Legal Research on Equal Protection of the Laws in North Carolina

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Members ol the North Carolina Adaisory Committee

A. T. SpeulotNc,Vice Chairman, CoNnen O. PeensoN,
Durham, North Carolina Durham, North Carolina

McNrrrr Surrr, C hairman,

Greensboro, North Carolina

Mancennr R. Vocr, Secretary,

Wilson, North Carolina

Paur, R. EnvrN, Assistant Sec-
retary,

Charlotte, North Carolina

Mlrreno Benrrr,
Durham, North Carolina

Hecron MacLreN,'
Lumberton, North Carolina

Wrllleu L. Txonn, Jr.'
Rocky Mount, North Carolina

Cunrrss Tooo,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Dn. R. A. WIlxtNs,'
Mount Olive, North Carolina

MenroN A. Wnrcnr,
Linville Falls, North Carolina

I Appolntetl llrrch 1060.
rReslgned at end of 10;9.

For rrlc by thc Supcrintcndent of Documenrr, U.S. Covcmmcnt Printing O6cc
\\'arhinlton 25, D.C. - Pricc Sl

Preface

This series of reports on equal protection of the law,s in North Carolina
was submitted to the U.S Commission on Civil Rights by the North
Carolina Advisory Committee.

The North Carolina Committee was established bv the Commission
in January r95g in accordance with the Civil Rights Act of rg57, sec-
tion ro5 (c) of which provides that "the Commission may constitute such
advisory committees within States composed of citizens of that State
as it deems advisable." The North Carolina Committec is one of 5 r

similar committees which have now been established in all 5o States and
in the District of Columbia. It is the purpose of these committees to
assist the Commission in its statutory duties, which are exclusively fact-
finding in nature. The Commission's duties include investigating denials
of the right to vote by reason of color, race, religion, or national origin;
studying denials of equal protection of the laws under the Constitution;
and appraising the laws and policies of the Federal Government with
regard to equal protection of the laws. The committees' members serve
rvithout compensation.

The Commission has received numerous reports from the State ad-
visory committees and has on two occasions issued bound volumes con-
taining the collected reports of all of the committees.

In the case of North Carolina, however, the range and quality of
the reports was so extraordinary, that only complete publication in a
separate volume could do justice to them. In issuing this publication,
the Commission wishes to express its profound appreciation to the chair-
man and members of the North Carolina Advisorl'Committee for their
selfless and dedicated efforts on behalf of their State and Nation.



I

Ir
t

EqUAL PROTECTTON OF THE LAWS

IN

NORTH CAROLINA

"Esse Q,uam Videri"

--The State motto since t9gg.

"Our State corstitution contains provisions that are
thc equivalent of thc due process of law and equal
protection of the law clauses.

"We know that the law applies with equal force and
with equal protection to the Ncgro, to the white, to the
Indiarr-to thc Protestant, to the Catholic, to the
Jew-and to those even who r€sp€ct no Higher Bcing.
This knowledge has not come from any Federal court
decision nor from any act of Congress. It has bccn
with us for a long, long time."

-The Attorney General ol North Carolina
Malcolm B. Scawell, before thc U.S.
Senate Committce on Constitutional
Righ*, tg5g.

_/
{"0-

Report of the &rth CarolinlAdvbry Committee
to the United-S-tites Commission on Civil Rights

r959-6e

CR/.22/rX/e-

No*h Carolina State Librar!
Raleigh



t

I

I

Contents

Preface
Foreword ............ i...........................

L Tse Iupecr or GovrnruENT. ..
Color blind or color conscious.
Examining the results
The closed circle.
Civil rights and civil responsibilities. . . .

II. Vornc
Historical perspective
Recent experience
Adequacy of data
Registration
County-by-county variations. .

The literacy test. . .

Appeal procedure and recommendations
Voter turnout....
Representation in general assembly.
Conclusions.

III. AourxlsrRATroN or Jusrrce
Enforcement agencies
Prosecuting agencies
Organization of the courts

Judges
Juries.
Attorneys
Witnesses.
Clerks

Prison system
Comments and conclusions. . .

IV. EuployMENT..
Total exclusion: State militia
Partial exclusion: North Carolina Employment Security

Commission
Employment by the State government. .

Merit system agencies

Page

III
IX
I
I

3

4
5

5
r7
20

2t
22

zB

36

3B

43

43
49
53

55
56
56
56
6o
6r
6z
6z
64
67
67

7o

73

77

v



IV. Euproyurxr-Continued
Other government employment
State influence on private employment. . . .

Employment by Federal contractors
Industrial education centers

Summary
V, EoucerroN....

The public school system
Teachers' salaries.
Daily attendance. .

Annual expenditures
Investment in school property
Dropouts and absences. ... .

Books and libraries
Lunchroom program
Accreditation.....
The one-, two-, and three-teacher schools
Lawsuit concerning equal facilities. . . .

Desegregation.....
Conclusions

VI. THB l]Nppuclrep
Sources of data
Military rejections.
Bureau of Census records of illiteracy.
Driver examinations
Television teaching.
Crcnclusions

VII. HousrNG.....
Substandard housing

Extent and location
Distribution by race.

Restrictions in buying or renting.
Building and loan associations
Insurance companies
FHA and VA. ..
Urban redevelopment. . . .

Ordinances compelling segregation by race
Deed restrictrons. .

Nonwhite access to public housing
Impact of highway and street construction
Nonwhite participation in State action affecting housing....
Role of real estate agents and boards
Conclusions

VI

Page

83
84
87

9r
98
99
99

IOI
r02
t02
r03
to+
ro4
r05
r06
III
tr2
I15
r2+
t27
r32
r32
I39
r46
r47
r49
r53
r55
r55
r56
r58
r58
r6z
r63
r65
167

r69
17r
r73
r74
r75
t76
r77

VIII. MBplcAL CARE.
Page

rBr
Statutes and cases. rgr
State owned and operated hospitals. fi7
General and allied hospitals r9r
Public health. r93
Public welfare medical care expenditures. rg5
Negro doctors and dentists 196
Nurses. r gg
Glaring neglect. 2oo
Indians. 2oo
Conclusions 2or

IX. Cor.rpursony SrcnroATroN. 2os
Government facilities. 2oZ

Education 2og
Prisons and training schools. 2o4
National Guard 2o4
Separate tax records 2o5
Police. 2o5
Municipal cemeteries. 2o5
Libraries zo6
Rural electrification. zo8
Recreation. zo8

Private facilities 2r t
Housing. 2t t
Travel . 2r I
Employment toilet facilities. zr8
Fraternal orders and societies 2rg
Marriage. 2 rg
Restaurants, hotels, and motels. z2o
Amusement. 222
Dead bodies 225
Cemetcries. 225

Conclusions 225
Afterword: Some uncxamined areas. . 22g
Acknorvledgments. 23r
Appendices. 43



Foreword

The North Carolina Advisory Committee has no enforcement powers.
It is not a court. Its proceedings are not adversary in nature. It is a
bipartisan, biracial, and geographically representative committee of
North Carolinians. The Committee has met about every 2 months and
in various parts of the State, including Asheville, Charlotte, lVinston-
Salem, Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Greenville, New
Bern, and Fayetteville. All of its meetings have been open to the public
and many persons appeared before the Committee to file written com-
plaints or make oral statements. Other complaints rvere filed with
individual members and later considered by the Committee. These
complaints related to alleged denials of equal protection of the laws
on account of race or color; none related to discrimination on account
of religion or national origin.

In addition to receiving complaints, the Committee itself undertook
to collect facts about the laws in North Carolina and how they applied
to white and nonwhite citizens. In collecting such information, the
committee sought the help of the colleges and libraries in North carolina
to determine what other studies had been or were being made. Then
the Committee, working through subcommittees in the fields of voting,
employment, education, housing, medical care, and the administration
of justice, solicited by personal interviews and by mail from manv gov-
ernment officials and agencies in the state the ans!!'ers to many questions
which had not been asked before. These ofhcials and agencies co-
operated voluntarily, and their time and effort in assisting the Com-
mittee has been invaluable.

The information thus collected and presented in this report is in
many respects new information; that is, much of it comes from ncw
inquirics made on a statewide basis and directed to official and respon-
sible sources. In a larger sense, all of it is new, even the historical
portions, because it represents a first effort bv a North carolina com-
mittee to look at the impact of government in our statc on rvhites and
nonwhites and to assemble in one place the data available to date.

No doubt many areas proper for this inquiry have been missed or only
partially explored. As the people of North carolina examine this re-
port, many suggestions for further study will be made to the successors



on the Committee. Time and circumstance will raise new questions
of equal protection of the laws for our citizens. This is only natural
and as it should be. "Government is not an academic matter," said
Gov. O. Max Gardner. "It is not, in its ultimate implications, some-
thing to which any citizen, white or colored, high or low, may safely be in-
different. It is something which during every hour of every day, touches
the life, security, and happiness of every man, woman, and child and
upon it in the final analysis depend many of life's profoundest issues."

Aucusr 15, 1962.

f. The Impact of Government

. . . it is the mildest and best established Government in the World,
and the Place where any Man may peaceably enjoy his own with-
out being invaded by another; Rank and Superiority ever giving
Place to Justice and Equity . . .

-John 
Lawson, History of North Carolina, t7og.

In the following pags, an examination is made of the way the laws in
North Carolina have affected white and nonwhite citizens. Each chap-
ter deals with an area of governmental action: voting, administration
of justice, employment, education, housing, medical care, and compul-
sory segregation in public and private facilities. The statutes and court
decisions in each field have been examined to determine what the law
says. The practices of government officials and others acting under
the authority of the law have been examined to find out what has been
and is being done. The thousands of daily decisions by public ofllcials
and private citizens acting under color of law measure the quality and
extent of the "protection of the laws" afforded the citizens of our State.
And finally, an examination has been made of the status of whites and
nonwhites in each of these areas to see if there are any marked differ-
ences between them; and if so, whether those differences were caused,
even in part, by governmental action.

By governmental action is meant the action of local, county, State, or
Federal government operating in North Carolina. This tier of legal
influences reflects our historical emphasis on the greatest possible local
self-.government consistent with both efficicncy and the presen'ation to
all the people of the State of North Carolina "of our civil, political, and
religious liberties" as declared in our State constitution.

COLOR BLIND OR COLOR CONSCIOUS

The Committee received no complaints and no evidence of an,v denial
of protection of the laws on account of reli.gion or national origin. All
the complaints were based on racial or color discrimination.

In trying to find out how the law was being applicd, the Committcc
took the view that whatever any governmcnt did in North Carolina,



it did by law; and whatever any government officials or those acting
under the color of law did in their official capacity they did as a part
of the application of law. Therefore, it became a question of seeing
whether the law, that is the government and the government officials,
were color blind in the discharge of their duties. Aside from the issue

of separation or segregation by race or color, were government expendi-
tures equal for all citizcns? If State services were graded as to quality,
were there any differences in the quality of services afforded to whites
and nonwhites? Did the written law, whether in statutes, ordinances,
or court decisions, clasify citizens by race or color? Did officials choose

betwecn citizens on account of their color or race?
In each instance it was necessary to go back into our State history

because race and color have from time to time, but not always, been
the basis for legal distinction and classification of citizens, in each of
the areas under consideration. No such distinction and classification was
required in many aspects of government action in the early history of
the State and certain later periods. In 1879, Chief Justice William
N. H. Smith declared: '

The law knows no distinction among the people of the State in their
civil and political rights and corresponding obligations, and none
should be recognized by thcrse who arc charged with its adminis-
tration.

In a later period, many acts were passed which did undertake to
make "cl.ass distinction" between whites and nonwhites. State policy
was for a while avowedly color conscious, though often coupled with
statements that there should be no discrimination. At the time various
cxplanations were given for these racial and color classifications of citi-
zens, and one of the recurring questions is whether these explanations
or justifications are valid on the basis of presently available facts. The
question arises, furtherrnore, whether governmental action in one area,

such as education, may not lay the groundwork for widely recognized

and accepted classifications and distinctions between the races in another
area, such as employment.

EXAMINING THE RESULTS

Anothcr way of looking at equal protection of the laws is to disregard
what the government sa1's it is doing and look instead at the end product.
For example, look at thc product of the schools. North Carolina is
the most "public school" State in the country; it has the highest propor-

tion of public school enrollment in ratio to private school enrollment. As
early as 19o7, Justice Henrl'G. Connor expressed our State's policy:
"The education of the children in the public schools is peculiarly, and
in a large measure exclusively, a function of the State-a trust which
she cannot delegate to any other agency." Therefore, if more than
50 years later the products of the public schools are demonstrably dif-
Ierent, as between the races; that is, if the white students show a much
better educational attainment or achievement than Negro students, it
can reasonably be said that this is some evidence that the public school
system over the years has not provided equal protection to all of our
citizens. Obviously other factors outside of the schools themselves affect
school achievement, but one way of testing our own experience with
the separate-but-equal policies which prevailed in an earlier period is not
merely to compare the equipment, buildings, and teacher pay, nor even
to compare teacher ratings or school accreditations. but to look at the
end product, the pupils as thev come out. That is the reason for the
inquiring into the uneducated in North Carolina--who they are and
where they live. This information might not onll' su.ggest that the
school system was not operating with an even hand but it might also
reveal deficiencies in homelife, the employment of the parents, partic-
ularlv fathers, and in their opportunities to participate in medical care
and public office, and in the practical prospects for the children them-
selves in tlese areas.

THE CLOSED CIRCLE

There is an interrelation between the government's impact in all these
areas. For example, if infrequent emplovment of Negroes in State
government could be justified on the grounds of inadequate education,
the next question is whether the government is in any rvay responsible
for the educational deficiency? Or if Negro housing is demonstrably
worse than white housing, has government policy in regard to emplo,v-
ment contributed to that difference in housing? If the school authori-
ties justify the separation of white and nonrvhite pupils on the basis of
differences in school achievemcnt, and cxplain that achievement dif-
ferences are due to home and health conditions and to thc incentive for
future employment, then the question arises as to whether the gor.ern-
ment in turn has bv its action contributed to dcficiencics in the home,
health, and employment conditions of nonw'hitcs. If the larv has bcen
color conscious, instead of color blind, in word or dccd, to u'hat extcnt
has this policy resulted from the lack of participation bv nonw.hites in
the duties of citizenship, such as recistration and voting and serr.ice
in the instrumentalities of justice? Thus the impact of the governmentt Cspchort r. Sleroart, 80 N.C. 101, 102.



on anv one area of life influences all of the other areas. One of the
most interesting discoveries in the course of the Committee's study has
been the extent to which public officials in one area of inquiry would
explain di.fferences in treatment of whites and nonwhites in that area
because of conditions over which the particular officials had no control.
fu each area was explored, the fingcr was pointed to the next one, and
the next one, and the next one, all the way around the circle. This
is understandable and if all of our people see and understand these

relationships, we as a Commonwealth may work together to eliminate,
insofar as government is involved, whatever deprivation exists in all
of these areas. The end result cannot help but be an increase in the
usefulness and happiness of every citizen.

It should be remembered that the principle of equality, of opposition
to class distinctions, is rooted in the earliest traditions in our State, long
before the Revolution of 1776, long before the declaration of Chief

Justice Smith in rB79 or the adoption of the r4th amendment or any
recent interpretations of that amendment.

CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL RESPONSIBILITIES

The Committee shares the general sentiment of the people of our State
that all civil rights carry civil responsibilities. The State cannot realize
its true potential unless the talents of all of its citizens are utilized, and
the operation of the laws has a considerable influence on the use or
neglect of those talents. The value of this study is not in vindicating
the claims or securing the advancement of anv persons or groups but
rather in releasing the energies and securing the advancement of all
our people. Thus, in a sense, the Committee's inquiry is the inquiry of
all the people into a current, continuing, and essential aspect of our life
together. As Gov. O. Max Gardner put it: "If both races will remem-
ber, and I am sure they will, that every problem is a mutual problem,
that every right implies an obligation and a duty, and that all genuine
progress must include all, the future, I think, is secure."

ll. Voting

. . . All government of right originates from the people, is founded
upon their will only, and is instituted for the good of the whole.

-North Carolina Constitution, art. I, sec. 2.

Free elections are a prerequisite to democracy. Government by the con-
sent of the governed, the essence of our State, is a realitv onlv u,hen
every qualified person in North Carolina is given the opportunitv to
vote and have that vote counted. This must be the concern of evcrv
citizen, white and nonwhite alike.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Free Negroes had the right to vote in North carolina under our first
state constitution adopted at Halifax in r776. Thev were not deprivcd
of this right until I835, almost 6o years later.

There was no suggestion of any racial restriction in our Revolutionary
constitution. It could be complained that there rvere econornic and
religious discriminations. only owners of 5o acres of land could vote for
State senators and only taxpayers could vote for members of the House
of commons. No one who dcnied "the truth of the Protestant relicion"
could hold any civil office "within this State.,, The word ,,Chrisiian,,
was substituted for "Protestant" in the amendments of r 835, at the same
time that free Negroes were forbidden the right to vote.

Prior to the Revolution, no one in North Carolina could vote for
members of Parliament. onl' substantial landorvncrs could 'ote for
rcprescntatives in the gcneral as.cmbl)-. Neither Nesroes (slaves or
free) nor Indians could vote at all. I'he North carolina constitution
of. t776 granted suffrage to all resident freemen, rr.hite or colored, and
provided that evcry foreigncr rvho came to scttle in thc State, hat'ing
first taken an oath of alleeiance, could, aftcr I 1'ear's rcsidence, be
deemed a frce citizen of the Statc. Thus thc U.S. Suprcme Couft n,as
in crror in the Dred Scott 'casc in sar.ir.rg that frcc Negroes \\,crc not
citizens of any State when thc U.S. Constitution n,as adopted. f'hat

=;;;o,xtlord,rf.lrorv.3cB, 
l5 L. ed.69r (U.S. lsr7).



may have been the prevailing view in many parts of the country in
r857, but it was not the case in North Carolina in 1776.

Before our Revolution all free persons born within the dominions
of the King of Great Britain, whateuer their color or complexion,
were native born British subjecls-those born out of his allegiance
were aliens. Slavery did not exist in England, but it did exist in
in thc British colonies. Slaves were not in legal parlance persons,
but property. The moment the incapacity-or disqualification of
slavery was removed-they became persons, and were then either
British subjects or not British subjects, accordingly as thel' were or
were not born within the allegiance of the British King. Upon the
Revolution, no other change took place in the law of North Caro-
lina, than was consequdnt upon the transition from a colony de-
pendent on an European king to a free and sovereign State. Slaves
remained slaves. British subjects in North Carolina became North
Carolina free-men. Foreigners until madc membcrs of the State
continued aliens. Slaves manumittcd here becanre frec-mcn-and,
therefore, if born within North Carolina are citizens of North Caro-
Iina-and all free persons born within the Statc arc born citizens
of the State . . . it is a matter of universal notorietv that under
[the North Carolina Constitution] free pcrsons, rvithout regard to
color, claimed and exercised the franchise until it was taken from
free men of color a few years since by our amended Constitution.
[Emphasis added.] '
In the Constitutional Convention of r835, the resolution to deprive

the free Negro of suffrage carried 65 to 62. Judgc \Villiam Gaston of
New Bern declared in the Convention debate that he did not like to
see a free man, "an honest man, and perhaps a Christian . . . politically
excommunicated" and "an additional mark of degradation fixed upon
him, solely on account of his color."

Under the r835 provisions, though not allowed to vote, Ncgroes, both
free and slave, were counted to the extent of three-fifths of their total
number in the allocation of representation in the general assembly.
Thus r,r'hites in the area of Negro concentration had a decided advantage
over the rest of the voters in the State.

Even after the constitutional arnendment of r835 deprivine frce
Ncgrocs of thc vote in State elections, thcy continued to vote in municipal
elcctions in Fayetteville because of an early law which gave them the
privile.ge .'

Aftcr r835 thc only changc in resard to voting in the North Carolina
constitution, prior to the end of the Civil \Var, rvas made in r857, rvhen
thc constitution was amended to eliminate thc requirement of owner-

, Srnt. r. )lnnn?|,20 )i.C. !l{, 11O...20 (1S3S).
3 Johnson, .4nte-Bellxnt North Corolina 603-0{ (1937).

ship of land to vote for State senators. From that time on, both branches
of the general assembly were elected by vote of the adult white male
population.

The war ended in April 1865. The legislature of 1865-66, electcd
in the old way with Negroes not voting, enacted a code of Negro legal
rights. Though more liberal than the so-called "black codes" enacted
at the same time by most other Southern States, it did not give Negroes
the right to vote. The l4th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was
rejected by this legislature.

In 1867, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act{ requiring each
Southern State, before readmission to the United States, to frame a new
constitution granting Negro suffrage and to ratify the l4th amendment.
A large portion of the white adult male population was disfranchised
because of participation in the war. All other adult males, white and
nonwhite, were eligible to vote. Some Negro leaden protested to Con-
gress and the President about the disfranchisement of so many white
men. One Negro spokesman (from South Carolina) declared the
Negroes of the South would never stop petitioning for the return to the
ballot of their white brethren.

The Constitution of r868 provided for univenal manhood suffrage,
u'hite and Negro, popular election of State and county officials, and the
elimination of all property and religious qualifications for voting and
officeholding. The injustice of den,ving women the franchise was raised
in the minority report of the convention suffrage committee. "Is there
any reason why Negroes should be advanced to a higher position?"'

When universal manhood suffrage was introduced in I 868 in North
Carolina, only five States in the North permitted Negroes to vote. None
of these had any appreciable colored population. Connecticut, Minne-
sota, and Wisconsin had dcfeated proposals to allow the Negro to vote in
r856; New Jeney and Ohio in 1867, Michigan and Pennsylvania in
r868. The Nebraska constitution of r866 permitted only whites to
vote. After the adoption'of the r5th amendment in rB7o, hower,er,
no State could constitutionalll,prohibit anv man from voting on account
of his race.

In the new rcgistration of r868, a total of r96,87z voters lr'ere reg-
istercd; tr7,4zB of these were rvhite and 7o,444 were Negroes. In the
election of that ycar, the ncw constitution rvas adopted by a vote of
g3,o84 to 74,oI5, which would indicate that a substantial number of
whites voted for it. Congress thereupon approved the new constitution
and readmitted North Carolina to the United States, receiving the
Rcpresentatives and Senators from North Carolina into the Congress
on July zo, r868.

r.\ct of llnr. 3, 1567, ch. 153, 1{ Stftt. .12S.
I Journrl of the Conrentlon of 1868, p. 336.

6iGl08 0-62- 2



Justice William B. Rodman, concurring in an opinion of the North
Carolina Supreme Court in t 869, observed that: '

The Constitution admitted to the suffrage a class of persons who
had never been entitled to it before, equal in number to about one-
half of the former voting population, and this class was at that
time almost universallv destitute of property.

In view of the right of free Negroes to vote from r776 to 1835, Justice
Rodman must have had in mind slaves, not all Negroes.

In the presidential campaign in the fall of 1868, the Conservative
Party "inflamed the hatred of whites for Negroes and used the Ku Klux
Klan to intimidate Negroes and frighten them from the polls. Republi-
cans denounced the Klan and warned the Conservatives that this treat-
ment of the Negroes might goad them to rapine and insurrection." '
Nevertheless, there were l4,ooo more votes cast than in the adoption
of the new constitution only a few months earlier. The Republicans
won all seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, except one, and
Grant carried the State for President. Two years later the election
produced significantly different results: 8

[In the campaign of rBTo] the Klan rvas especiallv active near
election time, and it was highly effectivc in dcterring the super-
stitious, ignorant, and indifferent Ne.qroes from voting. Though
manv thoushtful, sincere people belonged to the Klan, and were
able to control its activities at times, it was a secret society enforcing
mob law and, therefore, irresponsible, uncontrollable, and illegal;
but to the Conservatives, anv nreans were justifiable to intimidate
the Negroes, frighten them from political activitr', and drive the
Republicans from power . . . It is noteworthy that the chief Ku
Klux activity was not in the East where Negroes were most num-
erous, but in such Piedmont counties as Alamance, Caswell,
Chatham, Orange, Cleveland, and Rutherford . . By rallying
most of thc native whites to its standard and keeping many Negroes
from the polls, the Conscrvativc Party \1,on an ovenvhelnting vic-
tory, clcctinc fir.e of thc scvcn rcprcsentatives to Congrcss and
capturing by largc majorities both houses of the State legislature.

Thus the Radical Rcpublicans rvcre in control of the State govern-
mcnt for 2 years. 1868 to r87o. Subsequent campaien oratorl' and
romantic literature gavc the impression that the reign of the Radical
Republicans lasted trvo gencrations instead of z years.

G.S. l4-lo, prohibiting sccrct political and militarv organizations,
u'as first enactcd in the r B68 gcncral assembly and subsequcntlv anrended

6 l'airersily Rililroilil Co. t'. lloltlcn, (i:] \.C. {ol,,llG
7 J,r,fl{,r N{,rIs(rD)r,, -\'orrrl Ctftrlino,'I'he lliclorlt ot
rId. rtt 4(i8-60.

(1809).
n Sonth?ril 8t0te .163 (1C5:l).

in rBTo and r87r.t More recently, in 1953, the general dssembly
adopted a much more detailed act prohibiting secret societies and spe-

cific activities including wearing of masks, hoods, and other disguises,

permitting meetinp of secret societies on one's propert)', and planting
crosses or other exhibits designed to intimidate.

In 1875, a Constitutional Convention raised residence requirements
for voting, but, "the most significant change was the replacement of
popular vote by legislative control of county government-16 In5u1s
rvhite and Conservative control, especially in the eastern counties with
large Negro populations."'o

The North Carolina Supremc Court endeavored to prevent dis-
crimination against Negro voters. It declared invalid an IB75 act of
the General Assembly amending the charter of Wilmington to vest its
corporate powers in a Board of Aldermen of nine members, three to be
elected by each of three newly defined wards. Wards r and z contained
only 4oo voters, largely white, whereas ward 3 contained 2,Boo voters,
of whom about 2,ooo were colored. A large portion of ward 3 was not
included in any precinct.

Suppose the act had excluded all white men and declared that only
colored persons should be entitled to register and vote. Would the
Court wait to inquire whether there were enough whites to have
changed the result? And woulci it be said that these whites should
have tendered their votes and have had witnesses to prove it? . . .

An election begun and held with the avowed purpose of taking the
sense of a part only of the electoral body-with full notice to the
rest that they are to be ignored. Does it stand on the same ground
with a legitimate and regular election . .? "
Two other opinions of the court, though not explicitly directed to

Negro suffrage, demonstrate the court's great concern for fair elections
and equal opportunity for all to register and vote.

Opportunity must be offered to all persons eligible to become quali-
fied voters, to register as such, next before each election, as pre-
scribed by law. The law encourases electors to vote, and it provides
and intends that each pcrson eligible shall have opportunity to
qualify himself to that end, before an approaching clection. And
if such opportunity shall be withheld or denied, on purpose, by'

accident, or by inadvertence, such denial would vitiate and render
void the election, certainly if such denial should materially affect
the results."

,Clt",l l. Arrte y. I'ellelt,221 N.C..167 (10{?). rleallnr wlth "stlrernbtrts." Thls stntute
ls ln the sectlon of the erlmlnal law entltled "Offenses Agnlnst the Stttte" ruch ar ltebelllon
nDd Subrerslre ActlYltles.

ro f.nfler-Nerronrc, tu\rfr noto 7, at .l?3.
tr I'or Bol'l'clcn r, Conady,73 N.C. f08,2O8 (187i).
a )IcDowell t. Conetructaor. Company,06 N.C. 51.1 (1887).



In construing these provisions of the Constitution, we should keep
in mind that this is a government of the people, in which the will
of the people-the majority-legally expressed, must govern and
that these provisions and all Acts providing for elections should
be liberally construed, that tend to promote a fair election or ex-
pression of this popular will . . . And a qualified elector cannot
be deprived of his right to vote, and the theory of our govern-
ment that the majority shall govern, be destroyed by either the
wilful or negligent acts of the registrar, a sworn officer of the law.
This would be self-destruction, governmental suicide . These
rules are intended for the guidance and government of registrars,
which they should observe in the discharge of their duties as regis-
trars, so asto promote the object to be attained-the free, full, and
fair expression of the will of the qualified voters, as prescribed in
section r, article VI of the Constitution."

During this period, r B7o to r Bg4, "the majority of native whites rallied
to the Democratic Party which remained in power year after year, though
by closer vote than most historians have realized. More and more the
Negroes-unsupported by carpetbaggers and Federal troops, indifferent
to politics, and reluctant to court the displeasure and discrimination of
dominant whites ceased to vote." 'n

The impression often left by cursory histories of the subject is that
Negro disfranchisement followed quickly if not immediately upon
the overthrow of Reconstruction. It is perfectly true the Negroes
were often coerced, defrauded, or intimidated, but they continued
to vote in large numbers in most parts of the South for more than
two decades after Reconstruction. In the judgment of the abo-
litionist Higginson, "The Southern whites accept them precisely as

northern men in cities accept the ignorant Irish vote-not cheer-
fully, but with acquiescence in the inevitable; and when the strict
color-line is once broken, they are just as ready to reconciliate the
Negro as the Northern politician to flatter the Irishman. Ary
powerful body of voters may be cajoled today and intimidated
tomorrow and hated always, but it can never be left out of sight."
As a voter the Negro was both hated and cajoled, both intimidated
and courted, but he could never be ignored so long as he voted.l5

As late as tBgr, the Democrat-controlled legislature, referring to the
carlier period of antagonism of thc races and instability of societl', de-
clared that "now happily that period has passed and comparative con-
tentment, competence, and repose have been established." tc

a Qrirrn v, Lattimore, I20 N.C. 420. {28-30 (1897).

'1 f,efler-Ne$somet aupra note 7, at 472.
t5 Wood$a.rd, f he Stronge Career ol Ji,nt Crou 46 (L9-o71.
ti Public and Pritdte Lout anil Retolutiona 654 (1891).

IO

By the next year, however, the Populist or People's Party had begun
to show political progress as a third partf in North Carolina, consisting
principally of farmers pledged to railroad regulation, graduated income
tax, limitation of interest charges to 6 percent, a Io-hour workday
for labor, and local self-government.

In 1894, an alliance of Populist and Republican Parties in North
Carolina captured the general assembly. This alliance between the
Populists and the Republicans was called "fusion." The voting sup-
port of the Negroes was an essential element in fusion victory, and there
followed an increase in the number of Negro officeholders. In r896,
the Fusionists elected the Republican candidate, D. L. Russell, as

Governor.
The Democrats in IBgB reacted with an out and out white supremacy

campaign and won. Thereupon, the legislature of rB99 proposed and
submitted to the voters in the election of rgoo an amendment to the
constitution to prevent any person from registering unless he could read
and write a section of the North Carolina constitution to the satisfac-
tion of the registrar. This was openly designed to eliminate the Negro
voters, most of whom were illiterate. The white illiterates were accom-
rrrodated by a grandfather clause which permitted them to register and
vote even though they could not read or write, provided they could
trace their ancestry to someone who voted prior to January r, 1867.
Since Negroes had been forbidden to vote between rB35 and 1868, it
was unlikely that many Negroes would qualify under this grandfather
clause. That this clause was an "hereditary privilege" forbidden by
the State constitution since 1776 seems not to have been raised in any
suit.

During the debate on the grandfather clause, George H. Rountree,
chairman of the committee on constitutional amendments in the legis-
lature, declared that "fitness for self-government was largely a matter
cf heredity. It must be obtained by inheritance and not by schools and
learning." A Negro member of the legislature called him to terms on
his history: "This talk of inheriting the power of self-government," he

said, "is nothing but a revival of the doctrine of the divine right of
kinp . . The doctrine of this country is that all men are created
free and equal. This doctrine must and will prevail." This debate is

reported in the Raleigh News and Obsen'er, February IB, IBgg.
When some members of the legislature charged that ignorance disquali-
fied all Negroes from being voters, a Negro member asked, "Why is a
Negro ignorant? Is it not your fault? Wasn't there a law on the
books in r 83 r making it a crime for a Negro to learn to read and write?"
Francis Winston, the introducer of the bill, closed the debate: "I do not
care to discuss the constitutional side of this question." 1'

rr EdmoDds, ?he Negro and Fualon Politic' irl" North C@ro,ino 181-32 (1951).



Running for Governor in the campaign in l9oo, Charles B. Aycock
asserted the superiority of white men, demanded the disfranchise-
ment of illiterate Negroes, justified the grandfather clause on the
ground that illiterate whites had political intelligence by inher-
itance, and pledged justice to the Negro. When it appeared that
the amendment might be endangered by fear of disfranchisement
of illiterate whites, Aycock injected a note of statesmanship and
turned the white supremacy campaign into a crusade for universal
popular education.

The Republicans maintained that the proposed amendment was
undemocratic, violative of the United States Constitution and of
the 1868 Act of Congress re-admitting North Carolina to the
Union, and certain to disfranchise thousands of illiterate whites
in the State. Many Populists and some western Republicans, de-
sirous of eliminating the Negro and making that partv "lily white,"
endorsed the amendment.ls

In the election of r9oo, the Iiteracy amendment carried t9z,zrT to
reB,zB5; Aycock defeated Spencer B. Adams by an even larger margin;
the Democrats won an overwhelming majority of seats in the general
assembly, and seven of nine in the congressional House of Repre-
sentatives.lo

The adoption of the suffrage amendment of rgoo deprived the
Republican Party of about 5orooo voters, confirmed the Demo-
cratic dominance of North Carolina politics, and strengthened
the one-party system. The Negro ceased to vote in large numbenl
but the Negro issue, though largely academic, continued to be used
effectively by the Democrats and at times against "insurgent Dem-
ocrats" who were branded as Republicans. The amendment did
not put an end to corrupt ballot practices when they were needed
against Republicans or even against insurgent elements within the
Democratic Party. Neither did it result in the frank discussion of
public issues by the two parties. The chief discussion of and divi-
sion on current issues was henceforth between factions of the
Democratic Party, though such discussions and division was de-
plored by Democratic leaden in power.

After the constitutional amendment took effect, apathy and indif-
ference toward voting and taking part in govcrnment grew and spread.
One of the principal arguments of the disfranchisers had been that, with

Itf,efler-llewsome, JVorti Carollna, The nirtory ol a Eouthcrn Etatc 121 (1064l. See
olro O?r, Chnrle. Brnnal?U Att?o?*, chs.7,8 (1061).

It l*fler-Nen'sone, il.pra note 18, ot 525.

t2

the Negro eliminated, there would be less excuse for fraud, violence, and
other illegalities in elections.20

While their remedies somewhat suggest throwing out the baby with
the bath, the disfranchisers could claim with a degree of truth that
after their work was done, Southern elections were more decorous.
Disgraceful scenes of ballot-box stealing, bribery, and intimidation
were much rarer after disfranchisement. One effective means of
stopping the stealing of ballots, of course, is to stop the people from
casting them. Elections are also likely to be more decorous when
the electorate of the opposition parties has been disfranchised or
decimated and the election becomes a formality in a one-party sys-

tem. Opporrcnts of the new system held that it perpetuated old evils
in a legalized form. "Elections under it would turn," said one
critic "not primarily upon the will of the people but upon the parti-
san or factional allegiance of the registrars." The debates of the
conventions indicate what the registration officials were expected to
do, whether they did it or not. "At best it is an enameled lie," r,r'rote

Trinity fnow Duke] Professor John Spencer Bassett of the North
Carolina law. To him it was "one more step in the educating of
our people that it is right to lie, to steal, and to defy all honesty in
order to keep a certain party in power." The majority of south-
erners, however, were taught to regard disfranchisement as reform."

DSeefrre Reld,110 N.C,041 (1896) for alleged consplracy to prevent le$ful re8lFtra-
tlon by Drolonged questlonlng of a.ppllctrnts ln lYlnston, Forsyth County. The North Coro-
llna Supreme Court held th&t rrnder the 1805 electlon law, a fes' very speclfic questlons
coul(l be asked "and thet no more questlons can be a8ked bt the reglstrsrs under Bald act."
The record contalns many charges and eounter charges a8 to partt8an efforts to secure oi
nrevent reglstratlon. Some of the aOdavlts are reveallnF:

"Just ln front of Afrant u'as one J. J. Hopper, e s'blte Republlcan, s'ho reglstered but
lnstesd of handlng the book to AfrIl.nt who was ln llne and b]' reason of hl8 posltlon $tr8
entltled next to reAlster, the Eald Hopper honded the book back over Amant's head to a
notorlous colored Republlcnn."

"A numb€r of strong $hlte &nal Republlcan partlsnDs from dltrerent psrts of the Countt'
rtere there movlng among tbe colored people, and a8ant alleg:es s'ere urSlng the
electors to press up and Tote, ."

"Erer.v thlng was golng nlcely, and there was no dlsturbance. A rope had been Btretch0d
up, and the electors, E'hlte and black s'ere golng up end re8lsterlng s'lthout frlctlon or
hlndrance as rapldly as could be done. John C. Stesart, a s'hlte Republle{rn, approachod
the RpFlstrars from the entrtrnce arranged for the exlts of the olectors, flnd demanded thnt
he be then and there reglstered, selzed the hook, snd sBtd the Los'demonded thnt he shoultl
he reglstered s'ben presontetl. ThlB crotrted a' conftrslon, an(l the eolored electors seld the!'
Intendcd to be re8lstered too. ond rushed In an(l over the rope and crcstled around the
IloFlstrar8. . . , ThBt at thlE tlnre there $ere a nurnl)er of Denrocretlc Elector8 entltlfil to
rr.glster who hnd been s'nttlng bebtnd the othcrs thelr turn, ond when the seld Stesart
broke orer the rope or enterHl lrom tlle erlt. nrueh confuclon prevallt{ on(l aonre of thenl
left sn(l went home."

"]Iore ttme rvas consunred $lth the er[mln[tlon of tbe one s'hlte mnn than any other
elcetor dtrrlog thtrt or ony other rlay."

".t colorcd elector rvnx examlned nnd he sa-q ns$ed nbout hlx fnmlly, hls ocrupntlon and
other qu('stlons ond thls n6nnt Drotested thot these sere unneeeasarT questloos, [nd lhe
('hrlrman, f,). L. Ilarl, renrnrtetl thnt s'e slll do tt neeor(llng to hs' .. ()ne eloctor who
npl)lle(l for regl8trntlon stra ntskcd . . . Dld I'ou rote here two tears nFo? flc anxrvored
lle r(,glstored but the.v toltl hlnl s'hen he ollerod to vote thnt the s'tnd hnd blou'n hlx
nnnre olf the books. fle u'ns nrked Dlrl the $lnd hlo$'hlr vote asny? &n(l be repllld
lle reckoned not. 'UlghtI poor lnntl out About Prlnce George ls thore not?' IIe eald
tolcrahlJ' poor."

"Th[t nruch tlnre was consunred bs qrroFtlons thst anlong those anked espeelnlly
of the colore(l al)Dllmnts lfere Nhelhcr the elt'ctor,hrrrl llrterl lrls tlxrts for tlre ycnr 1S00,
nnd the eloctor8 n'ere told thIt th.J' ryere Fulltji of n nrledenrennor lf they had not ro llrtod."

,r \YoodEard, Origlne ol ahc \co Sorlh 3il8 (lCJl).

IE



After the campaigns of I B9B and t 9oo, the Populist Party faded away,
rnost of its followers voting Democratic. The Republican Party itself
excluded all Negro delegates to its State Convention in rgoz. Negro
voting in elections in North Carolina all but ceased for many years.

Henry G. Connor, Speaker of the House of Representatives which
framed the suffrage bill (later Associate Justice of the North Carolina
Supreme Court), expressed regret that the amendment, supposedly de-
signed to eliminate illiterate Negroes, had proscribed the entire Negro
race. He wrote in lgoz: "

I have been very much surprised at the small number of Negroes
who have registered. I fear that the shrinkage in the number will
make the Negro absolutely indifferent to his political interests and
welfare and the whites will be emboldened to oppress him in his
material and educational interests. It is a serious question whether
Ioo,ooo freemen can maintain any satisfactory status in North
Carolina without any political power or influence.

For a long period after rgoo, no Negroes participated in the political
life of the State, except as the butt of campaign oratory. In rgre,
Josephus Daniels wrote in The News and Observer that the political sub-
jugation of the Negro and the social separation of the races was the only
solution to the race problem, and that there was no chance for an eman-
cipation of the South until the rest of the country adopted this same
policy.

In reviewing the experience of Negro enfranchisement in r868 and
disfranchisement in r 9oo, from the vantage point of an English historian
6o years later, W. R. Brock recently drew the following conclusiors: *

Reconstruction did not hand the South over to an illiterate and
ignorant Negro majority. Negroes were in a majority in only two
states and there the margin was narrow; they were in a majority in
the "Black belt" (the plantation areas) but except in South Caro-
lina and Mississippi, these were outweighed by the white counties.
The Negroes were often ignorant and bewildered, but there is no
evidence that they were more irresponsible than the voters in any
democratic state ; indeed their ve ry lack of political training and the
simplicity of their demands made them more likely to support con-
servative than radical regimes. A few of their leaders were ignorant
and coarse, but most of thcm belonged to the semi-educated class of
former free Negroes or to those who had been superior slave artisans.
They enjoyed the vote at a time when it was still denied to the
English agricultural labourer and to all women, but the case against

s llabrl', " 'Whlte Supremacy' and the Sutrrage Amendment," North Corollno Ei.toricLl
RerieD, Jen, 1936, p. 23.

B Brock, The Chardcter ol Anericot Ei|torg 161 (1960).

r4

their enfranchisement was the same as that against enfranchising
the poor in any country. 1'o rest thc responsibility for the failure of
Reconstruction upon Negro incapacity is too easy and too prej-
udiced an explanation for the failure of the nineteenth century's
boldest experiment in democratic government.

In 1915, the U.S. Supreme Court declared clauses similar to our
grandfather clause unconstitutional in Guinn v. United States, ze,8

U.S. g+2. Inasmuch as registration under our clause closed in tgo8,
it had no application in recent years. It was repealed in rg57 (G.S.
r 63-z8 ) .

The Constitution of r868 authorized, a per capita (or poll) tax not to
exceed "two dollars on the head." The rgoo amendment to the Con-
stitution deprived citizens of the right to vote unless their poll tax for the
previous year had been paid. This requirement was repealed in l9zo.

Debate over granting woman suffrage again coupled this issue with
the question of Negro suffrage. Chief Justice Walter Clark at the State
convention on woman suffrage in Charlotte, in I g t 4, urged that lvomen
be given the vote: "Why should the mothers, the daughters, the wives,
and sisters of the white voters of North Carolina be thus grouped with
idiots, lunatics, convicts, and the Negroes?"'n

But opponents of woman suffrage argued that Negro women w'ould be

entitled to vote, too. When the North Carolina Senate discussed woman
suffrage in rgr5, "R. D. Johnson of Warsaw said that votes for \^'omen

meant jury service for women. He described 'the scene of the household
disrupted' as follows: 'Mrs. Jones is in the jury box sitting beside the
Negro nurse and the Negro cook, also women and also voters, while }fr.
Jones, hubby, is at home rocking the cradle.' Johnson called the move-
ment 'trash' and 'urged that its proponents wear skirts and take in
sewing.' " 25

When the U.S. Supreme Court in Smith v. Allwright (3zr U.S. 649
( , S++ ) ) , held unconstitutional the exclusion of Negroes from the Demo-
cratic primary in Texas, there was a great outcrv and the adoption of
many special measures to circumvent the decision in lrlissi-.sippi, Ala-
bama, South Carolina, and Georgia. Horvever, Florida, Texas, Tennes-
see, North Carolina, and Virginia made no constitutional changes to off-
set the decision. North Carolina had never had any statutc or part)'
bylaw spccifically purporting to bar Negroes from participation in partl'
primaries.

In t g3o, it was possible to point to eight States in which thc Demo-
cratic party by a definite State-rvide rule barrcd Negroes from a

share in the nominating process In thrcc morc-Florida.
North Carolina, and Tennessee-there was no State-rvidc rule ; but

..,\'orlrt Caroliila Ili|torical Retierc, Jan. 1961, pp. 53-5.1.
sfd. at 59. See nlso (Balelgh) Nervs and Observer, Feb.10,1C15

r5



the rules of county and city Democratic committees took its place,
with a few important exceptions. . . ."

In Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee the ("white" ) primary
had already been abandoned since about r 93o, either as the outcome
of court action or as a mere change of public sentiment.2T

In Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, states in which the
white primary was breached more than a decade before the Supreme
Court decision, Negroes were actively participating in the Demo-
cratic primaries . ."

In rg33 the legislature specifically required that registrars and judges
of election "prevent and stop improper practices or attempts to obstruct,
intimidate or interfere with any elector in registering or voting." 2n No
case has been found where a nonwhite has relied on this statute in seeking
to register.

ln Allison v. Sharp (zog N.C. +ll (ry96) ), two Negroes sued an
Iredell County registrar and the County and State Boards of Election
for a judgment declaring void the rcading and writing test for registra-
tion and voting. The plaintiffs alleged that they were graduates of a
college approved by the State, with a grade A rating, that they held
certificates from the State to teach the children of North Carolina in the
public schools to read and write the constitution of the State, and that
the registrar requested them to read and write certain sections of the
constitution, which they did, one of the plaintiffs alleging that he read
and wrote in the English language "as said language had been taught
to him, in the public schools, high school, and college of the State of
North Carolina." The registrar refused to register the plaintiffs giving
as his reason: "You do not satisfy me." The defendants admitted these
facts to be true for the purpose of their motion to dismiss the suit, which
the trial judge allowed. The North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed,
holding that the literacy requircment was constitutional as it applied to
all citizcns and that the plaintiffs had alleged no abusc of discrction by
thc registrar and had sought no affirmative relief and therefore thc ques-
tion rvas moot. The court addcd: 30

It would not be amiss to sa1' that this constitutional arncndment
providin.q for an educational test . .\. brought light out of darkness
as to cducation for all the people of the State. Religious, cduca-
tional, and material uplift wcnt forward by leaps and bounds.

s f,eslnson, nocc, Cloas, ani, I'artil 112 (1032).
,.Iaekson, Luther P., "nnc{ nnd SufTrage ln the South Slnce 10{0," ifcu Sorrllr, June

.Iul.v 10{S.
5 lloon, Bolailce ol I'o$er: The NcOro I'ore 177 (10.18).
2r (i.S. 103-21 (N.C. Ln$s 1033, eh. 1{}5,8re. 3).
!o !0r) \.c. 477, {8! (1C3(it.

r6

Value ofwhite school property sssdlf,og sgr, i!31 gls
Value ofcolored school property z!8, 295 t2, t7o, g24

+aa*a)a

The rich and poor, the white and colored, alike have an equal
chance and opportunity for an elementary and high school edu-
cation. It may be of interest to state that this Commonwealth
has an eight-months school, under State control, and is now being
operated without a cent of tax on land. It goes without saying
that judging the future by the past the school system will naturally
improve as the years go by.

According to the values stated by the court, colored school property
in l9oo, before the election amendment became effective, was 23.5
percent of the total value of public school property. Thirty-four years
after the election amendment, the relative value of colored school
propertyhad dropped to r r.3 percent.

In r945-46 two cases involving refusal of election officials to register
qualified Negroes for voting were concluded by pleas of guilty and nolo
contendere: United States v. Henry McMillan, in the middle district, in
which a fine of $5oo was imposed, and United States v. Robert
Lewis, in the eastern district, each of two defendants being fined $25. In
the latter case one of the registrars stated that his decision not to registcr
the Negro was based solely on "the disfranchisement of the colored people
in this county" (i.e., Washington County), ratherthan on his ability to
read, write, and explain the constitution.

ln Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Elections (z4B N.C.
toz (t958), af'd,36o U.S. +S (rgSg)), the U.S. Supreme Court
sustained the validity, on its face, of the North Carolina literacy re-
quirement. The case presented no claim of discrimination in the way
the test was administered.

In April 196r, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that "exces-
sive reading and writing may not be required. lVriting from dictation
is not a requirernent. The test may not be administered so as to discrimi-
nate between citizens." 31

During and aftcr lVorld War II, Negro participation in the elcctions
in North Carolina began to increase.

RECENT EXPE,RIENCE

On October 4, r959, this Committce made its first report on cqual pro-
tection of the law in respect to voting in North Carolina. At that

t7

ABozernore v. Bttle County Boaril of Dlcctlona,25{ N,C. 308. ,100 (1061).



time, the Committee had collected registration statistics by county and
by race from 9 r counties in the State. These data related to the general
election of lg58 and, to some extent, to registrations in prior years.

Such data had never been collected before in North Carolina. The
chairmen of the various county boards of elections cooperated with the
Committee in the collection of this information.

On April 25, r96o, the Committee published a tabulation of the esti-
mated voting potential by race and by county in each of the I oo counties

and the registrations by race and by county as of the time of the general
election in 1958, based on reports which had by that time been re-
ceived from all roo counties in North Carolina. This summary was

circulated widely in the State. Inasmuch as 196o was both a census

year and the year for a presidential election, it was apparent that it
would be possible to make a more accurate tabulation of the actual
voting-age population and of the actual registration as of the closing of
registration for the general election in November tg6o. The county
boards of elections were again asked to compute the total number of
registrants in their respective counties, this time as of the November r 96o
general election, and to report,the number of such registrants who were

white and the number of such registrants who were nonwhite. In addi-
tion, the county boards of elections were asked to rePort the number
of times since January r, t96o, that applicants were rejected on account

of inability to read and write, and the number of appeals to the county

boards of elections that arose out of such denials of registration.

Information was also requested as to the manner in which registra-

tion is maintained in each county, the time of the last purge or new

registration, and the method of administering the literacy test.

The reports from roo counties were analyzed by Donald R. Matthews,
associate professor of political science at the University of North Caro-

lina, with the assistance of Douglas S. Gatlin. The results of their study,

including the tables, charts, and maps, are incorporated in this report.

They performed a similarly valuable service in analyzing the data

collected for I g5B and prior years, so that it was possible for them to make

comparisons between the r96o data and that for previous years.

In addition to the new data collected by the Committee from the

county boards of elections, the Committee continued to hold hearings

in the principal cities and towns in North Carolina, at which time anyone

who had been denicd the right to register or vote was given the oppor-

tunity to file a complaint if, in his opinion, the denial was based on race,

religion, or national origin. Also, the members of the Committee, living
in various parts of the State, have been available for the purpose of

receiving written complaints under oath as to the denial of the right to
register or to vote.

rB

To date, the Committee has received sworn written complaints from
5 of the roo counties in the State. These counties are Franklin, Bertie,
Greene, Northampton, and Halifax. The complaints from North-
hampton and Halifax were received in 1959, together with a complaint
from a citizen and resident of Greene County. The complaints from
Franklin and Bertie, together with additional complaints from Greene
County, were all received in May 196o at the time of the registration
for the r 96o primary.

AII of these complaints were from Negroes. The substance of their
complaint was that, although qualified under the laws of North Caro-
lina to register, they were denied registration on account of their race.
It was alleged that the reading and writing tests were applied to the
complainants in a manner different from the way in which such tests
were applied to white applicants, so as to discriminate against the com-
plainants and deny them the privilege of registering and voting, solely
because of their race.

In the more than 3 years that this Committee has been in existence,
there have been no such complaints from any of the other 95 counties in
the State.

In accordance with the r957 act of Congress, the sworn voting com-
plaints which were received from the five counties mentioned above wcre
referred to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for appropriate investi-
gation. In some instances the complainants had also filed notices of
appeal to the county boards of elections. One of the complainants
carried her case to the Supreme Court of North Carolina, which held
that she should be given another opportunity to register, and that it rvas
unreasonable and beyond the intent of the North Carolina law for her
to be required to write a section of the Constitution as it was read to her.3'

Analyses have also been made of the r96o voter turnout by counties,
and of the representative character of the present North Carolina Sen-
ate-which is more nearly representative of the population than the
house of representatives. John L. Sanders, now director of the Insti-
tute of Government, prepared the table showing the relative weight of
votes cast for the s€nate in the several senatorial districS. By assi.qning
the district index to each county in the district, a table of the weight of
each vote, by counties, was prepared. Sce table r 2, p. 45.) Tables B,

rt, and r2 (pp. z6-28,4r,45) show the relationships between-
(a) Disproportionately low registration of nonwhites in some coun-

ties;
( D ) Disproportionately low voter turnout in some of the same coun-

ties as in (a) and (D) above.
(c) Disproportionately high representation in the North Carolina

Senate in some of the same counties.

)

)

! f(t. at 308.



ADEQUACY OF DATA

It must be acknowledged at once that the following figures are approxi-
mate at best. In the first place, the registration books in many North
Carolina counties are kept in such a way that an accurate count of
registered voters is not easily obtained. Many county boards of elections

were able to supply only the crudest estimates of the number of regis-

tered voters-white and nonwhite-within their jurisdiction.
Second, many counties have not purged their books or held a new

registration for decades (table r). The names of those rvho have

moved to other States or localities-to say nothing of those residing in
local cemeteries-are still on their registration books. The chairman of
one county board of elections reported that "there are about B,ooo

names on our registration books that should not be there." Over half
the counties reported more white registrants than there are white
adults residing in their counties.

Third, final 196o census figures on the number of adults, by county
and by race, were not available in time for use in this analysis. Pre-
liminary counts of the total population, by race, were used in their stead.

The proportion of the total population, by race, over 2l in 195o, was

then used to arrive at cstimates of the white and nonwhite adult popu-

lations in 196o. While it seems safe to assume that little change has

occurred in the population's age distribution since rg5o, this procedure
has no doubt added some small errors to the analysis.

Tasle r.-Date oJ last counqtwide purge or neu regislration

Number oJ
Tear counlics

Unknown 43
196o.. 14
rgSB.. I
1956. . 5
1954.. I
1952.. I
r95o. . I I
1948.. 5
1946.. 2

1944.. o
1942.. o
rg4o.. 7
r93o-39. I
r92o-29. I
rgro-19. I

Total . roo

The net effects of these threc sources of crror will never be precisely

known. Howcvcr, internal evidence suggests that the estimates provided

by the county boards of elections for 196o are more realistic than those
furnished to the Committee in rg58. Nonetheless, thcse figures sub-
stantially exaggerate the level of political participation found in the
State as a whole. Overestimates came most frequently from sparsely
settled rural counties; the urban counties have supplied more realistic
figures. Nonwhite registration figures are probably more accurate than
those for whites. Substantial Negro registration is a relatively recent
phenomenon in many parts of the State and there has been less time for
the names of deceased or moved-away voters to accumulate on the
books. Thus the disparity in registration rates between the races mav
not be quite as large as the data suggest.

With all these limitations, the data at hand are the only and thus
necessarily the best evidence available on voter registration in North
Carolina. So long as one allows for a considerable margin for error,
valid general conclusions can be drawn from this evidence.

REGISTRATION

According to reports received from all roo county boards of elections,
there were slightly more than z million registered voters in North Caro-
lina at the time of the general election of 196o. Of these, about
I,369,000, or 70 percent (54 percent of the total adult population),
voted in the presidential election. This represents a definite increase in
participation. In r958, about r,B3z,ooo narnes were carricd on the
registration books of the State, and about 6l6,ooo voted in the senatorial
election of that yearl r,r36,ooo voted in thc presidential election of 1956.

In lg58, about 9o percent of the registered voters in North Carolina
were white and ro percent were nonwhite. The situation has changed
very little since. Of the new names added to the voters' lists during the
last z years, about 87 percent were white and r q percent nonwhite. The
registered electorate of North Carolina remains overwhelmingly and
disproportionately white.

Teat-e z--Statcwide registralion, rg58-&, by race

rg58

Total registrants. . . r, B3z, o93
White registrants. 1,652,658
Nonwhite registrants. r79,435

Igfu Changc

2. 07t, ?Bo *239, 687
r,86r,33o fro8,67e

2ro,4So *3r, ol5

Another way of examining the same thing is to estimate the proportion
of those North Carolinians over 2l who are registered votcrs, by race.
This has been done for r95B and 196o (table 3). Again, the overall
picture is gratifying-the proportion of the adult citizens of this State
who are registered increased from about 7r percent to about 76 pcrcent

2l



Total potential voters registered_.
White-potential voters registered
Nonwhite potential voters registered. .

COUNTY-BY-COUNTY VARIATIONS

in e yean. However, the proportion of nonwhites registered scarcely

changed at all. The apparent increase in political activity since l95B
.has been largely confined to whites.

Teal-s 3.-Pcrcentage oJ polential uoters registcred, rg58-&, b1t race

rgSS ryfu Changc

7t.z 16.+ *S. 2

B+.o 90.2 *6. 2

30. g 3t.2 *o. 3

Statewide figures obscure the considerable variation in rates of voting

and registration found within North Carolina. The basic facts are pre-

sented ln table 4. Less than 50 percent of the adult whites were reported

as registered to vote in three counties. These are Craven, Cumberland,
and bnslow, but the presence of large military bases in these counties

rpay be a relevint factor. In 74 counties, the number of names-living,
dead, and moved away--on the registration books was over 90 percent

of the white population. While the proportion of nonwhite adults

registered is subslantially lower throughout the State, there are wide

differences, here, too. In four counties, less than Io Percent of the

nonwhite adults are registered; in eight, the Iocal boards of elections

reported that more than go percent of the nonwhites were registered.

TasI-E 4.-Potcntial aotns registered in rgfu, blt racc

Non-
Paccnt Whitc uhitt

o-9.9. o 4
ro-I9.9 o 20

20-29.9 o 2t

30-39.9 I 15

40-49.9 2 7

50-59.9 I Io
6"-69 9 6 t4
70-79.9 I I I
8o-89.9 5 o

90-99.9 t7 3
roof. 57 5

Totalcounties.... '...i. Ioo Ioo

As might be expected, the highest ProPortion of nonwhites registered

to vote is reported by the counties with the smallest number of nonwhite
residents. The areas of heavy nonwhite concentration in the State

have the smallest proportion of nonwhites registered (fig. , and 2,

pp. 23, 24). While this is the classic Pattern found in most Southern

(o
o)

\3

oa

os
B

oq

.c
a

o2
Ij
rl
&)

650{0s 0-62-3 23



o(o
O)

o
B

q
oq

.c
a

o

o
E
o
tJ

E

o
U

l.
q

ts:cp
o
t*

Numbcr
oJ countits

6

J
J
4
6
8

5
7

23
28

f*

!!!i{rtti

States, there is some indication that it is in the process of gradual ihange
in North Carolina.

In 59 of the counties, there was very little change in the proportion
of adult nonwhites registered between r g5B and r 96o (table 5 ) . How-
cver, in zB of the counties the proportion registered appears to have
increased by at least ro percentage poinls, rvhile in another r3, it de-
clined by at least as much. In what situations is the proportion of
the nonwhite adult population registered to vote increasing? In what
kinds of counties is it decreasing? Additional analysis gives us at least
some clues.

Teur 5.-Changes in potential ooters registered, 1958-6o, b1 county
and race

';:r:: "l#;i,i,
Substantial increase 50 zB
Little change 38 59
Substantial decreasc 12 13

Number of counties r oo r oo
No're,-"Substantial":more than ro percent change.

In table 6, the average percentage point increase or decrease in non-
rvhite adult registration is indicated by the level of nonwhite registration
reported in r958. The proportion of nonwhites registered tended to go
u p in areas of low nonwhite registration in r g5B, and to decline in counlies
reporting high nonwhite registration in rg5B.

TesLe 6.-Mcan percentagc changc in nonwhite potential ooters registered, r958-6o

Pctccnt potcntial aotcrs, tg58
roo*.
90-99.9
Bo-89.9
70-79.9
6o-{9.9
50-59.9
40-49.9
30-39.9
2o-29.9
r o-r 9.9
o-9.9.

Total .

Percent changc
in adults
registered,
t958-6o

-24.4
-25.8
-30.4*6. o

-4.3*r. o
*+.s
*8.+

*ro.7
*6. z

fro.oln! IOO

However, this improvement occurred at different rates depending
upon the concentration of nonwhites in the county (table 7). Slorv
but consistent increases in the proportion of nonwhites registered were

24
2\



rcp()rtcd in countics with heavy concentrations of nonwhites. But the
increascs occurred more frequently in areas with relatively few nonwhites.

Taar.z 7.-Nonwhitc conccntrarion and. change in poknrial aoters registercd,r95ffi, by county

Changc in lrofortion rcgistcrcd ry58-&

Liltlc
change

(perccnt)

9o
B4

45

TesLE, 8.-Whitcs and noaohitcs registcrcd and percentagc oJ white and non-
whitc potcntial aotc rcgistcred, l9ffi-Continued

Catawba.

Count2
Caswell ... -

lil'hite potential
rcgistcrcd,

l|/hitc rtgistcrcd paccnt

5,177 go.g
45,3r2 rt7.3
tz,o6z ro7. B

7,450 88. z
3,465 g2.B
3, +7r r r8. 329,239 gg.4

r4, r85 8+.+
ro, g5o 46.5
25, r73 4o.22,739 94'9
3,725 ro7. 6
42,385 ro2. r
8, +75 97.714,923 ro9. 4

46, zr3 93. B
r r, r2g 70.B
73,9g2 Bo. 6
8,6oo go. r

72,671 r 14. r
2,654 99.o
4,025 126.3
B, 55o 73.9
4,BBz r ro. 3

BI, 816 66. B
15,4o6 %.7r2,2o7 6S.S
e4,889 rr3.g
33,838 16z. z
6,4r5 rro.7
4, +5+ ro7. r
I,949 89.2

31, r8o 95.58,57o gg.r
43, BB3 165. e
3,336 ro4.+
9,267 16.g14,6o3 74.8.

