Newspapers / The Chapel Hill Weekly … / Dec. 28, 1961, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page 2 lntegration Was Big News (Continued from Page 1) cause their children had to ride 1M miles 8 day in school basses. 52 miles each way. When the applications tar trans fer were made public there were rumors of Ttoaiessee-typc recrim inations against them in the form of evictions from their homes. But most of them turned out to own their homes and to be sal aried UNC employees On February 9 the County- Board of Education denied their request, giving as its reason that no reassignment had been re quested for the children within ten days of the tone the parents were notified of their children's 1 school assignments in Jtaie of 1960 The Board also said (hat by State law three of the children were too young to be assigned to any school. The Board declared itself “not legally obligated to consider the I applications for reassignment at ; this time At a March 6 hearing on the j matter the children, now rep resented by Durham attorney Floyd McKissick. were again de nied their request in a statement the Board had prepared before Vt PRICE SALE • l 2 PRICE SALK • l/ 2 PRICE U 5 Save This Friday and Saturday * - £ H PRICE I sale : w | • Large TOYS • DOLLS s 3" up 2 1" • CHRISTMAS- % • r w Wrapping Flowers v Tree Decorations w — Flower Arrangements PS Cw Novelties Candies £ • Ladies' MILLINERY f * W hile They Last! " < ■' • Where Else Can You Get 50% On Your Money t 1 nrTMHprm i ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ \ 5 & 10c STORE g Eastgate Shopping Center iT* Open 9-9 Daily; 9-6 Saturday Phone 968-1681 £ p 3 Vi PRICE SALE • Vt the bearing. On April 4 A. H. Graham, at torney (or the County School Board, recommended closing the White Cross School. **!t's a lost cause before we start." said Mr Graham, and suggested that litigation o\er the matter, which seemed imminent, would be eliminated by consoli dating the White Cross ami Ay coefc eiemenraries Tlte County's 10-year school improvement pro gram called for the eventual closing of White Cross School anyway On May 1 the County School Board decided to close the White Cross School at the end of the year ami transfer its 75 white pupils to the Cameron Park School in West Hillsboro Meanwhile, four day after the White Cross controversy be gan. picketing began at the Caro lina Theater Some local Negroes had asked the Chapel Hill Mimsierial As sociation to negotiate with Caro lina Theatre manager I-' Car rington Smith tor permission to attend a showing of the film "Porgy and Bess “ which had an SALE NOW IN PROGRESS REDUCTIONS OF Vi ON MOST MERCHANDISE all-Negro cast Mr Smith refused, but offered instead to reserve the last Sat urday night showing of the film ; for Negroes only. The Ministerial Association de clined the offer, and 11 of its members. eight of them white, announced that they were boy : ; coding the theatre—as indivi duals. not as members of the 1 Association The picketing by both white and Negro sympathizers with the ■ Negro cause began Friday . Jan ’ nary 9 The next night two white CMC students who heckled the picketers were picked up by police. One was let off with a warning The other, wa- charged with public drunkenness The picketing continued, and negotiations wiih the theate' manager-, negun and on January I‘* Andy Gutierrez, manager of the Varsity Theater, announcer! that he would not integrate his theater Mr Smith also said he would stick to his non-integration policy. On Sunday, February 12. about sixty Negroes marched down Franklin Street singing hymns and stopped in front of the Town Ha!!, where they prayed tor ar end to racial discrimination. Except (or some shouts from four UNC students, they drew > little 'attention They were es : corted by police, who halted traffic while the parade crossed streets On February 23 a negotiating committee of picketers, who had formed themselves into a then unnamed organization, failed to persuade either theater manager to integrate. The picketing con tinued In March there were two at tacks. on the picketers Richard Proescher. a white UNO student, was attacked by two youths while picketing the. Varsity The police <ar which had been standing be ta keep an eye on the picketers had been called away to investi gate what subsequently turned out to be a lalse report of an exhibitionist at Spencer Dormi tory On March 29 J M. < udrin another white UNC graduate stu dent. was attacked in Hunt of the Bank of Chapel Hill after having been relieved from the picket .line Roy Anderson Jones of Carrboro and James * "Hoot"* Brockwell of Graham were ar rested for the attack shortly afterward The next day the picketers, ! who had by then formed into the Citizens Committee for " Open Movies, called an indefinite halt to the picketing They had con ferred with William Enloe, , Mayor of Raleigh and district manager of North Carolina The ater Industries Inc., who said he would try to effect integration at the Carolina Theater hut did not want to attempt this under the pressure of picketing Mr Enloe said a few days later that he saw no possibility