Briggs v. Elliot Transcript of Record

Public Court Documents
June 3, 1952

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  • Brief Collection, LDF Court Filings. Briggs v. Elliot Transcript of Record, 1952. 33585387-b69a-ee11-be36-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/8d83fc6d-3945-43b1-b7ed-577d5b6f0490/briggs-v-elliot-transcript-of-record. Accessed October 09, 2025.

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    TRANSCRIPT OF RECORD

S u p re m e  C o u r t  o f  th e  U n ite d  S ta tes

OCTOBER TERM, 1952

N o. 101

HARRY BRIGGS, JR., ET AL., APPELLANTS,

vs.

R. W. ELLIOTT, CHAIRMAN, J. D. CARSON, ET AL., 
MEMBERS OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF SCHOOL 
DISTRICT No. 22, CLARENDON COUNTY, S. C., 
ET AL.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE 
EASTERN DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA

FILED JUNE 3, 1952

Probable jurisdiction noted June 9, 1952



¥

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER TERM, 1951

N o. 101

HARRY BRIGGS, JR., ET AL., APPELLANTS,

vs.

R. W. ELLIOTT, CHAIRMAN, J. D. CARSON, ET AL., 
MEMBERS OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF SCHOOL 
DISTRICT No. 22, CLARENDON COUNTY, S. C., 
ET AL.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE 
EASTERN DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA

INDEX
Original Print

Record from U.S.D.C. for tlie Eastern District of South
Carolina, Charleston Division............................................... 1 1

Caption ................................................. (omitted in printing) . .
Complaint .........................................................................  2 1
Answer ................................................................................ 14 12

Exhibit “ A ”— Petition of plaintiffs dated Novem­
ber 11, 1949 to the Board of Trustees, etc..........  21 IS

Exhibit “ B”— Decision o f the Board ....................  27 23
Transcript o f testimony at trial, May 28-29, 1951........  37 30

Caption .......................................................................  37 30
Appearances .............................................................  37 30

Colloquy between court and counsel..............................  38 30
Opening statement on behalf of plaintiff..............  45 35

Judd & Dbtweile® (InO.), P rinters, W ashington , D. C., J uly 10, 1952. 

— 2805



11 INDEX

Record from U.S.D.C. for the Eastern District of South 
Carolina, Charleston Division— Continued

Colloquy between court and counsel— Continued Original Print
Testimony of L. B. McCord ....................................  48 37

R. W . Elliott......................................  56 43
Matthew J. Whitehead ....................  62 47
Harold McNalley ..............................  99 70
Ellis O'. Knox ....................................  106 75
Kenneth Clark ..................................  116 83
James L. H upp................................ : 138 97
Louis Kesselmann..............................  144 101
E. R. Crow..........................................  151 105
H. B. Betchman..................................  173 120
Devid Krech ......................................  192 132
Mrs. Helen T ra ger ............................  198 136

Colloquy between court and counsel......................  217 148
Testimony of Dr. Robert Redfield from the ease

of Sweatt vs. Painter et al....................................  230 156
Reporter’s certificate.............. (omitted in printing) . . 310
Opinion, Parker, C. J., filed June 23, 1951..................  317 176
Dissenting opinion, Waring, J ........................................  337 190
Decree ...........................................................................    358 209
Appeal papers on first appeal. . (omitted in printing) 360 
Report of defendants pursuant to decree dated June

21, 1951 ...........................................................................  438 211
Appendix A— Architect’s drawing o f proposed

addition of Scotts Branch Schools......................  451 222
Appendix B— Amended building survey and re­

port of the Summerton area schools, December
1951 .........................................................................  453 223

Appendix C— Statistical synopsis of the immediate 
and ultimate results of the construction and re­
modeling program of School District No. 1. . . . 469 235

Appendix D— November 1951 issue of “ The 
Eagle” , student body publication of Scott’s
Branch High School ............................................  472 239

Order transmitting defendants’ report to United
States Supreme Court ................................................. 488 255

Per curiam opinion o f Supreme Court, dated January-
28, 1952 .........................................................................  489 256

Plaintiffs’ motion for judgment....................................... 491 258
Order setting date of second hearing for February 29,

1952 .................................................................................  495 260
Order continuing hearing until March 3, 1952................ 496 261
Clerk’s note re letter of John J. Parker, etc................... 497 261
Letter of John J. Parker, February 9, 1952 to Judges 

Waring and Timmerman and reply of Judge War­
ing (omitted in printing)............................................. 499

Motion that R. W. Elliott, et al.be made parties to the
suit, etc.........................................................   500 262



INDEX 111

Record from U.S.D.C. for the Eastern District o f South
Carolina, Charleston Division— Continued 

Report of the defendants supplementary to the report
filed December 20, 1951.................................................

Copy of House Bill No. 2065..................................
Letter dated .February 15, 1952, E. R. Crow, Di­

rector of the State Educational Finance Com­
mission to Governor Byrnes................................

Transcript of hearing March 3, 1952..............................
Reporter’s certificate.............. (omitted in printing) . .
Opinion, Parker, C. J., filed March 13, 1952..................
Decree .................................................................................
Petition for appeal ...........................................................
Order allowing appeal .....................................................
Citation on appeal.................. (omitted in printing) . .
Assignment of errors and prayer for reversal..............
Statement required by Rule 12 of the rules o f the Su­

preme Court (omitted in printing)............................
Praecipe for transcript.....................................................
Designation of additional portions of the record to be

included in transcript ...................................................
Clerk’s certificate.................... (omitted in printing) . .

Stipulation as to printing.........................................................
Statement of points to be relied upon upon and designation

of parts of record to be printed..........................................
Order noting probable jurisdiction........................................

Original Print

503 263
507a 268

507b 270
508 271
559
562 301
568 306
570 307
573 309
576
578 311

580
660 312

663 314
673
674 314

676 315
678 316



[Caption Omitted]

[File endorsement omitted]

1

[fol. 1]

[fol. 2]

IN UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE 
EASTERN D I S T R I C T  OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
CHARLESTON DIVISION

Civil Action No. 2657

H arry  B riggs, Jr., T h om as  L ee B riggs and K ath erin e  
B riggs, Infants, by Harry Briggs, Their Father and Next 
Friend and Thomas Gamble, an Infant by Harry Briggs, 
His Guardian and Next Friend,

W illiam  G ibson , Jr., M axin e  G ibson , H arold G ibson and 
Julia Ann Gibson, Infants, by Anne Gibson, Their 
Mother and Next Friend,

M itch ell  Oliver and B ichard  A llen  Oliver , Infants, by  
Mose Oliver, Their Father and Next Friend,

Celestine P arson , an Infant by B en n ie  P arson , Her 
Father, and Next Friend,

S h irley  R agin  and D elores R agin , Infants, by E dward 
R agin , Their Father and Next Friend,

G len  R agin , an In fan t, b y  W illiam  R ag in , His F a th er and 
N ext F rien d ,

E lane  R ichardson  and E m a n u el  R ichardson , Infants, b y  
Luchrisher Richardson, Their Father and Next Friend, 

J am es R ichardson , C harles R ichardson , D orothy  R ic h ­
ardson and Jackson Richardson, Infants, b y  Lee Rich­
ardson, Their Father and Next Friend,

D an iel  B e n n e t t , J o h n  B en n ett  and Clifton  B e n n e t t , 
Infants, by James H. Bennett, Their Father and Next 
Friend,

Louis Oliver , J r ., an Infant, b y  M ary  Oliver , His Mother 
and Next Friend,

Gardeneia S tu k e s , W illie  M. S tu k e s , Jr., and Louis W. 
S tu k e s , Infants by Willie M. Stukes, Their Father and 
Next Friend,

1

H

/

>

jU

V

3
/

3

J oe N ath an  H en r y , Charles R. H en ry , E ddie L ee H enry  
and Phyllis A. Henry, Infants, by G. H. Henry,
Father and Next Friend,

x .

6o1— 101



2

y  [fol. 3] Cabbie G eorgia and J ervine  G eorgia, Infants, by 
Robert Georgia, Tbeir Father and Next Friend,

I R ebecca I. R ichbu rg , an Infant, by R ebecca R ich bu rg , Her 
I Mother and Next Frned.

M ary  L. B e n n e t t , L il l ia n  B e n n ett  and J o h n  M cK en zie , 
Infants, by Gabrial Tyndal, Their Father and Next 
Friend,

E ddie L ee L aw son  and S usan  A n n  L aw son , Infants, by 
Susan Lawson, Their Mother and Next Friend.

? y  W illie  Oliver  and M ary  Oliver , Infants, b y  F rederick 
Oliver , Their Father and Next Friend,

H ercules B e n n ett  and H ilton  .B e n n e t t , Infants, b y  
Onetha Bennett, Their Mother and Next Friend,

Z elia  R agin  and S arah  E llen  R ag in , Infants, b y  H azel  
R agin , Their Mother and Next Friend,

\ >-Irene  S cott, an Infant, by Henry Scott, Her Father and 
Next Friend, Plaintiffs,

vs.
R. W. E l lio tt , Chairman, J. L. Carson and G eorge K e n ­

n edy , Members of Board of Trustees of School District 
#22, Clarendon County, S. C.; Summerton High School 
District, a Body Corporate; L. B. McCord, Superintend­
ent of Education for Clarendon County and Chairman 
A. J. Plowden, W. E. Baker, Members of the County 
Board of Education for Clarendon County; and LI. B. 
Betchman, Superintendent of School District #22, De­
fendants

[fol. 4] C o m plain t—Filed December 22, 1950
1. (a) The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked under 

Title 28, United States Code, section 1331. This action 
arises under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution 
of the United States, section 1, and the Act of May 31, 1870, 
Chapter 114, section 16,16 Stat. 144 (Title 8, United States 
Code, section 41), as hereinafter more fully appears. The 
matter in controversy exceeds, exclusive of interest and 
costs, the sum or value of Three Thousand Dollars 
($3,000.00).

(b) The jurisdiction of this Court is also invoked under 
Title 28, United States Code, section 1343. This action is 
authorized by the Act of April 20, 1871, Chapter 22, section



1, 17 Stat. 13 (Title 8, United States Code, section 43), to be 
commenced by any citizen of the United States or other 
persons within the jurisdiction thereof to redress the depri­
vation, under color of a state law, statute, ordinance, regu­
lation, custom or usage, of rights, privileges and immunities 
secured by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States, section 1, and by the Act of May 31, 
1870, Chapter 114, section 16, 16 Stat. 144 (Title 8, United 
States Code, section 41) providing for the equal rights of 
citizens and of all other persons within the jurisdiction of 
the United States, as hereinafter more fully appears.

(c) The jurisdiction of this Court is further invoked 
under Title 28, United States Code, section 2281. This is 
an action for a permanent injunction restraining the en­
forcement, operation and execution of provisions of the 
Constitution and statutes of the State of South Carolina 
by restraining action of defendants, officers of such state, 
in the enforcement and execution of such constitutional 
provisions and statutes as will appear more fully herein­
after.

2. This is a proceeding for a declaratory judgment under 
Title 28, United States Code, section 2201, for the purpose 
[fol. 5] of determining questions in actual controversy be­
tween the parties, to wit:

(a) The question whether Article II, section 7 of the 
Constitution of South Carolina (1895) and section 5377 of 
the Code of Laws of South Carolina of 1942 which prohibit 
infant plaintiffs from attending the only public schools of 
Clarendon County, South Carolina affording an education 
equal to that afforded all other qualified students who are 
not Negroes and which force said plaintiffs to attend segre­
gated public elementary and secondary schools set apart 
for Negroes in said Clarendon County, South Carolina are 
unconstitutional and void as a violation of the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

(b) The question whether the policy, custom, practice 
and usage of defendants, and each of them, in denying on 
account of race and color, the infant plaintiffs and other 
Negro children of public school age residing in Clarendon 
County, South Carolina, educational opportunities, ad­
vantages and facilities in the public elementary and second-



4

ary schools of Clarendon County, South Carolina, including 
those hereinafter specified, equal to the educational oppor­
tunities, advantages and facilities afforded and available 
to white children of public school age, similarly situated, is 
unconstitutional and void, as being a denial of the equal 
protection of the laws guaranteed under the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution to the United States.

(c) The question whether the policy, custom, practice 
and usage of defendants, and each of them, in denying on 
account of race and color, the adult plaintiffs and other- 
parents and guardians of Negro children of public school 
age, similarly situated, residing in Clarendon County, 
South Carolina, rights and privileges of sending their chil­
dren to public schools in Clarendon County, South Caro­
lina, with educational opportunities, advantages and facili­
ties, including those hereinafter specified, equal to the edu- 
[fol. 6] cational opportunities, advantages and facilities 
afforded and available to white children of public school 
age is unconstitutional and void, as being a denial of the 
equal protection of the laws guaranteed under the Four­
teenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

3. (a) Infant plaintiffs Harry Briggs, Jr., Thomas Lee 
Briggs, Katherine Briggs, Thomas Gamble, William Gibson, 
Jr., Maxine Gibson, Harold Gibson, Julia Ann Gibson, Mit- 
chel Oliver, Richard Allen Oliver, Celestine Parson, Shirley 
Ragin, Dolores Ragin, Glen Ragin, Elane Richardson, Em­
manuel Richardson, James Richardson, Charles Richardson, 
Dorothy Richardson, Jackson Richardson, Daniel Bennett, 
John Bennett, Clifton Bennett, Louis Oliver, Jr., Gardeneia 
Stukes, Willie M. Stukes, Jr., Louis W. Stukes, Joe Nathan 
Henry, Charles R. Henry, Eddie Lee Henry, Phyllis A. 
Henry, Carrie Georgia, Jervine Georgia, Rebecca I. Rich- 
burg, Mary L. Bennett, Lillian Bennett, John McKenzie, 
Eddie Lee Lawson, Susan Ann Lawson, Willie Oliver, Mary 
Oliver, Hercules Bennett, Hilton Bennett, Zelia Ragin, 
Sarah Ellen Ragin, and Irene Scott are among those gen­
erally classified as Negroes; are citizens of the United 
States and of the State of South Carolina. They are within 
the statutory age limits of eligiblity to attend the public 
schools of Clarendon County, South Carolina. They satisfy 
all the requirements for admission to such schools and are



5

in fact attending public schools under the supervision, 
operation and control of the defendants. These plaintiffs 
comprise two general categories, viz., those who are eligible 
to attend and are attending public elementary schools and 
those who are eligible to attend and are attending public 
secondary schools in Clarendon County, South Carolina, 
both types of schools being under the direct supervision, 
operation and control of defendants.

(b) Adult plaintiffs Harry Briggs, Anne Gibson, Mose 
Oliver, Bennie Parson, Edward Ragin, William Ragin, 
Luchrisher Richardson, Lee Richardson, James H. Bennett, 
[fol. 7] Mary Oliver, Willie M. Stukes, G. H. Henry, Robert 
Georgia, Rebecca Richburg, Gabrial Tyndal, Susan Law- 
son, Frederick Oliver, Onetha Bennett, Hazel Ragin and 
Henry Scott are among those classified as Negroes; are 
citizens of the United States and of the State of South 
Carolina; are residents of and domiciled in Clarendon 
County, South Carolina. They are taxpayers of Clarendon 
County, of the State of South Carolina, and of the United 
States. They are guardians and parents of the infant 
plaintiffs referred to in the paragraph above and designated 
in the caption of this bill, and are required by the laws of 
the State of South Carolina to send their children under 
their charge and control to public or private schools.

4. Plaintiffs bring this action in their own behalf and in 
behalf of all other Negro children attending the public 
schools in the State of South Carolina, and their parents 
and guardians, similarly situated and affected with refer­
ence to the matters here involved. They are so numerous 
as to make it impracticable to bring them all before the 
court. There being common questions of law and fact, a 
common relief being sought, as will hereafter more fully 
appear, plaintiffs present this action as a class action, pur­
suant to Rule 23 (a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Pro­
cedure.

5. (a) Defendant, County Board of Education of Clar­
endon County, South Carolina, exists pursuant to the laws 
of the State of South Carolina as an administrative depart­
ment of the State discharging governmental functions. 
(Code of Laws of South Carolina of 1942, section 5316). 
Defendants A. J. Plowden and W. E. Baker are members of



6

the aforesaid Board and are being sued in their official 
capacity.

(b) Defendant, L. B. McCord is chairman of the County 
Board of Education of Clarendon County and County Super­
intendent of Schools. He holds office pursuant to the laws 
of South Carolina as an administraive officer of the State, 
charged with overall supervision and government of the 
[fol. 8] public schools maintained and operated within the 
County of Clarendon. (Code of Laws of South Carolina of 
1942, sections 5301, 5303, 5306, 5316) He is being sued in 
his official capacity.

(c) Defendant, the Board of Trustees of School District 
#22 of Clarendon County, South Carolina exists pursuant 
to the laws of South Carolina as an administrative depart­
ment of the State, discharging governmental functions, 
specifically the maintenance and operation of the public 
schools in District #22. (Code of Laws of South Carolina 
of 1942, section 5238)

(d) Defendant, R. W. Elliott, is chairman of the Board 
of District #22 and of Board of Trustees of Summerton 
High School District; defendant J. D. Carson is a member 
of the Board of Trustees of School District #22 and Secre­
tary of the Board of Trustees of Summerton High School 
District; and defendant George Kennedy is a member of 
Board of Trustees of District #22 and of the Board of 
Trustees of Summerton High School District: all three de­
fendants hold office pursuant to sections 5328, 5343 and 
5405 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina of 1942. All 
are being sued in their official capacity.

(e) Defendant, J. B. Betchman is the Superintendent 
of Schools of School District #22. He is the executive officer 
of the Board of Trustees of School District #22, charged 
with the responsibility of maintaining, managing and gov­
erning the public schools in the aforesaid District in accord- 
[fol. 9] ance with the rules, regulations and policy laid down 
by the Board of Trustees. He is being sued in his official 
capacity.

(f) Defendant, the Summerton High School District is a 
body corporate pursuant to sections 5404, 5405, 5409 and 
5412 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina of 1942 and is 
being sued as such.



7

6. (a) The State of South Carolina has declared public 
education a state function. The Constitution of South 
Carolina, Article II, section 5, provides:

“ Free Public Schools—The General Assembly shall 
provide for a liberal system of free public schools for 
all children between the ages of six and twenty-one 
years . . . ”

Pursuant to this mandate the General Assembly of South 
Carolina has established a system of free public schools in 
the State of South Carolina according to a plan set out in 
Title 31, Chapter 122 of the South Carolina Code of 1942. 
The Constitution of South Carolina, Article XI, Section 6 
provides for the levying of taxes by the counties of South 
Carolina for the purpose of financing public education in 
the respective counties. Provision is also made for the dis­
tribution of other state funds for this purpose.

7. The Constitution of South Carolina, Article II, sec­
tion 7, provides:

“ Separate schools shall be provided for children 
of the white and colored races, and no child of either 
race shall ever be permitted to attend a school pro­
vided for children of the other race. ’ ’

Section 5377 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina of 
1942 provides:

“ It shall be unlawful for pupils of one race to attend 
the schools provided by boards of trustees for persons 
of another race. ”

8. The establishment, maintenance and administration of 
public schools in Clarendon County, South Carolina is vested 
[fol. 10] in the County Board of Education, County Super­
intendent of Education, Board of Trustees and a Superin­
tendent of Schools of each school district of the County. 
(Constitution of South Carolina of 1895, Article II, sections 
1 and 2, Code of Laws of South Carolina of 1942, sections 
5301, 5316, 5328, 5404 and 5405)

9. The public schools of the County of Clarendon, South 
Carolina, are under the direct control and supervision of 
defendants acting as administrative departments or di-



8

visions of the State of South Carolina. (Code of Laws of 
South Carolina 1942, sections 5301, 5328, 5404, 5405) De­
fendants are under a duty to maintain an efficient system of 
Public Schools in Clarendon County, South Carolina (Code 
of Laws of South Carolina 1942, sections 5301, 5303 and 
5328)

10. The defendants and each of them have at all times 
enforced and unless restrained as the result of this action, 
will continue to enforce the provisions of the Constitution 
and laws of the State of South Carolina set out in paragraph 
“ 7” , of this complaint. In enforcement of these provisions 
the defendants have set up and are maintaining* one group 
of elementary and high schools for all eligible students of 
Clarendon County other than Negroes and another group of 
schools for students considered to be of Negro descent. 
This separation, segregation and exclusion is based solely 
upon the race and/or color of the plaintiffs and those on 
whose behalf this action is brought and is in violation of 
the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to 
the Constitution of the United States. No group of students 
save those of Negro descent are excluded from the public 
schools of Clarendon County set apart for “ white”  
students.

