Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 20—APRIL, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
VIRGINIA
Prince Edward School Case Again Before Supreme Court
(Continued From Page 1)
school desegregation decision of May,
17, 1954. The county’s public schools
have been closed since the fall of 1959
to avoid desegregation.
Carter and the U.S. Solicitor General
Archibald Cox, who appeared as a
friend of the court, argued that Vir
ginia was depriving the children of
Prince Edward—Negro and white—of
equal protection of the laws by failing
to provide public schools.
But Attorney J. Segar Gravatt of
Blackstone, Va., representing the county
authorities, and Virginia Assistant
Attorney General R. D. Mcllwaine III
firmly maintained that the court had
no authority or obligation to direct
that the schools be reopened.
“Whatever you do,” Gravatt told
the court, “don’t take the school de
segregation decision and use it as a
compulsion against people. Let’s not,
in the name of what we think may be
a good thing, take away the liberties
of people.”
‘An Entire Generation’
Carter, who reviewed for the court
the tangled history of Prince Edward
litigation in state and federal tribunals,
declared that “an entire generation of
Negro children” has been deprived of
desegregated schooling since the first
suit was filed in 1951.
He said that while Prince Edward
had not resorted to violence or armed
force to prevent desegregation, its
school closing merely constituted “a
more genteel attempt to evade the
Constitution.”
“These children of Prince Edward
County, and Negroes throughout the
country, are entitled to education with
out discrimination,” Carter said.
He did not argue that every state
has a legal obligation to provide free
public schooling to its children. But
he said a state could not “abandon
public schools in defiance of the Con
stitution,” once it had established an
education system.
Cox’s Argument
Solicitor General Cox said the en
tire state of Virginia—not just the
county—must bear responsibility for
“this experiment in ignorance.” He
urged the Supreme Court to hand
down a decree that would:
• Direct the Supervisors of Prince
Edward County to levy the taxes
needed to operate public schools.
• Direct the school board to appro
priate the funds for school operations.
• Enjoin the State Board of Edu
cation from failing to operate schools
in Prince Edward while schools are
open elsewhere in the state.
• Continue in effect, lower-court
injunctions against the use of state
tuition grants and other public assis
tance to private schools while the pub
lic schools remain closed.
County’s Position
Gravatt told the Supreme Court that
he found it “extremely difficulty” to
see what rights had been denied to
the Negro plaintiffs of Prince Edward
County.
By taking advantage of a “local
option” provided by the state, Gravatt
argued, Prince Edward authorities had
“enlarged the liberty of its citizens”
by giving them the choice of attending
private schools. He said the same op-
ln the Colleges
Sweet Briar, a private college for
women located near Lynchburg, Va.,
announced March 23 that it has em
ployed an attorney to secure a judicial
determination of whether the institu
tion may admit Negro students.
The announcement by the school’s
president, Dr. Anne Gary Pannell, said:
“Sweet Briar College has engaged
Mr. Frank G. Davidson, Jr., of the firm
of Caskie, Frost, Davidson and Watts,
925 Church St., Lynchburg, as legal
counsel to secure a judicial determina
tion regarding certain restrictions in
the will of Indiana Fletcher Williams,
founder of Sweet Briar College.
“Mr. Davidson has been asked to pre
pare legal documents to seek a de
cision such as is sought by the trustees
of many charitable trusts and bequests
in many courts throughout the coun
try, to interpret wills, bequests and
trusts in the light of changing con
ditions.”
In her 1900 will, Mrs. Williams pro-
portunities provided to white pupils
by the Prince Edward School Founda
tion could have been made available
to Negroes, had they been willing to
take advantage of them.
Some 1,300 white students attend
schools sponsored by the foundation.
The schools have been supported by
private contributions and tuition pay
ments since the use of state and county
funds was barred by a court order
three years ago. The county’s 1,700
Negro students were without any for
mal schooling until last fall, when the
Prince Edward Free School Associa
tion was set up at the initiative of
Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
The association, financed by about $1
million in private contributions, is op
erating a one-year intensive instruc
tion program.
Gravatt told the Supreme Court that
the county has “an absolute right not
to levy taxes or appropriate money”
for public schools, and that “this right
cannot be breached by the Judiciary.”
‘State Matter’
“Education and the method by which
it is provided is a state matter—not a
federal matter,” Gravatt declared. Dur
ing one plea for
preservation of the
“freedom” of the
county’s citizens,
Gravatt was in-
terrupted by
Chief Justice Earl
Warren, who said
he thought the
Negro children
had been given
“freedom to go
through life with
out an education.”
Assistant Attorney General Mc
llwaine argued that a locality’s de
cision to close public schools rather
than desegregate them “violates the
constitutional right of no one.”
“There is no judicial power in any
court in the United States to tell a
city it must levy a tax for any pur
pose,” Mcllwaine said.
In an amicus curiae brief filed with
the Supreme Court on March 30, the
National Education Association called
for reopening of the Prince Edward
County public schools on grounds that
“those who are left without the instruc
tion which our society commonly pro
vides are deprived of the opportunity
lead a useful, purposeful life within
the American social structure.”