of an immediate change in the theater situation, but did not rub- out j the possibility of any change at all. In mid-August two Negro UNC students attended The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" at the Carolina This marked the begin ning of the Carolina’s limited integration: UNC students only. THE CHAPEL HILL WEEKLY on presentation of ID cards The Varsity made no change in its integration policy at this time Mr. Enloe said the Carolina's integration was the first by a North Cnrdhnn theater On Nov emliei 12 picketing was begun again at the Varsity The , ater only There was no notice able'effect on attendance at the theater On November 27 limited integration was put into effect a; the Varsity, and the picketing w as suspended As of new the months of nego tiation between the Open Movies commith-e anti the theater man ageis have resulted in unlimited integration at the Varsity, and admission of Negro student*, their wives, families, and dates at the Carolina tin July 3 the chapel Hill School Board made the Chape! Hill School District the first in the Deep South to instigate volun tarily a purely geographical pupil assignment plan The news stories said “first 4o approve a; the time, but while the plan was widely approved in Chape! Hill, it was not en tirejy approved. Carrboro protested the plan strenuously, despite a motion by new K -ejected School Board mem ber Dr Fred HUE that the Carr boto School be a-Mgned the smallest possible number of Negro pupils At that meet in- the School Board tentatively accepted pro posed individual school district boundaries suggested hv Super intendent Joseph Johnston At a July 7 meeting however, new district lines were drawn, which the Board frankly admitted were gerrymandered to favor the Carrboro School The new lines put ti to 10-first grade pupils in the Carrboro School. 2'i to 23 in Glen wood )l 'plus three second grader assigned as first graders las! year' in the Estes Hills School, and 13 white chil dren at Northside. The new lines meant that Negro students living half a mile horn Carrboro School were sent to the Gienwood School lour miles away. One eighth grade student, Ted Stone, was the only one of three in upper grades whose request for assignment to the Chapel Hi 1 Junior High School was granted. A delegation of Carrboro citizens at the July 7 meeting advised "more caution" in the , plan, preferring token integra tion only. It was also at this meeting that architect Herman Babb, who died the no.v day. was taken suddenly ill.) Gienwood district residents or ganized to protest the gerry mandering in the geographical . plan, saying they were not J against integration but wetVntm in favor of Gienwood getting 1 more Negroes than any other school. The Human Relations Commis sion supported the plan, A group of ministers supported the plan. A group of Cairboro citizens organized to oppose the whole geographical assignment plan, regardless of how the lines wen drawn. VS lUiin a few days there were two petitions circulating in the Gienwood ait-a: one protecting the district lines but not request mg spci die action by the Board at this time" i: the other backed by 12 to 15 i>eople, sup port,im- the Board's action On July 2ti. at a meeting of several hundred people, the School Board considered 59 re assignment requests The results of their decisions brought inte gration up to the ninth grade level in the Chapel Hill Junior High School, and to the third ’ grade in Gienwood. Various pro and con feelings were expressed at the meeting from Gienwood citizens as a body and trom individuals The geographical assignment plan is now in effect as originally drawn up by the Board. In September the schools opened with a record enrollment of more than 8.350 in the county, and 3.796 in Chapel Hill. Within a week the Chapel Hill enroll ment topped 3,800 The geogra phical plan worked smoothly. No incidents were reported. Another "first" came as a result of integration in Carrboro, however. Carrboro watch repair man Hoece Birmingham ap plied to the School Board for a State tuition grant to send his two daughters to a private school in Durham. The daughters had been assigned to the Carrboro School After lengthy debate, the Board granted his request. Mr Birmingham’s tuition grant request was the first in the State since the Pearsall Plan was en I acted in North Carolina in 1954. j and the State was not quite ready to act on it. A list of "ac credited" private, nonsectarian schools in the State must be com piled first. This is under way now One other racial event was the one-man sit-in staged by Duke student Edward Opton the morn ing of June 19 at the Chapel H9l Bus Station Grill. Leo Eliadis, proprietor of the Grill, found Mr. Opton drinking a cup of coffee in the Nngro section of the Grill and asked him to leave. Mr Opton refused. Chapel Hill police were called, and after Mr. Opton again re fused ta leave he was arrested and charged with trespass. Legal complications delayed his trial until mid-autumn. Ke» (•order's Court Judge William Stewart heard the case and found Mr Opton guilty of trespass. Mr Opton. who was represented by Fics-d McKissick. appealed his case to Orange Kui»erior Court liis trial tiieic is pending a L S. Supreme Court ruling on a case similar to his and many others which is expected to set a prece dent-for deciding such trespass cases one way or another. Politically, too. it was a busy year ir, Chapel Hill. A round of elections began on March 18 when Orange County voters approved a $) 5 Million , iiool -lx-id issue as the first step in tne ten-yeat plan for bringing Orange .Schools up to Itfith par and date The Kind issue passed hv 2.827 to 1.513. Chapel Hill and Hills boro voiin; favorably. Carrbnro and the County's 12 rural pre cincts voting agaiost it. Chapel H.