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PAGE 8—JUNE, 1964—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS * OKLAHOMA Three ‘Outside’ Educators Begin Study of Oklahoma City Plan OKLAHOMA CITY 'T' hree educators with race and human relations experience will begin in June an intensive study of Oklahoma City’s school desegregation plan. All from outside the Oklahoma City public school system, they were ap pointed May 13 by U.S. District Judge Luther Bohanon. The study is expected to take 60 days. The order naming the panel came over objections of the Oklahoma City Board of Education. Its attorney, the late Walter A. Ly- brand, argued that the court is without jurisdiction to “take over the functions of the school board and write a plan of desegregation.” Named by the court were Dr. William R. Carmack, director of the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies, University of Oklahoma; Dr. Willard B. Spalding, assistant director of the Co-ordinating Council for Higher Edu cation, San Francisco; and Dr. Earl McGovern, administrative assistant to the superintendent of the New Rochelle, N.Y., school system. Experts Nominated The men were nominated by U. Simpson Tate, Wewoka, Okla., attorney. He was invited by the court to submit names of experts after the school board declined to have the study made. Tate represented Dr. A. L. Dowell, Oklahoma City Negro optometrist, in the litigation that led to Judge Bo- hanon’s request for an “impartial, non- preiudiced, non-biased, independent” evaluation of the board’s permanent desegregation plan. Late in May, Carmack said the three men appointed scheduled their first meeting for June 5-6 in Norman, Okla. He said they would make plans for the study. Although no chairman was designated by the court, Carmack took the initia tive in setting up the meeting because he is closest to the scene. He had never met the other two men and, as far as he knows, they had not met each other, he said. Tate had with him at the May 13 court hearing Derrick A. Bell Jr., New York, an attorney for the Legal Defense and Educational Fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Bell cited the qualifications and back ground of Spalding and McGovern, who were not present, after Tate had Car mack testify in person on the witness stand. Lybrand declined to question Car mack, who was the only witness called. Neither did he make any statement beyond his motion claiming the court Delaware (Continued from Page 6) from a school district unless it is in full compliance” with the Delaware Code dealing with deletions of taxables. Small said he realized that the order caught the Levy Courts at a bad time, just as they were compiling tax lists. The Sussex County Levy Court, on May 5, voted to withhold action on Small’s order until the next fiscal year. Kent County, while taking no official action, will apparently ignore the order. “We know nothing about it,” said Mrs. G. Dorsey Torbert, deputy re ceiver of taxes. “We know about the telegram, but it is something fo’- the school boards to work out,” she said. While Small showed no concern over a year’s delay, the vice-president of the state board took an opposite view. Opposite View “It is a disgraceful situation when in telligent school board members deli berately try to evade state laws in order to delay the integration of schools,” said Dr. Hiram C. Lasher. School boards in lower Delaware, he said, have known of the law for years, “but have not taxed the Negroes in hopes they won’t attend the integrated or all-white schools.” The Millsboro district, in Sussex County, for example, Dr. Lasher said puts Negroes on the tax list only if their children attend the white school. “I am glad to see steps are being taken to prevent this condition con tinuing in the future,” he said. Dr. Lasher lives in the Millsboro dis trict. Oklahoma Highlights Three outside educators were named by a federal judge to evaluate Oklahoma City’s permanent desegre gation plan. A Negro was nominated for a state House of Representatives post from Oklahoma County. If elected, he will be the first of his race to serve in the legislature since early statehood. was without jurisdiction to name the three experts. Likewise, Dr. Jack Parker, superin tendent, and other school officials present in court said they had nothing to say when invited by Judge Bo hanon to speak. After approving the appointments, the court called on the board to give the three men its “full and unhampered” co-operation, including access to all records and documents. At the outset of the hearing, Tate said that, although the court had in vited the nomination of three separate persons or agencies, from whom one would be chosen, he was asking that all three be appointed. He explained it was difficult to find persons of the desired stature in the field who have time to do the work. Before Tate could call his witness, Lybrand asked the court for permis sion to read his “defendants’ response to plaintiffs’ motion for survey of the school system.” Lybrand said that, if the intent of the motion was to suggest persons to be used only as witnesses, there was no need for it. ‘All The Facts’ “The defendants have been and are now so solicitous that all the facts be known that the defendants offered plaintiffs and those working with them every opportunity to gain all pertinent information to bring before the court, all without the necessity for any court order,” he said. The school board attorney pointed out that the plaintiffs’ motion asked the court to order the three persons be appointed as “assistants to the court for the purpose of recommending . . . a