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PAGE 12-B— MAY, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
TEN YEARS IN REVIEW
VIOLENCE CHRONOLOGY
Public Protests and Violence
Accompany Desegregation Moves
By HOYT PURVIS
tjblic protests and violence
connected with school deseg
regation occurred in every school
year but one during the first 10
years after the 1954 Supreme
Court ruling on segregation. The
only exception was the 1961-62
year.
Every Southern and border state,
and the District of Columbia, experi
enced incidents in which whites pro
tested school desegregation or Negroes
urged more or faster desegregation of
schools.
Violence connected with school de
segregation included shootings, bomb
ings, burnings, boycotts, rioting,
marches and threats of harm. Two
men killed during rioting at the Uni
versity of Mississippi in September,
1962, were the only deaths that occur
red on any school or college campus
during segregation violence. In 1963
an NAACP official suing for school
desegregation was assassinated. Seven
Negroes were killed in Birmingham,
Ala., in racial violence in September,
1963, the same month of the city’s
first school desegregation.
The major incidents of violence and
protests associated with school deseg
regation in the Southern and border
area during the first decade, listed by
school years, follow:
1954-55
Sulphur Springs, Tex.—On July 18,
1954, two shotgun blasts and seven
pistol slugs were fired into the empty
home of the local NAACP chairman.
The NAACP had petitioned the school
board the week before to admit Ne
groes.
Greenbrier County, W. Va.—A week
after Negroes entered White Sulphur
Springs and Rupert high schools, some
white students began a boycott. A
group of white parents gathered out
side the meeting room of the county
board of education, which decided to
reverse its desegregation policy. A
federal court order returned the Ne
groes to the schools more than a year
later.
Boone County, W. Va.—Students
protested and adults picketed against
desegregation but Negroes remained
in school with whites.
Milford, Del.—Anonymous telephone
Louisiana
(Continued from Page 11-B)
ties, maintaining that statistics are no
longer kept by race, decline to say how
many pupils or schools are involved.
Private institutions also play a ma
jor role in higher education in Louisi
ana. Catholic institutions have been de
segregated, for several years. Loyola
University in New Orleans began ac
cepting students without regard to
race in 1949. Tulane University, also
in New Orleans, admitted its first Ne
gro students in the spring of 1963. A
federal court had ruled that as a priv
ate institution it could not be forced
to 1 desegregate but neither were the
racial covenants in its endowments en
forceable in law.
In its pivotal role in public edu
cation, the Louisiana legislature sought
to erect a wall of statutes and reso
lutions between the schools and the
federal courts. In six regular and five
special sessions since 1954, the legis
lature adopted 131 measures designed
to preserve segregation in the schools.
As the 1954-64 decade waned, Loui
siana looked more toward the “free
dom of choice” concept spelled out
in several enactments beginning in
1958. Private school cooperatives are
encouraged and pupils who attend
private non-sectarian schools are
awarded tuition grants of up to $360
per year. The program administered
by the Louisiana Financial Assistance
Commission is financed by $300,000
per month from the state sales tax.
By the most recent accounting, 10,-
136 students attending 58 private
schools in four parishes will receive
$3.5 million during the current school
year. The grant-in-aid program has
come under sharp criticism from pub
lic school officials in New Orleans
because the tuition grants exceed the
state allocations per pupil to the city
schools. Educators in other areas of
the state have cited the lack of stand
ards for facilities and programs in
some of the private schools that have
sprung up under the program.
threats and protest meetings led to the
closure of schools and the resignation
of the school board, which had kept
its desegregation plans secret until the
day before they began. Bryant Bowles
held rallies of his National Association
for the Advancement of White People.
A new school board ousted 10 Negro
children and restored segregation. A
series of court orders over a period of
several months returned the Negro
children to the Milford school
Baltimore, Md.—A few students pick
eted and paraded, but firm action by
school and city officials ended the
protests within a few days. Anonymous
threats of violence had encouraged the
students to withdraw from desegregated
schools.
Washington, D.C.—White students
marched and picketed for several days,
protesting desegregation at formerly
white senior and junior high schools.
School officials restored order by the
fourth day and enrollment returned
to normal.