-ll's sc, per cent share. $840,000. will lie used to build a new junior high school, an ele mentary school in the Smith' Level area and to renovate Northside School Hillsboro will use its $560,000 to build a consolidatfsl County h.gh school The ten-year plan actually calls for *.7i. million, but the remaining M 3 million will he provided out of current funds at a rate of $260,000 a year -Chapel ff|?' s also elected town officials thi year On February 27 Mayor <) K Cornwell an nounced that he would not run for re-election and within a week Sandy McClamroch. then in his first term as an alderman, an nounced his candidacy for mayor. During succeeding vv ce k s George Ban lay Joe Page, Robert Pace and Hilliard Cald wetl announc'd their Candida* iu for alderman: and incumbent- Mr- Harold Walters. Paul Wager, and Hubert Robinson an nounced for re-election William Stewart bid for re election as Recorder's Court Judge School Board candidates were Dr Richard Peters, Dr Fred Ellis, Mrs Ross Scroggs. Wil liam Cherry, Earle Wallace, Mr Jes.se West, and B A I loft Jr incumbent Richard Jarner son also put in his bid. in Cawboio. the political field shifted and grew Gordon Fisher. A B Poole, Wiley Franklin. Noble Tolbert, f ail Bradshaw, and Robert Tiiden announced their candidacies for the Board ot Commissioners. Before the e.*.-ebon. Mr Tiiden withdrew and was replaced by E Bynum Riggsbee Incumbents Mayor (.. T Ellington and Commissioners Ralph Morgan and E O Hardee also announced. The results: SPECIAL Pre-Inventory TIRE CLOSEOUT yjßHßß^^jkjtjy^PpßWßv.^Hy^Wl^WPrMyM^rjWßWr^^iMyfl^HßßHß**t£if > P^^^MWK\Aty / . .<', ?.'/// /ms ( //{\ ( Szg (i f/?n g Arm « //f i / 2&>k7 / ///fi 7W /; f/Jj f fell I flL^/'#//// / Hi / /;) j # Stfjff f/'/t j jff fa ff'({ I rsBM jyis > / / f/ffi I Siam f {((/ * SMI llfltlßam ////// v;' / /////4nH - We’re making room for new siocks-We’re cleaning out and you can cleanup! BLUE RIBBON * f LIKE-NEW V/" USED TIRES CHANCEOVERS «££ ■ Many are original l«B I ALAUd c . , ,SOSO equipment tire. Most t1 /\ , rt ' *T LOW, LOW Popular II *95 os low as mrnm PRICES Sizes __ /y7\ 7 y f | *t*u* tax and your recappablt tires V^/ W Got to dear out last year’* jgßjglL $H 3 5 /ffla T, RES for fr/f*"- ■ ■r.«“*’“ lf»MI *}jf 4* iow a•' 4 |j| - r* ‘5 &i **■ "“ ' ~ "'■ '■■ ' " ' 4 "gjjff - We need the tairehouse space by January 2 CHAPEL KILL TIRE CO. | j ITtH 502 West Franklin Street Phone 967-7092 1 P Mrs, Scruggs. Dr, Ellis, and Dr. Peters were elected to the School Board. Mr. Cherry lost by two votes. Mr- Walters. Dr. Wager, and Mr. Robinson were re-elected as aldermen. f Mr. MUClarnroch was elected Mayor there were some interest-' ing write-in choices of other people-, and Mr Page was chos en by the A Mermen to take his place on the Board. In Carrboro, Mayor Ellington wa, re-elected without opposi tion; Mr Morgan and Mr. Har dee were re-elected Commis sioners and Mi Franklin and Mr Pool.- vwre elected to re place the other two incumlients who had not Riled In the same election. Chapel Hill approved $l 6 0,000 in north for the alterat'ion of the Town Hall, purchase of iiie tri angular lot between the Airport Road Ninth Columbia Street, and Steohens Stieet. anti the construction then- of the first unit of a new- municipal center. The .a’dermen officially agreed on August 18 to make the pur civase , The third appearance of voters at polls tin- year vva- on Novem ber 7. when Chapel Hilliami turned out to tie among the few ip tii'- State to approve the pro-» posed s*,i 5 niillion Statewide hood i- ue. In spite of weeks of . publicity and committees drumming up supfxirt. the rural areas all Went against all ten items in the bond issue—though the County as a whole carried 8 of the 10 Passage ot the bond issue would have meant the expendi ture of about $0 million in im provements and expansion ot the ' University, arid a University pay roll increase of SI 5 million Some ot the University'- im provements and expansion pro jects will i .irried out despite the failure of tt:e bonds v. Among the most heated—and intricate—controversies ot the past year were those arising out of zonint’ and land use problems. There were four major inci dent - in this category the Mor gan ( reek bridge dispute the Town House apartment project dispute, the Duke Power line dispute, and the Masterbilt Homes commercial-housing pro ject dispute. The latter two are as yet unresolved. In early April 95 