Farmer Didn’t Know
CROP
JeSiiiBEa“K|
VOLUME 32—NUMBER 28
DURHAM, N. C., SATURDAY, JULY 14,1956
PRICE 10 CENTS
Calhoun-Davis Duel On Film
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PAGE FIVE
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Attacks Mount On Plan
Court Ruling
Mixed Athletic
Contests Nixed
By La. Senate
BATON ROUGE, LA.
Athletic events involving
participants from both races
was outlawed by the Louis
iana Senate by a unanimous
33-0 vote here last week.
AlOioiifh the measnre moat
return to the House for oon-
enrrenee in a Senate amend
ment, It is expected that it nf ill
pass and be signed
Earl Lobk.
The amendment would delay
until October IS the effect
the bill MO that the SfiiVv^port
baseball team can complete its
season in the Texas League.
Also included in the bill was
a proliibition against social
events Involving members of
both races.
Sen. J. D. DeBileux of Baton
Rouge, home of LSU, tried in
(Please turn to Page 8)
Reaction to a plan to defy the
Supreme Court's ruling against
segregation in public education
mounted with increasing inten
sity in North Carolina this weeic
as the opening of a special ses
sion of the legislature to deal
with a proposal to circumvent
the edict neared.
A committee headed by
Thomas J. Pearsall of Rocky
Mount has formulated a plan by
which private schools would be
supported from tax funds and
through which public schools
would be closed in some instan
ces to forestall integration.
Closed meetings between the
Pearsall committee, Gov. Luther
Hodges and members of legisla
ture are being held this week in
an attempt to woric out legisla
tive proposals from the plan to
submit to a specikl session of the
legislature ^hicb'wiU convc^, at
the Governor’s request July 21.
Joel A: Jotuison, Republican
candidate for the U. S. Senate,
gation in public education
Rep. Dan K. Edwards of Dur
ham, in rejecting an invitation
to attend closed meetings of the
legislators studying the Pearsall
proposals, declared tliat lie wms
opposed to any attempt to cur
tail public schools.
Although provisions for legis
lation to be offered by the Pear
sall group have not yet been
made public, it is generally l)e-
lieved that two of the major
items will call for amendments
to the State Constitution to per
mit support of private schools
out of public funds and to per
mit closing of schools in local
units' under “intolerable” con-
ditionsf
The fact that details of the
legislation to be proposed by
the Pearsall committee has not
been made public also drew
heavy criticism during the
weelc.
Both Johnson and Edwards
attaciced what they termed the
charged that the plan to enact' secrecy surrounding discussion
legislation from the Pearsall of the Pearsall plan. And At-
report is an effort to deceive the
people into believing tiiat the
state' can legally circumvent the
Supreme Court ruling on segre-
tomey John W. Caffey of
Greensboro, a former member
of the state legislature, sent a
(please turn to Page 8)
Parties Blame
Each For Loss
Of School Aid
WASHINGTON
Democrats are blaming Re
publicans and Republicans
are blaming Democrats for
the failure of the important
School Aid Bill to pass. This
is the bill to which had been
attached Congressman
Adam Clayton Powell’s
rider which was to bar Fed
eral grants for school'con
struction to States refusing
to comply with the Su
preme Court decision a-
gainst school sc^egation.
No one seems able to clear
ly point out the reason for
the House’s roll call vote,
224-194, except to admit
that it was a dead issue for
this session of Congress.
Democrats said they pro-
(Please turn to Page 8)
Two North Carolina Mutnal ofiBcials received service i Inspection clerk. At right, Mrs. Alma Wade pins thirty year
pins at the June anniversary dinner of the firm. At left, pin, containing three rubies—one for each ten years service—
E. R. Merrick, vice president-treasurer of the Arm, affixes a to lapel of J. W. Goodloe, secretary and office manager,
diamond set, 40 year pin on Mrs. Charity E. Rivera, claims |
MAHJUMU
A
The Carolina Real Estate and Builders
Association will meet in its third conven
tion at A. and T. College in Greensboro on
July 21. Shown here are members of the
planning committee preparing for the an
nual meeting. Left to right are H. M.
Michaux, Durham, president; E. B. John
son, Winston-Salem, vice-president; C. M.