★ ★ ★
FVop S-linol rontjn'nnre
With G
Continuation of the Prince Edward
Free School svstem next vea r , w'th
the aid of public tuition grants, was
proposed March 26 bv J. Se<?a>- Gravatt.
special counsel for the Prince Edward
Board of Supervisors.
The idea was quickly rejected by
Negro leaders and by the federal offi
cial who was instrumental in setting
the Free Schools established last fall.
The Free School system, privately fi
nanced, was set up through cooperation
of federal, state and local officials pri
marily to oro-mde formal education for
Prince Edward County Negroes.
The Free School system was estab-
vided money for the establishment of
“Sweet Briar Institute for the educa
tion of white girls and young women.”
The Sweet Briar board of overseers
announced last November that a ruling
concerning the admission of Negroes
would be sought.
Vocational School
Opens on Biracial Basis
The new Southside Vocational School
opened at Crewe March 16 with both
whites and Negroes in attendance.
The school is being operated under
the National Manpower Development
and Training Act. Officials said 57 stu
dents had registered, but they did not
announce how many were Negroes and
how many were whites.
The school serves an eight-county
area in which relatively little public
school desegregation has occurred. It
provides vocational training for young
persons 17 through 21 years of age.
Virginia Highlights
Attorneys argued before the U.S.
Supreme Court whether Prince Ed
ward County should be required to
reopen its long-closed public schools
on a desegregated basis.
Fairfax County is not discriminat
ing against Negroes in school as
signments even though some all-
Negro schools are being operated.
U. S. District Judge Oren R. Lewis
ruled.
The Virginia General Assembly
ended its biennial session without
having made any changes in the
state’s freedom-of-choice school de
segregation program.
lished with the announced intention
of operating for one year only. But
on March 26, Gravatt suggested that
the Free School Association seek state-
local tuition grants and continue oper
ating for another year.
“The idea will not hold water that
the only way for children to get an
education is for the board of supervis
ors to provide funds,” Gravatt said.
But the Rev. L. Francis Griffin, coun
ty NAACP president, said Negroes “re
main adamant in their position that
public funds should not be used for
private schools.”
William J. vanden Heuvel, special
assistant to U. S. Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy, said the Free
School Association was formed “on the
assumption that these [legal] questions
would be cleared up by September.” He
added:
“To keep the Free Schools going an
other year is not the answer to any
thing.”
Meanwhile, plans for a seven-week
summer session for children attending
the Free Schools were made by the
association’s board of trustees meeting
in Richmond March 21.
Classes will be held at all five of the
schools now being operated by the
Free School Association. The exact
dates were not announced.
Approximately 1,600 children are at
tending the schools now, and answers
from queries submmitted to parents in
dicate that the summer enrollment will
be about 1,000 or 1,100.
★ ★ ★
Dr. Neil V. Sullivan, superintendent
of the Prince Edward Free Schools,
will become superintendent of schools
in Berkeley, Calif., in the fall, it was
announced April 1.
Dr. Sullivan, 48, came to Prince
Edward on a one-year leave of absence
from the superintendency of East Wil-
liston, N.Y., public school system. He
said that although there were two
more years in his East Williston con
tract, he and the board of education
there “mutually agreed” to end the
contract. He had been with the East
Williston schools for six years.
Dr. Sullivan introduced the non-
graded and team-teaching concepts at
East Williston. He said these innova
tions “are no longer new and every
thing is running smoothly now.”
He said also that East Williston is
a predominantly white school district
and that after working a year in Prince
Edward with the two races he felt
he would enjoy continuing in that
type of work. The Berkeley district is
multiracial, with large white, Negro
and Chinese-Japanese populations, ac
cording to Dr. Sullivan.
As to why he was not staying in
Prince Edward, Dr. Sullivan said the
county has “a very active and very
competent superintendent” in T. J.
Mcllwaine. Also, he said, the Free
Schools were set up with the definite
stipulation that they operate for only
one year.
★ ★ ★
Free Schools Students
In Biracial Audience
About 25 Negro students of the
Prince Edward Free Schools attended
a drama performance at Longwood Col
lege on Saturday night, March 14. It
was said to be the first time that a de
segregated audience had attended a
student function at the college.
The play, “She Stoops to Conquer,”
was performed by students from Long-
wood and from Hampden-Sydney Col
lege. Longwood is a state-supported
Sweet Briar College To Seek
Ruling on Admitting Negroes
girls’ college in Prince Edward County,
and nearby Hampden-Sydney is a
men’s college associated with the Pres
byterian Church.
Arrangements for the Free School
students to secure tickets for the play
were made at the request of Dr. Neil
V. Sullivan, superintendent of the Free
School system. Dr. Sullivan said glee
clubs of Longwood, Hampden-Sydney
and the Prince Edward Academy (the
private white high school) would be
invited to perform at the Free Schools.
Legal Action
Judge Lewis Rules
No Diseriinination
In Fairfax Suit
Although they still operate eight all-
Negro schools, Fairfax County authori
ties are not discriminating against Ne
groes in school assignments, U. S. Dis
trict Judge Oren R. Lewis of Alex
andria ruled March 4. (Blackwell v.