11. The public schools of Clarendon County set apart for 
white students and from which all Negro students are ex­
cluded are superior in plant, equipment, curricula, and in 
all other material respects to the schools set apart for 
Negro students. The defendants by enforcing the pro- 
[fol. 11] visions of the Constitution and laws of South Caro­
lina as set out above exclude all Negro students from the 
“ white”  public schools and thereby deprive plaintiffs and 
others on whose behalf this action is brought solely because 
of race and color, of the opportunity of attending the only 
public schools in Clarendon County where they can obtain 
an education equal to that offered all qualified students who 
are not of Negro descent.

12. The public school system in School District #22, and 
in the Summerton High School District, Clarendon County, 
South Carolina, is maintained on a segregated basis. White 
children attend the Summerton Elementary School and 
Summerton High School, Negro children are compelled to



9

attend the Scotts Branch High School, the Liberty Hill 
Elementary School and the Rambay Elementary School 
solely because of their race and color. The Scotts Branch 
High School, Liberty Hill Elementary School and the Ram­
bay Elementary School are unequal and inferior to the 
Summerton High School and the Summerton Elementary 
School maintained for white children of public school age. 
In short, plaintiffs and other Negro children of public school 
age in Clarendon County, South Carolina are being denied 
equal educational advantages in violation of the Constitu­
tion of the United States.

13. Plaintiffs have filed petitions with defendants, County 
Board of Education of Clarendon County, County super­
intendent of Schools and the Board of Trustees for School 
District #22, requesting that defendants cease discriminat­
ing against Negro children of public school age attending 
public schools in Clarendon County, South Carolina and 
defendants have failed and refused to cease discriminating 
against plaintiffs and the class they represent solely be­
cause of their race and color in violation of their rights to 
equal protection of the laws provided by the Fourteenth 
Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

14. Plaintiffs and others similarly situated are suffering 
irreparable injury and are threatened by irreparable in- 
[fol. 12] jury in the future by reason of the acts herein com­
plained of. They have no plain, adequate or complete 
remedy to redress the wrongs and illegal acts herein com­
plained of other than this suit for declaration of rights and 
an injunction. Any other remedy to which plaintiffs and 
those similarly situated could be remitted would be attended 
by such uncertainties and delays as to deny substantial 
relief, would involve a multiplicity of suits, cause further 
irreparable injury and occasion damage, vexation and in­
convenience not only to the plaintiff and those similarly situ­
ated, but to defendants as governmental agencies.

15. Wherefore, plaintiffs respectfuly pray that upon the 
filing of this complaint, as may appear proper and con­
venient, the Court convene a three-judge court as required 
by Article 28, United States Code, Section 2281, 2284, ad­
vance this cause on the docket and order a speedy hearing



10

on this action according to law, and that upon such hear­
ing :

1. This Court adjudge, decree and declare the rights 
and legal relations of the parties to the subject mat­
ter here in controversy in order that such declaration 
shall have the force and effect of a final judgment or 
decree.

2. This Court enter a judgment or decree declaring 
that the policy, custom, practice and usage of defend­
ants, and each of them, in denying on account of their 
race and color, to infant plaintiffs and other Negro 
children of public school age in Clarendon County, 
South Carolina, elementary and secondary educational 
opportunities, advantages and facilities equal to those 
afforded to white children is a denial of the equal 
protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

3. This Court enter a judgment or decree declaring 
that the policy, custom, practice and usage of defend­
ants, and each of them, in refusing to allow infant plain­
tiffs, and other Negro children, to attend elementary 
and secondary public schools in Clarendon County, 
South Carolina which are maintained and operated ex- 
[fol. 13] clusively for white children is a violation of 
the equal protection of the laws as guaranteed under 
the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States.

4. This Court enter a judgment or decree declaring 
that Article II, section 7 of the Constitution of South 
Carolina (1895) and section 5377 of the Code of Laws 
of South Carolina of 1942 which require that infant 
plaintiffs be forced to attend separate and segregated 
schools solely because of their race and color is a denial 
of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States 
and are therefore unconstitutional and void.

5. That the Court issue a permanent injunction for­
ever restraining and enjoining the defendants, and 
each of them, from denying, failing or refusing to pro­
vide to infant plaintiffs and other Negro school chil­
dren in Clarendon County, South Carolina, on account



11

of their race and color, rights and privileges of attend­
ing public schools where they may receive educational 
opportunities, advantages and facilities equal to these 
afforded to white children.

6. That the Court issue a permanent injunction for­
ever restraining and enjoining the defendants, and 
each of them, from making any distinction based upon 
race or color in making available to the plaintiffs what­
ever opportunities, advantages and facilities are pro­
vided by the defendants for the public education of 
school children in Clarendon County, South Carolina.

7. That the Court issue a temporary and permanent 
injunction restraining and enjoining the defendants 
and each of them from operating, executing or enforcing 
Article II, section 7 of the Constitution of South Caro­
lina (1895) and section 5377 of the Code of Laws of 
South Carolina of 1942.

8. Plaintiffs further pray that the Court will allow 
them their costs herein and such further, other or addi­
tional relief as may appear to the Court to be equitable 
and just.

Harold R. Boulware, 11091/2 Washington Street, 
Columbia, S. C.; Robert L. Carter, Thurgood 
Marshall, 20 West 40 Street, New York 18, 
N. Y., Attorneys for Plaintiffs. (Seal.)

A True Copy. Attest: Ernest N. Allen, Clerk of 
U. S. District Court, East Dist., So. Carolina.

Dated: December 19, 1950.



12

I n  U nited  S tates D istrict  C ourt 

[Title omitted]

A n sw er—Filed January 18, 1951
The defendants above named, answering the complaint 

herein, respectfully show and allege:

For a First Defense:
1. That on information and belief the defendants admit 

the allegations contained in paragraph 1 of the complaint, 
except so much thereof as alleges that the amount in con­
troversy exceeds, exclusive of interest and costs, the sum 
of $3,000, and so much of paragraph 1 of the complaint as 
alleges that the plaintiffs, or any of them, have been de­
prived of any right, privilege or immunity secured by the 
Constitution of the United States or by the laws of the 
United States, which on information and belief they deny.

2. The defendants deny the allegation contained in para­
graph 2 of the complaint, and on the contrary allege and 
show that the only matter in controversy between the plain­
tiffs and the defendants is whether on account of race or 
color the defendant The Board of Trustees for School 
District No. 22, Clarendon County, South Carolina, had de­
nied to plaintiffs schools and educational opportunities, 
[fol. 15] advantages and facilities substantially equal to 
those afforded white children attending the schools of 
School District No. 22 in Clarendon County.

3. That on information and belief the defendants admit 
the allegations contained in paragraph 3 (a), and on in­
formation and belief admit the allegations contained in 
paragraph 3 (b), of the complaint.

4. That on information and belief the defendants deny 
the allegations contained in paragraph 4 of the complaint.

5. Answering the allegations contained in paragraph 
5 (a) of the complaint, they admit so much thereof as al­
leges that the defendants A. J. Plowden and W. E. Baker 
are members of the County Board of Education of Claren­
don County, South Carolina, and that the said Board was

[fol. 14] [File endorsement omitted]



13

created by Section 5316 of the Code of Laws of South Caro­
lina, 1942, and for its powers, duties and functions they 
crave reference to the Constitution and Statutes of the 
said State.

6. Answering the allegations contained in paragraph 
5 (b), the defendant admit that the defendant L. B. McCord 
is Chairman of the County Board of Education of Claren­
don County and County Superintendent of Education of 
the said county, and crave reference to the Constitution 
and Statutes of the said State for his powers, duties and 
functions.

7. Answering the allegations contained in paragraphs
5 (c) and 5 (d) of the complaint, they admit so much 
thereof as alleges that the defendant R. W. Elliott is Chair­
man of the Board of Trustees of School District No. 22 of 
Clarendon County, South Carolina, and that the defend­
ants J. D. Carson and George Kennedy are members of the 
said Board, and that the defendant R. W. Elliott is the 
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Summerton High 
School District, and that the Board of Trustees of School 
District No. 22 of Clarendon County, South Carolina, ex­
ists pursuant to the laws of South Carolina, and they crave 
reference to the Constitution and Statutes of said State 
for its fiowers, duties and functions.
[fol. 16] 8. Answering the allegations contained in para­
graphs 5 (e) and 5 (f) of the complaint, they admit the 
same.

9. Answering the allegations contained in paragraphs
6 (a), 7 and 8 of the complaint, they crave reference to the 
Constitution and Statutes of the State of South Carolina 
applicable to public education, the system of free public 
schools, the establishment of separate schools for colored 
and white persons, and the establishment, maintenance, 
management, control and administration of the public 
system in Clarendon County, South Carolina.

10. Answering the allegations contained in paragraph 9 
of the complaint, they deny the same on information and 
belief, and on the contrary allege and show that School 
District No. 22 is by law under the management and con­
trol of the Board of Trustees of the said school district, 
and they crave reference to the Constitution and Statutes 
of the State of South Carolina relating to and prescribing



14

the powers, duties and functions of the several defendants 
in relation to the public schools in Clarendon County, 
South Carolina, and in said School District No. 22 of the 
said county.

11. Answering the allegations contained in paragraphs 
10, 11 and 12 of the complaint, they admit so much thereof 
as alleges that in obedience to the constitutional mandate 
contained in Article 11, Section 7, of the Constitution of 
South Carolina, separate schools are provided for the 
children of the white and colored races, and that no child 
of either race is permitted to attend a school provided for 
children of the other race. They also admit so much thereof 
as alleges that the Summerton Elementary School has been 
provided in said district for white children, and that Scott’s 
Branch High School, the Liberty Hill Elementary School, 
and the Rambay Elementary School have been provided 
for Negro children. They allege that the school known 
as the Summerton High School is not a school of School 
District No. 22, but is a school of Summerton High School 
District, a separate corporate school district over which 
the Board of Trustees of said School District No. 22 have 
no control, which is attended by the white high school 
children residing in School District No. 22, along with the 
[fol. 17] white high school children of the other four school 
districts which comprise such centralized high school dis­
trict. They deny the remaining allegations contained in said 
paragraphs, and on the contrary allege on information and 
belief that the schools of School District No. 22 and the 
educational opportunities provieed for Negro school chil­
dren attending the schools of said district are substantially 
equal to those provided for white school children attend­
ing the schools of said district.

12. Answering the allegations contained in paragraph 13, 
the defendants admit so much thereof as alleges that the 
petition dated November 11, 1949, a copy of which is hereto 
attached and marked “ Exhibit A ”  and made a part hereof, 
was filed by the plaintiffs. They deny on information and 
belief so much of said paragraph as alleges that the plain­
tiffs and the class they represent are discriminated against 
solely because of their race and color, and that their right 
to equal protection of the laws provided by the Fourteenth



15

Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is 
being violated. On the contrary, they allege on informa­
tion and belief that the facts and circumstances relating 
to the controversy between the plaintiffs and the defend­
ants are as set forth and found in the decision of the Board 
of Trustees of the said School District No. 22 filed Feb­
ruary 20, 1950, a copy of which is hereto attached and 
marked ‘ ‘ Exhibit B ’ ’ and made a part hereof.

13. That on information and belief they deny the allega­
tions contained in paragraph 14.

For a Second Defense:
That this action is in part predicated upon the alleged 

failure of the defendant The Board of Trustees for School 
District No. 22, Clarendon County, South Carolina, and 
the individual members comprising the same, to provide 
schools and educational opportunities for colored school 
children attending the schools of School District No. 22 
in Clarendon County which are substantially equal to those 
provided for the white school children attending the schools 
of the said school district.
[fol. 18] That on the 9th day of February, 1950, the said 
Board of Trustees of School District No. 22 held a hearing 
upon a petition presented to said board by the plaintiffs 
herein, a copy of which petition is hereto attached and 
marked “ Exhibit A ”  and made a part hereof, at ehich 
hearing the plaintiffs as petitioners were represented by 
and heard through their counsel.

That on the 20th day of February, 1950, the said Board 
of Trustees of School District No. 22, after due considera­
tion of the matters arid things set forth in the said peti­
tion, made and filed its decision thereon, a copy of which 
decision is hereto attached and marked “ Exhibit B ”  and 
made a part hereof.

That the matters and things set forth in the said peti­
tion, and passed upon in the said decision, are matters of 
local controversy between the Board of Trustees of the 
said school district and the plaintiffs in reference to the 
construction and administration of the school laŵ s, to de­
termine which the County Board of Education of Claren­
don County is by Section 5317 of the Code of Laws of



16

South Carolina, 1942, constituted a tribunal, with the power 
to summon witnesses and take testimony, if necessary, and 
make a decision which is binding upon the parties to the 
controversy, with either of the parties having the right to 
appeal to the State Board of Education under Sections 
5281 and 5317 of the said Code of Laws, whose decision 
“ shall be final upon the matter at issue.”

That the provision of school buildings is within the func­
tions devolved by law upon the trustees of the respective 
school districts of each county, and each school district is 
by law placed under the management and control of the 
board of trustees thereof, and the matters and things set 
forth in the said petition and involved in this action are 
matters of local controversy in reference to the construc­
tion or administration of the school laws, for the determi­
nation of which the administrative procedure and adminis­
trative remedies are provided in said laws, so that adminis­
trative means and power will exist to direct affirmative ac­
tion on the part of boards of trustees in cases where it may 
[fol. 19] be determined that they have not properly or law­
fully constructed or administered the said school laws.

That the plaintiffs have taken no action to challenge 
the validity or correctness of the decision of the Board of 
Trustees of School District No. 22, filed on the 20th day 
of February, 1950, before the County Board of Education of 
Clarendon County, or to appeal the same to the State Board 
of Education, and it is respectfully prayed and moved by the 
defendants that the Court conclude and hold that this action 
for a declaratory judgment should not be entertained and 
decided by this Court unless and until the plaintiffs have 
availed themselves of the administrative procedure and 
remedies provided in and by the school laws of the State 
of South Carolina.

For a Third Defense:
That this action is in part predicated upon the assertion 

that Article 11, Section 7, of the Constitution of the State 
of South Carolina, 1895, and Section 5377 of the Code of 
Laws of South Carolina, 1942, providing that separate 
schools shall be provided for children of the white and col­
ored races, and prohibiting shildren of either race from



17

attending schools provided for children of the other race, 
deny equal protection of the laws to the plaintiffs, in viola­
tion of Article Fourteen of the Amendments to the Con­
stitution of the United States.

That the State constitutional and statutory provisions re­
ferred to were adopted in the exercise of the police power of 
the State of South Carolina, and are a reasonable exercise 
of such power, taking into account the established usages, 
customs and traditions of the people of the said State, the 
promotion of their comfort, and the preservation of the 
public peace and good order.

That in and by said constitutional and statutory pro­
visions the State of South Carolina has secured to each of 
its citizens equal rights before the law and educational op­
portunities, advantages and facilities which, while not iden­
tical, are substantially equal.
[fol. 20] That the constitutional and statutory provisions 
under attack herein, as a reasonable exercise of the State’s 
police power under all of the considerations and circum­
stances which it may in good faith take into account in 
measures for the promotion of the public good, is valid 
under the powers possessed by the State of South Carolina 
under the Constitution of the United States, and cannot be 
held unconstitutional by this Court.

Wherefore, Having fully answered the said complaint, 
the defendants pray that the same be dismissed.

(S.) S. E. Rogers, Summerton, S. C. (S.) Robert 
McC. Figg, Jr., 207 Peoples Office Building, 
Charleston, S. C. Attorneys for the Defendants.

2—101



18

[ fo l . 21] “ E x h ib it  A ”  to A nsw er

P etition

S tate oe S o u th  Carolin a ,
County of Clarendon:

T o : The Board of Trustees for School District Number 22, 
Clarendon County, South Carolina, R. W. Elliott, Chair­
man, J. D. Carson and George Kennedy, Members; The 
County Board of Education for Clarendon County, South 
Carolina, L. B. McCord, Chairman, Superintendent of 
Education for Clarendon County, A. J. Plowden, W. E. 
Baker, Members, and H. B. Betchman, Superintendent 
of School District #22.

Your petitioners, Harry, Eliza, Harry, Jr., Thomas Lee, 
Katherine Briggs, and Thomas Gamble; Henry, Thelma, 
Vera, Beatrice, Willie, Marian, Ethel Mae and Howard 
Brown; James Theola, Thomas Euralia and Joe Morris 
Brown; Onetha, Hercules and Hilton Bennett; William, 
Annie, William Jr., Maxine and Harold Gibson; Robert, 
Carrie, Charlie and Jervine Georgia; Gladys and Joseph 
Hilton; Lila Mae, Celestine and Juanita Huggins; Gussie 
and Roosevelt Hilton; Thomas, Blanche E., Lillie Eva, 
Rubie Lee, Betty J., Bobby M. and Preston Johnson; Susan, 
Raymond, Eddie Lee and Susan Ann Lawson; Frederick, 
Willie and Mary Oliver; Mose, Leroy and Mitchel Oliver; 
Bennie, Jr., Plummie and Celestine Parson; Edward, 
Sarah, Shirley and Deloris Ragin; Hazel, Zelia and Sarah 
Ellen Ragin; Rebecca and Mable Ragin; William and Glen 
Ragin; Lychrisher, Elane and Emanuel Richardson; Re­
becca and Rebecca I. Richburg; E. E. and Albert Rich- 
burg; Lee, Bessie, Morgan and Samuel Gary Johnson; 
Lee, James, Charles, Annie L., Dorothy and Jackson 
Richardson; Mary 0., Francis and Benie Lee Lawson; 
Mary, Daisy and Louis, Jr., Oliver; Esther F. Singleton 
and Janie Fludde; Henry, Mary and Irene Scott; Willie 
M., Gardenia, Willie M. Jr., Gardenia, and Louis W. 
Stukes; Gabriel and Annie Tindal, Mary L. and Lilliam 
Bennett, children of public school age, eligible for elemen­
tary and high school education in the public schools of 
School District #22, Clarendon County, South Carolina,



19

their parents, guardians and next friends respectfully 
represent:
[fol. 22] 1. That they are citizens of the United States
and of the State of South Carolina and reside in School 
District #22 in Clarendon County and State of South 
Carolina.

2. That the individual petitioners are Negro children of 
public school age who reside in said county and school dis­
trict and now attend the public schools in School District 
#22, in Clarendon County, South Carolina, and their 
parents and guardians.

3. That, the public school system in School District #22, 
Clarendon County, South Carolina, is maintained on a 
separate, segregated basis, with white children attending 
the Summerton High School and the Summerton Elemen­
tary School, and Neg*ro children forced to attend the Scott 
Branch High School, the Liberty Hill Elementary School 
or Rambay Elementary School solely because of their race 
and color.

4. That the Scott’s Branch High School is a combination 
of an elementary and high school, and the Liberty Hill and 
Rambay Elementary Schools are elementary schools solely.

5. That the facilities, physical condition, sanitation and 
protection from the elements in the Scott’s Branch High 
School, the Liberty Hill Elementary School and Rambay 
Elementary School, the only three schools to which Negro 
pupils are permitted to attend, are inadequate and 
unhealthy, the buildings and schools are old and over­
crowded and in a dilapidated condition; the facilities, 
physical condition, sanitation and protection from the 
elements in the Summerton High in the Summerton 
Elementary Schools in school district number twenty-two 
are modern, safe, sanitary, well equipped, lighted and 
healthy and the buildings and schools are new, modern, 
uncrowded and maintained in first class condition.