1955- 56
Hoxie, Ark.—Anonymous threats, a
public protest meeting and a student
boycott in July and August resulted
in school closing two weeks early for
the fall harvest. Schools reopened on
Oct. 24 with the same Negroes in
classes with whites.
Chattanooga, Tenn.—The school
board declared July 22, 1955, that it
would comply with the Supreme Court
decision as soon as it could adopt a
“specific plan.” On Nov. 15, 1955, a
vial of tear gas broke up the first
meeting of a 40-member interracial
advisory committee appointed by the
board. On March 31, 1956, the Board
of Education said it was convinced
“the community will not accept any
form of integration . . . within the near
future.” Chattanooga did not admit
Negroes to previously white schools
until Sept. 5, 1962, by court order.
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa—
When a Negro woman, Miss Autherine
Lucy, entered the university in Feb
ruary, 1956, students and outsiders
threw rocks, yelled epithets, attacked
cars and threatened personal violence
to Miss Lucy. The Board of Trustees
excluded her after her third day “for
her protection” and later expelled her
for accusing the board of conspiring
with the mob. The expulsion was up
held by federal court. In June, 1963,
two Negroes entered the school after
a federal court ruling that the 1955
permanent injunction ordering the uni
versity to accept qualified Negroes re
mained in effect.
Nashville, Tenn.—On Jan. 23, 1956,
about 300 segregationists from several
cities marched on the Tennessee capi-
tol. Gov. Frank Clement rejected their
pleas to preserve segregation.
1956- 57
Texarkana (Tex.) Junior College—
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
ordered the school to admit two Ne
groes, but a mob barred them from
the school in September, 1956. A shot
gun blast was fired at a gas station
owned by a Negro leader, and on the
campus a Negro effigy was hanged and
a cross burned. Texas Rangers dis
persed the mob but made no effort to
escort the Negroes into the college.
The first Negro students enrolled in
1963.
Clinton, Tenn.—John Kasper, secre
tary of the Seaboard White Citizens’
Council, spoke against school desegre
gation, and was convicted on Aug. 31
of contempt of court for violating a
federal court order. Demonstrations
followed a speech by Asa (Ace) Carter,
president of the North Alabama Citi
zens’ Council, to a crowd of approxi
mately 1,000. On Sept. 1, 2,000 persons
in the courthouse square had to be
dispersed by tear gas grenades. Gov.
Frank Clement sent in 100 state police
men to reinforce local officers. On Sept.
2, Clement relieved the police with
633 National Guardsmen, who broke
up a crowd of about 1,000 that night.
Demonstrations shifted to nearby Oli
ver Springs on Sept. 3, and two tanks
and 71 guardsmen were sent to break
up a large crowd. The next day, nine
of 12 Negro students attended class in
Clinton High under court order, with
many whites absent. The following
day, all 12 Negroes were in class and
white attendance was back to normal
by Sept. 15. On Nov. 17, Kasper, sen
tenced to a year in jail and a $10,000
fine on federal charges, was aquitted
of state charges of sedition and incit
ing to riot. By the end of November,
two Negroes had quit school because
of harassment and 10 others remained
home. On Dec. 14 six Negroes re
entered school and a white minister
who accompanied them was beaten.
Fighting and disturbances in the school
caused classes to be dismissed at mid
day. Kasper and 15 others were ar
rested for violations of the injuction
against interference with desegrega
tion. On Feb. 14, a suitcase loaded
with dynamite exploded in the heart
of Clinton’s Negro section, injuring
two persons and damaging homes and
cars. Kasper was rearrested in March
on a second charge of criminal con
tempt. Kasper later was one of seven
convicted of criminal contempt.
Mansfield, Tex.—White crowds gath
ered around the school, and stores
closed after the school board lost the
legal fight to prevent enrollment of
Negroes. Gov. Shivers sent Texas Ran
gers to disperse the crowds. The three
Negroes eligible to attend the school
were transferred out of the district,
which remained segregated through
1963-64.
Clay and Sturgis, Ky.—The Union
County Board of Education decided
to admit a few Negroes to white
schools without a formal desegregation
plan. Whites appeared at the schools
to stop the Negroes and Gov. A. B.
Chandler sent in the National Guard.