plan of desegregation.” Lybrand then declared: “The defend ants submit that this court is without jurisdiction to take over the function of the school board and write a plan of desegregation. The function of the court is to apply the law to such a plan. The function of the court is to weigh the evidence and decide whether the board’s plan is lawful.” He added the court is “particularly without jurisdiction” to appoint as sistants to help it write a desegrega tion plan. Jurisdiction Questioned “Furthermore, the defendants submit that the court is without jurisdiction to assess as costs those monies neces sary to employ and educate the three persons named by the plaintiffs under the guise of naming them assistants to the court,” Lybrand concluded. He then asked leave to object to the introduction of any evidence on the matter. The objection was overruled. Carmack, 35 and a native of Decatur, Ala., testified the major emphasis of his training was in communication and speech. He taught speech at the Uni versity of Oklahoma before taking the human-relations studies post. In the last three or four years, he said, he has been interested in the role of communication in the process of social change. Carmack has co-authored a pamphlet on factors involved in the Dallas public school desegregation. It took account of social action in relation to social change and the role of communication. He testified the Southwest Center’s general approach is educational, not as an action agency but as part of OU’s interest in education. The center, he said, has access to all of the facilities of the university, including some na tionally known educators. Tate drew from Carmack his view of how the study should proceed. The OU man said the first task would be accumulating factual material on school zone boundaries, the racial and eco nomic makeup of the community and the correlation of this to the boundaries. He said the study should also go into the distribution of races in each bi- racial school, both in pupils and faculty, the curriculum available and the con ditions under which the school oper ates, such as crowding, facilities, equip ment and transportation. He testified that the board’s past and p esent assignment and transfer policies should be described in detail, along with its plans for changes. “I suspect also that social scientists ought to be involved in the study of the effect of assignment of pupils and the special effects of the educational process as it is related to particular children,” Carmack said. All of this should be aimed, he con- | eluded, at the effectiveness of the j schools in educating all children to take ■ part in society. In response to a question from Judge Bohanon, Carmack affirmed that he has cleared with proper university authori ties the center’s participation in the project. Then the judge said: “The Oklahoma City school board has filed what it terms its long-range plan of integra tion. The court hasn’t found any objec tion (to it) but the evidence before the court is insufficient to make an evaluation whether it should or should not be approved. Faith and Progress “I want to make sure the plan com plies with the law as to good faith and timely progress. Are you prepared to make the study on this basis?” “Yes, sir,” Carmack replied. When the court asked about cost of the study, Carmack replied that a num ber of persons ought to be attached to the project, some only for a single day for collection of data. He estimated that the study will take 60 days and cost $5,000. Bell then related to the court how his office, at Tate’s request, arrived at the selection of the other two men. He said he asked for suggestions from Myron Lieberman of the University of Rhode Island, who had contacted leading educators for their views on the educational benefits of a desegre gated school system and the problems that arise in the transitional period. Among the names suggested were those of Spalding and McGovern. Past Experience Bell said Spalding has done work on amending school boundary lines in Cambridge, Mass., Springfield, Mo., and Hood River County and Seaside, Ore. He said McGovern did much of the groundwork in the New Rochelle sys tem after a federal court ruled that there had been a history of gerry mandering that resulted in segregation of Negroes in one school, Lincoln. Mc Govern worked out the plan under which Lincoln eventually was closed, Bell said. Later, Bell told the court his mention of the New Rochelle case was “simply a reference,” implying he intended no p ecedent or example for Oklahoma City. Bell said the cost estimate was not firm but expressed the hope, because of the importance of the situation, that the court would not consider it the overriding factor. “Cost is not a serious consideration,” Judge Bohanon replied. “The im portant thing is to have a study made that will benefit the children of Okla homa City. Tm not concerned with the cost, except that it not be excessive.” Bell said the plaintiffs are ready to assume any part of the cost the court thinks proper. He also pointed to in creasing interest by large foundations in studies of this sort. Bohanon then granted the motion for hiring the three men to “aid the court in determining what is a proper plan of integration of the public schools of Oklahoma City so that the actual work ing and operation of the plan will be in complete harmony with the Supreme Court of the United States order in such matters.” Schoolmen Veteran Attorney Dies Suddenly A man who played a key role in the Oklahoma City school board’s com pliance with the Supreme Court’s de segregation rulings is dead. Walter