6. That the said schools attended by Negro pupils have 
an insufficient number of teachers and insufficient class 
room space, whereas the white schools have an adequate 
complement of teachers and adequate class room space for 
the students.

7. That the said Scott’s Branch High School is wholly 
deficient and totally lacking in adequate facilities for teach-



20

[fol. 23] ing courses in General Science, Physics and 
Chemistry, Industrial Arts and Trades, and has no 
adequate library and no adequate accom-odations for the 
comfort and convenience of the students.

8. That there is in said elementary and high schools 
maintained for Negroes no appropriate and necessary cen­
tral heating system, running water or adequate lights.

9. That the Summerton High School and Summerton 
Elementary School, maintained for the sole use, comfort 
and convenience of the white children of said district and 
county, are modern and accredited schools with central 
heating, running water, adequate electric lights, library 
and up to date equipment.

10. That Scott’s Branch High School is without services 
of a janitor or janitors, while at the same time janitorial 
services are provided for the high school maintained for 
white children.

11. That Negro children of public school age are not 
provided any bus transportation to carry them to and from 
school while sufficient bus transportation is provided to 
white children traveling to and from schools which are 
maintained for them.

12. That said schools for Negroes are in an extremely 
dilapidated condition, without heat of any kind other than 
old stoves in each room, that said children must provide 
their own fuel for said, stoves in order to have heat in the 
rooms, and that they are deprived of equal educational 
advantages with respect to those available to white children 
of public school age of the samd district and country.

13. That the Negro children of the public school age in 
School District #22 and in Clarendon County are being 
discriminated against solely because of their race and color 
in violation of their rights to equal protection of the laws 
provided by the 14th amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States.

14. That without the immediate and active intervention 
of this Board of Trustees and County Board of Educa­
tion, the Negro children of public school age of aforesaid 
district and county will continue to be deprived of their 
constitutional rights to equal protection of the laws and to 
freedom from discrimination because of race or color in 
the educational facilities and advantages which the said



21

[fol. 24] District #22 and Clarendon Comity are under a 
duty to afford and make available to children of school age 
within their jurisdiction.

Wherefore, Your petitioners request that: (1) the Board 
of Trustees of School District Number twenty-two, the 
County Board of Education of Clarendon County and the 
Superintendent of School District #22 immediately cease 
discriminating against Negro children of public school age 
in said district and county and immediately make available 
to your petitioners and all other Negro children of public 
school age similarly situated educational advantages and 
facilities equal in all respects to that which is being pro­
vided for whites; (2) That they be permitted to appear 
before the Board of Trustees of District #22 and before 
the County Board of Education of Clarendon, by their 
attorneys, to present their complaint; (3) Immediate action 
on this request.

(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)

(Signed)

(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)

Dated 11 November 1949
Harry Briggs 
Eliza Briggs 
Harry Briggs, Jr. 
Thomas Lee 

 ̂Briggs
Katherine Eliza 

Briggs
Thomas Gamble 
Henry Brown 
Thelma Brown 
Yera Brown 
Beatrice Brown 
Willie II. Brown 
Marion Brown 
Ethel Mae Brown 
Howard Brown 
James Brown 
Theola Brown 
Thomas Brown 
Euralia Brown 
Joe Morris Brown 
Onetha Bennett 
Hercules Bennett

(Signed) Maxine Gibson 
(Signed) Harold Gibson 
(Signed) Robert Georgia 
(Signed) Carrie Georgia 
(Signed) Charlie Georgia 
(Signed) Jervine Georgia 
(Signed) Gladys E. Hilton 
(Signed) Joseph Hilton 
(Signed) Henrietta Hug­

gins
(Signed) Lila Mae Huggins 
(Signed) Celestine Huggins 
(Signed) Juanita Huggins 
(Signed) Gussie Hilton 
(Signed) Roosevelt Hilton 
(Signed) Thomas Johnson 
(Signed) Blanch E. John­

son
(Signed) Lillie Eva John­

son
(Signed) Rubie Lee John­

son
(Signed) Betty J. Johnson



22

[fol. 25] (Signed) Hilton C. 
Bennett

(Signed) William Gibson 
(Signed) Annie Gibson 
(Signed) William Gibson, 

Jr.
(Signed) Eddie Lee Law-

(Signed)

(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)

(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)

(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)

(Signed)
(Signed)

(Signed)
(Signed)

(Signed)
(Signed)

son
Snsan Ann Law- 

son
Frederick Oliver 
Willie Oliver 
Mary Oliver 
R. M. Mose Oliver 
Leroy Oliver 
Mitchel Oliver 
Bennie Parson,

Jr.
Plummie Parson 
Celestine Parson 
Edward Ragin 
Sarab Ragin 
Shirley Eagin 
Deloris Eagin 
Hazel Eagin 
Zelia Eagin 
Sarah Ellen 

Eagin
Eebecca Ragin 
Mable Eagin 
William Ragin 
Ellen Ragin 
Lnchrisker 

Richardson 
Elane Richardson 
Emanuel L.

Richardson 
Rebecca Riehburg 
Rebecca I.

Riehburg 
E. E. Riehburg 
Albert Riehburg

''Signed) 
f Signed) 
(Signed) 
(Signed)

(Signed)

(Signed)

(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)

Lee Johnson 
Bessie Johnson 
Morgan Johnson 
Samuel Gary 

J ohnson
Bobby M. John­

son
Preston Johnson, 

Jr.
Susan Lawson 
Raymon Lawson 
Lee Richardson 
James Richard­

son
(Signed) Charles Richard­

son
(Signed) Annie L. Rich­

ardson
(Signed) Dorothy I. Rich­

ardson
(Signed) Jackson Richard-

(Signed) 
(Signed) 
(Signed)

(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)

(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)
(Signed)

(Signed)

(Signed)

son
Mary 0. Lawson 
Francis Lawson 
Bennie Lee Law- 

son
Mary J. Oliver 
Daisy D. Oliver 
Louis Oliver, Jr. 
Esther F.

Singleton 
Janie L. Fludde 
Henry Scott 
Mary Scott 
Irene Scott 
Willie M. Stukes 
Gardenia Stukes 
Willie Modd 

Stukes, Jr. 
Gardenia E. 

Stukes
Louis W. Stukes



23

(Signed) Gabriel Tindal 
(Signed) Annie S. Tindal
[fol. 26] Attorneys for Peti­

tioners :
(Signed) Harold E. Boni- 

ware

(Signed) Mary L. Bennett 
(Signed) Lillian Bennett
(Signed) Thurgood Mar­

shall
(Signed) Robert L. Carter

[fol. 27] “ E xhibit B ”  t o  A nswer

Before the Board of Trustees of School District No. 22
State oe South Carolina,

County of Clarendon:

In Re: H arry  B riggs, et ah, Petitioners 

Decision of the Board
This matter comes before the Board on the Petition of 

Harry, Eliza, Harry, Jr., Thomas Lee, Katherine Briggs, 
Thomas Gamble, and others, dated November 11, 1949; the 
matters and things alleged in the Petition are clearly matter 
of local controversy with reference to the construction and 
administration of school laws, and clearly come within the 
purview of Section 5317, 5343, 5358, and related sections of 
the Code of Laws for South Carolina for 1942, and the 
Board of Trustees has original jurisdiction to hear the mat­
ters and things complained of. Accordingly, the Petitioners 
were granted a hearing on the 9th day of February, 1950, at 
which all of the members of the Board were present, and at 
which the Petitioners were represented by Counsel, who 
made an argument to the Board. Although an opportunity 
was afforded to the Petitioners to introduce any testimony 
relating to the allegations of the Petition, the Attorney for 
the Petitioners, conceding that the Board was familiar with 
all of the facts relating to the matters and things complained 
of, did not offer testimony or other evidence of any kind 
whatsoever.

After investigation and careful consideration, the Board 
finds as follows: 1

1. The allegations of the first and second paragraphs of 
the Petition are found to be true;



24

2. It is true that the public school system in School Dis­
trict No. 22 is maintained on a separate and segregated basis 
[fol. 28] as required by the Constitution and Laws of the 
State of South Carolina, with the Negro children attending 
schools maintained for them and the white children attend­
ing schools maintained for them. The records of the district 
show that there — 684 negro children of elementary school 
age residing in, and attending the public schools of, School 
District No. 22, and that there are 102 white children of 
elementary school age residing in, and attending the public 
schools of, School District No. 22. That likewise, there are 
34 white children of high school age residing in School Dis­
trict No. 22, and 150 negro children of high school age at­
tending the public schools of School District No. 22; that 
because of the great number of negro elementary school 
students, the Board, in the exercise of its discretion and in 
order to furnish education facilities which it deemed to be 
to the greatest advantage and convenience of the children 
and the patrons of th- school system, established and main­
tains three elementary schools for negro children, located in 
different parts of the District, to-wit: The Rambay Ele­
mentary School, Liberty Hill Elementary School, and 
Scott’s Branch Elementary School; because of the small 
number of white elementary school children residing in 
District 22, it was impracticable to operate and maintain 
more than one elementary school for white children in the 
District, and this is maintained in Summerton. The number 
of negroes of High school age warranted the establishment 
and maintenance of a high school in the District for negroes 
and this is maintained in Summerton as the Scott’s Branch 
High School. The number of white high school students 
residing in the District would not, in the opinion of the 
Trustees, warrant the maintenance of a high school for white 
students by District No. 22; therefore, no high school for 
white students is maintained;

3. The allegations of paragraph 4 are true;
[fol. 29] 4. With reference to the allegations of paragraph
5 of the Petition, the Rambay School was erected within the 
last 6 years, the Liberty Hill School and the Scott’s Branch 
School were erected less than 15 years ag*o; that these 
schools were erected with the advice and co-operation of the 
State Department of Education and according to the latest



25

approved plans for educational buildings in use at the time; 
and in line with the trends for school buildings, are of one­
storied construction for safety in the event of storm or fire, 
with proper placement of windows for correct lighting for 
student use for the prevention of eye strain, are strongly 
constructed and storm sheeted, and in all respects were 
properly constructed and maintained and are not in poor 
physical condition or in a delapidated condition. The white 
school, maintained by School District No. 22 in Summerton, 
being the only one maintained by the District, is a two- 
storied building made of sand block dug from the premises, 
erected in 1907; improperly lighted and fails in every re­
spect to meet the requirements of modern school architec­
ture. A comparison of the white school and the colored 
school in Summerton, both maintained by the District is 
revealing. The white school as stated above is more than 
43 years old, is a two-storied structure, contains 8 rooms, is 
improperly lighted according to modern standards, is 
antiquated, and its physical condition is such that it has 
been a source of dissatisfaction to both patrons and trustees. 
It was erected at an original cost of approximately $25,- 
000.00, is now insured with the sinking fund for $28,000.00, 
and there is a possibility of the insured value being cut even 
lower than this. The Scott’s Branch School is less than 15 
years old, is built according to approved plans for educa­
tional buildings, taking into consideration the proper light­
ing and protection from fire, contains in the main building 
10 rooms and 3 additional rooms have been recently con­
structed by the Trustees, making a total of 13 rooms avail­
able. Its original cost was approximately $18,000.00 and 
[fob 30] the building is now insured for $24,000.00. Neither 
of the schools has a central heating system, both being 
heated by individual stoves in the various rooms. The play­
grounds provided and used in connection with Scott’s 
Branch School are approximately 7 times the size of the 
playgrounds of the white school. The white school is located 
in one of the lowest areas in the Town, and on two highways 
and on a Street over which passes the traffic of two main 
North-South Highways. Since its erection, the shift of 
white population has caused it to be most inconvenient and 
hazardous. The Scott’s Branch High School is erected on 
a site selected with advice of the patrons with due ragard for



26

the safety of the children and the convenience of the patrons. 
A  cursory inspection only will reveal that the facilities, 
physical condition, equipment, safety, and protection from 
the elements are accordingly better with the negro schools 
than the whites, although the Trustees are of the opinion 
that they are in all respects substantially equal;

With reference to sanitation, all of the negro schools are 
provided with sanitary toilet facilities erected according to 
the specifications of the State Health Department. These 
same facilities were in use in the white schools until the 
Town of Summerton installed a municipal water and sewer­
age system. This system happens to service the area in 
which the white school is located, and after its installation 
by the municipal authorities, the Board of Trustees per­
mitted the white Parent-Teacher Association to install sani­
tary toilet facilities in two of the cloak rooms of the white 
school. The municipal sewerage system does not serve the 
area in which the Scott’s Branch School is situate, and no 
such request has been received from the Patrons ’ organiza­
tion of the Scott’s Branch School, and because of the fact 
that the municipal system does not serve the area in which 
[fob 31] Scott’s Branch School is located, it would be im­
practicable for sanitary toilet facilities to be installed 
therein. Certainly, however, there has been no discrimina­
tion by the Board on account of color in its failure to provide 
such facilities, first because the municipal sewer system is 
not available, and second because the Board of Trustees did 
not make the installation in the white school, but the same 
was done by the patrons of the school. It is worth comment, 
however, that although the municipal water system does not 
serve the area in which the negro school is located, the 
Board, at a great expense to itself, laid a water line from the 
municipal system to the Scott’s Branch School for the pur­
pose of furnishing municipal water, which is regularly in­
spected, to the negro students, which line was installed and 
terminated under the direction of the colored school au­
thorities. The patrons of the white school, not the school 
board, furnished drinking fountains for the white school. 
There are no inside drinking fountains in the Scott’s Branch 
School, but if the patrons desire to install them, there cer­
tainly would be no objections to their being installed. The 
School Board even went further and installed the outside



27

drinking fountains at the Scott’s Branch School, although 
they did not do so at the white school;

5. With reference to the allegations of paragraph 6, the 
Board calls attention to the fact that the State Aid for the 
payment of teachers ’ salary is based upon average attend­
ance. The average attendance in the white school of the 
district is 95%, while the average attendance at the negro 
school is 72%. The Board, in hiring teachers for both white 
and colored schools, is governed by the State Aid, and 
teachers for all schools, both white and colored, in the Dis­
trict, are hired on the basis of this, and there is no dis­
crimination in the hiring of teachers on the basis of color; 
[fol. 32] The school operated for whites has 7 rooms for 
class room for class room purposes, and 7 teachers. The 
Scott’s Branch School has 13 rooms for class room pur­
poses and 14 teachers. The average attendance in the white 
school is 190. The average attendance in the Scott’s Branch 
School is 468. Attention should be called to the fact that 
the white school building, errected in 1907, formerly housed 
an elementary school and a high school, but that the number 
of white high school students available in the district be­
came so small as not to warrant the continuance of a high 
school by the District, and the same was eleiminated in 
1935, while District has conducted no white high school since 
then, the white elementary school continues to use the 
building;

6. The allegations of paragraph 7, 8, 10 and 12 allege 
that the Scott’s Branch High School is deficient and totally 
lacking in adequate facilities for teaching courses in general 
science, physics, chemistry, and industrial arts and trades, 
has no adequate library, and no adequate accommodations 
for the convenience of the students. That there is no cen­
tral heating system, running water, or adequate lights, and 
that the Scott’s Branch High School is without the serv­
ices of a janitor or janitors, while paragraph No. 9 alleges 
that the white schools have such services. These allegations 
are based upon incorrect information. The fact that neither 
the white nor the colored schools have central heating 
system has been clarified hereinabove. Both have running 
water and both have adequate electric lights. There is no 
running water at the Rambay or Liberty Hill Schools, 
because there is no running water available. Liberty Hill



28

School has electric lights. There is no electric line in the 
vicinity of Rambay School. Fuel for all schools in the 
District, both white and colored, is furnished by the Board 
on request of the principal of the school, and it appears 
that all such fuel has been furnished for the present school 
year by the Board.
[fol. 33] Facilities are furnished in Scott’s Branch High 
School for the teaching of general science, chemistry, and 
agriculture. No such facilities are furnished by the District 
at the white High School, inasmuch as the district maintains 
no high school for whites, there being insufficient white 
pupils in the District to warrant the maintenance of such 
a school. The Scott’s Branch School Library contains 1678 
books, containing 56 encyclopedias, 21 progressive refer­
ence sets, 3 dictionaries, and other books of suitable mate­
rial for a school library. The white school library contains 
only 642 volum-s with 9 reference sets. None of the li­
braries are furnished to any of the schools but have been 
donated by various individuals and organizations. The 
white elementary school has part time janitorial service. 
The janitorial services of the white school are furnished 
by one janitor, while at the request of the principal of the 
Scott’s Branch School, the janitorial services there are 
performed by various students selected by the principal. 
The janitor is under the authority of the principal and 
should perform, and does perform, such services as the 
principal requests. The cost of janitorial services for the 
white school to the district is $18.00 per month, while the 
cost of the janitorial services to the colored school is $16.00 
per month. If the method of using students as janitors is 
not satisfactory to the patrons of the colored school, we feel 
sure that the principal would be glad to discontinue the 
same;

7. The allegations of paragraph 11 allege that the negro 
children of public school age are not provided any bus 
transportation, while sufficient bus transportation is pro­
vided for white children. This allegation is based upon 
misinformation. School District No. 22 provided no trans­
portation by bus or otherwise for any students, white or 
colored;

At the request of the Board, the principal of Scott’s 
Branch School made a survey on October 25, 1949, listing



29

[fols. 34-36] the needs of the school. Under that date he 
transmitted to the Board the following recommendations:

“ Wood and Coal
Twelve sc/ittles and shovels
Six Boxes of crayon and 12 erasers
11 doors and window locks
Material (Lumber and Nails) to repair windows and 

sashes
Three additional classrooms
Three additional teachers
One teacher for the 7th grade, one for the second grade, 

and a music teacher for eighth grade, through twelfth 
grade

Sanitary material, toilet paper, soap, powder, etc.
A Janitor for the school which is very essential to good 

health; who will keep plant in a good condition;”

The Board granted every request listed and all of the 
things requested have been furnished, except a music 
teacher. The Board made diligent efforts to locate a 
teacher who could handle music, but so far has not been 
able to find the proper combination. It is fitting to call 
attention to the fact that no music teacher is furnished in 
connection with the white school;

In conclusion, the Board finds that the negro children of 
public school age in school district No. 22 are not being 
discriminated against them because of their race and color, 
and that there is no violation of the rights to equal protec­
tion of the laws as provided by the Constitution of the 
United States, but on the contrary, the Board finds that the 
facilities afforded to the white and negro children of Dis­
trict No. 22, though separate, are substantially equal.

B. M. Elliott, Chairman; C. I). Kennedy, J. B. Car- 
son, Clerk, Trustees of School District No. 22, of 
Clarendon County, South Carolina.

Summerton, S. C.

February 20, 1950.



30

[File endorsement omitted]

I n U nited  S tates D istrict  C ourt

[fol. 37]

[Title omitted]

Transcript of Testimony at Trial—Filed July 25, 1951

At a special term of court, trial of the above case was held 
at Charleston, South Carolina, in the United States Court­
room on May 28-29, 1951, at 10 o ’clock a. m.

Before Honorable John J. Parker, United States Circuit 
Judge (4th Circuit); Honorable J. Waties Waring, 
United States District Judge (EDSC); Honorable George 
Bell Timmerman, United States District Judge 
(E&WDSC)

A ppe aran ce s :

Thurgood Marshall, Esq., (Admitted pro hac vice); 
Robert L. Carter, Esq., (Admitted pro hac vice); Harold R. 
Boulware, Esq.; Spotswood W. Robinson, III, Esq., (Ad­
mitted pro hac vice); A. T. Walden, Esq., (Admitted pro 
hac vice); Arthur Shores, Esq., (Admitted pro hac vice), 
for Plaintiffs.
[fol. 38] Robert McC. Figg, Jr., Esq., S. E. Rogers, Esq., 
T. C. Callison, Esq., Attorney General, State of South 
Carolina, for Defendants.

C olloquy B etw een  C ourt and  C ounsel

Judge Parker: This court is convened in special session 
to hear this case, Briggs and others vs. R. W. Elliott and 
others. Is counsel for the plaintiffs ready?

