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PAGE 2—MAY, 1965—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
TENNESSEE
Commissioner Urges Desegregation of All 12 Grades
(Continued from Page t)
had indicated that federal funds were
being withheld from 40 Tennessee sys
tems which serve children of federal
employes and military personnel.
A spokesman in the State Education
Department said the state has 54 school
systems which qualify for “impacted
area” funds and of these only 14 had
received funds since December.
“Presumably,” the spokesman con
tinued, “non-acceptance of their com
pliance with the Civil Rights Act has
something to do with it.”
While those which have not received
funds were not identified, 13 of those
which have continued to receive fed
eral assistance were listed as Bristol,
Dayton, Fayetteville, Humboldt, Hunt
ingdon, Lenoir City, Milan, Murfrees
boro, and the county systems of Car-
roll, Moore, Morgan and Sullivan along
with the South Carroll Special School
District.
Warf said he expected all of the 54
systems to comply so that funds for
the current fiscal year will be paid.
Two Announcements
Apparently in response to a request
by Warf in March that school systems
make public their plans for desegrega
tion, the Bledsoe County and Rhea
County school boards announced they
will desegregate all grades this fall.
Meeting at Pikeville on April 23, the
Bledsoe County Board of Education
voted unanimously to take the action
and to close its only Negro elementary
school, Lincoln, at the end of the cur
rent year.
Negro high-school students in Bled
soe County have been attending Car
ver High School at Dayton, which also
will be discontinued after this school
year.
The Rhea County Board of Educa
tion the day before had taken similar
action, transferring two of the Negro
teachers at Carver High School to
positions in predominantly white
schools. Three other Carver teachers
were not re-elected for next year and
the board’s action was described as a
move toward closing the predominantly
Negro school which now is attended
by about 60 students.
Neither of these districts previously
had been listed by SSN as desegre
gated.
The Chattanooga Times, however,
said the Rhea County system was de
segregated for the first time last fall.
Now 69 Districts
Including these two systems, the
number of districts desegregated in
policy or in practice rose to 69. Of
Tennessee’s 152 districts, 11 have no
Negro students residing within their
boundaries.
Two previously desegregated dis
tricts in Upper East Tennessee, mean
while, voted to close Negro schools.
The Johnson City Board of Educa
tion, under federal court order to ex
tend desegregation to all grades in
September, announced it will not op
erate its all-Negro high school, Langs
ton, and that Langston students will
attend predominantly white Science
Hill High School. (SSN, April.)
In Elizabethton, all-Negro Douglas
School will be closed as a result of
action by the board on April 5. Douglas
students will be enrolled in predom
inantly white schools in the district
and in Elizabethton High School, which
is operated by the Carter County dis
trict.
Four Negro teachers previously as
signed to Douglas will take posts in
predominantly white schools, officials
said.
Teachers Affected
Warf said the new federal guide
lines, which also call for steps toward
faculty desegregation, require joint
faculty meetings and in-service train
ing programs for Negro and white
teachers.
“But Tennessee’s state law goes
further than that—something that is
not generally known,” the commis
sioner said.
Warf said the state teacher tenure
law provides that a qualified teacher
either be re-employed or paid after
he has been hired for a fourth conse
cutive year.
Seven Tennessee districts have some
form of teacher desegregation during
the current year.
Also awaiting federal approval is a
plan filed by the State Board of Edu
cation for compliance with the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 in the operation of
the state-supported colleges, universi
ties and special schools.
Warf said federal officials had re
quested and had been provided addi
tional information and that he hoped
Tennessee Highlights
All public-school districts in Ten
nessee were urged by State Educa
tion Commissioner J. Howard Warf
to lower racial barriers in all grades
this fall.
An NAACP motion asking com
plete desegregation of Chattanooga
schools, including teaching staffs,
was taken under advisement by
U.S. District Court Judge Frank W.
Wilson.
The Wilson County Board of Edu
cation’s proposed plan for hiring
school personnel, including teachers,
on a nonracial basis was approved
by U.S. District Judge William E.
Miller.
to receive notification of its approval
soon.
All of Tennessee’s public colleges
and universities have been operated
on a biracial basis for several years.
The commissioner announced on
April 21 that the all-Negro division of
the Tennessee School for the Blind at
Nashville will be closed and that ad
ditional dormitories will be built to
provide accommodations for its stu
dents at the predominantly white
branch.
This statement came in response to
a complaint from a group of Negro
leaders who charged the school prac
ticed racial discrimination. The school’s
main facility is located in suburban
Donelson where Negro students have
been permitted to enroll although a
separate Negro division also has been
maintained.
Complaint Against UT
The University of Tennessee, mean
while, was under investigation by fed
eral authorities after a complaint was
filed that the university hospital at
Knoxville segregated its patients.
Dr. Andrew D. Holt, UT president,
said he believed “the entire matter
will be settled satisfactorily for all con
cerned.” He said
the complaint,
which was pre
sented to the U.S.
Department o f
Health, Education
and Welfare,
“came as a sur
prise,” and he
promised correc
tive action if any
violation were
found.
