, attended by about 70 persons. Dr. Hill, a Negro, president of Shorter College, said other methods that should be used when necessary are litigation, political action and direct action. Dr. Joseph A. Norton, league presi dent, said he grew up in Pine Bluff and like many white Southern boys did not know that there was a racial problem until he was an adult. “I am particu larly indebted to Gov. Faubus for edu cating me to an awareness of the prob lem,” he said. The meeting opened the league’s campaign for $20,000. It has never reached its goal in any year since it was dropped from the United Fund as one of the aftermaths of the school crisis of 1957. Community Action Pine Bluff Group Marks First Year The Pine Bluff Movement celebrated its first anniversary with a meeting Jan. 26 attended by about 300 people at St. Peter’s Rock Baptist Church. The movement was started Jan. 23, 1963, by the Rev. Ben Grinage, Negro, and William W. Hansen Jr., white, both of Cincinnati, and eight students from Arkansas AM&N College, a Negro in stitution at Pine Bluff. James Jones, one of the eight stu dents, reported that demonstrations and negotiations had brought desegregation' of lunch counters, some restaurants, theaters, the public library, Oakland City Park and the public schools “after the school board had its warning.” The Rev. Mr. Grinage, John Lewis, national chairman of the Student Non violent Co-ordinating Committee and other speakers promised continuing demonstrations. ★ ★ ★ One of the mainstays of the deseg regation organizations in Little Rock, the Rev. David A. Boileau, 33, a Cath olic priest, was transferred to an assist ant pastorate at Stuttgart early in February. He was dean of studies at St. John’s Missions Seminary, chaplain of the Catholic Interracial Council, a founder of the Little Rock Conference on Race and Religion, a member of the Arkan sas Council on Human Relations and a member of the Arkansas Advisory Committee to the United States Com mission on Civil Rights. The Region (Continued From Page 1) The 12-man jury, which included two Negroes, held in its finding that in setting up the indentures that cre ated the university, the founder had as his main purpose the development of a “first-class school.” The jury de cided that the restriction on race and the failure to charge tuition made “im practicable” the development of Rice as a first-class school and that under present conditions it is “impracticable” to carry out the intent of William Marsh Rice’s will. Other private schools have been in the courts because of similar racial restrictions imposed on them by the terms of their founders’ wills. Stephen Girard, who died in 1831, established a trust for the education of “poor male white orphans” in Philadelphia, Pa., at Girard College. Paul Tulane and Sophie Newcomb, early donors to Tulane Uni versity in New Orleans, restricted their donations to “white young persons.” Sweet Briar, a private girls’ college in Virginia, had a racial restriction im posed in 1900 in the will of the founder, Indiana Fletcher Williams. Girard Case The Girard College case developed in 1955 from the application of a Negro for admission to the school. His appli cation was denied by the Orphan’s Court of Philadelphia County, and the decision was upheld by the Pennsyl vania Supreme Court. The courts held that even though the trust was admin istered by a board that consisted in part of elected city officials, the trust was not to be construed as “state ac tion.” On appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the state courts’ rulings were reversed on the grounds that the board operat ing the school was “an agency of the State of Pennsylvania” and that the refusal to admit Negroes was “discrimi nation by the state.” The case was returned to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which remanded it to the Or phan’s Court. The Orphans’ Court found in 1957 that the dominant purpose of Girard’s will was to establish a school for “poor male white orphans” rather than to provide for the administration of the trust by city officials. The court dis missed the petition of the Negro ap plicants and directed the removal of the Board of Directors of City Trusts as trustees. The Orphan’s Court sub stituted 13 private persons as trustees for the school, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the action. Tulane Status at Issue When two Negroes sought to enter Tulane University (Guillory et al v. the Administrators of the Tulane Uni versity of Louisiana et al), the defend ants contended that the school was a private institution and that some of the donations to the university were restricted to whites. In 1962, the U.S. District Court at New Orleans issued a summary judgment to the plaintiffs. Judge J. Skelly Wright held that the school had been a public one since its inception, and that its status had never changed. Wright added that even if the status had changed, the amount of state support the school received and the state management to which it was sub jected would bring it within the 14th Amendment. Before the year ended, Judge Wright had been succeeded by Judge Frank B. Ellis, who vacated the summary judg ment and granted a new trial on the ground that there were genuine issues as to whether the school was private or public. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Judge Ellis, saying that the case was not one for a sum mary judgment. After a new trial, Judge Ellis ruled for the school administrators. The court held that the 17-man board in cluded only three state officials and they had shown no disposition to affect Tulane’s policy. The amount of state financial support was not sufficient to indicate state action, the judge ruled, and the tax exemption on university property had been granted to foster education, rather than to further state activity. The district court also declared un constitutional a state act of 1884, which had forbidden the school’s ending seg regation. Although the court did not order the school to desegregate, it held that private restrictive covenants were unenforceable and that it was legally permissible for the university to admit Negroes, which the board later did. The Sweet Briar racial restriction has not yet been considered by the courts. The board of overseers for the school announced last fall that it was willing to admit qualified students regardless of race, but that it would have to seek a court ruling on the issue.