14, o68 gB.r
20, o95 143.7

9, o45 r 14. o
12,2Oo t35.2
8, o4o lo6. o

96,074 72.8
6, rz7 Br. 7g,988 r22. st7,o22 ro8. o

25,9r4 r2r. O

31, +2t 95.46,7oo lo8.7

JVonuhitcs
rtgistered

t, 24o
2,670

Boo
roo
550

35
r,792
2,992
2, I50
5, o97

r77
75

2,484
66g

r,539
t3r 2Or
t, 787

r4,798
I,600
4,954

35I
o

r, 497
gBs

ro,296
I' 954

6oo
329
6zg
s37
65o
r73

3' rO6
I, 53I
4,252

562
947

21 22O

978
78s
55

200
r, 253

| 4' 729
r3

Blz
r, 750
2, Or5
7,353
Ir 3oo

Noruthite
potential
rcgistcrcd,
pcrcdtt

29.4
76.s
r9.7
46.9
20. 5

ro6. r
25.7
38.I
23.7
24.3
15.3
29. 3
5r. 5
6o. 9
2I. O

6r.6
13.3
53. 5
27. o
5.4

15.o
o.o

?o. 9
ro.4
33.s
r3.9
9.5

6,.4
50.6
8.3

r5'7
16. r

5r. 5
r76. r

6+. 1
24.3
3c). 6
tg.6
6o.9

to4.2
33.s

303.o
21. 3
37.4
43.3
35.I
34. 6
lB. o
62. 5
16.g

27

Paccnt oJ Substantial

Numbcr oJ countics iltrlli:, (tr:::::,)II.... 50+ ro37.... z6-+g 1452.... o{5 35
Norp.-"Sub,stantial" :mqtt than r o percent change.

Brunswick
Buncombe.
Burke.
Cabarrus
Caldwell
Camden

White rcgistcrcd

47,6o4
B, 3oo
6,459
7,6oo

12,293
7' 5o7

t6, ztz
6, z4z
8,277
9,9oo

53' 036
38, ooo
27, o67
26, r5o
I,9r5

r6, 6eo

Whilc potcntial
rcgistctcd,
pcrccnt

roB.4
ro3. B
r48.7
IOO. I
r16.8
t24.9
r2t. 3
ro3.8
95. r

r42.8
72.8

r35.o
77.7

ro5. 8
97.o

roo. 7

Chatham.
Cherokee.
Chowan
Clay..
Cleveland
Columbus.
Craven
Cumbeiland
Currituck
Dare. .

Davidson.
Davie.
Duplin.
Durham
Edgecombe
Forsyth.
Franklin
Gaston
Gates.
Graham
Granville.
Greene
Guilford
Halifax
Harnett.
Haywood.
Henderson
Hertford
Hoke.
Hyde.
Iredell
Jackson
Johnston
Jones.
Lee. . .

Lenoir.
Lincoln
McDowell .

Macon
Madison
Martin
Mecklenburg.....
Mitchcll
Montgomery.....
Moore
Nash. .

New Hanover. ...
Northampton.....

Substantial
dccreasc

(Pcrcent)

o
2

20

what does this all mean? Two factors-past level of registration and
nonwhite concentration-are related to thJ r958-60 ir,creares in non-white registration in North carolina. Non*iile registration increases
are occurring most frequently in areas with few ,or,*iito and in which
the nonwhites generally were not registered in rarge "";;;; i" ,95a.
smaller increases are occurring in corinties with n.Jrry no.r*iii. fopuru-tions if, in the past, nonwhite registration was low. Nonwhite ,.gir,."-tion increases are rarer in the counties which have had substantial
nonwhite registration in the past; if such a county had a fairry large
nonwhite-minority, registration is actualry on the deiline. The net effect
of these shifts appear to be a gradual .,evening out,, of ,rorr*frii. ,.gir-
tration throughout the State.

The details of the 196o registration for each county are set out in
table B.

Carteret

Nonuhitcs
rcgistcred

4' Bor
200

54
6oo

67
68

3' !t9
7r3
954

2, IOO

4,523
2, OOO

l, oIg
t, tBl

t87
8rz

Noruthitc
potcntial
rcgislncd,
pcrccnl

6r.g
51. I
42.5
lo.6
6,.5
58. 6
49. r

I I. I
t7.+
6,.9
49.o
99. 7
17.I
6g.s
16. z

38.6

raart B'-whitcs *L;:;;:i::;,,'if:;l:::r,:y,1,;'n*,r, or whitc and non-

County
Alamance..... ..
Alexander
Alleghany.
Anson
Ashe.
Avery.
Beaufort.
Bertie -

Bladen

26



Tesre 8--lfihitcs and no.nwhites registcrcd and pcrcentagc of whitc and non-
whitc potcntial ootc registcrcd, lgd_Coniinued

Counlt llhitc rcgistcrcd

r3, 574
r 3, 9BB
4' Ot7
7, 527
6, z4o
3, 559

ro, og8
23,44r
IO, IO3

34, ooo
r4,349
25,537
I9,25o
47, o74
24, 5oo
23' 79o
I r, go3
24,625
r3, 57+
27, o42
4,65o

I I, 435
I,976

I5,5Ee
I3,9I2
53,625
6, rz3
4,7oo
g, 535

tB,779
27, t16
t4,256
r r, 4Bo
6, 935

Total . r, 86r, 33o 2to, 45O

THE LITERACY TEST

Article VI, section 4, of the North carorina constitution states that
"Every person presenting himself for registration shall be able to read and
write any section of the Constitution ln the English language.,,

The committee included a question in its 1961 questilnniire asking
the chairmen of the county boards of elections t; des;ribe the procedurei
followed to determine literacy in their respective counties. A uewitaering
variety of methods was found.

2B

Many counties responded by saying that they determined the literacy
of applicants "according to law," which suggests that no standardized
procedure is followed. Others indicate that a test on "reading and writ-
ing" is administered without specifying its contents; still others acknowl-
edge that the test is left entirely to the discretioq of local registrars. A
good many counties require the applicant to read aloud a section of the
North Carolina constitution; others report that registrars are instructed
to dictate a portion of the constitution which the applicant must write
down and read back. Some counties take a correctly filled-out applica-
tion form as evidence of literacy; a few report that applicants are re-
quired to read, write, and understand the constitution. In other counties,
the applicant is required to read aloud the registration oath prescribed in
G.S. 163-29. Some counties use the U.S. Constitution as a basis of
their test; a few report that an ability to read aloud from any book or
newspaper will do. One county reports an "oral test" of literacy; others
require only that the applicant be able to sign his own name and show
an ability to read the names of othen; a handful of counties report that
the literacy test is not enfoiced at all.

Here are a few representative comments of county officials as to how
the literacy test is administered in their counties-

Ashe County Board of Elections, H. H.Lemly, chairman:

"Read and write so you can read it and undentand. No one rejected
because of race or color."

Beaufort County Board of Elections, Edward N. Rodman, chairman:

"An applicant is asked to read a portion of the North Carolina con-
stitution. The applicant does not have to be able to pronounce all the
words, but only to demonstrate to the registrar that he or she has the
required educational background to meet the minimum statutory
requirements.

"a. Of the z7 rejected for registration, z4 were Negro and 3 white.
"0. The county board of elections of this county is prescntl,v conside ring

discarding the present registration books in favor of a looseleaf s)'stem,
and at the same time ordering a completely new reeistration of eligible
voters. There are about Brooo names on our registration books that
should not be there."

Carteret County Board of Elections, C. G. Chappell, chairman:

"If they can read at all, we register them. The usual requirement is
for them to read the firct Iine of the law requiring them to be able to
read."

Whitc potential
rcgislcrcd,
pcrcent

37.9
68.6

I09.4
76.+

r 16. o
tt7.o
I03. 4
r03. 5
r75.9
I02. O

9I.B
r25. r

sB. 7
I I I. I
ro7.4
I45.I
r52. r
I14.9
I2I. O

ro6. o
r3r. B
r34.6
r25.6

78.7
79. l
66. z

r43.r
ro8. r
ro3.8
6r.3

r20. o
70. 8
92.8
95'2

Nonwhites
rcgistcred

I' 3o3
I,5Io

442
I, Bg4

88g
6ro

2, O42
2,52o

705
I, OOO

r, 793
I I' 994
4' Boo

4,798
I, o5o
5' 726
r, o45
r,5oo

562
469
r50
478
298

z, o98
rr 5z6
6, 576

88r
6oo

65
3' 165
r,374
2,662
rr 314

5r

Nonwhitc
potcntial
rcgitered,
paccnt

23.9
29. 3
27.3
35.r
2t.3
28.4
+6.2
17. +
93.6
37.2
30. 2

52.r
6r. r
62.7
39.o
66. 8
20,+
6o.7
5r- 2

3r. g
rg.8

r07.g
33.6
44.6
22. t
27.3
r5.7
zo.8
50.4
rB. I
93.o
23.r

220. t
s7.9

29



it*tt",;,.i#'

Caswell County Board of Elections, W. D. McMullen, chairman:

"f instructed my registrars to satisfy themselves that the applicant
could read well enough to know one name from another."

Catawba County Board of Elections, Neva G. Herman, s€cretary:

"No literacy [test] has ever been administered in this county to my
knowledge."

Macon County Board of Elections, J. Lee Barnard, chairman:

"No literacy test required."

Northampton County Board of Elections, Russell Johnson, Jr.,
chairman:

"There has been one attempted appeal to the county board of elections
in the last 2 years. The appeal was not perfected. r am unable to state
the number of applicants for registration rejected due to inability to read
and write during r96o. I would estimate the number to be roo.,,

Perquimans County Board of Elections, W. Jarvis Ward, chairman:

"Some admit they can't read or write and are denied registration on
their own admission; some sign their names well and are registered on
the basis of signing their names. others are asked to read and write
parts of the State or Federal Constitutions."

Person County Board of Elections, D. D. Long, chairman:

"Registrars request applicant read any part of constitution-if he fails,
he is told to report back again for another test if he or she so desires."

Scotland County Board of Elections, F. W. Nichols, chairman:

"To be able to write their name and read any one else's name.
"We have not had a new registration since r94o. We plan to have

one the next time we have election. I would say about one-third of the
names on books have moved or died."

Warren County Board of Elections, Wiley G. Coleman, chairman:

"The registrar will read a sentence or two from the constitution of
North Carolina and have the applicant write it, and then read it back
to the registrar. Both white and colored are required the same.,,

t96o conference lor chairmen of county boards ol elections.-For
many yea.rs the Institute of Government at Chapel Hill prepared an
election law guidebook which was made available without charge,
through county election board chairmen, to every precinct registrar and

3o

judge in the State. With more than z,ooo registrars in the State and
with only I person on the staff of the Institute of Government to handle
this work, the institute did not schedule schools or conferences for
registrars.

On March 3r3r, 196o, for the first time, the institute took an addi-
tional step. As soon as the new county board chairmen were selected
and with the sponsorship of the State board of elections, the institute
held a conference at Chapel Hill for county election board chairmen.
In advance of the session a series of questions designed to arouse interest
in topics of importance in conductin$ the primary (not the general
election) was prepared and from these questions Hon. R. C. Maxwell,
executive secretary of the State board of elections, and Henry W. Lewis,
assistant director of the Institute of Government, conducted the con-
ference. Attendance at the conference wrm entirely voluntary. Trventy-
eight counties were represented at this fint conference and those present
organized the North Carolina Association of tlection Boards.

After the March r 96o conference at Chapel Hill, many county chair-
men (for example: Robeson, Lenoir, and Orange) held instruction for
their registrars before the primary.

Subsequent conferences were conducted at the institute in Chapel Hill,
September z6-27, tg6o (47 counties represented) and April5-6, 196z
(39 counties represented, 68 election officials present). A fourth con-
ference is scheduled for Asheville, September z4-25, tgiz.

This development is to be highly commended and should lead, in time,
to a mbre thorough understanding and a more unifq{m administration
of the clection laws. The support and encouragement of the State board
of elections, the cooperation and effort on the part of county election
boards, and the availability of funds in the counties to pay the o<penses
of persons attending such conferences make this possible.

Opinion of the State attorney generol.-In an opinion dated Sep
tember 19, 1956, the attorney general answered questions "as to when
an applicant who has been refused registration because of illiteracy is to
be given another test." He stated that this-

. . should depend upon the circumstances of the particular case.

If the applicant is totally illiterate, of course he cannot learn to read
and write within the e weeks' period allowed for registration; but if
the applicant can read and write to some extent but sinrply fails to
satisfy the registrar that he can read and rvrite any section of the
State constitution, it seems to this oflice fair that such applicants
should be given another opportunity during the registration period.
For instance, if an applicant missed only a few words in his reading
test or could not write some of the words legibly, it is the view of
this office that in a test case, our courts would probably rcquire the
registrar to give such an applicant another test during the same

3r



registration pcriod. In other words, the registrar should use his
sound judgment in each case, but he has no legal right to act
arbitrarily or capriciously in depriving American citizens of their
rights to register and vote.

The statute allows registration on primary day if the applicant has
become qualified since the close of the regular registraticn piriod. Ap-
plying the above line of reasoning, it has been suggested that the registrir
could administer the test again on the day of the primary if hi feels
that there is a reasonable possibility that the applicant may have quali-
fied himself since the close of registration.

In a brief filed in the supreme court of North carolina, spring term
r961, the attorney general stated:

Neither the constitution nor the statute as to reading and writing for
registration prescribes the method of how the applicant for rigis-
tration shall know the provisions and words which he or she slialr
write. ft was, therefore, within the discretion of the registrar, as
well as the Board of Elections of Bertie County, to acquaint the
plaintiff with the provisions of the constitution which she was to
write out for them, either by pointing out the provisions and having
the plaintiff write or by dictating to the plaintiff in a reasonable
manner and having her write. It is not claimed by us that the
written version of the consiitution submitted by an applicant must
be perfect, either in spelling or in punctuation, but ii ihould be of
such a nature that any literate person who does know how to read
and write can read the applicant's written version and understand
what the applicant is saying as compared to the actual text of the
constitution.

_ Failures of the literacy test in 196o.-All told, at least 75g persons
failed to pass these haphazard tests of literacy between Januaf- l, 196o,
and the date of the county board of elections, reports. fu might be
expected, the failure rate varies greatly from one county to the next. No
failures at all were reported by one-third of the counties; Iess than ro
failures by another third. Almost all of the counties reporting more than
lo failures were in the eastern portion of the state, whiih has the heaviest
nonrvhite population concentration and the lowest literacy rate for both
whites and nonwhites.

The detcrminations of literacy made by the locar registrars were seldom
appealed to the county boards of elections. During the period under
study, only r r such appeals were reported. These appeals were made in
Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Halifax, and Union Counties.

- Complainls.-In 1959, the Committee received r7 voting complaints
in writing and under oath. AII of these compraints we.e from Negroes.

32

They complained that they had been denied permission to register on
account of their race, although according to their complaints they were
qualified under the laws of North Carolina to register. They com-

Tearo
Failurcs

70-79.
Bo-plus.
IJnknown

g,-Numbcr oJfailurcs oJ litaacl test Jan. t, 196o, to date

Counties

37
3r

5
I
I
o
I
I
o

r+

Total.

plained that the reading and writing tests were applied to them in a
manner so as to discriminate against them and deny them the privilege of
registering and voting. Ten of these complaints in lg5g were from
residents and citizens of Halifax County; six from residents and citizens
of Northampton County; and one from a resident and citizen of Greene
County.

In May 196o, at the time of the registration for the primary, the
Committee received r9 additional sworn complaints, alleging that the
complainants were unjustly deprived of their right to register on account
of their race. All of the complainants were Negroes. Nine of the com-
plainants were residents and citizens of Franklin County; seven of Bertie
County; and three of Greene County.

Franklin County.-Nine Negroes, including one graduate and three
others who had finished one or more grades of Person High School at
Franklinton, stated in their complaint that not only were they required
to read sections of the U.S. and North Carolina Constitutions, they were
asked by the registrar to define "habeas corpus," explain how a person
could be imprisoned for debt in North Carolina, rvho creatcd the rvorld,
and what "create" meant. The complainants stated that they were
told by the registrar that they "didn't satisfy him."

One of the complainants stated that she told the registrar that " 'habeas
corpus' is a Latin word," but that this was not an acceptable answer.
She added that when the registrar denied her the right to register, he
did tell her "to come up some more.'

Another complainant said that although she could not say rvhat
"habeas corpus" was on April 3o, when she first applicd, she lookcd it
up and came back again on M^y 7, but on that occasion thc registrar

roo

??



did not ask her to define "habeas corpus." This time she was asked
to read two more sections of the constitution of North carolina, section
zz,_that."No property qualification ought to affect the right to vote,',
and section 23, that "The people ought not to be taxed . . . without
the consent of themselves . freely given." she was refused again.

The chairman of the Franklin county Board of Elections stat;d to
a representative of this committee, in discussing these complaints, that
on April 29, 196o, all of the registrars in Franklin County had met
together and at that time were furnished printed forms requiring only
that applicants to register give their names, residence, place and dite of
birth, name of mother and father, and whether they hid ever been con-
victed of any crimes. The chairman of the county board of elections
stated that he did not know anything about questions which the indi-
vidual registrar might ask applicants. "The liw says they must satisfy
the registrar-any little questions he might ask them. The county
board will hear any complaints it receives in writing. Let the applicani
come, and the registrar, and we will have a meeting and see who'i right.
we are treating all alike. we have tried to be fair and square with
everybody. I don't think anyone who is capable of registering h"r b..r,
denied the right to register."

It should be noted that G.S. 163-z8 was amended in rg57 and the
previous language which stated that the applicant must nsaisfy,, the
registrar as to his ability to read and write was eliminated, so as to make
it clear.that no registrar has had or now has any personal veto over
any registration.

__Greene County.-On May zr, 196o, three Greene County Negroes

lled slvorn complaints with this committee charging that they had
been denied the right to register and vote because of their race.

The Greene county registrar, in commenting upon these complaints,
stated that he put each applicant through "a little test. Nine or ten
Negroes passed and were registered, seven or eight failed. one white
person also failed but later came back and took the test again and
passed." The registrar stated that he gave each applicant a copy of
the North carolina constitution, allowed him time to read it, andthen
asked him four questions: (r) How is registration accomprished? (z)
what are the general qualifications of voters? (3) whai are the pro-
ctdural qualifications for registration? (4) can you read and write
the Constitution of North Carolina?

"I let thcm read it and then I asked them the questions," the registrar
stated. "The last one is about the only one they could answer. Most
of them could say the constitution by heart. I berieve that some of
them can go right through it from one end to the other."

when anyone could not ansrver the other questions, the registrar said
that he told them to come back later and try again. "I real the ques-

34

tions out and gave them time to copy them down so they could take them
away and study them. I tried to show one just as much favor as the
other. Actually, I have had more complaints about the test from white
people than from the colored people." The registrar added that he did
not think any of the applicants who were denied had been to high school.
"Most of the colored people down here can,t read and write. They
don't go to school. fn fact, for the last 4 or 5 years they have just
started to school. The school attendance law is not enforced strictly
enough."

There were no appeals to the Greene county Board of Elections from
these complainants.

Bertie County.-Seven Negroes filed sworn complaints on May eo,
:96o, that registrars in Bertie county denied them the right to register
because of race. Two of these complainants stated that the ..glt.u.
turned them down because they did not spell correctly. The registrar
in commenting upon this complaint stated to a representative of this
committee that he had during this registration period registered about
4o Negroes while refusing to register some 40 or 50 other Negroes who
had applied but who, in his judgment, "were not able to read and write
any section of the constitution of North Carolina in the English
Ianguage."

He stated: "No one was denied because of his race. Some of the 4o or
5o who were refused may have been to high school, but thcy still couldn't
read or write. I don't know how that happens, unless they have had poor
schooling." He added that none of those refused gave notice of appeal
to the county board of elections, "and now it is too late." The rq57
election statute requires the applicant who is denied registration to file
a notice of appeal with the registrar on the same date as the denial, or no
later than 5 p.m.the following day.

fn another precinct in Bertie County, two of the complainants said that
they were high school graduates and could read and write, but that
they were denied registration because of "misspelling and punctuation.,'
Two others made similar allegations as to the reason for their denial.
This registrar, in commenting on these complaints to a representative of
this Committee, stated "they wrote better than they read. They could
not read what they had written. I have copies of what they have written.
About seven or eight Negroes applied and two of them passcd." The
registrar added that all of the complainants cxcept one had filed notice
of appeal to the Bertie Elections Board and that their appcals would be
heard soon.

In a third precinct in Bertie County, another Negro complained that
a registrar had refused to permit him to register on the gound of mis-
spelling, although according to the complainant he was a high school
graduate with 5 years' service in the Army.



When interviewed by members of this Committee, these registran dis-
cussed these complaints freely and cooperatively. One of them, when
asked whether any white people had failed to pass the reading and writ-
ing test, replied, "No. I mean I didn't have any to try it. ."

One of the Bertie complainants rvho appealed to the Bertie Board of
Elections was asked on the hearing of her appeal to write a section of
the constitution as it was read to her. On the advice of her counsel at
that hearing, she refused to do so. In superior court her appeal was
dismissed on the ground that she had refused to take the literacy test.
On appeal the North Carolina Supreme Court said that this complainant
was entitled to another chance to register in her precinct in Bertie County.
The supreme court said:

. excessive reading and writing may not be required. Writing
from dictation is not a requirement. The test may not be admin-
istered so as to discriminate between citizens.

We do not intimate or suggest that the registrar of Woodville
Township precinct or the Bertie County Board of Elections has in
any way acted in bad faith. But it is our opinion that the lit-
eracy test as administered by them is unreasonable and beyond the
intent of the statute.s

APPEAL PROCEDURE AND RECOMMENDATION

All of the complaints received by this Committee in r95g and 196o
arrived after the e4-hour period for giving notice of appeal had expired.
The Committee advised the complainants that their complaints would
be forwarded to the U.S. Commision on Civil Rights for such further
investigation as might be appropriate, but that the complaints to this
Committee were no substitute for appeals from the registrar to the
county board of elections and thereafter to the superior court or the
Supreme Court of North Carolina, if the applicant was so advised.

Any person rvho is denied rcgistration for any reason may appeal
thc dccision of the reeistrar to the county board of elections. The pro-
cedure is sinrple-he must hand thq registrar a paper setting forth his
name, age, and address, and the phrasc "I appeal to the county board
of elections because I have been refused registration though qualified."
Othcr words to the same effect will be suflicient.

He must sign this himsclf. It must be delivered to the registrar on
the day of the denial or by 5 p.m. on thc day following denial. If the
denial takes place on Saturday, G.S. lo3-5 would permit thc notice
of appcal to be delivered up until 5 p.m. on the Monday following.

a Bozenore v. Bertie Bodrd of Electione,2S:1 N.C. 308, 406 (f06f).

36

That is all he needs to do, but it must be done if his right to register
is to be established. Most people wait too long. Writing the State board
of elections or the county board of elections, the Commission on Civil
Rights, or anyone else, is useless unless that first step is taken.

This procedure has been clearly stated in the North Carolina elections
laws since 1957, when the general assembly amended the statute to
make plain just what the person desiring to rr gister must do if denied
registration. The county board will then set a time for the applicant
to appear, and if he is qualified the board will register him. If not, he
can then give written notice of appeal to the superior court, which can
order him registered if he is qualified. But the official first step is this
short written statement handed to the registrar any time on the day of
or following the denial.

If this simple procedure is followed, it will be far more effective than
petitions, investigations, new laws, or demonstrations in the presence of
any particular registrar who appears reluctant to register anyone.

We would recommend to the general assembly that the election law be
amended to require the State board of elections to furnish the registran
an appropriate notice, to be posted at each place of registration, advising
applicants in simple language how to give notice of appeal and the time
limit for giving it. In addition, we would also recommend to the general
assembly that consideration be given to extending the time for giving such
notice, inasmuch as a period of z4 hours is perhaps shorter than that
permitted for appeals from other administrative decisions. We realize
that there may be some factors requiring a relatively short time in order
that registration may be completed before the actual day of the election,
but a period of approximately 24 hours seems very short to foreclose a
person's right of franchise. If in fact such a short time for appeal leaves
the record bare of timely appeals, the impression is given that there has
been no discrimination because no appeals ,have been taken. If later
complaints are made in other channels, the answer is given: This is
not the way to raise the question I you should have appealed to the county
board of elections.

There are some) of course, who would not appeal, regardlcss of the
time limit, and even if they felt themselves aggrievcd, because of the
trouble it rvould takc, the prospect of a hearing and a test before a county
board, and a feeling of "why bother with all this just to resister." \Ve
concur in former Governor Hodges' endorscment of public advcrtisc-
ments calling for greater participation in politics by the people of North
Carolina by encouraging them to register.

Evcn more important, however, than publicizing the proccdure for
appcal and allorv a longcr pcriod for notice of appcal to be riven, is

the real need for reconsidcration, revision, and standardization of thc
literacy test. Quite apart from making any judgmcnt on the complaints

37



from Franklin, Bertie, Greene, Northampton, and Halifax, it is apparent
from the reports from all of the other county boards of elections that the
administration of the literacy tests is anything but standard and uniform,
varying from registrar to registrar and from county to county. In the
Bazemore case, the North Carolina Supreme Court raised the question
as to whether the State board of elections might prescribe rules and regu-
lations for administering this test throughout the State.

A good electoral system must not only provide a system of judicial
review for variations in the judgment and methods of the election officials,
but those methods should be as uniform and as equally applicable to
all persons in the body politic as it is possible to devise.

There were no voting complaints filed with this Committee after the
May registration prior to the general election in November 196o. This
fact, plus the fact that there have been no complaints from 95 out of the
too counties, may mean that the disproportionately low registration and
low voting of Negroes in North Carolina is due more to apathy or, as the
registrars in Bertie and Greene Counties suggested, to poor schooling and
poor school attendance, than to election officials' arbitrary denial of the
right to register on account of race . Even if there were only one case of
denial of the right to vote on account of race, all of us as citizens of
North Carolina should protest. When there is disproportionately low
registration and low voting of any large segment of our citizenry, we
should seek out the cause and correct it. To have a democracy we must
have the consent of the governed. The ballot is the vehicle of consent.

VOTER TURNOUT

Figure 3 and table r r (pp. 40, 4r ) show the places or sections of the
State where voter turnout was highest and lowest. Most of the counties
with the highest voter turnout were located in the mountains, but some
were located along the coast as well. Voter turnout was lowest on the
coastal plain in the counties with the lowest percentage of registration of
nonwhite (fig. ,, p.23), and the highest concentration of nonwhite
population (fr1. z, p, 2+).

For the State as a whole, 54 percent of the adult population voted in
the presidential election in 196o. This is an increase of six points over

the percentage which voted in 1956, but only an increase of one point
over r952.

Citizens' participation in North Carolina's general elections, which
is greater than in its primaries, appears to be increasing gradually, but
is still far below the high voting levels of the late Igth century. In
IBBB, 84 percent of the male inhabitants over et voted in the presi-

dential election; in r8ge, 75 percent; in 1896, 85 percent; in rgoo,

70 percent. As figure 4 @.+2) shows, participation fell off sharply in
subsequent general elections as white supremacy and the one-party system

took hold. It hit an alltime low of 35 percent in Ig4B.
The 196o figure of 54 percent voter turnout in North Carolina is

to be compared with the national average of 64 percent. Furthermore,
this very national average is held down to 64 percent by the low voter
turnout in the Southern States--only 4o percent.

The highest average turnout of potential voters in the presidential
elections of r952, I956, and l96o occurred in the Rocky l\{ountain and
midwestern farm States, while the lowest occurred in the South. North
Carolina lies about midway between the two extremes of voter turnout.

Tesrc ro.-Ciailian population casling aotcs Jor presidential electors

Percent oJ aoting age casting ballots: rgs2

The United States. 63
The South g7
North Carolina 53

1956 rgfu
6o 64
36 40
48 54

3B

t States of the Confederacy.

While North Carolina's turnout of potential voters in these elections

has lagged behind the national average and behind the majority of
States in the Nation, it has been greater than in the other Southern
States.

658{08 M2------4 39



Tegr.r tr.-rgfu clcction tunou, as paccntagc oJ totat adult poputalion

County Paccnt Counl Paccnt

+5.4
+7.5
38.2
8+.g
74.9
8+.+
98. 6
48.7
5r.r
79. 7
66.6
55. 9
42.9
5r.3
39. 3
20. 3
48.6
52.r
4r. 7
42.r
40. +
+3.9
43.o
86.s
7r.o
53. 7
35.o
50.8
6r. 3
68. 8
6o. o
38'o
Br. o
76.o
6z.s
99.9
8s.+
5I. B

46.6
43.r
42-3
37.6
47.6
go.B
28.4
87. z

35.2
77.s
8g.s
54.o

4t

55.o
95.+
9t. 7
43.2
81.+
8s.g
+3.+
3+.3
43. 8
70.o
6r.5
76.t
6o. o
16.s
43.2
52.4
4r. 4
77. 4
58. 9
86.s
38. 3
98. 4
5r. 7
s7.3
33.3
23.5
52.3
62. o
68.g
74.3
48.8
47.6
35. 3
5r-5
40.o
26.?
gB.s
92.r
36.r
$.6
46.9
36. 7
5r.6
74.3
6g.g
3r. 7

32.6
50.o
54.6
83.2
50.o

o

rS

c\
q
o(o
o,

So
R
I
:l

s
o

lrl
I

6)
,{
&p
o

Ir<

Alamance.
Alexander. ... :: :: :

Alleghany
Anson
Ashe. .

Avery
Beaufort.
Bertie.
Bladen
Brunswick
Buncombe
Burke.
Cabarrrs
Caldwell
Camden.
Carteret
Caswell
Catawba
Chatham
Cherokee
Chowan
Clay. .

Cleveland
Columbus
Craven.
Cumberland
Currituck
Dare. .

Davidson
Davie.
Duplin
Durham.
Edgecombe
Forsyth
Franklin
Gaston
Gates.
Graham
Granvi-lle
Greene
Guilford.
Halifax
Harnett
Haywood.
Henderson.
Hertford
Hoke.
Hyde.
Iredell
Jaclson
Johnston

Jones.
Lee. .. .:::: :

Lenoir.
Lincoln
McDowell
Macon
Madison
Martin
Mecklenburg.....
Mitchell.
Montgomery
Moore.
Nash. .

New Hanover....
Northampton.....
Onslow
Orange
Pamlico
Pasquotank
Pender
Perquimans
Person
Pitt...
Polk. .

Randolph
Richmond
Robeson
Rockingham
Rowan
Rutherford
Sampson
Scotland
Stanly
Stokes.
Surry.
Swain.
Transylvania. . .. .

Tyrrell
Union
Vance
Wake.
Warren
Washington
Watauga
Wayne
Wilkes
Wilson
Yadkin.
Yancey
North Carolina turnout. . . .

4o



'92
llllllllrlll
'12 '16 'zo. '24 ,zg 's2 ,36 '40 '44 ,si 'se 'eo

lll
'00 '04 '08

pt nr;ol .ldnd.

REPRESENTATION IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Article II, Section 3, of the North Carolina constitution establishes a
senate of 5o members. Section 4 states "that each senate district shall
contain, as near as may be, an equal number of inhabitants." Districts
are to be altered by the general assembly at the fint session after
each census

The representative character of the present senate is shown in table I z
(p.+S). The "ratio" for each district was obtained by dividing 9r,r23
(one-fiftieth of the State population) by the population per senator for
that district. Thus a ratio of r.oo would represent an equal share of
senatorial representation; a ratio in excess of r.oo indicates overrepresen-
tation; and a ratio of less than r.oo indicates underrepresentation. The
(;xtremes are the zgth district with a ratio of. z.oz and the eoth
district with a ratio of o.34.

In spite of the wide differences in the representation in the present
senate, it is still more nearly representative of population than the
present house in which each of the roo counties has I representative
and the zo remaining representatives are allotted to certain counties
according to population.

There has been no reapportionment of the senate since rg4l, despite
the constitution and two censuses.

The overrepresentation of certain counties if all thosc of voting age
could and did vote is illustrated by figure 5 and accompanying table
(pp. ++, +S). Figures r and 3 (pp. 23, 4o) shorv the counties rvith low-
est percentage of nonwhite registration and the lowest voter turnout
Obviously, the voters who do vote in those counties where all three factors
are combined enjoy even greater "overrepresentation."

The high voter turnout of the rural western counties at least partiallv
compensates for their overrepresentation in legislative seats. \{Ihen the
overrepresentation in the general assembly is combined with low voter
turnout and low nonwhite registration, this suggests that the dice of
State politics are loaded in favor of the whites in the black belt.

CONCLUSIONS

From the reports of the county boards of elections, the series of hear-
ings held by this Committee, and the nature of the complaints received
by the Committee, the analyses of voter turnout and the index of rep-
resentative character of the State senate, all of which are set out in
detail in the body of this report, the following conclusions are indicated.

l. The registe red electorate of North Carolina remains overwhelm-
ingly and disproportionately white.

' woffi .rclud.d tom

Frcune 4.-Participation by aotcrs in prcsidcntial crcctions, tggg-r96o.

42



':

I

, jii .,- |
't 1,{
; -va g

,tr' t.r-I

Tesr.e rz.-Rcprcscntatioc charactcr oJ Statc scnale, 196o ccnsas

r 15, o58

to2r Ttt

78, +65
r r3, r8z
69, g4z

r47, 473

255,441
t+4,995

I78,533

246,55o
89, roz

t6z, Ezz
zzzr 4zS

t7r,499
Bg,54t

r28,644
z46,5zo

r6z,286
r Io, 5o5
272, rtt
I50,954
rBg,4zB
70,5I9
84, Bor

r64,53r
t27, 074

i37, BBr

r r7, 878
45' 03I

57, r40

.t30, 
o7+

r2t,421

. 5r,615
4,556, 155

Tyrrell,

Scnatms Populalion
Population Rcficscnla-
pcr scnator tton |d,tto

57' 529 r. 58

5I,355 r'77

78, 465 r. I 5
56,59r' r.6r
69, g4z r.30
n, B6 r.2+

r27,72o . 72
72,497 r.26

89,266 r.02

r23,275 . 74
Bg, roz r. 02

8r,4r r r, t2
trtr2r+ . Be

8s,749 r. o6
Bg,54r r.oz
128,644 .71
z46,5zo .37

8r, r43 t. 12

55,252 I.65
272, trr .34
75,477 t'21

r89,4zB .48
70,5r9 r.30
84,8or r. o8
Bz, 265 r. r r

r27, 07+ . 72

68, 94o r.32

rt7,B78 .78
45, O3r 2. 02

57, r4o l.6o
t3o,o74 .70

6o, 7lo r.50

5r,6r5

..i

q
o
ct

d

B

,o
t
E

q

a
o

.t3

B

B

I
lo
!lcp
o
h

3.

4.
5.
6.

ro.

I I.
t2.

r3.
t4.

I5.
r6.
t7.
r8.

r9.
20.
2t.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.

28.

29.
3o.

3r.
32.

33.

2

I
2
I
2

2

2

2

2
I

2
2

2
I
I
I

2
2
I
2
I
I
T

2
I

2

I
I

I
I

2

I

5o
44

Total.
r. 77



I

i
I
,

2. The apparent increase in political activity since l95B has been
largely confined to whites.

3. The proportion_of nonwhites registered tended to go up in 196o
in those areas which had low nonwhite registration in r9l8, and to de-
cline in counties which reported high nonwhite registialion in 1958.
Thus, there would appear to be a gradual "evening- out" of nonwhite
registrations throughout the State.

4. The procedures followed by registran to determine literacy vary
widely from registrar to registrar, and from county to county. TLere is
no standardized procedure for administering this test throughout the
State.

5_. when a person is denied the right to register, he must give a written
lotlcg of appeal to the registrar before 5 p;. of the date foilowing the
denial. This is a very short time to give notice, and the requirement is
not well known by the citizenry. rn most of the complaints received
by this committee, the complainant had waited too Ioni to give notice
of appeal. This means that complaints to this com#ttee or to the
state board of elections, or even to the county boards of elections, are
ineffectual, as a matter of law, because the initial simple written notice
of appeal to the registrar was not given within the time prescribed by the
rg57 North carolina statute. A simple notice of howio appeal should
be posted at every place of registration. This would eliminate a great
deal of misunderstanding and confusion, and would be more effJctive
than petitions, complaints, investigations, new laws, or demonstrations
in the presence of any particular registrar who appears reluctant to
register a person who believes himself to be qualified.

6. some counties which h-ave disproportionatery low nonwhite regis-
tration- and disproportionately low voter turnout also have dispropor-
tionately high representation in the general assembly. These ,r.j to,
the most part, counties with the highest concentration of nonwhite
population.

7. we believe that in respect to voting, the people of North carolina
are in agreement that no citizen of our state shouid be denied the right
to register, vote, and have that vote counted, on account of his ra-ce,
religion, or national origin.

B. where registrars have arbitrarily imposed more difficult Iiteracy
tests on Negro applicants than on white, or where there has been
discrimination against Negroes in respect to their right to register and to
vote, such denial of a basic right of citizenship does not have the
approval, either open or tacit, of the vast majority of the officials and
citizens of our state. we believe that where such discrimination has
been practiced, it'has already disappeared, or soon will disappear.

The connection between representation, turnout, and the qualification
of voters must alrvays conc.rn the citizens of our State. rnis is nothing
new. Long before the Revolution, men debated these considerations.

46

Many changes have been made in both language and practice of the law.
our history helps us understand our present situation and measure the

extent to which we have yet to make real the North Carolina Declaration
of Rights adopted at Halifax in r 776:

That all political power is vested in, and derived from, the people
only.

That no rrien, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate
emoluments or privileges from the community.

That elections of members to serve as represintatives in general
assembly ought to be free.

47



lll. Administration of lustice

There can be no such thing as one system of justice for one race
and another for the other.

-Gov. 
O. Max Gardner, 193o.

Any meaningful appraisal of current Negro participation in the instnr-
mentalities of justice must take into account that 64 years ago the par-
ticipation by Negroes in North Carolina law enforcement and
administration was the most politically sensitive point of attack in the
all-out, unabashed white supremacy political iampaign of rBgB. This
is an important reference point because the attitudes of thaL day, de-
liberately fanned to white heat in the rough and tumble political cam-
paigns of rB98 and r9oo, have been reflected in North Cirolina,s atti-
tude in racial matten in all the succeeding years.

Even though the specific community "memory,, of those days has
steadily dimmed as the participants passed on and as the hearers-at-first-
hand have begun, by reason of age, to pass from positions of influence,
nevertheless, a bedimmed recollection of Negro participation in all areas
of government in those dap continues to provide a hard core of white
resistance to fuller participation by Negroes today.

Actually the Reconstruction, Radical Republican or ,'Carpetbag,'

government lasted only about z years in North Carolina, from 1868
to IB7o. After lB7o, the Conservative (later called Democratic) Party
was in control of the general assembly until r8g4. Likewise, the Demo-
crats elected the Governors from 1876 to r8g4. During all of these
years Negroes held some offices and both Republican and Democratic
parties received Negro votes, though the Republic4ns counted much more
heavily on the Negro vote. fu late as. r8g r, the Democratic legislature,
referring to the earlier period of antagonism of the races and instability
of society, declared that "now happily that period has pa-ssed and com-
parative contentment, confidence, and repose have been established." r

By the next year, however, the Populist or People's Party had begun to
show political progress as a third party consisting principally of farmers
pledged to railroad regulation, graduated income tax, a limitation of
interest to 6 percent, a ro-hour workday for labor, and local self-
government.

I P',bllo anal Prloatc Loua aril Re.olurlofi.65g (1891).

49



In r Bg4 the eminently practical, if superficially incongruous, alliance
of Populist and Republican parties in North Carolina captured the
legislature. This alliance was called "Fusion." The voting support of
the Negroes had been an essential element in Fusion victory and there
followed an increase in the number of Negro officeholders. Many of
these offices were connected with the administration of justice.

The way that participation was used to evoke resentment from the
white majority is reflected in the pages of the Raleigh News and Observer
during the political campaign of rB9B. The paper was avowedly the
voice of the Democratic Party. It was thq rallying point of the white
supremacy political campaign by which the deposed Democratic Party
fought successfully to "defuse" the Fusion. Clearly the Democratic
politicians thought then that the way to win the election was to harp on
Negroes serving as constables, policemen, and magistrates. In the issue

9f O9t. B, lB9B, for example, an editorial entitled "Does Negro Rule
Exist?" stated that in Craven County z7 magistrates and all 5 of the
county's deputy sheriffs were Negroes. New Bern had 5 Negro police-
men; in New Hanover County there were 4o Negro magistrates; in
Wilmington, r3 out of z4 policemen were Negroes; Richmond County
had r r Negro magistrates, and Lenoir County had 4; in Wake County
where r of the deputy clerks of court was a Negro, a Negro deputy
sheriff had served summons on a number of white persons inClud-
ing the mayor of Raleigh; in Anson County a Negro magistrate
had tried a white citizen upon a charge made by another N.gro;
in Sampson County a white farmer had been arrested on a warrant
issued by a Negro magistrate ; and in Warren County a Negro magistrate
had issued a warrant and delivered it for service to a Negro constable
who deputized another Negro to help him serve it. Neither the per-
formance of these officers nor the merits of the cases nor their outcome
were mentioned by the editor.

Many other articles of the time were directed at participation by
Negroes in law enforcement and lower level judiciary posts, and the
political reaction indicated greater conc€rn by the white majority at
such participation in the instrumentalities of justice than in legislative
and executive functions of government.

The most detailed study of Negro officeholding in the period rBg4-
rgor is Helen Edmonds, The Negro and Fusion Politics in North
carolina. Its conclusion is that more Negroes held minor ofEces in this
period than in the l8To's and lS8o's, but that there was no extensive
office-holding by Negroes and no "Negro domination."

One Negro was elected to Congress; ten to the state legislature;
four aldermen were elected in lVilmington, two in New Bern, two in
Greenville, one or two in Raleigh; one county treasurer and one
county coroner in New Hanoverl one register of deeds in Cravenl

50

one Negro jailer in Wilmington I and one county commissioner tn
Warren and one in Craven. There were a few Negroes in minor
positions as assistant deputies to the sheriff, register of deeds, and
coroner. The largest number of Negro officeholders was included
under magistrates, who were largely powerless under the Fusion
county government law. Through Federal patronage one Negro
was collector of the port of customs in Wilmington, one was dcputy
collector of internal revenue in Raleigh, and some were postmasters.
But the public offices held by Negroes were neither sufficiently im-
portant nor numerous to warrant the Democratic cry of Negro
domination.2

Editor Daniels himself, in rg4r, viewed the campaign of rBgB in a

different Iight: 3

The News and Obseruey's partisanship was open, fiercc, and
sometimes vindictive, and was carried in news stories as well as

in editorials . . . The paper was cruel in its flagellations. In the
perspective of time, I think it was too cruel Whenever there
was any gross crime on the part of Negroes, The News and Obseruer
printed it in a lurid way, sometimes too lurid, in keeping with the
spirit of the times . We were never very careful about winnow-
ing out the stories or running them down . . they were plaved
up in big type.

Be that as it may, the white supremacy campaign of rB9B, which
generated a very considerable part of its steam by allusions to Negro
participation in the administration of justice, brought victory to the
Democrats. Whatever the actual facts, what the white people of the
State were told or came to believe, even if it was only partially true, is a

critical element in understanding subsdquent attitudes.
After the campaigns of rBgB and rgoo, the Populist Party faded

away, most of its followen voting Democratic, and the Republican Party
was so sensitive to the "Negro domination" attack that it adopted a

"lily white" policy in rgoz, excluding all Negro delegates to its State

convcntion. After the election laws were changed to rcquire proof of
literacy, except for those whose ancestors voted before 1867, Negro
voting in elections all but ceased for many years.

For a long period after r goo no Negroes participated in the instrumen-
talities of justice. For example, until the rg3o's no Negro servcd as

policeman or deputy sheriff in the State. The following figurcs reveal
the story on policemen:

tEdmonds, fhc Negro anil FusioL Polltict in North Coroaina 219-20 (1051).
r Daulels, Eilltor ln Politlc. 147, 145,253, 295-06 (1041).

5r



U.S,
Tear

Asheville
Burlington
Durham
Fayetteville

Ncgro

o
2

3
68

Buncombe
Burke
Caldwell
Ca*aret
Durham
Edgecombe
Forsyth

Mecklenburg
Nash
Pitt
Robeson
Rowan
Rutherford
Wayne

Censas: Policcmm in North Carolina

Whitc

6sg
r,34o
2, I55
3, r92

I.

Sample sTsas-7v741

Counties with population in excess of 3o,ooo:r92o..
r930..
r940..
rg50 t.

t Includcs sheriffs and marshals.

Thus in historical perspective, Negro participation in the instrumen-
talities of justice must be seen not as a steady and increasing climb from
zero, but as an eruption into fairly extensive (even if not in any way
proportionate) participation between 1868 and rB9B, followed by an
overwhelming, sudden, and complete retrogression, engendered by the
furious political overthrow of "Fusion"; and from that new point zero
there was a long delay before reentry of the Negro into any of these
agencies. Even the gradual climb since World War II has been more
difficult because of the tensions and turmoil of the advance and sudden
retrogression of the late r gth century.

In the summer of 196 I the Committee surveyed the extent to which
Negroes currently participate in the various instrumentalities of justice
in North Carolina. The "instrumentalities" include law enforcement
agencies, prosecuting agencies, court administrative offices, and penal
institutions.

The enforcement agencies embrace the highway patrol, bureau of in-
vestigation, county sheriff departments, and city police. The prosecuting
agencies include the attorney general and the solicitors or prosecutors of
superior, county, and city recorders' courts. The adminijtrative offices
of the courts include the offices of the clerks of superior, county, and city
courts, and practicing attorneys. The penal institutions include the vari-
ous branches of the State prison system, but no county, city, or town jails.

Information was secured from all of the appropriate state agencies, but
for the county and city agencies, the survey represents a sampling of
counties and cities selected for a comprehensive and balanced picture.
The sample areas cover the coastal, Piedmont, and mountain sections,
sparsely settled and more densely populated rural areas, and also the
intermediate and largest urban areas.

Sample areos-urban
r. Cities with population in excess of r oo,ooo :

Charlotte Winston-Salem
Greensboro

z. Cities with population between 25,ooo and 7g,ooo:

Guilford Wilson
Halifax

e. Counties with less than z8,ooo population:
Dare Stokes
Martin
McDowell
Montgomery

Swain
Warren

There was prompt, courteous, and apparently accurate reporting by a
majority of the officials to whom questionnaires were submitted. Not
all of the questionnaires were completed despite two letters of request'
Overall response was roughly 75 percent.

ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

At the State level, neither of our statewide law enforcement agencies,

State highway patrol and the State bureau of investigation has any
Negroes among its personnel. The rezrson given by the highway patrol
for nonemployment of Negroes is that four reported applicants failed
their examination. The Bureau of Investigation ascribed nonemploy-
ment of Negroes to lack of qualification. No indication $'as given of
how many, if any, applications had been made.

At the county level, questionnaires were sent to z4 sheriffs and re-
turned or otherwise answered by I l. Three counties norv employ a

total of seven Negro deputies. These threc coui'rties are all among the
most heavily populated in the State. The prevailing practice among
these sheriffs' departments is to put no restriction on the arresting powers

of the Negro deputies. One sheriff notes that his Negro deputies custom-
arily arrest only Negroes, and another sheriff assigns his Negro deputics
to duty in principally Negro residential areas. Four of those sheriffs'
offices which reported employing no Negroes give "no applicants" as

the reason. The remaining four give no reason.

At the city level, questionnaircs were sent to r r chiefs of city police
departments and 9 of these made generally complete rePorts. All of

I
4
3
3

:

I

High Point
Kinston
Rocky Mount
lVilmington

.53



.'{j.

}.

thesc employ Negro policeman, a totar of 7o of a[ grades, incruding
6 noncommissioned officers of the rank of sergeant or ablve, 6 detective{
and r commissioned officer. It is assumed that this fairly limited sam-
pling would indicate a substantiar increase over the repoied statewide
total of_79 Negro policemen of all grades in r95z as riported in,,The
Sta_te Magazine," February g, rg52, or even thJirT in rg55 as reported
by John Larkins.n since r955 Nigro law enrorcem."t o6IJ^ inciuding
policewomen and school guards have, from time to time, according 6
various newspaper reports, been employed in the folow'ing cities and
towns:

to be employed in the immediate future as deputy sheriffs or policemen
in limited numbers not approximating the proportion of Negroes to total
population, but in numbers required for policing essentially Negro resi-

dential areas. Opportunities for advancement exist and have been

realized. All the evidence is that public acceptance, after initial strange-

ness, has been good. An increasing use of merit systems in police Person-
nel practices also indicates the likelihood of some further increases in
the number of Negro policemen or policewomen. There does not aPPear

to be any concerted drive by Negroes for such employment.

PROSECUTING AGENCIES

Attorney generd.-At the State level, the attorney general reported e4

attorneys on his staff, none of whom lvere Negroes. All are appointed by

the attorney general. He is elected by statewide vote. The reason given

for not employing any Negroes in the attorney general's office was that
"no vacancies existed." The report did not indicate r*'hether or not there

had been any Negro applicants.
Superior court soliciteT5.-fq,'6nty-one questionnaires were sent out

and r7 were returned. The clistrict solicitor holds an elective position

created by the North Carolina constitution. There is no State statute

providing assistants of any kind to the solicitors paid by the State, but
in a few districtS a few counties provide assistant solicitors. These are ap-

pointed by the county commissionen. Negro attorneys in private prac-
tice sometimes appear with the solicitor in the role of private prosecutors.

There are no Negroes employed by the State or counties in any of the

solicitors' offices. The reason given was that none had applied. One

solicitor reported that the only participation by Negroes was that they

made up the majority of the defendants prosecuted in his district.
A Negro has never been elected a superior court solicitor in North

Carolina during this century. There apPears to be no chance at the

present time of such an election. The office of assistant solicitor would

seem to provide an excellent place for a Negro to takc part in the pros-

ecuting agencies, but it should bc pointed out that the districts and

counties in the State have been slow to provide district solicitors with

assistants, white or nonwhite, even though the respondcnts to the

questionnaires indicated that the solicitors in the more populous dis-

tricts were understaffed.
At the county level, z t questionnaires lvere sent out and t t returned

by solicitors of countv recorders' courts. There were no Negroes re-

ported serving as solicitors in any of these courts. This is an elective

office and there is little chance of a Negro being elected solicitor. None

of the solicitors answering had any emplol'ed assistants or clerical help.

Plncc

UniJormcd
policemen and
policaoomn Dctcctiacs

2
I5

Burlington.
Carrboro. .

Asheville.
Ahoskie.

Concord.

6
4
o

4
23

I
t7

2
8
6

3

5
2
I
I
2

t2
2

5
I
2
I
3

I9

Chapel Hill.
Charlotte. .

Durham

Fayetteville .

Gastonia.

Dunn.

Kinston
Lenoir.

Oxford.
Raleigh.

Sanford.

Goldsboro.
Greensboro.
Greenville
High Point,

Morganton. .

Mount Gilead.

Reidsville.
Rocky Mount.

Salisbury.
Statesville
Wilson
Winston-Salem.

Total . r58

The practice reportcd by police departments employing Negro police-
men is to assign them. to principally Negro residentirt 

"L^ f,ut to put
no rcstriction: upon their powers of duties of arrest based upon either
the ide ntity of the person arrested or the nature of the crime.

The conclusion is that in the morepopulous counties and in practica[y
every city of the state, Negroes are 6eing employed or may be e*pected

. r*--., * e Negro poputario,- ol North Carolino (Lg67l.

54 55



At the level of city recorders court, r r questionnaires were sent out
and 4 returned by soliciton of these courts. There were no Negroes
reported serving as solicitors in any, of these courts. This post usually
is elective or appointive by the town council, which in turn is elective.
None of those answering had any assistants or clerical help.

ORGANIZATION OF THE COURTS

Judges

No Negro has ever served as superior or supreme court judge. A few
Negroes have in recent years been elected or appointcd justices of the
peace in some of the larger cities.

Hon. Lacey Maynor, a Lumbee Indian who resides at Pembroke, is

Judge of L{axton Recorders Court in Robeson County, having won an
election in u'hich whites and Negroes, as \.vell as Indians participated.

Juries

In recent years, in most counties, Negroes have regularly been included
in jury panels, in both the State and U.S. courts. As late as 196r in
Catawba County, a Negro defendant successfully challenged the indict-
ment against him on the ground that Negroes had been systematically
excluded from the grand juries in that county. Judge J. Will Pless, Jr.,
stated: "IJpon this showing, there has been no Negro grand juror
serving in Catawba County for r r years and only about a dozen
Negroes have served on trial juries. I have no choice therefore but to
sustain the motion." State v. Hewitt, Catawba Superior Court,
Feb. r96r term.

In a r94B case from Bertie County, State v. Speller, zz9 N.C. 67,
the evidence showed that the names of Negroes in thc box from which
the jury lists were drawn were always printed in red while thc names of
whites were printed in black. Although Negroes comprised 35 to 40 per-
cent of the taxpayers in the county, and approximately 6o percent of the
population, it was "common knopvledge and generally known that Ne-
groes do not serve and have not scrved on grand or petit juries in Bcrtie
County" and that none had evcr been summoned for jury dutv. The trial
judge found that there had been no intentional discrimination against
the colored race in thc selcction of jurors for that term of court, but the
North Carolina Suprcme Court reversed on the grounds that the trial
judge's finding was without support. There was no statute requiring
the names to be printed in different colors or requiring the county

56

ofEcials to segregate or exclude the Negroes from the jury. But as the

Court had said as early as I go2 in a case from Mecklenberg: t

. . the fact that it may have been caused through the admin-
istrative officers of the State, instead of by legislative enactment,
does not relieve the situation. It would still be a wrong . It
is incomprehensible that while all white persons entitled to jury
trials have only white juron selected by the authorities to pass

upon their conduct and their rights, and the Negro has no such

privilege, the Negro can be said to have equal protection with the
white man. tlow can the forcing of a Nepgo to submit to a criminal
trial by jury drawn from a list, from which has been excluded all of
his race purely and simply because of color, 'although possessed

of the requisite qualifications prescribed by law, be defended? Is
not such a proceeding a denial to him of equal protection? There
can be but one answer, and that is that it is an unlawful discrimina-
tion. A wrong then has been done against the defendant if the
facts set forth in the motion and affidavit be tme, and in this age

of the world there must be a remedy for every wrong.

In many if not most counties, Negroes did not participate to an,v

appreciable extent in juries for many years prior to Ig35 when the U.S.
Supreme Court decided the Scottsboro cases.u After that, according to
many references in North Carolina Supreme Court reports, county
c6mmissioners included more Negroes on the jury lists.

For example,in Miller v. State,237 N.C. zg ( I g5z ), cert. denied, 345
U.S. g3o (IgSg), it is pointed out that "Eversince 1935 the Board of
Commissioners of Beaufort County has earnestly endeavored to select

for jury service in the county without regard to their race or color
There has been an 'obseryable increase' in the number of Negroes

called" since rg37. Again in regard to Mecklenburg, ever since 1936

"we have had colored men drawn and on the civil jury frequently."
Statev.Walls, er r N.C. +87 (tgZl), cert. denied,3oz U.S. 6gS (rggZ).

As to New Hanover County, "a number of namcs of the Negro race
werc placed" in the jury box in r 936. State v. Ilenderson, z l6 N.C. 99
(,ggg).

In October 1946 Forsyth County with its large Neero population
at that time had a'jury pool of to,6z2 rvhite and 255 colorcd
citizens. At that time a Shcriff, then in office for ten 1'ears, testi-
fied that he had summoned only about le Negrocs for jury sen'icc
in that time Before [rg+g] no Ncgro had sen'ed on a Vance
County jury in recent years. No Negro had evcr bcen summoncd.
That this was the result of unconstitutional discrimination is made

r.qtat€ v. Peoplet, l3l N.C. 784, (19o2).
. Nortle a. Llabomo 29.1 U.S. 687 (1035).

I

I

I

!r
I

i

s7



clear by the fact that Negroes constitute +S% of the county's popu-
lation and g\/o of. its taxpayers . . Negroes constituted about
47/o of. the population of fPitt] County and about one-third of the
taxpayers. But the jury box of ro,ooo narnes included at most I85
Negroes. And up to and including the Daniels' trial no Negro had
ever served on a grand jury in modern times.T

ln ry47, G.S. g-r was amended to permit women to serve on juries
and to eliminate the requirement that only those who had paid all taxes
for the preceding year could be jurors.

The pool of eligible jurors was thus enlarged. This enlargement
and the practice of selecting jurors under the new statute worked a
radical change in the racial proportions of drawing jurors in Forslth
County. In the two years rg4g and rg5o the percentage of the
Negroes drawn on grand jury panels in Forsyth County varied be-
tween 7/o and rc/o of all persons drawn. In r95o the percentage
of Negroes drawn on petit jury panels varied between g/o and t7/o
of all penons drawn We recognize the fact that these lists
have a higher proportion of white citizens than of colored, doubt-
less due to inequality of educational and economic opportuni-
ties. In Vance County, where the special venire for Speller's
trial was drawn, the names of substantial numbers of Negroes
appeared thereafter in the jury box. r45 Negroes out of a total of
a,re6 names were in this jury box. As this venire was the fint
drawing of jurors from the box after its purge in 1949 following
the new statute and Bunson v. North Carolina decided here
March 15, 1948,333 U.S.B5r, the long history of alleged dis-
crimination against its Negro citizens by Vance County jury com-
missioners is not decisive of discrimination in the present case .

The fact that causes further consideration in this case of the selec-

tion of prospective jurors is that the tax lists show 8,233 individual
taxpayers in Vance County of whom 3, r 36 or g\/o are Negroes In
the jury box involved, selected from that list, there were 2 , r 2 6 names.
Of that number r45 were Negroes, 7/o. This disparity between
the races would not be accepted by this court solely on the evidence
of the clerk of the commissioners that he selected names of citizens
of "good moral character and qualified to serve as jurors, and who
had paid their taxes." It would not be assumed that in Vance
County there is not a much larger percentage of Negroes with quali-
fications of jurymen. The action of the commisioner's clerk how-
ever in selecting those with "the most property," an economic basis
not attacked here, might well account for the few Negroes appear-

1 Brona v. Allen,344 U.S. 143,47O,551-52 (1052).

58

ing in the box. Evidence of discrimination based solely on race in
the selection actually made is lacking.8

Other cases involved the same question of exclusion of Negroes from
the juries in Warren, IJnion, Durham, Columbus, Wilson, Jones, and
Rowan counties.e

The North Carolina court has stated repeatedly that the right to be
tried by jury chosen from a panel from which the members of the
defendant's race have not been systematically excluded is not merely a
right under the Federal Constitution but under the North Carolina con-
stitution as well, particularly article I, section I7, which declares that "no
person ought to be . . in any manner deprived of his right, liberty,
or property, but by the law of the land."

The law neither expects nor requires that a pro rata number of Negroes
or whites be on every jury. If from all of the qualified jurors in the
county a jury panel is chosen which, by chance, includes a disproportion-
ate number of whites or Negroes, no one has a right to complain; but if
the pool, box, or list from which the drawing is made does not contain a
representative number of each race, then the absence of juron of that
race when the jury is drawn is the result not of chance but of design.

Jurors are to be selected without inclusion or exclusion because of race.

In a civil case tried in 1876 in Northampton County, the plaintiff, a
white man, appealed from a verdict for the defendant, a colored man.
At the beginning of the trial, only one of the jurors was colored and this
one the plaintiff excused. Thereupon, there being no other jurors left
in the panel, the judge requested the sheriff to summon from the by-
standers a colored person to serve as juror. Later, the plaintiff excused

a white juror and another colored juror was summoned in his place. On
appeal the judgment for the defendant was affirmed, but the North
Carolina Supreme Court expressly disapproved the trial judge's

action:'o

' Id. at 47O, 473, 479. 481.
eAtarJ v. ipettir, ZeO N.e.3{5 (1949) i Etatea. Perry,248 N.C.33.1 (1958) add osotn

25O N.C. 119 (1959), cert. itenieil,361 U.S. 833 (1959) ; Itare v. Cooper, 20i N.C. 657
(1933); gtate \t. Kirksey,22? N.C. 1145 (1C,17); Srate v. Reiil,23O I\i.C. 56f (19'49):
Stdte v. Koritz, 227 N.C. 552, cert. ilenieir,332 U.S, 768; Srote v. Brotn, 933 N.C. 2o2
(l950l, cert. ilenieir,3ll U.S. 043: Srore v. Brunro?t,227 N.C. 558 (1947): rcul, bI Il.S.
Court 333 LI.S. 851 i new trlol ordered on nltrn(hte from U.S. Supreme Court ln 329 N.C.
37 (1948) ; Srote v. Bell,2l2 N.e, 20 (1037) ; srore v. sloaz, 97 N.C. il9s (1887) : sta,e v.
Doniel, 13+ N.C. 641 (100{). Stgnlflctrntly, no such case rerched the N.C. Supretne Court
durlng the perlod 190rts-1933 when Negroea neither roted nor held publle omce.

fn Srore t;. Dunlap,65 N.C. 441 (f871), tbe defcnds.nt secured a renrovol of hls murder
trlnl to tbe Fctlernl Court on ground thnt he so8 a Netro Republtc,ln nnil the rlctlm wns
a f)emocrrt nnd llecklenburg CountI wns then governed by n Dcmocratlc Board ol Com'
mlnsloners s'ho prepnre(l the Jury llst, After the U.S. Stlpreme Court declslon tn the
Slaughterhouse Caeea, 83 U.S. 394 (1872), lnterpretlng the 1866 Clrll Rlghts Act, Do
more cnses u'ere removetl to the Federal court on aceount of local race prejudtce. Instead,
the proper procedure wos to remove the caso to anotbpr county "wbere sueh PreJudlce does
not exlst a-nd tr fnlr trlal msy be had." Fitrlcrali, v. Allman,82 N.C. 402 (1880).