The students briefly attended the de
segregated schools until the attorney
general declared them illegally en
rolled. The following year, Negroes
entered Sturgis under federal court
order, but none attempted to enroll
at Clay. (See 1957-58.)
Henderson, Ky.—A student boycott
encouraged by the Citizen’s Council
gradually collapsed when the state at
torney general said some of its leaders
were open to prosecution for conspir
acy or sedition.
Lamar State College of Technology,
Beaumont, Tex.—Police arrested sev
eral persons in October for picketing
against the attendance of five Negroes,
who had enrolled by federal court
order.
Mercer County, W. Va.—Demonstra
tors appeared at the Matoaka school in
1956 and 1957 in an unsuccessful effort
to get the board to rescind its desegre
gation policy.
1957-58
Little Rock, Ark.—Gov. Orval Fau-
bus used National Guard troops to
prevent nine Negroes from entering
Central High School on Sept. 4. After
a period of conferences and legal
skirmishing, a federal judge enjoined
Faubus and the guards from inter
fering with desegregation. Mob action
reached its peak on Sept. 23, the first
day after Guardsmen had been re
moved. A disorderly crowd forced
authorities to withdraw the Negro
students from the school by midday.
After crowds gathered at the school
again the next day, President Eisen
hower sent federal troops to restore
order. The Negroes re-entered the
school on Sept. 25, under the protec
tion of paratroopers. After violence
subsided, federal troops were with
drawn on Nov. 27, and federalized
Guardsmen remained until the school
term ended in May, 1958. Only minor
incidents occurred in the school year.
North Little Rock, Ark.—After the
trouble in neighboring Little Rock, the
school board delayed its voluntary
plan to admit seven Negroes to the
high school on Sept. 9. However, six
of the Negroes attempted to enter any
way, and a crowd of whites stopped
them.(North Little Rock plans to de
segregate for the first time in the fall
of 1964.)
Nashville, Tenn.—Protesting whites
gathered at schools and several inci
dents occurred when court-ordered
desegregation began in seven previ
ously white schools. Early on Sept. 10,
a bomb destroyed one wing of Hattie
Cotton School, which had admitted
one Negro the previous day. John
Kasper received city, county and fed
eral court restraints for opposing de
segregation. School attendance returned
to near normal by mid-September,
with 11 of the Negroes remaining in
five schools.
Birmingham, Ala.—The Rev. F. L.
Shuttlesworth, a Negro minister, was
beaten by a group of white men when
he attempted to register his two daugh
ters at an all-white school on Sept. 9.
Ozark, Ark.—Three Negroes dropped
out of a desegregated school within
Dynamited Schoolroom in 1958
Troubles recurred at Clinton, Tenn.
a week, under reported harassment by
white pupils. (See 1958-59.)
Easton, Md.—Police arrested three
pickets at a desegregated school on
opening day. Ten sticks of dynamite
attached to a partially burned fuse
were found on the lawn of a Negro
family having children in the deseg
regated school.
Deale, Md.—The one Negro enrolled
in a school with whites withdrew after
a cross was burned and bricks were
thrown through school windows.
Charlotte, N.C.—Taunts, jeers and
spit greeted a Negro girl entering
Harding High School. After a week
of harassment she withdrew, although
other Negroes in desegregated schools
remained.
Greensboro, N.C.—Hecklers shouted
and threw eggs at Negroes in a form
erly all-white high school. An explo
sion failed to damage the home of two
Negro children in a desegregated
school.
Mercer County, W. Va.—Students
refused for a time to return to classes
at Matoaka High School and roughed
up two Negro students before state
policemen restored order. At Bluefield,
students staged a brief protest demon
stration.
Welch, W. Va.—About 400 white
high-school students staged a one-day
boycott and marched through the busi
ness section.
Sturgis, Ky.—Thirty state troopers
were on the scene after incidents in
volving booing and stone-throwing
when 18 Negroes enrolled under fed
eral court order. Heckling and boy
cotting dwindled after a week. Four
persons were arrested. (See 1956-57.)
Jacksonville, Fla.—Mayor Haydon
Bums sponsored the organization of
an intelligence agency for 28 Southern
cities after a series of racial and re
ligious bombings. The bombings in
cluded a Negro junior high school in
Jacksonville.