A. Lybrand, attorney for the school board for 25 years and a former member, died in his sleep May 28. His age was not disclosed by the family WEST VIRGINIA Desegregation Proponent Nominated for New Term CHARLESTON ormer Gov. Cecil H. Under wood, seeking a second term after four years on the sidelines, easily won the Republican nom ination for governor on May 12, and Hulett C. Smith, former state commerce commissioner, is the Democratic nominee. fore Congress, was successful in his bid for renomination. His opponent, a Huntington chemist, had somewhat the same position as Byrd on civil rights. Community Action Greenbrier Schools While he was governor between 1956 and 1960, Underwood advocated and encouraged a broadening of desegrega tion in the public schools. During his years in office the last of the segregated counties dropped their school barriers. Underwood also endorsed a strong de segregation program during his two years as chairman of the Southern Regional Education Board. Underwood, who worked as a vice president for Island Creek Coal Co., one of the nation’s largest coal producers, du ing the past four years, is a former college vice-president and faculty mem ber. Smith is a Beckley insurance execu tive and vice-president of a junior col lege there. During the campaign he did not discuss the racial question, and at no point was he questioned about it. He had stronger opposition than Under wood, but received more votes than his three opponents combined. He ran with the quiet support of Gov. W. W. Bar ron, who is an outspoken supporter of school desegregation. U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, an op ponent of the civil-rights bill now be- but he was believed to be in his mid- 80’s. He remained active in his law prac- t’ce until the end. The school board relied heavily on Lybrand for legal advice. This was pa ticularly true in the critical days of ' lie summer of 1955, when the board deseg egated the Oklahoma City public school system in compliance with U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Lybrand had a front-row seat for the resulting desegregation of east-side Oklahoma City schools in the fringe areas between white and Negro resi dential sections. His large white house, surrounded by a white picket fence, sits across the street from Culbertson Elementary School, where the student body has gone from all-white to bi- racial to all-Neg-o. One of Lybrand’s big legal battles was defending the school board in the racial discrimination suit brought by Dr. A. L. Dowell, Oklahoma City Negro optometrist (Dowell v. Board of Edu cation) . He worked closely with the board in devising the long-range de segregation plan ordered by U.S. Dis trict Judge Luther Bohanon. Political Activity Negro Nominated For Legislature Oklahoma could have its first Negro member of the state legislature since 1909 as a result of May primary elections. John B. White, 32-year-old Oklahoma City insurance man, won the Demo cratic nomination in the Oklahoma County District 4 House of Repre sentatives race in the May 26 runoff. He defeated Bill J. Dane, 34, a white electrical contractor, by 825 votes after trailing throughout most of the tabula tion. White will face Paule DeGraffenreid, Republican nominee, in the November general election. Reported To Hire Few Negro Teachers The State Human Rights Commission was told in Lewisburg May 20 that few new Negro teachers have been hired in the Greenbrier school system since the schools were desegregated. Lewisburg is the center of strong Southern sympathies in a rich agricul tural area in the southeastern part of the state. Anti-desegregation demon strations have been held in the county on two occasions—back in 1954 when the county school board first tried to desegregate and again three months ago as a protest against the use of Negro students on athletic teams and as a drum majorette. The Human Rights Commission has been holding periodic meetings in var ious parts of the state, and at the Lew isburg meeting a number of witnesses testified. One of them, the Rev. R. J- Watson of White Sulphur Springs, said. “During the past 100 years Negroes have been kept in the lower income brackets We have had to live in substandard housing . . . “Why a.e we giving them (Negro children) an education if we can’t in- j tegrate them into the commercial life j of the community? They don’t need an education to dig a ditch.” Other witnesses testified that the mayors and councils of Greenbner county communities have pledged their co-operation in working to eliminate discrimination. Miscellaneous Group Protests ‘Old South’ Ball Marshall University president Stewa H. Smith turned down a reques Negro students April 29 that the ^ versity cease its official participati° n “Old South Weekend.” _- v j c As a result, members of the Interest Progressives (CIP), a , a civil rights organization, conduc , “formal, passive resistance P*"® during the annual observance by Alpha social fraternity. The OPP 0 ”^ of the observance also applaud ^ the American flag, rather t an Confederate flag, was unfurled a ^ a t university, bringing an end to had been a custom for some > ea “Old South Weekend” is a socl fJ ha fair staged annually by Kappa Members dress in Confedera e ^ forms, display Confederate a ’ a “secede” from the university weekend of partying, which is c by an “Old South” ball. ★ ★ ★ ^ H Nelson, 66, the first 0 f e on the West Virginia » * cation, died April 27 at 1 dey after a long illness. o0 ce irmerly of Charleston, e ® tor for a state compensation , United Mine Workers and lerous governmental 311 0 f th e ,1 nncts He was a member , 0 1953.