In 1880 a Ralelgh ansembly of eolored persons lssud e statement of grlevances "of
$htch the colored do Justly conrplatn." One of these strs "that ln rnany of the countles'
colored men are not permltted to act a8 Jurors, nots'lthstandlng the blll of rlghts declare
that every nlan shall bave the rlght to be trled by a Jury of hls peers." Frenlse A. LgEn'
"The }IoveEent of Negroe8 froE North Carollna, 1876-1894," 33 lvorrri Carolino Hktorinl
neoknD l7 (Jan. 1956).

tCagahart t.gteuorl,80 N.C. 90, 92.
cn



If the Judge may direct the summoning of a colored juror in place
of one removed, he may with equal propriety direct the summoning
of a white juror, and thus class distinctions, which the recent amend-
ments to the Constitution of the United States and our own Con-
stitution conforming thereto are intended to abolish, would be
introduced in the practical operations of our judicial system, and
in trials by jrry, its most vital and valuable part . . . The law knows
no distinction among the people of the State in their civil and
political rights and correspondent obligations and none should be
recognized by those who are charged with its administration.

Attorneys

Even though in private practice, attorneys are officers of the court and
essential to the administration of justice. There are now approximately

7o Negro attorneys practicing in North Carolina. They practice primar-
ily in the larger cities of the State, about two-thirds of them in the five
cities of Charlotte, Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem, and Raleigh.
Outside of these 5 cities there are only z3 Negro attorneys Practicing in
the remaining 95 counties in the State. Although Negroes make up
about one-fourth of the population, less than e percent of the practicing
attorneys are Negroes.

Until rg39 there was no law school in the State to which Negroes
were admitted. As Judge Johnson J. Hayes pointed out in Epps v.
Carmichael: "

Following the Gaines case [3o5 U.S.gg7 (rgSB) which held that
Missouri could not exclude Negroes from a State-maintained law
school even though it paid the tuition for Negroes to attend law
schools outside the State], the legislature of North Carolina estab-
lished the College School of Law [at Durham] without a law suit
or the threat of a law suit and it has proceeded with the develop-
ment of the school of larv with the fixed purpose to provide equal
facilities for the Neggoes with those furnished to the white students
at the University of North Carolina.

In this case Judge Hayes denied admission of the Negro students to
the lJniversity Law School at Chapel Hill, holding that there would be

no substantial advantage to admit them and that "the best interests of
the plaintiffs will be scrved by denying the relief sought." This decision
was reversed by thc Court of Appcals in McKissick v. Carmichael,
rB7 F. 2d g4g (rgSr ) , cert. denied, 34r U.S. 95r ( rg5r ). Thereafter
Ncgroes wcre permitted to attend the Law School of the University
of North Carolina. In the spring of 196r, onc such Negro student,

rt 03 tr.. Supp. 327, 331 (1050).

6o

by reason of his achievement in this law school, became editor in chief
of. The North Carolina Law Reaiew.

Negroes may also attend law school at North Carolina College at
Durham, Wake Forest College, or Duke University. Before being li-
censed to practice, lawyers must pass the examination and character
requirements of the State bar to which all licensed attorneys belong.
This integrated bar was established by the legislature in r 933. It licenses

and disciplines the legal profession in the State. A separate voluntary
organization of lawyers is the North Carolina Bar Association, organized
in lBgB. It sponsors studies and legislation to improve the administra-
tion of justice and postgraduate training seminars. No Negroes have
be'en admitted to the asociation.

In lg55 the Mecklenburg County Bar Association was dissolved

voluntarily and since then all professional activities have been con-

ducted by the z6th Judicial District (Mecklenburg) Bar, membership
in which by all practicing attorneys is required by statute. Negroes
have not been excluded from any of its activities. Thus the bar in
Mecklenburg County has been integrated since r955.

14itnesses

In 176z all colored persons within the fourth degree were prohibited
from testifying against white persons. This law was re-enacted in 1777.
ln State v. Newsom,27 N.C. 203 (1844), the Suprcme Court observed
that "innumerable cas* have been tried in our various courts, in which
white persons and colored have been parties litigant, and in which the
testimony of colored witnesses would have been important, and ,vet,
in no instance, has the constitutionality of the act of I777 bcen
questioned." However, this statute was repealed by the Constitution
of rB6B.1'z

According to that instrument persons of color are entitled to vote
and to hold office. The greater includes the less, and the effcct is
to take away the mark of degradation imposed by the statute under
consideration. We see cverv day persons of color holding seats in
the Senate and in the House of Reprcscntativcs, and filling placcs in
the executive departmcnts of thc State; so it H'ould bc incongrtrous
and absolutely absurd to rulc that a frce person of color is incorn-
pctent as a witness against a rvhite man charsed u'ith the ofTcnsc

of mismarking one of his ncighbor's shccp. The stattrtc nrust be

taken to be repugnant to the spirit, if not thc lctter, of thc
Constitution

After this decision there is no record of anv pcrson bcing cxcludcd, on
account of his race or color, as a rvitness in any of our courLs.

u Sroro v. Unilertooil,63 N.C. f f l (f 869).

6r



Clerks

As to clerks of superior court, 24 questionnaires were sent out and l5
returned. There were no Negroes reported as serving in administrative
offices of the superior courts. In most counties there are assistant clerks
and deputy clerks and other clerical employees. Those clerks giving
reasons for not employing Negroes reported that none had applied. Be-
cause the clerk is elected, and in most counties only a small proportion
of Negroes are registered voters, there is little incentive for a clerk to
employ a Negro in his office.

No county courthouse facilities were reported to be fully segregated as
to courtroom seating, waiting rooms, restrooms, eating places, jury boxes,
or other facilities. Four courthouses were not segregated in any respect
and the remaining r r were only partially segregated in some of these
facilities. All but four reported segregated restrooms. One reported
segregated jury boxes.

As to clerks of county recorders court, 20 questionnaires were sent out
and ro returned. They indicated that no Negroes were employed in
the offices of these clerks of court. Most of the courthouse facilities were
partially segregated, typically with racially segregated restrooms. Only
county recorders court reported segregation of jurors.

As to the clerks of city recorders court, r r questionnaires were sent
out and B returned. There were no Negroes reported serving in the
offices of any of the clerks of city recorders courts. These offices are
generally appointive by the elected city council. Few have assistants
or clerical help except in larger cities. Only one clerk reported fully
segregated facilities. One indicated some facilities \i/ere segregated and
others were not, and six reported that all facilities were unsegregated.

PRISON SYSTEM

In r 957, Dr. M. B. Davis, Negro physician of High Point, was appointed
by Governor Hodges to be one of scven members of the Prison Commis-
sion. Hc was reappointed in 196r for a second 4-year term. No
Negroes have evcr served on the probation commission, board of paroles,
or board of corrcction and training.

The board of paroles employs 3r parole supervisors; no Negro has
held a parole position. The probation commission enrploys 58 proba-
tion officers; 3 are Negrocs, r each in Walie, Durham, and Forsyth
Counties. The first Negro probation officer rvas employed in lg58,
the second in rg5g, and the third in 196o. Negro probation officers
are used only in cases involving Negro defendants.

6z

The State prison department regularly employs more than 2,ooo per-
sons of whom 3I are Negroes. Fifteen of these are in supervisory or
professional jobs. Eleven are guards and five are matrons. Nineteen
Negroes are employed as part-time teachers. The performance of Ne-
groes in each category is reported to be comparable to similar white
employees. Eighteen of the Negroes employed full time by the prison
department were hired during I96r. ,

Ninety-one questionnaires were sent to units of the prison system in
North Carolina and of these 84 were returned by the heads of the units.
Forty units are all white, 42 are all Negro, B are mixed and r is all
Indian. The eight mixed units reported a substantial number of majority
and minority races. In these eight mixed units, separate sleeping quar-
ters and separate eating spaces are provided for two races, but other
facilities and inmate activities are integrated.

Of the 84 uni* reporting, at least 73 did not employ any Negroes.

Some of the others employed colored persons as guards and five employed
them in educational, rehabilitative, and hospital work.

In 56 instances an identical reason was given for not employing any
Negroes: That the employees were referred to them by their supen'isor.
The large percentage of questionnaires returned and the identical word-
ing of the responses indicate that the prison heads had received instruc-
tions from prison headquarters in answering the questionnaires. One
additional reason sometimes given for failure to employ Negroes was

that they were "not considered competent." However, the director of
the prison department stated to the Committee: "Our Negro personnel

have done and are doing outstanding jobs for the prison department.
New Negro custodial personnel have very satisfactorily completed our
training school for custodial officers and they are operating in a very
competent way at the pres€nt time."

Of the 84 prison units reporting, only g gave the marner in which
the employees were selected. Of these only three reported the use of
competitive examinations.

There was no report of the integration of eating or sleeping facilities,
and many of the prison heads referred to G.S. t48-45, adopted in rgog:
"white and colored prisonen shall not be confined or shackled together

in the same room of any building or tent, either in the State prison or
any State or county convict camp, during the eating or sleeping hours,

and at all other times the separation of the two races shall be as complete
as practicable." In 1g33, G.S. r48-44 was adopted: "The department
shall provide separate sleeping quartcrs and separate eating space for
the different races and the different sexes."

6q



COMMEN'I'S AND CONCLUSIONS

One official, in reviewing the results of this survey, stated. rza "A critical
element in explaining the lack of employment of Negroes in instru-
mentalities of justice is their lack of professional and other training.
This is not only a condition in ftself, but it is a reflection of the lack
of educational opportunities and facilities and the failure to take ad-
vantage of them in the State. Many of the employing officen in these
agencies would be correct in saying that they cannot find enough com-
petent people to give anything like equal'opportunity to Negroes and
that goes right back to the educational system. This is a root condition.
It is just as important in understanding the present situations as the
historical perspective."

In many similar comments, reference was made to the connection
between certain posts in the administration of justice and the election
process. There may be some correlation between the gradual return of
Negro participation in the instrumentalities of justice and the success
of some Negro candidates in election to the governing boards in some
of the principal cities and towns. Between rgol and rg47 no Negroes
were elected to any city council.

Since r947, a Negro in each of the following cities has been successful
in winning an election to a seat on the city council: Winston-Salem
(rg+l), Fayetteville (rg+S), Greensboro (rg5r), Wilson (rgS3),
Chapel Hill (1953), Gastonia (r9S3), Durham (rgSg), Southern
Pines (r955), Lumberton (r96o), Raleigh (r96o). In addition, Negro
candidates have entered elections to the city council in Burlington,
Charlotte, Henderson, Kinston, Laurinburg, Madison, Monroe, Rocky
Mount, and Wilmington, among other places in the State. In those
cities where Negroes have been elected, they have served on the various
committees of the council and in at least one city the Negro member of
the council has been chairman of the committees on public safety.

It should be noted that this survey does not cover the Federal instru-
mentalitics of justice which function in North Carolina, for example:
thc U.S. judges, district a.ttorneys, clerks, marshals, the offices of the
FBI and Treasury Department.

This report is quantitative, setting out the proportion or relative
numbers of Negroes taking part in the administration of justice. It is in
no scnsc an appraisal of thc quality of justice administered in North
Carolina. Indced, the Committee has received no complaint of police
mistreatment because of race nor of differences in sentcnces or penal
conditions on that account, and no inquiry has been made into these
aspects of justice.

Onc North Carolina decision did consider the propriety of instructing
the jurl'that thc prosecutrix was a rvhite girl and the defendant was a
Tfiu-iililt to member of Commlttee.

6a

Negro man where the latter was convicted of assault by addressing

obscene language and an obscene request to her. On appeal, the de-

fendant's counsel ar.gued that the difference in the color of the parties
"can make no difference . the law would have been the same, if
the prosecutrix had been a Negro girl and the dcfcndant a white man,
or both had been white or both black; and we think the charge of the
court must be considered as conveying to the minds of the jury that
the difference in the color of the parties was a matter material for their
consideration, and that less evidence would be required to convict the
defendant because he is a Negro than rvould have been required if he

had been a white man." The supreme court howewr approved the
language used by the trial judge and affirmed the conviction. The
court added the following declaration: "

We believe in this State that the Negro has "the equal protection
of the laws." In fact, the best friends that the Negro has are his
white neighbors. The Negro has been in many respects a chosen

people-brought here, the land of opportunity, among civilized
people, without any effort on their part, from Africa. The burden,
"imposed, not sought," has been on the white people of this State
to civilize and Christianize them. The trust has been, and is
being, faithfully performed. The race is making great strides.
It is a matter of common knowledge that if, in a trial of a case

before a jury involves a moneyed transaction between a white
man and a Negro man, if there is the least evidence that the white
man has overreached or cheated a Negro, the juries invariablv
decide for the Negro . . The policy of the legislative branch of
the government is to have separation of the races . with equal
accomodations. The same policy has been pursued in the
cities . In all of the cases the expenditure of money to give
equal accommodations, etc., has far exceeded the taxes paid by
the Negro in proportion to that paid by the white people. Our
State Constitution (article XI, sec. 7 ), says:

"Beneficient provision for the poor, the unfortunate and orphan,
being one of the first duties of a cililized and Christian state," etc.

This State, through the legislative branch of the government, is
trying to meet this obligation to the white and Negro population
alikc, in that station of life that each has been callcd. The excep-
tion by defendant to the court's charge in this case may seem to
imply a lack of duty by the white race to thc Negro racc. We give
the legislative conduct in this matter to shorv that those to whom a
sacred duty is imposed are performing this duty through othcr
branches of the government. It is important in thc administration
of law that all the citizens of the State feel that the courts will do
equal and exact justice.

D Etatc y. WlUbms,l88 N.C. 827, 033{4 (f 023).

6c



:

s

In this l9z3 view the race or color of parties in court did have a
bearing on the results, sometimes more favorable to the Negro than not,
depending upon the type of case. Furthermore it seemed relevant at
that time to refer to the separate provisions for Negroes by the legislative
branch of the government in accordance with the then current theory
of separate but equal treatment of citizens, classified by race or color.
Whatever its merits, in theory or practice, State policy at that time
was clearly not colorblind.

In 1961, Negro participation in the administration of justice in
North Carolina is insubstantial. It nowhere approaches the proportion
of the Negro population of the State. It is confined almost entfuely to
participation as attorneys, as policemen in the city police departments
of our larger cities, and as deputy sheriffs in a few of our most heavily
populated counties. It is confined (apparently entirely) to appointive
and professional positions. Finally, there seems to be no concerted
effort on the part of Negroes to obtain appointment or election to po-
sitions in the various instrumentalities of justice.

lll. Employment

If any citizen is interfered with in earning his living on account of
his race or color, then he has a deep and well-founded complaint
against society and must be listened to.

-Gov. 
Robert Gregg Cherry, 1945.

Your untrained inefficient man is not only a poverty-breeder for
himself, but the contagion of it curses everymnn in the community
that is guilty of leaving him untrained.

-Clarence 
Poe, Editor of. The Progressiue Farmer.

The government is the biggest employer in North Carolina. Its hiring,
firing, promoting, training, and referring persons for jobs is clearly
"State action." Therefore, in such action, government agencies should
not discriminate on account of race or color.

TOTAL EXCLUSION: STATE MILITIA

Enlistments in the North Carolina National Guard constitute employ-
ment. Membenhip in the guard entails performance of services for
which compensation is paid, which is the usual characteristic of employ-
ment. Through all publicity media, enlistment in the guard, as well as

in other military services, is urged as a "career." One's career is usually
the business or occupation in which he is engaged or employed.

As of June 30, r 959, r r,345 rvhite persons were members of the North
Carolina National Guard. There were no Negro members.

North Carolina's annual appropriation for guard salaries at that time
was:

Membersofadjutantgeneral'sstaff. . ..... $127, 239
For distribution to officers 69, 5oo

66

TotalStateappropriation..... 196,73g

6z



:: ..:
,,i'

i .tr.

'!1-Xj

Tle Federal Government's annual appropriation for guard salaries
at the same time was (round figures) :

Full-timeemployees .....$e,6oo,ooo
Drill pay for members who are not full-time

employees 2,5OO, OOO

Total Federal Government appropriation. . . . . 5, roo, ooo

Thus, the total annual compensation for r 1,345 employees, including
I0,786 members paid only for drilling, was $5,296,739. The average
annual compensation for each of these employees was $466.88. This
entire compensation goes only to white persons, since there are no
Negro members.

Inasmuch as Negroes compose one-fourth of the State's population,
and assuming employment in the guard at that ratio, Negro members
would total e,836 and their compensation would be $1,324,r84.

In the event of being drafted, or other entry into the military services
of the Nation, membenhip in the guard does not automatically confer
a preferred status, but it does give the inductee the distinct advantage
which comes from prior training and experience. There has never been
a Negro member of the guard, although a few applications for member-
ship have been made by Negroes.

The pertinent statutory provision is G.S. rz74 i

WHITE AND COLORED ENROLLED SEPARATELY

The white and colored militia shall be separately enrolled, and
shall never be compelled to serve in the same organization. No
organization of colored troops shall be permitted where white troops
are available, and while permitted to be organized, colored troops
shall be under command of white officers. (r9r7, ch. zoo sec. 6;
C.S., sec. 62g6.)

As a matter of practice and of law, insofar as employment in its
National Guard is concerned, North Carolina's discrimination against
its Negro citizens is total and complete.

This results in deprivation of a means of livelihood and of earning.
It contributes to the disparity o[ annual income. According to the l96o
census, the median income of white families and unrelated individuals
was $3,947, whereas for Negroes it was $1,685. Thus Negro income
was only 42.7 percent that of rvhite income in North Carolina. This
ratio is even less favorable to Negroes than it was in the r95o census
when the ratio was 47.7 percent. In the last decade the white income
figure increased by $,,732, an amount in itself greater than the total
Negro income for l96o.

6B

The State's exclusion of Negroes from the National Guard further dis-
courages the qualified Negro from entry upon a military career, and,
when he so enters, handicaps him in competition with whites.

In times of racial tension, if the guard should be called out, it would
be reassuring to Negro citizens to observe that members of their race
were on duty. Thereby would be implanted the justified conviction that
the sole mission of the guard is to uphold the law. At least zB North
Carolina cities which employ Negro policemen feel that such employ-
ment is a distinct contribution to fair enforcement of law.

Appropriations for salaries of guardsmen is 3.72 percent by the State,
and 96.28 percent by the Federal Government. The policy of the Fed-
eral Government is one of nondiscrimination in the military services,
Since membership in the National Guard is, at least, quasi-Federal in
nature, it should be possible to extend such policy to the State guard.

The constitutionality of the statute quoted above is beyond the special
competence of this committee. But, even to laymen, it would seem to
afford slender support for policies which it is designed to sanction.

In the view of some local officials, admission to the guard is a matter
for the Federal Government to determine. In April 196r, when Wake
County commissioners were asked to join the State and Federal Govern-
ment in providing funds for expansion of the guard facilities at the
Raleigh-Durham Airport, it was argued in support of the request that
the aviation unit was "like an industry with 3oo emplo1,ees." Negro
citizens of Wake County asked whether the unit employed Negroes and
the guard colonel replied, "No."

"Are there any Negroes employed in the National Guard in North
Carolina?" asked one Negro citizen.

"To the best of my knowledge, there are not," replied the guard
colonel.

Wake County Commissioner lV. W. Holding asked the colonel: "Does
the Federal Government understand the situation in North Carolina?"

"Yesr" replied the colonel.
"And thc)' continue to appropriate money?" asked Holding.
"Yes," rcplied the colonel.
Commission Chairman Ben Haigh then pointcd out that the Federal

Government had already agreed to erect a $eoo,ooo hangcr at thc air-
port for guard use, and that \\Iake and Durham Countics and thc citics
of Raleigh and Durham jointly decded 5 acres of land and lcascd r r
initial acres for guard use at thc airport.

"The National Guard protccts colored as rvell as rvhite in case of an
emergency, doesn't it?" asked Commissioner Holding. "You don't think
this board can dictatc to the National Guard?" '

Federal officials take the vierv that aclrnission to thc National Guarcl
in North Carolina is controlled bv the State. In either cvcnt, rvhcthcr

6o

r (Ralelgb) liew8 and Obrerrer, Apr, 5, 1981, p. 10,



admission is controlled by the county, State, or Federal government, the
government bears the responsibility for this exclusion of Negro citizens.

PARTIAL EXCLUSION: NORTH CAROLINA EMPLOYMENT
SECURITY COMMISSION

The r96o budget of the North Carolina Employment Security Commis-
sion was $5,555,96o. This entire amount comes from the Federal
Government.2

The stated policy of the Federal Government is the employment of
all persons on the basis of merit, uninfluenced by consideration of race,
religion, or national origin. Serious question that such policy is strictly
followed by the North Carolina Employment Security Commision is
raised by the admitted facts of its operation.

Employment by the agency itself .-As of July r96o in the State office
of the Commission at Raleigh there were only ro Negro employees.
These were: One maid, two elevator operators, five janitors, and two
janitor messengers. There were no employees above the rank of janitor
messenger, which means no typists, stenographers, clerks, bookkeepers,
accountants, or persons in administrative or executive capacity.

'Ihe Commission in its operation throughout the State had a total
of g4S white and 5l nonwhite employees. By categories these were
divided as follows:

Manageria
C4tcgorl

I and professional. . . . .

Clerical
Unskilled

There were in the State 54 district offices. Not one of these had a
Negro director.

However, there rvere in the State I r divisional offices staffed by non-
white penonnel. These are used, according to the Commission, for
"processing nonwhite applicants."

Not only is the statcd policy of the Federal Government to employ
upon thc basis of merit, but in the statute establishing the Employmcnt
Security Commission, the North Carolina General Assembly specified
a similar policl': "All positions shall be filled by persons selected and
appointed on a nonpartisan merit basis." G.S. 96-4.

Duties of the Commission -In addition to administering the pay-
ment of bcnefits to unemplol'ed individuals under the unemployment
insurance program, the other major function of the Iimployment Se-
curity Commission is to operatc a svstcm of public employment offices

t 29 L:.S.C.A. {0(d) and thc ret)ort of the Commlsslon.

7o

throughout the State. G.S. 96-zo. This statewide free employment
service assists employers in finding employees and assists employees in
finding jobs.

The entire program is financed by the Federal Government and is
operated under the general supe.rvision of the U.S. Secretary of Labor.t

In addition to job placement services, the commission is authorized to
provide employment counseling and special assistance to veterans, youth,
and handicapped persons, and occupational testing facilities and tech-
nical materials concerning personnel management. By G.S. 96-zz it
is authorized to aid minors to undertake promising skilled employment,
to take special courses in night schools, vocational schools, part-time
schools, trade schools, business schools, library schools, and university
extension courses, so as to become more skilled workers, to aid in secur-

ing vocational employment on farms for town and city boys interested
in agricultural work, and to cooperate with social agencies and schools

in group organization of employed minors "in order to promote the
development of real, practical Americanism through a broader knowl-
edge of the duties of citizenship."

Iob referral seruice.-ln the operation of the job referral sen'ice, the
commission maintains a written record of all applications for jobs.

These applications for jobs designate the race of the applicant. The
procedure in effect for many years, and at the beginning of 196r, is

as follows: '
Where the applications are for jobs outside the commission and the

applicants are nonwhite, they are referred to the Negro-staffed divi-
sional offices where they exist. Applications of whites are not referred
to such offices. There is, therefore, segregation of applicants by race
from the outset of the commission's handling of the application.

The commission also maintains a written record of job orders. When
a "job 61ds1"-1tr2t is, a request from an employer for a certain num-
ber of employees-is received by the commission, the method of han-
dling seems to be as follows:

If the order specifies white employees, the order is handled by offices
manned by whites; if the order specifies Negro emplo,vees, the order is
handled by the Negro-manned divisional oflices. If the order does not
specify race, it is "ordinarily placed in both offices since divisional oflices
(for nonrvhitc applicants) are housed in the same building as the white
officc."

However, in the absence of specifications of race of the dcsircd em-
ployees, the commission may request the employer to indicate a pref-
erence. This is done "only in cases where there is doubt about the
employer's requircments." The decision to do so may be dctermined,
irr the commission's words, by "social and economic charactcristics of

I 29 U.S.C.A. 4e (g).
' Some of the Commlsslon's procedures rnay hare changed ln reccDt moDths..

^r^.AO 
n AO 

-a

Whius Noruohitcs

68t 39264 2
oIo

7r



the community and local knowledge of customary hiring requirements."
The nature of the job may also be considered, "depending on the com-
munity and knowledge of usual commtinity practice."

The facts on applicants placed in nonfarm jobs by the commission in
rg5g are as follows:

Catcgory l{hitc Noruthitc
Professional managerial. r,85r e5
Clerical and sales. r9,8r r 32oSkilled 12,82+ r,3r5
Semiskilled 33, 609 4,241Service. B, ro9 29,376
Unskilled and other. 19,372 38, 196

95,576 73,473

Consideration of the foregoing statistics raises significant questions,
answers to which are not readily available:

Are Negroes in substantial numbers not applying for white-collar jobs?
ff not, why not?

Are they not properly prepared for such jobs?
Are employers excluding Negroes from consideration for these

positions?
Is the method of handling job crders calculated to preserve customary

patterns of employment?
Does the described operation of the job referral service mean that

private employers in North Carolina, who depend upon the commission
to send them prospective employees and who do not specify race on
their job orders, are being deprived of their freedom to employ on the
basis of merit, regardless of race, because the government employment
agency sends the employer only white applicants or only Negro appli-
cants, depending upon what the sovernment official determines to be
suitable for the employer under the government official's view of "the
social and economic characteristics of the community," "customary
hiring requirements," and "usual community practice?"

If this is the case, employers who hire Negroes only for unskilled or
servicc jobs may properlv say that they have not discriminated against
any person on account of his racc because no persons of that racc have
ever been referred by the government employment agency for any other
jobs. In such a case, by reason <if the intervening action of the gov-
ernment oflicial, thc emplo,ver is denied both the opportunity and the
responsibility to make such a decision.

Aside from the rights of both employer and employee to impartial
application of the law, thcrc is another basic question rvhich affccts thc
cconomic prospcrity of all thc citizens of our State. It is involved in
any study of the operation of the larv on employment in North Carolina,
not merely in the National Guard and the Emplol'ment Security Com-

mission, but also in other government employment and in employment on
Government contracts. Is the law being applied in a way to hinder or
permit the fullest development and use of the skills and abilities of all our
people? Our people are our greatest natural resource .

Negroes comprise one-fourth of the people of North Carolina. Are
we, in the production of goods and services, making full use of the Negro
potential?

Agency facilities.-In the Employment Security Commission's head-
quarters in Raleigh, restrooms are racially segregated; all other fa-
cilities, including lunchrooms and working quarters are not. The same
pattern exists in the district offices.

First Negro Commissioner.-During 196r the Governor appointed
Dr. J. W. Seabrook, president emeritus of Fayettwille State Teacher's
College, to be a member of the Employment Security Commission, the
first Negro ever to serve on the commission.

EMPLOYMENT BY THE STATE GOVERNMENT

In October 196o, there were 164,354 government employees, full time
and part time, in North Carolina. This figure included zB,B34 Federal
employees, ror,345 State employees, and 34,175 local government
employees.

Considering only the full-time employees, there rvere in October r96o,
a total of 9o,649 State employces and 30,356 local employees. The
ratio of State and local full-time employees to the population of the
State was 265.6 per ro,ooo'population. Only two States, Kentucky
and Pennsylvania, had fewbr State and local employees per capita than
North Carolina. No doubt because public-school teachers were included
in State as opposed to local employees, North Carolina had more State
employees per Io,ooo population than any other State except Harvaiil
on the other hand, it had far fcwer local government employees per
Io,ooo population than any other State in the Union.s

In order to get as accurate a picture as possible of the employmcnt
of Negroes by the State government, the Committee mailcd question-
naires to the rl9 State agencies listed in the 196o North Carolina
Manual. Political subdivisions such as counties or cities *'ere not in-
cluded, nor were public schools or teachers. Aside from the National
Guard and the Employment Security Commission, w'hose operations
Itave already been described, there were BB replies from these agencies
which were adequatc for anall'sis and constitute the sample on which
the following observations are bascd. Inasmuch as this sarnple con-

! f)eportmcnt of Comnrerce, Rulletln G-GE 0O-1, "State Dl8trlbutlon ol Public Emnlot-
ment 1060," release of llar. 31, 1001.

73



stitutes about three-fourths of all the State public agencies, the nature
and size of this response are ample to provide significant findings.

In the State government, including all of its boards, agencies, and

institutions, relatively few Negroes are employed in skilled or "white
collar" jobs. The vast majority of Negroes who do fill jobs with the

State government, occupy menial positions, such as janitor, maid, wait-
ress, and elevator operator. This is so despite the complete absence of
statutes or legal regulations requiring that Negro employees be assigned

to menial positions, and that the professed policy of the State is one of
employment upon merit only.

Custom and tradition are perhaps more powerful than law. These

forces operate to exclude the Negro from the more resPonsible positions
when he does apply; they likewise deter him from applying.

In reply to a questionnaire addressed to all branches of the State gov-

ernment, in e4 instances there were answers to the following question:

"If Negroes are not employed above the semiskilled level in your estab'

lishment, what are some of the reasons why they are not employed?"
In three instances the answers to the foregoing question were simply

and frankly "customr" "tradition," "segregation."
The force of custom and tradition oPerates not merely upon the pro-

spective employer; it operates ulto r.rpot the potential Negro applicant.

Out of 24 answers assigning reasons for nonemployment of Negroes above

the semiskilled level, in r 6 instances the reason was the failure of Negroes

to apply.
There is a third consideration of some significance. In five instances,

the reason for nonemployment above the semiskilled level was lack of
training for the better types of position. If North Carolina is to utilize

its available manpower r€sources, it is imperative that Negroes be trained

to fill positions of higher responsibility. In part, this mears that the

State's vocational training programs should be extended and enlarged to

the point that every capable Negro has unrestricted access to the type of
education they provide.

In 63 of the BB replies, there was no answer to the question of non-

employment of Negroes or their employment only in menial capacities.

It may, perhaps, be reasonable to conclude that, where the question was

applicable but remained, nevertheless, unanswered, the respondents' dis-

criminatory policies are based on tradition or custom.
Two answers to the questionnaire are not typical. One is simply: "Do

not use any." The other, from a constitutional o(ficer, says: "This office

at this time does not have any Negroes in its employment. Our employ-

ees are professional, fiscal, and secretarial. The [name of office omitted]
employs such penons as in his discretion he thinks are trustworthy and

he is under the impression that, since he is a constitutional officer of the

State of North Carolina, he has the right to employ such persons as he

74

chooses. The General Service Division of the State of North Caro-
lina furnishes the janitorial and maid services for the building."

A fair inference is that this constitutional officer does not consider
Negroes for professional, fiscal, and secretarial positions.

A consideration of all the answers, however, leads to the view that
State officials generally are becoming more openminded on the question
of employment and more willing to consider applicants, and to confer
promotions, strictly upon merit.

About 32,ooo persons were employed in the agencies replying, and
less than 5,ooo of these were Negroes. Two-fifths of the agencies re-
ported that they employed no Negroes. Negro men were represented

in more agencies than Negro women, but where women were utilized,
the number per agency was on the average larger than that of men,
i.e., the median number of Negro men was 9.6 and that for Negro
women !r/as 24.g. On the average, about 13 percent of the total labor
of these agencies was Negro.6

More than four-fifths of the agencies which did employ Negroes utilized
them mainly in service categories. Less than half of these agencies em-

ployed them in any other occupational category. Very few agencies

employed Negroes in any white-collar jobs.
For the most part, the agencies which do employ Negroes are those

with large numbers of employees. Among those agencies which do not
employ any Negroes, the median number of employees was only 9.9; for
all the other agencies which did employ Negroes, it was z I2.5. Thus the
qualified Negro applicant may have a better chance of employment in
the larger units of State government.

Appendix r shows the distribution of State agencies by types of services

rendered, indicating which types employ Negroes and which do not.
Appendix z shows the distribution and rank of Negroes in those

State agencies which do employ Negroes.

The principal sources of recruitment are friends and relatives of
present employees and the North Carolina Employment Security Com-
mission. In view of the limited representation of Negroes in the pres-

ent employment in State agencies, and of their relatively low status in
those agencies, the friends and relatives whom they recommend for
State employment are likely to be neither numerous nor highly qualified.
The procedure followed for many 1'eam by the Emplo,vment Security

Commission has already been described. N{any of the agencies passed

over educational and training institutions, the Merit System Council,
and non-governmental personnel agencies as sources for recruiting em-

ployees, but a large number did reply by saying that they got their
employees from "other sources." This miscellaneous source no doubt

.If Stotp and loc,ll publlc school employeos ere lncluded, the perc?4t!8e of.Negro em'
ployeesls26.6(8eeapp.O). In-nnyevent,themerttsystempeNntaBeofT.9 leslS:nlfleantly
lower than lndleators of Nesro DartlclpatloD br Strte employmenL

75



' 

"iiii+'

includes political channels. fn view of the low participation by
Negroes in voting and in public office, as described in the previous chap-
ters, this could hardly be a significant source of Negro recruitment, on
an individual merit basis or otherwise.

In l4 of 48 agencies employing Negroes, an eighth grade education
is the prerequisite for the lowest job; in r 3 others, a high school diploma
is a prerequisite for the lowest job. But the State agencies that employ
no Negroes at all have even higher education requirements; nearly half
of them require high school diplomas and more than ro percent require
college degrees and 5 percent required degrees from professional or
business schools.

The minimum educational requirements, while likely to have a more
severe effect on Negroes than on whites as a group, do not adequately
explain the complete absence of Negro employees in the large
number of agencies that employ no Negroes, particularly in the light
of quantity and quality of educational facilities available to Negroes
in North Carolina.

More than one-half of the agencies reported that they had not up
graded any Negro employees during the past year and only a few were
promoted by most of the remaining agencies.

The scarcity of Negroes among technicians and technical assistants
is noteworthy. In general, technicians are recruited from persons who
have completed at Ieast 2 years of college work, while professional status
usually requires college graduation as a minimum. Yet almost twice as
many agencies have Negro professionals as have Negro technicians,
i.e., 19 and r r respectively.

Four-fifths of the agencies said that their Negro employees were the
"same as or better than" their white erirployees in efficiency on the
job, but that they were considered wone than their white counterparts
in regard to absenteeism (by one-fourth of the agencies) and in responsi-
bility on the job (by one-fifth of them).

The agencies were asked whether they had experienced any diffi-
culties in employing Negroes. Nine-tenths of those who had employed
Negroes stated that thcy had not had any difficulties. Five of these,
however, reported difficulties in finding qualified Negro applicants to
fill their needs, and one reported that problems had arisen in regard to
the acceptance of Ncgroes by white fellorv employees. Only three of
the agencies which do not employ any Negroes answered this question;
two of these reported difticulties in finding qualified Negro applicants.

It would appear that operational difficulties are not a significant
obstacle to the employment of Negroes by the State agencies of North
Carolina. Furthermore, the responding agencies reported that they
were not aware of any policies designed to restrict the employment of
Negroes. They were asked: Is there any statute, regulation, or policy
effectivc in the State or in your agency which particularly affects yoi.rr

76

employment of Negroes? Over 95 percent of the agencies arrswered
in the negative, including all of those that do not employ any Negroes.

It is clearly apparent, therefore, that neither problems experienced in
connection with the employment of Negroes nor governmental restric-
tions appear to be serious impediments to the hiring of qualified Negro
personnel.

MERIT SYSTEM AGENCIES

In rg4r, North Carolina established a Merit System Council to admin-
ister a system of employment on a merit basis for certain State agencies.
Only 7, out of approximately loo State agencies, are subject to this
merit system. These are the State board of health, State board of
public welfare, medical care commission, civil defense agency, employ-
ment security commission, State commission for ttre blind, and the Merit
System Council itself.

Data from BB agencies in the State, including all seven of the merit
system agencies, indicate that the percentage of Negroes employed by
the latter (Z.g) is lower than that for other State agencies not under
the merit system.

Even so, in employment by the State government, the overall per-
centage of Negro employees ( r 3 ) is significantly Iower t}ran the Ne-
gro percentage of the total population of North Carolina (zS.+). These
BB State agencies do not include the public schools where on N{ay 3r,
1962, more than r5,ooo Negroes were employed. See appendix 6 for
detailed breakdown of public school employment by race and overall
total of other State employment by race as reported on July 3o, 1962,
by Walter E. Fuller, State personnel director.

Applicable law.-.G.S. re6-l authorized the Governor to appoint a
Merit System Council of five citizens of recognized ability "in the im-
partial selection of efficient government personnel."

All applicants for positions in the agencies or dcpartments affected
by this chapter shall be subjected to an examination by the I\{erit
Syrstem Council which shall be compctitive and frce to all persons
meeting requirements prescribed by said Council, subject to rcason-
able and propcr limitations as to age, health, and moral character,
which said examinations shall be practical in thcir charactcr, and
shall relate to those matters tending fairly to test the capacity and
qualifications of the applicants to discharge proficiently the duties of
the position to which they scek appointrnent, and shall include cx-
aminations as to physical and mental qualifications as rvell as gen-
eral fitness; but no such applicant shall be examincd concerning

77



his or hcr political or religious opinions or affiliations. The said
Council shall establish such necessary and proper regulations as it
secs fit relating to the moral worth and character of all applicants
for positions in the agencies and departments affected by this chap-
ter, to the end that all persons certified by said Council as eligible
for employment in said agencies or departments shall be persons
of good character as well as possessing necessary mental and physical
qualifications. (G.S. rz6-4.)

The council is required to keep a perrnanent register of all persons
successfully passing such examinations and their grades.

Whenever any appointment is to be made to any of said agencies
or departments the Council shall certify from said registered list of
successful applicants 3 names for each appointment so to be made,
and the appointments shall be made only from among the names
thus certified by the Council, exclusive of the names of those per-
sons who failed to answer or who declined appointment or of those
names to whom the appointing authority offen an objection in
writing which objection is sustained by the supervisor with the ap
proval of the Council. (G.S. rz6-8.)

Other provisions of the Merit System Act relate to promotion and
dismissal or suspension of employees, and the maintenance of service
ratings and seniority. Since all these agencies administer Federal funds
in North Carolina, G.S. rz6-15 provides that wherever the Federal
agency providing such funds uses "other or higher, civil service or merit
standards or different classifications" then the latter may be adopted by
the council for these North Carolina agencies which are subject to the
merit system.

In addition, G.S. rz8-15 gives all citizens who are war veterans ro
points extra credit on all such examinations for positions with the State
or any of its agencies, and directs the agencies to give preference in em-
ployment and in promotion to such veterans, and to their widows or the
wives of disabled veterans. And this preference applies regardless of age,
if the applicant is othcrwise qualified. In promotional examinations,
an additional prcference rating of one point for cach year of service in
time of war, up to a total of five such extra points, is to be added to the
applicant's examination grade.

Thus the statutes regulating employment by these agencies do not
discriminate against any citizens on account of their race or color. In-
deed the statutes arc couched in language to insure "impartial selection
of efficient Government personnel . . . on a merit basis." Whatever
preference is allowed to veterans, their widows, or wives of disabled vet-
erans would be as available to Negro veterans as to white.

7B

Application of the statute.--Ihe table below summarizes white
Negro employment in the seven merit system agencies.

and

Merit system
Medical care. . . . . . . .:::::
Civil defense
Public welfare.
Employment security.
Board of health.
Blind commission.

Total
, Pht-

mcnt

t7
r3
z6

t6+
996
352
36r

Whilc
cmploy

mcnl
r7
r3
z6

r6r
945
333
z8r

Ncgro
cmplor-

mcnt

o
o
o
3

5r
r9
Bo

Pa-
Pacml ccnl
whitc Ncgro

roo.o o
roo.o o
IOO.O O

98.2 r.B
94.9 5. r

94.6 5. 4
77 .8 22.2

Total r, g29 r,776 r53 92.r 7 .g

The Board of Health figures refer only to employees at the State
level and information as to employment by the county boards of health
has not been collected. About l,5oo persons are emplol'ed by these
county boards of health. As indicated in Hunter v. Retirement System,
zz4 N.C. 359, 362 (rg++), "the employees of the county board are
therefore operating under the Merit System . and for this reason
neither the city nor county have jurisdiction over their salaries." Of
the r,5r5 professional and clerical positions in the State and local health
departments, only 84 are hdd by Negroes, the great majority of thesc
being nurses.

Nor do the above figures for the State board of public rvelfare refer
to any employees except at the State level. The commissioner of public
welfare wrote:

Since the present appointment forms do not give information as to
race, we would be unable to give an accurate breakdorvn of staff
by race in the county departments of public welfare. \Ve are also
unable to give you from our records the number of employees up 

.

graded or promoted last year in the county departments of public
welfare. We did a summary of Negro employees as of January
196r. The numbers have increased since that date but the data
would be consistent with the other figurcs which you have used.
lVe continue to havc great difliculty in recruiting qualified appli-
cants and always have vacancies. Your discussion of certification
helps to explain why there are not enough qualified workers to meet
the demand.

There are about l,5oo county u'elfare employees subjcct to the
merit system. In January r96r, 7e of these were Negrocs. They rverc
employed in z4 of the roo counties in the State, 67 of thcm in the
following zz counties: Alamance, Bladcn, Buncombe, Chatham, Clcve-
Iand, Craven, Cumberland, Durham, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Har-
nett, Henderson, Lenoir, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, Orange, Pitt,

79



Rockingham, Rowan, Wake, and Wilson. Qualified applicants to fill
5 budgeted positions for Negro workers were not available, resulting
in vacancies in four counties: Anson, Craven, Mecklenburg (z), and
Richmond.

Prior to 196r, Negroes were employed in county departments of
public welfare as follows:

December Ig52------ ----- 32 in 15 counties
April rg54- ---- 42 in 17 counties
February rg57------ 43 in 16 counties
November rg58------ 5o in 16 counties

As indicated in the preceding section the percentage of Negroes em-
ployed by State agencies (excluding public schools) is I3. The per-
centage of nonwhite population of North Carolina is 25.4. Thus the
rate of Negro employment in these State agencies (Z.g) is far below
the population ratio.

North Carolina has prided itself for many years upon its excellent
Negro schools and colleges. Thus it might be expected that in the Negro
population there would be many persons qualified to fill higher positions
than they now occupy in the merit-system agencies.

Examinatiozs.-The Committee requested data on how many Negroes
took the merit-system examinations, what grades they made, and how
their grades compared to those of other applicants. All examinations
offered during the period April l, 196r, through March 3r, 1962, were
reviewed. Appendices 3 and 4, prepared by the council supervisor,
give the details. In general, it can be seen that during this period there
were no Negro applicants in 66 classes of jobs. Except for interviewer f,
sanitarian I, and public welfare worker I (aIl of these applicants are
qualified for any one of the three classes), intermittent interviewer I,
clerk I and typist I, there were relatively few Negroes applying in any
of the other classes. In six classes, some of them advanced, there was

only one Negro applicant but his or her score was equal to or higher than
that of the average of the white applicants. In nearly all the other
classes, the percentage of Negroes passing and their average scores were

lower than for the white applicants.
Recruitment.-On examinations for the entrance clerical positions,

recruitment is conducted to a large extent through high school com-

mercial teachers and business schools. These teachers arrange for a

group examination for their students rvho are interested in such em-

ployment. "Looking at last 1'ear's experience," said I\{r. Claude E.

Caldwell, council supcrvisor, "I note that no Negro high school com-

mercial teachers or Negro business schools made such arrangements

during this period. Such groups have been includcd in the past in thcse

examinations, and their students have seldom passed the examination.

Bo

This may account for the current lack of interest on the part of these
schools, and, therefore, partially account for the relatively low number
of Negro applicants in these categories." 6'

On May 9, tg6z, which was after the period covered by appendices

3 and 4, one group of examinations was given to a group of students
from one of the State teachers colleges. Twenty-six individual ap-
plicants were examined and seven of these passed one or more of the
examinations, as shown in appendix 5. This table is set up in the
same manner as appendix 3 and may be used for comparison with it.

Certification 
-The 

council's certification records for the period April
l, 196r, through March 3r, 196z, indicate that Negro applicants were
certified in only three classes of employment: Public welfare worker I
(nine), interviewer I (five), and intermittent interviewer I (five). In
each of these cases, Negro applicants were appointed.

According to Mr. Caldwell, "there is generally a greater demand for
qualified Negro applicants than we can supply, although in some cases
well-qualified applicants of the Negro race are not placed due to the prob-
lems of location. In some cases the applicant is simply not available in
any place where vacancies occur; but, more frequintly, they are not
reached because the local welfare, health department, or the local em-
ployment security office having the vacancy requests that applicants
of that area be given preference. The merit system rule permits these
local departments this discretion, and it is widely used. For this reason,
well-qualified white or Negro applicants may fail to be considered even
though others with less suitable grades are appointed if the more highly
qualified applicant does not happen to live in one of the areas in which
the vacancies occur."

Mr. Caldwell also added, "Our certification records do not give a
full and complete picture of all appointments. In many cases where
there is not an adequate certificate (less than three available eligibles),
this fact is well known to the appointing authority and individuals are
recruited locally for provisional appointment. When these provisional
employees qualify through examination, they are certified by memoran-
dum after ascertaining that they are high enough on the register of eligi-
bles to be reached. It is certain that more than nineteen Negroes have
been appointed during the year, but only a complete review of all em-
ployees' records would permit us to give accurate information on this
point."

When an agency requested a Negro, and there were qualilied
Negroes on the register, Negroes were certified for the job evcn if it
meant skipping over white applicants who had higher scores. On the
other hand, Mr. Caldwell stated that where there was no specific request

for a Negro to fill a position, he could not recall and the council records

did not show any instances where a Negro was certified for a job request.

"I think this is almost cntirely true that the only way we can get a Negro
.. StatemeDt to a member of the Commlttee,

8r



on the certificate is by skipping ov€r the white applicants who have
higher scores."

lVhen asked whether it would be fair to say that insofar as he had
been able to determine, no Negroes had been certified to blanket job
requests unless they were specifically called for by the agency, Mr. CaId-
well replied "That's right. I talked this over with men who've been
on this job for a long time, Ionger than I have, and it was our experience
that the only way you could certify Negro applicants was for the agency
specifically asking for it. Our mle is to permit them to give them prefer-
ence. Although it could be used to discriminate against the Negroes,
it actually has worked to give them preference when they've been asked
for. This is about the only time that anything is different."

The application forms and the council's records do not contain photo-
graphs of any applicants. There is a reference on the application to the
race of the applicant, but when the council submits the list of registered
candidates, only the names, addresses, and ranks are given. The em-
ploying agency does not see the applications.

The "rule of three" set out in the statute requires that three names of
those who have passed the examination be submitted for each job,
and the vacancy must be filled by hiring one of those lhree. Even
if the three names submitted are those with the highest grades, and
even if one or two of these should be Negroes, the agency or department
head may choose the third person for the job. Thus it is not sufficient
for any candidate, white or Negro, to pass the examination. He must
demonstrate superior acceptability in order to get the job.

Conclusions.-This information on the participation of Negroes in
merit-system employment in North Carolina, after more than zo years'
experience, raises the question as to whether qualified Negroes sufficiently
interest themselves in applying for available positions in the State's
merit system. It is probable that both the employing agencies and the
potential Negro employee are influenced by tiaditional views of suitable
employment for nonwhite persons, but it would seem that the merit
system shottld offer opportunity just as good if not better than any other
opportunity for employment on the basis of individual ability and with-
out discrimination as to race or color.

If qualified North Carolina Negroes are not applying for such posi-
tions in our State, but are moving elsewhere, this in the long run is a net
loss to our State and the investment which it has made in the education
of all its people.

On ths other hand, if Negroes are taking the examinations but making
disproportionately Iow grades, this may indicate deficiencies of Negro
schooling and other training influences.

The merit system is intended to find and place the most efficient
workers for certain State jobs; not to provide jobs. There may be

Bz

certain skilled positions, such as nursing or counseling, where a person's
racial experience enables him to be more effective in working with other
citizens of his race. But the general practice of passing over white appli-
cants in order to favor Negro applicants with lower grades for certain
jobs where only Negroes are requested (or vice versa) is a departure
from the principle on which the merit system was established; namely
the "impartial selection of efficient, government personnel . . on a
merit basis." It encourages the idea that certain jobs are "Negro
jobs" or "white jobs." Our aim should be that a man should not
expect to get a job because of his race or color. Even if it should
deprive a Negro of a preferred call for certain jobs at the outset, the
steady adherence to thN principle will, in the long run, bring out the
best performance in all of our citizens.

Whatever the reasons, the discrepancy in nonwhite employment by
the State government, particularly in agencies charged by law with the
duty of employment only by merit, is a proper concern of all of our cit-
izens, white and nonwhite alike.

OTHER GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT

No direct inquiry was made by the Committee to determine Negro
employment by the Federal Government, nor by county and city gov-
ernments. Some indication of the extent, but not the level, of such
employment is contained in recent census reports.

In 196o, the North Carolina labor force was r,6o5,478, of. which
r,2S7,5Zo were white and 347,948 were nonwhite. This represents a
ratio of white to nonwhite employment of approximately 3.6: l. In
195o, the ratio was 3:l in favor of whites. The difference is that in
l96o there were relatively fewer.nonwhites employed in North Carolina.
Part of this is accounted for by the out-migration of nonwhites, particu-
larly of nonwhites with high school education.? There was an absolute
loss of about zo,ooo nonwhite employees during that period, whereas
white employment rose more than r6orooo.

If all other things were equal, it might reasonably be expected that
nonwhite participation in government employment, whether local, State,
or Federal, would be roughly in accordance with the above ratios for
those years. However, the r95o census shows that the expected parity
of 3: r was found only among schoolteachers and persons employed in
water supply and sanitation. Some of the other types of government
employment in North Carolina in r95o showed the following ratios:

t See lla-mllton, "Edueationnl S€lectlvlty of Rural-Urban lll8ratlon : PrellmlnRry Re6ultB
of a North Cnrollna Study," Selecteil Bttdies-o], trIlgratton thrce'lVorltl lfor II'(Utlbank
Fund,_ ryew York); and- "Edueatlonal Selectlvlty o( Net Mlgratlon From the South," 38
Eoclal Forcee I, OeL 1950.

B3



Goaaranail jobs in Norlh Carclina
Federal public administration
Postal service.
Firemen
Police, sheriffs, and marshals. . . . .

State and local officials and inspectors. . .

The detailed characteristics of the North Carolina population as

shown by the 1960 census have not yet been published, so that it is not
possible to compare all of the above categories for 196o. However,
the data for the two following general classifications have been
published: 8

Police, sheriffs, marshals, detectives, guards and watch-
men.. ... 16:r

All public administration (including postal service,
Federal, State, and local public administration). . . . . ro: r

Although these l96o reports would indicate relatively greater partici-
pation by Negroes in government jobs, the ratio is still far from parity in
these categories.

STATE INFLUENCE ON PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT

No North Carolina statute expressly discriminates against nonwhites in
private employment. The indirect effect of statutes requiring separate
facilities for each race in certain employment is considered in chapter IX.
AIso, chapter VII on housing and chapter VIII on medical care mention
the indirect effect on nonwhite employment of statutes which require that
certain licensing boards be composed, at least in part, of representatives
of otherwise private organizations which exclude nonwhites, or that on
occasion State agencies employ persons whose qualifications are certified
by othenvise private organizations which exclude nonwhites. There are
other State licensing boards selected from private organizations:

Chiropody examiners by Pedic Association (G.S. 9o-r9o) ;
Chiropractic examiners from list submitted by Chiropractic Associa-

tion (G.S.9o-r4o);
Board of embalmers and funeral directors by Funeral Directon and

Burial Association (G.S. 9o-zo3 ) ;
Board of opticians from list submitted by Opticians Association

(G.S.9o-z38) ;
Optometry examiners, from members of Optometric Society (G.S.

go-r r6);
Osteopathic examiners, from list submitted by Osteopathic Society

(G.S.9o-r3o);

^ " U|6-, GII!* ol-Popula.t.ton, -1960, General Soctal sDat EconoEte Charaeterlsfles, Nortb
Carollua, PC(f)-35-C. tables 58 and 61.

B+

Board of pharmacy, from members of Pharmaceutical Association
(G.S. 9o-55);

Examining committee of physical therapists, from list submitted by
Physical Therapy Association (G.S. go--257); and

Examiners of electrical contractors (one member is secretary of Asso,
ciation of Electrical Contractors) (G.S. BZ-SS).

Whether these organizations include or exclude nonwhites, the Commit-
tee has not had an opportunity to determine.

One statute was passed originally for the purpose of keeping Negro
labor in North Carolina, according to the North Carolina Supreme
Court. The earlier form of G.S. ro5-9o taxing employment agents was
passed in r8gl to keep on the farms in North Carolina "the colored
laborers on whom many farmers depended for the cultivation of their
crops, which alone maintained the value of their land." State v. Darnell,
r66 N.C. Boo (rgr4). The rBgr statute was declared unconstitutional
in State v. Moore, rl3 N.C.697 (1893) because it applied only to
counties in the east and because the tax was unreasonably high. The
court stated that it was not constitutional to "forbid any person or class
of persons, whether citizens or resident aliens, offering their services in
lawful business, or to subject others to penalties for employing them."
The statute was modified and reenacted in lgor and upheld in State v.
Hunt, rzg N.C. 686 ( rgor ).'0

None of these statutes, however, have as much influence on a person's
opportunity for employment as his home environment, health, general
education, job training,'and his participation as a citizen in the public
affairs of the community. The extent to which all persons in North
Carolina enjoy equal protection of the laws, regardless of race or color,
in all these areas, is the subject of this whole report.

The earlier policy of the State to keep Negro labor on the farm for
the benefit of the landowners should be viewed in the light of the state-
ment August r, rg6e, by Hargrove Bowles, director of the State depart-
ment of conservation and development, in regard to new industry for the
State and its effect on "one of the State's most vexing problems-the
Negro male laborer. I wish someone would come up with a pat answer.
That man wants to work. He can work. But he's underemployed and
unemployed."

The follorving map (fiS. 6), showing areas of substantial unemploy-
ment in the State as of March 1962, and tlose areas which have been
designated as redevelopment areas under the 196l Federal Area Re-
clevelopment Act, might be compared to other maps of the State in this
report showing voter turnout, nonwhite registration, concentration of
nonwhite population, and the school age attaind by white and nonwhite.

-rSoe Lotan, "Thp lfoyement of Nocroef From North Carrolina 1878-l8g,l,', 33 lvortl
Carolina Ilittotical Reujcu {J, Jan. 1000.

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Seventy-two employers gave no answer; zB said Negroes did not apply;
r 7 listcd lack of training or capacity.

Characteristics of the firms.-Manufacturers are the dominant Gov-
ernmcnt contractors in North Carolina. Most of these contractors
manufacture nondurable goods. More manufacturers of nondurable
goods than of durable goods hire Negroes.

The maiority are small firms with fewer than roo emplovees; zo
firms were branches of larger organizations and of these, r e have their
headquarters in the Southeast. Only r of the r 2 does not employ
Negroes; all the rest do. Six of the B large firms with headquarters
outside the South employ Negroes, while z do not.

Source and ualue. of Goiernment contracts.--several of the firms
hold more than one Government contract and with more than one de-
partment or agency of thc Federal Government. The Department of
Defense is the major contractor, followed by the General Services Ad-
ministration, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Veterans Ad-
ministration. Since the Defense Department has 74 percent of the
contracts reported, clearly this Department is an important source of
initiative if the antidiscrimination provisions of Government contracts
with North Carolina firms are to be implemented.

The dollar value of the contracts in relation to the size of the labor
force reflects the "dollar investment" per employee bv the Federal Gov-
ernment. The contracts held by North Carolina firms range in value
from less than $ ro,ooo for one firm to over $ r,ooo,ooo for another. The
average value of the contracts for 68 firms reporting on this question
was $87,5oo. The firms which employ no Negroes hold contracts of
a median value of $75,ooo; for the firms which employ Negroes, the
median value is $go,ooo. Firms that employ no Negroes reported
contracts valued below $4oo,ooo.

The median dollar value of these contracts was $1,579.42 per em-
ployee. For firms emploving Negroes this value was $2,1o6.J4, and
for the firms not employing Negroes this value was $ r,2oo.

Most of the contractors were located outside of the six major cities
listed in the questionnaire, but thcre wcre r9 firms in Charlotte, r6 of
which employ Negrocs; l5 in the Raleigh-Durham area, of which r r
emplov Neerocs; and r3 in the Greensboro-High Point area, of which
r l emplov Nesroes. \\/inston-Salcm has 5 Federal contractors, and
all 5 employ Negroes. Only 2 bf tt. 5 firms in Asheville employ
Ncgroes. Of the remaining firms whose locations are not given, 68
or 78.2 percent employ Negroes.

Size ol Negro entployment 
-According 

to the report of the l49 firms,
52,407 persons are employed, of whom 8,770, or about r6.6 percent,
are Negroes;32 of the r4g firms (zr percent) do not hire Neeroes in
any' capacitl'. Forty percent of thosc who do, hire less than 5 Negroes
and almost 6o percent hire less than ro.

88

White females enjoy' substantially greater opportunity for employment
in North Carolina contracting firms than Negro females. The latter
make up only 3.5 percent of the total emplovees reported, and 74 pcr-
cent of the firms with Negro personnel do not employ l\Iegro females.

Occupational leuels.. Ordinarily, unskilled occupations rank fourth
and service jobs rank sixth out of lo occupational categories in which
all persons are employed by the responding firms. Horvever, thesc
menial occupational categories rank first and second respectively so
far as the use of Negro manpower by these companies is concerned.
(See appendix 7)

Only 34 percent of the firms that employ Negroes use one or more
in semiskilled production jobs. Only z of ro6 finns emplov one or more
Negroes as salesmen. In only three firms are Negroes emplol'ed as
technicians, and no more than 6 companies have Negro clerks and
stenographers.

These patterns sugeest that while contractors are apparcntly using
Negroes in some operations, Negroes are excluded from professional,
clerical and stenographic jobs and from occupations as technicians.

Educational and training requirements and recruitment.-Since most
of the reporting firms have no minimum educational requircments in
the lowest occupational cateeories, total exclusion of Ne.qroes can rarelv
be justified on the basis of the Negroes' lower educational qualifications.
An eighth grade education is required by onlv 4.5 percent of the firms,
and only rr.5 percent require a high school education. Even though
9 percent of the firms indicated that they have other educational rcquire-
ments none of them requires an1, college education for initial emprov-
ment in the lowest occupational categories.

Recruitment and ref errals.-Recruitment from high schools, colleees,
and trade schools appears to be rare among the North carolina com-
panies responding to the questionnaire. 87 percent of the firms that
employ Ncgroes, and 85 percent of those that do not, said that thev
recruit neither Negro employees nor white emplovees from such
schools. As a matter of fact, friends and relatives of the present labor
force are the chief sorrrce of new employ'ees. The company olfice ranked
second and the Emplol'ment security commission third as a source of
labor.

These sources may discouragc more Ncsro hirin.q. Since most of the
Negroes who are employed by rcspondine companies are cmplo'ed in
low ranking jobs, they are not likely to know of opcnings at hi.qhcr Ievcrs,
nor is it probable that their friends and rclatives are qualificd to fill
such openings. Also, qualificd Neeroes hesitate to applv to conlpanv
employment ofhces because they take it for granted (tho.eh they may
be mistaken) that such offices rarcly,emplo'on a nonracial basis. Thc
Employment security commission seems to obsen'e traditional hiring

a^



o

+,'?,.
lir, v,,

practices. These factors tends to perpetuate underuse of Negro man-
power in the State.

Employer sponsored training programs.-Training programs prc.
vidc an important means by which employees improve skill and efficiency
and advance to higher and more productive jobs. Such programs help
to increase proficiency and reduce labor turnover. The extent to which
Negrocs participate in various training programs gives some index as

to use of Negro manpower.
The Committee asked about training prograrns and Negro participa-

tion in them. Slightly more than half the firms had no employer spon-
sored training programs; 44 of roo firms with Negro personnel had
no such training programs. Of the 56 firms which employ Negroes and
have training programs, 79 percent indicated that Negroes participate
in the training.

