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\$ 30 *>2 ‘ ' Factual i 11 - VOL. II. N0 - 2 r>i NO I GI A IQ VO * S N 3 H JL V SNO t i I S » flODV S3 I 8V88IT V I 080 30 JO AINfl 800Z-H-59 Npr ~U>\ Objective AUGUST, 1964 the region 33 School Districts Plan to De x least 83 public school dis tricts in the 11 Southern states plan to start desegregation ' programs with the opening of the 1964-65 school year, according to a survey by Southern School ’ News correspondents. This new desegregation would give the 11-state area a total of 527 desegre gated districts—about one-fourth of the 2256 school districts having both races enrolled. Another 738 school districts have either an all-white or all-Negro enrollment. Court orders figured in the decision of 20 districts to begin biracial classes this fall. The other 63 districts acted voluntarily, although legal or financial '■ pressure stemming from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 influenced several of these districts. Officials of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare conferred with local school authorities at a series of regional meetings and notified them that the agency would withhold impacted-area aid funds from segregated schools. The ■ new rights act also provides that the U.S. Department of Justice could file school desegregation suits, under cer tain conditions. Every Southern state except Louisi- i ana will experience additional desegre gation this fall. Virginia reported 24 new desegregated districts, the largest number of any state. One of these is Prince Edward County, which figured in the original desegregation decisions ; of 1954 and now is reopening its public i schools after having closed them in i , 1959 to avoid admitting Negroes to i schools with whites. In Louisiana, St. Helena Parish was under court orders to desegregate this September but local officials have re fused to submit a desegregation plan. This is the first case to be referred by a federal court to Community Relations Service, created by the new rights act. Mississippi, the last holdout for seg regation in the graded schools, has agreed to begin desegregation programs in at least three districts this fall, and in possibly a fourth. All the new de segregation in Mississippi and Alabama comes from orders by federal courts. South Carolina reports it will have some voluntary desegregation for the first time. Districts Desegregating The number of districts scheduled to desegregate in each state are: Alabama, four; Arkansas, eight; Florida, three; Georgia, four; Louisiana, none; Mis sissippi, four; North Carolina, 14; South Carolina, six; Tennessee, three; Texas, 13; and Virginia, 24. In the border area, only Kentucky expects to gain a newly desegregated district. The addition of these 84 dis tricts would give the 17 Southern and border states, plus the district of Columbia, a total of 1,245 desegregated districts—41 per cent of the 3,028 dis tricts in the region having both races. The region’s total of 6,121 districts in cludes 3,093 that either are all white or all Negro. A list of the districts planning to de segregate follows, with (c) indicating those complying by court order: Alabama: Bullock County (c), Gads den (c), Madison County (c), Mont gomery City-County (c). Arkansas: Atkins, Danville, Dardan- elle, Havana, North Little Rock, Ola, Russellville, Texarkana. Florida: Alachua County (Gaines ville), Bay County (Panama City) (c), Brevard County (Cape Kennedy) (c). Georgia: Bibb County (Macon) (c), Dougherty County (Albany) (c), Mus cogee County (Columbus), Richmond County (Augusta). Kentucky: Shelby County. Mississippi: Biloxi (c), Clarksdale (c), Jackson (c), Leake County (c). North Carolina: Bertie County, Car- burrus County, Davidson County, Greene County, Greenville, Henderson ville (c), Iredell County, Lexington (c), Martin County, Stanley County, Tar- boro, Tryon, Warren County (c), Weldon. South Carolina: Beaufort County School District No. 1, Cooper River School District No. Four (North Charleston), Darlington County (c), Greenville County (c), Pickens County, Rock Hill. Tennessee: Madison County (c), Sparta, Williamson County. Texas: Brazosport, Columbia-Brazoria, Georgetown (c), Huntsville, Lewisville, Marlin, Marshall, McKinney, Mesquite, Orange, South Park, Taylor, Texarkana. Virginia: Accomack County, Amelia County, Bath County, Bristol, Bruns wick County, Campbell County, Car- roll County, Covington, Giles County, Gloucester County, Halifax County, Harrisonburg, Madison County, Meck lenburg County, Northhampton Coun ty, Page County, Pittsylvania County, Prince Edward County (c), Rappahan nock County, Rockbridge County, Rockingham County, Suffolk, Williams burg, Wythe County. ; WASHINGTON REPORT President Asks School Officials To Support