Winchester, Greensboro, sec’y; R. L. Lee,
Wilmington; vice-president; R. F. Graves,
Winston-Salem. Hidden are C. W. Robinson,
High Point; and J. B. Johnson, Wilmington.
Deadline For Integration
Start In Virginia Asked
A deadline of September 1957
for desegregating Prince Bld-
ward County’s schools has been
asked by attorneys for the
NAACP.
The request was made here
early this week before a tliree-
judge federal court of the 4th
U.S. Circuit.
NAACP attorneys told the
court that no effectual move had
been made by the county to
comply with the Supreme
Court’s May 30, 1955 decision,
ordering the county to desegre
gate “with aU deliberate speed."
They asked the court for a
"reasonable*'start” toward de
segregation in the county this
FaU. ,
No decision by the court ap
peared forthcoming inasmuch
as the question as to whether
the request is to be heard by
a three judge panel or single
jurist has to be settled.
Prince Edward County has at
tracted attention of followers of
the school desegregation issue
because it is thought to con
tain most of the possible situa
tion that may be found in the
desegregation issue.
It was one of the original five
counties included in the school
segregation case brought be
fore the Supreme Court.
Virginia has also enacted a
private school plan, similar to
one North Carolina is contem
plating making into law.
The outcome of the Prince
Edward County case will be
used to determine how far the
South is prepared to go in its
threat to close the schools
rather than submit to desegre
gation and also how far Ne
groes are willing to press for
implementation of the court’s
decision.
The reaction of many ob
servers to the NAACP request of
a deadline of 1957 was that it
represented a compromise. Ear
lier, it had asked for an end of
segregation by the fall of 1956.^.,
Following the Supreme
Court’s direct order to the
county to desegregate with
“all deliberate speer,” came a
subsequent order from a lower
I court last year which bars the
county from operating “sep
arate schools.”
However, the county had not
I begun to desegregate as of yet.
Dr. Elder Asks For 5.6 Million For
H. C. College For Next Two Years
Sharecropper
And Dau^r
Arrested In S. C.
SUMTER, S. C.
An eighty year old shax*-
cropper was taken into cus
tody here Monday near
Rembert when federal
agents discovered a field of
marijuana plants growing
in his garden.
Also arrested was his 22
year old daughter. Miss
Dorothy Mae Cantey. Both
said they didn’t Imow the
plants were marijuana.
The Canteys were arrest
ed by J. C. Wilkie, federal
narcotics agent of Augusta,
and Sheriff I. Byrd Parnell
and his chief deputy.
They were accosted at
their home and ciiarged
with possession of narcotics.
The Sheriff said the mari
juana had not been used
athou^ some plants in the
75 foot row were ready for
harvesting. He also said it
was the first instance of
marijuana being found in
the county to the best of his
knowledge.
President Alfonso Elder of
North Carolina College Tues
day outlined total budget re
quests of $5,674,157.00 for the
,1957-59 bie^hjni to the Ad
visory Budget. Commission.
The NCC educator asked for
$3,645,158 for operational ex
penses and $2,028,999 in per
manent improvements.
His permanent improvement
i^equest included a student un
ion building estimated at $642,
534 and a dormitory for Senior
and GrSduat^ Womeh^tudehf^
listed at $1,386,465.00.
At the operational level, $1,
824,861 was sought for 1957-58
and $1,810,297 for 1958-59. Es
timated receipts for 1957-58
were listed at $795,469, and the
actual appropriation sought
amounted to $1,039,392. Re
ceipts for 1958-59 were also
$795,469 with the actual appro
priation asked totaling $1,014,
828.
In presenting his 1957-59
budget request, in a prepared
statement, Dr. Elder said; “As
a result of the action of the last
General Assembly, the North
Carolina College at Durham is
faced during the 1955-57 bien
nium with three very difficult
situations. In the first place
receipts for each year were
over-estimated by the Legisla
ture. In the second place, ex
penditures under certain budget
items were cut to 'Ihe point of
embarrassment. In the third
place, student fees and charges
at the college were increased
proportionally more than they
were at any other state institu
tion.
The NCC president said re
ceipts for (ba 1956-^7 biennium
had been overestimated by
some $86,000 and he added that
the reduction “in quality at
goods and services which we
were able to purchase during
the present biennium represents
a severe setback in our pro
gram.”