On-the-job training ranks first among the programs in which Negro
employees participate. Negroes seem to participate in this type of
training program almost z/2 times as often as Negroes participate in
apprentice programs, and over 3 times as often as in supervisory
training.

In three-fourths of all the contracting firms, Negroes have very little
opportunity to advance to supervisory positions by way of employer
sponsored training programs. Similarly, in 7o percent of the firms tirat
employ Negroes, and in 75 percent of all the responding firms, Negroes
are not participating in apprenticeship training.

Up-grading and promotion.-The Committee also sought to find
out ( r ) the extent to which Negroes are up-graded and the levels to
which they are up-graded; and (z) the reasons for the infrequency of
such up-gradings.

In 58 percent of firms with one or more Negroes, no Negroes were
promoted during the past year. Almost two-thirds of the 4 r firms that
did promote Negro employees promoted fewer than 5. In 16 firms, no
more than z Negro employees had been promoted during the past
year; 3 companies reported that 4o or more Negroes had been pro-
moted during the year in question. Significantly, more than half the
firms if they had promoted Negroes at all had raised them to skilled
positions. But the number of firms in which Negroes reach supervisory
positions (3), professional positions (r ), clerical positions (4), or posi-
tions as technicians (z ), seems small.

Eleven of the 5 r firms answering the question about wh1, promotion is
so infrequent said that Negro applicants were not qualified for pro-
motion while 4o simply stated that "other" reasons exist for not pro-
moting Negroes.

Employer eualuations of Negro employees.-Appendix B sets forth
selected evaluations of Negro employees by responding contractors. In
each category, over one-half of the employers rated Negro employees

9o

equal to white employees. In two categories, job efficiency and deport-
ment, three-fourths of the employers indicated that Negro employees do
not differ from white employees; r3 of roo firms reported that Negro
cmployees are not as efficient as white employees and one firm indicated
that Negroes are more efficient.

The Negro employees received their most favorable rating on job
efficiency and deportment, and their most unfavorable rating on ab-
senteeism and quitting.

Problems and the role of Gouernment 
-The 

employers were asked
to indicate whether Negro labor, especially above the semiskilled levels,
is hard to use; go firms indicated that they had experienccd no difficulty.

Seven of the fourteen firms that experienced difficulty in employing
Negroes mentioned a lack of qualified applicants. Only three of these
firms had found white employees unwilling to accept Negroes as fellow
workers. Only 3 of r 7 firms said relationships with labor unions had an
adverse effect on the use of Negro manpower.

Among the firms that do employ Negroes, only z of the r oB that
responded to this questionnaire reported problems in complying with
the nondiscrimination clause of the contracts; zr of the e5 firms with
no Negro employees indicated that they had never discussed the matter
of Negro employment with any Federal agency; 87 of roo firms emplov-
ing Negroes said they had never discussed the problem with any Fed-
eral agency.

INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION CENTERS

Are Negroes now being trained in the industrial education centers of
North Carolina? If only a relatively few Negroes are being trained at
these centers, is it in part because they have been excluded on account of
their race or color?

These questions were raised by a series of complaints received by the
Committee in 196 l. The complaints alleged that some of the centers
were refusing admission to Negroes unless they could prove that they had
the assurance of employment in the skill for w.hich they sought training,
whereas white students were solicited to enroll even though their training
was only to be used in personal hobbics.

The Committee asked each of the industrial education centers for the
enrollment figures by race, the number of applications rejected during
the past year, the reasons for rejection, whether applicants are required
to have the promise of employment upon completion of training, the
types of training given in the previous year for whites and nonwhites, and
the extent to which, if any, the students are segregated by race in classes
or facilities.

9I



i

I

Detailed information was received from the following centers:

Leaksville (city)
Lenoir County
New Hanover County
Winston-Salem (city)

that they were not in operatron m

Lee County
Rowan County
Pitt County
Wake County

Wilson City reports a total enrollment of 965 with no breakdown by
sex or race. This figure is not included in the total. The total number
enrolled in all these centers in 196o was r r,ogg; in 196l, approximately
16,ooo. As other centers open and these original ones expand, this
figure will continue to climb.

Tesl-e z.-Pcrcenlagi oJ regislration in industrial education centcrs
in North Carolina by racc and sex, ryfu4r

White male.
Registralion Pcrccntagc oJ total

5,377 BZ. g
204 3.3
353 5.7r84 3. o

5, 5Br gr.2
537 8.7All Negro.

These data make very clear that the registration in these schools is
predominantly white. According to the 196o census, Negroes con-
stituted 25.4 percent of the total population of North Carolina. Only
8.7 percent of the registration in industrial education centers is Negro.

Segregation 
-Table 3 shows the training courses in which each race

participated during the last year. The number following the name of
the course indicates the number of schools in which such a course was
mentioned.

TesI-B 3.-Courses oJ stud_y ofered in 6 industrial centers

White female .

Negro male..
Negro female.
All white

Ifhitc
Auto mechanics (4)
Drafting (4)
Electrical
Electronics (5)
Heating and air conditioning (4)
Nfechanical
Secretarial
Carpentry (z)
Machine shop (5)
\\relding
Knitting (z)
Machine fixing (z)
Furniture (3)
Graphic arts
Practical nursing

Two centers reported that they operated separate locations for
Ncgroes and rvhites. One of those pointed out that the programs in the
two location.s wcre differcnt, which mcans that thcre was a difference
in thc training offercd to thcse trainccs on account of thcir race.
Another centcr stated that scgrcgation bv racc n,as follor.r.cd in clirrs-
rooms, lunchrooms, and rcstrooms. Six ccnters rcported that there
rvas no segregation in the use o[ any of thcir facilities.

Catawba County
Durham (city)
Gastonia (city)
Goldsboro (city)
Guilford County

The following centers reported
r96o-6 r and hence could not reply:

Asheboro (city)
Asheville (city)
Davidson County
Fayetteville (city)

The following centers, although in operation, did not make quantita-
tive information available, although they did respond with other
information:

Mecklenburg County Wilson (city)

No reply was received from the Burlington Industrial Education
Center, but a letter was received from the superintendent of the Burling-
ton city schools in regard to the operation of the center.

Enrollment.-The following tables shows the registration in the in-
dustrial education centerc of North Carolina by race and sex in r96o-6r :

TesLE r.-Registration in industrial education cenlers in North Carolina b2 race
and sex, rgfu4r

Whilc Studcnk Ncgro Studcnls

Ncgro

Electronics (3)
Mechanical
Practical nursing
Power sewing
Auto mcchanics (4)
Bricklaying (3)
Cosmetology
Machine shop (z)
Air conditioning
Cook
Tailor
Graphic arts
Drafting

Cntcr
Catarvba County....
u"rr,".r litoiirl. . . . . .

Gastonia
Goldsboro
Guilford County
Leaksville
Lenoir County.
Nerv Hanover County. . . .

Winston-Salem. . .

Totals
t Total white-5,581.

Total Negra-537.

92

Malc

457
erB
2r9

I,595
I, I78

38I
t2t

Tolal

+6s
383
3to

r,596
lr 2r2

417
r6g
262

I' 3o3

o
t37
34
o
o
o

r3
o
o

lltale

3
IO

47
o
2

36
o

r20
r35

5
rB
IO

I

32
o

35
o

r03
r43

r, o65

5' 377 204 353 r84 6, r rB

93



The superintendent of the Burlington city schools wrote the
Committee:

We have an Industrial Center on Camp Road and one on the

Jordan Sellars School campus. The one on the Jordan Sellars
School campus was devised for the trades which were requested
by our Negro citizens.

There is no discrimination of the enrollment at the central Industrial
Education Center. Xt is true that we have had only one Negro
to attend and there was no difficulty during his period of attend-
ance. We admit both white and Negro without discrimination to
the classes at the Industrial Education Center. We do not have
any separate facilities. It has been and is our hope that more
Negroes apply for the technical courses at the central Industrial
Center.

Admission policies and practices.-There is some degree of confusion
concerning admissions policies and practices among the various centers
responding to the questionnaire. Of ro respondents, 7 stated that their
admission policies were directed by the North Carolina State Depart-
ment of Public Instruction while the remaining 3 said that no State or
Federal agency prescribed or determined their admission policies and
practices. The view of the State department of public instruction is
that the centers are entirely administered by the local educational au-
thorities. The role of the State agency in this case is purely advisory.
It is clear tha[-this variance in responses reflects an underlying confusion
and uncertainty concerning admission policies in the industrial educa-
tional centers.

The questionnaire contained three questions which directlv inquired
conceming the policy of the centers about race as a factor in admission.
All r o centers responded in direct terms that race was not a factor in
admission and that it was their policy to admit all qualified applicanls
without respect to race.

The questionnaire did not inquire into the specific steps which the
centers employ in deciding to admit or reject applicants. The pro-
cedure recommended bv the State department of public instruction is
for each ccnter to administer the General Aptitudc Tcst Battcry of the
U.S. Employment Service or to have the battery administered bv the
Iocal employment securitl' office. If the candidate scores belorv a recom-
mended score for the training which he seeks to enter, he is rejected.
If he scores above the score he ntay or mav not be admitted. r\pparently
certain aspects of the admission dccision arc discretionarl' rvith each
director of the center. Each center has an advisory board composed of
persons who, according to thc State plan, "know the industrial needs
of the area served." Some centers have this board, or an admissions

94

committee from the board, pass on questionable applications referred
by the director.

Nine of the ro centers which furnished detailed information cate-
gorically denied that they required a promise or guarantee of a job be-
fore admitting any applicants. The r oth said that such a promise
rvas required in some cases, but furnished no further information con-
cerning this practice.

When the State board of education first published its plan for in-
dustrial education, it stated that "instruction shall be available to both
adulc and selected high school students who have completed those
courses that are prerequisite to the specific instruction desired and for
u,hom specific job opportunities are auailable.', [Emphasis added.]
correspondence and discussion with officials of some of the centers
indicated that the above language was at one time taken to mean that
applicants could be refused unless they had the promise of a job.

For example, if it was knorvn not to be the custom for Negroes to be
employed as upholsterers in the area served by the centcr, then it courd
be said that a Negro should not be admitted to a course in upholstering,
unless a "specific job" was assured. As one of the members of the ad-
visory board of one of the centers stated to a member of this committee,
"Upholstering is a white job !"

Another advisory board member stated, "\Ve knew if we broke the
Iine, they would break the line in the whole industrial setup. I
do think we have to seek to determine if there are possible job openings."

However, this point of view does not reflect the policy of any of ltre
centers and it is not the view of the State department of public instruc-
tion. According to Gerald B. James, director of vocational education
for the State:

When it is decided that a particular course or curriculum is to be
offered, that course is not limited to one race rvhile denying citizens
of another race. Our interest is in meeting the educational nceds
of North Carolina irrespective of race. It is, holvever, the responsi-
bility of the local administrative unit to deal with student assign-
ments consistent with North Carolina statutes.

His rcference is to General Statute rr5-230 rvhich provides, in an
anrendmcnt adopted in r959, that "assignrrlents to an Industrial Educa-
tional center shall be made under the provisions of Articlc z r of this
Chapter." Article z r includes the Pupil Assignment Act adopted in
t955 and r956. This act authorizes thc county and city boards of edu-
cation to assign to a public school "each child residing in the adminis-
trative unit." The words "child" and "children', appcar throughout.
Dissatisficd parents or guardians of the child may apply for reassign-
ment of the child. Adults outnumber high school students 6 to r in
these centers.

cf5



i
i

I

Insofar as can be determined by the Committee, these provisions have
never been applied to adults desiring to attend an industrial training
centcr, or for that matter to "mature or select high school students" for
whom these industrial education centers are also available. Indeed it is
difficult to conceive just how the Pupil Assignment Act could be applied
to these adults; they are not "children" and their admission, assignment,
and reassignment to industrial training courses could hardly be intended
to turn on their parents' wishes and petitions, instead of their own. This
statutory ambiguity may be yet another reason for the lack of clarity
in admission policies and responsibility.

The general policy of providing training only for jobs which are avail-
able for anyone in the State is well understood and widely approved.
A great variety of courses are being offered in these industrial training
centers and the decision as to rvhat courses are offered is made on the
basis of occupational surveys showing the need for such training in gen-
eral and on the recommendation of the advisory board members who
"know the industrial needs of the area served." Therefore, when a
course is given, it is expected that jobs are or will be available for those
rvho complete the training. It would appear that the government, which
provides this training, could not constitutionally decide in advance that
such training would be offered to citizens of one race but denied to citi-
zens of another race. Anyone in the area served, regardless of race or
color, who can qualify by the tests given to determine his or her capability,
should be permitted to take the training. Whether he or she is later
denied a job on account of race or color is a private decision to be made
by the prospective employer and employee, and not by the government,
in advance, in the administration of the training program.

Reasons for lack of Negro participation 
-These 

schools u,ere cstab-
lished by our State for adults and "mature or select high school students"
after studies in rg57 and r95B shorved the great need for industrial edu-
cation. A statewide system of such industrial education centers was
adopted by the State board of education and subsequently by the ad-
visory budget commission. Funds for program development wcre pro-
vidcd b1' the General Assembly of North Carolina and by Congress in
the National Dcfense Educati,:n Act of rglB.

According to thc State department of public instruction, 6o out of
roo pupils do not now sraduatc from high school, and of the remainder.
only 16 entcr college and onli' 4 to 6 graduate from college. "The
more than go out of every roo constitute the masses of North Caro-
lina's population; and the development of these appears to be the major
hope for an improved economy, improved social conditions, and im-
proved citizenship in gencral."

As to why so ferv Negroes are taking part in this statewide industrial
training program, the data collected by this Conrmittee show that there
mav be scveral rcasons. Thcre is some evidence of exclusion of Negroes

q6

in some situations, and some evidence of segregation of Negroes by
courses or classes or facilities, but neither exclusion nor segregation
exists in any large degree, and present policies of the centers are stated
to be nondiscriminatory.

Even if all the administrators of these centers enthusiastically rrtt-
comed all Negroes who apply for training for which there is no cus-
tomary expectation of employment,, nevertheless many Negroes may not
be willing or determined enough to prepare themselves by undergoing
the training when to them there seems little likelihood of being employed
in such work upon completion of training. They remain untrained and
unskillcd and a drag on the economy of the State. Obviously, they
should seek to be trained to their fullest capability; meantime the rest
of the economy, the "industrial setup," should provicle unrestricted
competition for their skills. This is a challenge to all our employees
as well as all our emplovers, white as well as Negro.

Admission to these centers may also be limitcd because of generaly
poor prior training. As one administrator stated to the Committee:
"For admission, an individual must present appropriate academic
achievements in math, science, English and related subjects as well as a
reasonable assurance he will profit from the courses offered. . . It
may be that some friends associate the industrial education center with
thc old vocational program offered in prior years which was primarily
designed for those who would not succeed in academic subjects. courscs
offered in our industrial education center are technical and many can
neither meet the requirements nor would they profit by taking the
courses offered." If a disproportionate number of Negroes fail to meet
these requirements, this may indicate greater deficiencies in earlier
public school preparation of Negroes.

One administrator stated that he had "recently shown forty-seven
Negro men through the school and invited them to take courses; that
only four applied, and of these only one completed the necessary exam-
inations and he did so poorly that he was not admitted." He advised
that he had "denied between twenty-five and thirty-five white appli-
cants on the same basis."

Another administrator said that he "had attempted to set up pro-
grams for Negroes, but that in many cases sufficient Negroes had not
applicd, or had not applied in time, or had failed to complcte the
examination."

Despite this indication of a desire to recruit Negroes, anothcr reason
for the low enrollmcnt of Negroes is that prescnt recmiting practices
reach more whites than Negroes. The administration of these schools
and thcir facultics are white. The normal channcls for recruitment are
more likely' to be those which reach potcntial *'hite applicanls btrt not
Negro applicants in substantial numbers. It is also likelv that Negroes
have a customary reluctance to enter into new situations like the indus-

o



trial education centers. If they are to receivt the training, they may
need extra encouragement. Otherwise, the State as a whole will con-
tinue to bear the burden of a large pool of untrained and unskilled labor
and low per capita income.

We concur with the State board of education that "there is a direct
relationship between one's educational achievement and his earning
capacity, his qualifications as a citizen and his contribution to society.
This program, therefore, has a direct bearing upon the solution of the
State's problem of low per capita income as its industrial economy
expands."

Summary

r. Registration in the industrial education centers is disproportionately
in favor of white students with gr.2 percent of the total student bodv
white and 8.7 percent Negro.

c. The disproportionately low Negro registration is due to to a num-
ber of factors including inadequate recruiting of Negroes, insufficient
prior training and inadequatc motivation of Negroes, and in some cases
discriminatory admission practices and segregated facilities and courses.

3. The stated admission policies of all the responding centers exclude
race as a factor in admission.

4. Requirement of a promise of employment as a condition of admis-
sion would discriminate against Negro candidates.

5. Racial segregation of students in educational activities is practiced
in some of these centers. In at least three this includes separate courses
of study. The data furnished by a fourth center is too ambiguous to
permit a clear statement as to whether its courses are segregated by race
or not.

6. All of these industrial education centers are operated by the govern-
ment and are subject to the constitutional requirement that no citizen
be denied equal protection of the law on account of race or color.

7. As in other situations, admission practices that distinguish between
applicants because of race or separate students on this basis tend to pro-
mote inequality of training and deny students, faculty, and the whole
State, both white and Negro, the benefits of competition.

l/. Education

It is our plain duty to make no discrimination in the matter
public education.

-Gov. 
Zebulon B. Vance, r877.

. . . the public schools, nuneries of the State's citizenship.

-Justice 
Henry G. Connor, r9o7.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM

Although the North carolina constitution of. t77G incorporated pro'i-
sions for education, the first public school law rvas not enacted until
IB3g. From that time until the Civil War, school districts were to be
established "having regard to the number of white children in each." ,
No provision was made for education of even free persons of color, and
it was forbidden to teach slaves to read or write or to give or sell them
book or pamphlets.'z

The constitution of North Carolina requires that every child be
afforded an education at public expense:

Anr. I, Src. 27. The people have a right to the privilege of educa-
tion, and it is the duty of the State to guard and maintain the right.

Anr. IX, Snc. e. The general assembly,, at its first session under this
constitution, shall provide by taxation and otherwise for a gcnerar
and uniform system of public schools wherein tuition shail be frec
of charge to all children of the state between the ages of six ancr
twenty-one years. And the children of the white race and the chil-
dren of the colored race shall be taught in separate public schoorsl
but there shall be no discrimination in favor of, or to the prejudice
of, either race.

I Lll:3 s[ i3llil'SfIfJ,Tl; irt'Ffl, tf;lv],'il,ii"..';&,18.*.". *",. stnt., ch. rrr (,8a7)

of

oB 99



The last sentence was not in the constitution.upon which the State was
readmitted to the Union, but was added by the convention of 1875.

ln Lane v. Stanly,65 N.C. r 53 ( r 87 r ) the North Carolina Supreme
Court pointed out that "the Constitution establishes the public school
system, and the General Assembly provides for it, by is own taxing
power, and by the taxing power of the counties, and the State Board of
Education, by the aid of school committees, manage it. It will be ob-
served that it is to be a 'system'; it is to be 'general,' and it is to be
'uniform.' It is not to be subject to the caprices of localities, but every
locality, yea, every child, is to have the same advantage and be subject
to the same rules and regulation."

Again in Hooker v. Greenuille, t3o N.C. 472 (rgoz) the Court held
that "one white child of the school age shall have the same amount of
money per capita as a colored child, and no more; and the colored
child shall have the same amount per capita, as any white child; and no
more; that both races shall have equal opportunities for an education,
so far as the public money is concerned." The Court was unanimous,
but three years later, with new judges replacing four of the five members
of the lgoz Court, the above language was expressly disapproved.3

In 1956, after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown i, Board
ol Education, g4T U.S.4B3 (rgS+), and 349 U.S. zg4 (1955), the
North carolina Supreme court held that only that portion of-the rB75
amendment which purports to make mandatory the enforced separation
of the races in the public schools is now invalid, and that otherwise the
mandates of this section of the North carolina constitution are still in
full force and effect. Constantian v. Anson County,244 N.C. zzr.
In spite of the constitutional requirement, however, public schools were
in a poor condition for a long time. In rgoo there were 5,oe8 white
school districts whose schoolhouses had an average value of only $231,
and in 2,236 colored school districts the average value was only $136.
A total of 83o school districts had no schoolhouses whatever. In all,
8,663 teachers taught 2+5,ooo children about 3 or 4 months per year.
"Many of these teachers had little more than a grammar grade education
themselves, especially in the colored schools. . . By lgrg only 20 percent
of the state's white tcachers and only 7 percent of the Negro teachers
held the highcst grade certificate, while r6 percent of the white teachers
and 43 percent of the Negro teachers had themselves never finished high
school."'

In l9r9, "the Negroes had school houses not much improved over
those in r 9o2; their rural school terms were usually no longer than the
minimum rcquirement; and their school equipment remained crude,
meager, and inadequate." Nor was there a single standard Negro high

, Lotcrlt e. sctoo, Trutteq ol Kernera$lle, l.l0 N.C. BB (lgOS).
rJohnron, F;lmer D., ,.Jf,me8 r-adkln Joyner, Educnilon Statesnlon,', North Carolina

Iliatorlcal Retlcto, Julv 1O58, pp. 361->6G, 3ZT.

roo

school or farmlife school in the State.' Gov. J. C. B. Ehringhaus pointed
out that in r93r-32 only 13 counties had any school with terms of B

months or longer for Negro children, and that only recently in Bo coun-
ties the average education of the Negro teachers was below high school
graduation. He estimated that in 1933 Bo to go percent of the Negro
children would attend school that year, "three times the percentage of
two years ago." "

In the school year 196r-62 there were Boo,z8r white children and
34r,292 Negro children enrolled in the public schools of North Caro-
lina, or a total of. r,t4t,574. These children were furnished frce text-
books, Iibrary facilities and, in the rural areas, free transportation by
State-owned buses.

In the school year 196r-62, the State of North Carolina employed
2g,oog white teachers and r r,255 Negro teachers. Incidentally, North
Carolina employs more Negro teachers than any other State in the
Union. In fact, the State employs more Negro teachers than the 3 r

Northern and Western States of the Union combined.

TEACHERS' SALARIES

Though salaries were low for all teachers by present standards, they u,ere
more nearly equal in rBB4, rvhen Negro teachers drcw 94 perccnt of
the average salary of white teachers, than at any other time until the
r94.o's. After the endorsement of the separate but equal doctrine bv
the U.S. Supreme court in l896 and the disfranchisement of the Negro
in tgoo, there was a greater difference between white and Negro teach-
ers'salaries. In l9r5 and 1925, the ratio was nearly z to I in favor of
white teachers.

In rg4o the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in an opinion
by chief Judge John J. Parker of North carolina in'ol'ine the School
Board of Norfolk, Virginia, held that the fixing'b'local school boarcls
of salary schedules for teachers was "action by the Statc" and that
lixing salaries of Negro teachers in thc public schools at a lorvcr ratc than
that paid to white teachers of equal qualifications and cxpericnce, and
performing thc same duties, on thc sole basis of racc and color, r'iolatcd
the due process and equal protection clauses of the r4th amcndnrcnt of
the United States Constitution.?

6 Gatervood' wtllard R., .Ir., "Eugene cr!'(le RrookF an(t \elro nrrrr.rilr)n rn North
Carollnn. 1010-1033," North ('arolini IliEtoricnl /irrictc, .IulI 1961, n. 3clr...{(l(lresles nnd I,nIors of Gov..I. C. It. EhrtnAhouse, 1933_lt0, ID. lO{t_110.

1 Alrlon v. Selool Board. ll2 F. Zd 002.

IOI



Since rg44 the average annual salaries of Negro teachers in North
Carolina, in the elementary as well as the high schools, has exceeded that
of white teachers. one of the reasons for the difference has been that
more Negro teachers hold higher certificates, and more Negro teachers
remain in their teaching jobs for longer periods of time, thus building
up longevity pay. The greater supply of Negro teachers in North Caro-
lina tends to admit of greater selectivity in the employment of Negro
teachers with higher certificates.

DAILY ATTENDANCE

The average daily attendance per teacher (including vocational teachers
and principals) was 27,7 for white teachers and zg.r for Negro teachers
in r96o-6r. The ratio was more nearly equal in rg+4-48.

Tanr-B 3..-Pupils in aaerage daij attendance per teacher employcd
(no t' inc luding uocational teac her s and classified pr inc ip at s)

There is published each year a summary of expenditures made by the
State nine months' school fund, including schoolbus replacements, and
this is broken down as to expenditures, according to the white and Negro
races, for instructional service, operation of plant, fixed charges, and
auxiliary agencies.

Since the average daily attendance for the year l96o-6r rvas 7e7,6r r
rvhite pupils 

-and 297,332 Negro pupils, the average annual per pupil
cxpenditure for 196o-6r from the state nine months' school-fund for
these categories was as follows:

Objccts and ikms ltthite ivcgro
Instructional service $146. 79 $146.4r
p.peration of plant. -8. 

S6 ' 
l. il

Fixed charges. . . . o. ig 6. r r
Auxiliary agencies ro. 02 g.B+

There is one further classification of objects and items for which the
state nine months' school fund is used, and that is for general control
rvhich includes salaries of clerical assistants and propertv and cost clcrks,
<.lffice expense, and per diem and tra'el of county board membcrs. This
might be called overall administrative expense at the State levcl. AII
of these funds are classified as spent for u'hite and none for Negro.
They have not been included in determining the average per pupil
expenditure.

INVESTMENT IN SCHOOL PROPERTY

As consolidation has progressed, there has been a steady diminution in
the number of schoolhouses. For example, in rgrg-2o, there r.r,ere

5,552 white schoolhouses, and 2,44e Negro schoolhouses. The cor-
rcsponding figures for l959-6o are 2,zo1 white and 996 Negro.

The total has thus dropped from 7,gg4 schoolhouses in lgzo to 3,2.,2
schoolhouses in 196o.

This trend toward consolidation of schools and reduction in number
of school buildings was recently re'ersed in the case of yance_v countl'
rvherc, with Statc aid, a new buildins to accomodate onl,v z7 Ncgro
pupils was erected.

The school properties used bv u'hite pupils have a hiqher appraised

'aluc than thc school propcrties used bv Negro pupils, althoush the dis-
paritv is not nearll'so grcat nolv as it rva-s in rgzo. The relcvant figures
arc shorvn in table 4.

The a'crage in'estment in school property per pupir r'ithout resard
to race for the session 1959-6o rvas $643.46. Hencc the whitc pupil
is $66.o8 above the avcrage and the Ncgro pupil is $r56.36 bclorv it.

Tcar

t944-45
r 945-46
t946-+7
r9+7-+B
r 948-49.
r g4g-50.
r g5o-5 r
r95r-52
r 952-53
r 953-54.
r 954-55.
r 955-56
r 956- 57
1957-58.....
r 958-59.
r959-6o.
r 96o-6 r

ANNUAL EXPENDITURES

Whitc

28.9
29.2
29.2
29.4
30.r
29.7
29.4
29.r
28. 3
27. 6
27.4
27. 2

27. o
27-8
e8. r

2?.6
27.7

Negro

29. 5
29.7
2g.B
30.8
3r.8
3r.8
3r. 7

30. 7
30.o
29.7
29.4
29.2
zB. 9
29. 6
29. 8
29.r
29.r

Thc annual pcr pupil cxpenditurc for all childrcn has riscn from $29.65
in r935 to $z7g.9z in r96o-6r, thc latcst figurc ar.ailable.

Thesc figurcs include Statc, local, and Fedcral funds used for current
expenscs as n'cll as capital outlays madc during thcsc years.

No official brcakdown of these figures as bctwecn white and Negro
pupils is available.

t02
AXArna n ao loq



TesrE, 4.-Appraiscd aaluc oJ school properQ per pupil The number of volumes per pupil has risen from r.B books per pupil in
r934-35 to 6.r per pupil in rg5Z-58. The circulation of these books
averaged 7.5 per pupil in rg34-35 as compared to zo.B per pupil in
lg57-58. Table 5 shows the average expenditures for school libraries
per pupil and the average per pupil circulation of books for both races.

Tast,e 5.-Total cxpcndilures Jor school libraries

Tcar

r g r g-2o.
t924-25.
r 92g-3o.
r934-35.
r939-40.
t944-45
r g4g-50.
r 950-5r
r 95 r-52
r 952-53
r 953-54.
r 954-55.
r 955-56.
r 956-57
r 957-58.
r958-59.
r959-6o.

. I Enrolled.

DROPOUTS AND ABSENCES

l4/hitc t

$+s. 3z
rt3.40
r6z. ge
r52.99
r67. 36
zo3. Bo

3r+.29
370.54
44B.og
484.94
5r r. 35
539. 70
569.09
6o+. 33
6+s.ss
6z+.s6
709.5+

Ncgro I

$r t. zo
29.03
44.20
44.55
55. 93
73.08

r27.38
r 70. 9r
232. ot
z8o, o6
314.3r
336. 6s
3s9. 99
396. 35
44r.8o
465. 94
487. ro

Aucragc pct
whitc pupil

$o. 73
r. 27
r.42
r. 73
r. 86
r. 79
r.67
r.7r
r. 76
r. 84

Az,eruge per
Negro pupil

$o. 3s
.7o

l, 07
r. 25
t. 22
r. 05
I. OI
I. I I
l. eB

fcar
r944-45.
r 949-50.
r 950-5 r

r 95r-52
I952-53
r 953-54.
I 954-55.
r 955-56.
r 956-57.
r 957-58.

Recently the dropout rate has been the same for both races (4.4 percenr
in r956-57 and 4.r percent in rg57-58). Before that, the incidence
of dropouts was higher among white students than among Negroes.
However, in 1959-6o, this earlier pattern was reversed; the rate for
white students fell to 3.8 percent while that for Negro students was 4.2
percent.

As to absences, the rate of the average daily absence was higher among
Negro students than among white students during all tlrese years. In
I934-35, the rate was ro.3 percent for Negro ptrpils, compared to 7.5
percent for white pupils. In 1959-6o, it was B.B percent for Negro
pupils, compared to 6.2 percent for white pupils.

Negro pupils attendcd r64.2 days for the school year rgsg-6o, com-
pared to 17o.6 da.vs for the whitc pupils. Back in r934-35, the number
was t42.6 da1's for Negroes and 148.3 for rvhitc pupils.

This average number of days attcnded per pupil reached a high for
Neerocs in r95o-5r whcn it was 165.9. Among the white pupils it
reached a high in l956-57 when it was r 7 r.o.

BOOKS AND LIBRARIES

The averagc expenditurc per pupil in avcrage daily attendance for school
libraries has riscn from 3z cents in rg2g-3o to $r.68 in rg57-58.

ro4

Circulation of librarl books

r9+1-45.
r g4g-50.
r 950-5 r
r 95r -521952-53 ......
I 953-54.
r 954-55
r 955-56.
r 956-57
r 957-58.

LUNCHROOM PROGRAM

r7
r9
20
2L
24
25
25

eB
29

6
a

6
B

r3
II
IO
t2
t2
r3

In thc year r959-60, r,3gr out of z,eo6 white schools participated in the
lunchroom program.

For the same year, 396 out of 996 Negro schools participatcd in
such programs.

The percentage of white participation tvas 64 percent, and thc pcr-
centage of Negro participation was 3g percent.

Since the average Negro income is approximatcly one-half the rvhite
average, the Negro need for lunchroom service is presumablv twice as
great. We have no means of knowing all the rcasons for this disparitl,,
and have not had the opportunity of making a completc inr.cstigation
on this point.



ACCREDITATION

There are two wavs in which high schools are judged as to overall
quality. One is by the designation "accredited" by the State depart-
ment of public instruction; the other and much more rigorous test is
by approval or accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Secondary Schools. The latter does not include any nonwhite high
schools as members, but does judge such schools by standards similar to
those applied to the white member schools. Nonwhite schools which
meet these tests are designated "approvedr" rather than "accredited."
Table 6 shows the number and percentage of accredited and approved
schools by race.

Tearr, G.-Acocditation status, high schools, ry5g4o
Whitc

6g+
6er

97. 9s
rgz, Bz3

r89, B3e

g8.++

r09

r7.rg

68, e8o

35.4r

Number of high schools.
Number accredited by State
Percent accredited by State
High school enrollment.
Enrollment in schools accredited by

State. .

Percent of students enrolled in schools
accredited by State.

Number of high schools accredited or
approved by Southern Association r.

Percent of high schools accredited or
approved by Southern Association r.

Enrollment in Southern Association
accredited or approved schools 1... 

.

Percent of students enrolled in South-
ern Association accredited or ap-
proved schools
t Does not include nonpublic schools.

Negro Total
24o 87+
223 B++

92.92 96. 5768,255 z6r, o7B

66,524 256, 356

9?.46 98. rg

47 156

19.58 t7.8q

2r.563 89,843

3r'59 34.4r

o
B

o

\(
:r
o

t4

6\
.B

s

o
o

\
o

e
o
s
q
oq
o
o.t

qo

i

o

s
t

&
t.
r
Hc
D
o
,r

c
o

.g
o

c
o

to

3
!o
E
o

!
o6

PA

=!o
cU
c
o

!
t
o-
oC
Eo
E

E
.9
E
ooo
co
o

A-

Figure ? (p.to7 ) indicates the county-by-county percentage of high
school population enrolled in schools "accredited" by Southern Associa-
tion, and figure B (p. roB) gives the same breakdown as to ,'approved,,

schools (nonwhite). Appendix g is a table comparing the percentages
by county of enrollment in these designated schools.

North carolina ranks lowest among the l l Southern states in the
percentage of white students attending public high schools that are
accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary
schools. The state ranks seventh in the percentage of Negroes attending
approved high schools. The relevant percentages are shown in table 7.

ro6 to7



I

Taslr 7

o
B

o5€o6E-{o'
E\
a-(
6:t

o
t%ts
ae '\!

.9o

=3.aa.
1Bco_3
EO'-o
9-(o9
z_
o .Iz .B
.S

o

o
B
Iq
oq
oo

\o

o
qo

t
o

qo
s

&
t.

@
lrl
4p
o
ti.

:q

*E

ffiH
**
*::
ra-
Lti 

=

Whitc
sludcnts in
acficd;tcd
schook,
pcrcent

72. 02

78.49
Bg.gg
47.09
44.83
62. lg
42.55
39. 58
35. 4r
37.r5
46. ro

Negro
studcnts in
appror:ed
schools,
pclccnt

66, rB
+8.76
28.4+
37.ro
32.43

l. Jl
33. 26

+r. 25

3I. 59
q6. o6
20.40

All studcnts
in accredilcd-

approud
schools,
ptrcenl

7r. 02

70.51
6g.g+
45.oo
42. 82

4r.37
4r.35
39.69
34.4r
33. 7+
33. 25

Rank

3
2
I

5

4
B

9
II
IO
6

Rank

I
2

3
4
5
6
7
8

I
IO
II

C
o

.g
o

c
oa,
o

-o
!o
o
o.
o-

!
o
o

-co.x
c,o.:tlt !,o

E
cU
c
o

.g
f
o.
oE
E
oE

E
.9
4
og'
o
c(,

o
A.

In regard to the racial distribution of North Carolina students in ac-
credited and approved high schools, the following observations are of
interest:

r. There are seven counties in western North Carolina lvhere no
Negro high school students are enrolled in any public school. The
counties in this category are: Alleghanv, Clay, Graham, I{adison,
Mitchell, Swain, and Transylvania. Yancey County was also in this
category when school opened in September r960, but later eight Negro
students whose petitions had been pending in the U.S. District Courr
for the Western District of North Carolina were ordered admitted to
high schools in the county.

In l96o the nonwhite population in these counties was-

*

E-x-l
TX J
t:;,,
E:i,l
t:: 7

as
l.r

W%
W%
$Hl.r

e [],1 ffiE t..1 f,1.J

EtJ I4
;a!o

-:
Tffi
IHfl

Alleghany 222

9luy. . 50Graham 257
Madison t2r

42
r,669

868

Mitchell.
Swain.
Transylvania.
Yancey t4o

CIay, Graham, and Mitchell have no Negro studcnts enrolled in an1'
schools. Allcghany h* 55 Ncgro elemcntary students; IUadison, r9;
Swain, z6; and Trans,vlvania, 2 r B.

z. In tI counties in North Carolina, roo percent of the Negro high
school population is enrolled in schools approved by the Southern Asso-
ciation. These counties arc: Chowan, Pasquotank, Onslorv, Lee,
Cabarrus, Davidson, Caswell, Iredell, Caldrvell, Rutherford, and Btrn-
combe. In only two counties, New Hanover and Chowan, arc roo per-
cent of the rvhitc high school studcnts enrolled in schools accredited by
the Southern Association.

IOO
IOB



3. It should llc noted, however, that these statistics are b;rscd on
counties rather than on school administrative units. If they were pre-
parcd on the basis of school administrative units, there would be many
morc units which would show higher percentages of the white population
enrolled in schools accredited by the Southern Association. Sixty-eight
of the ro8 white accrcdited schools are in city administrative units,
and in many cases, the students enrolled in these schools represent the
entire white high school population of the unit.

4. Thirty-two of the 5z accredited Negro high schools are located in
city administrative units. In some cases, these high schools represent the
entire Negro high school population from the city administiative unit
and also the entire Negro high school population in the county in which
the administrative unit is located.

5. There are +3 counties in which there were no high school students,
white or Negro, enrolled in schools accredited by the southern Association
at the opening of school in September r 96o. These were:

In addition, it has a direct effect on the admission of high school
graduates from North Carolina public schools to many colleges in the
United States. Therefore, these figures are of interest to the people of
North carolina in determining the equality of access of all our citizens
to quality schools.

THE ONE-, TWO-, AND THREE-TEACHER SCHOOLS

The standards of accreditation used by many States (not to mention the
Southern As:ociation of colleges and Secondary Schools, whose standards
are usually higher than State accreditation standards) require that
a school before being considered for accreditation must have
at least four teachers. This is a very minimal requirement and schools
which fail to meet this requirement can be said rvithout resen ation to
be too small.

No doubt some of the teachers in these schools are capable and there
may be special geographical and economic factors affccting the location
and enrollment of these schools, nevertheless it can be said that such
schools do not offer the students the same educational opportunitv as
other schools in the State with larger faculties and facilities. To sonrc
extent this observation also applies to four- and fir,e-teacher schools of
which there are many.

The disparity in the quality of education of the child is clearly shown
when the child who has been making good marks in one of these schools
is transferred to another school where the competition among facult,v as
well as students is keener and the standards of instruction and achie'c-
ment are higher from the outset. Some children making such transfcrs
must drop back two or three grades. \4lith diligent effort thev mav begin
to catch up and close the gap, but the loss is hard to rctrie'e. Not onr'
the child but the community, indeed the rvholc State, suffers from the
failure to develop each citizen to his full capacity.

Much progress has been made in consolidation of schools in our State.
It appears, horvever, that a disproportionatc numbcr of thc rcmaining
one-, trvo-, and three-teacher schools are being assi.gned nonrvhite prrpils.

In North carolina the rvhite population outnumbers the non*'hitc b'
3 to I. In public school cnrollment the ratio is 7o perccnt u.hitc to jo
pcrcent nonwhite. other things bcing cqual, it might be cxpected that
assignments of pupils to one-, two-, and thrce-tcachcr schools r'oulcl
reflect either no disccrnible racial pattcrn or elsc the rvhite pupils assigned
to such schools rvould outnumbcr the nonrvhitcs bv morc than e to r.
Howevcr, the reversc is the case: Alnrost twicc as manv nonr'hitc pupils
are assi.qned to such schools as are rvhite pupils-6,r38 to 3,rBr. In thc
elementary schools alone, it is 5,525 to 2,353, thc nonrvhitc pupils ac-

Alexander
Alleghany
Ashe
Avery
Bertie
Brunswick
Camden
Chatham
Cherokee
CIay
Currituck

Dare
Davie
Duplin
Franklin
Gates
Graham
Greene
Harnett
Hertford
FIoke
Hyde

Edgecombe
Halifax
Hayrvood
Hcnderson

Jackson
Martin

Jones
Lincoln
Macon
Madison
McDowell
I\{ontgomery
Northampton
Pamlico
Pender
Perquimans
Person

Ivf itchell
Jr[oore
Randolph
Richmond
Scotland
Surry

Polk
Sampson
Stokes
Swain
Transylvania
Tyrrell
Warren
Washington
Yadkin
Yancev

Union
Watauga
Wilkes

6. In addition to the foregoing 43 counties, there are 4 other counties
lvhere no white students were enrolled in schools accredited by the
Southern Association, although in these counties some Negro students
werc so cnrolled. These are: Bladen, Caswell, Columbus, and Granville.

7. Furthcrmore therc are 2r other counties where no Negro students
'rvere enrolled in schools accredited or approved by the Southern Associa-
tion, although in thcse counties some white students were so enrolled.
These are:

Anson
Beaufort
Burke
Carteret
Clevcland
Craven

B. \vhile southern Association accreditation is not an absolute stand-
ard, it does ha'e a bcaring on thc quality of the schools a'ailable to the
high school students in North Carolina.

I IO

lr.'
:. .ili



counting for more than 7o percent of those assigned to these r-, 2-, and
3-teacher schools.

Of the r l r such elementary schools, 32 are composed of all white
students, Tg of all nonwhite students (74 Negro,5Indian or other).
Of the e9 such high schools, rr are composed of all white students, rB
of all nonwhite students ( I r Negro, 7 Indian or other).

The five Indian or other elementary schools are Indian schools in
Harnett, Person, and Columbus counties, an "Independent" school in
Robeson County (see fz re Smiling, r93 N.C. 448, r37 S.E. 3r9
(rgz7) ), and a "Portuguese" school in Northhampton County.

The seven Indian or other high schools include two Indian schools in
Columbus County, one Indian school each in Cumberland, Hoke, and
Person counties, one Haliwa school in Warren, and one "Independent"
school in Robeson County.

In Clay, Graham, and Mitchell counties, there are no elementary
schools to which any Negroes are assigned. In Alleghany, Clay, Graham,
.Madison, Mitchell, Swain, and Transylvania there are no high schools to
which any Negroes are assigned. For the Negroes who live in these
counties there are no nearby school facilities. Through the last school
term, all Negro students in Buncombe County were assigned to Stephen-
Lee High School in Asheville, and in addition Negro students from several
other counties were also assigned to this school in Asheville. Of the
9 high schools within r 6 counties in the western part of the State to which
Negroes have been assigned, 3 are r -teacher schools in Cherokee, Macon,
and Avery Counties; I is a e-teacher school in Polk County; 2 are Z-
teacher schools in Jackson and Havwood Counties; and I is a 4-teacher
school in McDowell County.

This is not a new problem in these or any other counties in the State.
In rBTo the State superintendent of public instruction asked the attorney
general of North Carolina: "If there is no adequate provision for their
separate accommodation in the public schools of the township in which
they reside, can colored children of lawful age be excluded from attending
and receiving instruction in any free school that may be in operation?"
No answer is rccorded,8 .

LT\WSUITS CONCERNING EQUAL FACILITIES

Hooker v. Greenuille, tgo N.C.47z (r9oz), invaiidated an act of the
lgor legislaturc establishing a school district, thc boundarics of rvhich
the Court described as "rcmarkable" and as "the eerrymandering of
the territory of the torvn for the purposes of this school." The act had

iNohle,.{ Illttory ol thc I'tl,lic t:cltoolt ltr }iorth Caroliila p.325 (1Cil0).

tt2

authorized the school trustees, in case there were so few of either race
in the district that a separate school for that race would not be justified,
to give the children their pro rata portion of the funds raised by the
special tax or to give such pro rata portion to the public schools for that
race adjoining the district. The Court asked: "Would this be fair
treatment to the uhite children in the district, and would it be treating
them equally with the colored race? Would it not be a discrimination
against them? But if we are in error in supposing that it was the
white race that this section had reference to, and it was the colored race,
the rule would be the same. We do not think that the act could au-
thorize giving the money of 'either race' to some other district. The
Constitution has given it to them, and the Legislature can not take it
away from them and give it to someone else."

However, in the Lowery case,s in r9o5, the court held that the
Hooker language "that in no other wav than by per capita distribution
of all taxes collected for public schools can the Constitution be observed,
does not meet with our approval." fnstead, the court said, it must rely
upon the judgment and discretion of the school administrators to avoid
discrimination between the races. "Much must be left to the good faith,
integrity and judgment of local boards in working out fhe difficult
problem of providing equal facilities for each race in the education of
all the children of the State . . . If they should not do so, the courts
would promptly aid any clas of persons discriminated against."

In the period Igo5 to rgrz there were five other lan'suits vrhich
questioned the quality of school facilities and the lcgalit,v, under the
State constitution of local bonds or taxes alleged to be used for schools
"for the white race." 'o Except for the Williams case where the court
held that the bonds were invalid because the tax was limited to a
school "for the whites" with no discretion in the local authorities, thc
court upheld the bonds or the taxes.

In the McLeod case only a portion of the town was included in
the newly created school district which contained only rvhite children.
Only property owners inside the new district were to be taxed for the
new school. There was no question of discrimination betrvcen the
races, the court said, "as there are no colored children in the school
district, and there is no sug{estion that those in the torvn, outside the
district, have not been provided with ample means and facilitic.s for their
education."

In the Whitford case the statute authorizing bonds for farm life
schools prohibitcd more than one such school in any county. 1'hc plain-
tiff contended the statute thus deprived the local school authorities of the

DSrrr.l rota 3.
r0Smitlr y. Scrrool Truetect ol Robtrconuille, 141 N.C. l{i (1000), )Icleoil v. Connrit-

rioncre ol Cartho|?,1{S N.C.7? (100S); Iyilliom, v. Bradlord, lf8 N.C.36 (10f1) : Bonit:
r. scrrool rrrEtees ol altoEkie, r5{ N.c.3?5 (191r) i whitloril s. committioners o, crat2l
County,150 N.C. f00 (f912).

I 13



power to provide equal facilities for the two races. The court, how-
ever, upheld the act: ('the statute does not provide for each race ex-
clusively, and it might just as reasonabh, be argued that the benefit
of the school was confined to the colored race, as it can be that it is
restricted to the white race . . . The act under consideration makes
no discrimination between the races, and there is no expression in it
which leads us to think that the school was intended for the exclusive
benefit of the one race or the other." The court suggested that one
school could be established in which the children of each race would
be taught in separate buildings and by separate teachers. Since the
State constitution at that time expressly commanded it to be done,
the court read that requirement into the act in order to sustain it. The
record does not show whether in fact separate buildings and separate
faculties were established at that time or not.

These suits appear to have been brought as test cases to validate the
bonds so they could be sold on the bond market, not really to secure
better schools for nonwhites. The cases were decided on the language
of the particular enabling acts. There was no evidence in the record
as to the relative condition of school facilities available to white and
nonwhite children.

In the Smith case, the court stated, in language subsequently quoted
with approval in later cases: "

There are no facLs or data given by which the Court may determine
whether the contemplated expenditure is or is not an unequal and
unlawful disbursement of the school funds. The defendants, in
their sworn answer aver that they have no desire or intent but to
administer their trust in accordance with the law of the land, and it
is right that we should act upon this statement till the contrary is
made to appear by proceedings duly entered.

. . . If defendants, contrary to their avowed purpose shall en-
deavor to exercise the authority conferred upon them with an "evil
eye and unequal hand" so as to practically make unjust discrimina-
tion between the races in the school facilities afforded, it is open to
the parties who may be interested in the question, by proper action
to correct the abuse and enforce compliance with the law.

fn another bond suit in tgzz, Galloway v. Board of Education of
Brunswick County, the plaintiff alleged that the taxes levied in support
of the bond issue were illegal because of an unlawful discrimination
against the colored race, but this ground of objection was abandoned
by plaintiff's attornevs in the course of the proceeding as not sufficiently
sustained by the record. In approving the bonds the Supreme court of
North Carolina stated : 13

-iG.Glo, orpra, t4r N.c. at 160.
t2 16,1 N.C. 245, 247.

tr4

The decisions of this Court have been very insistent in upholding
the constitutional guarantee against race discrimination in the dis-
tribution and use of the public school funds, and it is gratifying that
in the present case there were no facts in evidence to sustain such
an allegation [citing the above cases].

It was not until r95r that a couit in North carolina actually found
that Negro children had been discriminated against on account of their
race in public school facilities. Blue v. Durham Board. ol Education,
95 F. Supp. 44r (M.D.N.C. r95r ). This suit was started in 1949 and
decided by Judge Johnson J. Hayes.rs

The local officials concede many disparities between the facilities
available to the Negro school children as compared to those afforded
white children, most of which arises from unequal plant facili-
ties . we have three excellent junior high ichoois well dis-
tributed over the city for the convenience of these white children
and none for the Negroes; arrangements exist for cafcterias, S).m-
nasium, music, art, home economics, laboratories.and equipment,
and playgrounds for the white children, while some of these facilities
are denied in many of the Negro schools. By reason of the existence
of more abundant building space for n'hite children and the crorvdcd
conditions in the Negro schools, white children enjoy manv su-
perior advantages to those available to the Negro children, to rvit:
More and better supervision, greater extra curricular opportunities,
better laboratory equipment and facilities, in music and art, lightcr
teacher load, better recreation facilities and better accomoda-
tions . The fact remains, however, that the net results of what
has been done still leaves the Negro school children at man' dis-
advantages which must be or...o-. before substantiall' equal fa-
cilities are made available to the Negro children ,,The burdens
inherent in segregation must be met bv the state rvhich maintains the
practice" . . . ft fololvs from what ha^s been stated abot,e that
the plaintiffs have been, and are, discriminated against on account
of their race and that they are entitled to injunctive relief.

DESEGREGATION

Legislatio-n.---The r955 session of the North carolina Gcneral Asscmbly
enactcd chapter 366 (sec. r r 5-r 76 to r r 5-r 79 of the General Statutcs of
North Carolina), which, as amended by chapter 7 of the r956 cxtra
session of the North carolina General Assembly, has become tire assicn-
ment and enrollment of pupils act in the State of North carolina. This

u 95 F. Supp. 441, 4lil{--45 (19b1).



legislation provides the administrative procedure under which the local
boards of education annually assign pupils to the various schools. The
enactment of this Iegislation recognized that the enrollment and assign-
ment of children in the schools throughout the State is by its nature a
Iocal matter and the assignment and enrollment of pupils act apparently
vests in local boards of education full authority in this respect. However,
certain criteria are set forth in the act to be considered by the local school
boards in making assignments of pupils. These include:

( t ) The best interest of the child involved.
( z ) Proper administration of the school.
( 3 ) Proper instruction of the pupils therein enrolled.
( 4 ) The health and safety of the children enrolled in the school.

The statute makes no mention of race as a criterion for assignment.
The local boards of education are given authority under the act to make
such reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary for the adminis-
tration of the act. The law requires the local boards of education to
eive notice to the parent or guardian of every child of the school to
which that child is assigned.

If any parent, guardian, or child is dissatisfied with the assignment
made by the board of education, he may apply for reassignment to a
different public school. If the application for reassignment is not ap-
proved, the applicant may apply for and the board must give him a
"prompt and fair hearing on the question of reassignment." The local
school board upon such a hearing is authorized to render is final deci-
sion. However, any person aggrieved by the final order of the local
school board may appeal therefrom to the superior court where the
matter shall be heard de novo before a jury, and from judgment of the
superior court an appeal may be taken by any interested party or by the
board of education to the supreme court.

Pupil assignment.-Pior to the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court
in the School Segregalion Cases in rg54, Negro students in Old Fort
sued the McDorvell County Board of Education to secure facilities equal
to those provided the white children of OId Fort. The plaintiffs had
not been allowcd to attend schools in OId Fort, but had been required to
go to a school for Negroes in N{arion, ls miles away. The district
judge, after the U.S. Supreme Court school segreeation decision, dis-
missed the suit on the ground that the relief prayed for (i.e., separate
but equal educational facilities) was no longer appropriate. The
court of appeals agreed that a separate school for Ncgro children in
Old Fort u'as inappropriate, but held that the plaintiffs were entitled
to a hearing on their cornplaint that they had been denied the rieht to
attend schools in OId Fort because of their race. The district judge
was directcd to considcr the Pupil Assignment Act, pointing out that an
administrative remedv had been provided by the State. "The Federal

r16

courts manifestly cannot operate the schools. AII they have the power
to do in the premises is to enjoin violation of constitutional rights in the
operation of schools by state authoritiqs." Carson v. Bd. ol Education
of McDowell County, 227 F.zd 789 (C.A. 4, rg55).

The district judge then held that the complainants had not cx-
hausted their administrative remedies, whereupon the plaintiffs peti-
tioned the court of appeals to direct thc judge to hear the case on its
merits. h{eantime, the Supreme Court of North Carolina handed down
a decision involving two of the plaintiffs construing the Pupil Assign-
ment Act, Joyner v. McDowell County Rd. of Education,244 N.C. r64
(I956), which held that the right to apply for reassignment was a per-
sonal right and that suit on behalf of a group of pupils could not be
brought. Then the court of appeals noted that the plaintiffs had not
attempted to comply with the North Carolina statute as interpreted by
the North Carolina Supreme Court and denied their petition. "It is
argued that the Pupil Enrollment and Assisnment Act is unconstitu-
tional; but we cannot hold that the Statute is unconstitutional upon its
face, and the question as to whether it has been unconstitutionally ap-
plied is not before us, as the administrative remedy which it providcs
has not been invoked." The court pointed out that an aggrieved pcrson,
after exhausting the administrative remedies provided in that act, could
apply directl;- to the Federal courts if he felt that his constitutional rights
had been denied. Carson v. l|/arlick, z3B F. zd 724 (C.A. +, r956),
cert. denied, 353 U.S. 9ro.

In rg55 Negro students in Montgomery County applied to the district
court for relief from alleged discrimination by the county board of edu-
cation in requiring the plaintiffs to attend or not attend certain public
schools in the county solely on account of their race or color. Thc dis-
trict court held that no real constitutional issue was presented and that
decision should be deferred to a later hearing to determine whether
discrimination had actually occurred. Couington v. Montgomery
County School Board, r3g F. Supp. 16r (rgS6). Later the district
court dismissed the complaint becausc the plaintiffs had not follorvcd
the procedure set out in the North Carolina Pupil Assignmcnt Act.
Sub nom., Couington v. Edwards, r65 F. Srpp. 9S7 (rSSB) , afJirmed,
264 F. zd 7Bo (C.A. 4, r959).

In 1956 Caswell County Negro parents and pupils brought suit
against both State and county school officials asking the district court
to order a plan of desegregation in the Caswell County schools. Thc
district court hcld that the State board of cducation and the state superin-
tendent of public instruction were neither indispensible nor neccssar),
parties and that if the plainiffs rvere cntitlcd to rclicf it rvas onl,v arainst
the county ofhcials. Jefrersv.lUhitley, r65 F. Supp. 95r (rSSB). Thc
Casrvell school o{ficials ansrvered allegine that the plaintiffs had not per-
sonally appeared at hearings on reassignmcnts provided for them. PIain-

t r7



tiffs then moved for a stay of proceedings allowing them an opportunity
to exhaust their administrative remediei for the ..".or, that aithe time
the plaintiffs pursued the administrative procedures, the case of McKissick
v. Durham city Board of Education, iifra, had not been decided. This
motion was allowed and plaintiffs in the summer of r96o filed a supple-
mental complaint alleging that nine of the original flaintiffs had been
assigned. to all-Negro schools for the 196o-61 school year and their
applications for reassignment had been denied after they had pursued
propcr administrative procedures. After hearing the eviden.., ih. dir-
trict court ruled: ( r ) one of the plaintiffs *u. .,o longer .iigibl. to
attend public schools; (z) three of the praintiffs had not followed State
procedure because they did not attend the school board,s hearing on
their application for reassignment ; ( s ) five of the plaintiffs had foilJwed
proper procedure. but had failed to furnish the court with pertinent
data in connection with their individual applications. ,,The record in
this case strongly indicates that some of the minor plaintiffs, particularly
the saunders children, were denied reassignment iolely o, ih. basis of
their race. The court would not hesitate to declare their rights to attend
the school of their choice without regard to their race if they had first
made a good faith effort to gain admission to a particular school, and
had sought a declaration of their constitutional iights rather than the
constitutional rights of the class of persons they refresent." The court
permitted the case to remain on the docket to givi plaintiffs an oppor-
tunity to have their individual grievances adjudicated, rg7 f. Supp.
84 (196r). In December 196r the court held two plaintiffs entitlCd
to enter the school they had requested, but dismissed the remaining
plaintiffs who appealed. This appeal is pending.

Holt v. Raleigh Board of Education, 164 F. Supp. BSg (1958),
a!'d z5! I. ,d gS ( rSSg) and McKissick v. Durha*- iloari-of Educa_
,jo\,:76 F. Supp. g (rgsg),af'd 265 F.2d 95, cert. denied,36r U.S.
BrB, held that the child and parents who failed to appear at1 school
board hearing could not complain of the board's .eiusal to reassign.

Th. 1pp:Tance by an attorney is insufficient. Becton v. Greene Couity
Board of Education, civil case No. 458, Eastern District, instituted in
I959, is awaiting decision in the district court.

\vhile the above cases were proceedine in the Federal courts, others
rver-e progrcssing through the State courts. At the opening of school
in Scptember r957, thc Greensboro, \\Iinston-Salem, and Charlotte
boards, while no suit asainst them was pending, assigned certain Negro
students to schools previously attended only bv whites. In Greensboro,
the parents of white pupils attendine one of these schools objected and re-
qucsted that thc nonwhite pupil be reassigned to another school. The
school board refused. The Superior court and the supreme court of
North carolina affirmed. "If a parent is dissatisfied with the opera-
tion of the school because of thc assignment of another pupil to that

r18

school, his remedy is to request reassignment of his child, not to appeal
the assignment of the other pupil." In re Application for Reaiiign-
ment,247 N.C 4r3, ror S.E. zd 35g (rgSB).

Morrow v. Mecklenburg County Board of Education, r95 F. Supp.
lo9 (I96r ), involved a controversy as to whether the pupil Assignment
Act was unconstitutionally applied to the Negro plaintiffs in rq57 and
Ig5B. The district judge dismissed the complaint, holding that there
was no evidence that defendant board had made a deliberite attcmpt
to thwart the plaintiffs' rights. He stated that a factor to be considered
was the interest of the citizens of the community; and as the board was
for the first time actin.q under the Pupil Assignment Act, it was only
natural that it approached the matter with extreme caution. He pointcd
out the availability of school buses and the board's position that distancc
from a school had never been a determinative faitor in its assignment
of pupils.

In February tgsg, McCoy v. Greensboro Board of Ertucation, was
started on behalf of four Negro children who had been denied arlmission
to caldwell school in Greensboro, which was at thc tirue thc suit startcd
attended only by white children. Thereupon thc Grccnsboro School
Board assigned three of the plaintiffs to the caldrvell school and the
f.-""! to a junior high school. The board then conrbinecl an all-Neero
s_ch99l, which the plaintiffs had been attending previouslv, rr.ith ihe
caldwell school, and in the summer of r95g appro'ed reassisnment of
white students to other city or county schools, including one. school to
which Negro children had previouslv bcen assigned. Upon applica-
tion by the white faculty, the board transferred all of them to an all-
white school, filling the new vacancies at caldrvell with an all-Ne.qro
faculty. Then the board moved for summary jud.qment on the g.o.r,d
the suit was moot, inasmuch as the plaintiffstrd'teen assigned to the
school they requested. Judgment granted. r7g F. S"pp. Z+S ( rq6o).
fh9 c-o_grt of appeals reversed, holding that the originaf .eq,i.st of the
plaintiffs had been completely frustrated and that ttti pta;*ins need not
pursue administratiue remedies which were inherently inirtequate or
were applied in such a manncr as ef ectiuely to deny the petitioiers their
rights. z83 F. zd 667 (r96o). on remand, th'e ai.t.;.t court retained
jurisdiction so that the board might assisn the plaintiffs to an appropri-
ate school in accordance with their constitutional rights.

In Grilfith v. Yancey Coun4, Board of Education, r86 F. Supp. 5r r
(t96o) Negro students complained that yancev county did noi rnain-
tain any schools for Negro children in that count), but tiansportecl such
students Bo miles each day round trip to Ashevillc schools. After the
suit started, the board erected a two-room school buildine and assisncd
the plaintiffs to that school. The court herd that failure to allorv the
Negro children to attend school in their own county was discriminatory
and not authorized by the North carolina pupil assi.qnment laws. The



high school plaintiffs were ordered admitted to one of the two previously
all-white high schools and reassignment of the elementary school plain-
tiffs was referred to the board for reconsideration. The board re-
assigned the elementary pupils to the two-room school. The one
remaining elementary pupil has reapplied to the court for relief. This
case is still pending.