Gaffney, S.C.—Five members of an
“independent” Ku Klux Klan were
arrested for the Nov. 19 dynamiting
of the home of Dr. and Mrs. James H.
Sanders. Mrs. Sanders had contributed
a “moderate” statement to the booklet,
South Carolinians Speak, suggesting
initiating school desegregation with
first-graders.
1958-59
Clinton, Tenn.—Three dynamite
blasts heavily damaged the high school
on Oct. 5. Desegregated in 1956, the
school had experienced almost a year
of calm prior to the bombing. (See
1956-57.)
Madisonville, Ky.—After white
women pickets caused shoving and
squabbling at a newly desegregated
elementary school, a federal judge
ordered two marshals to the scene.
On Sept. 9, state police joined them,
dispersed the crowd and made several
arrests.
Ozark, Ark.—Three Negro girls re
turned home after white students
caused trouble over their attendance
for the second year. (See 1957-58.)
Van Buren, Ark.—As the second
year of desegregation began, about 50
white students went “on strike” and
burned an effigy on the school grounds.
Several Negroes withdrew from two
schools, but 13 continued to attend
classes.
Osage, W. Va.—An early-morning
dynamite blast on Nov. 10 damaged
the desegregated junior high, but offi
cials could not definitely connect the
bombing with the fact that the school
had been desegregated since 1955. There
had been no prior incidents. The bomb
ing set off a series of bomb scares in
the state.
Richmond, Va.—Gov. Lindsay Al
mond was believed the target of an
attempted assassination on April 10,
1959, as he walked across Capitol
Square. Speculation was that the as
sassin was a disgruntled, all-out seg
regationist.
1959- 60
Little Rock, Ark.—High schools re
opened in August after a year of inop
eration. Police broke up a march on
the desegregated Central High by dem
onstrators who had gathered at the
state capitol and been addressed by
Gov. Orval Faubus. On Labor Day,
three dynamite explosions damaged a
city-owned car, the mayor’s private
office and a school administration
office. Five men were convicted of the
dynamiting.
Dollarway, Ark.—Whites beat an
elderly Negro man waiting for two
Negro children he had escorted to
register at the white school.
Raleigh County, W. Va.—Enrollment
of three Negro girls in a high school
with whites resulted in name-calling
incidents and a hair-pulling struggle
among students.
1960- 61
New Orleans, La.—Whites jeered
and booed four Negro first-graders
entering two white schools under court
order on Nov. 14, 1960. On Nov. 16,
violence erupted in the downtown area
after the Citizens’ Council called for
a mass march on the school board
building. The few white parents whose
children remained in the schools des
pite a large-scale boycott were con
tinually harassed and threatened. An
almost total boycott was not lessened
until the 1961-62 school year, when
four additional elementary schools
desegregated.
(See EVERY, Page 13-B)
Florida
(Continued from Page 10-B)
regated has five Negro faculty mem
bers.
At the beginning of the ’60s, Negro
leaders in Florida gave top priority to
school desegregation. A planned strate
gy picked target counties in which
Negro parents laid the groundwor
by seeking to enroll their children m
white schools. When refused adrm s
sion, they filed suits.
School Push Slackened
In the last two years emphasis has
shifted to other areas of civil rign,
and the school push has slackened
become part of a larger picture. So
suits filed months ago have not oea
pressed.
The federal government, which s ^
plements school funds in at leas
Florida counties rated as impa c
areas, maintains steady pressure
for
desegregation. This was the
factor in Monroe, Santa Rosa
Okaloosa counties. The U.S. ^?7jn
ment of Justice intervened direc . ^
Bay County by filing a suit (u- •
Bay County) in 1963. It con ^
that the morale of military P® rs °_ ina
at the large air base near Ban ^
City was damaged by segreg
schools. omen*
The expanding civil rights
is beginning to involve school ate d
in demonstrations. It has also c j of
a political issue in the 1964 ra
governor. rour*’ 8
Ten years after the Supreme' ^e-
mandate schools have been
gated in 16 of Florida’s 67 c
But in most cases the amount
ing is small and more “tan ^
cent of Florida’s Negro childr
attend segregated schools.