School Board of Fairfax County.)
Attorney Otto L. Tucker, on behalf
of several Negro children, had con
tended that the county discriminates
against Negroes by maintaining all-Ne
gro schools.
Judge Lewis said, however, that the
2,101 children who attend the all-Ne
gro schools do so “solely on account of
their place or residence or by choice.”
He said there
was no evidence
of “gerrymander
ing school attend
ance areas for the
purpose of per
petuating the all
colored schools.”
Under the Fair
fax plan, students
entering the
school system for
the first time are
assigned to the
schools nearest their places of residence.
Negroes already in Negro secondary
schools can apply for transfer to white
schools if they live closer to the white
schools.
Approximately 430 Negroes are at
tending 44 formerly all-white schools in
the county.
The Negro plaintiffs noted an ap
peal from Judge Lewis’ ruling.
★ ★ ★
Pupil Assignment
Plan Gets Approval
The Richmond School Board’s pupil
assignment system basically was ap
proved by Judge John D. Butzner, Jr.,
on March 17 in the U. S. District Court
at Richmond (Brady v. School Board
of the City of Richmond.)
Under the Richmond plan, children
may apply to attend any school in the
city. In making assignments, school
authorities may consider the distance
a pupil lives from the schools involved,
capacity of the schools, whether a pu
pil’s academic program can be met by
the school of his choice, and “the best
interest” of such pupils.
Judge Butzner said hat “the best
interest criterion is unduly vague.”
said that while no children had beta
denied admission to any schools be-
cause of that criterion, the provision
should be changed to clarify what h
meant by “best interest.”
★ ★ ★
Surry Board Asks
School Re-Opening
Appeal Dismissal
It would be impossible to open Surry
County’s fomerly all-white school this
semester, the county school board said
in a brief filed March 9 with the U. S.
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals at
Richmond. (Pettaway v. School Board
of Surry County.)
The board said the court should dis
miss as moot (of no practical signifi
cance) an appeal by Negro attorneys
to have the school re-opened during
the current school year.
The board said that practical consid
erations, such as staffing of the school,
would make re-opening this semester
impossible.
The county closed its only white
school last fall after all the white
pupils withdrew to enter the private, j
segregated Surry Academy. Seven Ne
gro pupils had been assigned to the
school by the State Pupil Placement ,
Board.
In another brief, the county’s board
of supervisors defended the closing of
the school in these words:
“It is submitted that the private
action of the people of Surry county
[in withdrawing from the school] left
the school board and the board of su
pervisors with no alternative except ,
to follow the course which actually
was followed.
“These private acts of the private [
citizens of Surry were taken in pursu
ance of liberties protected by the Con-
stitution of the United States.
“We do not understand how the (
board of supervisors or the school Ixjara
can be criticized for adjusting the nsca
policy of the county to these private
actions.” , i
The Surry case will come before tn
Fourth Circuit Court for hearing <> n
April 27.
Legislative Action
F reedom-of-Choict*
Law Left Intact
: Virginia General Assem \
1 its biennial session Mar*
ut making any changes
3 freedom-of-choice school deses
ion program. ^
,s to abolish the tuition S r _
am, or to put the program o
option basis, were killed in a )
e. Also killed in committee
vhich would have elimina ^ j
option provision of the
ulsory attendance law. ^
• bills in question were S P°^°
embers of the Republican
the legislature. There are 1 . ,
The Region
(Continued
in those cases, the NAACP said that
negotiations for similar arrangements
were under way in four other North
Carolina desegregation cases. The
NAACP said that by using such free
dom-of-choice plans, instead of stair
step plans, a desegregated education
becomes available to all Negro children
who want it.
Before the U. S. Supreme Court, the
U. S. Department of Justice appeared
as a friend of the court and joined the
NAACP in its opposition to gradual
plans. They argued that “any system
that starts with initial racial assign
ment and depends on transfer after
wards does not comport” with the
court’s original school decisions.
Reverse Stairstep
Atlanta began with the 12th and 11th
grades in 1961, and has added a grade
a year in descending order. The city
has 145 Negroes in biracial schools. The
NAACP told the court that desegrega
tion will not reach the first grade until
om Page 1)
1971, and the results of racial
ments will not be phased out u n , od
The attorney for the Atjan {in
board urged the court to allow i
uation of a gradual transition
a totally segregated system to
regated one.” -a yea* 5
“We don’t propose to take , s ys-
to desegregate the Atlanta sc t
tern,” the board’s lawyer sai ^
don’t propose to do it tomorr° ^ Jo
are allowed gradualism bu
want to show motion.”
Atlanta’s grade-a-year pm® . t coU^
upheld by both the U. S. Dis t of
and the U. S. Fifth Circui
Appeals. ho0 l sU ”
Prince Edward County s sc ^ v -a--
lates back to before 1954, w gati*
me of the original school s -ubl 11
:ases. The county closed ga ti*
chools in 1959 to avoid a deses ^
irder, and the school board gupre irf
he court once again. e {he ■
7ourt has heard argumen s
jality of tuition grants
ichools.