Vickers v. Chapel Hill Board of Education was begun in r96o by a
Negro student asking to attend a specified school. His parents had
applied in rg59 for reassignment to an all-white elementary school closer
to his home, but this application had been rejected. In r96o, he applied
for reassignment to an all-white junior-senior high school further from
his home than the Negro junior high school to which he had been as-
signed and this application was also rejected. Previously in rg59, the
defendant board had announced a policy that all prospective fint grade
students would be reassigned upon request to a school closer by than any
to which they had previously been assigned. In r96o-6r all first grade
Negro children u,ho requested such transfer were reassigned, some of
them to schools for merly attended only by white students. The chair-
man of the dcfendant board testified in tfri, case that Vickers, had h'e
been a white student. would have been assigned both years to all-white
schools. The district court found for the plaintiff, holding that he had
exhausted his administrative remedy under the Pupil Assignment Act
and had been denied reassignment to the all-white junior-senior high
school solely because of his race. The court stated that the policy of re-
asigning first grade students without regard to race, while most com-
mendable, was an indication that a majority of the board was of the
opinion that it was not feasible to treat reassignment applications by
other students in the same manner. 196 F. Srpp.gT (196r).

ln14heeler v. Durham Board of Education, started in l96o, the dis-
trict court denied the Negro plaintiffs' request that integration of the
entire school system be decreed. The court stated that the board, by
maintaining dual attendance areas, one for each race, bv failing to adopt
any criteria or stanclards for reassignment applications and by rendering
notice of school assignmcnts too latc, had follorved discriminatory prac-
tices forbidden by the U.S. Constitution. Thc board rvas orclercd to
reconsider the applications of those individual plaintiffs who had previ-
ously follorvcd thc prcscribcd proccdure and to report to the court.
When it did so, the district court approved thc report, which allowed
some of the applications for reassignment. 196 F. Supp. 7r ( 196r ).
The rcmaining plaintiffs were dismissed in April r962. Their appeal is

pending.
In Septcmber r960, Indian high school students in Harnett County

who had prcviouslv bcen assigncd to and had attended an all-Indian
school in Sampson County refused to go back to that school and staged
a sit-in at Dunn High School. On October 17, 196o, tames Chance,

t20

et al.,v. Harnett County Board ol Education, was filed in the eastern
district court. In June 196r, however, before the case was decided,
the Indian parents filed a reassignment request and the board trans-
ferred the high school students to Dunn'High School for the r96r-62
term. This case therefore became moot. Meantime thc parents of 15
Indian elementary students in Harnett County requested transfcr of their
children to a white elementary school in Dunn. The board denied the
request and a second Harnett County Indian case rvas filed against the
board in August r 96l. This case has not been decided.

Another dese.qregation suit in the eastern district was filed lr{ay 3 r,
ry6r: Gloria Hunter v. Raleigh City Board of Education. This case
is still pending.

In Wayne County and Havelock (Craven County), public schools
attcnded altogether or mostly by children of U.S. military personnel have
been desegregated since r959. In Wayne County, the Nfeadow Lane
Elcmentary School near Goldsboro was deseereeated in r95g rvhen it
admitted r4 Negro students. Bv r96o, there were r7 Negro students in
the school. The Havelock Elementary School in Craven County n'as
also desegregated in r 95g when it accepted I 7 Negro studenls. By r 96o,
there were e5 Negro students in the school. A ferv white children of
nonmilitary persons attend each school, but most of the students in these
schools are children of personnel of nearby military bases. Provisions
for assignment or reassignment to these trvo schools are rather flexible
for military personnel children because of the transient status of such
persons.

As of the school year l96o-6 l, there were 334,2oo Negro students
enrolled in the public schools of North Carolina (ze6,olB in county
administrative units, and r oB, r Be in city administrative units ) . .,\s tables
t and e show, 226, or less than one-tenth of I percent, of thcse pupils rvere
enrolled in desegregated schools. It should be noted, furthermore, that
this figure includes students who attend schools serving military person-
nel. Table r shows the requests made by and granted to nonrvhite pupils
for transfer to predominantly white schools from 1957 through the I 96l-
6z school term. Table 2 shorvs the rq6 l enrollment of nonu,hite ptrpils
in such schools. Scvcral school boards have announced additional asign-
menLs for the l96z-63 term) some of thcm in schools not previously de-
segrcgated, as in Brcvard, Clinton, Fayctteville, Goldsboro, Lumbcrton,
Salisbury, and Wilmington.

In some counties the school system is triracial. Formcr G.S. I l5-z
and t 15-66 requircd separate schools for Indians in Robcson, Rich-
mond, Sampson, and Person Counties. Prior to lBB5, the Croatan
Indians were assigned to colored schools. "The laws under rvhich the
Croatan schools were started gave to the children of that race cqual ad-
vantagcs with the children of the colored race, rcquiring that the census
should be taken in the same way, and the school money divided accord-



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ing to numbers, for the benefit of the children of the three, instead of
tw'o, races. . . . The plaintiff is not calling in question the power of
the Legislature to provide separate schools for three distinct races, but,
on the contrary, he insists only that his children have been classified im-
properly, and have not been given the opportunity to associate with
others of the same caste in the croatan school." McMillan v. schoor
Committee (Croatan), ro7 N.C.6o9 (rBgo).

Later Robeson acquired a fourth category: In re Smiling, 193 N.C.
448 (rgz7). The Indian committee found that the petitioners ,,were

not Indians and not entitled to enter the Indian school." They refused
to go to school with Negroes so the county built them a separate school,
listed "Independent" in the r96r Educational Directory oi North caro-
lina. According to one recent report, the total cost to the state of ad-
ministering the Robeson school system is $Bo,ooo per year; by contrast,
the cost of administering the largest system in the state (Mecklenburg)
is only $45,ooo."

In addition to the foregoing counties, separate Indian schools are also
maintained in Harnett, columbus, cumberland, and Hoke counties.
one school in Northampton county is listed as "Portuguese" and one in
warren county as "Haliwa." rn many other countiei and cities in the
State, the few Indians are, and have for some time been, assigned to
"white" schools.

CONCLUSIONS

Based upon the court decisions, the following conclusions as to the law
may be drawn with reference to segregation of the school systems of the
State of North Carolina at this time:

(r) Prior to the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the School
segregation cases, the school systems in North carolina were strictly
segregated betrveen white and colored students.

(z) The pupil assignment and enrollment act adopted by the Legis-
lature of the state of North carolina places the responsibility for the
assignment of pupils in the hands of the local school boards, and pro-
vides administrative remedies to be pursued by any aggrieved person
upon thc failure of any school board to comply with his or her request for
reassignment to a different school. This act has been held constitutional
upon its face.

(3) The only necessary parties in any such action are the aggrieved
person or persons and the local school officials.

(4) Bcfore sceking thc aid of the court, the administrative procedures
must be exhausted.

r. The Cherlotte Observer, July 8, 1002.

t2+

(5) After the administrative procedures have been exhausted, the
aggrieved person may raise his constitutional rights in the Federal courts
without first prosecuting an action in the State superior and supreme
courts.

In addition to the foregoing conclusions of law, there are certain other
obvious conclusions:

(r ) In the expenditure of public funds, there has been discrimination
against nonwhite pupils. The gap has been narrowed in recent years.

( z ) Under existing law, segregation because of race in public educa-
tion violates the U.S. Constitution.

(3 ) Under the State's Pupil Assignment Act adopted after the Brown
decision of the Supreme Court, local school boards were authorized and
directed to assign pupils to schools upon the basis of many factors, none
of which was race. Except for Chapel Hill, the boards have made
initial assignments of white pupils to previously white schools and Negro
children to previously Negro schools.

(a) The pupil assignment law, however, permits any child dissatis-
fied with his assignment to petition for reassignment to another school.
Such transfers have been granted in various districts in North Carolina,
asshownintables r ande (pp. rzz, rz3).

(5) The movement.of nonwhites to enter public schools attended
solely or predominantly by whites is by no means confincd to communi-
ties where there has been integration on a limited basis. Its scope in-
cludes Swain, McDowell, Caswell, Greene, Montgomery, Cumberland
and Sampson counties, as well as Monroe, Brevard, Lumberton, Reids-
ville, Clinton, Whiteville, Salisbury, Fayetteville, Spring Lake, Fairmont,
Trinity, Goldsboro, Shelby and lUorganton, among other cities and
counties where desegregation petitions have been made. Some of these
have been granted for the 196z-63 school term.

(6) The course of action in North Carolina is token integration; that
is, the admission of a minimum number of Negro childrcn into white
schools. The lone Negro child or handful of Negro children in a large
white student body endure substantial handicaps and d:sadvantagcs.
They are vastly outnumbercd in a nelv cnvironment, hcnce they are
conspicuous objccts of attention and curiosity. Undcr such abnornral
conditions, normal adjustment is difficult.

(Z) No school board in North Carolina, exccpt in Chapcl Hill, Ashc-
ville, and Durham, has as yet announccd any voluntary plan of dcscsrc-
gation in the public schools. Thcse threc have indicated that r96z-63
assignments rvould, for elcmentary ptrpils, be macle on thc basis of
gcography and without regard to racc. In Charlottc certain Ncgro
children have bcen givcn a choice bctrvcen a nearby prcdominantly
white school or an all-Negro school farther away.

r25



(B) The department or public instruction apparently has given no
guidance to Iocal school boards towbrd integration of itre scrio,ors, ar-
tho.ug.h until 196o it maintained a section fJr N.g.o education.(s) It is obvious that North carorina still thinkiof the education ofiq r,1z-g,Bzg pupils:rs a responsibility to be discharged biracially (or
triraciallyin some places) under a coniinring pattern-of segregation.(ro) If, as the court has held, segregation and discriiririation are
syno_nymous, discrimination on account of race in public schools is general
in North Carolina.

l/l. The Uneducated
. . the equal right of every child born on earth to have the
opportunity to burgeon out all that there is within him.

-Gov. 
Charles B. Aycock, lglz.

The question in education is whether there had been progress
which can be counted not merely in buildings and buscs but in the
heads of the children.

-Jonathan 
Daniels, Tar Heels, tg4r.

North Carolina is the most "public school" State in thc Union: gB.9 pcr-
cent of our students are enrolled in the State school system. School at-
tendance has been required by law for nearly 50 ,vears. The edtrcation
of our citizens is and has been a State responsibility. Thcrefore, onc
test as to how fairly and effectively that responsibility has bcen discharged
is to examine the extent and location of illiteracy in the State.

Whereas the previous chapter dealt with the schools, this onc might
be said to deal with the products of the schools, but that u'oulcl not be
altogether accurate because the prevalcnce of illiteracy would not be thc
product of such schools as were provided but rather the result of the lack
of educational or other environmental opportunities.

In North Carolina, widespread illiteracy among whites, as rvell as
among Negroes, has a long but not always uniform history directlv re-
lated to the attitude of the people of the state toward education. Thc
following excerpts are from Lefler and Newsome, North Carolina, The
History ol a Southern State:

During the first third of the nineteenth century North Carolina rvas
so undevelopcd, backward, and indiffercnt to its condition that it rvas
oftcn called "the second Nazareth," the "Ireland of America,,, and
the "Rip Van Winkle" State . . .

Intclligent citizens and visitors werc shockcd at the colossal isnorancc
and intellectual degradation of the people of North Carolina. In
lB4o one-third of the adult rvhitcs wcrc illiterate. If the Ncsrocs
and whites under 2o years of age are included, morc than half of
the population was illiterate But the great mass of childrcn
grew up in ignorance, with no opportunity to acquire any education.

re6 t27



The university, with less than roo students, like the private acad-
emics and other schools, served only the small class with sufficient
wealth and interest to pay for its own children's education. In r Bz6
Governor Burton reported that many well-informed observers be-
lieved it more difficult to obtain a primary education in North Caro-
lina than it had been 50 years before.

Poverty, sparse population, sectionalism, rurality, and the large
number of Negro slaves were in part responsible for educational
backwardness, but more important were the attitudes and beliefs
of the people. The prevailing philosophy was that education was a
private, not a public, matter and was therefore the responsibility of
individuals, not the state. The leaders, the masses, and the Gcneral
Assembly were notoriously indifferent, and there was general con-
tentment with ignorance and mediocrity. The dominant aristocracy
of wealth rcgarded education as a privilege for the favored few who
could afford it; education was for gentlemen and the professions
only. Its extension to the common people would be costly and even
dangerous. Joseph Caldwell, .President of the University, referring
to the educational inertia of North Carolina, said: "Our habits of
legislation have been long established. . To provide for the
education of the people has unhappily never entered as a consistent
part of these habits." He said that people were "somctimes seen
glorying in ignorance as their privilege and boast" and that there
was a tendency for "ignorance to perpetuate itself. ."

The greatest social and educational achievement in antebellum
North Carolina was the adoption in l83g of a statewide publicly
supported system of free common schools for all white children.
Each year after lB4o, for the first time in the history of the State, a
large portion of the white children went to school to learn such basic
things as reading, writing, and arithmetic. The school system was a
disappointment in the r B4o's, but, as first State Superintendent of
Common Schools from r853 to r865, Calvin H. Wiley, revolution-
ized the systcm and made it a crcdit to North Carolina. There
was much popular indifference to public education, but \Vilcy al-
layed opposition, improved the s)'stem and inspircd public con-
fidence. His statemcnt that "North Carolina has the start o[ all her
Southern sisters in educational matters" was no exaggeration, and
the reduction in the percentagc of illitcrate votcrs from 3o per ccnt
in r84o to z3 per cent in 186o rvas one indication of thc state's
progress in education. But many of the people were still indifferent;
most school buildings were poor and inadequately furnished; thc
teachers were mostly men unfit for the work; salaries of tcachers
averaged about $25 per month; the school term was less than four
months; textbooks and equipment were scarce and inadequate; the

rzB

curriculum included only reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar,
and geography; and the pupils of all ages studied and recited aloud
in the same room. Practically all of the schools rvere one-teacher
schools. Since the chief support of the systenl rvas the proceeds of
the Literary Fund, in the nature of an endowment fund, most of
which had been granted by the Federal government, the average
North Carolinian before l86o was not habituated to the paymcnt of
taxes for public education.

Despite the fact that North Carolina had about 3,5oo puhlic and
private schools, illiteracy was widespread. In the South only Vir-
ginia, with a much larger population, had morc illiterates. In r 86o
there were nearly 7o,ooo white illiterates over 20 years of age in a
total white population of 6z9,94z. Virtually all Negroes, who com-
prised 27 per cent of the total population, and many rvhites under
2o years of age were also illiterate. Still the illiteracy rate had shown
a marked decrease since I849.

During their brief tenure of power from r 865 to r 868, the Conscrva-
tives abolished the office of State superintendent of common schools,
refused to make State appropriations for schools, and threw the
responsibility for public education upon localities.

Towns and counties were empowered to lery taxes for schools, but
this failed to solve the problem, since few of the local governments
took favorable action. The lack of State aid and the prcvalence of
poverty, educational apathy and indifference, and popular aversion
to taxation forestalled any appreciable achievement in public
education.

The State government under radical Republican control from r 868
to lBTo manifested a striking interest in public education. Devot-
ing an entire article to education, the Constitution of r B68 provided
for an elective superintendent of public instruction and rcqrrircd thc
General Assembly at its lirst session to provide, by taxation and
otherwise, a general and uniform svstcm of free public schools for
all children between the ages of six and t$'cnty-one. But thc
cffcctive school system envisioned by the authors of thc r 869 larv rtas
only partially established N{cager records indicatc that in r B7o
there were r,398 schools operating in 74 counties at a cost of $43,ooo
and with an enrollment of 49,999, ncarll, half of rvhom rvcrc
Negroes, though in separate schools from the rvhites. 'I'he total
enrollment was only one-fifth to one-seventh of the children of
school age.

r2q



Illiteracy actually increased in the rBTo's. In rBBo in a total popu-
lation of r,399,750, there were 46g,97S persons over ten years of
age, more than two.fifths of whom were whites, who could not
write. In the r8So's there was some reduction of illiteracy, chiefly
among the Negroes. Prior to r goo the State failed dismally to
live up to the educational provisions of the Constitution and the
law. In that ,vear its public school system was actually and rt:la-
tively worse than it had been in l86o. It was perhaps the pcurr.cst
in the United States. Yet only r9.5 percent of the whites and 47.6
percent of the Negroes were illiterate-a marked decrease since
rBBo

The standard explanations for educational backwardnqss were two:
the Negro with the danger of mixed schools, and poverty resulting
from the war. In reality there was no danger of mixed schools
either from local demand or outside compulsion. Poverty was a
valid explanation for only a portion of the backwardness and rela-
tive decline. Economic recovery from the war was achieved long
before r goo; the State repudiated most of its debt; the valuations
of taxable property were increasing; and the tax rate was decreas-
ing. The per capita school tax in North Carolina in rBgo v,{as 4+
cents a year in comparison with the national average of $z.r r
The redl explanations for the State's Ioss of educational rank, even
in the South, were a colossal general indifference to public edu-
cation and a sterile, reactionary political leadership . .1

At the turn of the century Charles B. Aycock was elected Governor
on a campaign to wage a statewide "war upon illiteracy." ,

Negro children along with white children were beneficiaries of this
fight for public schools. When a movement to restrict the Negro's
opportunity for schooling by limiting Negro schools to Negro taxes, an
idea prevalent in the rBBo's and three times declared illegal by the North
Carolina Supreme Court, revived as he went into office, Governor
Aycock told members of the general assembly that ,'he would regard
enactment of such legislation as a violation of his pledge to the people
and of the plighted faith of his partv, and if it were enacted he would
resign his office and retire to private life." s

I r,efler anrl Newsome, North carorina,The Hhtory ol a gouthcrn gtare 30{,8g1-g2,4g0,
5Oo. 503 (195{).

,(-'onnor nnd I,oe, The Lilc an(t Spe(crtc, ol Chart?B Br.tilile| Alcock ll7 (lgl}l.t Id. at 133-3i1. In the follorving cases the North C'lrolinn Sulrrcnre Corlrt hcld vol(l
Iocal ln\rs dlrecting tareF r0lscd fronr whltc8 to be used for whlto chlldrcn excluslrell. an(l
tnxes from the colorerl rtrce to he used lor such rnce exclusively. ltnrkhon v. )tanning,
96 N.C. 132, I'xitt r. Aomre.,94 N.C. 60C (1830), iiggslree t. I)rrhdit,9{ N.C. g00. Sce
also Frenlse A. r,ogan, 'l'ha Legol srotr.r o, r)ilDlfc ^scrrool Educalion lor Negroee in North
Ctrolino, 1887-1891,32 N.C. Hlstortcal Rerter. 3.t6, July 195i.

r30

when a similar movement gathered strength toward the end of his
term of office he threw his weight against it in a formal message to the
general assembly which struck it down so decisively that it never again
became a serious issue: '

It appears that both parties represented in your Honorable Body
are pledged to at least a four months' school in every school dis-
trict in the state and this, of course, includes the Negro districts.
. . . It must be manifest that such a provision as this fsegregating
taxes] is an injustice to the Negro and injurious to us. No i.^o.,
can be given for dividing the school fund according to the propor-
tion paid by each race which would not equally apply to u diriiion
of the taxes paid by each race on every other subject.

The amendment proposed is unjust, unwise, and would wrong
both races. . . . firiJ would be a leadership that would bring us
no honor and much shame. Let us be done with this ques-
tion, for while we discuss it the white children of the State are
growing up in ignorance.

Governor Aycock's fight for Negro schooling is illustrated in the fol-
lowing utterances while he was in office: "I would not have the white
people forget their duty to the Negro. We must not onl1. educate
ourselves but see to it that the Negro has an opportunitv for educa-
tion. Universal education means educatin.q white and black
alike. . . If I had the power and the wealth to put a public school-
house in every district in North carolina, I would enter into a guarantee
that no child, white or black, in ten years from now should reach the
age of twelve without being able to read and write. As a u.hite man
I am afraid of but one thing for my race and is that rve shail become
afraid to give the Negro a fair chance. The white man in the South
can never attain to his fullest growth until he does absolute justice to the
N._gIo race." Aycock "pledged his administration to the dci'elopment of
public schools for whites and Negroes, so that after the reeistration
of rgo8 no white man need be disfranchised because of illiteracy." 6

This problem of white illiteracy was very real throughout the South.
"of the z3r counties in the United States in which 20 pcrcent or more
of the whites of voting age were illiterate, 2o4 were in the South. . . .

The proportion of native-white illiterates in the South rvas approximately
I2 percent, as compared with r.6 percent in the North Atlantic State.s
and 4.6 percent in the United States. North Carolina lcd with rg.5
percent, Louisiana followed with 17.3, then Alabama rvith 14.8, and
Tennessee with r4.2." o

. Connor antl Poe, srrpro note :.|, nt 144-:lG.
! Icfler nnrl Newsome, North Carolina, The lIittory ol c gotthcrn Srotc f24.Woodward, Orlgiae o! the Neb dorJrrr Bg1-,32, rtoo.

I3I



SOURCES OF DATA

r. Rejections for military service $4t44, rg58, rg5g, and 196o;
z. U.S. census reports;

3. A special suri'ey made by the commissioner of Motor vehicles of
North Carolina; and

4. Data from certain television stations in North carolina engaged in
a program of teaching people to read and write.

MILITARY REJECTIONS

A vast amount of significant data about the mental and physical char-
acteristics of the American population is contained in the record of reg-
istration and rejection of the male population, particularly the young
men, during the period rg4o through tg++. This information has since
been studied in great detail by a special research project established in
tg5o by General Eisenhower while he was President of Columbia Uni-
versity. This research project entitled "Conservation of Human Re-
sources" was established within the Graduate School of Business of
Columbia University and has been sponsored by a large number of
American business corporations. The Department of Defense made
available to this project the records of our country's military manpower
experience during world war II. one of the first reports entitled "The
Uneducated" was published by Columbia University Press in rg53.

By special arrangement with the publisher and the director of 
-this

research project, the relevant information relating to North carolina
and the Southeast is included in this report.

More than zz million persons in the age group rB through 37 were
registered in the whole country, and of these, 5.2 million were rejected
for military service and classified +-F. The four major causes for rejec-
tion, and the distribution of those rejected for these causes are shown on
the following table:

Sclcctiae seraice registrants, r8-37, classifed 4-F, August rg45

This report will concern itself only with the first category: ihose re-
jected for mental deficiency. For this purpose a mentally deficient per-
son was one who was so educationally deprived as to be considered
unsuitable for military service.

The following table shows the total number of men rejected on this
basis, by region and by race:

Rcjcclions for mcntal deficiencl b1t rcgion and race

Region

New England' Middle Atlantic. . . .' Southeast

Total

zo, 765
7r,416

435,639
89,88r
7o,46o
13, o8g
15, r5o

Whitc

r9, Bo3

49, 7o8
r67,5gg
7o,66r
57,274
I2,530
r3' 725

Ncgro

962
ztr ToB

e6B, o4o
r9,22O
13, 186

559
r, 425

Total United States. 716,4oo 39r, 3oo 325, roo

More revealing than the absolute number of persons rejected are the
rates per thousand examined, as shown by the following table:

Rcjcction rates,pcr thousand regislrants, b1 region and raee

Southwest.
Central
Northwest
Far West

Rcgion

Total United States.

NewEngland.....
Middle Atlantic.
Southeast
Southwest.
Central
Northwest
Far West.

Total Whitc Ncgro

40 25 r52

r7
r5
97
6o
t4
r4
IO

r6
II
52
54
t2
r3
I

65
67

202
r07
6r
40
5o

Rcason Jor rcjcction

Mental deficiency
Mental diseasc
Physical defects
Administrative (moral, etc.). . . . .

Total ll hitc

7r6, ooo 3gr, ooo
g7o, ooo 855, ooo

3,475, oOO 2,933, Ooo
87, ooo 7r, ooo

Nqro

325, ooo
I I5, OOO

542, ooo
r 6, ooo

Several striking facts are revealed by this table. Fint, the rate of
lejection in the Southeast is almost ro times as large as that in the Far
West. All of the regions of the country exccpt ttvo have a total re-
jection rate between lo and 17 per r,ooo cin,rined; the Southcast
and thc Southwcst have rates of 97 and 6o, respectivell,. Although the
range is lcss for the rvhite population, it is still striking. Thc Far \\'est
has a rejection ratc of 9 whilc thc Southcast and the Southrvcst each have
a rate of more than 5o. The Negro rate is so much largcr in c'cry rc.gion
that it might appcar to bc a difTcrcnt population; the o'era[ Nc.qro
t'ate is just over six times the whitc racc. Horvcver, thcrc is cviclcncc
within the Negro distribution to sugscst that the population is basicallv
parallel.

rqz

Total . 5, e48, ooo 4,25o, ooo gg8, ooo



One finds, for instance, that the rate of rejection for Negroes in the

Northwest and the Far West is actually below the white rate in the

Southeast and Southwest. Even in the other three regions-New Eng-

Iand, Middle Atlantic, and Central, the Negro rate is only slightly above

the white rate in the South. The sixfold difference in total rates between
Negroes and whites results from the exceptionally high rejection rate for
Negroes in the Southeast and the lower but still high rate in the South-
west. The most extreme regional and racial differences are between

the rejection rate for whites in the Far West of g per l,ooo, or less than
r percent, and the rate of 2o2 per r,ooo, or more than zo percent, for
Negroes in the Southeast. IJnless there were evidence that there are

gross differences in mental capacity among various racial and ethnic
groups, here is an overwhelming demonstration that the results of the
screening examination reflected primarily differences in the educational
and environmental opportunities in different regions.T

An analysis of the number of white registrants rejected for mental
deficiency and the rate per thousand shows the following by States and
the comparative position of North Carolina:

The foregoing rejection rates for "mental deficiency" rvere, in gcn-

eral, the result of the quantity and quality of education available in the

lgzo's and early lg3o's. It is obvious that the Southeast produced the
largest number of rejections. In the Southeast in 193o, among the

children between the ages of to and r4, 6 white children and 13 Negro

children out of every loo children irl this age grouP were no longer in
school. This was the highest such rate for the whole country and it
showed up in the hlgh rate of rejections for military service in the tg4o's.

There is also a correlation between the rejection rate in the rg4o's

and the amount spent on schools per pupil in the school year I929-3o
as shown by the following table:

Rejection rate per r,ooo examincd b1 States,,

D;ririo, 

P itures pcr pupil'
classifed according to educational
r929-30

Total Whitc Ncgro

37 22 I55

A similar breakdown of the nonwhite registrants by States shows the
following comparative position of North Carolina:

Tota!

re States I and District of Columbia
with high educational expenditures
($roz.57-$r32.55).. 13 II 57

rq States 2 with medium high educa-
tional expenditures ($gz.Bo-
$roz.56) 12 II 55

rz States 3 with medium low educa-
tional expenditures ($6o.oo-
$gz.lZ)...... 2I Ir 8o

rz States a with low educational ex-
penditures($3r.89-$59.99)...... 91 54 t92

r New York, Nevada, California, District of Columbia, \Vyoming, Ncrv Jersey,
Michigan, Colorado, Montana, Massachusctts, Arizona, Oregon,. Connec.ticrrt.

: Ilti"noii, Minnesota, Washington, North Dakota, Iowa, Rhode Island, Ohio, South
Dakota, Delaware, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kansas'

s New Hampshiie, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Vermont, Maryland, New l\[exico,
Utah, West Virginia, Missouri, Maine, Oklahoma.

I Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South
Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia.

It can be seen that the rejection rate for Negroes in the 12 States

with the lowest educational expenditure was I B times as great as that
for whites in the States with the highest expenditure.

In order to relate the above table to Present expenditures per pupil
in average daily attendance, the amount of such expcnditure for l96o-
6r was $z4o per pupil in North Carolina compared with a national
average of $3go per pupil. In this respect, North Carolina ranked 45th
out of the 5o States.

I'he r96o-6r order and ranking of the same I3 States that appeared

in the "low educational expenditures category above for I9z9-3o" is

as follows: '
rNatlooal Educatlon AssoclatloD, Rankings ol the State., 196, (1861).

856404 0-63-10

Number

Florida 4,8oo
Mississippi 4,7oo
Georgia t2,7oo
South Carolina. . . B, 3oo
Alabama l3,9oo
Louisiana 14, Ioo
Arkansas l4,3oo
Virginia 20, Ioo
North Carolina... z6,7oo
Tennessee 2y,4oo
Kentucky. z4,6oo

Ratc pcr
thousand

2t
z8
4r
43
+7
55

59
59
6z
64
64

J\'umbcr

Kentucky 2, 5oo
Tennessee 9, 8oo
Florida t6,4oo
\/irginia 20, 3oo
Mississippi 33,4oo
Georgia 30, 5oo
NorthCarolina.... 36, Ioo
Arkansas.. .:.. 15, goo
Alabarna. 3r,5oo
Louisiana 37, 5oo
South Carolina. . . 34, too

Ratc pcr
thousand

73
r20
r48
I78
205
zo6
209
2t2
214
247
277

?Ginzberg and Brny, The L'ilealucated 4{ (1953).

r3+ r35



Statc

Louisiana
Texas.
Florida
Kentucky
Virginia
WestVirginia....
Arkansas
North Carolina. . .

Georgia
Tennessee
Mississippi
South Carolina. . .

Alabama.

For r96r-6e the North Carolina expenditure per pupil rose to $zgo,
the national average to $4r4, and our rank among the States to 4zd.

The above low relative expenditure per pupil in Southern schools has
a Iong history. In rgoo-rgol in North Carolina the expenditure per
child in attendance was $4.56; in South Carolina $+.62;'in Alabama
$3.ro; and in no Southern State was the amount spint half as much
as the national average of $z r. r4 per student. Furthermore, the amount
spent for education on the white child in these southern states was more
than twice the average spent on education of the Negro child, $4.92
to $z.zr.e

The public schools of the South at the opening of the new century
were for the most part miserably supported, poorly attended,
wretchedly taught, and wholly inadequate for the education of the
people. Far behind the rest of the country in nearly all respects,
Southern education suffered from a greater lag than any other
public institution in the region.'0

Even today the current expenditure per pupil in North Carolina
schools is only 6r.5 percent of the national average; only 4r percent of
the amount per pupil in schools in New York or Alaska. The rq6o-6r
figure of $z4o expenditure pcr pupil is the same amount ,p"nt p.,
pupil on the island of Guam, $6o less than the expendituro per pupil
in the Virgin Islancls, and $r3o less than the expenditure per pupil in
the State of Hawaii.

The records in the pre'ious scction of this chapter relatcd to rejection
for military service in the rg4o's and the correlation between such
rejections and thc schools of the lgzo's and the early r93o's. Inas-
much as many changes have takcn place since that time in thc cconomic,
social, and educational structure of the South, which was the source

e Rcport ol the CoDttiliiaioner ol Educatiou lorl.ear lg|o-tg|r,lVMhinOton, n.e. [COZ\,
!o lvoodwsrd, Eupro Dote 6, ot 398.

r36

of most of the rejections during World War II, it would be helpful to
know how the South and particularly North Carolina registrants are
faring on the preinduction and induction examinations given in recent
years by the military service.

An analysis of these results has been published each year in the "Health
of the Army" by the Surgeon General of the Unitcd States. While
there have been some changes since the rg4o's in the nature of the
mental tests to which registrants are subjected, the relative performance
is still significant. These tests were given to young persons for the most
part born in the r94o's and in the public schools during the last decade.

No breakdown of the recent rejections is presently available as be-
tween whites and nonwhites. It is still apparent that the Southeast as an
area is producing a significantly larger proportion of educational re-
jectees than any other section of the country.

North Carolina still shows a larger proportion of educational failures
than the national average for each year as indicated below:

Expcnditurc pa
pupil r9b6r

$37o. oo
33o. oo
3ro. oo
275.oo
275. oo
255. oo
242.48
24o. oo
236. oo
228. oo
zz5. 86
223. oo
2t7. oo

Rank rgfu-Gt
(among 5o Statts)

27

35
39
4r
+2
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
5o

rgtu ry59
Total for United States. 2t. 7 24. 7
North Carolina 38.7 4o.g

IgSB
2r. 3
34.6

In this respect North Carolina ranked 47th among the States and
Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

Within the region of the South, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida,
Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas did better than North
Carolina for each of these yean. So, also did Alaska, I{arvaii, the
District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, among others.

In February 196o the Surgeon General in publishing the preinduc-
tion and induction examination results for rg5g addcd a nerv table
which sheds additional light on the application of mental standards to
North Carolina registrants. The Surgeon General explained that late
in lg5B, the mental standards for acceptability of re.qistrants for mili
tary service were modified as a result of Public Law 85-564 approved
Iuly r958 by Congress, authorizing the President to modifv thc minimum
physical and mental requircments, except in timc of rvar and national
emergency declared by Congress. No basic chanse n'as rnaclc in rc-
spect to medical requircmcnts; but the nrental rcouirenrcr.rts rvcrc raisecl.
In addition to the Armed Forces Qualification Tcst (AFQT), strpplc-
mentary tcsts known as Army Classification Battery (ACB) u'cre qivcn.
These supplementary tests were developed to determine the individual's
potential usefulness in particular kinds of military jobs or assisnpsnltt
specifically, in the eight major occupational catesories into u,hich jobs
for enlisted men are groupcd. Expcrience rvith ACB tcsting at thc rc-
ception centers revealed thatln aBpreciable numbcr of thc inductccs
in mental group IV, the lorvest gro'up pa-ssing thc Armcd Forccs Quali-
fication Tcst (AFQT), did not possess sufficient aptitude to assimilate

r37



training in even the most basic military skills, much less in those relating
to newly developed weapons and equipment requiring skilled personnel
for their operation and maintenance.

Examinees in mental group IV who failed to attain the minimum on
the ACB were classified as "Trainability Limited (V-O)" provided they
were otherwise (administratively and medically) found qualified. These
examinees are not currently acceptable, though they would qualify
under mobilization or emergency conditions.

The wide variation in the disqualification rates, noted year by year
among the Army areas and States, became more conspicuous in 1959,
especially in regard to disqualification for mental reasons. This was
explained by the fact that the States with higher disqualification rates
because of AFQ'I' failures have also a relativelv greater proportion in
mental group IV, and a relatively greater proportion of this group is
classified in such States as "Trainability Limited (V-O)."

The following table indicates in detail the effects of the ACB test-
ing. The States varied from r.4 percent for South Dakota to rq.4 per-
cent for North Carolina in terms of the proportion of examinees who
failed the ACB test.

Pcrcentage distribution of examinees classified as "Trainability Limited (V-O)"
becausc oJ AaB Jailures

Pcrcentagc oJ all examinccs who were so classffcd

BUREAU OF CENSUS RECORDS OF ILLITERACY

Prior to the census of r g4o, the Bureau of the Census sought information
about the number of illiterates in the population by defining the term
as "persons unable to read and r^rrite in any language." This gave rise
to many problems, however. It was easy to identify a person who
was completely unable to read or write, but it was much more difficult
to distinguish those who had only a limited ability to read and rvrite.
For example, those who could recognize words like "danger," "exit," or
"men," or "women," could not necessarily be said to knorv how to read.
Likewise, the ability to write one's own name and address and perhaps
a few other phrases is not necessarily the same as being able to write.

Therefore, in the census of 194o, the question about literacy was re-
placed by a question relating to the number of years of schooling that the
individual had completed.

Nevertheless, the early census records do give a perspective on the
current problem of illiteracy.

In rB7o, the U.S. census shorved 5.7 million persons to be illiterate.
This was 20 percent of the total population t 5 )'ears old or oldcr.
Comparable data for r95o shows 3.6 million illiterates, or 3.2 percent.

In the rBTo census, native-born Americans accounted for 4.9 out
of the 5.7 million illiterates. The rate of illiteracy among the foreien
born rvas less than that among the native born.

Approximately 5o percent of all the illiterates in the country \^'ere

Negro (z.B million), and the rate of illiteracy among the Negroes in
IBTo was Bo percent. This is not surprising sincc in North Carolina
as in most of the other former Confederate States prior to that time, no
provision was made for education of even free persons of color, and it
was forbidden to teach slaves to read and write or to give or sell them
books or pamphlets.

The rate of illiteracy among Northern whites (native and foreign born
combined ) was B percent in l B7o; the rate of illiteracy among the South-
crn whites was approximately 24 percent, or three times as great. Thus,
the high incidence of illiteracy in the South was not confined to the Negro
population, but was shared by a substantial proportion of the white
population as well.

According to the r95o census, illitcracy in North Carolina rvas

5.5 percent which by a similar standard should be compared to the
following:

Total .

South Dakota. ...
lowa. .

Minnesota
Washington
Montana
Oregon.
Wyoming.
Utah..
North Dakota....
Nebraska
Kansas
Verrnont
Idaho.
Oklahoma
New Hampshire. . .

Wisconsin
Nevada.
Indiana
Massachusetts. . . .

Maryland
West Virginia....
New Mexico
California.
Colorado

I3B

Michigan.
Missouri. . .. ...::
New York
Maine.
Rhode Island.
Connecticut
Ohio..
Arizona
Illinois
Pennsylvania
Texas.
Georgia
New Jersey.
Virginia
Alabama
Kentucky.
Delaware
South Carolina. . .

Florida.
District of Columbia
Arkansas.
Tennessee.
Louisiana
lrlississippi
North Carolina.

France
Hungary .... . : ::.: :. .: ::. . :. .: .: .... .

Sweden
Northern and \Vestern Europe
Central Europe

6.2 5.o
5'4
5.4
5.5
5.5
5.9
5.9
6.o
6.4
6.4
7.+
/.5
B.o
8.r
8.3
8.5
8.6
9.o
9.3
9.7
9.9

ro.5
I I. I
2t. 3
13.+

t. +
r.6
r.B
r.8
2.2

2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
3.o
3.o
3.r
3.2
3.4
3.4
3.7
3.8
4.t
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
5.o

Pcrctnl
illiteratc

2.

3.
4-
5.
o.
r to2.
2to3.



The latest State-by-State tabulation of illiteracy, based on ability to
read and write, was issued November r959 by the Census Bureau (No.
6, p. z3-26). This report shows the illiteracy by States for the period
lgoo throtrgh 195o. In r95o North Carolina ranked 4ISt among the 48
States, and the relative position of North Carolina among the South
Atlantic States was unchanged from I goo to I g5o : That is, North Caro-
lina was 7th out of g in r goo and was still 7th out of g in r g5o.

Another report was issued by the Census Bureau in February 196o

giving illiteracy statistics by race and other classifications, as of March
rg59. In summary, this latest report showed that for the country as a

rvhole, for both rvhite and nonwhite persons, illiteracy rates have been

diminishing ever since statistics on the subject were first collected by the
Census Bureau, but the decline has been more dramatic for nonwhites.
In the Bg-year period, rBTo to r95g, the percentage oI the population
which was illiterate dropped steadily from r z percent to z percent for
whites and from Bo percent to B percent for nonwhites.

As in past years, illiteracy rates were higher in 1959 for men than for
women, for older than younger persons, in the South than in other parts

of the country, in the farm than in the nonfarm population, among the

unemployed and those not in the labor force than the employed, and

among farm laborers and nonagricultural workers than workers in other
occupational fields.

In the Ig4o census the Bureau adopted a new test of literacy; instead

of asking each person if he could read and write, he was asked how many
grades in school he had completed. If a person had not completed the

fifth grade, he rvas deemed to be "functionally illiterate," that is, his

education is so limited that he must be considered uneducated. This
test is more in line with the minimum draft standard described above.

In terms of the number of years of schooling that individuals have
obtained, the following table presents the number of children per I,ooo
of ages Io-I4 enrolled in school, by region, in the years indicated.ll

School enrollmenl per r,ooo children, ro-t4yars oJ agc

r8g ,gro lg.7o ,g4o

R4ion ll'hitc i?go ll/hitc Ntgro ll'hitc J\'tgro ll/hitc Ncgro

Total United States. 8+6 5r1. gIo 686 g7o Bgz 953 9I I

It rvill be noted that in IB9o, in the Southeast, 3 out of every to white
children were out of school before reaching the age of lo. I\'{ore than
half of the Negro children were out of school before they reached lo.

When the Southeast region is brokcn dorvrt into States, the figures
for rBgo show that in Louisiana, nearly half of the rvhite children rvere
out of school by age ro. South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina,
and Georgia had more than a third of the u'hite children out of school
by age ro. Florida, Mississippi, and Kentuckv showed the best record
of school attendance for white children for the whole region.

As for Negro children, f.ouisiana was again the lorv State with morc
than two-thirds of the children out of school by age r o, and again
Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina had a good bit
more than half of the Ne.qro children out of school by age lo.

By r94o, North Carolina had become the high State for the region,
rvith 9zB out of r,ooo Negroes in the age group in school. Thc average
for the Southeast as indicated in the table was BB7 per thousand.

In 196o-6r North Carolina has an estimated r,I2o,ooo pupils in
public schools. This is 87.6 percent of the estimated population 5'-r7
vears of age on July r, l96o. Since North Carolina has the lorvest ratio
of private to public school enrollment of any State," thc follorving com-
parison of current enrollment is as favorable to North Carolina as avail-
able statistics permit:

Public school enrollment as percenlage oJ population 5-rZ ),ears, r96o4r

Florida
Ir4ississippi. ...:..:::.:..:..:::.::.
Arkansas
Alabama
Tennessee
Georgia
North Carolina.. . .

WestVirginia....
South Carolina. . .

Virginia.
Louisiana.

In addition to enrolling, studcnls must attcnd regularll'. North Caro-
lina has the highest averagc daily attendance of thosc enrollcd in public
schools of any Southcrn State (9r.4 perccnt) and ranks r6th anrone 5o
States in this rcspect. Even so, the r96o-6r avcrage dailv attcndancc
is only r,o24,ooo otrt of an estimated population 5-r 7 ycars of r,z7B,ooo.
This is Bo pcrcent.

The North Carolina Superintendcnt of Public Instruction calculatcd
the I959-6o school attcndance as thc rclationship bctrvccn thc avcragc
length of the school tcrm and thc pcrccnt of mcmbcrship in attcndancc:

u Il.S. Delrnrtment of IIealth, Educntlon, and ll'clfnre, Omce of Erlrrentlon, Blennial
Srrrcy ol Etlucation in t/'.S. I95{-56 ot 1l{-f5 (105C).

95. 5
9r. 4
9t. 4
BS. :
88.6
88.s
82. 6
87.o
8+.+
Bz.l
?8.3

Northeast
Irliddle Atlantic
Southeast
Central
Southu'cst
Northrvest
Far \A'est

90r
B+g

7r4
904
766
907
905

94r
925
Bg:
938
B7z

937
940

983
98o
940
98r
939
98r
987

gB2

962
86g
970
g2B

974
984

943
8s+
6+g
BBr
8oz
gt6
928

8+g
6s+
478
776
64r
B3o

470

975 968
964 965
892 8BZ

969 966
944 952
970 970
976 97+

rr Glnzberg nnd Bray, The Uncducated 23.

r40 r4l



Total

9r. 2

Since these figures relate only to enrollment and not to the actual
school population or potential enrollment, the superintendent of public
instruction made this the subject of a special recommendation to the r 96 I
general assembly:

The General Assembly, responsible for thc education of a// children,
together with educational officials and this State's entire citizenry,
should know that all children eligible and required to be in school
are actually in attendance at either a public, a private, or a
parochial school.

The results of non-attendance or poor attendance at school are
clearly evident:

I. Official census data reveal that many thousands of adults rvho
have grorvn up in North Carolina since this State's compulsory at-
tendance law was enacted in l9l3 are classified as functionally
illiterate.

z. In this era when there is increasing evidence that high school
graduation reprcsents little enough educational achievement for
civic, vocational, and political responsibilities, it is anything but
pleasing to observe that less than fifty percent of the children enter-
ing the first grade in North Carolina schools ultimately complete the
twelfth grade.

3. The number of North Carolina youth rejected for military
service for mental and physical reasons gives no cause for pride.

4. There is definite relationship between low educational achieve-
ment and incidence of criminal behavior, poverty, and disease. . . .

It is thereforc recommended that the r96r General Assembly enact
legislation whcreby: ( I ) the provision for employment of attend-
ance personnel by county and city boards of cducation shall be
changed from an option to a requirement; (z) the question of
rvhethcr attcndance penonnel is to be paid from local and,/or Statc
funds shall be resolved; and (3 ) the Department of Public Instruc-
tion shall be providcd with an appropriation sufficient to employ
personnel to assist county and city attendance personnel. "

In May t96o, in connection rvith complaints of dcnial of the right
to register to vote, a Greene County registrar stated he did not think any

,i Superinterdent of Public InHtructlon, "North Corollno Publlc Schools, 1050-60,"
Publlc&tion No.33?-

r42

High school Tolal Elemcntarl High school

94.8 94.8 9r.3. . 9r. r

of the applicants rvho were denied had been to high school. "Most of
the colored people down here can't read and write," the registrar said.

"They don't go to school. In fact, for the last four of five years they
have just started to school. The school attendance law is not enforced
strictly enough." "

The Ig5o census shows the years of school completed by persons in
the population 25 years of age or older, according to race.

McCian school years completed (by persons 25 )ears old or older-rg5o)

Rank in
Ncgro South Total

5.8 6 g.6
7.o 2 9.36.1 4 8.5
6.5 g B.+
7.3 r 8.4
5.6 I B.z
5.r g 8.r
5.9 5 7.9
5.4 B z.g
+.9 ro 7.8
4.8 rr 7.6
4.7 12 7.6

I North Carolina ranks in this respect 47th among 5o States.

In order to relate the above figures to some of the other States outside
the South, the following comparisons may be made:

Whilc Ncgro

Elcmcntary

94.8.......

,'n,u 
*#,in

Florida. Io.g I
Texas. g. 7 g
Virginia. g. 3 +
Tennessee 8. 6 Io
Kentucky. 8.5 12

Arkansas 8. 7 g
Mississippi. g. g 2

North Carolina 8.6 Io
Alabama B. B 6
Georgia 8.8 6
SouthCarolina... g.o 5
Louisiana 8.8 6

Rank in
Soulh

I
2

J
4
+
6

rg
B

to
II
II

District of Columbia
California
Massachusetts.. .. .

North Carolina. . .

ll'hitc Xonu;hitc

t2.4 8.8
rr.B 8.9
ro.9 9. I
8.6 5'9

Thus, the nonwhite persons in the District of Columbia in rg5o had
completed more years in school than white persons in North Carolina,
Kentucky, Arkansas, and Tennessee, and as many as rvhite persons in
Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana.

In no North Carolina county did the nonrvhite record reach the
median of 8.6 years established for white persons in Ig5o. The closest

to this figure was B years completed schooling for nonrvhite persons in
the Grcensboro "urbanized area." Figure g (p. t++) shorvs the mcdian
school yean completcd by nonwhites by county as of 195o.

The median school years completed for nonrvhites u'as above the
State nonwhite averagc (S.g) in the "standard metropolitan area^s"

of fuheville, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, High Point, Ralcith,
\Vinston-Salem, and also in all of the "urban places" as defined by the

trThe (Ralelgh) Ne\ys snd Observer, llay 22, lgG0.

r43



8.77.1

c;tr:
o)

Io

6
R
o
B
iq
oq

3*o
e

\
q
E
o

€

oo

B\
I
C;
r{
&)
o
tr

Census Bureau, except in Greenville, New Bern, Rocky Mount, and
Wilson which were below the State nbnwhite average.

In no county did the median school years completed by nonwhites
reach the State average (Z.S). Guilford was closest with 7.3; Halifax,
Nash, and Person lowest with 4.6 each.

The connection between educational attainment and income is il-
lustrated in a special study made by the Census Bureau in lg5e, entitled
Farms and Farm People. In this study, the following table made a
cross classification for rg49 between farms by gros farm income and
educational attainment of their farm operators:

Mcdian years oJ school com-

Full-timc commcrcial Jarms uith gross cash Jarm ?lctcd b) Jarm oPcrator

income oJ- South Non-South

These figures are revealing on several counts, indicating ( r ) that
the inequalities of educational opportunity between low-income
and high-income farmers are much greater in the South than in the
rest of the nation (compare the ranges of 6.r-ro.5 and B.q-ro.z);
(z ) that farm operators of any given income class (though the class
intervals are admittedly wide) are better educated in other regions
than in the South except (3 ) that the highest-income farm opera-
tors of the South are actually somewhat better educated (ro.5
years) than their counterparts (ro.z years) in the other American
regions !

The South's relatively poorer showing on the first two counts un-
doubtedly reflects its educational neglect of rural Negroes (who
are largely concentrated in the two lowest-income classes) and its
much larger proportion of low-income farmers of both races n'ho
are unable to contribute much to the educational nceds of either
their orvn children or those of their rural communities. But the
data indicates that for their or,r'n families if not their broadcr com-
munities the highcst-income farmers of the South have found the
means of overcoming the educational handicaps faccd b1' thcir
numerous low-income neighbors.'5

The following table shorvs that in the South functional illitcracy in
Ig5o wasstill three times as frequent among )oung Negro mcn as among

6.r
6.8
7.6
8.5

ro.5

8.3
8.6
8.6
B.B

IO. 2

-eFnrnsi! - Na6 o Ids:: 5!

Ea . . .li
ii,iiiiOi r sE

Hi ; ir
Ei!il

144

r lllehotls, Eouthern Tradltioi ani, ReOlonal ProOre$ I f f ( 1800) .

r45



t.

i' ,l

young white men, whereas outside the South there were few functional
illiterates among either Negroes or whites.16

Elemcntary schooling oJ men born in rg3r-32, by racc and region, rg5o

South

l{n;tc Nrgro
(per- (prr-
ccnt) ccnt)

6.2 ry. 4
25.5 +r.7

Less than 5 years of schooling completed. . . . .

5 to B years of schooling completed

even though a passing score represents approximately fifth grade

achievement. While the failure of a Negro high school graduate is

unusual, there is a considerable number of failures among Negroes

who have completed as much as nine or ten years of school.

On the average white men screened for military service have com-
pleted about twelve years of school, compared to about eight yean
for Negroes. Nearly three-fourths of the white men achieve scores

on the Armed Forces Qualification Test which place them in "Group
III," or above, which means that they have an average or above

average capacity to absorb military training. Among the Negroes,

only a little over one-fourth are in the highest three groups. The
difference in test scores is very much greater than we might exPect

from the difference in years of schooling alone. It is so great that it
would seem to be explicable only in terms of the poorer quality as

well as the smaller quantity of schooling received by Negroes''n

In illustration of this same condition in North Carolina is the state-

ment of a Bertie County registrar in connection with complaints of the
denial of the right to register to vote in IUay I96o. This registrar refused

to register some 40 or 50 out of a total of about go Negroes who had
applied for registration. In his judgment those refused "were not able

to read or write any section of the Constitution of North Carolina in the

English language. No one was denied because of his race. Some of
the 4o or 5o who were refused may have been to high school, but they
still couldn't read or write. I don't know how that happens, unless they
have had poor schooli.g." "

DRIVER EXAMINATIONS

The North Carolina Department of l\{otor Vehiclcs, during the period

January 4-8, I959, took a special sampling of all applicants for driver's
licenses who were unable to take a n'ritten test because of inability to
read and write. Out of approximately to,ooo examined that u'eek,

2ro54 or 2o percent, stated that they were unable to rcad sulficiently to
take thc written test.

The figures were released by !V. C. Poe, chief examiner of thc motor
vehicles department's drivers examiner bureau. The tally was kept at
the request of agencies sponsoring an adult televised reading Program
now underway throughout central and eastern North Carolina. Poe

said whcn an applicant is unable to take a written licensc test, he is givcn

an oral one.

Dfd. at 53-55.
, The (B&Ielgh) Newe and Ob8erver, l\Iay 20, 1900.

Otbr rcgions

Whitc Ncgro
(pcr- (pcr
ccnt) cent)

t.7 5. z13.9 2r.9

Total with no more than elementary
schooling T.7 6r. I 15. 6 27.r

The above table also shows the percentage of young adult Negro
males who, according to the lg5o census, terminated their formal educa-
tion with graduation from elementary school or before. In spite of strik-
ing improvement in Negro education, three out of every five young
Negro males in the South had no high school education. The propor-
tion of Negroes in other regions who did not attend high school was
much lower, about one out of four. Indeed, in this respect, Negroes in
other regiors had a better record than southern whites.,,

In the South the main loss of Negroes from the educational system
occurs before high school graduation. Of those who graduate from high
school in the South, the proportion who enter or complete college is almost
as high for Negroes as for whites.'8

In the South there are twice as many functional illiterates among
young Negro men as among young Negro women.,t

Thus far in this chapter we have corrsidered only the quantity of educa-
tion received by our citizens, both white and nonwhite. There is some
evidence that Negroes not only complete fewer years of schooling than
whites, but also that the education they do receive is for the most part
inferior in quality. This may also be so as to the quality of rural schools,
whether the students are white or nonwhite. If on further investigation
this should turn out to be the case, then it is not entirely adequate for
our pllrpose to accept as final evidence of attainment of a minimum
standard of education, the report to the census taker that the person
has completed the fourth grade, if what the child got in the fourth grade
was not up to an adequate standard for the fourth grade.

The psychologists who work in the armed forces induction stations
in the Southeastern region occasionally discover a graduate of a
Negro high school who is unable to pass the mental examination,

,.Glnzbers, Thc NeOro Potentlat 45 (1956).
It fd. at 46.
,a Id. at 48.
te lud.

r46 t47



He said his men usually can spot nonreaders. "They will come in and
ask for a test and just sit around," he said. "Finally, one of our men
will ask, 'Can I help you?' and the applicant will ask for the oral test."

The department of motor vehicles, in releasing this report, pointed
out that many North Carolina drivers fail to heed directional signals
because they cannot read. Here are some highway signs which all
drivers should be able to read.

"No left turn between 4 and 6 P.M."
"Tunnel 1s51dg1ien5-no stopping at any time, stay in your lane"
"Illegal to pick up or discharge passengers on thruway"
"Do not pass when yellow line is in your lane"
"Pavement narrows"
"All traffic use next exit"
"Left turn only from this lane"

TELEVISION TEACHING

In 196o a number of television stations in North Carolina cooperated
in producing a series of telecasts designed to teach illiterate adults how
to read and write. The spons<-,rs of these programs began with the as-

sumption that there were the following "functional illiterates" in North
Carolina and neighboring Southern States. The functional illiterate
is one who has less than 5 grades of schooling.

Experience shows that while many of these adults may once have been

able to read and write, many of them have, through lack of use, lost

these abilities.

{:;ik i:;:1,, Atabama {,ff;?";)
Adults z5 and over. . I . . 2, ooo, ooo I, ooo, ooo I, 55o, ooo 585, ooo
Iunctional illiterates. . . . 425, ooo 275, ooo 353, ooo Io7, ooo
Percent functional illiter-

ates. . . 21 27. 5 23 rB
No school 75, ooo 53, ooo 70, ooo 16, ooo
Percent no school 3.75 5. 3 4. 5 2.7

The total population of the three-and-one-third-States' area is

5,I35,ooo (adults, e5 and over). There are IrI60,0oo functional
illiterates or 22.5 percent of the adult population ; 2 I 4,ooo of these people
or 3.2 perccnt never \'/ent to school at all.

It will be notcd that the North Carolina figure of 2I percent of func-
tional illiterates is substantially the same as that reported by the com-

mlssioner of motor vchicles in the independent study of applicants for
driver's license who professed an inability to read and write.

r48

The "No school" classification above reflects the number of persons

in these States who never had any formal education. North Carolina
has had a compulsory school attcndance law since r9r3, but the State
superintendent of public instruction has recommendcd to the 196 I
general assembly that enforcement officers, now optional, should bc re-
quired by law throughout the State. This is a serious problem affecting
not only initial enrollment but daily attendance through age 15.

Detailed charts were made from the Ig5o census indicating the num-
ber of illiterates, male and female, in each county covered by the various
cooperating TV stations. Some of these stations have made available
to us the comments of some of the viewers who took pan in these read-
ing and writing programs. For example:

A tad driver: "f had only five grades of school, now faded out; I
want to get into that library down the street and read lots of good stuff
there; my teenage son is helping me with the lessons."

"Thanks for helping the grown-ups of Greensboro learn how to read
and write."

An Alamance County resident: "The most wonderful thing on
television."

"It takes longer for farmers to learn because they don't have the time
to study."

A Rockingham County resident: "Would like it better in the winter
aslamafarmer."

"I want to learn all I can-I work on the second shi[t."
"Hope you can continue. The State of North Carolina needs some-

thing like this."
"The worst thing is the whites do not seem to take thc interest in

these courses that the colored people [who] are so anxious to learn to
read and write. I have spoken to several white people in regard to
learning to read and write. Most of these people works in the mills . . .

and are leaving for work when the program is on TV. If one member
of the family would copy the lessons, they could go over these lessons at
night with the members that has no education. Several pcople in torvn
has offered to teach classes at night. I understand the colored pcople
organized a class after Christmas. There is a r,9oo acrc fann ncar m),
home and half of the renters "whites" has no education or hardly anv
to speak of."

"The reading program is splcndid. Have watchcd thc lcssons scvcral
times. They explain everything so anyone could undcntand. I think
the people sponsoring these courses should explain how ncccrsarf it is to
learn to read for self-protection in time of rvar, or any other disastcr,
not to say anything about the pleasure they would find in kccping up
with what is happening in the world today, and bcing able to read their
Bible."

lAo



Principal of elementary school in a river valley: "I can easily believe

that two out of ten of our adults are either absolutely or functionally
illiterate ; sometimes I think the six hours we have the children is about
canceled out by the other I8 hours at home. Dorvn here there has been

a drain-out with too many adults not caring about their own education
or that of their children."

"People hide their illiteracy; the biggest problem is to bring them out
frorn their embarrassment or apathy or defensiveness."

When the program ran at 7 in the morning, many viewers sent word
that the time conflicted with their going to work on the first shift and
ur.qed that the station move it up to an even earlier hour in the morning.

CONCLUSIONS

It is obvious that the above data do not exhaust the inquiry as to the
quantity, quality, and representative character of the education of the
people of North Carolina. They are merely gross signs of the existence
and extent of the issue. They do, however, reflect the following:

r. The Southeast is the most uneducated part of the United States.

e. North Carolina has more illiteracy, among whites as well as non-
whites, than most other States in the Southeast.

3. The recent draft rejection record, revealing widespread illiteracv
among North Carolina youth (those rvho should have been educated in
the last to years), demonstrates the need for improvement in our public
school system.

4. Illiteracy in North Carolina is greater in rural areas than in urban
areas where the schools are larger and better equipped and where school
attendance of all eligible children is more nearlv achieved.

5. The number of years of schooling complcted is less for nonwhites
than for whites, in every State in the Southeast, although the disparity
between whites and nonrvhites is not so great in North Carolina as it is

in some other Southeastern States.
6. In lg5o, rvhich is the last reportavailablc, North Carolina ranked

47th among the States in the number of school years completed by a
person 25 ycars of age or older. North Carolina ranked 48th in the
percent of population 25 years and oldcr with at least 4 years of high
school. It ranked 4lst in the pcrcent of the population l4 years old and
older able to read and write, and 44th in percent of population 25 yean;

old and older with more than 4 years of schooling.

7. The pcrcent of thc North Carolina population rvith less than 5 ycars

of schooling was 2r.r percent in I95o. The Armed Forces have found
that unless a pcrson can read and write at least as wcll as the average

fifth grade student, he must be regarded as "functionally illiterate."

r50

Compare this zr.l percent with the rg5g report of the North Carolina
Commissioner of Motor Vehicles that in a r-week test 20 perccnt of the
applicants for a North Carolina driver's license professed to be unable
to read and write.

These ratings, all within the lowest 20 percent of the Statcs, are to be
compared with similar ratings for:

n'"!,!,:""r
Percent of selective service registrants passing mental test,

196o.. 45th
Per capita income, r 96o. . 44th
Per capita retail sales, 196o. . 43d
Percent of dwelling units in good condition, 196o 44th
Percent of population classified as urban, 196o. . 44th
Percent surviving infancy per r,ooo, t96o. . 44th
Per pupil expenditure for schools, 196l-62 42d

The cause and effect relationship between lorv income, poor housing,
and low current expenditure for schools appears obvious, but this ma1'
need further study and documentation.

Furthermore, it would be of value to the people of the State to know
where the uneducated citizens in North Carolina are located; that is
to say, in what areas or counties is their proportion the highest. The
maps included in this report give some indication. This is a concern of
all of the people of our State since it has to do rvith the full develop
ment of our human resources. This has been and still is conceived b,v

most of our citizens to be a responsibility of the State to be discharged
through the public school system; but there are other environmental
factors which determine whether a citizen's full potential rvill be de-
veloped or not. These have to do with the conditions of the home in
which the children grow up, the emplovment opportunities of the
parents, and the expectations which the communit,v holds for all of its
children. In this connection, it would be revealing to compare a map
of the State showing countl'bv county and race b,v race: (a) Per-
centage of substandard dwelling houses, (b) per capita income, (c)
investment in school property, (d) percentage of pupils attendine schools
accredited by the Southern Association, (e) percentage of eligible citi-
zens who are registered to vote, and (l) the number of grades of school
completed.

It is probable that all of these maps of North Carolina rvould be
somewhat similar in appearance, that is, that these factors would tcnd
to coincide or be very similarlv located. However, we have not bcen
able to complete such a comparative study; furthermore, the rq6o
census data should be incorporated into such a study. \{/c arc unani-
mous in the opinion that such a study should be made and that the
tesults should be widely published and understood by all of the citizens
of the State.