James M. Smith
of Atlanta, regional representative of
the U.S. Office of Education, conferred
with Holt and hospital officials on
April 28 and was expected to file his
report on the investigation soon after
returning to his headquarters. (Smith
is retired president of Memphis State
University.)
Officials said no comment will be
made by HEW until after the report
is studied by James Quigley, assistant
secretary.
The investigation was announced
shortly after HEW had approved a
$113,433 grant to UT for work study
programs involving low-income stu
dents.
tered to attend previously all-white
high-school classes next fall in
Madison County.
A Hamilton County teacher who
was reprimanded for discussing de
segregation and other subjects in his
classroom notified the board he
would not return to his post this fall.
The first field office to be estab
lished by the U.S. Civil Rights Com
mission will begin operations in June
at Memphis.
Dr. Vivian W. Henderson, long
identified with desegregation efforts
and department head at Fisk Uni
versity at Nashville, has been named
president of Clark College in At
lanta.
Federal officials were quoted as say
ing new federal grants to the univer
sity would be held up pending com
pletion of the inquiry. They declined
to identify the source of the complaint.
The UT hospital was one of 12 hos
pitals against which similar complaints
were filed.
Legal Action
Full Desegregation
For Chattanooga
Argued in Court
U.S. District Judge Frank W. Wilson
on May 1 postponed a ruling on a mo
tion by the NAACP Legal Defense
Fund asking complete desegregation
of the Chattanooga schools, including
faculties, this fall.
Dr. Bennie Carmichael, superinten
dent, and other school officials con
tended that the quality of education
would suffer if the previously approved
rate of desegregation were accelerated.
Attorneys representing the NAACP
said, however, the time had come for
total desegregation in light of recent
decisions by federal courts.
Carmichael, in the witness chair for
about four hours, was questioned at
length about teacher desegregation.
He said he believed uniracial teaching
staffs could maintain a higher standard
of education than biracial staffs.
NAACP Defense Fund attorney Der
rick Bell of New York told the court
the issue was not whether desegrega
tion poses problems in the community.
Attorney Avon N. Williams Jr. of
Nashville, also representing the plain
tiffs, said Wilson’s previous rulings
WILLIAMS CARMICHAEL
merely established the minimum rate
of desegregation and did not preclude
an acceleration.
Both sides were given until May 10
to submit briefs to the court.
Teacher Training
Carmichael, in his testimony, re
ferred to a project the board has
launched to train teachers who serve
in desegregated schools. He said the
program will be valuable to teachers
in studying learning and behavior
problems.
At one point during the arguments,
Williams objected to the pronunciation
of the word “Negro” by attorney Ray
mond B. Witt Jr., counsel for the school
board.
The Nashville lawyer charged that
Witt was pronouncing the word “Ni
gra,” which, he said, “is pretty close
to nigger.”
Witt assured the court and Williams
that if he had mispronounced the word
it was unintentional.
Six Grades Biracial
Chattanooga schools this year com
pleted desegregation of the first six
grades, under a court-approved plan.
They are scheduled to extend biracial
classes to the seventh grade this fall
and gradually to all grades by the fall
of 1968.
About 900 Negroes are attending
predominantly white classes this year
while an estimated 1,000 Negroes are
enrolled with about 55 white students
at predominantly Negro schools.
The Chattanooga desegregation case,
Mapp et al v. Chattanooga Board of
Education, was filed in 1960 and led
to the order to begin biracial classes
in the fall of 1962.
Judge Wilson previously had taken
the teacher desegregation request un
der advisement. The district, however,
during the past year has named three
Negroes to supervisory posts or as con
sultants in the system.
★ ★ ★
Board’s Plan for Teachers
Approved by U.S. Judge
U.S. District Court Judge William E.
Miller on April 17 granted the Wilson
County Board of Education permission
to follow its own plan for electing
teachers and other school personnel
for next year.
Miller, in keeping with a previous
order, reminded the board, however,
that race must not be considered in
the employment of faculty members
and other personnel, including bus
drivers.
Attorneys representing a group of
Negro plaintiffs had asked the court
to approve their plan, but Miller said
he felt the school board had acted in
good faith.
Miller on July 31, 1964, ordered de
segregation of teachers and other per
sonnel to begin in the fall of 1965 and
on Sept. 11, 1964, approved a plan of
fered by the board to permit any stu
dent to enroll at the school of his
choice. (Sloan et al v. Wilson County
Board of Education.)
On Dec. 31, 1964, the board complied
with a court directive in submitting a
plan calling for the employment of
teachers and other personnel “without
regard to race.”
The board noted that it already had
Twenty-two Negro students regis-
What They Say
Justice Calls For Obedience of Law
Associate Justice Tom C. Clark of the
U. S. Supreme Court said in Chatta
nooga on April 21 that civil rights dem
onstrations are proper but should be
geared to obedience of the law.
Appearing at a Law Day luncheon
sponsored by the Chattanooga Bar As
sociation, Clark said no citizen can de
cide for himself whether a law is valid,
is valid.