New Civil Rights Act WASHINGTON resident Johnson appealed to leading public school offi- 1 dais from across the country July 30 to exercise influence in their communities in behalf of Peaceful compliance with the new Civil Rights Act. • I You are respected and looked to and er nulated by those who must lead Vesica tomorrow,” the President told : %9 educators who attended a White douse reception. ■ Your respect for law and order— ( |' 0Ur respect for human rights—will live °®g after you in the lives of those who , I °°* to your example now. “This is a great and golden moment for America—a moment to unite, a mo ment to lay aside the burdens of the past, a moment to move ahead. I trust to your leadership to help us hold that course.” The White House gathering followed similar sessions the President held a week earlier with businessmen and la bor leaders. Among the educators who accepted Johnson’s invitation, it was noted, were several dozen school superintendents and school board officials from Deep South states—including some whose communities have not yet begun de segregating their public schools. A year ago, when the late President Kennedy held a similar White House : MISSISSIPPI U.S. Judge Approves Plans for Biloxi, Jackson, Leake |. JACKSO (J S. District Judge Sidne ^ Mize tentatively approve c u ly 29 plans to desegregal n tb STa ^ e c ^ asses in Septembt (y e Jackson, Biloxi, and Leak school districts. ^ati* 26 a ® reec * to a request from tl Association for the Advanc I Colored People that he r ■'•'’'Arp Pl ans in January. T] ” objected to the grade-a-ye iistj. su bmitted by the three scho W a C S , asked that desegregatii accelerated. I CV etained jurisdiction in tl ty; Ca '^■CP attorney Derrick B( h f not se °k to upset tl fall e ore they become effective tl 'V y sa *d he considered the pla: es t procedure for amicable ai orderly desegregation of the schools.” “I hesitate and am reluctant to put my judgment up against those who rim the school system,” he added, “They are more qualified to establish the best method, far better than a judge is.” He said he wifi recall the cases in January to determine their operation, and for possible modification. “Maybe next year two or three grades and the following year three or four,” he said. “We’U have to wait and see. What I want to see is an orderly desegregation.” The plans submitted by the three school boards in the middle of July call for desegregation of first grade classes in September and one additional grade each following fall. The schools would be completely desegregated in 12 years. The NAACP asked Mize July 16 to (See THREE, Page 6) conference with educators to enlist their support for his civil rights pro gram, only a few white Southern edu cators accepted the invitation. President Johnson told the schoolmen that he intended to use all the resources at his command “to make sure those who claim rights—and those who deny them—bend their passions to peaceful obedience to the law of the land.” He said no Americans have an obliga tion or an opportunity “so great as yours now to serve and shape the fu ture of our society.” As he has on other occasions, John son referred to the current 88th Con gress as an “education Congress” and reviewed a number of school aid meas ures that have been enacted into law. “Men who neglect their schools neglect their liberty,” he declared. Celebrezze and Keppel The school officials also heard from Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Anthony Celebrezze and from U.S. Commissioner of Education Fran cis Kepoel, who addressed himself specifically to the school desegregation provisions of the Civil Rights Act. Keppel outlined the act’s Title TV. de signed to accelerate the pace of class room desegregation, and Title VI, which deals with discrimination in federally aided programs. The latter, Keppel stressed, “has the effect of amend in (r eve~y federal assist ance law to require that there be no discrimination in any program receiv ing federal funds.” In recent conferences with Southern school authorities, Keppel and other officials of the Department of HEW and the U.S. Office of Education ha->re made it clear that they will demand prompt compliance with Title VI in administer ing such federal aid programs as grants for “impacted” school districts—of which a substantial number are located in the South. With respect to the Civil Rights Act, Keppel told the participants in the White House meeting, “no one can deny that there are difficulties ahead, or that problems, long with us, are now grown (See PRESIDENT, Page 2) segregate ★ ★ ★ The only public college desegregation announced for this fall will occur in Florida. Two counties, Lee and Putnam, are closing the Negro branches of their junior colleges and opening the former