6!-)G{OR n-Ar-r r I5I



This information would providc our people with a better understand-
ing of the difference between white and nonrvhite and between urban
and rural peoples in our State as to their opportunities, income, and
cducational development, and the cxtent to which the provision pre-
viously made for public schools in the State has not been uniform in its
application or the results achievcd. When these disparities are better
known and understood, policies which have contributed to these dis-
parities in the educational and income opportunities for our people will
be less justified, and we can more intelligently set about eliminating the
deficiencies in our State system of education.

Edward Kidder Graham's earlier summary of our situation is still
true today:

If North Carolina needs and wants greatly to extend and deepen
its educational activities, there is no issue of poverty involved.
North Carolina is sufficiently prosperous. It is spending money
for what it wants . . North Carolina has just as much money
to spcnd for education as it wants to spend for education. But
even if it werc not prosperous, poverty is not an excuse from but
a reason for education. What John Owen said in lB3o is as tragi-
cally true today as then: "ft is a poticy that has kept the State ln
ignorance and the poor in poverty."

Let us have donc forever with this fatally invcrtcd logic. What
we spend is a question of our preference in terms of our wise or
unwise choice, and the inevitable index to our desires. A Christian
may as well sav that the Church is too poor to be honest as for a
citizen of North carolina to say that the State is too poor to eclucate,
and to the limit of its desire.

There is no greater issue in North Carolina public policy today
then this fundamental issue of education. The permanent names
in North Carolina statesmanship are those of men who put not
words alone but their lives behind the great steps in our educational
progress. This is plainl,v because the fundamentals of democracy
have all of their vital rooLs in cducation. Equality of opportunitv
is thcre, and there alonc. To talk of equality of opportunit,v in
circumstances that norv exist in our southern statd is political
cant.

Our orvn situation is well known. If we were not callous to
it by rcpctition, if rve truiy sarv it, and keenly senscd the fact that in
thc full and frec cducation of our people lies the whole secret of
progress for rvhich our State exists, we would couragcously declare
norv and make effccti'e a policy that would startlc thc nation, and
make this section what b1' right it ought to be, the center of the
next grcat forward movement in American progress.22

" "-,r*rJ 
ducation anil Cittzenship l?g (f 0f 9).

t52

Housing

North carolina has learned that it is not in the public interest that
anv of its citizens should be reared in ignorance and live in poverty.

-James 
E. Shepherd, President, North Carolina College, i 94 r.

The forces that bar minorities from emplo),ment, decent housing,
adequate educational facilities, and sociar benefits make a shocking
contribution to slums and crime and disease. The real economic
vigor our economy needs today is not possible as long as one seg_
ment of the population has these artificial limits on its ireedom and
earning power.

-Secretary 
of Commerce Luther H. Hodges, l96 l.

Is Negro lrousing in North carolina worse than rvhite? Are Negroes,
b_ecause of their race, rcstricted in what housing they can buy or rent in
North Carolina? Do Negroes, because of theii race, have to pay more
than white persDns for comparable housing in our State?

If the answer to any or all'of these questions is "yes," is it because of
any action of the city, State, or Federal governments?

^ 
T!: first question is easy. The answei is ,,yes, very much worse.,'

conditions have greatlv improved since rg3o, but the discrepancy is
clearly evident in the 196o census. The .uid..r.. is set out belo*.

The second question is also fairly eas,v. For many years, in the towns
and cities in North carolina, a substantial part oi all the residential
property has been restricted against sale or rental to Ncgroes. Even
though the older parts of the older cities contained some Ncgroes intcr-
spersed among rvhites, this rvas not so in the large scale rcal cstate and
housing subdivisions rvhich bcgan to be d*,cro1ied aftcr r9oo. T'he de-
velopers imposed deed restrictions against sale or *.rpuri.y, b'Ncgrocs
(cxcept as domestic servants). some of these dced rcsiriciions also
excludcd Jcws and orientals. Race rcstrictions wcre rcquircd by the
Federal Housing Administration from its inccption in rg34 until ig4g.
In addition to this form of governmental action, .o*. ofil"r" lar.qer cities
like Grccnsboro, \\Iinston-salcm, and Ash*,illc undcrtook by citv
ordinance to compcl segregation in private housing. Such ordinances
u'cre dcclarcd void by our own North carolina Supremc court in lgl4
and again in r 94o. Racial dced restrictions were decrarcd ,ncnfoice-

llll.

Iql



able in the courts in r 948. Neve rtheless, patterns were established under
governmental auspiccs which continue to influcnce thc housing market.

There have been and are definite "Negro sections" in every town or
city in our State. In some citics these scctions are cncirclcd and con-
fined by white housing. In othcrs there are open lands available for
purchase or rental by Negroes. Wherever, in fact, a Negro's bid cannot
be seriouslv considered because of his race, or conversely a property
owner cannot offer property for sale or rental to a Negro because of his
race, there is to that extent a denial of free competition in the housing
market.

No clear answer can be made to the third question, as to whether
Negroes in North carolina pay more than white persons for comparable
housing. In most of the towns in the State the rents or prices paid by
Negroes are reported by some observers to be no higher than those paid
by whites for similar quarters. One city official described to the com-
mittee ". . . a class of investors who prefer to invest in and operate
rental housing for Negroes because the return on their investment is
considerably greater than would be the case if they operated facilities
for white tenants. ." He concluded that "if it were possible to
transplant the units rented to Negroes including their immediate environs
into a white neighborhood, it would be clearly shown that those units
in their customary state of repair and maintenance could hardly be
rented at the same price to white occupants."

Because of the crowding into the cities of a large number of Negroes
and their displacement as slum areas are cleared, the demand has been
greater than the restricted supply in a few of the larger cities. The
Committee has received numerous complaints that Negroes in the
principal cities in the state pay higher rents for poorer accommodations
than do whites. In recent years, low cost accommodations have been
provided, from private as well as from public sources) and many of these
have been rented to Negroes. This has alleviated in some measure the
pressure of the restricted market to run up the price of housing for
Negroes, but the pressures continue to mount.

The last question, as to the rcsponsibility of the city, State, and Fed-
eral governments for the inequalitv in housing, is much harder to an-
swer. The role of the FHA and of the courts, prior to r g4B, in encour-
aging and enforcing restrictive covenants, is only onc facet of the prob-
lem. Most housing is privately owned, whether the occupants are the
owners or tenants. Its quality is more often thar:, not a reflection of the
purchasing power of the family. The average Negro family in North
Carolina has less than half the income or purchasing power of thc aver-
age white family. Education, employment, health, and votine all affect
income, and the impact of the law on Negro education, emplovment,
health and voting is considcred in other chapters. But evcn beyond this
indirect influence on housing, the governments of our cities, State, and

r5+

Nation, have been and are invol'ed in the location, construction, financ-
ing, servicing, and protection of most housing in North Carolina.

Relatively few persons occupy government-owncd and go'ernment-
operated housing. More persons live in slums just bcginning to be
condemned and cleared and resold by city agencies under thc provi-
sions of the North Carolina Urban,Redevelopment Larv, G.S. r6o-454
( r gS, ). New highways, streets, and other government construction
often supplant blighted houses and force their occupants to seek other
shelter. Everyone is affected by the enforcement of zoning, building,
sanitary, and safety codes where they exist, by the provisions for munic-
ipal sewer and water services, and by the protection afforded by fircmen
and police. According to Ronald scott, Director of the Greensboro
Planning Department:

A great deal of the poor environment surrounding Negro rental
properties has come about because of the nonexistence or the nonen-
forcement of building, zoning and housing codes in North carolina
municipalities. In recent years, we have seen a .great chanse in
this picture. Many communities have recently adopted building,
zoning and housing codes for the first time. Others have done a
great deal to improve and modernize their existing codes. In
addition, inspection and enforcement practices have been greatry
improved. These changes, coupled with the efforts at redevelop-
ment, are undoubtedly operating to improve the quality of housing
available to all citizens of North Carolina in future years.

Even more pervasive is the role of the Federal Government as the
guarantor of credit, through FHA, vA, and the supervision of the build-
ing and loan associations, without which the real estate developers and
building contractors could not have built the hundreds of thousands of
homes which have been built in North carolina since \\rorrd \var II.

The question remains whether this extensive in'ol'ement of govern-
ment in North carolina housing is color blind. It has not alwals bcen
so in the past.

SUBSTANDARD HOUSING

Extent and location

In t96o, North carolina ranked 44th among 5o states in the pcrccnt-
age of dwelling units in good condition, our percentage bcing 56. r. In
Ig5o, our rank was 43d. In the meantime, how.ever, trvo nerv States,
Alaska and Hawaii, came into the Union and their records were better

r55



than ours in this regard. Also, since r95o, North Dakota passed ahead
of our state. If it had not been thar west virginia and Kentucky
dropped below us, our record would have appeared even worse. North
carolina is outranked, even in the south, by Florida, Texas, virginia,
Louisiana, Georgia, and Tennessee.

The high percentages of nonwhite occupancy do not arways corres-
pond to low rank of dwelling units in good condition. For example, the
District of columbia ranks well above the national average even ihough
it-has the second highest percentage of dwelling units ociupied by non-
whites_(44.2 percent). Hawaii, with 64.r percint nonwhiie occupancy
outranks 22 other States with much lower percentages of nonwhite
occupancy. on the other hand, Kentucky, west virginia, and Arkansas
have-a lower percentage of occupancy by nonwhites thin North carolina,
yet they rank below North carolina in the percentage of dwelling uniti
in good condition.

It is clearly apparent, however, that houses in the South are in the
poorest condition of any section of the country.

Distribution by race

In the cities of North carolina, from g.e to eg.2 percent of the white
families lives in dilapidated or deteriorating houses, while 4o.6 to 62.3
percent of the nonwhite families live in sirch houses. Th; foilowing
figures are from the 196o census for places of ro,ooo inhabitants or
more:

Tasle r.-Percentage oJ white and nonwhite househords occubvins
dilapidated or deteriorating houses, tg6o

I{hilc
IO. I
rg.6
tz.6
9.7

15.5
r2. o
14. B
t7.5
r9. 7
16. z

9.3
to. 7
15. I
IB. 7
r8. r

12.4
19. 7
16. 7
15.+

Nonwhitc

54.2
53. 7
5r'3
45.6
47. 7
38. 6
59. 4
47.s
38.6
s6. 3
34.5
6t.9
42-8
49.6
+7. 7

32.9
5r. 2
62.3
6I. o

According to Mason E. Swearingen, executive director of the Re-
development commission of winston-salem: "These statistical figures
do not tell the entire story because the Negro population is so much
poorer housed than the white population generally.,,

Robert E. Barkley, executive director of the Greensboro Rede'elop-
ment commission also stated that the Greensboro statistics "do not begin
to indicate the much poorer environmental conditions that g..,..illy
exist in Negro areas as contrasted with white areas.,,

The following table compares the number and condition of the houses
occupied by the white and nonwhite population for the state as a w.hole :

Tesl-r z.-Number and condition oJ houses occupied b1 whites and
nonwhitcs, 196o

Condition

Sound
Dete.io.ati.rj. . . . .. :....
Dilapidated

Total . 954, e66 250,449

Thus, nonwhites occupl' 2o.7 percent of all rcsidcntial housi,g, but
onlv tt.B percent of the houscs in sound condition. \Iorco'cr, the'
occupy approxin-ratcly 35 pcrccnt of the dcteriorating hotrscs ancl 56.9
pcrccnt of the dilapidatcd houses.

Slightly morc than 6o pcrccnt of North carolina's drvclli,e urrits arc
owncr occupicd ( l\{ichigan is thc state with thc hiehcst o\! ncr occupan).
at 7+.4 percent). Whites occupy more than 86 pcrccnt of thc-sc units.
Thirtl'-nine pcrcent of thc North Carolina houscs are occupiccl lx'
rcnters; nonrvhites account for 3e pcrccnt of thc rcnter-occupicd houscs.
Thus, nonrvhites own far fewcr and rcnt far morc houscs in proportion
to thcir population than do whites.

Tesro y.-Percentagc oJ white and nonwhite households occupling
dilapidahd or detcriorating houscs, rgfio--Continucd 

"

llthitc Nonwhite
29.2 6r.3
t6.9 q7.5
r7.2 54.3
9.2 4r.r

12. 9 43.3t4.B +7.315.2 57.9
12. r 55.ot6.g 59.2
15. 9 46.62o.2 14.o15'5 53.o12.3 49.gro.7 40.6

Whitc occupied Nonwhite occupied

7+2,796 roo, 875
r58, r8e 85,263
48,348 64, 3r r

Placc
Lumberton. .

Monroe.
New Bern
Raleigh
Reidsville
Rocky Mount.
Salisbury.
Sanford
Shelby.
Statesville
Thomasville
Wilmington
Wilson
Winston-Salem. . .

Albemarle.
Asheville. .

Burlington,
Charlotte.
Concord
Durham.
Elizabcth City. .

Fayctteville
Gastonia
Goldsboro
Greensboro
Greenville
Hendcrson
Hickory
High Point
Kannapolis
Kinston
Lenoir
Lexington

r56



While Bo percent of the owner-occupied houses are in sound condi-
tion, only 55 percent of the renter-occupied houses are sound. More
than twice as many renter-occupied houses are dilapidated than are
owner-occupied houses.

Although nonwhites occupy r4 percent of the owner-occupied houses,
the,v own less than 9 percent of those in sound condition. By the same
token, nonwhites occupy 32 percent of the renter-occupied houses but
only l B percent of those that are in sound condition.

Appendix r o shows the percentage of the occupied dwelling units with
nonrvhite household heads in each North carolina city of r o,ooo or more
inhabitants in 196o, together with the condition of these nonwhite
dwellings compared to the condition of white dwellings.

In proportion to their share of the total population of our state, non-
whites occupv fewer houses than whites, orvn ferver houses than whites,
rent more houses than whites, occupy fewer sound houses than whites,
occupy more deteriorating houses than whites, and occupy, a proportion
of dilapidatcd houses that is more than twice as great as their share of
the population. Nonwhite renters live in poorer houses than nonrvhite
owners. Whether urban or rural, whites are less crowded, per house-
hold, than nonwhites.

On March 23, tg6r, the Bureau of the Census reported:

Housing occupied by nonwhites which lacked private bath, toilet,
hot water, or was dilapidated, was distributed sombwhat unevenlv
throughout the Nation. The South, for example, which accounts
for about half of the r96o nonwhite housing inventory units had
about three-fourths of the housing which was dilapidated or lacked
plumbing facilities. The Northeast had nine percent, the North
Central region r r percent and the West, four percent. In terms
of the numbers of unils involved, all rcgions reported a significantly
smaller number of units in this classification than t}ley had ten years
ago.

RESTRICTIONS IN BUYING OR RENTING

Building and loan associations

In North Carolina as rvcll as elscrvhere, mortga.ce lendcrs perform an
cssential function in thc provision of housins. trfanv of thc mortgagc
lcndcrs dcpend upon Government suarantccs of crcdit and arc strbject
to Governmcnt supcn'ision and policy. Thc Committee sousht thc
advicc of thc principal credit agcncies in the State to detcrmine thc
extent to which n<lnrvhite citizens in North carolina are, on account of

I5B

their color or race, restricted in the houses they can buy or obtain credit
to buy.

Therc are r63 building and loan associations in North carolina which
are members of the Federal Home Loan Bank Sy,stcm. Trvo of these,
onc in Durham and one in Greensboro, are operated by Neeroes. This
list includes not only those associations operating under Federal charters,
but also those originallv chartered by the State which subsequently
converted to membership in the Fcderal System.

The supervising agency is the Federal Home Loan Bank of Greens-
boro, which advised the committee that the Fedcral Home Loan Bank
Board adopted on July l, 1961, the following resolution rvhich was sent
to all members in North Carolina:

IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED That the Federal Homc Loan Bank
Board, as a matter of policy, opposes discrimination, br, financial
institutions o,er which it has supen'isory, authority, against bor-
rowers solely because of race, color or creed.'

John A. Fogarty, president of the Federal Home Loan Bank of
Greensboro, wrote the Committee:

\\re ha'e no evidence that the members of the Federal Home Loan
Bank system located in North carolina ccnsider race, coror, or rc-
ligion as a factor in granting loans. It is our opinion that most. if
not all, of the members of thc system make no differentiation in
their records as to the borrower's race, color, or religion. Accord_
ing to the best information we have, all applicantJ for roans are
judged on the basis of the same criteria.

concerning the question whether Negroes in this State are restrictccl
in their choice of housing on the basis of race due to the policies of lend-
ing institutions, Mr. Fogarty wrote:

\ve do not believe that, as such, race or relision would be a factor.
However, we recognize that all lenders are interested in protectine
the value of collateral safceuarding their loans and rvourd be re-
luctant to take any action that might have an adverse effect on the
value of such collateral.

Forty'ssvs. other building and loan officiars answercd sinrilar in-
guiries. Their rcplies indicate that therc is no conscious or dclibcratc
denial of credit to anvone on the basis of race. The responding oflicials
clearly dcmonstrated that they rverc businessmen approaching a sirua-
tion in a businesslike manner. Because they are in the lcnclin.g busi,css.
they are willing and anxious to provide credit whenever their in'estnrcnt
seems secure.

I qr)



At the same time, while there may be no intentional discrimination,
a businesslike analysis involves the acknowledgment of certain factors
which may affect building and loan institutions in their relations with
Negroes.

Henry Gregory of the First Federal Savings & Loan in Rocky Mount
suggests that consideration of race may at times favor Negro applicants:

If there is any difference made in connection with our loans to
Negroes borrowing in relation to white borrowers, it would be that
we are more liberal in appraising properties in old residential areas,
and do not penalize Negro housing because of adverse influence in
the neighborhood, as we would in the case of white properties.
We recognize the fact that if we do not encourage better housing
in areas in which substandard housing and adverse situations
already exist, the result would be nothing but further deterioration
of such areas.

On the other hand, the following excerpts reveal how economic fac-
tors handicap Negroes in obtaining credit:

. . . I do not believe that nonwhite citizens in North Carolina are
restricted in what housing they can buy or procure mortgagc loans
to buy except from an economic standpoint. \\rere a colored person
to apply to us for a mortgage loan to purchase a $r5,ooo.oo housc
in a white residential section, he would be somewhat restricted in
the amount he could borrow. A white person would probably be
able to negotiate a loan of $r l,ooo.oo, but should the colored per-
son buy the same house, its value and the value of all the neighbor-
ing property owned by whites would immediately drop in value
an estimated one-third, in which event we could not make a

$t I,ooo.oo loan. . . (Frank L. Hoyle, Jr., First Federal Savings and
Loan, Hendersonville. )

. . . FHA loans have been limited, because of the type of structures
rvhich are usually sold to Ne.qrocs, the construction of which, and
the age, would gcnerally prohibit FHA lending, as rvcll as financial
rcquirements which are based almost cntircly on thc carning of
the male member of the family. I\,[any Negro families are sup-
portcd bv both man and wife, and the income of the rvonren is
reasonably as stable as that of the mcn . (Frederick Willtcs, Jr.,
Cooperative Savings & Loan, Wilmington.)

. . . It is the opinion of this institution that a mortgagc loan to a
Ncgro in exccss of $ro,ooo.oo or $r2,ooo.oo is considerably risky,
bccausc of the limitcd market to which property of that valuc could
bc disposed of, in the evcnt of forcclosure . (Fredcrick \Villtcs,
J..)

r6o

. . . One of the major problems is the economic status of the Negro.
His needs are unlimited, but his ability to buy is restricted bccause
of his lack of economic opportunity. As a white citizen, I am
ashamed of the difference between the housing conditions of our
Negro citizens and our white citizens. I say this, notwithstanding
the fact that I believe Negro housing in Rocky Mount is somewhat
better than generally found throughout the State. I do not see
how our Negro citizens can improve their living standards by ac-
quiring better housing, or being able to pay the rent on better rental
housing, until restrictions by custom are eliminated from employ-
ment opportunities. If our Negro citizenship is eoing to improvc
its lot, it must have a fair opportunitv in employment. In mv
humble judgment, nothing else will correct the situation . . . (Henry
Gregory.)

Whether these factors will handicap rather than benefit Neqroes mav
depend upon the given circumstances. It is clear, hower.er, that men
of good will, with no intention of denying equal service to all, thus do
consider race.

While almost all the replying officials informed the Committce that
there were restrictions as to where Negroes could build, all but trvo
indicated that there was still ample room for expansion of nonwhitc
housing. In Rocky Mount, one of the two exceptions, the following
situation was reported by Mr. Gregory:

Our Negro residents are concentrated in central areas of the city.
which are surrounded substantiallv by white residential area^s and
suburbs restricted to white occupants, both by restrictivc covcnants
or by custom. The only exception to this situation has been in the
Northeastern section of Rocky Mount, where there is the largcst
concentration of Negro residents and there is no white residential
section or suburb in its path of expansion. Accordinglv, the ma-
jority of the growth in Negro residential housing has been in the
northeastern direction. However, they have been thoroughly ex-
ploited with substandard housing of the slum catceon. in suburbs
developed outside the city limits, where they are not subject ro thc
city building restrictions.

Lenoir Keesler of the Mutual Savings & Loan in Charlotte reportetl:

. In Charlotte open land is generally not available for the cx-
pansion of nonwhitcs scctions bcyond the prescnt botrndarics of
these sections. Jr{ost of the nonwhite sections are limited in thcir
expansion possibilities by existing white devclopnrcnls and
communities .

t6r



The replies also show that transition can be made in an orderly fashion
and in a manner not affecting adversely the value of houses formerly
occupied by whites. For example, according to George E. Walston of
the Home Federal Savings & Loan in Greensboro,

. . the Negro neighborhood was surrounded by white areas some
years ago, but Negro residential use of properties has expanded
southwardly and eastwardly into former white areas. There
are very fine Negro neighborhoods off Benbow Road with large
areas for expansion

Mr. Willtes from Wilmington reported:

Generally speaking, Negro housing is concentrated within the central
parts of the communities in which this institution lends, which areas
are confined by white residences or geographical boundaries, such
as water, etc. Sorne of thc better old homes in some of the com-
munities are now being occupied by Negroes. This gradual ab-
sorption of some formerly white properties which adjoin Negro areas
has worked vcry satisfactorily from the standpoint of racial har-
mony. Blockbusting is not a term for this gradual growth of the
Negro occupied areas, but rather a process of a gradual spreading
in order to accomrnodate the needs of the Negroes. Frankly, this
has created a market demand for houses near or adjoining Negro
areas, which had not existed for a number of vears.

Insurance Companies

In rg54, the Life Insurance Association of America advanced the pro-
posal for a voluntary home mortgagc credit program to "assure the
general availability of insured and guaranteed mortgage credit in small
communities and remote areas, and for minority groups." It advanced
the theory that private financing institutions can, if organized, handle
the problem without the need for more direct Government asistance.
Following an act of Congress in 1954, President Eisenhower declared:
"Ilnder this new law, private financial institutions have a really good
chance to mobilize their own resources to supply adcquate credit with-
out regard to race, creed, or color to homeowners in cvcrv part of our
country."' The program is opcrated by a national home mortgage
credit committee and regional committees, all of whose members serve
without compensation.

About roo life insurancc companies pledged their active participation
in this progranl. Jrfanv of thesc companies indicated their willingness
to receive VHN,ICP loan referrals from North Carolina. The program
did not contemplate dependcnce entirely upon local insurance com-
panies in North Carolina, but instead envisioned that out-of-State com-

. lLY. Tl.*, Aug. 3, 1954, p. 25.

r6z

panies operating in North Carolina would be willing to participate in
North Carolina.

As of October r, r96r, the VHMCP had located FHA or VA loans
Ior 3344 families in North Carolina, amounting to approximately $35
nrillion. Of this total, 46o were nonwhite families who rvere unable to
locate mortgage funds through their own efforts.

The Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agenc,v ad-
vised the Committee that:

The VHMCP placed 2,goo or 87 percent of the total loans with
investors domiciled outside North Carolina. Horvever, these loans
are serviced by North Carolina mortgage banking companies for
the investors. About 444, or r 3 percent, of the total loans were
made by lenders located in North Carolina, such as savings and
loan associations, commercial banks and life insurance companies.
The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company in Durham
and the Pilot Life Insurance Company in Greensboro have been
active in the VHMCP while the Durham Life Insurance Company,
the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company and the Occi-
dental Life of North Carolina have not participated to any great.
extent. Mr. Asa T. Spaulding, President of the North Carolina
Mutual Life Insurance Company, is one of the two representatives
from the life insurance industry on the National Committee of the
VHMCP; Mr. C. C.. Cameron, President of Cameron-Brown
Company of Raleigh; and Mr. Ed 1\{endenhall, partner, IUenden-
hall Moore, Realtors of High Point, are members of the Region II
Committee of the VHMCP.

N{r. Asa T. Spaulding, president of the North Carolina Mutual Life
Insurance Co., expressed doubt that:

. many Negroes find difficulty in securing mortgage loans for
the purchase of homes in our urban areas based on race, unless it
should happen to be for the purchase of a home in what might be
referred to as a white neighborhood. It is m1' judgment that it is
more of a problem in the small towns and rural areas. I base this
on letters which we receive from applicants expressing difficulty in
securing mortgage loans in their respective areas.

FHA and VA

The Committee inquired of the State Director of the Federal Housing
Administration of North Carolina and also the manacer of thc Veterans'
Administration in Winston-Salem as to the percentage of loars insurcd
by FHA or VA since r946 that were made to nonwhitcs.

r63



J. P. McRae, the State Director of FHA, wrote the Committee:

There would be no possible way to estimate the percentage of
these homes which have been occupied by other than white occu-
pants. The application form which is used for applying for an
FHA insured loan does not indicate the race of the applicant, and
the credit reporting form on which credit information is secured
does not indicate the race of the applicant. We have a total of
z716 FHA insured rental units in Charlotte; of these rog8 are
occupied by Negroes. There are 636 FHA insured rental housing
units in Durham; of these rz3 units are occupied by Negroes.
There are r,o89 rental units insured by FHA in Raleigh, of these
276 units are occupied by Negroes. We have 13o6 rcntal units
insured by FHA, in Winston-Salem; of these 5zr units were built
for Negro occupancy in two projects; Park Terrace, 355 units and
Columbia Terrace, r 76 units. The Park Terrace Project was not
a success and was later converted to white occupancy.

There are a number of builders in North Carolina who have devel-
oped new areas with houses that are built for sale to Negro occu-
pants. We do not have information as to the number of houses
that have been built in various subdivisions to be sold to Negroes . . .

fu you know, the Federal Housing Administration insures loans for
private institutions who are in business for profit. I do not bclieve
that any borrowers are discriminated against in North Carolina
because of their race, color, or religion, and that lending practices
are controlled by other things including the credit reputation of the
Credit Bureau of the individual. There appear to be adequate
funds available for financing Negro housing in this State.

J. D. DeRamus, Manager of the Veterans' Administration's regional
office in Winston-Salem, advised the Committee that there were no
comparative figures on either VA guaranteed or direct loans. However,
as to the latter, he said:

In this program u'e fcel that nonrvhites have bencfited to a very
laree dcgree, since each loan is\handled strictly on its rnerits, and
the race or color of the borrowers is unknown. IUinority croups
havc bcnefitcd sincc thc G.L loan program has assurcd availability
of financing, and ccrtainly has maintained quality of construction.

Since its creation bv thc National Housing Act of r9r4, FHA has
becn thc principal agcnc), in carrving out the Fcdcral Covcrnment's rolc
in housing. It u'as not until after the decision in Shelley v, Kraemer,
334 U.S.r (1948), that the FHA eliminatcd from its Underwriting

t64

Manual the requirement of a racially restrictive covenant in deeds to
property on which loans were insured by FHA. After Februay 15,
rg5o, the FHA refused to insure mortgages on homes for rvhich racially
restrictive agreements or covenants were filed after that date. Also
since February r5, r95o, all FHA mortgage forms have contained a
covenant under which the mortgagor agrees that so long as the insured
mortgage is in existence, he will not file for record any racially restrictive
covenant. FHA now treats racial covenants executed before February
r5, rg5o, as void.

Urban redeuelopment

In 195 r, the general assembly enacted the urban redevelopment law, G.S.
t6o-454, t6o-474. It declared that there exist in urban communitics
in North Carolina blighted areas; that is, areas in which the predomi-
nant buildings or residences are so dilapidatcd, deteriorated, o\.cr-
crowded, or unsanitary as to impair substantially the sound grorvth of
the community. Whcn the governing body of a municipalitv finds
that such areas do exist, it may create a redevelopment commission u,ith
power to acquire by purchase or eminent domain the blighted arcas,
clear them, and sell the land in whole or in parts to persons or firnrs
under contract to rebuild the site in accordance with an approved plan
for future use.

To date, about rB cities have created redevelopment commissions and
about ro have begun slum clearance under this law. The difference
between this law and the North Carolina housins authorities law, G.S.
r57-r to r57-398, adopted in rg35, is that the latter authorizcs public
agencies to build and operate public housing projects for lorv-income
families, whereas the l95 r law authorizes the clearance of blighted areas
and the sale of the cleared land to private developers. The r95l law
has been upheld by the North Carolina Supremc Court in Redeuelop-
ment Commission of Greensboro v. Bank,252 N.C. 5g5 (r96o).

Each redevclopmcnt commission so far cstablished has comnrenccd
b1'surveying in dctail ils orvn community to determine its bliqhtcd arcas
and housing needs. Upon requcst of the Committce, thc dircctors of
these commission.s furnishcd rcports of thc nonrvhitc hotrsing opportrrni-
ties in their respectivc cities. Thcse reports rvcrc gcneralh' in accorrl
with those of the building and loan officials. The conscnstrs in both
groups ryas that there is available land for Ncqro housing and that thcrc
is no delibcrate discrimination against nonrvhitcs scekins crcdit for the
purchase of homcs. Horvever. N,Iason E. Srr.carinecn of \\'inston-
Salcm suggcstcd that whilc progrqrs hacl bccn nrade, still morc rvas
necessary:

r65



Recently, there seems to be a lessening in the restrictions in our
building and loan and other lending institutions, and it seems in
most every case now that a Negro homeowner has quite a distinct
advantage in trying to own a home over what he had five to ro
years ago. This lessening of restricted loans is still not enough to
give every Negro citizen an opportunity to own a home, and we
would like to see the lending institutions be a little more active in
this matter.

There is not complete agreement as to whether or not Negroes must
pay more than whites for comparable housing. The majority of replies
parallel this statement of Vernon L. Sawyer of Charlotte:

To my knowledge, there is no practice among property managers in
Charlotte of charqing higher rents from Neqroes for comoarable
quarters than whites pay. There is a practice here that involves
a collection policy which we shall mention as information. As a
rule rent is collected from white tenants on a monthly basis and
from Nesroes on a weekly basis. The collection of rent on a weekly
basis naturally involves more expense to the managing a.qent and I
have heard of instances where this additional charge is added to the
rent merely to cover the additional cost of management and not as
an additional profit.

On the other hand, Mr. Robert E. Barkley of Gieensboro repre-
sents those who felt there was such a problem:

It is probable that nonwhites have to pay a higher rent for quarters
than do whites for comparable accomodations. This situation exists
for several reasons: (a) the creation of new supply has not kept
pace with new demands; (b) manv rental agents feel that non-
whites incur heavier rental and credit losses than do whites; and
(c) investors in Negro property have traditionally demandcd a
shorter period of amortization than for comparable white proper-
ties. Governmental assistance prosrams have ereatly increased the
creation of nerv housing supplv and extended the terms of amorti-
zation; this mav ultimatelv reduce the incquitics bctrvecn u'hite
and nonwhite housing rentals.

Several of thc respondine officials asreed rvith the building and loan
olficers that the problcnrs encountcred by Negrocs in purchasirrg and fi-
nancing housing are intimately connectcd rvith problems of cmploymcnt:

Of coursc, the basic solution to thc Ncgro housing problem is an
economic one. Expanded cmplol'ment opportunities rvould ccr-
tainly assist thc Ncgro in obtaining better housing. Until this

r66

goal is achieved, redevelopment can contributc substantially towards
improving Negro housing conditions.

The only limiting factor in the ability of nonwhite to purchase
housing is financial. No rental differentials for nonr.r,hite and white
exist, as far as I know. Since only about l7 pcrcent of our popu-
lation is nonwhite, and that group is in low-income brackets, we
have no large-scale developments for nonwhites. lVe hope that
low-rent public housing, recently started in Mooresville, w1[ pro-
duce lower crime and delinquency rates among citizens *hom
we already consider valuable.

The solution to the Negro housing problems is economic, and, in
my opinion, expanded employment opportunities would be one
of the better solutions for this problem.

Ordinances compelling segregation by race

On July 12, rgr2, the board of aldermen of Winston adopted an ordi-
nance which made it a crime for any colored pcrson to occupy as a rcsi-
dence any house upon any street or alley betrvcen hvo adjacent strcels
on rvhich a majority of the houses were occupied as residenccs by n'hitc
people. In r9l3 a colored man named Darnell was convictcd and fined
for violating this ordinance. On appeal, the Supreme Court of North
carolina declared the winston ordinance unconstitutional and invalid.
This was 2 years before a similar decision by'the U.S. Supreme Court.
chief Justice walter clark of the North carolina supreme court wrote
the opinion, which contained the following language.r.

If the board of aldermen is therebv authorizcd to make this re-
striction, a bare majority of the board could, if the1, may deem it
wise and proper, require Republicans to live on certain strcets and
Dcmocrats on others or that Protestants shall reside onlf in certain
parts of torvn and Catholics in another, or that Germans or people
of Gcrman dcscent should reside onlv rvherc thcy are in the majoritl.,
and that Irish and those of Irish descent should drvell onlf in ccrtain
localitics, designated for them by the arbitrary' judgmcnt and pcr-
mission of a majority of the aldermen. Thcy coukl hpply the re-
striction as wcll to business occupatiors as to residenccs, and courd
also prcscribe the localities allottcd to each class of peoplc u'ithout
rcfcrence to whcther the majorit,v already thercin is of thc prcscribcd
race, nationalitl,, or political or religious faith. Besiclcs an ordi-
nancc of this kind forbids the owner of propcrtv to sell or to leasc
it to rvhomsoever hc sces fit, as rvcll as forbids those rvho may desire

!r Srare v. Darntll,106 N.C. 300, 302-04 (t9l.t)

65C{08 c)-G2--11 t67



to buy or rent property from doing so where they can make the best
bargain. Yet this right of disposing of property, the jus disponendi,
has always been held one of the inalienable rights incident to the
ownership of property, which no statute will be construed as having
power to take a*ay. . . . This ordinance forbids a white man or
a colored man to live in his own house if it should descend to him
by inheritance and should happen to be located on a street where
the majority of the residents happen to be of such different race.
There is no reason why the power of the county commissioners to
provide for the public welfare should not be as broad as those of
the town commissioners, and if under such general authority similar
regulations are prescribed for the county districts, one who would
buy or inherit property in a section where the opposite race is in
the majority could not reside on his own property, and he could not
sell it or rent it out except to persons of such different race, since
none other could reside there. Neither a white manager nor anv
white tenants could reside on a farm where a majority of tenants
or hands are colored.

In Ireland there were years ago limits prescribed beyond which
the native Irish or Celtic population could not reside. This was
called the "rrish Pale," and one of the results was continued disorder
and unrest in that unhappy island, which had as one of its con-
sequences that more than half its population came to this country.
That policy has since been reversed. But in Russia, to this day,
there are certain districts to which the Jews are restricted, with the
results that vast numbers of them are emigrating to this country.
We can hardly believe that the legislature by the ordinary words in
a charter authorizing the aldermen to "provide for the public
welfare" intended to initiate so revolutionary a public policy. . . .

Judging by the experience of the "Irish Pale" and of the similar
restrictions upon the Jews in Russia, the result of this policy might
well be a large exodus, and naturallv of the most enterprising and
thrifty elcment of thc colorcd race, leaving the unthrifty and less
desirable element in this State on thc taxpayers. . . .

An ordinance identical to thc above \\'inston ordinance u'as adopted
by the Greensboro City Council in February l9l4 and rcpealcd in June
Ig2g. Thus, the Grccnsboro ordinance rvas adopted rvhile thc \\rinston
ordinance was pending before the North Carolina Suprcmc Court, but
it was not formall,v rcpcaled until r5 ycars aftcr the Darnell decision.

In r93o, thc board of aldermen of \Vinston-Salcm adoptcd a ncw
zoning ordinance, dividing thc city into rvhite and Ncgro rcsidcntial
districts. In 1939, thc boundarics of somc of thesc districts wcrc
changcd so that scvcral houscs owncd by Negroes lverc thcrcaftcr sit-

r68

uated in a district designated for occupancy only by white persons. The
city served notice upon the Negro occupants to vacate. In a suit by
the Negro owners to restrain the city officials from enforcing thc racial
zoning ordinance the supreme court of North carolina held the ordi-
nance invalid. Clinard v. Winston-Salem, zr7 N.C. r r9 (r94o).

In r934, Asheville adopted an ordinance to prevent Joto.Japersons,
firms, or associations of colored persons, or corporations the majority
voting stock of which is owned by colored persons from using any prop-
erty not then owned by such persons for residences or for the conduct or
use of colored persons to supervise any institution thereon, when the
majority portion of the improved property on the same side of the street
and same block is occupied or used for such purposes by white pcrsons.
In the event of equal usage (i.e., a tie ) "the occupancy or usage to which
it is thereafter first changed, from white persons to colored persons or
from colored persons to white persons, shall determine accordingly which
race shall constitute the majority portion of the usage on such side of a
street, from the date of such change of occupancy, for the purposcs set
forth in this ordinance. . . . The intention of this ordinancs is to retain
the status quo between the races as to the use of property as now lo-
cated." Occupancy by watchmen, caretakers, or "accessor), uses cus-
tomarily incident to any use permitted by this ordinance, such as scr-
vants' quarters, are not intended to be restricted by this ordinance,
provided such inhabitant is an employee of the o$,ner, lessec or tcnant
of the premises." Asheville Code, ch. III, art. 23, secs. 636 to 647.
This ordinance has not been formally repealed. N{r. O. E. Starnes,
Jr., corporation counsel for the city of Asheville, advised the Committee
that it has not been enforced for at least the last B years.

Deed, restrictions

Typical of the private restraints imposed by covenants in dceds is the
restriction quoted in Pepper v. Deuelopment Co.:2

The lot herein convel,ed, or an,v part thereof, or any interest therein,
shall not be leased, sold, or othcrwise disposed of to or bc occtrpied
by any Negro, or an,y pcrson, 6rm or corporation for the trse of anv
Negro, within go years from thc date of this deed. This provision,
however, shall not apply to Ncgro servants in thc entplov of the
owners or the occupant of the property rvho mav occupy rooms on
the premises.

This decd was made in r9z9 and rvas similar to other dccds for lots
carvcd out of a tract of land located immcdiatell,west of winston-Salcm,
in a dcvclopment known as Wcst Highland.

-rll N.c. rco, 16z (lcaz).

l6o



Restrictive covenants as to many other matters are still common-
place in deeds conveying residcntial property. "The North Carolina
court cases dealing with restrictive covenants date largely from the
Ig2o's, when the pressure of changing conditions first began to be felt
with regard to the covenants of the r B9o's and early r goo's. Since then
there has been a fairly strong stream of cases. The courts have gen-
erally sustained covenants restricting the use of property where reason-
able, not contrary to public policy, not in restraint of trade, and not for
the purpose of creating a monopoly." Sheets v. Dillon, zzr N.C. 426,gr (rg4z). "Among the most common restrictions to be found in
North Carolina deeds are those limiting use of the lot to residential
purposes, those forbidding ownership or occupancy by Negroes (which
are no longer enforceable) and those setting minimum costs for resi-
dences erected on the land."'

Racially restrictive covenants in deeds were held unforceable in any
courts in the United States in Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. r (rg48)
alnd Hurd v. Hodge, g34 U.S. z4 (ry48). These cases, the earlier
North Carolina decisions, and many historical and economic data in
connection with such restrictions are reviewed in an article hy the late
O. Max Gardner, Jr., of Shelby: a

fnvasion of white neighborhoods by Negroes is alleged to cause
immediate depreciation in property values. Investigation of this
allegation established the view that if the depreciation is immediate
as it respects the white owners, it is also temporary "Sacri-
fice sales" by the white owner may work for the benefit of the
Negro, or may have the opposite result See Brief for Ap-
pellants, p. tt,Vernonv, R. J. Reynolds Realty Co., zz6 N.C. 58,
36 S.E. zd 6ro (rg+S), "a very large area of valuable real property
in Winston Salem is under the blight of a covenant that restricts
against its ownership or occupancy by Negroes. Because the area
is surrounded by extensive arcas exclusively occupied by Negroes,
every part of the restricted area is valueless except for use and
occupancy by Negroes."

Immediately after the Shelley and Hurd decisions, the Greensboro
Daily News interviewed real estate men in Greensboro, N.C., and
published their comments on May 4, lg4B:

LITTLE EFFECT EXPECTED HERE-REAL ESTATE
AGENTS COMMENT ON RULING. Most of the real estate
dealers said present practices and customs in regard to white and
Negro property sales will continue "For two or three years
now we have been seeing a section in South Greensboro gradually

Eirlilrrp p., Jr., zoning in North carotina2a, 26 (rgb2).
127 N.C. L. Reo.224,227 (l9tg).

r70

purchased by Negroes. It was inevitable because the section was
adjacent to Negro residential areas," a spokesman for the realtors
said Questioned as to rvhether or not there would be a mass
movement of Negroes into white areas, one agent said: "It's a long
way from us." Another replied, "We are not likcly to be bothered
by requests from Negroes to buy property in sections like, say
Irving Park or Starmount. In the first place property olvners hardlv
would sell to Negroes, and in the second place, the Negroes couldn't
afford to buy such property."

Insofar as the Committee can determine these predictions have bcen
accurate. No case has been found in North Carolina lvhere a Negro
has attempted to buy property from a white person where the propertv
was covered by a restrictive covenant. The brief for the appellants in
Vernon v. Reynolds Realty Co., zz6 N.C. 58, 36 S.E. zd 7to (rg+S)
stated: "Numerous Negrocs are desirous of purchasing lots in the de-
velopment, but none rvill buy or offer to buy any lot until thc restrictiorr
is annulled." In that case the plaintiffs sought to remove the "burdcn"
of a restrictive covenant in deeds to property in Sk1'land, a residential
section in \Vinston-Salem. The whole surrounding area for thc dcpth
of a quarter of a mile had been acquired by Negroes. The court held
that the changed conditions outsidc the development afforded no grounds
for relief of the plaintiffs and decided for thc defendants, thc rvhite
persons who wanted to keep the covenants in cffect. This, of corlrse,
rvas prior to rg4B and the rqsult would probabll,be different todav.

ln Eason v. Bufaloe, rg8 N.C. 52o, rS2 S.E. 496 (rggo), the de-
fendant, owner of a tract which he proposed to divide into residential
lots, sold some of the lots to the plaintiff and contracted rvith him that
all remaining loLs would be conveved by deeds containing restrictions
against sale or to occupancy by any Ncgro. The defendant sold some
lots to the State School for the Blind and Deaf by deeds rvhich omitted
the promised racial rcstriction. The plaintiff rvas held entitlcd to main-
tain an action for damages (alleged as $z,ooo) against the defcndant
for failure to put thc promised restrictions in the deeds, since thc school
had announced its purpose to erect and maintain on thc IoLs a school for
Negroes. Again, there rvould probably be a diffcrent result on strch
facts today.

Social and economic pressures and fears

Even where there arc no restrictir.e covcnants, whcther enforceable in
the courts or not, there are social prcssurcs of custonr and confiicting
economic fears rvhich continue to restr;ct nonwhites, on account of their
racc and regardlcss of their talents or decorum, in their choice of housing.

ti .,'

t7l



Three recent episodes illustrate these pressures and fears: In the summer
of 1956 at Southern Pines a Negro couple named White purchased a
house in a formerly all-white development. According to one of the
leading citizens of the community:

The White couple were very high-class people. Mrs. White was in
social work in New York and since they have lived here she has
worked with the colored people and done much for their section
of town. There has been absolutely no 'trouble' where they are
Iiving, perhaps due a little to the fact that some of the others who
live there are transients and Army people, Northerners or West-
erners. The first thing the Whites did on moving in was to paint
the house and fix up the yard; they put up a nice white painted
fence. It is always very tidy, and I am told, they never have rowdy
parties. But there has been one big objection: there is no doubt
that the property values have dropped mightily. The realtors tell
me that it is next to impossible to sell houses in that neighborhood.
On one house, originally priced at $3o,ooo, the price was gradually
lowered to $ro,ooo and it is still not sold. There was much fus
when the sale was made. The Negroes were pressured to sell out
and move into the Negro settlement, and there were ugly stories
spread which turned out to be without foundation. There was no
violence, no so-called incident of any sort, and the fuss died down
very quickly, as people realized these were nice people, not in any
way objectionable.

ln State v. Cole,49 N.C. 733 ( r95g) the North Carolina Supreme
Court affirmed the conviction of James Cole of Marion, S.C.. alleged
Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux KIan in North Carolina,
on a charge of inciting a riot near Maxton, Robeson County, N.C. The
indictment charged that the purpose of the rally was "to preach racial
dissension and to coerce and intimidate the populace . . . although they
had been lvarned that their prior conduct and pronouncements against
the Indians of Robeson County had incensed and inflamed said Indians
against them, and that a large number of said Indians intendcd to appear
in armed force at said meeting." According to the testimony, Cole
and other Klansmen had burned crosses. "Cole said the,v were burning
this particular cross in East Lumberton because the Klan had been in-

lormed that an Indian lamily had moaed into East Lumberton."
lEmpha^sis added.]

On October q3, 196 I, the Charlotte Obscrver reported the efforts
of certain white property owners in Charlotte to have their residential
lots rezoned for business. They alleged that the conditions rvhere they
were "living were so bad that they just couldn't stand it any longer and
unless their properties could be converted to business use, they would

r72

be forced to sell to colored persons. The noise, danger to children, rack
of parking space, general inconvenience, and finally beer cans thrown
in yards by motorists harassed the residents, they said. They cannot
afford to move unless they can sell their homes for a fair price and white
people will not buy, they said. 'I have stood just as much as I can
stand,' said one white owner. 'f don't warrt to sell my home to colored
people. But I want to sell it and if a colored person $'ants to buy it I
will sell it to him.' "

Vernon L. Sawyer, executive director of the Redevelopment Com-
mission of Charlotte stated to the Committee:

I can find no evidence at all among the realtors in the City with
whom I have talked that there is such a thing as 'block-busting' in
Charlotte such as that experienced in some of the large cities of the
North. It is true that there are several neighborhoods in the citv
where a gradual transition from white to Negro occupancy is tak-
ing place. This, however, is taking place peaceably and without
panic and whites and Negroes are residing side by side without any
trouble and in some cases for long periods of time.

NONWHITE ACCESS TO PUBLIC HOUSING

Appendix r r presents a current picture of the public housing unis in
North carolina for low-income families. Theri are r r,r7z such units
now in operation, r,266 other units in the process of developmcnt, and
additional units have been requested and are listed as ,,programed.,'

There is no certainty that all of these units will be built.
All tenants in these units pay rent according to the total income of

all the persons living in the dwelling unit. According to North carolina
law, the rent is one-fifth of the famil,v income rvhere there are trrree or
more minor dependents. Rent means gross rent, including shelter,
space, heat, water, electricitl,, fuel for cooking and heating water.

Sevcral of thcsc housing authorities have one to three Indian familics
dwelling among rvhite families. Thcre arc also a fov oricntal r'ives
living in these projects and thcv, according to onc of the dircctors, arc
"housed according to the race of their husbands."

The percentage of nonrvhite households in cach citv is also incricated in
appendix r r. In cvcry placc where such public housing units are in ac-
tual operation, the percentage of units bcing occupicd by Negroes is
substantially in exccss of thc perccntagc of nonwhitc houscholcls in strch
cities. No doubt the reason for this is that Negro familics constitute a
srrbstantially greater pcrcentage of the lorv-incomc fanrilies than their
pro rata share of the total numbcr of houscholds in the communitr,.

r7q



In addition to the project shown in appendix r r, the Eastern Carolina
Regional Housing Authority also owns and manages two projects for
white occupancy (zro dwelling units at Holly Ridge and 476 units at
Seymour Johnson Field) that were built for war housing units and were
transferred to the Eastern Carolina Regional Authority u'hen the Depart-
ment of Defense no longer had any use for them. The tenants in these
projects pay rent according to the size of the unit. There is no income
limitation. These units are not included in appendix r I because they
are not aided by subsidies from the Public. Housing Administration, nor
are they designated for low-income families.

As to the housing units located on military reservations in North
Carolina, the public information officer and the billeting oflicer at Fort
Bragg have advised the Committee that there is absolutely no racial
segregation at Fort Bragg or in any other military establishment in the
United States or overseas, either in housing or in any other activity. At
Fort Bragg, Negro families live interspersed among white families.
This applies to oflrcers as well as enlisted personnel.

Each of the housing authorities shown in appendix r r has been granted
a certificate of convenience and necessity by the North Carolina Utilities
Commission under G.S. r57-z9, enacted in 1935. At that time the
general assembly declared that "there is a lack of safe or sanitary dwell-
ing accommodations available to all the inhabitants," that "consequently
many persons of low income are forced to occupy overcrowded and
congested dwelling accommodations;" and that "these conditions cannot
be remedied by the ordinary operation of private enterprise." G.S.
157-2. Under this grant of authority from the State, these housing
authorities exercise the power of eminent domain, condemning property
required for public use in a manner similar to the acquisition of land for
highways, streets, or other public buildings. G.S. r 57-r r.

It is apparent that while this authority of the State has been used to
provide more public housing units for Negroes than their proportionate
share of the population, all of the projects in North Carolina have been
and are being operated on a segregated basis; that is, certain groups of
units or projects have been designated for white occupancy and other
groups and units or projects have been designated for Negro occupancy.

IMPACT OF HIGHWAY AND STREET CONSTRUCTION

New highwa,vs and streets frequently displace dwellings. The right-of-
way chosen for condemnation by the Government is chosen on thc ba^sis

of many considcrations, some of which include the value of thc property
and also the advantages to the whole community to be gained by the
clearance of slums.

174

To illustrate the effect of this form of governmentar action on the
housing market, the committee examined the recent expressway con-
struction program in winston-Salem. Three .*press*iy= have been
built by a combination of Federal, state, and city funds, and the right
of eminent domain has been used to acquire property on which many
persons had previously been living.

Although white families outnumber nonwhite by two-to-one, the
East-west Expressway displaced zoo nonwhite families and roo rvhite
families. The cherry Marshall Expressway displaced r oo nonwhite

famiffa and z5 white families. The North-South Expresslvay rvhich
is still in the process of construction has to date displaced roo nonrvhite
families and no white families.

Most of the displaced families have found other accommodations in
and around the city of winston-Salem. They were gi'en first choice
to acquire 3oo privately built houses financed by 4o-year loans, insured
by FHA. All of the displaced families, both whiie and nonwhite, are
reported to have acquired adequate dwellings and most of the families
have_ actually improved their housing u.com*odations over what they
had before they were displaced. of course, their dispracenrent did in-
crease_ the competition for available accommodations. This experi-
ence is probably typical; many more nonwhites than whites are
displaced by such Government action in our cities. The public duty to
provide adequate opportunity for these families to find decent dwellings
is just as great as the public right to oust them.

NONWHITE PARTICIPATION IN STATE ACTION AFFECT-
ING HOUSING

To what extent are nonwhites represented on the policymaking boards
or on the staffs of city, county, State, and Federal agcncies in North
carolina which act on behalf of Government in matters affecting
housing?

Appendix r2 shorvs the whitc and nonwhite mcmbership for ro citias
in North carolina on ( , ) city councils, (z ) housing authoritics,
(3) planning boards, (4) board of adjustments for zoiring matters,
(5) redcvelopment or urban rerrerval commissions, and (6) citizens
advisory committees. Although the nonwhitc population in the lo
citics shown ranges from a low of rB.5 percent inilioorcsville to a high
of 39.6 percent in Laurinburg, nonrvhites are represented in onrl,about
5 percent of thc total membership of local go'crning boards, planning
boards, and boards of adjustmcnt. The pcrcentage is highcst on thc
citizens advisory committecs, which are requirecl by law to be in existcnce
in areas cngaged in urban renewal programs.

I 7.,)



:: :'r:i-!

+l ftr

Inasmuch as nonwhites occupy a much larger share of the poor
housing in North Carolina, and the elimination of such poor housing
is a principal aim of government, the participation by nonwhites in
these agencies is disproportionately low.

In addition to the control of policies by the governing boards listed
in appendix re, full-time employees are engaged on behalf of the cities in
carrying out policies in day-to-day decisions affecting housing of non-
whites. Appendix r 3 re flects the extent to which nonwhite personnel
are employed by some of these cities in their planning departments or on
the staffs of their housing and redevelopment commissions.

ROLE OF REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND BOARDS

The North Carolina Real Estate Licensing Board advised the Commit-
tee on October r7, 196r, that there were 4,6oo individual real estate
licenses currently in active status in North Carolina. No records are
kept concerning the licensee's race. All members of the North Carolina
Real Estate Licensing Board are white.

There are approximately 75 licensed real estate brokers who are
Negroes. None are members of the North Carolina Association of
Realtors, Inc., nor the National Association of Real Estate Boards as
well as their affiliates, the local boards of realtors. According to a pub-
lication of the National Association of Real Estate Boards entitled "fuk
for Preferred Attention," the term realtor "is the distinctive and exclu-
sive designation for men and women within the membership of real
estate boards." Negro real estate agents, although licensed by the State,
have been excluded from membership in these real estate boards and
are therefore forbidden to use the term realtor and do not participate in
the activities of the boards of realtors at either the city, State, or national
level.

According to Mrs. Shirley Stainback, oftlce secretarv of the North
Carolina Association of Realtors, Inc., there are r,34o members of the
association in North Carolina. All of these are white.

For the most part the activities of local real cstate boards (or boards
of realtors) are private in nature, but they do play an important part
in providing housing for all Amcricans. In addition, they have a direct
connection with the qovernment in that it is from their list of approvcd
appraisers and negotiators that many governmental agencies selcct
appraisers to be used in carrying out State action.

Nfany of the Negro real estatc agents have joined together to form the
Carolina Real Estate Brokcrs & Builders Association. Alfrcd Scott of
\Vinston-Salem is the presidcnt. In a statement to thc Committce he
said:

t76

The only area, so far as we can ascertain, that has employed Negro
appraisers and negotiators has been the Redevelopment Commis-
sion of Winston-Salem. There are two negotiators and one ap-
praiser, all of whom are licensed real estate brokers and employed
by the Land Planning Agency flocal public agency] on a fee basis.
We feel that any licensed real estate broker can qualify as an ap-
praiser for the average type of property located in most Urban
Renewal areas. The latest announcement as to the employment of
appraisers is found in the Urban Renewal Manual,l Nov. ez, r96o,
Section t4-r-2, also Section t3-2-r July 196o. /Neither of the
sections requires a certified appraiser, but leaves the employment
of appraisers up to the Land Planning Agency flocal public
agency] in each area.

The Committee has been advised that in Winston-Salem there are no
restrictions on employment of appraisers or negotiators. Negroes there
are represented on the housing authority and the redevelopment com-
mission. One out of five of the appraisers used by the latter is a Negro
and two out of seven of the approved negotiators are Negroes.

We do not know what the facts are with respect to the use of appraiscrs
or negotiators by other city governments, State highway commission, the
FHA, the VA, or any of the other local, State, and Federal agencics.
What additional training and experience, if any, is required for a licensed
broker to qualify as an appraiser, we do not know.

Mr. Ben T. Perry III, executive director of the Redevelopment Com-
mission of Durham, wrote the Committee on this point that "rve clo
have qualified Negro urban renewal appraisers in our citl', even though
they have declined the job in favor of negotiating for the property."

One Negro real estate broker who has successfully completed the course
in appraisals as offered by the American Institute of Real Estate Ap-
praisers at Northwestern tlniversitl,, advised the Committce that he had
not been able to receive the institute's designation "M.A.f ." because one
of the requirements is that the designee must be a member of a local
real estate board and no such real estate boards are open to Ncgroes in
North Carolina. On the othcr hand, he stated that hc could "point u'ith
much gratitude to cooperation and seeming respect of local [rvhite]
persons so designated."

CONCLUSIONS

r. Thc houses in which the pcople of North Carolina live are in worse
condition than those in more than Bo percent of the rest of the unitcd
States.

r77



z. The houses in which nonrvhite North Carolinians live are on the

average in much wone condition than those in which white North
Carolinians live.

3. Many factors contribute to poor housing of nonwhites in North
Carofina, including: low incomes, limited job opportunities, inferior
training, poor health, and nonparticipation in voting and government.

4. In addition, the housing market has in the past been artificially
restricted by government action so as to Prevent free competition: The
requirement of racial restrictions in deeds where FHA and VA loans

were to be insured, city ordinances compelling racial segregation by

blocks and zones, court enforcement of deed restrictions on transfers of
property to Negroes. These three forms of government action are not
now being taken by government agencies, but the effects of such action
in prior years is still being felt.

5. In recent years, State and Federal agencies have been engaged

in a program of providing and insuring credit through building and

loan associations, VHMA, FHA, and VA, for homebuilding and home
improvement. Although the race of the borrower is not supposed to be

considered and these agencies are making strong efforts to dispel such

a consideration, nevertheless it does sometimes enter into the appraisal
of the lender's risk, especially where the price of the house and the
amount of the loan is higher than is customary for Negroes or the loca-

tion is outside the Negro section.
6. In certain cities, government agencies are providing low-rent

housing in greater proportion for nonwhites than for whites and are

providing improved housing for families being displaced by government
construction and redevelopment.

7. Nonwhites have very little representation on any governing boards,
planning, zoning, housing, and redevelopment commissions in North
Carolina. In addition very few nonwhites are employed on the staffs

of these governmental agencies. The actions of these governmental
agencies probably have more effect, pro rata, on the housing of nonwhite
families than on white.

B. There is greater racial segregation in housing now than there was

before the turn of the century; that is, more white families live far re-
moved from any colored family, and vice versa. This resulted from the
development of large tracts for one particular race through deed restric-
tions and zoning ordinances. Also, where public housing has been built
and is opcrated bv the government, separate projects are maintained
exclusively for Negroes on the one hand or for whites and a few Indians
on the other.

g. Practically all of the urban areas in North Carolina have ample
open land available for nonwhite expansion.

r78

to. In some of the cities transition from white to nonwhite occu-
pancy is occurring with little or no disturbance, either to real estate
values or to personal feelings.

r r. There are indications of recent opportunities in most of the larger
cities in North Carolina for Negroes to acquire good qualitv medium
and even high-priced homes, especially in new developments.

r7g



l|lll. Medical Care

In great wars we showed both the world and ourserves that we
could rnarshal all our resources, a[ our people, alr our treasure in
the defense of democracy on this earth. There remains now the
cheaper, clearer, equally necessary demonstration that in the very
basic things-in health and in education-we can give some real
meaning to equality of opportunity at home. This ii the onry firm
foundation of democracy itself.

-Jonathan 
Daniels, UNC Nerasletter, r946.

STATUTBS AND CASES

There are no North carolina statutes requiring racial segregation in
medical_ care except in regard to treatmeni or t[e mentall[ disordercd
and feebleminded in certain state institutions. The pertinent statutes
follow:

G.s. rzz-3 . Diu*ion ot' patients among the seuerar institutions
under the North carolina Hospitals board of control. The
Dorothea Dix Hospital, Broughton Hospital, unj Th. John Um_
stead Hospital shall be excrusively for the acccmmodation, main-
tenance, care and treatment of white mentalll'disordered persons
of thc Srate, and cherry Hospitar shal be excrusi'cry fo. ihe uc-
commodation, maintenance, care and treatment for the colored
mentally disordered, feeble-minded, and incbriate of the state.

The fint segrcgation of Negro mcntar patiens of the State rvas
ordered in rB75 b1"'An Act to pro'ide for the colored Insanc of North
carolina," establishing a branch asylum in the lUarine Hospital builcl-
ing at wilmington and providing that "no more colorccl insanc shall bc
reccived in the asylum at Raleigh, and that all the colorcd inmatcs norv
in- the asylum at Raleigh, North Carolina, be rcmo'cd to \\,il-
mington . . ." Larvs tB7+-75, ch. z5o, sec. r. A lg59 amcndnrent
changed the names of the hospitals but ietained tt 

",.gr.iiiion pro'ision.



G.S. rzz-5. Care and treatment of Indians in mental hospitals'

The authoiities of Dorothea Dix Hospital and Broughton Hospital
may also receive for care and treatment mentally disordered and

inebriate Indians who are resident within the State, and who may,

rvithin the discretion of the superintendent, be assigned to any of

the wards of the hospital.

The first provision for the Indian mentally disordered was for "a de-

partment separate and distinct from the white insane" for Croatan

indians in the white hospital at Raleigh. Public Laws, Session 1899,

ch. 355. In r9l9 "Cherokee Indians of Robeson County" were added

to thi provision. 
- 
Ttre separate ward requirement was dropped in t947'

Sersion Laws r947, ch. 537, sec. 7.