Continuing Dr. Elder said:
"Our best guess as to how this
overestimation came about is
that an unequated total enroll
ment figure was used by the
Legislature in computing re
ceipts. For example, the College
is required to collect $194,249.
00 in tuition during the 1955-56
year from students who are
residents of North Carolina. At
$130.50 per student, this means
that an estimated total of 1,489
students was used by the Legis
lature. In addition, the College
is required to collect $68,300
from out-of-state students. This
amount represents an estimated
total of 148 students. Thus, an
estimated total of 1,637 students
was used in this computation of
receipts when the College ac
tually had only 1,286 in-state
studenta or a total of 1 446 stu
dents, COUntUlg bOUl Ul-stdlb
and out-of-state students.
The Commission was asked to
-consider favorably the college’s
request for a request for a re
duction in the cost of board.
Wilkins Warns
Parties Against
Any Compromise
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal.
With the convention of the
major political parties at band,
Roy Wilkins, NAACP executive
secretary, warned that Negroes
would demand “strong civil
rights planks in the platforms
of both major parties” i.i s i
dress at the closing session of
the Association’s 47th annual
convention here.
' Because much has itappened
since 1952, these planics must be
much stronger than those of
ujf yaars ago,” he told the
1,0)0 M.\ACP delegates as they
prepared to depart for their
I'.omes in 38 states across the
nation.
"We now liave the Spprema
-;H»^~-deeisie» -the- Mhaai
asas, and the rulings sa
recreation and travel discrimi
nation,” the NAACP leader
pointed out. “We have had
Montgomery, Alabama, with all
of its implications. We have had
open defiance of the Supreme
Court and the Constitution. We
have had nullification resolu
tions and a congressional mani
festo insulting the highest court
in the land and advocating vir
tual rebellion.
“We have had U.S. Senators
traveling up and down the land
urging the people not to obey
the Supreme Court. We have
had villification, terror and vio
lence visited upon sections of
our population who have asked
merely tiiat the law of the land
be observed.”
These develpnments
Uocioxc«i| a new
situation calling for affirmative
action. “No party piatJorm that
ignores these developments and
pretends that 1956 is the same
as 1952 can command the allegi-
(Please turn to Paga 8)
Educator Outlines Smoothness Of Integration In Baltimore
CHAPEL HILL
"The school board saw its re
sponsibility and accepted it. It
recognized fiurther that a Su
preme Court ,decision is not
a suitable subject for debate,”
Dr. John H. Fischer, superinten
dent of the Baltimore public
school system said in an address
at the University of North
Carolina Monday night.
Speaking under the auspices
of the Chapel Hill-Carboro
Mi()lsterial Association, Dr. Fis
cher told the mixed audience
that “the question before us (at
the announcement of the 1904
decision) was not whether we
would comply with the decision
but simply how we should pro
ceed to discharge our obliga
tion.”
He said that on June 1, 1954
the city solicitor advised the
board of education that the Su
preme Court’s decision “had
rendered our local ordinance
(1867) imconstitutional and In
valid.” Within two days the
abolishing segregated schools
and ordered all schools to begin
operation on a non-segregated
basis by tite opening of the
school term in September of the
same year.,^
Dr. Fischer ^d that the
t>oard asked him how long It
would require his staff to make
the changes necessary in carry
ing out the new policy. He re
call^ that it took one week to
make the necessary changes to
desegregate a school system of
150,000 students and 5,400
teachers. The essence of the
Superintendent's report to the
board was “that beginning
September 1, 1994. our schools
will continue to operate exactly
as they had before except that
thereafter race would no longer
be a consideration in any de
cision. In terms. of policy and
administration it was as simple
as that,” he declared.
Dr. Fischer told his audience
that school officials were in
terested in opening doors, but
board adopted a resolution not in pulling anyone through
them. He stated that the de
segregation process began with
the merging of the two separate
eligibility lists for teachers. In
1954 six Negro teachers were
.^plpye^, .at previously all
white- spools "and last year 60
Negro teachers and vice princi
pals were employed at the for
mer white schools. He cited
figures to show that the school
system was not confronted by
wholesale demands for transfers
by either race. Dr. Fischer
pointed out that in 1954 ap
proximately three per cent of
the Negro school population was
enrolled in previously all white
schools. Last year the percen
tage rose to five percent.