Mr. Boulware: We are ready, your Honor.
Judge Parker: Are defendants ready?
Mr. F igg: Defendants are ready and I would like to make 

a statement for the defendants, if the Court please. This 
is an action brought by colored children of elementary, 
grammar and high school grades residing in School District 
No. 22 in Clarendon County, and their parents and guard­



3 1

ians, for a declaratory judgment on questions which, from, 
the complaint, may be stated as follows:

(a) Whether their rights under the equal protection of
the laws clause------

Judge Parker: Are you making an opening statement? 
If so, we will hear that in due course.

Mr. F igg: If the Court please, I wanted to make a state­
ment on behalf of defendants that it is conceded that in­
equalities in the facilities, opportunities and curricula in 
the schools of this district do exist. We have found that 
[fol. 39] out from investigating authorities.

Judge Parker: You will do that when you make your 
opening statement.

Mr. Figg: I just thought that if we made the record 
clear and clarified the answer in this case at this time, it 
would serve perhaps to eliminate the necessity of taking a 
great deal of testimony.

Judge Parker: All right: I still think the time to do it is 
when you are making your opening statement, but if you 
want to make it now, go ahead.

Mr. Figg: (a) Whether their rights under the equal pro­
tection of the laws clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to 
educational opportunities, advantages and facilities equal 
to those offered and available to white children of the same 
grades have been denied; and

(b) Whether the provisions of the South Carolina Con­
stitution and statutes “ which prohibit”  the colored children 
of the school district “ from attending the only public 
schools of Clarendon County, South Carolina, affording an 
education equal to that afforded”  to white children are 
violative of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth 
Amendment.

The Answer of the defendants was predicated upon a 
decision of the Board of Trustees of the school district 
made February 20, 1950, a copy of which is attached to the 
Answer, which decision finds that the colored children of 
[fol. 40] the district are not being discriminated against 
because of their race or color, and that the facilities 
afforded to the white and colored children are substantially 
equal, though separate.

The decision of the trustees was subject to review by the



32

county board of education, with the right of appeal to the 
State Board of Education, but no review of the decision of 
the trustees was sought.

The trustees found them, and insist now, that they have 
never intended to discriminate against any one on account 
of race or color in the discharge of their duties, although 
they conceded in their decision, and they now concede the 
existence of differences and inequalities in the white and 
colored school systems in their district. They felt that in 
some respects some colored pupils had inferior facilities, 
and that in some other respects some white pupils had 
inferior facilities, and their finding of substantial equality 
was arrived at by a process of addition and subtraction of 
advantages afforded to one race balanced against those 
afforded to the other, a method of determining equivalency 
which, however, was rejected by the Court of Appeals of 
this circuit in Carter v. School Board of Arlington. County, 
182 F. 2d 531, decided May 31, 1950. It is of no moment 
now whether the sum was right under the method used.

Investigation of the matter and of the authorities bear­
ing on the question has satisfied counsel for the defendants 
[fol. 41] that the educational facilities, equipment, cur­
ricula, and opportunities afforded in School District No. 22 
for colored pupils of the school grades mentioned are not 
substantially equal to those afforded in the District for 
white pupils, and counsel for the defendants have been 
authorized so to state to this Court on the record in this 
case. The differences existing have been a residue of 
growth over a long period of years. Causes could be dis­
cussed, and explanations given which we feel certain would 
sustain the good faith of the trustees in their efforts to 
carry out the difficult and often thankless functions 
devolved upon them.

The school district in question is a rural school district, 
whose economy is almost entirely agricultural. It is well 
known that the smaller and largely rural school districts in 
South Carolina have not kept pace in recent years with the 
larger and urban school districts in the provisions of educa­
tional opportunities and facilities to the children of both 
races. Limited resources have often led trustees to spend 
the funds available to them for the most immediate demand 
rather than in the light of an overall picture. This action



does not involve one of the many large urban districts where 
modern and efficient educational, opportunities in the school 
district’s system have been increasingly developed for the 
pupils of both races alike.

The State of South Carolina has taken cognizance of 
[fol. 42] the situation and of the educational problems pre­
sented, particularly in the rural sections of the State.

In his Inaugural Address delivered January 16, 1951, 
Governor James F. Byrnes said:

“ A primary responsibility of a State is the education 
of its children. While we have done much, we must do 
more. It must be our goal to’ provide for every child 
in this State, white or colored, at least a graded school 
education. . . . We must have a state school building 
program. We will never be able to give the boys and 
girls in the rural sections of the State the school build­
ings and equipment to which they are entitled as long 
as these facilities are furnished only by taxes on the 
real property of a school district. Funds spend for 
school buildings by local governments should be sup­
plemented by a state building program. This program 
will involve the issuance over a period of twenty years 
of bonds to provide 75 million dollars for school con­
struction, which should begin as soon as the national 
emergency permits. . . . One cannot speak frankly 
on this subject without mentioning the race problem. 
It is our duty to provide for the races substantial 
equality in school facilities. We should do it because 
it is right. For me that is sufficient reason. ’ ’

The program recommended by Governor Byrnes has been 
enacted into law, and has the support of the whole State. 
The General Assembly in its 1951 session passed statewide 
legislation of a broad and sweeping nature, dealing with the 
State’s educational problems, and providing among other 
things for a statewide school building program, state opera­
tion of school transportation, and increased teachers sal­
aries. Its purpose is specifically declared to be to insure 
equality of educational opportunity for all children through­
out the State, and it also declares that the responsibility for 
the maintenance of adequate physical facilities in the public

3—101



34

[fol. 43] school system of the State is henceforth a responsi­
bility both local and statewide in nature.

The legislation imposes a 3% sales tax and devotes the 
whole of its proceeds to school purposes. It provides for 
a State bond issue against the funds derived from the sales 
tax, over a 20 year period and of the nature of a revolving 
fund, with a maximum limit at any one time of $75,000,000. 
From the bond funds loans are to be made to the school dis­
tricts of the State over 20 year periods for establishing 
and maintaining adequate physical facilities for the public 
school system, such loans to be on the basis of average 
daily attendance, and also additional annual cash credits to 
the districts on the same basis and for the same purposes.

The legislation will be executed by the State Educational 
Finance Commission, with Governor Byrnes as Chairman, 
and no plan for the improvement of the schools in a county 
can be effective until approved by this Commission, as 
carrying out the stated purposes of the law.

Governor Byrnes has publicly stated that if necessitated 
by a decision of the Supreme Court in a test case pending- 
now in that court in reference to this legislation, he will 
immediately call a special session of the General Assembly 
to consider any further legislation necessary to carry out 
the purposes of the act in insuring equality of educational 
opportunity to all the children throughout the State.
[fol. 44] The sales tax takes effect July 1, 1951, but the 
administrative organization to carry out its other pro­
visions has already been implemented. The defendant 
trustees have already requested a survey by the Director 
of the State Educational Finance Commission of the schools 
of the district, so that they may formulate and submit to 
the proper authorities a plan to bring about as speedily as 
possible equality of buildings, equipment, facilities, and 
other physical aspects of the school system of the district. 
The plan being formulated will include measures to eliminate 
all other inequalities of educational opportunity existing in 
the district’s schools, such as curricula. The trustees pro­
pose to employ every resource at their command under the 
new school legislation to carry out its1 declared purpose in 
their district.

The end to be attained is the education of the children 
of the State. The State of South Carolina, having this



responsibility, has moved, to discharge it, and has provided 
the legislation, resources, and control adequate to its 
discharge. The defendants want to avail themselves of the 
means now at hand to afford to the children of the district 
equal educational opportunity.

The defendants do not oppose an order finding that 
inequalities in respect to buildings, equipment, facilities, 
curricula, and other aspects of the schools provided for the 
white and colored children of School District No. 22 in 
[fol. 45] Clarendon County now exist, and enjoining any 
discrimination in respect thereto.

They urge the Court in its discretion to give them a 
reasonable time to formulate a plan for ending such in­
equalities and for bringing about equality of educational 
opportunity in the schools of the district, so that they may 
present such plan, with the approval of the State authorities 
necessary under the 1951 Act, for the Court’s consideration, 
the Court retaining jurisdiction of the cause in the mean­
time so that it may be enabled to grant such relief as may 
be proper in the event that the defendants should fail to 
comply with the constitutional standards prescribed in the 
applicable decisions.

Judge Parker: Have you filed a copy of that with the 
record!

Mr. Figg: No, sir. I have a copy.
Judge Parker : You wish to have it filed as an amendment 

to your answer or what status' do you give it?
Mr. Figg: Well, I wanted it on the record, if your Honor 

please, for the reasons explained. The answer does not cor­
rectly reflect the situation.

Judge Parker: Let it be filed then as an. amendment to 
the answer. Do you wish to reply to it?

Open in g  S tatem en t  on B eh alf  of P l a in tiff

Mr. Marshall: May it please the Court, I would, with 
the permission of the Court, make an opening statement, 
[fol. 46] and I think I can at the same time answer the state­
ment that has been already made. As I understand, the 
pleadings in this case raise the issue as to whether or not in 
District 22 of Clarendon County and the Summerton High 
School District the Negro pupils and their parents who



36

represent them are being denied equal protection of the laws 
as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. I think the 
issues are clearly drawn. It is our position that the statutes, 
which by the answer and by the designation of District 22 
on the original petition, are clearly in issue. The defend­
ants admit that they are required by these statutes to 
educate Negroes in separate schools and to prevent them 
from being admitted into the schools which are concededly 
the better schools. In attacking these statutes, it is our 
position that there is a two-fold problem: (1) is that the 
schools' are unequal physically as to buildings, equipment, 
and other items, and (2) is that the segregation of pupils 
in and of itself is a form of inequality. As to the conceding 
of the inequality, as representative of the plaintiffs in this 
case, we take the position that the mere, general conceding* 
of these facts is not sufficient. If we are to be permitted 
to put in evidence the material factors necessary to show 
that these statutes as applied are unconstitutional, we must 
be able to show the inequalities as they actually exist. The 
expert witnesses that we want to present to the Court will 
need for their opinions these actual factors of inequalities, 
[fol. 47] And I submit that we should not be prevented from 
presenting the evidence as to these inequalities because we 
conceive of these inequalities as a necessary factor to this 
second point, which is that segregation in and of itself is 
unlawful. In proof thereof we intend to present witnesses 
of two calibre, one to show the actual inequalities, and two, 
to show from an expert point of view the effect of segre­
gation in the County under discussion. And for that reason, 
I submit, may it please the Court, that the statement just 
made has no bearing on this litigation at this stage. I think 
it is an effort to prevent the plaintiffs in this case from 
developing their case in the only fashion which will enable 
us to present a full and complete case.

Judge Parker: We have not objected to any testimony as 
yet. We will pass on that when the objection is made.

Mr. Marshall: Thank you, sir.
Judge Parker: Do you wish to make a further opening 

statement in respect to the case?
Mr. Marshall: No, sir.
Judge Parker: Do you wish to make one other than what 

you have read?



37

Mr. Figg: Nothing but what we have read, sir. 
Judge Parker: Proceed with the witnesses.

[fol. 48] Testimony for plaintiffs:
L. B. McCobd, sworn.

Direct examination.

By Mr. Marshall:
Mr. Marshall: May it please the Court, Mr. McCord is 

a defendant and we would like to proceed under Rule 43 (b).
Judge Parker: All right. Go ahead.
Q. What is your present position in the public school 

system?
A. County Superintenednt of Education.
Q. For Clarendon County?
A. Clarendon County.
Q. How long have you held that position?
A. I have been there about 9 years—about 8 years. I 

am in my 9th year.
Q. You are also Chairman of the County Board of Edu­

cation, are you not?
A. I am.
Q. Will you explain your duties as Chairman of the 

County Board of Education of Clarendon County in a 
general way.

A. Well, as Chairman, I naturally would call a meeting 
of the Board when a meeting is necessary, preside over that 
meeting, and generally direct the affairs.

Q. What jurisdiction is exercised by the County Board 
as to public education in Clarendon County?

A. We have general supervision, I would say.
[fol. 49] Q. Do you have general supervision over the 
public school system in District 22?

A. Well, over certain phases of it.
Q. What phases?
A. Weil, we have a board, a County Board of Education, 

and we have a Board of Trustees, and if and when any



38

complaint is brought before the Board of Trustees with 
respect to the district, they have a right, of course, either 
side has a right, to appeal to the County Board.

Q. Maybe it would be easier, Mr. McCord, if you would 
explain how this school system in Clarendon County oper­
ates. I mean, as to the District Board of Trustees and as 
to the special High School District.

A. Well, they operate the elementary, the district oper­
ates. The trustees of the respective districts have charge 
of the schools in that district.

Q. Is that district set up on geographical boundary lines ?
A. We have certain lines, yes, certain territories.
Q. Now, as County Superintendent of the schools, what 

are your duties?
A. General supervision.
Q. Do you supervise the schools in District 22?
A. I do, in all of them.
Q. Do you also supervise the Summerton High School 

District?
A. I make visits to all of the schools.

[fol. 50] Q. How is the school system in Clarendon 
County, the public school system, financed?

A. It is financed by the district and of course also from 
the State.

Q. And who decides how the funds are distributed among 
the districts?

A. The State Board of Education. It all depends on 
what you are talking about. If it is school teachers’ sal­
aries, it is decided entirely by the State Board of Educa­
tion, based solely on the type of certificate held by the sev­
eral teachers.

Q. I am speaking, for example, of the current expendi­
tures for the running of the schools. Who determines, for 
example, how much money is to be spent for running the 
schools in District 22? Do you have anything to do with 
that ?

A. No, that is entirely with the Board of Trustees. They 
are the custodians of the funds of the various, several dis­
tricts.

Q. The Summerton High School District, is that under 
your supervision?



39

A. Well, I suppose in a general way. All schools in the 
County are under the supervision of the County Board.

Q. In your general supervisory powers, do you make any 
rules as to the racial character of students as to what school 
they shall attend in Clarendon County?

A. I have never had any occasion to.
Q. Do you enforce the State segregation laws? Do you 

know what laws I am speaking about?
[fol. 51] A. I think I do.

Q. Do you enforce those laws?
A. I enforce all laws. I know nothing but the law.
Q. It is true, is it not, that Negroes in Clarendon County 

attend one group of schools and people who are not Negroes 
attend other schools? Is that correct?

A. That is true.
Q. Why is that true?
A. Well, I couldn’t answer it exactly. You would have 

to ask the children why. None of them have ever asked me 
to go to one school or the other.

Q. Well, isn’t it a fact that you do it because of the State 
Statute ?

A. It is the law, the Constitution.
Q. And you would enforce it?
A. I would enforce the Constitution.
Q. Would you explain who determines who goes to what 

school?
Judge Parker: Explain your question. I don’t know my­

self what you mean.
Mr. Marshall: What I am trying to find out, Judge 

Parker, is whether or not he determines who is a Negro, or 
somebody else determines that.

A. The law determines it entirely. The legal school of 
all elementary children is the local school in the district, and 
[fol. 52] they have to attend that under the law. They have 
to attend that school unless they get permission of the 
trustees to attend a school outside.

Judge Parker: Aren’t you asking him questions about 
which there is no dispute in the world?

Mr. Marshall: In general, sir.
Judge Parker: Let’s come to the disputed matter.



40

Mr. Marshall: I thought that we were obliged to show 
that they were enforcing the statute.

Judge Parker: Well, I think we will assume that they 
are enforcing the statute. The defendants admit that the 
schools are segregated in their answer, don’t they?

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir, but I wanted to find out whether 
or not it applied to anybody but Negroes.

Judge Parker: All right. Ask him the question, and 
let him answer it.

Q. The schools set aside for white pupils, is any other 
racial group excluded from those schools except Negroes?

A. Well, I don’t know of any others that is in those 
schools.

Q. Are you familiar with the school population of Clar­
endon County?

A. Well, fairly familiar.
Q. Is it not true that there are a total of 2,375 white pu­

pils?
A. Approximately, yes.

ffol. 53] Q. And a total of 6,531 Negro pupils in Clar­
endon County?

A. That is approximately right.
Q. Is it not also true that the expenditures, the current 

expenditures, exclusive of transfers, and including addi­
tional expenses for County administration, for white pu­
pils is $395,000 and for Negro pupils is $282,000? Is that 
approximately correct?

A. Well, I am not prepared to answer that. I would 
suppose it is not far off.

Q. So then, despite the fact that Negro pupils in Clar­
endon County are almost three times as many in popula­
tion as white pupils, the expenditures for Negro pupils is 
about $90,000 less than for white pupils?

A. If the record shows it. However, I may say this 
though, that in some instances it may be that those claims 
are not clearly designated.

Q. AYell, is it not true that more money is spent currently 
for the education of white pupils in Clarendon County than 
for Negro pupils?

A. What do you mean by “ currently?”  You mean apart 
from teacher salary?



41

Q. Including teachers’ salaries.
A. Why, no. I think there is considerably more money 

spent for Negro schools.
Q. For teachers’ salaries?

[fol. 54] A. Decidedly more.
Q. When we remove the item of teachers’ salaries and 

take the other expenditures, is it not true that more money 
is spent for white pupils than for Negro pupils in Claren­
don County?

A. I couldn’t answer that question definitely, but I would 
suppose it is true.

Q. Can you give us a reason for that, why you spend less 
money to educate more Negro pupils than you do to educate 
the white pupils?

A. Well, the only explanation that I could give, pos­
sibly, is this: It is not, I don’t think, because of the color, 
because we have certain white schools that considerably 
less is spent per pupil than certain other white schools.

Q. Are you familiar with the 82nd Report of the State 
Superintendent of Schools of the State of South Carolina?

A. I don’t know that I am particularly. No, not too fa­
miliar.

Q. Don’t you make regular reports to the State Board 
of Education?

A. We do.
Q. Aren’t those reports summed up in the State Super­

intendent of Schools’ Report?
A. They are.
Q. Directing your attention to Page 298 of that Report, 

as to page 298, on the level of Clarendon County, does it 
not show that the expenditures, all expenditures, exclusive 
of transfers, and including additional expenditures for 
[fol. 55] County administration for Clarendon County for 
white schools, were $395,329 ?

A. That is what the report says.
Q. Sir?
A. That is what is in the report.
Q. Well, is that correct?
A. I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t answer that. I don’t 

know whether it is or not.
Q. Does that report also show on the same page and for



42

the same item an expenditure for Negro schools of $282,- 
980?

A. That is right.
Judge Waring: Where does the State Board get that 

information from? Through your office?

A. Yes, sir, we give them an annual report.
Q. I ask you frankly, sir, do you dispute those figures?
A. Well, I have no reason to dispute them. If it is an 

exact copy of the copy we sent to the State Board, they 
are correct.

Judge Parker: If those are official reports of the State, 
you don’t have to prove them by a witness. All you have 
got to do is to introduce them.

Mr. Marshall: I wanted them merely for the basis of 
getting an answer to the question, and I do not have the 
answer yet, sir.

Judge Parker: The question you want answered is what 
amount is spent for Negro Schools and White Schools 
[fol. 56] in this County? Is that correct?

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.
Judge Parker: Doesn’t that appear in the report?
Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.
Judge Parker : Is that all you wanted to know?
Mr. Marshall: No, sir. The next question, I wanted to 

know, and I haven’t got an answer, is: Despite the fact 
that the Negro school population is almost three times the 
white population, why is it that the expenditures in the 
Negro schools is less than in the white schools?

Judge Parker: You have asked him that question. You, 
can ask it again and you can answer it again.

A. I will answer the question again and I will answer 
it just this way: In Clarendon County we have some 60- 
odd Negro Schools, whereas we have, I think, just about a 
dozen white schools, and all of the rural schools, whether 
white or Negro, the expenditures isn’t anything like in 
proportion to the larger schools.

Mr. Figg: We have no questions.



43

E . W. E llio tt , sw orn.

Direct examination.

By Mr. Robinson:
Mr. Robinson: If the Court please, Mr. Elliott is one of 

the defendants in the case and is being examined under 
[fol. 57] Rule 43 (b).