G.S. Izz-6 formerly read: Commitment of Negro epileptic

persons shall be made to the State Hospital at Goldsboro' Com-

mitment of white epileptic Persons shall be made to the State Hos-

pital at Raleigh.

By chapter roo5 of the Laws of rg5g, this section was rewritten to

direct commitment in the same manner as other mentally disordered

persons. In addition, the hospitals board of control v.'as given authority

to admit epileptics to any hospital under its control.

G.S. r 16-rz6 provides for the caswell school for mental defectives

and does not mention race; however, G.S. tt6-t4z.t authorizes the

creation of a Negro Training School for Feeble-Minded Children, to

be controlled by the North Carolina Hospitals Board of Control. Ses-

sion Laws r945, ch. 459.
Additionally, the legislature has required that mentally disordered

persons charged with crime (G.S. lzz-83); persons acquitted of certain

crimes or incapable of being tried on account of mental disorder (G.S.

'zz-84)1 convicts becoming mentally disordered (G.S. Izz-85); and

ex-convicts with homicidal tendency (G.S. lzz-B8) are to be com-

mitted to the State hospital at Raleigh (Dorothea Dix Hospital) if white,

and to the State hospital at Goldsboro (Cherry Hospital) if colored.

No information is available on municipal or county ordinances rc-

lating to compulsory segregation in health facilities or medical care.

No Federal statute rcquires segregation. Conversely no statute, not

even the Federal Hill-Burton Act under which substantial sums for
hospital construction have been provided in North Carolina and in other

States, forbids segregation according to race. The applicable section

of Hill-Burton is: '

r42 U,S.C. 291e (1944).

rQo

(f ) That the State Plan shall provide for adequate hospital fa-
cilities for the people residing in a state, without discrimination on
account of race, creed, or color, and shall provide for adequate
hospital facilities for persons unable to pay therefor. Such regu-
lation may require that before approval of any application foi a
hospital or addition to a hospital is recommended by i State agency,
assurance shall be received bv the state from the applicant that
(r ) such hospital or addition to a hospital will be mide available
to all persons residing in the territorial area of the applicant, with-
out discrimination on account of race, creed, or color, but an ex-
ception shall be made in cases where separate hospital facilties are
provided for separate population gror.rpi, if the pian makes equi-
table provision on the basis of need for facilities and services of iike
quality for each such group; and (z) there will bemade available
in each such hospital or addition to a hospital a reasonable volume
of hospital services to persons unable to pay therefor, but an ex-
ception shall be made if such a requirement is not feasible from a
financial standpoint.

The constitutionality of the foregoing provision has been expricitly
challenged in simkins et al v. cone Memorial Hosltitat and lf esley Long
Community Hospital filed February zr, 196z,in the U.S. District Court
for the Middle District of North Carolina at Greensboro. The At-
torney General of the united states requested permission to intervene
in this suit on behalf of the plaintiffs. On June e6, rg6e, the judge
granted the motion of the United States to intervene "as a party to the
extent necessary for a proper presentation of the facts and larv relating
to the constitutionality of the statute above referred to." This case is
still pending.

Hospitals and health facilities in North carolina which are orvned
by the government or are operatcd by the government, whether at the
Federal, State, county, or city. level, are agencies of the government, and
the conduct of these facilities constitutes State action rvithin the meaning
of the U.S. constitution. To thc extent that these government-olvned oi
operated facilities require the separation or exclusion of patients on the
basis of race, they would appear to conflict with the constitution. As
statcd by the court of Appeals for the Fourth circuit (chief Judge
John J. Parker of North Carolina, Dobie of Virginia, and Timmerman
of South Carolina sitting): ,

The Constitution, in other words, does not require integration.
It merely forbids discrimination. It does not forbid .u.h ."gr.-
gation as occurs as the result of the voluntary action. It meiely
forbids the use of governmental power to enforce segregation.

-ffiruott, 
tB2F. supp, ?66, z?z (ror5).

rBc



And the same Court (Parker, Dobie, and Soper of Maryland sitting) : E

It is now obvious, however, that segregation cannot be justified as

a means to preserve the public peace merely because the tangible
facilities furnished to one race are equal to those furnished to the
other . . . With this in mind, it is obvious that racial segregation in
recreational activities can no longer be sustained as a proper exercise
of the police power of the State; for if that po\{er cannot be invoked
to sustain racial segregation in the schools, where attendance is com-
pulsory and racial friction may be apprehended from the enforced
commingling of the races, it cannot be sustained with respect to public
beach and bath-house facilities, the use of which is entirely optional.

What is said there as to recreational activities would in all likelihood
apply as well to health and medical facilities owned and operated by the
government, the use of which is optional. In State v. Cooke, z4B N.C.
485 (t958), the North Carolina Supreme Court said: "Separation of
the races in the use of public property cannot be required."

There are no decisions of the North Carolina Supreme Court defining
the duty of hospitals or other medical facilities with respect to the ad-
mission or exclusion of patients according to their race. One probable
reason for the scarcity of cases is that persons requiring hospitalization
are rarely in a position to litigate.

The North Carolina Advisory Committee has received complaints
that certain hospitals in the State, built with the aid of Hill-Burton
funds, have not maintained an adequate ratio of beds and other space
to meet the needs of Negro patients. These complaints were not directed
at segregation per se, but at the inequality of the separate provision made
for Negro patients. The Committee has also received numerous in-
quiries as to whether separate but equal facilities, especially in hospitals
constructed with Federal grants, could be Iegally maintained in the
light of the foregoing constitutional principle forbidding compulsory,
as opposed to voluntary, racial segregation. The language quoted above
from the Hill-Burton Act recognized "separate hospital facilities . . . for
separate population groups," and hospitals have been and are being
constructed in North Carolina and operated under admissions policies
requiring racial segregation, as indicated later in this report.

Trvo othcr suits are now pendin[ in the U.S. district courts in North
Carolina involving allcgcd dcnial of equal protcction of the law to Negro
doctors and dentists and to some of their Negro patients.

ln Eaton v. The Board of lL[anagers ol James ll/alker Memorial
I{ospital, a suit started in r96l in the Wilmington District of the U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, three of the
plaintiffs arc licensed Negro physicians and two of the plantiffs are Negro

,Datsolr. Moyor ond Clty Councll ol Baltimore,220 Fetl. 2d 3R6, 387 (f955)

I84

citizens residing in wilmington who seek admission to the difendant
hospital for "diagnosis and treatment of illness without racial discrimina-
tion and by a physician of their choice who without regard to his race
is qualified to practice in said hospital." The suit seeks an injunction
prohibiting the defendants from refusing to grant courtesy staff privileges
to the plaintiff-physicians and requiring the defendants to grant the
patients access to the facilities of the defcndant hospital without distinc-
tion based upon race or color. The complaint contains numerous al-
Icgations purporting to show various connections between the city of
\Vilmington, the county of New Hanover, and the hospital, and the use
of public funds derived from taxation for the expansion and maintenance
of its facilities. It is alleged that the hospital, "as the chosen instru-
nrcntality of the city of wilmington and the county of New Hanover for
furnishing medical care to their white citizens and affording a place to
practice for qualificd white physicians, as such and as thc inititution
rvhich offcrs the highest standard of medical care in the city of wilming-
ton and the county of New Hanover, is in the nature of a public utility
carrying out functions for the city of wilmington and the county of Nerv
Hanover, N.c. and is, therefore, performing state action subjict to the
l4th amendrnent to the Constitution of the United States.',

The defendants have moved to dismiss the compraint. No decision
has yet been made by the district court.

A similar but less detailed complaint was involved in Eaton v. The
lgard ot' Managers ol the James walker Memorial Hospitar which was
dismissed by the district court in 164 Fed. Supp. rgr (ISSB) on the
ground that the court had no jurisdiction of the complaint. This judg-
ment was affirmed by the court of Appeals for the Fourth circuit in
e6 r Fed. zd 5e r ( , gSB ) and certiorari was denied by the U.S. Supreme
Court at 358 U.S. g+S ( r gSg ) .

In its opinion in that case, the court of appeals said: n

The plaintiffs rightfully confine their effort on this appeal to
showing that the hospital is an instrumentality of the State. 

- 
They

do not argue that the exclusion of qualified phlsicians solely be-
cause of their race from an institution dcvotcd to the care of the
sick is indcfensiblc, as they might rvell do if this court rvas the
proper forum to determine the ethical quality of thc action. As a
Federal court we are powerless to takc into account this aspect of
the case. we may not intcrfcre unless there is state action which
offends the Federal constitution. From this viewpoint wc find no
crror in the dccision of the district court for the facls clcarly show
that when the present suit was brought, and for years bcfore, the
hospital was not an instrumentality of thc state but a corporation
managed and operated by an independent board free from State
control.

. rsl rAld 62r, :ozi.

tB5



,1.

This has not always been the case. In rBBr, when the hospital
was established, and thereafter during the period ending in IgoI,
when it was supported and operated by municipal authority, it
might well have been described as a State agency even though the
funds for its operation had been illegally appropriated by the
municipalities.

In Hawkins v. North Carolina Dental Society and Second District
Dental Society, filed in r96o in the U.S. District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, Charlotte Division, the plaintiff on behalf
of himself and others similarly situated, seeks a permanent injunction to
restrain the defendants from refusing to admit the plaintiff to
membership.

The complaint alleges that the Negro plaintiff is, by being denied
membership in the dental society, excluded "from participating in the
selection of officers of the State of North Carolina, to wit, members of the
North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners, from holding State
office on said board, from participating in activities of professional benefit
to dentists in North Carolina, including the right to practice in hospitals
wherein membenhip in defend4nt societies is a prerequsite to practice."

The complaint alleges that the State board of dental examiners is
the agency of the State of North Carolina charged with licensing and
regulating the practice of dentistry and dental hygiene.

The complaint alleges that G.S. go-22limits membership on the State
board of dental examiners to penons who are members of the defendant
North Carolina Dental Society. The 196r legislature, after this suit
had been filed, amended G.S. go-22 to provide election of the dental
examiners by all the licensed dentists in the State, whether they belong
to the dental society or not.

In addition, the complaint alleges that the Dental Society, from which
the plaintiff and other Negro dentists have been excluded, exercises
influence over various State agcncies, contending that employment of
dental personnel at State institutions is upon recommendation of the
society, that certification of dentists to participate in dental care of vet-
er ans is made by the society, that the schedule of fees fixed by the indus-
trial commission is made upon the recommendation of the Dental Society,
and that "various clinics and hospitals operated by State, Iocal, and
Federal funds permit only dentists who are members of the society to
practice in their facilities."

The defendants moved to dismiss the complaint; Judge Wilson War-
lick denied this motion on December 16, 196o. The defendants have
filed answer, but the case has not yet come to trial. It should be noted
that in neither of these suits has the plaintiff doctor or dentists alleged
that he was denied a licerse to practice his profession on account of his
race, but rather that, being licensed, he has not been permitted to use

r86

the facilties of a hospital or belong to a society which, according to the
complaints, are so closely identified with the government to make their
policies and procedures "State action."

STATE OWNED AND OPERATED HOSPITALS

Turberculosis hospitals.--:I'bere are four tuberculosis hospitals. Bed
complement, considerably reduced in recent years, w;rs as follows on
June 3o, r96o:

485

3.
4.

399
552
roo

Gravely is a research and teaching institution.
The number of patient days at all units, for the year ending June 3o,

196 l, was 430,335. Though the reporting procedures of the sinatorium
.yfT-, with headquarters at Gravely, do not tabulate according to
white and Negro, the administrator advises that at Wilson, McCain,
and Gravely the census is always over 50 percent Negro while at Black
Mountain white patients outnumber Negroes by z to r. For the system
as a whole, a ratio of 55 Negro to 45 white prevails.

Throughout this vast system, there is every degree of segregation and
desegregation, and the director and administrator observed that they
received about as much criticism on one account as upon the other.

Typically, the pattern is one of segregation within i lu.ge unit or
corridor. If the white census goes up and the number of Negioes drops,
white patients are simply installed a bit further along thai particuiar
corridor, or vice vena. on certain of the floors requiring very strict
patie-nt su,pervision, postsurgical for example, there miy be Negro male
and female and white male and female on the same floor. Ag-ain, cer-
tain whole units are designed to be used by Negroes at one period and
by whites at another, depending upon the major need.

In all four units all patients are under one roof, cared for by one
medical staff, served in each unit from a central kitchen and accorded
identical medical care. Two decades have seen a great deal of progress,
especially the abandonment of two buildin.gp formerly used for N.gro..,
at Mccain and at wilson, removed q,rite L*e rristance from the main
installations.

The hospitalization of long-term tuberculosis patients requires the
segregation of "positives" from "negatives," thosi with drug-resistant
bacilli from those with nonresistant bacilli, those undiagnosed fiom those
diagnosed as being tuberculous, children from adults, and males from

rBz



females. In spite of these five, or any other type of temporary or per-
manent segregation, it is rare in the North Carolina Sanatorium System
that the admission of a patient is even delayed.

From time to time, there have been Negro medical doctors on the
staff. Efforts have been made, to no avail, to secure others. There
are none at present. If medical doctors were available, they would be
employed. Dentists are secured on a consultant basis.

The North Carolina Cerebral Palsy Hospital.-This institution,
located in Durham, is a high grade rehabilitation c,enter which came
into being through the efforts of those concerned with the devastation
inherent in cerebral palsy.

Of 4o beds, the average occupancy is 37; patients are almost exclu-
sively very small children.

This is the State's only hospital where there is no segregation by race.
According to the administrator there are, typically, two-thirds white and
one-third Negro patients on any given day, and virtually the sole cri-
terion for admission is the availability of a bed for a child that has some
chance of being helped.

Feeble objection is occasionally raised concerning absence of segrega-
tion. So pathetic are these children, and so small, that none but the
cruelest could shut the door in the face of any of them.

More patients come from eastern North Carolina than elsewhere
since similar facilities under other auspices exist in the Piedmont area
and in the west.

The North Carolina Orthopedic Hospilal.--:The Orthopedic Hospital
at Gastonia is a relatively old structure. Built in a day when separation
on account of race was compelling even at great cost in time, effort, and
money, the unit comprises two structures-one where all the functions
of any hospital are carried out, and a second, some 5oo feet removed,
connected by a covered walkway, where the Negro children are housed.

It would be more eflicient to have everything under one roof, but what
is there is usable, and not likely to be replaced.

In the main building, all children are kept on the same floor post-
surgicallr', first in a common recovery room, then in nearby private rooms
to convalesce.

Thc r4o beds, 5o for Ncgroes and go for white, are all fully occupied.
Tlre averagc stay it S,/, months. The standard Ie-grade school cur-
riculum is provided, and many graduate from high school while in the
hospital. I\{oralc is superb. Every county in the State sends patients.

North Carolina mcntal hospilals.-Undcr the dircction of a hospitals
board of control, North Carolina operates four mental hospitals:

r. Broughton I{ospital at Morganton. . . . . !,"*U
e. John Umstcad Hospital at Camp Butner .. 2,223
3. I)orothea Dix Hospital at Raleigh . . 2, 956
4. CherryHospitalatGoldsboro ..... 3,272

rBB

The first three are for white patients and cherry is for Negroes, segre-
gation according to race being, in this single instance, iequired by
statute, G.S. rzz-3. There is no waiting list at any hospital.

Table r reflects certain aspects of the care tendered at each institution.

TesLE r

June 3o, 196r

Dorothca
Broughlon Dix Chcrry

Rccom-
U^?- mcndcd
slcad standard I

20 23
r: r53 r t8r

27 15
r:r13 tit24

4tr 3ogti7 r:6
6ro

l:5o8 r:186
$2.67 $+. rg
3, o5o r, 86z

I: 15

r :50

'.. t

i"l-{,

tl:,

In recognition of inequalities with regard to the cherry Hospital,
the 196r general assembly created a reserve fund of $l3z,ooo foipro-
curement of added personnel in whatever categories were deemed most
needed by the administration.

In a state nearly 6oo miles long, a single hospital for one population
group creates problems with regard to referral, transportation, and
visiting. so it is with cherry. Those far to the easr oi it and far to
the west are greatly inconvenienced.

_ In bygone days, when all humanity seemed to shun the mentally ill,
Cherry suffered most. Now, however, Cherry has under construction
a new unit incorporating concepts, equipment, and facilities more mod-
ern than any other in the system.

. Phenomenal progress in financial support, physical plant, staff,
shortened patient stav, better care-in u.ry .at"gory pertinent to the
rclief of the mentally ill-has been made in all of these mcntal hospitals.
There is no discernible disposition to admit Nesro and n.hitc pitients
to the same institution. In this respect, the siate's mental hospitals
difrer from the state's tuberculosis, rehabilitation, and orthopcdic hos-
pitals. This differcnce can be attributcd to G.s. 122-3 r"hich rcmains
on the statute books, even though its constitutionality is doubtful.

.In Jun_e_ 196z parents of a Durham Negro child filcd suit asking
that the North carolina statutes rcquiring iaciar scgregation in Stati
mcntal hospitals be declared unconstitutional. portei u. stot, Hospital
Roard of control, Ntiddle District of North carolina. Thc conrpiaint
asked the court to enjoin thc dcfendants from opcrating scparatc hos-

rBg



pitals for Negro and white citizens or holding any hospital exclusively

for a particular race. This case is still pending.
Also in June 1962, the southern regional education board in a report

to the Governor stated that North Carolina, Virginia, and Oklahoma
are the only States "in which Negroes and whites are kept in separate

State mental hospitals," and that mental health services "for Negro

citizens are of a necesity geographically removed from the vast majority
of Negroes. This is for the simple reason that there are now only one

State institution for mentally ill Negroes and one for mentally retarded
Negroes." According to this report, Negro mentally ill patients of
North Carolina "are sicker when they arrive at the hospital" than white
patients and "when they are returned to their homes it is much more

difficult to get them back into their family setting and into their com-
munity of origin than is true of whites . . . This pattern of delay in
admission to hospital and difficulty in being accepted into the home
is not obsen,ed to this extent with reference to Negroes in other States."
The report suggested three benefits would accrue if the hospitals were
desegregated or if white and Negro units were maintained on the same

campus: "t. Hospital service would be closer to Negroes. z. If prcsent
Negro institutions served white people this would reduce the distance

factor for these white people. 3. The problem of duplication of staff
which exists at the present time would be less. The same staff could
serve both Negro and white in each institution as is done elsewhere in
the Southern region."

The North Carolina Memorial Hospital and the North Carolina
Memorial Psychiatric Unit.-Under common management, these units
comprise the teaching hospital for the University of North Carolina
School of Medicine. Memorial Hospital, with a bed complement of
296, receives both white and Negro patients.

Negroes are allotted 59 beds in medicine, surgery, and obstetrics.

They also occupv 34 of the 57 beds to be found in the hospital's inte-
grated areas-pediatrics, special care unit, and the Premature nursery.

Thus they use 93 of z96 beds, or 3I.4 percent, while comprising 24.5

percent of North Carolina's population.
\\rere thc rvhole hospital converted to the service of Negroes, their

mcdical necds statervide would bc but little bettcr met. These day-to-

day nceds arc functions of local hospitals, not of teaching institutions.
Further, therc is no State program of medical care save for tuber-

culosis, mcntal illness, rehabilitation, and cripplcd childrcn. The North
Carolina Mcmorial Hospital cannot afford to be maneuvered into the
position of trving to fill such a rolc in the field of gcncral mcdical care.

In ordcr to rcmain solvent, the hospital must admit a certain percentage

of pay paticnts. Thus, there is, for all practical purposes, a ceiling on

admissions u'ith regard to race. The question is rvhethcr race, as such,

r90

should continue to be the principal determinant, or should indigency
bccome the criterion?

In addition to the inpatient care described above, a tremcndous
volume of work, much of it staff, but a considerable amount private, is
done for Negroes on an outpatient basis at this hospital.

The psychiatric unit, with a bed complement of 54, originallv ac-
conrmodated both races but discontinued service to Negroes as inpaticnts
in r955. Admission of Negroes was rcsumed in the fall of l96r. Out-
paticnt service to Negroes was never suspended.

GENERAL AND ALLIED HOSPITALS

In lt{av 196l, there were r16 general hospitals in North Carolina ac-
ccpting white and Negro patients, 27 accepting only'rvhitc patients, and
to accepting only Negro patients. In rg47, at the inception of the
Federal hospital construction program (Hill-Burton), corresponding
fi.qtrres were 66, 48, and 9, respectively. All-new general hospitals
planned under Hill-Burton werel 54 for white and colored; e for white
<-rnly; and e for colored only.' These figures include thc manv pul;lic
hospitals owned and operated by county and city authorities. Except
for a few privately owned facilities for mental and nervous conditions
rvhich are by State statute licensed bv the State board of public welfarc,
all hospitals must be licensed by the North Carolina \{edical Care Com-
mission and must be operated in accordance with its licensing standards.
G.S. r3r-r26.3 and r3vrz6.4.

This is what has happened since r947 to hospital ownership in North
Carolina:

TnaI-r e

ownership Wryff@,6, 
pnetnt ehange

Public 16 55 243.8 increase
Nonprofit 87 ,, 16.r decrease.
Private rg z! 3r.6increase.

The general trend is as follorvs: Hospital construction of tremendous
import has taken place. One Negro hospital has recently closed,
yielding to a new institution caring for both races; a second Ncgro
hospital will soon close under the same circumstances. Nine seem
destined to operate for many years; some, perhaps, changing to special
Prograrns. Morc all-white hospitals are openine their doors to Negroes
or are considering it. In those institutions now receiving white and

;**." t.". rVlllinm F. Ilenderson, executlye secretury, the North Ctrrolinl llerllcrl
Care Commlsslon, to Dr. -U. B, Bethel, Apr. 18, 1061.

rqr



Negro patients, segregation usually prevails according to wing, corridor,
ward, or on some area basis. In certain of these, space is being used

interchangeably for white or for Negroes, but not simultaneously save

in the premature nurseries.
It is appropriate to note that four veterars hospitals located in North

Carolina are completely desegregated and are fully patronized. These

are at Durham, Fayetteville, Salisbury, and Oteen.
A statement as to beds available and percentage of occupancy is

almost beyond the realm of the possible with the shifting that goes on.
However, for the fiscal year ending September 3o, 196o, in tzz Duke-
aided general hospitals, a very large sample, there were lo,7g7 beds
classified as white, or 79.6 percent, while 2,77r were accounted Negro,
2o.4 percent. Yet, Br.4 percent of the total patients discharged during
the fiscal year were white and r 8.6 percent were Negro.

Duke Endowment figures show that Negro hospitalization is rapidly
increasing, up zr3.B percent in 196o over lg4o while that for white
had climbed rr3.2 percent, a 2o-year total increase of rz9.B percent.
The incidence of Negro hospital usage is today what it was for whites
in r 95 r. Hospitalization per r,ooo in general hospitals in r 96o was I45
for white, 9 r for Negro, r 3l for the total North Carolina population.

According to the "North Carolina Hospital Discharge Study, Ig5g-
6o," published by the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina,
there was a slight difference between white ($23.87) and nonwhites
($zo.Zg) as to per diem charge. The length of stay for nonwhites was
slightly higher than for white patients, with the exception of the 65-and-
over age group. Length of stay, however, increased with age, regardless
of color. Nonwhites had a higher proportion of unpaid balance for all
age groups. The highest percentage for all patients was in the group
under 25 years of age.

The facilities in the all-Negro hospitals are not comparable to those
existing in the State's average and leading white or mixed institutions.
This is not to condemn the all-Negro hospitals, which do as well as they
can with the facilities and finances at their disposal. But would it not
be better if their 7 rg beds were in modern descgregated hospitals? Who
can doubt that the long existing Negro hospital has provided the com-
munity wherein it is located an excuse to bypass the Negro where new
hospital construction is concerned?

A complete list of North Carolina hospitals (non-Federal), including
ownership, opcration, license, type, and capacity, is maintained by the
medical care commission in Raleigh. The following are excerpts from
the written policy and procedure for admitting Negro patients of one

North Carolina fiospital, illustrating the way the governing authority
of a hospital provides explicit rules for the admission or exclusion of
Negroes. These rulcs arc, of course, as binding upon the staff and
personnel of the hospital and the prospective patients as if incorporated

rq2

in a statute. To the extent a facility is government-owned or its board
is a county or city or other agency of the government, the adoption and
observance of admissions and other operating policies are state action
and subject to the constitutional requirement that no person be denied
equal protection of the law on account of race, religion, or national
ongm.

POLICY AND PROCEDURES FOR ADI\{ITTING NEGRO PATIENTS

Adopted by the Board of Trustees December rr, rgS2

The X Memorial Hospital will admit as patients Negroes rvhose
medical conditions require facilities and services available at this
Hospital and not also available in Y Memorial Hospital. To be
considered for admission, a Negro must first have been admitted
to and be a patient in Y Memorial Hospital from rvhich transfer will
be made to this Hospital. To insure continuity of medical manage-
ment, the patient will be admitted only to the service of the doctor
on whose service he is a patient in Y Memorial Hospital.

Request for transfer from Y Memorial Hospital to this Hospital
is to be made to the Admitting Office by the Negro patiint's
ph,vsician. Only a physician who is a member of the staffi of both
hospitals may make such a request. Approval to make such request
must first be obtained from the Administrator of Y I\{emorial Hos-
pital. Except in extreme emergency, request may be made only
after the history and physical examination of the patient have been
completed and recorded and all necessary diagnostic procedures for
which facilities are available at Y Memorial Hospital have been
carried out.

Amended as follows by the Board of Trustees, February 25, r960

In cases where in the judgment of the attending physician hos-
pitalization is required primarily for studies or treatment, facilities
for rvhich are not available at Y Hospital, direct admission to X
Hospital may be arranged with the prior approval of thc Admin-
istrator of Y Hospital, provided final authority to approve such
admissions rests with the Admitting olfice of X lvlemorial Hospital.

PUBLIC HEALTH

A detailed breakdown of North Carolina's 4,556,r55 pcople shorvs that,
a.s of April l, r96o, there were 74.6 percent white, ,i.5 p...".,t Ncgro,
and o.9 percent other. Of this last group, most were Indians.

rql



The public health service, entireiy tax supported, is a servant of all
these people. Eighty-six health centers have been built with Hill-Burton
aid. According to the State board of health, ". . . as a matter of
i'ecord, and as we all know, it might be stated that all facilities of the
State board of health and of the local health departments are used with-
out regard to race." 6 It was easier, simpler, and cheaper for public
health service to develop without segregation.

A statewide sampling of the public health nurses' family folder case-
load has been undertaken. A family folder is a composite record of a
health department's knowledge of, relatidns with, and service to a family.
Entries may pertain to a single member of that family or to every mem-
ber thereof. One family member:night be included for a solitary reason
or for the listing of numerous ills.

A family folder caseload check is a valid indicator of public health
nursing service rendered. Questionnaires were sent on May lB, r96r, to
the roo counties. Fifty-seven replies, representing a cross-section of the
State, indicate that of a total of 63,817 entries, 22,4g6 were made on
behalf of Negroes. In other words, 5o.g percent of the public health
service is rendered to 24.5 pcrcent of the population.

Of the r,5r5 professional and clerical positions in the State and local
health departments, only 84 are held by Negroes, the great majority of
these being nurses. We have never had a Negro health officer or director
in any of North Carolina's roo counties

Inasmuch as the State Board of Health and county, citv, and district
health departments, as well as the State board of public welfare and
county welfare departments, the medical care commission, the employ-
ment security commission, and State, county, and civil defense agencies
which also receive Federal funds, are under the merit system for em-
ployment of personnel, G.S. re6, this lack of Negro employees in the
public health service is all the more remarkable. Negro teachers abound
in North Carolina and teaching posts are coveted, but few comparably
trained and skilled public health professionals present themselves for
employment. The lack of applicanls for professional positions is due at
least in part to a dearth of educational opportunities, and poor fa-
cilities where they do exist. Discrimination is common practice where
clerical workers in the public health are concerned.

The white person in North Carolina (and elsewhere, too) enjoys
considerable advantage over the Negro in good health and longevity.
Fetal and infant death rates, for example, are more than trvice as high
for nonwhites as for whites, and maternal death rates are five times as

6 r,etter from Dr. Robert D. rrigglna, dlrector, toeal health tllvlsloo, state board of health,
to Dr. lt. B. Bethel, Apr. 24, 1061.

I94

high.' Throughout the world, as medicine attempts to evaluate iA prog-
rss, fetal, infant, and maternal death rates are among those used as

indices of the adequacy of medical care.

It is . . . important that we know something about the causes
of these differences in morbidity and mortality rates, not merely from
the standpoint of scientific curiosity but because, if we know more
about causes, we can do more about prevention and cure.t

There is no lack of equal protection of the Iaws where public health
service is concerned, but rather the clinical and service elements of the
statewide program favor availability to the Negro. The increasing
use of personal health cards as required for many jobs and the require-
ment of immunization of infants against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping
cough (G.S. l3o-87), and of smallpox vaccinations for admissions to
school (G.S. l3o-91) accustom Negroes to the location and use of
public health facilities. There is some evidence of refusal to acccpt avail-
able care-as witness reluctance to take measures against poliomyelitis,
syphilis, gonorrhea, tuberculosis, problems in maternal and child care,
and many other health hazards. This is not to chide but rather to de-
plore. Such reticence is not limited to the Negro; it is merely more
pronounced than among the white population.

Likewise, educational inequalities, poor housing and nutrition, and
unequal social and economic opportunities are devasting in their effects
upon the attitude, outlook, and health of many more Negroes than
whites in North Carolina.

PUBLIC WELFARE MEDICAL CARE EXPENDITURES

Inquiry into public welfare medical care expenditures at the state board
of public welfare disclosed that distinction by race has no place whatever
in the disbursement of such funds. The policies of ihe individual
counties were not examined.

t rn terms of lnfant denths (unaler I year) per 1,000 ltre blrths, 1960, North carollnaranked 44th amon* {9 states. oory Arabam., New }rerlco, south coroilna. rlisstsstppl,aDd Alaska bad poorer records. ltassechusetts was llsted last bcceuse no dtrto s,aaarallable. u.s. Publlc Hearth servree,9 Montbly vrtel staflsilc8 Report l-r2, May 31,
I B6I.

rPerrott aB quoted ln Bockgrounda ol Soctal Ueiliciae, 16? (New Iork: llilbankllemorlal FuDd, lg4g).

r95



NEGRO DOCTORS AND DENTISTS

Negroes should be encouraged to enter medicine and dentistry. Th.y
constitute but 3 percent of the doctors and 6 percent of dentists in the
State, and even these rates are declining. The situation of the Negro
doctor is of concern in the total health picture, even though service to ihe
whole people remains the paramount objective. There are certain
inequalities that stem indirectly from the law.

The Medical Society of the State of North Carolina, chartered as a
"body politic" by a special act of the general assembly in rB5B, has
within recent years provided scientific membership for Negro physicians
and surgeons. This membership carries full privileges for voting, hold-
ing office, and attending the scientific and business sessions of the society,
as well as eligibility for membership on the board of medical examinen
and election to the state board of health. It is less than full member-
ship in that Negroes may not participate in the society's social functions.

some of the component county societies have an arrangement identical
to that of the state. othen do not offer even a scientific membership.
The Mecklenburg Coun.ty Society in 1957 deleted the word ,,white,,

from its constitution and bylaws, and has since that time provided full
membership for Negroes in the local society. The Forsyth County
Society has recently accepted two Negro doctors into full membership.

Certain hospitals require membership in the county medical society
as a prerequisite to treating patients in the hospital. Most Negroes
have declined scientific membership, considering it degrading. It fol-
lows that certain Negro doctors are denied hospital privileges. This
presents an economic problem, for often the Negro doctor loses the busi-
ness of his patients when they enter such a hospital. Furthermore, the
quality of medical care is impaired to the extent that the Negro doctor,s
standards in the Negro hospital to which he is confined are not as high as
they would be if he were in contact and competition with the white
doctors in the leading community hospital; moreover some of the better
trained Negro doctors do not locate in North Carolina bccause of such
bar to practicing the kind of medicinc they have been taught to practice
in medical school.

The leadcrs in medicine in this State, and the prcpondcrant number
of doctors practicine mcdicine, are white. Offered scientific member-
ship only, and declining because he is unwillin.q to accept limited
status, the Ncgro is thus arvash in medical affairs. He is separated from
the mainstream. Scientific mcmbership in the l\{edical Society of the
Statc of North Carolina is, in this State, the Negro's only route to mem-
bcrship in thc American Medical Association.

North Carolina's Ncgro doctors have banded themselves together,
almost without cxccption, into the old North state Medical society

r96

rvhich, in turn, is affiliated with the National Medical Association-a
group composed of Negroes. Negro physicians and surgeons who are
qualified and sufficiently determined can become ,'board certified,, (i.e.,
can take a national examination given by a board of medical specialists;
those who pass are certified as qualified as specialists in the particular
subject of the examination) through the old North state society and
the National Medical Association. There are rg specialty boards in
various fields of medicine and surgery. It is not necessary to be a mem-
ber of AMA or NMA to become board certified in pediatrics. There
may be other exceptions.

There were 5,984 medical doctors licensed to practice in North
Carolina as of August 4, 196r. In December of 196o, a count showed
that r,r4o such licenseholders lived in other States or were in the armed
scrvices. This leaves 4,844 physicians and surgeons resident in North
carolina in various stages of training, in the prime of profesional ac-
tivity, in the slowdown preceding retirement, and in retirement.

Tear,r 3

Total physicians and surgeons . . 4,84+

lVhite physicians and surgeons. . ... ..... 4,703Negrophysiciansandsurgeons..... . i+i

Total population per doctor.

White population per_white doctor 725
Negro population per Negro doctor II

Total members of State medical society ...... 3,249

White members of the State medical society . . . . . 3,244
Negro members of the State medical socieiy. . . . 4

94r

Total number local medical societies. 76

Local medical societies having Negro members. .

Local medical societies not having Negro mem-
bers. .

3

73

Total memben Old North State Medical Society 
:;

Total board certified physicians and surqeons....... t,234

White l:oard certified ph1'sicians and surgeons. . . t,232
Negro ltoard certified phy'siciaos and sur[eons. . . 2

_ In rg4z therc werc r7o Negro doctors, r pcr s,772 Negro poprrlati<tn.e
Thus, i'he number of Negro docton has becn falling both'in absorute

'- 
ttt"r,r-r"-o IIoj,,itat ontl llcilical Carc Faciliti?t irr Norrh Carolino6 (f)el)nrtlnont ofRurol Soclolog:t, North Carollna State Collegc, Aprll 1git5).



number and relative to Negro population. A whole treatise would be
required to explain this two-decade setback, more especially since the
State as a whole has moved forward from l94e when it had only z,B7r
doctors-r for r,244 residents, as against r for g4r in 196r.

Until recent yean, there was a lack of medical training available to
Negroes inside the State. The old Leonard Medical School in Raleigh
has long been closed and its Negro graduates have grown old, retired,
or died. Negroes were prohibited from entering other medical schools
in the State, and were actually induced by the State to go elsewhere
for such training. G.S. r 16-roo and G.S. tgr-rz5. In 1945, the
general assembly directed the medical care commission to "make careful
investigation of the methods for providing necessary medical training
for Negro students." Those North Carolina Negro students who did
go eisewhere to train, with or without State aid, spent many years in
schooling and. apprenticeship in a more congenial professional atmos-
phere. It is not remarkable that so few of them returned to practice in
North Carolina, nor that few, if any, newcomers were attracted from
other States.

As to present training facilities, there are, for example, only two hos-
pitals with approved internship and residency training programs in sur-
gery, and none in any other specialty, that are open to Negroes. The two
hospitals with approved training in surgery are Lincoln at Durham and
Kate B. Reynolds at Winston-Salem. In addition, the Duke, Wake
Forest, and the University of North Carolina Medical Schools are now
open to all qualified students regardless of race. The Ulivenity of
North Carolina has thus far admitted six Negroes to its school of medicine
and has graduated three.

The North Carolina Dental Society has no Negro members. The
Old North State Dental Society is an organization for Ne.groes. The
former is alined rvith the American Dental Association, the latter with
the National Dental Society. Negro dentists, like Negro doctors, are
also awash in the tides of professional affairs in North Carolina.

Tnare 4

Total licensed dentists . r, 37 4

\Vhite licensed dentists r, zB9
Negro licensed dentists 85

Total population per dentist. 3,3I6

\\'hite poprrlation per rvhite dentist 2,637
Negro population per Negro dentist . . . . . 13, I2g

By act of the r 96 r North Carolina General Assembll' qualified dentists
shall be elccted to the State board of dental examiners without regard
to racc and all duly licenscd dentists, Negro as well as white, shall have

I98

the privilege of voting in such elections. G.s. 9o-zz. This changed
the previous requirement that dental examiners be chosen by and only
from members of thc North Carolina Dental Socicty.

The State board of medical examiners consists of se'en members of
the Medical Society of the State of North carolina, appointed by the
societl'. This law was enacted in rB5B, now G.S. go-3.

The State board of health has nine members. Fit'" 
"." named by

thc Governor and four by the Medicar Society of the State of North
carolina. The Governor's appointees must include a licensed dcntist,
a licensed pharmacist, a licensed veterinarian, and a reputable dairyman.
G.S. r3o-4.

The medical care commission is composed of eo members, 3 of whom
are nominated by the L{edical Society of the state of North carolina,
and I by the North Carolina Dental Society. G.S. r3l-r 17.

The mental health council must include o.,. .epr..entative each of
the trfcdical society of the State of North caroiina and the North
carolina Dental Association. G.S. 35-6r. In the program for pre-
vcntion and cure of cancer, the state board of health must consult .ithe
cancer committee of the North carolina Medica-l society, rvhich shall
c,nsist of one physician from each congressional district.;' G.S. l3o-
r 86.

It is apparent that in the past, the General Assemblv of North
carolina, in enacting statutes in respect to licensing doctors and dentists,
in the establishment of the public health service and in the supc^,ision
of the construction and operation of hospitals in the state, has recognized
thc N{edical Society of the state of North carolina and the North
carolina Dental Society as representative of the medical and dcntal
professions in the State and has delegated to those societies significant
appointment powers. To the extent that Negroes ha'e not beJn mem-
bcn of these two societies, they have not been represented in the exercise
of these powers.

There has never been a Negro member of the state board of health,
the State board of medical examiners, the State board of dental
examiners, the mental health council, or the cancer committee.

NURSES

Ivlembemhip in the North carolina state Nurses Association, comp'.
nent of the American Nurses Association, has been open to all since
tg4g. Indeed, it was among the first of the state nu.,i, organizations
to-integratc. This policy of open membenhip has limited tlie locations
rvhere the association can mcet; but, in all oihcr respects, it has made
for strong, vigorous, and unified attack upon the protl"*, confronting
the nursing profession.

058{08 o-{l1-_-rr r99



Tealr 5
Total registered nurses tz, z69

Whiteregisterednurses ... r1,633
Negro registered nurses 6S6

Total population per nurse. 37r
White population per white nurse. 292
Negro population per Negro nune. I, 758

Listed as "not working" are IrgI3 white nurses and 46 Negro nursflt.
Negro nurses thus constitute approximately 5 percent of the total

numhr of licensed or regtstered nurses.

Just as Negro hospitals suffer from inadequate facilities and financing,
so do schools for training Negro nurses. Inferior schools turn out sub
standard graduates. Some of these in turn become teachers and thus the
cycle continues.

Some of the State vocational education programs offer courses in
practical nursing. For example, in Charlotte's Central Industrial Edu-
cation Center, last year ee Negro students were enrolled in such a course.
Asked why these students were scgregated from white nursing students,
the director stated that nursing classes are broken down by hospital
affiliation. "They're separated by hospitals, not by the school here."

GLARING NEGLECT

Glaring neglect, willfully perpetrated, cannot be documented. Of
questionable decisions there were more than a few, with regard to Negro
and white alike. The existence of segregation policies undoubtedly
contributed to the making of these errors in judgment.

INDIANS

North Carolina had, in 196o, 38,re9 Indians among its population.
Indians occupy an in-between position racially. Some disparity on
account of race penisls, but not as much as with the Negro.

\Ve arc of the opinion that, in health and medical matters, the Indians
insist upon and usually get accommodations provided for white. How-
ever, we have not made a thorough investigation of the availability of
publicly sponsored medical and hcalth care to Indians as such. The
Indian population shows a substantial increase from r95o to r96o.

The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, under the
chairmanship of Senator Sam Ervin, has announced a special study of
the constitutional rights of Indians. This will no doubt produce more

200

accurate information than presently available on whether ani Indians
in North Carolina are denied equal protection of the laws, not only in
respect to medical care, but also in the areas of voting, public educa-
tion, housing, and employment.

CONCLUSIONS

r. Although the health condition of all of our citizens has greatly im-
proved in recent years, there still remains a substantial difference between
the health of whites and nonwhites in North Carolina.

z. This substantial difference in the health of whites and nonwhites
is caused by many factors, including education, employment, income,
and housing, and it would therefore be incorrect to conclude that these
health differences have been caused solely or even primarily by dis-
crimination in our health laws or their application.

3. There have been no complaints that docton, dentists, nurses, hos-
pital administrators, or other persons engaged in providing medical
care in North Carolina, either government sponsored or private medical
care, have personally given less attention or poorer care to nonwhites than
to whites; rather the complaints have been that the medical care avail-
able for nonwhites has been limited because facilities available to non-
whites were inferior to those available to whites, and this limitaton of
facilities has limited the.medical care that could actually be provided
for those in need.

4. Racial segregation in medical-care facilities tends to promote in-
cquality of facilities and personnel available in time ancl place of need.

5. Except for veterans and military hospitals, racial segregation, in
varying degrees, is widespread in government owned and supervised
medical facilities in North Carolina.

6. Except in mental institutions, such racial segregation in government
owned and supervised medical facilities in North carorina is not re-
quired by statute, but rather by the policies adopted and foilorved by
the governing authorities of these facilities.

7. The governing authoritics of government owncd and supcrviscd
facilities are agents of the State and their action is Statc action.

B. Racial segregation required by the policies of the governing au-
thorities of these facilitics is no less compulsory upon personncl and
patients than if required by statute.

g. No statute has bcen found, not even the Fedcral Hill-Burton Act,
which expressly and without exception forbids scgregation. This should
not be taken to mean, however, that constitutionar principles which have
invalidated compulsory segregation in other go'ernment orvned and

201



supervised institutions and facilities do not also apply to government
owned and supervised medical facilitles.

ro. Are there North Carolinians who are deprived of equal protec-
tion of the laws with regard to medical care because of their race, color,
religion, or national origin? In the light of the foregoing conclusions
the answer is, t'Yes."

lX. Compulsory Segregation

Every invasion of the rights of any citizen, no matter how humble
he may be, weakens by so much the bulwark of protection around
the life, the rights and the security of every citizen.

-Gov. O. Max Gardner, rg3o.

The committee has examined the General Statutes of North carolina,
the reported cases, a^nd the published ordinances of the principal cities
in the state in order to locate the statutes and ordinan.o *hi.h o-
pressly require segregation of citizens by race or color. In addition, each
city or town attorney w:rs asked to make a similar search among the
records of his particular city or town. Replies were received from r37
out of approximately e9o such towns and cities.

Insofar as can be determined, none of the smaller towns enacted any
compulsory segregation ordinances; only the larger cities and the state
government did so. Most of these regulations compelling citizens to
segregate according to their color or race came after rBgB, more than
33 years after the civil war. The number of such r.g,rLtio* and the
yd"ty of the subjects with which they dealt (e.g., housing, amusements,
insurance, travel, employment facilities, restaura-nts, the dlad) increased,
rather than decreased, during the first part of the zoth century. Th.y
undertook to compel segregation not only in public or government
property and activities, but also in private property and private associa-
tions. In recent ye:ur, some of these regulitions have been repealed.

GOVERNMENT FACILITIES

Education

The statutes requiring segregation in public schools, originating in r868,
were repealed in 1955. Those requiring segregation ir, -.nit institu-
tions, originating in rB75 are, fort[e most part, still on the books.

_- G.s. 
_r 

r6-138 to r r6-r4e provides for ihe i'colored orphanage of
North Carolina." It originat-d in the laws of rBB7.

202



G.S. r 16-ro9 provides for admission of white and colored children
in separate departments at t}re State School for the Blind and the Deaf
at Raleigh. G.S. 16-rzo and 16-rz4 limit admissions to the North
Carolina School for the Deaf at Morganton to white children. The
first separation of colored children in this category was probably made
by the laws of fi72-73, which set aside a lot owned by the State,
probably adjacent to the white institution in Raleigh, and appropriated
money for an Institution for the Colored Deaf and Dumb and Blind.

Pisons and training schools

G.S. r4B-43, originating in l9og, provides that "White and Colored
Prisoners shall not be confined or shackled together in the same room of
any building or tent, either in the State prison or at any State or County
convict camp, during the eating or sleeping hours, and at all other times
the separation of the two races shall be as complete as practicable.,,
Section t48-44, originating in 1g33, requires segregation as to racg sex,
and age.

G.S. 153-51, originating in r 795, requires that each county must have
a common jail with five separate apartments, for white male, white
female, colored male, colored female, ttand one for other prisoners.,'
By G.S. 7t-2, the Cherokee Indians of Robeson County and the
Indians of Person County "shall be entitled to the following rights and
privileges: . in the common jails of said counties, and in the homes
for the aged and infirm, separate cells, wards or apartments." This act
originated in r 9l r.

G.S. r34-79 to t34-84 (laws of rgz r ) creates the Morrison Training
School for delinquent "Negro" boys.

G.S, t34-84.r to r34-84.9 (laws of rg43) creates the State Training
School for Negro Girls.

National Guard

G.S. rz7-6 provides that "The White and Colored militia shall be
separately enrolled, and shall never be compelled to serve in the same
organization. No organization of Colored troops shall be permitted
where White troops are available, and while permitted to be organized,
colored troops shall be under command of white officers."

At least as early as lB33 the requirement was "No captain or other
militia officer shall enroll any free person of color, except for musicians."
Revised Statutes r833, ch.73, sec.4, Revised Code r854, ch. 7o, sec.5.
In r868 and r876 the first sentence of the present law was enacted, prob-
ably as a part of a reorganization of the militia statutes, forbidding com-
pulsory service in the same company for the militia, and the same regi-

20+

ment for the State guard. Laws r868, ch. zz, sec. g. Laws lB7&-77,
ch. z7z, sec. r. Code of North Carolina, rBB3, secs. 31.63, 3256.
Compulsory service in the same brigade was forbidden by the Militia
Act of 1893. Laws IBg3, ch. 374, sec. 2. "Brigade" was replaced by
"organization" in the militia amendments of rBgg and the last sentence
rvas added to provide that colored troops should not be organized where
u'hite troops were available. Laws r8gg, ch. 3go, sec. r.

Thus in r89g, the segregation of colored troops was made complete.
After that no colored troops were to be organized except in separate
organizations and under white officers.

Separate tax records

G.S. ro5-323 (laws of r93g) requires that separate tax books be kept
for white, Negro, Indian, and corporate taxpayers. This means that
Indians, for instance, in declaring property ask for the Indian book.
Guilford County was exempted from ttris section in r953. Laws 1953,
ch.69o. The racial breakdown was dropped from the annual "Statistics
of Taxation" published after 1956. Since then at least ro counties have
ceased to observe the requirement. The usual reason given for ignoring
the statutory requirement is that, with the increased use of business
machines in taxwork, the separate records are unnecessary. Some busi-
ness machines are capable however of furnishing racial statistics when
required. In agricultural counties, where the names of whites and non-
whites are often identical, some form of racial identification is considered
desirable as a matter of administrative convenience. The State board
of assessment and the State department of tax research have made no
effort to enforce the separate record requirement. This suggests that
calls for statistical information of this kind have dropped off to the point
where the enforcement of compliance would not be worth the effort.

Police

Pursuant to its charter authority to appoint special police officers in
designated arcas (laws rg3g, ch. 366, sec.66), the Charlotte code desig-
nates in article I, section 5, the metes and bounds of the area within
r.r'hich its Negro police have authority.

Municipal cemeteries

G.S. 6517 authorizes any municipalit,v to take possession of existing
cemeteries under certain specified conditions; and G.S. 65-38 (larvs
of. t947, ch. Bzr, sec. 2) provides that "In thc event that said property

t
t

205



{ *t'
:' I..jii!
:1 . g-"

t

has been heretofore used exclusively for the burial of members of the
Negro race, then said cemetery or burial ground so established shall
remain and be established as a burial ground for the Negro race. In the
event said property has been heretofore used exclusively for the burial
of members of the White race, then said cemetery or burial ground so
established shall rerirain and be established as a burial ground for the
White race."

The following provision was added to the Greensboro City Charter
by ch.6z, private laws of North Carolina (r93r):

Sec. 83. The said city may establish and maintain separate
cemeteries for white persons and for Negro persons, and in order
so to do, the City Council may authorize and direct the removal of
dead bodies from one city cemetery to another city cemetery.

The Charlotte City Code, ch. 7, entitled Cemeteries, provides:

Sec. 7-9. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed
to authorize or permit the purchase of space in any city cemetery
by a white person in the portion set aside for the burial of colored
persons, or the purchase by a colored person of space set aside for
theburial of whitepersons. (Appean alsoin r946 Code.)

Sec. 7-56. The lands of the City of Charlotte on Albemarle
Road used for cemetery purposes shall be known as Evergreen
Cemetery and shall not be used for the burial of members of the
colore{ race. (Adopted Nov. 15, 1946.)

Sec. 7-63. The lands of the City of Charlotte on North Summit
Avenue used for cemetery purpos€s shall be known as North Pine-
wood Cemetery and shall not be used for the burial of members
of the white race. (Adopted June r t, rg+7.)

Libraries

The rgor statute requiring a separate reading room for colored persons
in the State library was omitted in the rg55 revision of G.S. r25-ro.

Chapter 37, of the r9z3 private laws oJ North Carolina contained the
following provisions with reference to Greensboro:

SrcrroN 47. Separate libraries to be provided for colored people.
That the Council may establish or continue separate libraries for
the use and benefit of the white and colored races of said city, and
may appropriate from the public funds such amounts as may be
necessary for the support and maintenance of the same. One of the
two libraries shall be known and designated as "Greensboro Public
Library for the Colored Race."

zo6

SrcrroN 48. Managers. Each of said Libraries shall have a sep-
arate Board of Managers, to be appointed by the Council for such
terms as the council may determine.

These sections were repealed when a revised charter for Greensboro
was enacted by ch. rr37, session laws of 1959.

Segregation is not practiced in the operation of the Greensboro pub-
lic Library and neither is it practiced in the city libraries of some other
cities in the state. This open use policy has been in effect for several
years in some of these cities and no adverse situations have arisen.

About 68 libraries in the state receive Federal funds under the Li-
brary services Act in r956- In reply to inquiries of the committee, most
of these libraries advised that their facilities served all races. one pointed
out that "this library has served Negroes since 1942.,' In reply to a
question as to the segregation of facilities, two librarians replied that
there are "no public restroorns for anyone." sixteen of thesi libraries
reported separate branches for whites and Negroes and separate book-
mobiles for each race. one librarian stated: "Main iibrary is so
crowded now that impossible to extend use to Negroes. Negro branch
actually larger than main library. White population in iounty 79percent-Negro, 2 r percent. All library income divided accordingly.;
Another librarian stated that there were separate branches for whites
and Negoes "in city organized this way, but no one has turned au'ay
either." Another reply: "Negroes are not restricted from using rvhite
library if they wish and several have, on occasion. provision is made to
serve both races if they need the bookmobile, but no Negroes come."
Another librarian wrote the committee, "we do not rec;ive Federal
funds; but we sure need it."

Altogether there are approximately 3oo public libraries in North
carolina. A separate North carolina Negro Library Association u,as
organized in r934, but was disbanded in 1954 when the North carolina
Library Association voted e55-r07 to admit Negroes.

Dr. christopher crittenden, director of the North carolina Depart-
ment of Archives and History wrote the committee:

All the services rendcred to the public by this Department are on a
completely impartial basis insofrr as race is concerned. Our Search

loo1 is unsegregatcd, we supply information and distribute pub_
lications without regard to race, and the same is true of ou. *rr.u-,
historic sites, and all other services and facilities. \\'e have putr".
lished in The North carolina Historical Reuiew several articles by
Negroes. One of these in r95g won the R. D. \V. Connor Award
for-the best article published i. that journal during the year. The
author, Dr. Frenise A. Logan, of the Agriculture and rcchnical
college in Greensboro, was entertained ai a luncheon at the Hotel

207



-'l-.

li'.

I

Sir Walter in Raleigh where he received that Award given by the
Historical Society of North Carolina through the North Carolina
Literary and Historical Association.

Twenty years ago, more or less, another Negro, Mr. J. Saunders
Redding, won the Mayflower Award, which at that time was given
for the best original literary work by a North Carolinian during
the previous twelve months. The Award was announced at the
annual meeting of the Literary and Historical Association, also in
the Hotel Sir Walter.

Rural electrification

Every electric membenhip corporation organized under G.S. r 17-6 to
rr7-27 is "a public agency" and "political subdivision of the state."
G.S. l r7-rg. The Committee received a complaint that one such corpo-
ration practiced segregation at its annual membership meeting in 196r
in the public high school. "An electric wire was stretched down the
center of the auditorium. Negroes were seated on the west side and
whites on the east."

Recreation

Several of the cities in the State have at one time or another maintained
separate public swimming pools, by city ordinances designated for the
exclusive use of white or colored persons. The experience of Greens-
boro which sold its two swimming pools is set out in Tonkins v. City of
Greensboro, r75 F. Supp. 476 ( rgSg) , 276 F. zd, Bgo ( r96o). Char-
lotte desegregated ir public swimming pools in 196o, Winston-Salem,
its Reynolds Park pool in 1962. In August 196z, after four colored
vouths swam in Raleigh's "white" Pullen Park pool, the city council
closed both it and the "colored" Chavis Park pool.

Greensboro also owned a golf course. Part of the land was owned
by the city and anotler part by the Greensboro City Board of Educa-
tion. The course was leased to the Gillespie Park Golf Club, Inc.
Certain Negro citizens u'ent to the golf course, deposited the fee required
to play golf on the course, and proceeded to play. They were arrested
and charged with trespassing. In December 1956, they were found
guilty in the Superior Court of Guilford County, and each was given
a 3o-day jail sentence. On appeal, the State Supreme Court reversed
because of an error in the warrant. In February 1958, the defendants
were again convicted and this time sentenced to 15 days in jail. On
appeal, the Supreme Court found no error and the Suprcme Court
of the United States refused to revierv the case. In the opinion of the

zoB

North carolina supreme court, Justice Rodman stated that "separation
of the races in the use of public property cannot be required ." state v.
Cgo\e, z4B N.C. 485 (1958), appeal dismissed 36a U.S. r77 (196o).
Jlnile the trespass cas€s were being tried, a civil suiCwas brought in the
U.S. district court to ld !h. validity of the lease to the golf cluL. Judge
Johnson J. Hayes, u.S. district judge, decided that theiity rraa no rigf,t
to lease this property to a club which prohibited cirizens oi the city frim
playing on the course because of their race or coror. simkins v- The
City of Greensboro, r+9_F. Supp. 562 (rgSZ), afirmed, 246 F. zd 425
( rgSZ ). The ruling of Judge Hayes and of the U.S. Court of App.ali
was not introduced in evidence in the trespass cases and therefore was
not'considered by the u.S. supreme court when that court dismissed
the_ appeal of the trespass conviction. wolfe v. North carolina, 364U.S. r77 (196o). On November rr, 196o, Gov. Luther Hodges com_

1ut1d all of the jail penalties upon the payment of the court cosL, which
by then amounted to $7,ooo.

In the summer of 196r, Dr. George simkins, a Negro dentist and one
of the defendants in the golf trespass case, won the citywide tennis
championship sponsored by the Department of parls anj Recreation
of the city of Greensboro. His opponent in the finals was claude Kitchen
Josey, the assistant solicitor who had prosecuted him in the golf trespass
czlse.

The principal cities in the State own and operate coliseums and
auditoriums and these are unsegregated and are rlgularly used by both
rvhite and colored persons without incident. compliints have been made
that a city-owned, but privately operated, skating rink in winston-Salem
is not open to use by Negroes, and that lessees of city-owned movie
the_at9n in High Point and Durham require racial segregation in seating.

In March rg6e, the lessee of the Durham theater outained in Durham
county Superior court a temporary restraining order against 34 persons
engaged in antisegregation demonstrations at the theater, and innounced
it would seek $5,ooo actual and $eo,ooo punitive damages against the
demonstrators. In July r962, B Negroes iued the city of Dulham and
its lessee, alleging they were denied admittance to the main auditorium
of the theater. The complaint asks that the dcfcndanrs bc cnjoincd
from 'continuing to enforce or permit to be enforced any policy or prac-
tice of racial segregation or exclusion agairrst Negroes in thc ,rc of th"
Durham theater." Edwards v. city ol Durham and Abercrombie
Enterpises, fnc., USDC, Middle District.

churches in the Raleigh area filcd a complaint *ith the comnrittee
that in 1959 they were denied, by state officiars, use of umstead State
Park for an interracial day camp.

In Berry v. Durham, r86 N.C. 4zr (rgz3), the city of Durham con_
tended that it was rvithout authority to accept a gift of land to be used
as "a public park for the white people of Durham," and not for the



inhabitants of the city generally. The question arose when the city em-
ployees, while extending a street to the donated tract, wrong{ully removed
surface soil from the plaintiff's property. The city insisted that it could
not be liable to the plaintiff, because the employees of the city were outside
their authority in working on this street which leads outside the city
Iimits and to the segregated park in question. The Supreme Court of
North Carolina upheld the judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against
the city. The Supreme Court said at that time:

We see nothing in the record to show that there is any race discrimi-
nation wrought by the acceptance of this deed or donation in its
present form. So far as appears, the city government may have
made ample and adequate provisions for parks and playgrounds
for the colored race, and in any event the matter must be left to
the sound legal discretion of the governing authorities, to be exer-
cised according to the needs and requirements of either race, and
without discrimination between them. r86 N.C. 42r, 426.

The court indicated that if it should turn out that the city authorities
were to make "unjust discriminations" between the races in the "facili-
ties afforded, it is open to the parties who may be interested in the ques-
tion, by proper action, to correct the abuse and enforce compliance
with the law."

The court recognized the authority of the city "to acquire and regu-
late public and quasi-public facilities so as to make reasonable provi-
sions for separation of the races without undue discrimination between
them." [Emphasis added.]

According to Atkins v. Durham, z ro N.C. e95, Durham had i, ,935
"many parks and playgrounds, among them 'Longmeadow Park', a gift
to the City of Durham 'for the white people of Durham County' and
'Hillside Park' for the colored people of Durham County."

In Charlotte in r943 white citizens sued to enjoin the city from main-
taining a park for Negroes, alleging it would be "a nuisance." The
injunction was denied. Dudley v. Charlotte, ee3 N.C. 638 (t943).
The court stated: "There are now in the City for the use of white per-
sons ten parks, and no public park or recreation facilities for Negroes,
except a playground at a Negro school in the section known as'Cherry'."
Later Negroes petitioned the city to use another park on land conveyed
to the city "for use by thc white race only" with a reverter in the event
of any other use. The city had agrced to the restricted use by city
ordinance in rgz9. Other property had also been accepted by the city
"for use of the white race only" but without a reverter clause in the
deed. The city park commission asked the court what to do. The
North Carolina Supreme Court held that the first property would
revert by operation of law to private ownership if Negroes were ad-
mitted, but that the second property would not. Charlotle Park and

2to

Recreation Comm. v. Barringer, z4z N.C. 3rr (r955) cert. denied,
35o u.S. 983 ( r 956 ) . Later the owners of thi reversionary interest sold
it to the city which then admitted all. I.eeper v. park and Recreation
Comm., Superior Court of Mecklenburg County, rg57, 2 R.R.L.R. 4r r.on october r7, r96r, Robert w. scott, chairmin'of the state parks
committee of the State board of conservation and development reptrted
that the North carolina parks now include over .,36,ooo 

acres oi land
and water located in parks convenientry situated frim the mountains to
the sea."_ Hargrove Bowles, the director of the North carolina Depart-
ment of conservatiol 

".rd- 
Developme.t, stated in September r 96 l that

the state would not interfere with the use of any Staie parks b"y Negro
citizens. "we suggest to them that they consider the iact that North
carolina has separate park facilities for both races, but if they still
want to go in, we do nothing to hinderthem.,,

PRIVATE FACILITIES

The second broad class of statutes and ordinanccs which wcre enacted
in North carolina from time to time undertook to use thc police pon.er
of the state to compel private segregation; that is, sepu.ation of the
races, not in the use.of government provided facilities, but in private
pursuits,.such as buying private residences or norking at private jobs,
or traveling about on privately owned buses, streetcars, or railroads, or
operating a mutual insurance society or being buried in a cemetery.