residents of Kings Mill Road, Sourwood Drive. Ashe Place, Coker Drive, and Morgan Creek Road all petitioned the Planning Board to forbid construction of a bridge across Morgan Creek to Ashe Place The bridge was part of a preliminary sketch of developer [ William Hunt’s proposed Laurel t-Hill subdivision and would havg^ made major accesses cut oi urn paved roads in a resident ibi area. The petitioning residents claim ed access could be provided to the subdivision from the Far rington Road. In early May engineer Robert Ayres, representing Mr. Hunt, submitted another preliminary sketch to the Planning Board, in which the bridge was nut shown and access to the subdivision was provided via Farrington Road. At the same meeting, how ever. Pearson Stewart asked the Planning Board to approve ex tension of the Chapel Mill Thoroughfare Plan into the Mor-, gan Creek area. The Thorough fare Plan also provided access to the Laurel Hill subdivision but it and Mr. Ayres' road did not coincide Mr. Hunt had indi cated. but had made no com mitment. that he favored the Thoroughfare Plan, but the Plan ning Board sent Mr Ayres back to persuade Mr Hunt to decide exactly what he planned and re submit that at a later.meeting At the end of May the Plan ning Board approved another sketch with the stipulation that provision for the bridge be in cluded. but only as a possibility, to assure buyers in Laurel Hill that tney could have access to their land. On June 12 the Board of Ald ermen approved the sketch hut refused to accept the Planners’ stipulation as to the bridge since, it turned out. no right of way had been provided across the 20-odd foot strip between the end of Ashe Place and Morgan Ct eek lii the meantime, the Towne House tussle was already in pro gress On May 8 it was revealed that Durham developer Abe Green berg had contracted with the Harriss Land Co. to buy 13.2 acres in the wooded valley at the east end <# East Rosemary Street as a site for a $-1.1 million development The development would have housed 104 apart ments in 13 two-story buildings. Immediately opposition ap peared An appeal by attorney John Manning for residents of the* area (nought revocation of the building permit tor ten of the 13 buildings, trecause there was insufficient square footage in the. site to accommodate the buildings proposed under the requirements of RA-10 zoning Other nearby residents re quested upzoning the area to RA 20 The developers changed their plans to reduce the number of units and the revoked building permit was reissued. But the Board ot adjustment, appealed tp by^the residents, upheld the Thursday, December 28, 1961 appeal and (he developers re sorted to application to the j Aldermen tor a special use per ' mil. The bone of contention was 1 whether the buildings conformed j to RA 10 square lootage require rr nts li covered walkways, ■ which were planned, could be considered stifficient to render 13 buildings as one. the project conformed. If nrt. it didn’t. Late in May' the Planning Board recommended' d>-nial of : 'he upzpning request, saying it was apparent that the reason fo>- the request was to prevent a landowner from using Isis land as presently zoned However, the Aldermen, after refen ing the developers' request for a special use permit to the Planning Board., declined the «} Planner.--' recommendation on up- ™ zoning and approved the upzoning of the Tenney Circle area from RA-10 to RA-20, thus preventing construction of the Towne House j as it was planned. On June 27 an ordinance to j this effect was passed But by then the entire Planning Board i had resigned, questioning : whether the present planning j system still in effect vvitii a new Board ! served a ustdul purpose and daifning that many of their recommendations in the past had been ignored They recommended that a four man planning sub-committee lie appointed to assist a professional, full-time planner At the end of June the Aider men appointed a brand-new, ten j man Planning Board. On July 7 the new Planning Board recommended denial of the requested special use permit On July 11 the Aldermen upheld g the recommended denial. * On August !5 the Board of Adjustment upheld an appeal against the building permit for : the remainder of the -Towne House. The developers then took out a new building permit for a new site between the Airport Road and Hillsboro Street Pro gress at this new site wa s momentarily delayed while G S Baldwin and John Manning objected: dilferenc-es were ironed out. however and construction went ahead at the new site ■ During the summer the Duke Power line dispute began The I mversity agreed to co operate witti Duke Power in j bringing in additional power for l Chapel Hill via a power trans mission line Duke* Power set tled on a route which ran close to the south bank of Morgan Creek Morgan Creek residents ! objected Duke Power began con demnation proceedings against the residents, since it was unable 1 (Continued on Next Page)
The Chapel Hill Weekly (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 28, 1961, edition 1
2
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