Of the 1,700 Negro pupils at
tending m^ed schools in Balti
more most were elementary pu
pils, chiefly kindergarteners
and first graders. Naturally
they went to school nearest
their homes. ^
"In assigning both teachers
and pupils we stu;k rigidly to
a policy of non dl^'^nlnation.
We determined at the outset
that we would not manipulate
people to create integrated situ
ations. Having rejected the use
of any kind of manipulation to
create segregation, we rejected
it equally as a means to create
integration. Our purpose was to
eliminate the bars that kept
children out of schools that they
preferred and were qualified to
enter. We wanted also to de
stroy the bars that kept teach
ers from being assigned to posi
tions for which they were
qualified and where they could
do their best work. We were
very much interested in open
ing doors; we were not at all
Interested in pushing at pulling
people through those doors,”
Dr. Fischer stated.
Obviously proud of "The Bal
timore Story”, Dr. Fischer ad
mitted that he could not discuss
the situation in the Baltimore
schools with “cold blooded ob
jectivity,” and asked to be for
given it he exposed this limita
tion. Contrary to the opinion of
many southerners including
Baltimoreans, Dr. Fischer was
bom, reared and educated in
Baltimore and his wife can trace
her Baltimore ancestry back 300
years.
The speaker related the brief
opposition to the board’s de
cision, but commented that last
ye%r the schools opened and
operated without Incident. He
said not only are the teachers
and school board pleased with
what has happened, but an
overwhelming number of citi
zens. He said “The whole town
seems to feel a quiet pride in
the way the undertaking has
been carried out.”
"Questions have l>een raised
aljout the effect of desegregation
on standards. Desegregation has
brought no new scholastic prob
lems. Teachers and psycholo
gists have long known that
children fropn homes in a low
socio-economic . group usually
do less well in school than child
ren from homes with more ad
vantages. Many Negro children
come from poor homes. It is
therefore to lie expected that
they will do relatively poorly
in school. But.many white child
ren also come from hon\es that
do not provide the l>est setting
for a child and these children
also leave much to be desired in
their school performance.
‘>As Negro and white child-
n go to school together we
still find the usual problems of
universal education but no Ne
gro child has brought us any
problem that hasn’t also been
brought to us by a white child.
Whatever instructional problem
we have are those which come
with a heterogeneous popula
tion. These we have had for a
long time and we must expect
to have them as long as child
ren have different psychologi
cal and cultural backgrounds.
“In the early days of the pro
gram some parents were appre
hensive about health problems.
Here again, an examination of
the facts has dispelled uifound-
ed fears. No Negro child has
ever come to school with
health problem tliat isn’t pre
sented somewhere by a white
child. A racially mixed enroU-
with a hecterogeneous popula-
ment creates no additional
health problems. In the two
years since our schools have
l>een integrated we have had
only one complaint from a pa
rent about| a health matter in
volving a racial angle. She
claimed that her child had
brought home a skin infection
that had l)een picked up in the
school from a Negro -classmate.
Our school physicians and our
health department made an im
mediate and exhaustive inves
tigation. They determined that
the report was completely un
founded. The skin disease
wtiich the white child had was
not of a sort that could have
been communicated in the way
the mother Rad claimed and it
was further found that the
white child was the only pupil
in the class with the condition
being complained about.”
At the close of the school
year 1955-56 about 3,000 Negro
pupils tiad been integrated
though only 30 of the 180
schools in Baltimore enroQed
Negroesr Or. Fischer observed
that 95 per cent of the Negro
school children continued to at
tend all Negro schools. “In
general the elementary schools
of the city reflected the raciaii
composition of the communities
in which they are located.”
In conclusion Dr. Fischer
said “the progress in Baltimore
has demonstrated that both the
commiuiity and the school sys
tem could adjust to desagraga-
tion without any serious W&-
culty. Under the new policT
public education has goo* tot>
ward without tnterrupUoa
with profit. The awful tMkgik
that were so tre*»y preaMgi
simply did net- haypen kr
timore. At Om o«ta«l tMlgi ^
us said that we we
that good iriU goaA
were Aaractatliti* «t
{nmm tun