Q. Your name is R. \V. Elliott?
A. R, W. Elliott.
Q. What position, if any, do you hold in the school sys­

tem of Clarendon County'?
A. Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Q. Of which school district?
A. 22.
Q. Do you hold any office in Summerton High School in 

Clarendon County, South Carolina?
A. Any what?
Q. Do you hold any other position in the Summerton 

High School District in Clarendon County, South Caro­
lina?

A. No, sir.
Q. You do not?
A. I am Chairman of the grammar school—-I am Chair­

man of District 22 Board of Trustees.
Q. How long have you held this position?
A. About 25 years.
Q. Have you ever held any other important offices in Dis­

trict 22 or in the Summerton High School District in Clar­
endon County?

A. Have I done what?
Q. Have you ever held any other positions either in Dis­

trict 22 or the Summerton High School District in Claren­
don County?

A. No.
[fol. 58] Q. Mr. Elliott, I would like to ask you about the 
school set up in District No. 22. What are the geographical 
boundaries of District 22?

A. I don’t know.
Q. Are you familiar with the school district known as 

Summerton High School District of Clarendon County?



44

A. Yes.
Q- Do yon know whether or not the district boundaries of 

District 22 and Summerton High School District are the 
same?

A. I don’t think they are, no.
Q. Are you in position to state definitely whether or not 

they are or not the same ?
A. No.
Q. District No. 22 is of course in Clarendon County, is 

it not?
A. Yes, it is in Clarendon County.
Q. Is this district under the jurisdiction of the County 

Board of Education for Clarendon County?
A. Yes.
Q. To what extent?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Are you in position to testify as to whether or not 

there is any jurisdiction over that school exercised by the 
County School Board of Clarendon County?

A. Ask that one over, please, sir.
Judge Parker: Aren’t these matters of jurisdiction fixed 

[fob 59] by statute?
Mr. Robinson: I think so, sir. Yes, they are.
Judge Parker: Why waste time to ask this witness?
Mr. Robinson: I am departing from that, if your Honor 

please.
Q. What are your duties as Chairman and responsibili­

ties of the Board of Trustees of District 22?
A. I am Chairman. We elect teachers and so forth.
Q. Are you familiar with the public schools operated by 

District 22?
A. To a certain extent, I am, yes.
Q. Do you know what schools are operated by that dis­

trict in which Negro students residing therein exclusively 
attend? Are you familiar with the Negro public schools 
of District 22?

A. Yes, I am familiar with them.
Q. Do you know the number of such schools?
A. No.
Q. You don’t know how many schools there are in dis­

trict 22?



45

A. Oh, yes.
Q. What number of schools do you have there?
A. There are 3 schools, I think. It is 3.
Q. Will you state whether or not these schools are ele­

mentary schools or secondary schools? I am speaking 
about the Negro public schools?

A. Well, the Scotts Branch is a high school and elemen­
tary school, and the other two are elementary schools.
[fol. 60] Q. Do you recall the names of the other two ele­
mentary schools?

A. Rambay and Liberty Hill, I believe.
Q. What about the white schools, if any? How many 

white schools, if any, does District 22 operate?
A. 2 white schools.
Q. Will you state the names of those schools?
A. One is a high school and one is a grammar school.
Q. Is that the school known as Summerton elementary 

school?
A. Yes, that is right.
Q. Mr. Elliott, Summerton High school is operated by 

District 22, or is it operated by a separate district known 
as Summerton High School District?

A. It is operated by the Summerton High School District.
Q. What, if anything, is the connection between District 

22 and Summerton High School District with respect to the 
operation of that school?

A. Well, the elementary school is operated by the Sum­
merton High School, and the other trustees, the trustees of 
the other district, and the elementary schools, we work that 
together. Then the high school is supposed to be operated 
by the trustees of the Summerton High School.

Judge Parker: Let me ask you, Mr. Robinson. Aren’t 
these matters that you can agree on with counsel for the 
other side ?
[fol. 61] Mr. Robinson: If your Honor please, we are try­
ing to get the picture before the Court of the school setup, 
particularly the matter of the operation of the Summerton 
High School.

Judge Parker: The Court understands it. All of these 
things you have set up in your pleadings. You can agree 
with counsel on these matters and if there is any trouble



46

about it, let’s straighten it out right now, and not waste 
time.

Mr. Robinson: That is all.

Cross-examination:

By Mr. F igg:
Q. You are the Chairman of the trustees of School Dis­

trict 22 ?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. As chairman of that district you are one of the Sum- 

merton High School board, along with the Chairmen of the 
other four districts that establish that centralized high 
school?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. And District 22 has a Superintendent, Mr. Betchman ?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And it is his function to carry out the determinations 

of your Board of Trustees and to operate the public school 
system of School District 22? Is that correct?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. And he is in court today?

[fol. 62] A. Yes, sir.

Judge Parker: You are doing the same thing that I called 
your adversary on.

Mr. Figg: Your Honor he had gotten off on facts that 
we didn’t recognize and I wanted to refer counsel to Mr. 
Betchman.

Judge Parker: All right. There isn’t any question about 
the set up of the schools down there, about the jurisdiction, 
or how they are operated, is there?

Mr. Figg: No, sir. We understood there was no ques­
tion, but if you took Mr. Elliott’s testimony, I think we 
would both begin to wonder if we understood it.



47

M a t t h e w  J. W h iteh ead , sw orn.

Direct examination.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Will you please state your name?
A. Matthew J. Whitehead.
Q. What is your occupation?
A. I am Assistant Registrar and Associate Professor of 

Education at Howard University, and off-campus lecturer 
in the Graduate School of Education for New York Uni­
versity.

Q. How long have you had this position?
A. 7 years.
Q. What other positions have you held?

[fol. 63] A. Positions as teacher of English in High 
Schools of North Carolina, Assistant Principal of Senior 
High School in North Carolina, Professor of Education, 
State Teachers’ College, Elizabeth City, North Carolina, 
Director of summer schools, State Teachers College in 
North Carolina, and Registrar of State Teachers College, 
near Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Q. Will you give us your educational background, please.
A. My undergraduate work was done at Johnson Smith 

University in Charlotte, North Carolina. There I received 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English and Education 
in 1930. Following that, graduate work in the School of 
Education at the University of Wisconsin. My Master’s 
degree from Columbia University in administration. My 
doctor’s degree from New York University School of Edu­
cation, a major in college administration.

Q. Do you belong to any professional societies?
A. I do.
Q. Would you mind naming them?
A. Phi Delta .Kappa, Kappa Delta Pi, Society for the 

Advancement of Education, The E. George Payne Educa­
tional Foundation, the NEA, the American Association of 
Personnel Workers for Higher Education, the National As­
sociation of Collegiate Deans and Registrars, and Ameri­
can Association of Collegiate Registrars.

Q. Have you published any books or articles of any kind?
A. Yes, I have.



48

[fol. 64] Q. Will you generally list them for us.
A. A study, a book on Negro Liberal Arts College Deans 

at New York University in 1944, and various magazine ar­
ticles which have appeared in professional magazines and 
schools and societies, the Junior College Journal, the Jour­
nal of Higher Education, the Journal of Education, So­
ciology, the Quarterly Review of Higher Education, and 
the Journal of Negro Education.

Q. Mr. Whitehead, have you had any experience in evalu­
ating schools?

A. Yes, I have.
Q. What is that experience?
A. I have conducted surveys in the State of North Caro­

lina in the Public School System. I was a member of the 
survey committee that surveyed St. John’s College in An­
napolis, Maryland. I worked on surveys in the District, and 
surveys—consultant rather than surveys, for New York 
University in the Department of Education.

Q. Did you examine the public schools involved in this 
litigation ?

A. Yes, I did.
Q. Why?
A. I was asked to survey them by Mr. Carter.
Q. When did this examination take place ?
A. It was of a two-fold nature. The first was in the 

[fol. 65] month of month of November 1950. The subse­
quent one was in April 1951.

Q. Would you describe what you did in making this ex­
amination, briefly.

A. Well, first of all, I examined the documentary sources 
as they related to the public school program in Clarendon 
County and District 22, which consisted of visits to the 
State House, conferences with officials at the State House, 
the examination of the records of the County Superin­
tendent of Schools of District 22 and Clarendon County, 
and the report of the State Board of Health of the State 
of South Carolina, conferences with principals and superin­
tendents of the respective schools in District 22, teachers 
and other workers within the school of a non instructional 
nature.

Q. Did you inspect the buildings?
A. Yes.



49

Q. Would you describe, Mr. Whitehead, what you found 
with respect to the buildings in District 22, and by that I 
mean including the Summerton High School.

A. The buildings in District 22 were the Eambay Ele­
mentary School for Negroes, the Liberty Hill Elementary 
School for Negroes, the Seotts Branch Union School for 
Negroes, a combination of elementary and high school, the 
Summerton Elementary School, and the Summerton High 
School.

Judge Waring: What are the last two—for whites or 
[fol. 66] Negroes?

A. For whites. I am sorry, the last two are for white— 
the Summerton Elementary School and the Summerton 
High School. In regard to the grounds, the grounds at 
the Rambay Elementary School for Negroes were in a very 
poor condition. The topography was exceptionally poor, 
and the antiquacy by way of grounds did not conform to 
any possible educational standards. At the Liberty Hill 
Elementary School, as far as acreage and site, there was 
no conformity by any of the criteria which would be used 
generally or were used by this investigator in his survey 
as to adequacy or topography. At the Summerton Elemen­
tary School, there we had many of the elements which lend 
themselves to educational measurements. The grounds 
were surfaced at the Summerton Elementary School, 
whereas we did not find surfaced grounds at either the Ram­
bay Elementary School or the Liberty Hill School, or the 
Seotts Branch School. There was fence protection for 
pupils’ safety at the Summerton Elementary School, and 
an absence of same at each of the three Negro schools. As 
for surfacing and landscaping, we did not find that at the 
Rambay or Liberty Hill, and a dearth at the Seotts Branch 
School.

Q. Mr. Whitehead, did you note what type of building 
structure the Liberty Hill, Rambay and Seotts Branch 
Schools were made of?

A. Yes; the Liberty Hill School was a wooden structure. 
So were the two at Rambay and Seotts Branch, whereas the 
[fol. 67] two for whites, the Summerton Elementary School 
was of white stone, and the Summerton High School was 
brick, red brick.

4—101



50

Q. Were you able to get any information in regard to 
the monetary evaluation of the schools for whites and 
Negroes?

A. Yes, I was. An examination of the Superintendent’s 
report reveals the data, that is, as far as the buildings were 
concerned. The 3 Negro schools, the actual cost by way 
of buildings was $10,900, and for the elementary school 
$40,000.

Q. You mean the white elementary school?
A. The white elementary school. As far as the aggre­

gate cost for grounds in the 3 Negro schools, Rambay, Lib­
erty Hill, and Scotts Branch, they were valued at $12,500; 
whereas the value of grounds for the Summerton Elemen­
tary School and the Summerton High School, were valued
at $12,000 ------at $4,000'. As to furnishings and fixtures,
which were also included in the same report, $1800 for all 
of the Negro schools, as compared with $12,000 for the white 
schools.

Q. What is the Negro school population, including the 
High School, in District 22?

Judge Parker: Isn’t that in the record and isn’t it con­
ceded already ?

Mr. Carter: All right, sir. I won’t go into it.
Judge Parker: I don’t want to cut you off, but I see no 

use of going into it again if it is already in.
Mr. Carter: I am advised, your Honor, that only the 

[fol. 68] County figures are in and not in School District 22.
Judge Parker: All right. Ask him.

A. At the Scotts Branch, there are 694 students; at the 
Liberty Hill School, 92; and at Rambay 84.

Judge Waring: A total of how many colored?
A. 808.
Q. Did you ascertain how many Negro students were in 

the High School?
A. Yes, sir. 151, according to the report of the principal, 

Mr. Whight.
Q. What is the school population for the whites?
A. The school population for white: The Summerton Ele­

mentary School, 195 students, and the Summerton High 
School carried an enrollment of 81 students.



51

Q. Do you have any information in regard to the number 
of teachers, Negro and white?

A. Yes, I do.
Q. Would you give those.
A. At the Rambay Elementary School, there were 2 

teachers; at the Liberty Hill School, 4 teachers; at the 
Scotts Branch School, 9 teachers. These are the 3 schools 
for Negroes. The 2 schools for whites: The Summerton 
High School and Summerton Elementary School, 7 for the 
white, and 5 in the high school.

Q. In the High School for Negroes?
A. In the High School for Negroes, 5.

[fol. 69] Did you visit any of the classes?
A. Yes, I did. I visited classes at both schools, Negro 

schools and white schools.
Q. Did you get any information with regard to class size 

at the white schools as compared with the class size at the 
Negro schools?

A. I was able to secure these data from all 5 of the schools. 
The data presented to me by the principal and superin­
tendent are as follows: At the Rambay School, in the first 
grade there were 15 students; the second grade 12 students; 
the third grade 13 students; the fourth grade 10 students; 
the fifth grade 6 students; the sixth grade 4 students; the 
seventh grade 3 students.

Q. One moment. At the Rambay School where you listed 
these various grades, are the grades in separate rooms ?

A. No. There are 7 grades but there are just 2 rooms 
and 2 teachers. At the Liberty Hill School, in the first 
grade, 18 pupils; second grade, 13; third grade, 16; fourth, 
12; fifth, 9; sixth, 9; seventh, 7; and eighth, 8. There were 
4 teachers there teaching the eight grades.

Q. Were there 4 rooms?
A. There were 4 rooms.
Q. What about the Scotts Branch School?
A. At the Scotts Branch, there were 2 first grades; one 

first grade class carried an enrollment of 60 pupils; another 
[fol. 70] enrollment of 67 pupils; both first grade classes.

The second grade had an enrollment of 69 pupils; the 
third grade, an enrollment of 56; the fourth grade, an en­
rollment of 63; the fifth grade an enrollment of 72; the sixth 
grade, 41; seventh grade, 39; eighth grade, 24; ninth grade,



52

47; tenth grade, 38; eleventh grade, 33; twelfth grade, 33.
Q. "What did you find with respect to the Summerton Ele­

mentary School and the Summerton High School, both 
schools being for white students?

A. At the Summerton elementary school there were 30 
students in the first grade; 29 in the second grade; 31 in 
the third grade; 31 in the fourth grade; 30 in the fifth grade; 
26 in the sixth grade; and 19 in the seventh grade.

Q. How many in the high school?
A. That is the Summerton Elementary School.
Q. What about the High School?
A. In the High School: In the eighth grade, 24; ninth 

grade, 19; tenth grade, 18; eleventh grade, 11; and the 
twelfth grade, 9.

Q. Now, in your visits to the classes, Mr. Whitehead, 
what did you note, or did you note anything at all with 
respect to instructional supplies, and visual aids to aid the 
teacher in conducting the class?

A. Yes, I did.
Q. Will you describe that.

[fol. 71] A. At the Rambay School—and the same will be 
true of Rambay, Liberty Hill and Scotts Branch Schools, if 
I may include the three together. The data will be applicable 
as to all three cases. There was an absence of all types of 
visual aids for instructions, with the exception of black­
boards, which were very inadequate by all standards, even 
standards of the Department of Health of South Carolina, 
as listed in the Bulletin approved in 1948, but at the Ele­
mentary School, the Summerton Elementary School, for 
whites, and the Summerton High School for whites there 
were the following visual aids and instructional adjuncts to 
education, namely, blackboards, music rooms, charts, maps, 
globes, slides, stereopticans, and an auditorium which lent 
itself toward the display of various types of visual aids to 
instruction.

Q. Now, with regards to the rest of the facilities of the 
schools, did you make any observation in regard to the 
facilities for water, drinking water for children at either of 
the two sets, of schools ?

A. Yes, I did.
Q. Describe that.
A. At the Rambay School the only source of water was an



53

out-of-door pump. The water was supplied from the pump 
to the building by way of a galvanized bucket, an open gal­
vanized bucket, in which was inserted a dipper, and the 
children had glasses that they drank the water, from glasses 
[fob 72] rather than from the dipper, and these buckets 
were not at all covered,—these buckets were not covered at 
all. They were open to germs, etc. The same was true at 
the Liberty Hill School, the only difference being that in­
stead of getting the water at the Liberty Hill School from 
the school pump, there was no water at all on the school 
property at Liberty Hill School. The water was procured 
from a Minister who lived next door, and brought to the 
school, but the bucket arrangement prevailed in both cases. 
At the Scotts Branch School for Negroes, the Union School, 
there was no inside running fountain, but there were outside 
running fountains. At the Summerton Elementary School 
there were inside running fountains, and at the Summerton 
High School, the same condition prevailed.

Q. Were there such facilities as lunch rooms at the Sum­
merton Elementary School and the Summerton High 
School?

A. At the Summerton Elementary School, there was a 
lunch room. The Superintendent, Mr. Betchman, informed 
me that the lunch room and many of the facilities, due to the 
proximity of the Elementary School and the High School, 
are interchangably used from the point of building utiliza­
tion. There was an organized lunch room at the Summerton 
Elementary School with a paid worker and two assistants. 
I met the three persons. I also saw lunch being served at 
the time Mr. Betchman and a Mr. Rogers and I went through 
that building. There was no lunch room whatsoever in 
either of the three Negro institutions. There was no pro- 
[fol. 73] visions for lunches.

Q. Did you make any observation with regard to the desks 
for pupils in any of the schools?

A. Yes, I did. In the Summerton Elementary School each 
pupil had a desk. In the Summerton High School each pupil 
had a desk. At the Rambay School for Negroes, there was 
not a single desk in the entire school. There were two long 
tables that were not surfaced by way of shellac or any type 
of furniture wood curing that would make those accessible to 
students for easy writing. In fact cracks were in the desks



54

—in the long tables where the students sat. These students 
sat together as one would see in a picture. The sort of table 
around which the counsel is sitting this morning (indicat­
ing). The same was true in the other room at the Rambay 
School. At the Liberty Hill School there were desks for 
students. However, they were not of the type of construc­
tion that lend themselves to educational facilities on the part 
of students. That is to say, rather than single desks, they 
were desks, many of them, that had a double compartment. 
Two students would slide in. That is to say, the student 
who sits on the end of the row could not get out in a case of 
panic or tire without either jumping* over everyone else and 
getting out. At the Scotts Branch School, there was a 
combination of this same type double desk. They were, how­
ever, some single desks in many of the rooms of the Scotts 
Branch School, but in one room a class, a seventh grade 
[fol. 74] class, which is conducted by Mr. Ragan, there was 
not a single desk in the room. It so happened that at the 
time we visited it, the students were taking work from the 
blackboard. All of the students—we saw the students hav­
ing to write in their laps. There was not a desk in that 
entire room.

Q- What did you find with regard to facilities such as 
Auditorium, gymnasium, at the two types of schools?

A. Well, there was an absence of these features in all of 
the Negro schools, but in the white schools, the Summerton 
Elementary School there was a very large auditorium with 
a balcony, an elevated stage, footlights, dressing rooms, a 
velour curtain, and at the Summerton High School they did 
not have an auditorium but Mr. Betchman stated that this 
was interehangably used, but they did have a gymnasium, a 
large gymnasium, which may be used for group activities. 
There was no gymnasium, however, for either of the Negro 
schools nor auditorium.

Q. Would you describe the toilet facilities available for 
Negro pupils as compared with the toilet facilities you found 
for white children in District 22.

A. Aŝ  to the toilet facilities at the Rambay School, the 
only facilities available were two out-of-door toilets. They 
were constructed of wood and the seats within these build­
ings were also of wood construction. There was the same 
thing at the Liberty Hill School, out-of-door construction.



55

[fol. 75] Tliey were not of the type which the State Depart­
ment of Health of South Carolina describes as privies. It is 
what they describe as earth toilets, earth toilets.

Judge Waring: Was there any running water for flushing 
them ?