“Rights can exist only under law,”
he said. “Overindulgence, excessive
toleration chip away inexorably at the
base of our own personal liberties.”
Clark said claims to the effect that
recent Supreme Court rulings on in
dividual rights tend to harm society by
encouraging crime are unfounded.
During the program, Chattanooga
civic leader William E. Brock Jr. re
ceived the association’s “Liberty Bell
Award.” He was lauded for many com
munity activities, including his service
as chairman of a citizens committee
during desegregation of Chattanooga
and Hamilton County schools in 1962.
★ ★ ★
Dr. Winfred L. Godwin, director of
the Southern Regional Education
Board, said in Nashville April 8 that
the “negative” image of Southern
higher education is reinforced by “ev
ery terrible and highly publicized fail
ure to come to grips with the race is
sue.”
Addressing the Tennessee College
Association, Godwin said the problem
of achieving a higher quality in edu
cation could be laid directly to recruit
ment and retention of good faculty
members.
“Despite the steady movement of
most Southern states into national life,”
he said, “the negative image tends to
persist. It is reinforced by every piece
of legislation that regulates the selec
tion of campus speakers, by every ter
rible and highly publicized failure to
come to grips with the race issue and
by every refusal to insist that educa
tion cannot tolerate sectional stand
ards.”
★ ★ ★
Hobson R. Reynolds, grand exalted
ruler of the Improved Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks of the World,
said in Chattanooga on April 9 that
two-thirds of the civil rights problem
could be solved through adequate
housing.
“When you have bad housing and it
is segregated and you have schools
among segregated housing you are
keeping Negroes and white people
separated,” he said.
A former federal housing official who
resides in Philadelphia, Reynolds
added:
“Now if you make it possible for all
to have decent housing, then the Ne
groes and white people live closer to
gether, the schools are desegregated
and I have found that when people
learn to work together and live to
gether they don’t hate each other.”
Reynolds was in Chattanooga to par
ticipate in the dedication of an apart
ment project operated by the Elks.
started a program to eliminate “racial
segregation of faculties and other
school personnel” but said this “will
necessarily be a gradual process, as
many administrative problems will be
involved.”
It also said it could not state the
exact number of teachers “to be inte.
grated or the specific locations that
will be involved.”
Wilson County schools have been
desegregated since 1962 under federal
court orders. One Negro teacher was
assigned to a predominantly white
school this year.
★ ★ ★
Madison County Reports
22 Negroes Registered
School officials reported on April 17
that 22 Negro students had registered
to attend previously all-white high-
school classes next fall under a court-
ordered desegregation plan in Madison
County.
Supt. James Walker said 13 Negroes
registered at North Side High School
and nine others at South Side High
School. He said the registration was
“quiet and orderly.”
Opening of the 1965-66 school year
will mark the first high-school dese
gregation. Under a plan approved by
U.S. District Judge Bailey Brown last
year, about 75 Negroes attended prev
iously all-white classes in grades one
through eight this year.
All four high-school grades are to
be opened to students of both races
this fall.
Sought Postponement
Negro attorneys had asked the court
to postpone registration for at least
a month to allow parents of Negro
students “to select schools of their
choice.” They also had asked for three
full days of registration, instead of two
as scheduled by the board.
Nashville attorneys Avon N. Wil
liams Jr. and Z. Alexander Looby also
asked the court to order desegregation
of teachers, bus drivers and other per
sonnel and that racial discrimination
be eliminated in in-service training,
school-sponsored activities and in other
phases of school operations.
Judge Brown, however, made no
ruling on the motion before the
scheduled registration.
“We are complying with the court
order right down to the letter with
registration as it now stands and we
can’t make any change unless the court
tells us to,” Walker said.
Miscellaneous
Reprimanded Teacher
Says He Will Not
Return Next Year
A guidance counselor and teacher
who was reprimanded by the Hamilton
County Board of Education on Ap r
23 for permitting subjects includ f^
desegregation to be discussed in
classroom will not return to his P°
next year.
George L. Frank, East Ridge
High staff member, notified the bo
on April 24 he planned to attend g 1 ®^
uate school next year and <n d
desire to continue in his P osl
Dixie T. Smith, board chairman,
nounced. j
Frank was reprimanded by the ^
and relieved of his counseling
for what the board called “pool 1
ment” and a “complete lack of 1 ^
tion in permitting certain topics
discussed in his classes.” j
The board said Frank had re ,
to comply with orders from ie .
Henry Colston to refrain from
senting his own viewpoints regar
“morality, communism, religion
desegregation.”
Nine-Hour Hearing
Action by the board came f^gjgd
Lne-hour hearing on complain j r-
t a parent, Mrs. James F. < ^ ar ,,r a ts0 11 '
Frank’s attorney, Monly A. aC .
sued a statement protesting
on. He said: scho ol
“The published decision oi tn ^ gy p
oard is contrary to the facts e£ jjags
ence at the star chamber proce
ehind closed doors.”
Watson said all of the th®*
istified at the hearing had s a
le topics which resulted in
CSee TENNESSEE, Page