Housing

ordinances fixing separate sections for white and colored residences
Iike those of Winston ( rgrz) and Winston-Salem (rggo), Greensboro
(,9,1repealed in r9.zg),-and Asheville (tgZ+ and still on the books),
and the North Carolina Supreme Court a..;rio"s of l9r4 and r94o
holding such ordinances invalid, are set out in the previJus chapter on
housing.

Traael

The first 
-use 

of governmental power to force segregation in transporta-
tion in North Carolin-a cume i, l8gg, 3 y."r. uft.. the U.S. Supreme
court gave the green light_to_such ligistation in pressy v. Ferguson, 163
U.S. 537,4r L. Ed.256 (r896)

The situation prior to that time is revealed in Britton v. Atlanta and
Charlotte Railway,B8 N.C. 536 ( rBB3).



The plaintiff in that case, a colored woman' sought damages from
the railroad for injuries she sustained while traveling on its train. She

had been assaulted by a stranger and forcibly ejected from the car in
which she had been seated-it being the 'osmoking car," which had been

provided for the white male Pasqengerc. The Supreme Court of North
Carolina held that she was entitled to recover for her injuries by reason

of the negligence of the railroad's employees in not protecting her from
abuse by the white passengers.

The case for the plaintiff was stated.as follows: '
Having purchased a ticket at Greenville, South Carolina, she, in
company with a man and woman belonging to her race, entered

the defendant's train and occupied seats in the car in question. No
one pointed out to them the cars intended to be occupied by the

colored passengers, nor did she know that separate cars had been

provided for the two races, or of the regulation of the comPany
requiring it to be done. Before the train left Greenville, some one,

a white p€rson, not in authority, began to cast reflections upon the

party, siying that "d - d niggers had no business in'there," and

when under way, others of the white passengers cursed them for
being in the car, and declared that they didn't want "niggers" in
that car; and for the purpose of annoying them sang vulgar sonp
and whooped and hallooed at the top of their voices' The man

who accompanied the plaintiff, and whose name was Culp, spoke

to the conductor in charge of the train about the conduct of the

other passengers, and complained of it.

The conductor accepted the tickets of the three, and told them they

might sit in that car, but as it was an excursion train he could not

control the conduct of the other passengers, and they might exPect

rudeness. Whenever the conductor was Present, the misbehavior

would cease, but as soon as he left the car it was resumed.

He was appealed to as many as four times to protect them from
insult, but each time said he could not help it. While the train
was stopped at King's Mountain station, a white man, whom none

of the pirty knc*, ordered them out of the car, when Culp asked

to see the conductor. The man went out, soon others came in

and said to Culp, "get up and go out of here." He again asked to

see the conductor and retained his seat, whereupon he was scized,

beaten, and finally ejccted from the car. The same persons then

seized hold of the plaintiff, beat and badly bruised her, and finally
put her and her companion out of the car, and threw their baggage

upon the platform.

r 88 N.c. at 537-38 (1883).

212

The plaintiff then went into another coach, which was filed with
colored people, every seat being occupied so that she had to stand
for sometime after the starting of the train, when some one got
up and gave her a seat.

The case for the defendant as stated by the court was: 2

The instmctions given by the company to the conductor were to
advise such colored passengers as he might find in the coaches set
apart for whites to go to the others, but if they declined to do so,
to allow them to remain where they were, so long as they con-
ducted themselves properly.

At some point before reaching King's Mountain, ttre colored man,
Culp, in the presence of the plaintiff, complained to the conductor
of the rudeness of some of the white passengers towards himself
and his companions, and of the indecent language used in their hear-
ing, when he was again told that he would nna a pleasanter seat
if he would go into the forward coaches, in which, at that time,
there was a number of vacant seats.

The white persons in the coach, who were known to the conductor
to be "wild young men from Atlanta, on a spree,,, also complaincd
of the presence of these colored persons in the coach, and inquired
of that officer if he did not mean to put them off?

At another time, the party complained to the conductor of being
cursed and insulted by the others, when he said to them, that wlrili
he would not require them to go into the other car, he would :till
advise them as a friend to do so, and expressed some surprisr at
their unwillingness to do so, whereupon Culp said he desired to go,
but that the females under his charge were unwilling.

The behavior of the plaintiff and her companions while in r.he :ar
was entirely hecoming, and their dress and appearance decr nt.

The train stopped at King's Jrlountain at eight o'clock p.l\,f.,;,nd
while there, one Ramseur, who was neither a passcnger nor I m-
ployce on the train, entcrcd the smokins car, for thc-purpose of
seating some white women who came in with him. 

-Thc 
scats

being filled, and seeing the two colored women there, he askcd for
their seats, which they declincd to surrcnder. Some one in the
crorvd proposed to put them out, to which Ramseur assented and
seized hold of the plaintiff. Thereupon Culp cricd out, ,,don't
strike that lady," when Ramseur struck him over the hcad with a

! rd. at 530-{0.



stick, and then, with the help of some of the white passengers,
ejected all three from the car.

The verdict of the jury was for the railroadl the plaintiff appealed,
and the North Carolina Supreme Court in an unanimous opinion re-
versed and ordered a new trial.

The court stated: 3

The evidence wholly fails to show that the defendant had, on this
occasion, established any fixed or certain rule in reference to the
matter. It is true, that the handbills, by which the time and the
terms of the excursion were published, announced that there would
be "separate can for white and colored," but whether this was one of
the acts of the advertiser, resorted to in order to render the excur-
sion popular with the better paying class of citizens, or whether it
was intended to be a regulation for the sovernment of the conduct
of all parties, is left altogether uncertain. In the absence of all
other proof upon the point, the court might and probably would
put the latter construction upon it; but it is impossible to do so

when the defendant shows, out of the mouth of its own witness
and officer, that the real instruction given to the conductor of the
train was, not to enforce it as a law of the company's making, but
simply to give advicc upon the subject, and then leave it to each
individual to determine his or her own course. .

When the plaintiff and her friends took seats in the coach in ques-
tion, they did so in the exercise of a right and a discretion ex-
pres-sly left to them by the defendant's own regulation, and were
therefore clothed with every privilege that appertained to any other
passenger in the coach, and were entitled as fully as an)' other to
be protected from injuries arising, as well as from the neglect of the
company's servants as from the unprovoked assaults of their fellow-
passengers; and more especially was this so, after thc conductor had
been appealed to, and assured them of their right to the seats,
even though he did offer the advice which he had been instructed
to give them. So that, the right of the plaintiff to recover in this
action depends, as we conceive, upon no question connected with
her color or with her presence in any particular coach in the de-
fendant's train, but upon the general Iaw regulating thc duties and
responsibility of the carriers of passengers in all such cases. . .

Tested by this rule, and conceding that the facts of the case were as

insisted upon by the defendant, and as provcd to be by its own wit-
nesses, the conduct of the defendant's servants) and especially of
its conductor, was grossly and unpardonably negligent. He had

3fd. at 543-46.

214

knowlcdge of the reckless character of thosc who occupied the coach
with thc plaintiff; and while he may not have had positive pre-
monition of threats towards her, hc was fully aware of the dissitis-
faction to which hcr prrscnce thert, with her cornpanions, had given
rise, and of the desire for thcir expulsion, which had been openlv
expressed, as well as of the fact that ribald songs and coane and
insulting language had been indulged in for the very purpose of
vexing them and rendering their situation intolerable . . .

His dalliance, too, in going to her relief when informed of the immi-
nency of the outrage upon her rights, manifested such an indiffer-
ence on his part as was inconsistent with her claims and his
duty .

But above all this, the plaintiff had, as we have seen, acquired
an established right to the seat which she occupicd upon cntering
the defendant's train. She held it by the sime tentrre that every
other passenger upon the train held his seat, and no one had the
right either to call upon her to surrender it or to ejcct her from
it by force; and upon being notified that her ejcction had taken
place, the first duty of the officer was to see her rcstorcd to it; and
not until this was done, if demanded by her, was his whole duty,
or that of the defendant, to the plaintiff, fully discharged.

It was not until r5 years later, after the "White Supremacy" political
campaign of rBgB that the fint Jim Crow Car Statute was enacted in
North Carolina.

D Chapter 384 of the laws of r 899, now G.S. 6o-94 to 6o-97 was entitled
"An act to promote the comfort of travelers on railroad trains, and for
otherpurposes." Section r read:

That all railroad companies and steamboat companies engaged as
common carriers in the transportation of passengers for hirc in the
state of North carolina other than street railways shall provide
separate but equal accommodations for the white and colored races
on all passenger trains and steamboats carrying passengers. Such
accommodations may be furnished by railroad companies either
by separate passenger cars or by compartments in passenger
.cars. . . .

In addition to the exemption of street railways the remainder of the
statute provided exceptions for relief trains, Pullman or sleeping cars,
cxpress trains not stopping at all stations, branch lines and narrow
guaged railways. It also excepted servants in attendancc and ofl]cers
accompanying prisoners. The railroads opposed the bill according to
the Raleigh News and Ob,scrver of January 25, l89g.

650408 OEB2-1r 2t5



i Chapter e13 of the rgor laws added an exception for trains carrying
both freight and passengers. Chapter z7o of the rg35 law, now G.S.
6o-98, allowed the utilities commission to except trains with only one

Passenger car.
This statute has never been enforced by the North Carolina Supreme

Court. It has however been cited in suits by white passengers for
damages because they were put in a colored car. Huf v. Norf olk South-
ern Railroad Company, r7r N.C. zo3, BB S.E.g++ (1916) , Merrittv.
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, r5z N.C. z9r,67 S.E. SZg ( rgro). In
Huf the court stated, "it seems to be the trend of opinion and the de-
cided intimation of the Supreme Court of the United States on the sub-
ject that state legislation of this character may not extend to a case of
interstate traffic."

In the revisiorr of Igo5, a codification of all North Carolina laws, the
revisers added a clause to the foregoing railroad segregation statute to
require separate waiting rooms. There is no other authority for this
clause, which has been repeated in subsequent codifications. Revision
of rgo8, sec. z6rq. C.S. sec. 3494, G.S.6o-94. However, the utili-
ties commission is directed by G.S. 6z-44 and G.S. 6z-t27.7 r to require
separate waiting rooms. This provision was part of the act setting up
the corporation cornmission in r899. Laws 1899, ch. r64, sec. 5.2 ( r4).
Some cities, likc Thomasville, adopted ordinances requiring segregation
in "railroad waiting rooms." The Thomasville ordinance has been
repealed.

The familiar white-from-the-front, colored-from-the-rear statute, now
G.S. 6o-r35 to 6o-137, was enacted for streetcars by chapter B5o of the
laws of r9o7. In addition to provisions against spitting, cursing, and
riding on the running board, both company and passenger were put
under a duty to comply with the seating order. Failure to comply was
punishable as a misdemeanor and the conductors were given police
power and the right to eject.

When motorbuses began to do business in North Carolina there was
no statutory requirement of segregation on buses. The corporation
commission (now the utilities commission) adopted, on its own, a
regulation to require bus scqregation. In 193o, the North Carolina
Comnrission on Interracial Cooperation petitioned the corporation com-
mission to end this cnforced segregation on motorbuses. The supremc
court sustained the bus segrcgation policy of the commission. Corpora-
lion Commission v. N.C. Commission, lg8 N.C. 3r7, r5r S.E. 648
( rg:o).

In the opinion bv Judge Heriot Clarkson the philosophy of enforced
segrcgation is full ltlown, in nrarked contrast to the languaee of Chief
Justice \l'alter Clark l6 years earlier in the housing segregation case,

State u. Darnell,66 N.C. 3oo ( l9 r 4 ), as set out in the previous chapter
on housing. Hcre are passages from the r93o bus scgregation case:

216

It has long been the settled policy of this state, promulgatcd
through the legislative branch of the government, to have separa-
tion or segregation of the white and Negro races with equal ac-
commodations, in the public institutions of the state, and by public
service corporations. separate schools for the white race and
Negro race; separate asylums and other institutions for the affiicted
Negroes in the State, separate reformatories, etc.

In the Southern states there was a strong anti-slavery sentiment . . .

Gen. Robert E. Lee, the Southern Chieftain, was an open aboli-
tionist, and freed his personal slaves before I 86 l.

He was a wealthy planter and showed how well a benevolent,
Christian gentleman could care for two hundred Negroes. The
slaves seemed comfortable and huppy, they sang their Negro songs' with great glee.

In fact, the best friends that the Negro has are his white neigh-

Po^. The Negro has been in many respects a chosen people-
brought here, the land of opportunity, among civilized petpli . . .

The burden imposed not sought has been on the white petple of this
state to civilize and christianize them. The trust has been and is
being faithfully performed . . . The best element of Negroes in this
State are in full accord with law enforcement and the punishment
of the Negro who would overstep the bounds of race and be guilty
of race and kindred crimes. The judgment is af6rmed.

f Il rg33 the provision of the strcetcar statute was specifically madet applicable to motorbuses. Chapter 4Bg, now G.S. 6ojr39.
State v. Harris, z13 N.C. 758, r97 S.E.Sg+ (rgSB), was the firsr

case presented to the court under this statute. A Negro woman entered
a bus and took the last seat before the "long seat" at the extreme rear.
subsequently, the bus filled with people to the point that onry the seat
next to her and the Iong seat were vacant. A white man asked that
she move to the long seat and she refused but offered to debark if her
fare was returned. she was convictcd of violating the act, but on an
appeal to the North carolina Supreme court hei conviction was re-
versed because there was insufficient e'idencc that she had intendc<I to
violate the act. To the same effect is.slare v. Brotttn, zz5 N.c. 22,33
S.E. zd rzr (1945). Later in a civil suit a Negro *Iho hud b.i.
convicted of violating this act sought damagcs for ialse imprisonmcnt
and malicious prosecution. Recovery was denied. pridgen v. carolina
9_o.or.h.Co.,zzg N.C. 46,47 S.E. zd 6o9 (rS+B). Althoirgh lt[organ v.
Virginia,3zB U.S. SZg (rg+6) had alriady-hcld that com-pulsory..gre_
gation in interstate commerce was an uhlawful restraint on .o*-...",
the North carolina Supreme court said this did not preclude reasonablc

2t7



rules by carriers as to seating arrangements. For a criticism of the
bus segregation act see r Z N.C. L. Rev. 3 75 ( r g39 ) .

The first conviction affirmed by the North Carolina Supreme Court
came in 1949. ln State v. Johnson, zz9 N.C. 7or, 5r S.E. zd 186
(rg+g) two white persons and two Negroes persisted in sitting together
and were tried and convicted of violating this bus statute.

ln State of North Carolina v. Jackson, r35 F. Supp. 68z (D.C.M.D.
N.C. 1955), the defendant, who had been charged with violating the
North Carolina bus segregation statute, sought to remove the case to the
Federal court under the Civil Rights Removal Section, 28 U.S.C.
t 446 (c ) , on the asumption that the State court would decide in accord-
ance with the Johnson case above, but the U.S. district judge remanded
the case to the State court for further action. There is no published rec-
ord of the final disposition of this case. ln Williams v. Carolina Coach
Company, rrr F. Supp.3z9 (D.C.E.D. Va. r95z), an evicted colored
passenger recovered civil damages from the bus company even though he
had refused to observe the North Carolina bus segregation statute.

Negroes have recovered damages for mishandling by transportation
emplovees. ln Harris v. Queen City Coach Co., z2o N.C. 67 (r94r ),
a preacher who missed his sermon because he was denied the last seat
on a bus recovered $zoo actual and $6oo punitive damages. The court
reversed on inadequate showing of malice for punitive damages. In
Harrison v. Norfolk Southern.R.R., r84 N.C. 86 ( tgzz), the court af-
firmed a recovery of $ l,ooo for rough and rude handling by a conductor.
l'or a colorful story of pistol firing on an excursion train from Greensboro
involving the determination of whether it was contributory negligence
for a white person to enter the colored coaches, sr;e Stanley v. Southern
R.ft., r6o N.C.3z3 (rgrz).

lVinston-Salem requires segregation in taxicabs. The following ordi-
nance was adopted November z, tg49:

SncuoN 45-65 (City Code) : Segregation of White and Colored
Passengers: lVhite and Colored passengers shall not occupy the
same compartment in any taxicab.

A similar ordinance appeared in the Charlotte Code of 1946, but
was deleted in the l96 r code.

Employment toilet facilities

G.S. 95-48 passed in rgr3 (ch. 83), provides that "All persons and cor-
porations cmploying males and femalcs in any manufacturing industry,
or othcr businecs emplo,ving more than two males and females in towns
and cities having a population of one thousand persons or more, and
rvhere such employees are required to do indoor work chiefly, shall pro-
vide and keep in a cleanly condition separate and distinct toilet rooms

2t8

for such employees, said toilets to be lettered and marked in a distinct
manner, so as to furnish separate facilities for white males, white females,
colored males and colored females." The sections that follow G.S. 95-48
require these toilets to be located "in separate parts of their buildings
or grounds" and make violation a misdemeanor and require enforce-
ment by police, sheriffs, and the department of labor. It is interesting
to note that this section does not apply to Sampson, Harnett, Lee, John-
son, Northampton, and four western counties. Public laws r9l3 ch. 83,
sec. 6. No case based on it has ever reached the North Carolina
Supreme Court.

Abattoirs, f.rozen food locker plants, and all food-handling establish-
ments must obtain a permit from, and pass regular inspections by; the
State board of health. G.S. r3o-167 (ryn ) and G.S. 72-46 ( rg+r ).
The inspectors use official State forms which allow ro to eo points (out
of 9o to r35 points in one category and out of r,ooo points total for the
test) if the concern has toilet, lavatory, and dressing room "facilities
adequate for each sex and race."

While this requirement may not often mean the difference between
passing or not, it does affect the ultimate grade. Furthermore, the in-
spector, employer, and employees are thus regularly reminded of what
appears to be a requirement of State law for racially segregated facilities.

To avoid the dilemma of building and maintaining duplicate facilities
on the one hand, or accepting a lower rating on the other, some em-
ployers would elect to employ only persons of one race, excluding all
others.

Fraternal orders and societies

G.S. 58-267, in the chapter on insurance, provides that "No fraternal
order or society or beneficiary association shall be authorized to do busi-
ness in this state under the provisions of this article, whether incorporated
under the laws of this or any other state, province, or territory, which
associates with, or seeks in this State to associate with, as members of
the same lodge, fraternity, society, association, the white and colored
races with the objects and purposes provided in this article." The segre-
gation provision was added by public laws lgr3, ch. 46.

Marriage

The constitution of North Carolina (art. XIV, sec. B, rB75) : "All mar-
riages between a white person and a Negro, or between a white person
and a person of Negro descent to the third generation, inclusive, are
hereby forever prohibited."

2r9



G.S. r4-r8r (laws 1834, ch. z4; iaws rB3B-9, ch. z4). .,All mar-
riages between a white person and a Ndgro, or between a White person
and a person of Ncgro desccnt to the third generation inclusive are for-
ever prohibited and shall be void. Any person violating this section shall
be guilty of an infamous crime, and shall be punished by imprisonment in
the county jail or State's prison for not less than four months nor more
than ten years, and may also be fined, in the discretion of the court."
The statute was most recently applied in State v. Miller, ze4 N.C, zz8,
z9 S.E. zd 75t ( rg++).

G.S.5r-3. "All marriages between a white person and Negro, or
between a white person and person of Negro descent to the third genera-
tion, inclusive, or between a Cherokee Indian of Robeson Counly and
a Negro, or between a Cherokee Indian of Robeson County and a per-
son of Negro descent to the third generation inclusive . shall be
void ." The antecedent of this section is chapter 68, Revised Code
( rB54). See also chapter ro7, Revised Code (r854) concerning slaves
and frec Negroes. until r 96l G.s. s r-3 was also applicable to marriages
between white persons and Indians and persons of Indian descent. The
Iaws 1961, chs. 186, 384, repealed the language invalidating white-
Indian marriages.

Reslaurants, hotels, and motels

No restaurant, cafe, food or drink stand, hotel, motel, tourist home, or
any other place rvhere food or drink is prepared, handled, or served for
pay, or where lodging accommodations are provided can operate without
a permit from, and inspection by, the State board of health. G.S.
j2-46 ( rg+r ). Such places are graded A, B, or C and the grade card
must be displayed in a conspicuous place. Violations incur fines or
imprisonment. Threatened violations of the statute or of board regula-
tions may be enjoined.

The inspectors' official State form (form 45r, revised Julv r95B)
allows to points (out of 9o in thc category or r,ooo total for the test)
if the toilet facilities are "adequate for cach sex and race.,'

During the lunch counter "sit ins" solne rcstaurant owners stated
that they could not sen'e Ncgroes because they could not afford to install
two additional toilets and they rvere under thc imprassion that the State
required that they provide separate restrooms .'for each sex and race."
They got this impression from the above inspection report form of the
state board of health. Thcre is nothing in the public hcalth lar's rvhich
requircs or authorizes such an itcm on the health inspection form. Some
local hcalth officials, when askcd about the use of this criterion in rating
restaurants, stated that thev had no discretion in the matter.

220

Many lunch-counter operators have since begun serving Negroes on
the same basis as whites and in the absence of four r.pu.ite toilets.

chapter r3, section 4z of the Durham ordinances requires segregation
in restaurants:

In all licensed restaurants, public eating praces and "weenie shops"
where persons of the white and colored races are permitted to be
served with and eat food there shall be provided separate rooms
for the separate accommodations of .aih .u... 'ihe partition
betrveen such rooms shall be of wood, plaster or brick or like material
and shall reach from floor to ceiling. Any person violating this
section shall, upon convictin, pay a fine of ten dollars and each
day's violation shall constitute a separate offense. (Code rg47,
ch. r3, sec.42, Code rg4o, ch.4o, sec. B.)

In connection with the above provision, the Durham city Attorney
on December r4, r96r, advised that a revision and recodifi.uiio, is now
rn Process.

w!!n this particular section was reached the city council infor-
mallv indicated that this section should be omitted from the recoclifi-
cation. If the city council formally votes to omit this section in
the final recodification that will have the effect of repealing it.
You are further advised, however, that no official aition with
reference to it has yet been taken b,v the city council and since
the indication to which I referred was made two or three new mem-
bers of the council have been elected. I have no idea r,r,hat the
council will ultimately and officially do about this, but I am merely
stating what has transpired with reference to this section up to this
time.

.State v. Clyburn,247 N.C. 455 (rg58) affirmed the trespass con-
viction of a Negro minister in Durham who asked to be sen ed in thc
white section of an ice cream parlor, and refused to be sened in the
colored scction. Although this case arose in Durham, no reference was
made to the above Durham orCinance.

- In affirming trespass con'ictions grorvine out of thc l96o rlirncstorc
lunch countcr "sit ins", the North carolina Suprcmc coirrt has statcrl
that a mrrchant may choose his crrstomcrs and prosccutc thoss 1yh6
reflsg 

!o leave his premiscs rvhen askcd. State v. Auent,253 N.C. 5Bo,ttB S.E.-zd 47 (r96r ); State v.lt,illiams,253 N.C. Bo4,-ir7 S.E. zcl
824 ( r96 t); State v. Fox,254 N.C. 97, r rB S.E. zd 58 ( r96r )'. These
threc ca-scs are pcnding in the U.S. Strpremc Court.

The North carolina Suprcme court held that thcsc lunchcourrtcr
operators wcrc not innkeepcrs and thcreforc not subjcct to thc sarrre
duties and responsibilities of innkeepers. state v. iiarhews, rq N.cr.
4o6 (1837), stated the common law rule:

22 I



All and every one of the citizens, have a right to demand enter-
tainment of a public inn-keeper, if they behave themselves, and are
willing and able to pay for their fare. ( 19 N.C. 4o6, 4o7.)

In r8go the court said that innkeepers are not required to accept
guests "so objectionable to the patrons of the house, on account of the
race to which thev belong, that it would injure the business to admit
them to all portions of the house." State v. Steele, ro6 N.C. 766, 782.
This case was subsequently construed to mean that ,,inn-keepers may
a-ssign them (white and colored guests) separate apartments, provided
they furnish equal accommodations to both." McMiltan v. School
Comm., r07 N.C.6o9,6r4 (r8qo). These statements were dicta in
each case. For a detailed analysis of the lunch counter ,,sit ins,,, see
"Dime Store Demonstrations: Events and Legal Problems of the First
Sixty Days", by Daniel H. Pollitt, Duke L.J. 3r5 (r96o).

In the summer of l96z several demonstrations were made by Negroes
seeking accommodations and service at highway restaurants and motels.
In some instances official signs on thc highway directed travelers to food
and Iodging at these particr;lar restaurants and motels. Many of the
demonstrators were arrested for trespass. Some lower court convictions
are on appeal. In view of the N.C. Supreme Court's observation that
the dimestore merchants were not innkeepers (even though their lunch
counters might be restaurants), and not bound by the duties of inn-
keepers, thc trespass convictions in those cases vl'ould not necessarily be
precedents binding upon the courts in all of these latest case.s. The
earlier North Carolina innkeeper decisions, on the other hand, require
the innkeeper to serve "all and everyone of the citizens . . . if they behave
themselves, and are willing and able to pay for their fare." While the
language of the rBgo cases would permit the innkeeper to furnish sepa-
rate but equal accommodations for white and colored guests, it was not
suggested that the innkeeper could, solely on account of a patron's race,
turn him away and refuse to serve him at all. No doubt many innkeep-
ers in the recent past followed such a practice in totally excluding
Negroes, but this practice does not find support in the North Carolina
tlecisions on the legal duties or rights of innkeepcrs n'ho, under our
common larv, had a special duty to mcet the needs of all travclcrs on
the hi.ghrvays. Some hotels, motels and restaurants in North Carolina
havc for a number of 1,cars and without publicity sen'ed colorcd as rvcll
as white persons.

Amusement

The 196l Charlotte Code, ch. r r, sec. l-z(b) provides:

Hereafter, an)' pcrson apph'ing for a license to operate and keep
open any pool or billiard room, bowling allcy, or any other public

222

place where games or sports of any kind are plaved or participated
in by the patrons of such places, shall state in thc application for
such license whcthcr it is desired to operate such place for the ac-
commodation of the white race, or for the accommodation of the
colored race, and the license shall allow the operation of such place
only for the accommodation of the persons of the race so dcsiq-
nated; provided, that where thc owncr or operator of such place
proposes to maintain distinct and separate roorns or places of play
for penons of the white race and persons of the colored or negro
race, he shall so state in the application and the license shall be
granted allowing same. (Also in r946 Code.)

The 196r Charlotte Code also provides, ch. 13, sec. r3-rr:

It shall be unlawful for any person to erect or maintain any such
carnival at any place in the city, even though more than one thou-
sand feet from arrl' building or house used or occupied as a res-
idence, unless upon the lot which is to be used for such purposes,
there shall be ample and ade4uate toilet facilities for both the
white and colored races; and Fuch toilets shall be constructed in
accordance with the building code of the city and be connected
directly to the sewage system of the city. (Also in 1946 Codc.\

Sec. r 3-r 5 of the Charlotte Code of r 96 r provides:

(a) No person shall give a public exhibition, illustration, display,
imitation, reproduction or moving picture, either on canvas or
otherwise, of any prize fight, sparring match, or glove or fist con-
test wherein the contestants were or are persons of different races.
( rgr4 Code to present.)

In wilmington an ordinance required a 7-foot partition in places of
amusement.

Every person owning, keeping, maintaining or operating a .

bowling alley, or other place of amusement in which members of
both the white and colored race arc allowed to play . . . shall
provide separate accommodations, divided by substantial parti-
tions at least seven feet high . . . It shall bc unlanful for any mem-
ber of the white race to plav or loiter in the colored section of such
place or for any member of the colored race to play or loiter in the
section set apart for Whites. (Code ch. 15, sec. 29, R. O. lqzz,
sec. 222.)

Salisbury is one of the older as well as larger cities in the State. J. W.
Ellis, city attorney, furnished the committee with the following excerpts
from the rB49 Minute Book of the commissioners of Salisbury:

223



X\/IIL If any free person of colour be found by any patrol in the
night time or on the Sabbath Day in any other kitchen or outhouse
than their own in the company of or associating with any slave or
slaves he shall by such patrol be carried before the Intendent of
Police and, upon conviction, be fined not more than $ro. On
failure to pay fine, then to receive 39 lashes. Not applicable if
owner of slave consented to such association.

XXII. That in future if any slave shall be found irr any diner or
grog shop within the limits of this town either in the day or night-
time without having in his possession a written permission from
his or her owner stating that he or she was sent upon some special
errand, the slave so found for every offense shall be liable to r5
lashes to be well laid on his back at the public whipping post

XXIII. That no slave or free Negroes shall smoke a pipe or segar
(sic) in any street, Iane, alley, or open space in Salisbury or walk
with a cane, club or other stick (except such as are infirm or blind )
or carry about him any weapon under penalty of two dollars if a
free Negro and not less than 5 nor more than 39 lashes if a slave.

XXIV. That no slave or free Negroes shall be guilty of whooping
or hollowing anywhere in the town or making any clamerous noise
or singing or speaking aloud any indecent song or language or any
indecent,or impudent conduct under penalty of $5 if a free Negro
and not less than ten nor more than 39 lashes if a slave.

The city's records of ordinances in effect in lB77 show no segregation
ordinances. Therefore, concludes Mr. Ellis, the above ordinances "must
have been repealed at sometime between r84g and 1877. The fint
printed code of the Town was published in r9r4 and the second and
last one in 1956. No segregation ordinances of any kind or nature ap-
pear in either of them."

Commissioners olWashingtonv. Frank and lohn affirms a conviction
of two slaves under ordinances No. 5 of the town of Washington: '

The Commission for the Town of Washington do hereby prohibit
and forbid all disorderly shouting and dancing, and all disorderly
and tumultuous asemblies on the part of slaues and free Negroes
in the streets, market and other public places in said town by day
and bv night. Any white person or free person of color, violating
this ordinance, shall . . pay ten dollars, and any slave
violating said ordinance . thirty-nine lashes . . . [Emphasis
added.l

. {0 N.c. ,136, 437 (r85{).

22+

Dead bodier

In l9o3 the legislature passed a statute to segregate cadavers used in
research. chapter 666 provided that the "body of no white person shall
be delivered to any school for the colored race." This statute was later
rewritten and revised. G.s. go-2r2 now provides for the delivery of
certain bodies (otherwise unclaimed) to "the white and Negro funeral
homes in Raleigh" according to the race of the deceased.

Cemeteries

Section 7-rg of the r94o Lumberton Code states simply,,,Lots in
Meadowbrook cemetery shall be sold only to persons of the white race."

The Burlington Code, Section B-r provides:

The Pinehill Cemetery shall be used exclusively for the burial of
white persons, and the Colored Cemetery near Ross Street and
Rauhut Street shall be used exclusively for the burial of colored
Persons.

This ordinance has been carried in the Burlington City Code for
more than 30 years, but the date of qrieinal enactment is unknown
to the city 

"itorr,.y. 
' t

Section 6-42 of the Winston-Salem Code requires cemeterv
segregation:

Sec. 6-42: Segreeation of Races
No interment of any body or the cremated ruins of any body,
other than that of a human being of the white or colored race shall
be permitted except in cemeteries provided for these races. The
burden of proof to show that the deceased was of the white or
colored race shall rest upon the lot owner only.

This ordinance was adopted December rz, rg44.

CONCLUSIONS

From the fore.going survey it appears that:
I. North carolina statutes and ordinances rcquiring segregation rvere

ncver as extensive as in some of its sister Statel. For erample, thcre
was never any statutory requirement that thcre be separatc entranccs
for the races at State hospitals, colored nurses for iorored patients,
s€parate booths for white and colored telcphone patrons, scparate en-

225



trances, exits, ticket windows, and sellers for a circus or tent shows

"or any other indoor or outdoor place" in the language of one city ordi-
nance. Although the North Carolina requirement of separate toilet
facilities in certain employments may have discouraged employment of
Negroes, North Carolina never went so far as to prohibit textile factories
from permitting laborers of different races from working together in the
same room or using the same entrances, pay windows, exits, doorways,
stairways. or windows at the same time or the same laboratories, toilets,
drinking water buckets, pails, dippers, paper cups, or glasses at any time,
as provided in one code in rgr5. Nevertheless, the above survey does

show a wide range of activities which our State and some of our cities

undertook to regulate by requiring segregation.
z. There is a discernible trend in North Carolina in the direction of

repealing segregation statutes. In addition to the examples already
noted in this report, the statutes authorizing a "Negro" agricultural and
technical college (G.S. rr6-9z), "Negro" normal schools (G.S. II6-
tol), and the North Carolina College for "Negroes" at Durham (G.S.
I6-gg), have all been repealed and regrouped with other statutes rvhich
omit racial classification. The Firemen's Relief Fund Act expressly

prohibits discrimination on account of color in the payment of benefits
(G.S. rr8-rl). This statute originated in I9o5 and reads: "In as

much as there are in anv number of the towns and cities of this State

fire companies composed exclusively of colored men, it is expressly
provided that the local boards of trustees shall make no discrimination
on account o[ color in the pa,vment of benefits."

3. The late dates on many of the foregoing statutes and ordinances
indicate that:

Things have not always been the same in the South. In a time
when the Negroes formed a much larser proportion of the popula-
tion than thev did later, when slaverv was a live memory in thc
minds of both races, and u'hen the memory of the hardships and
bitterness of Reconstruction was still fresh, the race policies acccpted
and pursued in the South were sometimes mildcr than thev became
later. The policies of proscription, segregation and disfranchise-
ment that are often described as the immutable 'folkways' of the
Sorrth, impervious alike to legislative reform and armed interven-
tion, are of a more recent origin. The effort to justifv them as a
consequence of Reconstruction and a necessitv of the timcs is em-
barrasscd by the fact that thcy did not originate in those times.
And the belief that they are immutable and unchangeable is not
supported by history.s

5 Tl'oodrrard, The Strange Career ol Jim Crou 47 (lC57l.

226

4. These segregation statutes and ordinances reflect the spirit of a
time when it was thought that the force of government could be used to
compel separation and ostracism. For the most palt, these statutes,
cspecially those compelling private segregation, have their origin in
partisan politics and were promoted by advocates of disfranchisement
a.nd the sociological theory of total segregation and proscription. Many
were enacted after the Negro had been disfranchised in I goo. The
statutes and ordinances that fall within this description cannot really
be said to represent the will of all the people of the State.

5. The proliferation of such compulsorv segregation statutes anrl
ordinances after rBgB represents an increase in dependence upon gov-
ernmental intervention and the use of the force of the police power of
the State to compel Negroes and whites to keep their supposed place,
o,en in private life. This not only violated the principle that the gor'-
ernment in its dealings with its citizens should not take any action on
the basis of race or color, but it violated the fundamental principle of
allowing our citizens freely to choose their associations in all aspects of
life, both public and private. The notion that the State must use its
police power to force segregation is repugnant to the view that the
members of the different races in North Carolina would naturallv choose
to associate with members of their own race.

6. These statutes, under the conditions of today, are unnecessary as

well as unconstitutional. Their existe.r..fon the statute books is an
invitation to misunderstanding, confusion, and violence. They should
be repealed. It is not that a Negro is about to be prosecuted for using
white facilities, or that some employer or other person is going to be
prosecuted for not providing separate facilities. Rather, the danger is
that so long as these compulsory statutes are on the books, some private
citizens are more than likely to take it upon themselves to try to enforce
segregation. Assaults and affrays, with each of the participants thinking
that he is in the right, may follow, and when the policeman is callcd,
he, too, is likely to be mistaken as to where his duty lies. Neither private
citizens, nor law enforcement officers ought to be misled bv thcse dead
letters. It should not be necessary to wait for the courts in individual
lawsuits to rule them invalid; thev ought to be removed from the books
b1' thc same agents of the State that put them there: the legislature and
the city councils.



Afterword: Some Unexamined Areas

The progress of the state both socially and economically will be
determined by the extent to which its human resources are trained
to make the best use of its natural .eso.rrcir.

-John 
W. Clark, president, State College Alumni, 1946.

So, then, to every man his 6han6s-1e every man regardless of his
birth, his shining, golden opportunitl'-to every man the right to
live, to work, to be himself, and t<, become whatever thing his man-
hood and his vision can combine to make him-this, seeker, is
the promise of America.

-Thomas 
Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again, rg4t.

Among the areas about which the Committee has received some com-
plaints and suggestions for inquiry are the following:

Education-Are any of our citizens, on account of race or color, denied
access to colleges supported by the state? The rule prohibiting racial
segregation in public schools was held applicable to State schools of
higher education in Frasier v. UNC Trustees, r31, F. Supp. 589 (,SSS).
Do all schools receiving Federal grants admit'Indians and Negrocs?
Are land-grant funds as readily available for education of students at
A & T College in Greensboro as for those at State College in Raleigh?
A State statute of r9o7 required that all congressional appropriations
"for the benefit of colleges of agricultural and mechanical arts shall be
divided between the white and colored institutions in this state in the
ratio of the white population to the colored, as ascertained by the pre-
ceding national census." (G.S. r r6-zq) In connection with the new
program for establishing, with State support, manv community colleges,
are duplicate facilities to be established in order to provide accommoda-
tions for white and colored students? see luynn u. Trusrees of charlotte
Community College System,255 N.C. 594 (r96r). \\/hat is the con-
ncction betwcen State tcachcr trainins and thc qualitv of teachine in
the public schools? The State Board of Education has reccntly been
tcsting teachers and teacher candidates. Do Nesroes and rvhitc child-
ren have equal acccss to good teachcrs? What is thc record of achier.c-
ment of white and nonwhite childrcn in thc public schools? \\'hat
differcnces, if any, have been observed in this matter in thosc schools
which have dcsegregated? Has descgre.qation in any school alfectcd
the achievemcnt o[ pupils in other schools, still seercgatcd, in the same
community? Do rvhite and nonwhite school tcachers in the same arcas
have opportunities to cooperate and compcte with each other? Are

Y'.,
229



rvhite and nonwhite children more nearly equal in school ability at the
first grade level than in higher grades, after several years of exPosure to
our schools? This question has been studied elsewhere but not in North
Carolina, although there is some evidence as to the situation in North
Carolina's segregated schools prior to Ig54 in the brief of the Attorney
General of North Carolina filed in the Supreme Court of the United
States in the Brown desegregation cas€.

Employment-What is the record of employment by State and county
agencies of graduates of State institutions? What is the government
policy in agriculture in North Carolina, including employment of non-
white agricultural agents? What differences, if any, on account of color

or race, exist in the State programs designed to train and serve the men
and women in North Carolina engaged in agriculture, the second prin-
cipal occupation in the state? What is the record of employnent by
( r ) the Federal government in North Carolina, (z ) contractors hold-
ing Federal contracts as of I963, two years aftcr the inauguration of the

President's equal opportunity program, and (3) public utilities such as

telephone, gas, electric, water, railroad, bus and airline companies,

operating under exclusive governmental franchises? Where are the

State's untrained and unskilled laborers located, county by county, as

mav be revealed by an analysis of the I960 census of employment? Is

there any connection between this data and government action in the
operation of the public schools, vocational and industrial training pro-
grams, enforcement of school attendance larvs, and the participation of
whites and nonwhites in voting and the administration of justice? Is

there any connection between the location and cxtent of untrained and
unskilled labor and the status of health and housing in each of our coun-
ties? Does the ratio betrveen white and nonwhite personal income in
any county correspond with the participation by whites and nonwhites
in voting and the administration of justice, or their achievement in the
public schools, or their employment by governmental agencics, in those

same counties?
As indicated at the outset of this report, the conditions in the various

areas rvhich have been undcr study by the Committce since rg59 have

changed and will continue to changc and ncw qucstions of equal pro-
tection of the lau's rvill arise. The prescnt rePort is not an end but a
beginning of a s1'5lsrnatic study bv North Carolinians, for North
Carolinians, of the rvaf in which our laws are applied not "rvith an evil

e,ve and arl unsccn hand", but fairly and openly to all of our citizens

regardless of an accident of birth in ordcr that, in the languagc in the

Illecklenl>urg Rcsolves of r 776, wc ma)' enjot' "a frce governmcnt under

the authority of thc pcoplc of thc State of North Carolina and that the

qovernment be a qimple dcmocracv or as near to it as possible" or

that. in the languagc of our prcsent State constitution, "libertv and free

government ma1' bc recognized and established."

230

Acknowledgments

As indicated throughout this report, many persons supptied information on request
of the Committee; without such generous cooperation throughout the State, the
report could not have been undertaken. In particular, the following inrlividuals are
due a special word of appreciation for their service on the subcommittees indicated:
E,MPLOYMENT

Dr. Howard G. Miller, Raleigh; Dr. Ernest Q. Campbell, Chapel Hill; N. B.
White, Durham; William Bagwell, High Point; Mr. John Hope, II (Director of
Federal Employment, President's Committee on Equal Employnent Opportunity),
Nashville, Tennesseel together with Messrs. Barbee, Spaulding and Thorp, and Mr.
lYright as Chairman.

HOUSING
l-)r. Lee M. Brooks, Webster; Gcorge L. Fitzgerald, Chartotte; Dr. Henry Ruart<,

Rocky Mount; S.D.Harper, Durham; John Wheeler, Durham; Sarah Hili NIoore,
Fayetteville; together with Mrs. Vogt, and Mr. Todd as Chairman.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
Dickson Phillips and Lee Bounds, chapel Hill; together with Messrs. Maclean ancl

Spaulding, and Mr. Thorp as Chairman.

MEDICAL CARE
Dr. M. B. Bethel, Chapcl Hill, Director of the Study;Dr. Lcnor Baker, Durhanr,

Medical society of the state of North carolina; Dr. charles D. watts, Durham.
Old North State Medical Society; Dr. Hubert Ir{. poteat, Jr., Smithfield, N.C.
Chapter, American College of Surgeons;Joseph E. Barnes, nit.ist, N.C. Hospital
4.ssoc.iation-; Dr. Qharles_!ugg-, Raleigh. N.C. Pediatrics Society; Dr. \\'illiam L.
Fleming, Chapel Hill, UNC SChool of l{edicine; Dr. Wingate M. johnson, Winston-
Salem, Bowman-Gray School of Medicinc; Dr. John V. Verner, Jr., Durham, Dukc
University Medical Center; Dr. Wayne J. Bcnton, Greensboro, N.C. Acadr:my of
General Practice; Mrs. Mary K. Knecdler, Raleigh, N.c. public Health .{ssociation :

I)r. c. Horace Hamilton, Raleigh, N.c. state collegc, Department of Rural soci-
ology: Mrs. Margaret B. Dolan, Chapel Hill, N.C. State Nurscs Association: Dr.
Neal sheffield, Sr.. creensboro,North carolina Dental Socicty; Dr. 1v. L. T. Irliller,
Creensboro, OId North State Dental Society; Dr.'I'. Franft'Williams, D.. E.n"ri
Craigc, Chapel Hill;Frank Snepp, Dr. Monroe T. Gilnrour, Charlotte;E. B. Crarv-
iord, E. M. Herndon, Dr. James E. Davis, Durham: Dr. Murray B. Davis, High
Point; Dr. Donald B. Koonz, Wilmington; and O. T. Faison, Nerv Bcrn.
EDUCATION

Mr. En'in, Chairman; Messrs. Wrieht, Todd and Maclean.
VOTING

Mr. Pearson, Chairman; Mcssrs. Barbce and Spaulding.
The following persons rendcrcd invaluablc assistance in connection with thr:

preparation of copy for the various reports and for this'olurnc: I{. o. Davis and
E. M. Yoder, Greensboro; Jarnes G. Exum, Jr., Snow HilllJarnes Turner, South-
port; John Mraz, Charlotte; Evcrettc Nolarrd. Grccnsboro; trfrs. Natalie S. L)ean,
chapel Hill ; Mrs. Joan carner. charlottel tr{rs. srrsanne Kiorpes, I\{rs. )\fargart'i
chambers, Miss Geraldine silcr, and Mrs. Vivian o'Brien, Greensborol )ttiss pliyllis
Cline, Oak Ridge; and Mrs. Betty lr{cPherson, Asheboro.

556aO8O-53-16 231



v,o,
.s:
- H-- q,E

L
E

L



AppsNprx r.-Dishibution

agencies-

oJ SnU agncics 
^$t 

t2pcs oJ scraices rcndaed, North
varot na, Igbt

Pacatt oJ agmcics

WiiFout WiF
NcQro NcnoAll pcrsinrul pasiancl

roo. o roo. o Ioo. o
rg.o 15.2 2r.6
to.7 3. o 15.7
3.6 5.9

5r
II
I
3

I
5

2.O
9.8

2.O

AU

84
I6
9
3

I

7

I

Numba oJ agcneics

Withoil ll,irh
Ncgro Ncgro

pasowul pcrsonnel

33
5
I

;

2

I

I

t.2
8.3

t.2

3.6

2.4

2.+

'6. 
;

6. I

3.o

3.o

2.o 3

2.O 2

2.O 2

26. z +5.4 rg.7

rr.g r5.2 9.8

9.5 3. o 13.7

22 15

rq5
8r

7

5

AppENprx z.-Distributign anQ rank of statc agcncies cmpto2ing Ncgro pcrsonnel
by main occupational lcucl, ry6r

Agauix cnploying (t or morc) Ncgrocs

Total anployca Ncgro cmploycs

Agencies reporting. . .

Uirskilted. :. . . .:. ..::
Service
Semiskilled
Skilled
Clerical and sales. . . . . .

Malagerial and super-
vrsory.

Professional.
Technician

8
4
6
5
I

3 15 3t.2 72 19 39.6 5
7 tt 22.9 B

Numba Pdcalr Rar.* Numbcr Paccnt I Rank

482t 43.7 3
4t 8S.+ r
23 47.9 2
20 4t.7 4t7 35.4 6

45
20

34
e8

3r
38

36
37
2l

43.5
73.9
6o.9
6?.+
82. 6

z8.s
8o.4
45.6

. I Percrntage figures total morc than r@ pcncent because agencics may have more
than r occupational levcl,

235



N)(,
or Appsr.rotx 3.-Mcrit sltslcm examinations Apr. I, I7GI, through Mar. 3t, 196z

tcshd

Ncgro

46

36

4

3

Position

Interviewer I, sanitarian I, and
public welfare worker I

Intermittent interviewer I.. ...

Public health nurse I

Laboratory technician II. . . . .

Aaaage tau scorc

Total Whit4 Ncgro

r, 272

r92

72

IO

8,5
(6+%)

rz6
(66%)

65
(goVo)

6
(6oVo)

Negto

54
(zs%)

IO
(zBTo)

2

$"7o)
2

(ot%)

3r2
AooTd (too/s) (roo7o)

2726I(ts%) @+%) (zoVo)
65r

(86%) (tooVo) $"Vo)660
(86%) (roo/s)

770(ts%) (88%)
B8o

(8o%) (sg%)
ooI

(roo%o)

6o 63 45
(roo questions in exam)

50 52 37
(85 questions in exam)

78 78 68
(rz5 questions in exam)

52 53 +9
(rz5 questions in exam)

98 ro6 95
(r5o questions in exam)

ro6 r ro Bo
(r5o questions in exam)

ro3 ro9 88
(r5o questions in exam)

92 96 69
(r6o questions in exam)

6z 65 +o
(9o questions in exam)

63 66 38
(roo questions in exam)

r24 o 12+
( r Bo questions in exam)

76t
(tz%)

r16
(t+%)

63
bs%)

4
Gt%)

3

36

7

7

9

IO

I

3r

5

6

8

9

o

WELFARE

Child welfare caseworker I or
caseworker I

Child rvelfare caselvorker II or
caseworker Il

Casework supervisor

Senior casework supervisor. . . .

CIVIL DEFENSE

(gr%) (toofs)
IO IO

brTo) (roo/s)
55(86%) $z%)
2l

(rco/s) (roo/s)

ro9
(roo/ ) (rooVo)

77
(\By ) (rooVo)

ro9 r 13 79
(r5o questions in exam)

IOII

IO

6

II

?

2

o

I
(roo/e)

I
(roo/s)

I
(roo/s)

o

tt4 IOO

Public
CDA

Women's
CDA

information officer,

activities officer,

IO

(r55 questions in exam)
t2+ r25 I 16

(l7o questions in exam)
t25 r25 r24

(r8o questions in exam)

89 88 roo
(r3o questions in exam)

89 91 74
(r3o questions in exam)

l)(,{



,\)
OJ
@ AppENprx 3.-Mcrit sltstcm cxaminations Apr. r, rgir, through Mar.3r, rg6z-continuecl

Aacragc typing spccd

Applicanb kskd
Numbcr and pcrccntagc passing I Aorrog, total stanines I t it iiraiei

and placcd on rcgiskr I on unitten scction I minutc)'

Aacragc number clrors
in transctiption of
dbtatcd nabial

Position

TypistI.........

TypistII........

Stenographer I. . .

Stenographer I[. .

Clerk I

Clerk II

Claims examiner I

Stenographer III

Second form
of exam.

TypistIII.......

Second form
of exam.

Clerk IV

Clerk III

Research analyst
I

AccountantI....

Accounting clerk
III

Accounting clerk
II

Totdl l{hilc Ncgro

rr 3r4 r, 2gr 23

723 7t3 ro

477 472 5

4rg +r7 2

1r 223 t,2O7 16

6+g 6S6 7

16z r59 3

13 t2 r

Total Whitc Negro

22 22 rc

I9197

26 26 t7

23 2g 16

21 2r r9

rB 18 13

rgrgS

rr9 r2t 96
(t6o questions

in exam)
to2 to2
(r35 questions

in exam)
r05 r05
(r5o questions

in exam)

Br 8r 85
(reo questions

in exam)
93 9r rr

(r3o questions
in exam)

84 83 ro3
( r eo questions

in exam)
93 93 90

(r5o questions
in exam)

59 59 53
( r zo questions

in exam)
83 8z 99

( l e5 questions
in exam)

8r 8r 97
( r zo questions

in exam)

Whilc Ncgro

30 22

37 t7

39 30

45 46

Total Whit Ncgro

sqg s84 s.(+s%) Gs%) GzTo)288 287 r

G"flo) GoTo) (toT )274 274 o
Gt%) (ss%)

257 257 o
(6,%) (62%)

9t4 906 8
hs%) (zs%) Go%)

372 37r r

Ga%) Ga%) (r+Vo)
97970(6o7d $r%)
IOIOO

(n%) $s%)

5s(tr%) (t,Vo)

II II
@s%) $s%)

Total

3o

37

38

45

Total Whitc Ncgro

5r

r09

32

25

32

2+

295r 6423

r348 48

43 43

45 (')

r3

t2r3

25

55
kg%) (qz%)

76
Os%) (ts%)

r+ t3
G+%) GzTo)

54(t,%) (6t%)

55(zsTo) G6Vo)

13 t2
(os%) $z%)

2t 20
(zs%) (t+%)

o

I
(roo/s)

I
(rco/s

.I
(rcofs)

.o

I
(rcofs)

I
(rcofs)

3

r9

r9

t Did not try.

zB 27

,9())
(-.c



AppENpx 4.-Merit system examinalions, Apr. I' rg6rMar.
rg6z-Classes in which there werc no Negro applicants

Appsxorx 5.-Ncgro applicantsJrom r collcgc lcsted b2 mcrit sStstcm May g, 196z

Aaaagc num-
bcr oJ.

cffors ,n
Aaeragc rut dictatcd
lping spud mabrial

Clerk I

Clerk II......
Claims exiim-

iner I

Typist I.... . .

Typist II.....

3It

CLBRICAL

Addressing equipment operator
Data procesor I, II, III
Bookkeeping machine operator, f,

II
Switchboard operator

llIELFARE

County director of public welfare,
I, II, III

Child welfare institutions super-
visor

MEDICAL CARE

Hospital analyst

Administrative assistant (LHO)
Clinic nune
Clinical psychologist I, II, III
Junior photofluorographic opera-

tor
Junior sanitarian
Public health laboratory tech-

nician
Public health nursing supervisor

I, II
Psychiatric social worker I, II,

III
Bacteriologist I
Bedding inspector

240

Key punch operator II, III
Research analyst II
Research assistant
Accounting clerk, I, IV

Senior child welfare caseworker
or senior caseworker

Statistician (PW)

COMMISSION

Assistant hospital analyst

Biostatistician
Electrocardiographic technician
Industrial hygiene associate
Mobile X-ray technician I, aide
Nutritionist I, II
Public health dietitian
Physical therapist I
Physical therapy supervircr
Puppeteer
Sanitarian II (local), III
Sanitary engineer I, III
Public health nursing consultant
Personnel assistant III

6
br%)

2
(r8%)

3
(16%)

Stenographer
II. 13r16

(8%)
Total numbcr of individuals included-e6.
Total number of individuals passing I or more examinations-7.

Number oJ
applicanLr

Nmbcr and
pclccnlage

oJ applicants
passing

3
Gz%)

3
(+s%)

Aocragc
staniwt on

utrittcn
section

2+

t7

Stenographerr.........

3o

40

23

r8

r6

(rcoVo)

7

7

I

r9

II

r9 68

65

36

39BMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION

Tax auditor Public information officer III
Employment counselor

STATE COMMISSION FOR, TI{E BLIND

Business enterprises represent-
ative

CTVIL DEFENSE

Administrative officer-area di- Civil defense officer, welfare
rector, CDA Food suPPlY officer, CDA

Administrative assistant, CDA, I Radio operator
Assistant director of civil defense Training officer, CDA

HEALTH

24r



rlc
; 

F
-4

i 
, 

tr
'l.

 
i

f:*
'*

ri! + ti,

A
pp

eN
or

x 
6.

-S
ta

tc
 a

nd
 l

oc
al

 p
ub

lic
 s

ch
oo

l 
cm

pl
oy

cs
 a

nd
 o

tlu
r 

S
ta

te
 c

m
pl

oy
cc

s 
as

 o
J 

M
a2

 3
r,

 1
96

z 
I

t{
hi

tc
 

N
,s

,o
 '

tr
:{

: 
oi

lu
t 

T
ot

at

II. III
.

29
,5

34
 5

,4
66

22
0

z8
r 
61

4 
I 
I,2

8I
6g

8 
3,

5o
8

r,
36

2 
35

o
50

4 
50

tt8

6,
o2

7 
2,

52
6

5,
62

5 
3,

 r
93

68
7

15
.6

'3
5,

 oo
o

22
0

39
, 

89
5

4'
 2

o6
t, 

71
2

55
4

lI8

B
, 

55
3

8,
8r

8 7s

IV
. 

T
ot

al
s

P
er

ce
nt

ag
e

t 
D

at
a 

re
le

as
cd

Ju
ly

 
3o

, 
rg

6e
, 

by
 W

dt
er

 E
. 

F
ul

lc
r,

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ta

te
 p

cn
on

nc
l 

di
re

ct
or

.
t 

A
pp

ro
xi

m
at

cl
y.

72
,7

7o
 2

6,
 3

8r
73

.4
 

26
.6

99
, 
I5

I
IO

O
. 

O r, ! tr
t z U x

\t st
I

li pY T
R

\t.
ls

.
S

S g 
s'

.
E

.N
\

R
s

q- \ $ 6 : q,

tlv
$=

q 
ls

 E
llI l- 

N
.

rli
i

-t
F

 i
i$

l$
 g

*I
 

E
.

o 
+

+
(,

U
r 

O
)

O
x,

 (
))

 L
rr

 lJ
 O

)'t
r 

O
) 

O
) 
@

\,

: . 
6+

(}
)u

r 
or

. 
rg

 lt
lF

r 
-(

Jl
r 

-(
rA

'tr
(,

. 
@

@
{(

.o
{(

Jt
'tr

 
O

'-I
 

}o

t0 + (,

o- X
'o -o q,
 ii

55 xa
,

E
T

E
7

!r
= 6r ,,N 6-
r

<
=

O
Y

:-
.i !, T 8 x I o o I 5 6 o o o !n t ! x o A

,

. 
@

@
.ll

i
. 

(l)
(.

o-
r 

O
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)+
()

,U
| 

N
 

x



AppBr.rprx 8.-Judgmcnt oJ Goaanmcnt contraclors a! 19 quality ol paJormaruc
oJ Ncgro c [loyis as iompared with whiles at similar occupational lcocls

Appr*prx 9.-Pacmtagc high scrwor popurarion cnroilcd in schoors acncditcd
or approocd b7 Southan Association

Co-tt

Sclccted slandards

Job efficiency. . .

Absenteeism. . . .

Quitting
Tardiness.
Deportment.... .

Responsibility. . .

Numbcr ol frms
Wilh pcr-

sonrul
rccords

6
r8

Paccat oJ
anstocts bascd

on pctsonul
rccords

6. oo
19.38
r7.89
r2.63
?.36
5. 20

Alamance.
Alexander.

*Alleghany.Bctbr Worsc

r. o 13.o
5. r 36.?
7.4 28.4
3.2 2r.o
4.2 8.4
r. o 25.o

Paccat oJ firms

Anson.

llhile
63

None
None

39
None
None

42

None
34

None
39

None
None

100
None

43
None

None
None

48
None
None

86
44
88

None
33

None
None
None
None

42
42

None
27
36

None
None
None

32
23

Ncgo
JI

None
None
None
None
None
None
None

43
None

100
None

100
100

None
None

100
40

None
None

100
None
None

31
None

35
None
None

100
None
None

76
None

69
None

60
None
None

38
None

67
None
None
None
None
None
None
None

100
None

245

Samc

78.o
52.o
s6.8
68.+
78.9
6o.4

Don"
kmut

8.o
6.r
7.4
7.4
8.4

13.5

t7
t2

5

Rcport-
,n8

roo
98
95
95
95
96

Ashe.
Avery.
Beaufort.
Bertie. None

None
None

36
2t
65
18

Bladen. . .

Brunswick.
Buncombe.
Burke. ..
Cabarnrs.
Caldwell
Camden-
Carteret
Caswell .

Catawba.
Chatham.
Cherokee.
Chowan.

Columbus.
Craven... . .

Cumberland.
Currituck.
Dare... .

Davidson.
Davie.
Duplin.
Durham...
Edgecombe.
Forsyth.
Franklin
Gaston.
Gates.

rGraham.
Granville.
Greene.
Guilford
Halifax.
Harnett.
Haywood.
Henderson
Hertford.
Hoke .

Hyde.
Iredell.
Jackson.

53
29

244

See footnote at end ol table.



Appexprx 9.-Perccntage high school populalion cnrolled in schools
or approacd by Southcrn Association-Continued Appenprx ro.-Paccntage and condition oJ occupird housing unirs with nonwhite

houschold hcads

acocditcd

Countlt

Johnston
Jones.
Lee.. .

Lenoir.
Lincoln
Macon

*Madison.
Martin.
McDowell
Mecklenburg.... .

*Mitchell.
Montgomery
Moore

New Hanover.. ..
Northampton.....
Onslow.
Orange.
Pamlico.
Pasquotank.
Pender.
Perquimans.
Person
Pitt...
Polk. .

Randolph
Richmond.
Robeson.
Rockingham
Rowan.
Rutherford
Sampson
Scotland.
Stanly.
Stokes.
Surry.

*Swain.
*Transylvania... ..
Tyrrell.
Union.
Vance.
Wake.
Warren
Washington.
Watauga
Wayne.
Wilkes
Wilson
Yadkin.

*Yancey.

* No Negro enrolled in any public high school, Scpu 1960.

246

l{hitc
9

None

39
45

None
None

44
None

3t
27

100
None

33
36

None
62

None
None
None

54
None

32
76
48
55
37
53

None
71
29

None
45

None
None
None

15
6t

None
None
None
None
None

2t
None
None
None

36
60

None
100

33
None

100
None
None
None

20
None
None
None

10
82
54

100
None
None

62
None
None
None
None
None
None

76
45

None
None
None

45
None

47

5.9
ro.8
4.5

t6.+
7.7

24.9
rB.8
22. t
ro. 3
23.5
r7.3
r8.4
28. 5
7.7

ro.4
7.6

25.4
7.4
7.6

15.7
13.3
25.+
r4.7
22. O

22,5
13.5
IO. I
Io.3
12.4
t3.4
22.2
23.6
26.7

46.8
4r.8
48.2
16.s
42.4
79.2
Bs.+
73.r
38. 6
B+.+
6r.+
9t. 7
86. r

48.3
54. 5
3r.3
6g.s
53. 4
s8. 7

59.o
6g.+
82. r

7r.o
63.o
68. 6
83.z
55.2
72. 5
64.,
53. 5
I l.J
Br.6
Bo. 3

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Goldsboro
Greensboro.....
Greenville. . ....
Henderson... . . .

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High Point. ....
Kannapolis.....
Kinston
Lenoir.
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Lumberton.. ...
Monroe
New Bern
Raleigh
Reidsville.
Rocky Mount.. .

Salisbury
Sanford
Shelby
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Thomasville. . . .

Wilmington... . .

Wilson
Winston-Salem..

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Charlotte ....::
Durham
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Raleigh .....:..
Winston-Salem. . . . . . . .

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According to Mr. Robert Barkley, Greensboro Redevelopment Com-
mission, the above table:

. implies that Redevelopment Commissions have not employed
additional Negro personnel because of racial prejudice. This cer-
tainly in not the case for Greensboro. We have had great difficulty
in obtaining qualified Negro personnel with experience in urban
renewal. Theie seems to be little interest among the Negro colleges
in training people for this work. A Housing and Urban Renewal
Clinic was held at A & T College last year; practically no students
attended this conference. .

3
B
2
6
3
6

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