A. There was no running water at all, nor any urinals in 
any of these places for boys. At the Scotts Branch School, 
the same situation prevailed, only to a greater degree of 
disgust on the part of one who made such a survey, to see 
694 students serviced by 2 toilets for boys and 2 toilet seats 
for girls, of the same out-of-door type construction, no 
running water, no urinals, in the light of standards of so 
many toilet seats for so many girls, so many for boys, and 
so many urinals for so many boys. We were able in the 
light of this to work out some rather specific data if it would 
be asked for and felt worthwhile to the court.

Q. What did you work out?
A. The types of urinals that we found—that we did not 

find in either of the 3 institutions which should have been for 
the elementary school at Rambay, where we had one seat for 
girls and one seat for boys. The enrollment there would 
warrant at least one urinal for boys and more seats for 
girls, and more seats for boys. At Liberty Hill School, with 
an enrollment of 92, there were no urinals for boys and 2 
seats for girls and 2 seats for boys. There again we had the 
enrollment too large to service the physical needs of pupils, 
[fol. 76] At the Scotts Branch School, with an enrollment of 
309 boys and 694 girls, where we find one toilet for boys and 
one toilet seat for girls. There was a minimum need of 
toilet seats for boys alone of 11, based on the criteria, and 
a minimum of 19-plus toilet seats for girls.

Q. You say that at the Scotts Branch School with a school 
population of over 600, there were only 2 toilet seats avail­
able?

A. That is correct.
Q. What was the situation with respect to Summerton 

Elementary School and Summerton High School?
A. The Summerton Elementary School, there were flush 

toilets for boys and for girls, 3 for boys and 3 for girls, 
inside. There was also urinals for boys. The same was 
true at the Summerton High School. There were flush



56

toilets for girls and flush toilets for boys, and urinals for 
boys at the Summerton High School. All in-door.

Q. Now, at the elementary school, you said there were 3 
flush toilets for girls?

A. And 3 for boys.
Q. And how many urinals did they have ?
A. There was one urinal, as I recall. The reason I say 

“ as I recall,”  I should point out here, we were not able at 
that specific time to go into the other one, and the persons 
who accompanied me stated that the same number of toilets 
[fol. 77] were on the other side as were on the other side 
that we went in. We went on the boys’ side of course.

Q. Now, in the Negro schools that you saw, the elementary 
schools, was there a teacher for each grade?

A. No, there was not.
Q. Will you describe the situation.
A. In some of the schools, at the Scotts Branch school 

there was a teacher for every grade. At the Rambay School 
there was not a teacher for every grade. There were 2 
teachers for 7 grades. At the Liberty Hill School there were 
4 teachers for 8 grades. At the Summerton Elementary 
School there were 7 teachers for 7 grades, and at the Sum­
merton High School there were 5 teachers for the High 
School program.

Q. Did you make any observation with regard to the 
curricula in the High School?

A. Yes, we noted that the curricula at the Summerton 
High School was different from the curricula at the Sum­
merton Elementary School in that the curricula at the Sum­
merton High School carried a larger number of what is 
termed academic courses, and the pre-skilled courses in the 
Commercial subjects, namely typing and bookkeeping. At 
the Scotts Branch School, the comparable—the companion 
school for Negroes, there we had agriculture, vocational 
agriculture and home economics, with the same types of 
academic courses which were in the minority from those 
[fol. 78] offered at the High School at Summerton High 
School.

Q, As a result of this investigation, Mr. Whitehead, have 
you reached an opinion as to whether the Negro children 
are receiving equal classroom instructional opportunities as 
compared to white children?



57

A. May I hear your question again?
Q. As a result of this investigation, have you reached an 

opinion as to whether the Negro children in the schools that 
you observed are receiving equal classroom instructional 
opportunities and advantages as compared to white children 
in the schools that you observed?

A. I have.
Q. What is that opinion?
A. That opinion is based on actual observation, together 

with documentation from such basic sources as George D. 
Strayer, Fred Denglehardt, and Langford, and the stand­
ards of the NEA, as well as the State of South Carolina, I 
found that the type of instruction was not applicable or 
comparable, and it was not applicable to both groups, Negro 
and white. I found also that the quality of instruction would 
also be different of necessity, if one would stop to compare 
or contrast the various types of educational features within 
the framework of both programs. In the absence of many 
of the minor necessary tools of instruction, one could not 
expect an adequate educational program to insue, namely, 
the absence of school lunches. Practically all educators 
[fol. 79] have agreed, as well as dieticians in the United 
States Public Health Department has agreed long since that 
school lunches are a necessary part to the growth and 
progress of a student. The absence of these features in the 
Negro schools and the presence of these in the other schools 
would not of necessity present a comparable picture. The 
same inequities may be further pointed out by way of actual 
class size. At the Scotts Branch School, let’s take an illus­
tration. At the Scotts Branch School, there we had a situa­
tion of 8 classes being crowded by way of any standards 
acceptable in the realm of college administration—in the 
realm of public school administration. There were classes 
with a range of classes from—the range of classes at the 
Scotts Branch School, which would certainly not lend itself 
to instructional adequacy or efficiency, may be seen from 
such enrollment. In a first grade class, where the basic 
preliminary school is begun by students, there are two such 
classes, one with 60 pupils in it, the other with 69 pupils in 
it. The floor space of the two rooms in which these students 
were being instructed were also inadequate by way of 
National standards and standards approved by the Depart­



58

ment of Health of the State of South Carolina. That same 
pattern existed in six of the classes at the Scotts Branch 
School. In other words, eight of the nine above had enroll­
ments ranging from 38 to 79, whereas the acceptable figure 
for the elementary school is 30. At least the recommended 
[fol. 80] figure is 30. The preferred figure is 28. Whereas, 
in the High School it is generally accepted that the figure 
should be even lower. 22 preferred, 28 acceptable. Here, 
we had 8 classes, ranging with an enrollment span from 39 
to 79. The quality of instruction of necessity must suffer 
when one stops to consider the basic processes in learning. 
That condition did not prevail at the Summerton Elemen­
tary School nor at the Summerton High School, inasmuch as 
all of the classes at the Summerton Elementary School, by 
these same standards, there were only two classes that were 
oversize and there were 31 pupils each. The oversizing by 
way of National standards would be 1 more than the 30 
generally accepted for elementary schools. In the High 
School none of the classes were oversized by way of National 
accepted standards, nor by the preferred standards, that of 
22. There was only one class with 24 pupils.

Q. Your overall opinion then is that the children in the 
Negro schools are not getting equal classroom instruction as 
compared with the white children?

A. Not at all.
Mr. Carter : Thank you.
Judge Parker: Do you wish to cross-examine him?
Mr.;Figg: Yes, sir.
Judge Parker: All right. Go ahead.

[fol. 81] Cross-examination.

By Mr. Figg:
Q. When was the first time that you examined the schools 

in School District 22?
A. The first time that I examined the schools in School 

District 22 were the dates November 16th and 17th.
Q. And did you make a report of that examination to 

anyone ?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. In writing?



59

A. Yes.
Q. And when did you next examine the schools'?
A. April 18 and 19.
Q. Of this year!
A. That is correct.
Q. Now, I noticed in your testimony that you have given 

the school population on a basis of enrollment. Did you 
make any study of the average daily attendance figures 
also?

A. No, I did not.
Q. You are not familiar with them?
A. I am.
Q. You are familiar with the average daily attendance?
A. They were in the Superintendent’s report, hut they 

were not broken down by schools and we were concerned 
in the collection of data with a breakdown by schools rather 
than the breakdown by county.

Q. Well, in your survey, though, when you were there 
[fol. 82] making inquiry as to the school systems, you did 
not then ask for figures on the average daily attendance of 
each school and each class ?

A. Yes, I did.
Q. Did you get those figures?
A. I did not get it.
Q. Who did you ask for it?
A. I asked the principals at the schools.
Q. Well, they didn’t give you that information?
A. No, they did not give me that information.
Q. Did you ask Mr. Betehman?
A. No, I didn’t ask Mr. Betehman.
Q. You knew he was the Superintendent of this district 

and had the information, didn’t you?
A. No, I couldn’t say that I did.
Q. Were you interested in average daily attendance?
A. No, I was not too much interested, inasmuch as I had 

seen the report of the superintendent of schools.
Q. Did you take into account, in examining these 

schools, anything of an attendance problem, either at 
the beginning of the school year or at the end of the school 
year, or in the middle of the school year?

A. It would be hard to answer that question in the frame­
work in which it is placed due to any number of situations



60

that one was faced with. That is to say, I asked questions 
[fol. 83] in re the matter of which you now speak, hut I was 
given information that the schools didn’t open at the same 
time, they didn’t close at the same time, and in the Negro 
schools they had to go to school on Saturday to make up 
time, whereas they didn’t do it in the white schools. There 
was something known as a growing season or planting- 
season or something of the sort.

Q. That interfered with the beginning of the school year 
at one of the stages of the agricultural operation and inter­
fered with it at the end of the school year with the other 
stage, isn’t that correct?

A. That was what was presented to me. That is, there 
was no method of keeping the children in school.

Q. And, did you inquire as to whether efforts had been 
made to enforce attendance during those periods ?

A. Yes, I did. I inquired of Mr. Wright, who is the Prin­
cipal at the Scott’s Branch School and a Miss Adger, I 
think was her name, who was acting building Principal at 
the Liberty Hill School, and Miss Hamilton, I think, was 
the lady’s name at the Ram Bay school. I made inquiries 
of each of those, and I was given this information, that 
there was no enforcement by way of students remaining in 
school. And, the reason I raised the question was because 
I was able to see myself that there were any number of 
students who should have been in school, being of school 
age, who were in the fields plowing and working and what­
not as we made the tours from school to school.
[fol. 84] Q. You never found that cases had been made 
before Magistrates and what-not under the compulsory law?

A. I beg your pardon.
Q. You didn’t find that any cases had been made before 

Magistrates in trying to enforce compulsory education in 
those cases!

A. No, I did not.
Q. Now, coming to this school called Ram Bay School, 

that is the two-teacher school, isn’t it?
A. That’s correct.
Q. And, did you ascertain that the Trustees sometime 

ago—several years ago—had closed that school?
A. No.
Q. You didn’t find that out?



61

A. No,
Q. And you didn’t find why it was re-opened?
A. No, I did not.
Q. And therefore you wouldn’t know whether it had been 

closed by the Trustees and then re-opened on the petition 
of the patrons of the school?

A. No, I would not.
Q. That was right in an agricultural section, wasn’t it— 

that school?
A. I would say yes.
Q. And there is no electricity in that area of the county, 

is it?
[fol. 85] A. I couldn’t answer that question.

Q. You didn’t check that up?
A. As to electricity in that section of the county?
Q. Was it available ?
A. I said I could not answer that question.
Q. And, it was no running water or sewerage in that area 

either, was it?
A. I couldn’t answer that. You must keep in mind that 

the only place that I visited was the school. I didn’t visit 
the outlaying areas.

Q. Well, I thought perhaps when you found certain con­
ditions existing in the schools about lights and toilets and 
what-not, you would have checked up to see whether facili­
ties were available to extend the electricity to that school.

A. No. The reason I wouldn’t do that is because I would 
assume the fact that the school was operated as a public 
school, and that there were certain responsibilities on the 
Board of Education in insure health and safety.

Q. And, as to electricity, the fact that a school was in a 
community that didn’t have electricity and nobody that 
lived in the community had electricity, you wouldn’t expect 
to find electric facilities in the school either, would you?

A. No. If you will note, throughout my testimony I did 
not point up the fact of no electricity at this particular in­
stitution, but had I done so, in furtherance of your question, 
[fol. 86] I will say that educational standards don’t say 
electricity as such. I think they will point up artificial 
lighting. And, there are various types of artificial lights 
that may be used.



62

Q. Now, this Earn Bay School, I think, is the school you 
said where the students had tables, is that correct?

A. I didn’t hear the question.
Q. The Ram Bay School has tables and chairs around 

them instead of desks?
A. That’s correct, sir.
Q. Isn’t it a fact that tables and chairs are being increas­

ingly used in the more modern schools instead of desks?
A. A certain type, but not the type that was found at the 

Ram Bay School. I will agree with you that portable fur­
niture—even portable fixtures like blackboards—are the 
newest concerns we have in the field of educational supplies. 
But, these were fixed tables in the center of the floor that 
could not be used for purposes of grouping and what-have- 
you.

Q. Wasn’t it the kind of equipment that might be used 
with the school population that might have a large enroll­
ment but a fluctuating attendance because of the agricul­
tural occupations of the parents of the school children?

A. I regret, sir, that I could not agree with you. They 
could be used anywhere except in a kitchen.

Q. In a what?
A. In a kitchen. There were cracks. They were sup- 

[fol. 87] posed to be used for instructional purposes for 
students to write on and to read on, and there were actu­
ally holes in the tables. The lady who taught the first grade 
at the school showed me three chairs which she had just 
received that had been sent over from the white school, 
that were dilapidated and the children could not sit in them. 
Other chairs had spokes and rounds out in them and the 
bottoms were out in many of them. And, it was a health 
hazard and a hazard of safety to those first, second and 
third grade pupils.

Q. Now, did you check in Clarendon County to find out 
how many two-teacher white schools there are in that 
county?

A. No, I did not. I was concerned not with Clarendon 
County but with District 22 of Clarendon County. That’s 
where my survey was made.

Q. You do know that there are a lot of two-teacher schools 
in the State of South Carolina, don’t you?



63

A. In the State of North Carolina, there are not.
Q. Well, how about South Carolina?
A. South Carolina I should say yes.
Q. And you did not ascertain then that the Trustees 

did not want the Ram Bay School in operation?
A. No, I did not ascertain that. However, I will say in 

fairness to you that Mr. Betchinan as a culminating factor 
of my last conference with him volunteered the information. 
I didn’t ascertain it.
[fol. 88] Q. I just thought perhaps you might have run 
into that fact in your investigation either in November or 
April.

A. No, that was in April.
Q. Now, the Liberty Hill School is the four-teacher

school?
A. That’s correct, sir.
Q. Now, the enrollment in these two-teacher and four- 

teacher schools were not particularly heavy, were they?
A. In the two-teacher school, the answer would be no, 

but in the four teacher school, I would say that they would 
have a normal load by all acceptable standards.

Q. And, adequate and proper instruction could be given 
in the four-teacher school, couldn’t it?

A. Very definitely, provided that there were the neces­
sary instructional provisions made by someone to insure 
that that type of adequacy would exist.

Q. Well, such as what? I don’t mean to enumerate all 
items.

A. All right, such as visual aids, adequate buildings, 
lighting.

Q. Now, by “ visual aids”  you mean blackboards?
A. No, not blackboards alone.
Q. There were blackboards there?
A. Inadequate blackboards, yes.
Q. Well, at Liberty Hill weren’t the blackboards adequate 

for the rooms that were in that school?
A. No. They were not because we must admit that the 

[fol. 89] heights arrangement and quality in blackboard 
materials are of grave importance in the instructional 
program within a school. Here we had an elementary 
school with the blackboards arranged at the level for chil­
dren over and above their age levels. That’s number one.



64

Number two, it should also be pointed up that blackboards 
constitute in the vernacular of visual aid to education only 
a mere sampling or sprinkling* of instructional materials 
on visual aids. Blackboards are just a small portion of 
them. You asked, however, what aside from visual aids. 
Visual aids is one of the items that I listed. Another one 
is the matter of health standards and proper provision for 
the protection of children and the comfort of children.

Judge Parker: Hasn’t this been covered heretofore?
Mr. Figg: Well, I didn’t ask the witness to list it all, 

your Honor.
Judge Parker: I don’t want to hurry you along too 

much, but let’s get along.
Q. Hid I understand you to say that the desks in Liberty 

Hill School were double desks?
A. No, sir. I said some of the desks, those in Miss Ad- 

ger’s room. They are two seats together. The reason I can 
certainly point that up, I sat in one of the desks and a little 
boy was sitting over next to the window and he wanted to 
get out while I was sitting there and I had to get up.

Q. Two students were sitting side by side at the same 
desk?
[fol. 90] A. That is correct.

Q. Now, the Scotts Branch School, did you check the 
attendance records at any time you were at the Scotts 
Branch School in any of the classes?

A. No, I did not.
Q. Hid you check the percentage of attendance in the 

Scotts Branch School in the course of your survey?
A. I did not.
Q. And did you check the percentage of attendance in 

the Summerton Elementary School?
A. I did not.
Q. Now, the Summerton Elementary School, I think you 

said was of white stone. Hid it appear to be stone?
A. I guess it would be—could be termed as sand stone. 

I am not in position to answer that.
Q. Was that in what you would call good condition?
A. Many repairs could be made on it.
Q. Isn’t it a fact that it was in poor condition?



A. I would not say poor condition.
Q. Would you say it was in acceptable condition?
A. No.
Q. As a matter of fact, as you approached it, you could 

see the necessity of a good bit of work that could be done 
on it?

A. No, I could not.
Q. What kind of lights did they have in that school?

[fol. 91] A. I don’t recall.
Q. Didn’t they just have a wire dangling from the ceiling 

with an incandescent bulb in it? Did you see that?
A. No, I did not see that.
Q. You went into the Summerton High School, you know 

that is the centralized high school and not a school in Dis­
trict 22?

A. No, I did not know that.
Q. You know it is operated by five school districts and 

not one, do you not?
A. No, I do not know that.
Q. Did you find out how many high school pupils in Dis­

trict 22 attended the Summerton High School?
A. I did not.
Q. The Summerton High School, did you find out when it 

was built?
A. Yes, I did make that notation. I think the corner stone 

was either 1906 or 1907.
Q. Well, that is the elementary school, isn’t it?A. That is the elementary school.
Q. I meant the high school.
A. No, I did not find out when the high school was built 

because it was so modern.
Q. Did you find out which was the last school building- 

built in the school district?
A. No, sir.

[fol. 92. ] Q. You didn’t find out when the last school was 
built ?

A. No.
Q. You went inside of the Scotts Branch School, didn’t 

you?
A. That is correct.
Q. And the interior of those buildings is very similar?



6 6

A. No.
Q. I mean the plan or layout!
A. You mean the architectural plan!
Q. The. general effect inside.
A. No.
Q. Did you find out whether the Scotts Branch School 

was built according to plans approved by the State Board 
of Education and according to the specifications laid down 
for schools ?

A. No, I did not.
Q. You didn’t check that. And I think you said that there 

are 12 grades in the Scotts Branch School and 14 teachers. 
Is that correct!

A. No, in the Scotts Branch School there were 12 grades 
and------

Q. And 14 teachers !
A. And 9 teachers in the elementary school and 5 in the 

high school, a total of 14.
Q. 14 teachers. And I believe you said there were two 

classes of one grade, for instance the first grade. Is that 
correct!

A. Well, when we say there were 2 first grades, that 
may be interpreted to mean two sections, I mean the same 
class.
[fol. 93] Q. You would expect more pupils to be in the first 
grades and less in the top grades, would you not!

A. Definitely. That is why you would expect more first 
grade classes.

Q. And in the Scotts Branch School, taking classroom 
by classroom, approved and efficient education could be 
given in that school, could it not!

A. If it were improved.
Q. No, I said taking classroom by classroom, efficient and 

approved education could be given in those classrooms of 
the Scotts Branch School, could it not?

A. To answer that question,—that question could not be 
answered yes or no, because the equalizing of an instruc­
tional program must of necessity bring into operation, aside 
from pupils and teachers,------

Q. Excuse me a minute. I am talking about the physical 
classrooms. These classrooms in the Scotts Branch School 
are efficient classrooms, are they not?



61

A. h o.
Q. What was wrOilg with them!
A. All right. The things that were wrong with them are 

as follows: No. 1, there was inadequate floor space in many 
of them, according to the standards, the floor space per 
child, and it is a very unhealthy situation related to the 
room. The room is used by the school library. The matter 
[fol. 94] of drinking water. These do not smack of academic 
qualifications but are included in the learning program.