ly all-white divisions to both races. The action in Lee County will result in the closure of the Dunbar branch and the desegregation of Edison Junior College. Putnam County is closing all- Negro Collier-Blocker Junior College and merging it with the formerly all- white St. Johns River Junior College. Seven private institutions of higher learning in the South have announced new desegregation policies to begin this fall. They are: Sacred Heart College (Roman Catholic), Cullman, Ala.; At lantic Christian College (Disciples of Christ), Wilson, N.C.; Newberry Col lege (Lutheran), Newberry, S.C.; Wof ford College (Methodist), Spartanburg, S.C.; Carson-Newman College (South ern Baptist), Jefferson City, Term.; Southwestern at Memphis (Presby terian, U.S.); and Randolph-Macon (Men’s) College (Methodist), Ashland, Va. The new desegregation at the public college and university level would give the 11 Southern states 127 desegregated institutions, leaving 83 still segregated. All 80 public colleges and universities in the border area have desegregated in practice or policy. When the new college year begins this fall, the South will have more than 130 desegregated private colleges, out of a total of 291. The entire South ern and border area will have desegre gated over 250 of its 438 private institutions of higher learning. In This Issue Monthly Reports Alabama 1 Arkansas 9 Florida 7 Georgia 2 Louisiana 1 Mississippi 1 North Carolina 12 South Carolina 8 Tennessee 11 Texas 3 Virginia 5 Washington 1 Special Articles The Region 1 New Teachers’ Group 7 NEW ORLEANS he St. Helena Parish School Board continued its 11-year- old fight against school desegre gation by rejecting a court order to devise a plan of gradual tran sition and appealing to the newly created federal Community Rela tions Service for help. The unprecedented action followed this sequence of legal maneuvers: • A mandamus issued July 10 by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals directed District Judge E. Gordon West to devise a three-stage desegregation plan to be implemented when schools open Aug. 12. The court sharply criticized Judge West, among others, accusing him of shirking his re sponsibility. • Judge West on July 13 issued the required order to the school board and in doing so fired back at the appeals court for what he called its “injudici ously couched” opinion, “an obvious attack on my personal integrity.” Judge West set a July 24 deadline for the board to present its plan. • The school board, on July 18, adopted a resolution saying it “must (See ST. HELENA, Page 4) Judge E. ‘An obvioui attack.’ LOUISIAN; tun Parish Refuses To Provide Plan Asked by Court ALABAMA School Board Gets Orders To Start Identical Plans MONTGOMERY chool boards in Birmingham, Huntsville, Madison County, Gadsden, Macon County, Mobile and Montgomery received orders in July and early August to initi ate virtually identical plans of new or expanded desegregation— four grades during the coming school year and two a year there after until desegregation is com pleted at all levels. Montgomery also faced desegregation for the first time and Judge Frank M. Johnson commented before he ruled on the case that it was the duty of the school board, not Negroes, to initiate desegregation. In all cases, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling of June 18 (SSN, July) was the dominant con sideration in the directives of the judges. The appellate court had ruled that faster desegregation was required, setting as a minimum the first, 10th, 11th and 12th grades for the coming school year and two grades in each following year until the process had been completed. Birmingham schools were desegre gated on a limited basis last fall, as were those in Huntsville, Mobile and Macon County. In Macon County all white students withdrew successively from three separate schools. Birmingham—U.S. District Judge Seyboum H. Lynne ordered the four- grade desegregation plan for Birming ham, rejecting petitioners’ argument that the plan was still too slow and only a device to prolong desegregation. Lynne directed the school board to advertise in a local newspaper, inviting Negroes to apply to previously all- white schools. The advertisements should appear on three separate days prior to the Aug. 10 deadline for regis tration of high school students, Lynne ordered, and should contain “the time, place and method of filing applications for assignment or transfer of pupils...” His order, as do others, leaves the initiative of transfers up to the Negro students, their parents or guardians. The Birmingham school board said in its plan that the deadline for transfer applications in the high school grades would be Aug. 10. Negro first-graders would report to the school they would (See COURT, Page 10) 1