Q. When you went there in April were there drinking 
fountains inside?

A. No, sir.
Q. Are they inside today?
A. They are today.
Q. You knew the materials were there to put them inside 

in April, did you not?
A. I did not. And I was not told either by the superin­

tendent or principal; Mr. Wright, I am sure, could verify 
that and also Mr. Betchman.

Q. The principal is a colored man?
A. The principal is a Negro.
Q. And that is true of the other Scotts Branch teachers 

too?
A. That is correct.
Q. And Mr. Betchman, I think you saw on both occasions ?
A. I did.
Q. From a physical standpoint and leaving aside any 

intangible force, just comparing the buildings physically, 
would you say that the Summerton Elementary School was 
inferior or superior to the Scotts Branch School as a school 
house?

A. Superior.
Q. In what respect?
A. The masonry and landscaping, plumbing, room size, 

[fol. 95] ventilation, instructional supplies, auditorium, play 
grounds, fence protection.

Q. You would say that the masonry of the building, as you 
call it, is superior to the Scotts Branch building? '

A. By far.
Q. You don’t think school houses should be anything but 

masonry ?
A. No, I wouldn’t answer that way.



6 8

Q. Scotts Branch building is a frame school building, 
is it not?

A. It is a frame school house.
Q. Isn’t it of pretty good construction?
A. The real value of a frame structure, I would not be in 

position to say. The only thing I would say, the condition of 
that frame structure at the time I observed it, it would add 
up to a picture of this sort: There were many of the panel­
lings—I think you call them clapboards, that were off of 
the building around the side. There was no underpinning 
of the building, which would be increased insulation as far 
as heat goes. For plumbing, there was an absence of 
equipment and supplies necessary for promotion of health. 
By way of cleaning of the building, there was the absence 
always of other facilities for health.

Q. How many clapboards were off?
A. I could not answer the exact number because there 

were clapboards off at more than one junction of the build­
ing.
[fol. 96] Q. Did you note in any report that you made that 
any clapboards were off of the Scotts Branch School?

A. Do what?
Q. Did you note in any report that you made of your 

two investigations that clapboards were off of the Scotts 
Branch School?

A. No, that was minor as far as the report goes.
Q. Isn’t it a fact that the school building was in pretty 

good condition both times you saw it?
A. I just answered that question and said no.
Q. I am not talking about—you mention health conditions, 

I am talking about the physical building, the physical struc­
tural building, wasn’t it in a pretty good condition as a 
school?

A. My answer is no.
Q. What did you mean when you talked about the sur­

facing around the school? Did you mean hard surfacing or 
just landscaping or an open space or what?

A. No, I meant what we call improved and unimproved 
surfacing. The playgrounds at the Summerton elementary 
school were not of mud; they were not of earth.

Q. What were they of?
A. They were a combination construction of asphalt or



6 9

cement all around the building of some type of construction; 
some type of mixture or combination mixture of tar and 
rock or tar and gravel, as I recall, on; certain parts of the 
[fol. 97] playground. The same was true------

Q. Are you positive of that, that there was asphalt: and 
rock on the playground at the elementary school?

A. We may not call it asphalt and rock, but—well, let us 
say a tar substitute, then.

Q. Was there any of that around the Summerton High 
School?

A. Definitely.
Q. I am not talking about the roadway in there, now. 

Are you?
A. Well, that is part of the campus.
Q. Were you talking about the playground? I am not 

talking about the roadway into the school.
A. No, we spoke of the location of the school and------
Q. You testified to hard surfaced or improved play­

grounds.
A. I beg your pardon. I don’t think my testimony will 

show that.
Q. Let’s eliminate the road intô  the school then. What 

else were you talking about?
A. I was talking about the site—the school site.
Q. The school site?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, is there tar around the Summerton Elementary 

School on the school site outside of the roadway leading 
up to it ?

A. Yes.
Q. There is?
A. Yes.
Q. The playground is improved by artificial means? 

[fol. 98] A. No.
Q. Well] then, what do you mean by this “ tar?”
A. I just pointed out that we still are speaking of the 

school site, but to speak of school sites does not of necessity 
mean that the entire site must be surfaced, for you, yourself, 
pointed out that at the, Summerton High School you have 
a more or less arc or semi-circle runway leading into the 
Summerton High School. Now, that is of a tar-concrete 
construction. But, I wouldn’t dare say that the entire



70

physical grounds of the Summerton High School are of the 
same composition.

Mr. Figg: That is all, your Honor.
Judge Parker: Ho you wish to examine him further? 
Mr. Marshall: No, sir.
Judge Parker: Stand down. Court will recess for five 

minutes.

[fol.99] Judge Parker: Call the next witness.

M r. H arold M cN allby was duly sworn.
Direct examination.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Mr. McNalley, would you kindly state what your oc­

cupation is.
A. I am Associate Professor of Education.
Q. At where ?
A. At Teacher College, Columbia University.
Q. How long have you held that position?
A. I have been associate professor for the past two years, 

and assistant professor for three years prior to that
Q. Have you had any previous teaching experience?
A. Yes. I taught elementary school in Delaware from 

1934 to 1936, in New Jersey in 1936 and 1937, and was Di­
rector of Special Education in Aleghany County, Mary­
land, from 1942 to 1946.

Q. Now, would you mind giving your educational back­
ground and the degrees that you hold?

A. I _ was _ graduated from the Philadelphia Normal 
School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and granted a teach­
ing certificate. I hold the Bachelor’s degree, the Master’s 
degree and the Ph. D. degree from Columbia University in 
the field of education.
_ Q- All right. What duties do you perform as the Asso­

ciate Professor of Education at Teacher’s College?
. A- 1 might say that in addition to my duties as Asso­

ciate Professor, I am also the Executive Officer of the Col-



71

[fol. 100] lege Elementary School at Teacher College, and 
my duties include the instruction of graduate students, the 
advisement of master’s degree and doctor’s degree candi­
dates, the conducting of research seminars, the overseeing 
of the administrative policies of the College Elementary 
School, and the conducting of field work in the field for 
students.

Q. Have you published any articles relating to the ques­
tion of education and school administration?

A. Quite a number of them in any number of different 
professional journals such as the Teacher College Record; 
The Journal Consulting Psychology, Educational Admin­
istration and Supervision; and the National Elementary 
Principal, all State journals of education in the United 
States—and some other probably. I can’t recall them all 
offhand.

Q. Do you belong to any professional societies?
A. Yes.
Q. Which?
A. I am a member of the American School of Adminis­

trators; The Association of Curriculum Departments of 
Elementary School Principals; The National Society for 
the Study of Education; The Kappa Delta Phi; the Phi 
Delta Kappa; The American Association of University 
Professors; of the National Conference of Professors of 
Educational Administration; and state organizations of 
elementary school principals in New York State and New 
Jersey.
[fol. 101] Q. What is the particular field of education that 
you would consider your specialty?

A. The field of specialization for my graduate degree was 
Educational Psychology. My experience has been in teach­
ing in administration, and I am now working in the De­
partment of Educational Administration at Teacher’s Col­
lege as a Professor of Educational Administration.

Q. Mr. McNalley, have you had any experience at all in 
evaluating* elementary and secondary schools?

A. Yes, particularly elementary schools. I participated 
in a number of surveys of school systems, such as the 
school system of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Great Neck, 
New York, Montclaire, New Jersey, and I have directed



72

other surveys, most recently in Warwick, New Jersey, and 
in Edgewater, New Jersey.

Q. I see. Mr. McNalley, you heard Mr. Whitehead’s 
testimony?

A. Yes.
Q. Assuming the facts relating to the conditions of the 

schools as regarding Negro and white schools in District 
22; assuming the facts as he related to be true, what is your 
opinion as to whether or not Negro children in those schools 
can secure equal classroom instructional facilities as com­
pared to white children?

A. Well, it seems obvious to me that there is not equiva­
lent provision for the education of the children in the 
Negro schools as compared with the White schools, for a 
number of reasons: First of all, the fact that the amount 
ffol. 102] of money spent for the Negro schools is consid­
erably less than that spent for the white schools, the differ­
entiation becoming greater if one looks at it in terms of 
“ per pupil expense,”  I would assume is an indication that 
there are not equal facilities provided. If one wanted to 
adduce research evidence on that, we could go to certain 
researches that were made in the past decade in relation 
to what educational money buys. Researches of Paul Mort 
—Doctor Paul Mort—Doctor Loren Willard, Doctor Fran­
cis Cornell, Doctor William Vincent and others have es­
tablished a strong relationship between the quality of edu­
cation and the cost of education. Now, of course, there are 
varying factors. You can have certain conditions such as 
one pupil in a school district, in which case the general re­
lation would not hold good. But, by and large, that is true, 
that the more money spent for educational progress is just 
as in other respects, like the more money spent for other 
things generally the more likely you are to get a better 
product. That is one conclusion that seems to me to be 
pretty obvious. Certain of the other factors that were 
brought out in Doctor Whitehead’s statements also point 
to factors which I don’t believe one needs even professional 
educational competency to see certain inequalities there, 
such as the amount of floor space—the differentiation in 
the floor space—the per-pupil or teacher-pupil load. Mod­
ern education is stressing particularly the need for the in­
dividualization of instruction; knowledge of the nature and



73

[fol. 103] the needs of each pupil. It seems, then, rather 
obvious that the more pupils a teacher has to teach, the less 
able she can be to know what the individual needs of each 
are. And there is the rather definite detferentiation in the 
provision of physical facilities relating to health such as the 
toilet facilities, and the drinking water facilities particu­
larly. And, may I say this, that in the modern conception 
of education, all the experiences the child has in the school 
constitute his education. And, it would seem to me that 
if you have poor health facilities provided children, they 
are learning poor health habits as wrell as being exposed to 
health hazards. Consequently, that would constitute a 
definite inequality of education offered in the two groups 
of schools. The furniture, of course, was mentioned as 
being different in each school, and if I understand the testi­
mony correctly, I would say again that the quality of in­
struction in the Negro schools could not help being handi­
capped by the nature of the facilities provided in the way 
of furniture, toilets and instruction.

Q. Well, Mr. McNalley, assuming only the fact that the 
Negro children in District 22 are educated in segregated 
classrooms and schools from which the white children in 
District 22 are excluded, in your opinion can the Negro 
children receive equal classroom instructional opportunities 
as compared to the opportunities of the average white chil­
dren ?
[fol. 104] A. Well, I would say no, and for this reason: 
If one considers what is the purpose of education in a coun­
try such as ours—a Democracy—one must be led to this 
conclusion, I think: The public schools are about the only 
institutions in the United States where children of all so­
cial-economic circumstances—all levels, all beliefs and in 
many places at least all races and colors—coming together 
for instruction and to know one another, that one of the 
purposes of education, it seems to me in a country such as 
ours, is to develop in each individual a real meaning for 
the phrase “ Respect for Personalities”  or “ Respect for 
Individualities”  and respect for others—the historic con­
cept of equality. And, if we accept children for instruc­
tion, whether we accept them on the basis of race, on the 
basis of creed or what-have-you, it seems to me that both 
groups are being discriminated against in terms of good



74

education for a good Democratic State. That is, I think the 
white children as well as the colored children are being 
short-changed in that respect. They are not having the 
opportunity to learn to value each other and one another 
as individuals, as persons. And, secondly, that there is 
basically implied in the separation—the two groups in this 
case of Negro and White—that there is some difference in 
the two groups which does not make it feasible for them to 
be educated together, which I would hold to be untrue. 
Furthermore, by separating the two groups, there is implied 
a stigma on at least one of them. And, I think that that 
[fob 105] would probably be pretty generally conceded. 
We thereby relegate one group to the status of more or 
less second-class citizens. Now, it seems to me that if that 
is true—and I believe it is—that it would be impossible to 
provide equal facilities as long as one legally accepts them.

Q. I see. Now, all of the items that you talked about that 
you based your reason for reaching your conclusion, you 
consider them to be important phases in the educational 
process?

A. Very much so.
Mr. Carter: You may have the witness.
Judge Parker: Cross examine the witness.

Cross-examination.
By Mr. Figg:

Q. Have you ever made a study of any school systems in 
South Carolina?

A. No, sir.
Q. In any other southern state?
A. No, sir.
Q. In any state which by law has a separate school for 

the white and colored races?
A. No.
Q. You have made no inquiry into the factors and facts, 

the problems and what-not which have motivated those 
states in establishing separate schools for the two races ?

A. No.
[fol. 106] Mr. Figg: That’s all.

Judge Parker: Go down. Call your next witness.



75

M r . E llis  0. K nox was duly  sworn.

Direct examination.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Mr. Knox, would you kindly indicate what your occu­

pation is.
A. Professor of Education, Howard University.
Q. In Washington, D. C.f
A. In Washington, D. C.
Q. How long have you held that position!
A. Twenty years.
Q. Have you held any previous teaching positions?
A. Yes. I have taught in public as well as private schools 

in such states as Texas, Arizona, California, and for a brief 
time in Kansas.

Q. Thank you. Would you mind stating what your edu­
cational background is and what degrees you hold?

A. I graduated from the public schools of Lake County, 
California, got my A. B. Degree in 1922 at the University 
of California, A. M. Degree in 1928 at the University of 
Southern California, Ph. D. Degree in 1931 at the Uni­
versity of Southern California, received graduate study in 
the field of Education at Columbia University, Ohio State 
University and in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Arizona State 
College—and one or two others.

Q. Well, what experience have you had, Mr. Knox, in 
[fol. 107] evaluating schools?

A. Well, I have been a part of educational survey com­
mittees and groups in what amounts to about eleven major 
cities. That is, I have participated in, sometimes con­
ducted, sometimes merely as participant, in educational 
surveys for a period of longer than twenty years, but 
about eleven major cities, inclusive in such cities as the 
schools in San Diego, California, schools in Kansas City, 
Kansas, schools in Washington, D. C,, the most recent of 
the largest surveys being the survey or auspices for the 
United States Congress directed by Doctor George D. 
Strayer in the public schools of Washington, D. C.

Q. Have you published any articles or books dealing with 
the problem of education?

A. One book dealing with the trend of progress in pri­



76

vate and denominational higher institutions, and many 
other articles over a period of years insofar as public 
school administration and methods of teaching in public 
schools—that which would have to do with subject matter, 
content, changes in regard to our various concepts of educa­
tion.

Q. Thank you. Now, Mr. Knox, assuming only the fact 
that schools in District 22 in which Negro children attend 
are segregated and that white children cannot attend those 
schools—assuming only those facts—what is your opinion 
as an educator as to whether or not the Negro child can 
receive equal classroom instructional opportunities under 
those conditions?
[fob 107a] A. In light of the facts which I have heard and 

the testimony this morning, and assuming the fact that one 
is segregated and the other is not segregated—rather . . . 
Will you state your question again, Mr. Counsel?

By Mr. Carter:
Q. I said, assuming only the fact that the schools in 

District 22 . . .
A. Yes.
Q. To which Negro children attend are segregated—in 

other words, that they have to attend segregated schools— 
and white children are excluded from those schools, in your 
opinion as an educator, can the Negro children receive 
equal classroom instructional opportunities under those 
conditions ?

Judge Parker: Do you mean for him to exclude all the 
other facts that were testified?

Mr. Carter: Yes, sir,—just the fact of segregation.
Judge Parker: All right.
Mr. F igg: If your Honor please, we object to that ques­

tion because just the fact that there is segregation could 
hardly be a matter of opinion by a witness.

Judge Parker: Well, what he’s asking him is whether 
or not in his opinion it is discriminating against the Negro 
children to segregate them in the schools. That is what 
he’s asking him. Why isn’t that competent?

Mr. Figg: We think it ’s irrelevant and immaterial. It ’s 
been settled that the states can provide public schools



77

[fol. 108] and that they may provide separate schools for 
the different races. And, his opinion is irrelevant and im­
material under the legal situation as laid down in the deci­
sions. That is a political matter for the legislature under 
our situation and not for witnesses on the witness stand. 
That may be his opinion, but it ’s . . .

Judge Parker: Well, if that’s so, we might as well let it 
come in, and the Court can pass on it, don’t you think so? 
Co ahead and answer the question.

The Witness: In my opinion, if the schools are segre­
gated, there are inferior educational opportunities af­
forded Negro youth. Now, that opinion is based upon 
surveys, studies, visitations and even participation in the 
educational programs in segregated areas over a number of 
years. It has never been my experience to have either 
visited for the purpose of surveying or investigating for 
the purpose of conducting model or what is called “  Demon­
stration”  lessons, which I have done in different states 
with segregated schools, or to merely observe and engage 
in the social and civil conditions of the areas in which 
schools are segregated. I have never found the segregated 
schools to afford equal conditions, and at all times the 
schools for Negroes were inferior insofar as the complete 
school district and the educational opportunities and in­
structional provisions afforded as compared to that for 
whites.

Judge Parker: I don’t think he’s answered your ques- 
[fol. 109] tion. He has said that where there is segre­
gation he has observed that the Negroes have inferior 
schooling qualities. That wasn’t the question you asked him 
at all, was it?

Mr. Carter: No, sir.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. I want to know from you, Mr. Knox, based on that 

experience, whether it ’s possible in your opinion for a 
segregated school in District 22—or the segregated schools 
in District 22—to give equal' educational opportunities to 
the Negro children?

A. It is my opinion that it is impossible to give equal ed­
ucational opportunities to Negro children.



78

Q. Well, Mr. Knox, leaving out all the elements of in­
equality which you have found—the physical inequalities 
which you have found to exist in your visitations and sur­
veys in the schools—what is the reason for your having 
reached that conclusion?

A. The reason is that when children are segregated, that 
segregation cannot exist without discrimination, disad­
vantages to the minority group, and that the children in 
the Negro schools very definitely are not prepared for the 
same type of American citizenship as the children in the 
white schools. They are not afforded the same instruc­
tion or other opportunities. We are preparing children 
to become members, in my opinion, of the human race and 
not distinct races as such. And, in the light of that over­
all objective for public education and in our American 
Democracy, I don’t believe that educational conditions which 
[fol. 110] more or less are centered around, racial differ­
entiations and distinctions are Democratic or equal.

Mr. Carter: Thank you. Your witness.
Judge Parker: Examine the witness.

Cross-examination.

By Mr. F igg:
Q. I think you said that you had been in school work in 

Texas ?
A. Right.
Q. They had segregated schools in Texas?
A. They did.
Q. And, have you determined why Texas had segregated 

schools ?
A. Due to the law.
Q. Did you make any inquiry into the purpose of that 

law?
A. In Texas?
Q. Yes.
A. I did not.
Q. You wouldn’t be of the opinion that that law had 

something to do with the fact that certainly at the present 
time and under present conditions that the element of con­
siderable emotionalism evolves in the education of races



79

where they live in great numbers in the same area? That’s 
true, isn’t it?

A. Will you state that again, Mr. Counsel?

By Mr. F igg:
Q. I say, there is a difference in a situation where the 

two races live in large numbers together in the same area 
and where one or the other is in a very small number as 
compared with the other race?
[fol. I l l ]  A. Well, in Texas there are a large number of 
Negroes.

Q. I know that.
A. And in many areas the proportion of Negroes is 

greater than that of whites.
Q. And then there are some where it ’s the other way?
A. Yes.
Q. And then there are some where they are about equally 

divided?
A. Correct.
Q. And there are ways of life and emotionalisms and 

whatnot to be taken into account as a practical matter 
whether they think that theoretically it ought to disappear 
or not, isn’t that correct?

A. Definitely yes. We must take into account the ways of 
life and emotionalisms, but I do not want to in any sense of 
the word say that we should not control emotionalisms and 
direct our ways and lives in terms of our Democratic goals 
at all times.

Q. Well, I understand that, but emotionalism does exist 
in connection with racial relations in the kinds of places we 
have talked about, isn’t that correct?

A. My experience has been that it exists to a degree at 
times, and sometimes in those same areas it ’s not readily 
apparent nor of a great amount. And, in other areas there 
is a relatively minimum amount of emotionalism.
[fol. 112] Q. Sometimes it ’s an acute problem and some­
times it ’s not, isn’t that correct?

A. Such as all other problems which tend to face the 
human race in their evolutions, I would say.

Q, And, in places where it ’s an acute problem, as a 
school administrator you might very well assign the chil­



80

dren of one race to one school and of another race to another 
school in the light of that problem, isn’t that correct?

A. If I understand you, Mr. Counsel, in cases where it’s 
an acute problem, I would not assign the children of one 
race to one school.

Q. It might be good school administration, though, apart 
from law, isn’t that correct?

A. I would not admit to that. It would be very poor 
school administration if the administrator did not direct 
his efforts at all times in terms of the overall purpose of 
our American public schools.

Q. Well, where the problem was acute, wouldn’t it inter­
fere considerably with the proper administration of a school 
system not to take into account that background?

A. I would say that my opinion tends to show the ad­
ministrators of public schools are of sufficient stature and 
leadership ability so that they can more or less direct—mold 
even—and control public opinion so as to preserve the best 
interests of all the children in any community or given 
area.
[fol. 113] Q. Now, let me ask you another question? Isn’t 
it a fact that rural school education has perhaps lagged be­
hind the development of education in the urban centers in 
recent years?

A. Not only in recent years, but throughout history . . .
Q. Throughout history.
A. And the evolution of education, there has been a 

lagging behind of rural areas in education and the develop­
ment of other social institutions.

Q. And one of the difficulties with rural education has 
been the fact that it has had to be supported under a great 
many public school systems by local taxation, isn’t that 
correct?

A. I believe in every state in the United States the State 
Executive Officers act as State Boards of Equalization of 
educational funds, and therefore that the rural schools are 
not supported entirely------

Q. Where is that?
A. In the states. The State Superintendents observe to 

see that there is some degree of equalization of educational 
funds.

Q. You mean in South Carolina?



81

A. No. I ’m saying that insofar as the United States as 
a whole.

Q. You mean that should be done?
A. That should be done.
Q. And it ’s a distinct step forward in the development 

of education generally, and particularly in rural education 
[fol. 114] when, a state undertakes to make the matter of 
physical facilities in the school system a matter of state con­
cern and distribute the burden over the whole state rather 
than to leave it lay on any particular school district? That 
is a step forward, isn’t it?

A. That is. That has existed, Mr. Counselor, for a num­
ber of years in most states, and it ’s very essential and de­
sirable to see that the educational facilities are to a degree 
at least equalized throughout the state.

Q. I ’m talking now in reference to the State of South 
Carolina. You know that the State this year has taken that 
step, don’t you?

A. I did not know it prior to this time.
Q. You heard that today?
A. I ’m learning it from you.
Q. And, that should be a distinct factor in the develop­

ment of rural education in this state, shouldn’t it?
A. Now, may I ask you to kindly explain so we can be 

sure we are talking about the same thing in reference to 
that. The antecedent of that was the equality of school 
opportunities for rural and urban areas.

Q. I mean the provision of funds from the state treasury 
to aid the school districts in providing school facilities 
and equipment should be a distinct aid to the development 
of education in rural sections, shouldn’t it?

A. Yes.
[fol. 115] Q. You haven’t yourself been to School District 
22 in Clarendon County that we’re talking about here 
today?

A. I have not.
Q. Your knowledge of that you obtained by listening to 

a witness on the witness stand?
A. And from what I have been able to read and learn 

through studies.
Q. But, I mean you haven’t studied that school district

6—101



82

yourself, have you, except what you read from somebody 
else?

A. I haven’t studied the school district other than the 
reports which have been made and the extent to which the 
school district appears in literature.

Q. You haven’t seen anything about school district 22 
in literature, have you?

A. No—the extent to which School District 22, of course, 
is part of the whole program of South Carolina—the ex­
tent to which information in regard to the school program 
of South Carolina would be applicable.

Mr. Figg: All right. That’s all.
Judge Parker: Do you wish to ask him anything in 

rebuttal?
Mr. Carter: Not a thing.
Judge Parker: Stand down. Call your next witness.
Mr. Carter: I would like to call Mr. Kenneth Clark as 

a witness.

[fol. 116] Mr. K enneth Clark was duly sworn.
Direct examination.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Mr. Clark, would you kindly state your occupation?
A. I ’m Assistant Professor of Psychology at the New 

York City College, and Associate Director of the North Side 
School for child development in New York City.

Q. How long have you been Assistant Professor of 
Psychology at the New York City College?

A. I have been associated with New York City College 
since 1942, and I have been Assistant Professor since 
1948, I think.

Q. How long have you been Director of the North Side 
Center?

A. My wife and I founded the North Side Center in 1946.
Q. And, what is the purpose of that organization ?
A. I t ’s a child guidance center. It seeks to help children 

with emotional problems. Children with behavior problems 
are helped by us in obtaining psychiatric aid for living a 
more adjusted life.



83

Q. Have you held any other positions other than those 
two?

A. Yes, I have. I was a reserve consultant for the Amer­
ican Youth Commission in their study of the effects of a 
minority status on the personalities of Negro youth. I 
was reserve associate with the Cornachie-Murdaugh study 
of the Negro in America. I was reserve associate with the 
Office of War Information during the war in their studies 
of morale problems in the American Negro. I worked 
rather recently with the mid-century White House con- 
[fol. 117] ference on Children In Youth, preparing for 
them a manuscript on the effects of prejudice and dis­
crimination on the personalities of children—white and 
Negro children. This manuscript was used last Decem­
ber in Washington at the White House conference on 
Children and Youth.

Q. Have you published any books or articles on this or 
any related subjects?

A. I have.
Q. Would you generally list them and where they appear?
A. Yes. Within the last ten years, I have published about 

twenty-five articles on the problem of social psychology 
with children and the effects of social situations on the 
personalities of children. They have appeared in the Jour­
nal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, the Journal of 
Social Psychology, the International Bulletin on Social 
Sciences published by the United Nations Organization. 
Some of these articles or chapters have appeared in books, 
such as Civilian Morale by Goodwin Watson, Human 
Nature and Enduring Peace by Gardner Murphy, and Read­
ings and Social Psychology by Newman Hartley.

Q. Would you indicate your memberships, and the meas­
ures, in professional societies of your profession?

A. I am a Fellow in the Division of Personalities and 
Social Psychology of the American Psychological Associa­
tion. I am a Fellow in the Society for the Socialogical study 
of social issues, and I am a member of the Columbia Uni- 
[fol. 118] versity Chapter of The Honorary Scientific Re­
search Organization.

Q. Well, is your Major or emphasis on child psychology?
A. Child and Social.
Q. Now, Mr. Clark, are there any methods of scien­



84

tifically determining a child’s sensitivity to racial discrimi­
nation and its effects on its personality and development!

A. Yes, there are.
Q. Would you tell us what those methods are!
A. There are many methods which psychologists have 

developed in their attempts to measure the child’s sen­
sitivity, his awareness of racial problems, and the effects 
which these have upon him. These methods are generally 
listed under what psychologists call projective methods, in 
which the child, depending upon his age—younger children 
and some older ones too are presented with pictures; pic­
tures of individuals in which the racial group is clear by 
the color of one or more of the pictures. And, the child is 
asked to interpret the meaning or significance of that pic­
ture. Sometimes the child may be asked to identify him­
self with one or the other individuals on the picture. Then, 
there are methods which my wife and I have developed of 
presenting the child with dolls—dolls which are equal in 
every respect—that is coming from the same mould, except 
skin color, and asking the child a number of questions about 
these dolls. Would you care to hear the questions that we 
ask?

Q. Well, just generally.
[fol. 119] A. Well, we ask the child which one of these dolls 
does he like best, which one is a “ Nice”  doll, which one is 
‘ ‘ bad, ’ ’ and we ’re interested not only in the child’s response 
to the specific question, but we’re also interested in his 
spontaneous remarks as he attempts to justify it. Then, in 
order to find out whether that is predicated upon the child’s 
knowledge of the racial factor, which these dolls are sup­
posed to symbolize, we ask the child which one is like a 
white child, which one is like a colored child, and finally the 
last question that we ask the child, after the child has 
expressed his opinion about the dolls, we ask the child 
‘ ‘ Which one is like you ? ’ ’ Another method which we have 
is the coloring method. We present the child with some 
pictures—line drawings—of various objects like the leaf, 
an orange, a mouse and an apple in order to see whether the 
child has any stable concept of color-object relationship. 
And, if we find that that’s true, we then give the child a 
drawing of a little boy if he is a little boy and say “ This



85

little boy is you, ”  “  Color Mm the color that you are. ’ ’ And, 
we get some picture of the child’s concept of his own color, 
and we also get an indication of the child’s anxieties and 
confusions about his color and his feelings. And, we present 
him with a picture of a little girl and we say to him ‘ ‘ Color 
this little girl the color that you would like little girls to be. ’ ’ 
Here we get an indication of the child’s preference or feel­
ings about different shades of skin color. These are the 
[fob 120] methods which are generally used.

Q. Now, am I correct in stating that you have examined 
all of the literature relating to this method—to this subject 
—in preparation of the manuscript for the White House 
Conference?

A. You are correct, sir.
Q. Now, what did the literature which you examined 

adduce?
Judge Parker: What’s that question?
Mr. Carter: Sir, I have asked him about the methods in 

determining racial discrimination. Mr. Clark has taken all 
of the literature that has been written about the use of these 
methods by other psychologists and their results and their 
findings, and he has collated those in a book—a manuscript 
—which he has edited for the White House Conference. 
And, I merely wanted to get from him the general con­
clusions which were reached.

Judge Parker: Well, you have asked him about his opin­
ion, but you can’t ask him about conclusions reached from 
literature, can you? I have never heard of that being a 
competent question.

Mr. Carter: Well, sir, I thought that I------
Judge Parker: You can ask him what authorities he 

studied.
Mr. Carter: All right, sir.
Judge Parker: You know, we’ll never end this case if 

[fob 121] we go into that sort of question.
Mr. Carter : I didn’t want to drag it out.
Judge Parker: All right.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Well, are the methods which you have described ac­

cepted by child psychologists as being accurate aids to



86

determine what part racial discrimination plays in the 
development of the personality pattern?

A. These methods are generally accepted as indications 
of the child’s sensitivity to race as a problem and the child’s 
reactions—his own personal reactions to race as a problem.

Q. Now, based upon your own use of these methods and 
upon your study of the literature in the field, have you 
reached any conclusion as to the effect of racial discrimina­
tion on the personality development of the Negro child?

A. Yes, I have.
Q. What is that conclusion ?
A. I have reached the conclusion from the examination of 

my own results and from an examination of the literature in 
the entire field that discrimination, prejudice and segrega­
tion have definitely detrimental effects on the personality 
development of the Negro child. The essence of this detri­
mental effect is a confusion in the child’s concept of his own 
self esteem—basic feelings of inferiority, conflict, confusion 
in his self image, resentment, hostility towards himself, 
hostility toward whites, intensification of sometimes a 
[fol. 122] desire to resolve his basic conflict by sometimes 
escaping or withdrawing. And, if you care to see some of 
the results, I ’ll be happy to show them. They attempt to 
withdraw from the situation which threatens so basically 
their self-esteem. This is not only my opinion, but in a 
study conducted by two social scientists, Doetcher and 
Schime, they studied opinions of representative samples of 
social psychology, anthropology and sociology by those who 
have worked in this field, and they found that ninety percent 
of these social psychologists and social scientists agree that 
segregation definitely has negative detrimental effects on 
the personalities of those individuals who are the victims 
of segregation. And, in these specific areas which I have 
just enumerated, that was true.

Q. Now, Mr. Clark, have you any occasion------
A. May I continue because that is an answer only to one- 

half of your question because, actually, the problem is 
further explored by those of us who know the literature by 
showing that prejudice, discrimination and segregation 
have an effect upon the personality of the child who belongs 
to the discriminating or segregating group—the white child 
in this particular regard. The Doetcher and Schime re­



87

search again showed that in this case eighty-two percent of 
the social scientists believed that the consequences of be­
longing to a segregating* group also is detrimental. The 
pattern of the detriment is different in this case. Here it ’s 
the feeling of the social scientists that the basic personality 
[fol. 123] problem is guilty feelings. Another problem is 
confusion in the mind of the child—confusion concerning 
basic moral ideology—and a conflict which is set up in the 
child who belongs to the segregating group in terms of 
having the same people teach him Democracy, brotherhood, 
love of his fellow man, and teaching him also to segregate, 
and to discriminate. Most of these social scientists believe 
that this sets off in the personalities of these children a 
fundamental confusion in the entire moral spheres of their 
lives.

Q. Now, Mr. Clark, you had occasion, did you not, to test 
the reactions of the infant plaintiffs involved in this case by 
the use of the methods that determine sensitivity to racial 
discriminations ?

A. Yes, I did.
Q. Now, will you tell us when you made these tests and 

what you did ?
A. I made these tests on Thursday and Friday of this 

past week at your request, and I presented it to children in 
the Scott’s Branch Elementary school, concentrating par­
ticularly on the elementary group. I used these methods 
which I told you about—the Negro and White dolls—which 
were identical in every respect save skin color. And, I 
presented them with a sheet of paper on which there were 
these drawings of dolls, and I asked them to show me the 
doll------May I read from these notes?
[fol. 124] Judge Waring: You may refresh your recol­
lection.

The Witness: Thank you. I presented these dolls to 
them and I asked them the following questions in the follow­
ing order: “ Show me the doll that you like best or that 
you’d like to play with, ”  “  Show me the doll that is the ‘ nice ’ 
doll,”  “ Show me the doll that looks ‘ bad’,”  and then the 
following questions also: ‘ ‘ Give me the doll that looks like a 
white child,”  “ Give me the doll that looks like a colored



child,”  “ Give me the doll that looks like a Negro child,”  
and “ Give me the doll that looks like you.”

By Mr. Carter:
Q. “ Likeyou?”
A. 4 4 Like you. ’ ’ That was the final question, and you can 

see why. I wanted to get the child’s free expression of his 
opinions and feelings before I had him identified with one 
of these two dolls. I found that of the children between the 
ages of six and nine whom I tested, which were a total of 
sixteen in number, that ten of those children chose the white 
doll as their preference; the doll which they liked best. Ten 
of them also considered the white doll a “ Nice”  doll. And, 
I think you have to keep in mind that these two dolls are 
absolutely identical in every respect except skin color. 
Eleven of these sixteen children chose the brown doll as the 
doll which looked 4'bad.”  This is consistent with previous 
results which we have obtained testing over three hundred 
children, and we interpret it to mean that the Negro child 
[fob 125] accepts as early as six, seven or eight the negative 
stereotypes about his own group. And, this result was con­
firmed in Clarendon County where we found eleven out of 
sixteen children picking the brown doll as looking “ bad,”  
when we also must take into account that over half of these 
children, in spite of their own feelings,—negative feelings— 
about the brown doll, were eventually required on the last 
question to identify themselves with this doll which they 
considered as being undesirable or negative. It may also 
interest you to know that only one of these children, between 
six and nine, dared to choose the white doll as looking bad. 
The difference between eleven and sixteen was in terms of 
children who refused to make any choice at all and the 
children were always free not to make a choice. They were 
not forced to make a choice. These choices represent the 
children’s spontaneous and free reactions to this experi­
mental situation. Nine of these sixteen children considered 
the white doll as having the qualities of a nice doll. To show 
you that that was not due to some artificial or accidental set 
of circumstances, the following results are important. 
Every single child, when asked to pick the doll that looked 
like the white child, made the correct choice. All sixteen of



the sixteen pickd that doll. Every single child, when asked 
to pick the doll that was like the colored child; every one of 
them picked the brown doll. My opinion is that a funda­
mental effect of segregation is basic confusion in the indi­
viduals and their concepts about themselves conflicting in 
[fol. 126] their self images. That seemed to he supported 
by the results of these sixteen children, all of them knowing 
which of those dolls was white and which one wTas brown. 
Seven of them, when asked to pick the doll that was like 
themselves; seven of them picked the white doll. This must 
be seen as a concrete illustration of the degree to which 
the pleasures which these children sensed against being 
brown forced them to evade reality—to escape the reality 
which seems too overburdening or too threatening to them. 
This is clearly illustrated by a number of these youngsters
who, when asked to color themselves------  For example, I
had a young girl, a dark brown child of seven, who was 
so dark brown that she was almost black. When she was 
asked to color herself, she was one of the few children who 
picked a flesh color, pink, to color herself. When asked 
to color a little boy, the color she liked little boys to be, she 
looked all around the twenty-four crayons and picked up 
a white crayon and looked up at me with a shy smile and 
began to color. She said, “ Well, this doesn’t show.”  So, 
she pressed a little harder and began to color in order to 
get the white crayon to show. These are the kinds of re­
sults which I obtained in Clarendon County.

Q. Well, as a result of your tests, what conclusions have 
you reached, Mr. Clark, with respect to the infant plaintiffs 
involved in this case?
[fol. 127] A. The conclusion which I was forced to reach 
was that these children in Clarendon County, like other 
human beings who are subjected to an obviously inferior 
status in the society in which they live, have been definitely 
harmed in the development of their personalities; that the 
signs of instability in their personalities are clear, and I 
think that every psychologist would accept and interpret 
these signs as such.

Q. Is that the type of injury which in your opinion 
would be enduring or lasting?

A. I think it is the kind of injury which would be as en­



90

during or lasting as the situation endured, changing only 
in its form and in the way it manifests itself.

Mr. Carter: Thank you. Your witness.

Cross-examination.

By Mr. F igg:
Q. How many children did you say that you talked to up 

there last week!
A. I can give you the exact number, sir. I talked to 

sixteen children between the ages of six and nine, and I 
talked to some children between the ages of twelve and 
seventeen.

Q. How many!
A. Ten.
Q. Twenty-six, then, total!
A. Twenty-six total, yes, sir.
Q. And where did you talk with them!
A. I talked with them in a room provided for me by the 

[fol. 128] Principal in the Scott’s Branch School.
Q, Do you remember his name!
A. I think his name is Mr. Wright. I think so.
Q. Who was present when you talked with these children!
A. In general no one, but there was one situation in which 

a Mr. Betchman, I think, opened the door and entered and 
asked me what I was doing, and I told him, I was testing 
and if he wanted any further information he could ask Mr. 
Montgomery.

Q. Well, he wasn’t present when you were talking to the 
children!

A. No.
Q. Well, that’s what I asked you; not who opened the 

door.
A. That’s the only situation I remember in which there 

was another person present.
Q. You didn’t talk with the children with Mr. Betchman 

there at all!
A. I was talking to a child. That’s why it stuck in my 

mind, because usually that doesn’t happen.
Q. So, in each case you and the child only were present!
A. That’s correct.



91

Q, And you asked these questions and presented these 
exhibits and let the children make the selections?

A. That’s right.v
Q. And then you say you were forced to the conclusion, 

after talking to these children, that they had suffered harm 
[fol. 129] by attending the Scott's* Branch School?

A. I was forced to the conclusion that they have definite 
disturbances and problems in their own self esteems; that 
they had feelings of inferiority that related to race.

Q. Because they had attended the Scott’s Branch School?
A. No, because they perceived themselves in an inferior 

status—generally inferior.
Q. Well, the Scott’s Branch School had nothing to do 

with it?
A. Well, I wouldn’t say that, Counselor.
Q. Well, what would you say?1
A. Well, I would say it would definitely------
Q. And why?
A. Because of some information which I got from the 

children between the ages of twelve and seventeen. As you 
can see, this method is not as sensitive for older children 
as it would be for younger children. So, it became apparent 
to me as I talked to the older children that I could get 
similar data by a different method; namely the interview 
method. And, I interviewed the older children, and I got 
from them definite and categorical statements concerning 
their feelings and their attitudes about attending Scott’s 
Branch School, and I shall read some of them if you care for 
them.

Q. Well, you can read them; but who was present when 
you had this interview method with these older children? 
[fol. 130] A. No person is ever present.

Q. Just you and the child?
A. No person can be present under these circumstances.
Q. Just you and the child?
A. That’s right.
Q. And you refer to that as the interview method?
A. The interview method.
Q. That means you ask them questions?
A. That’s right.
Q. And they give you answers?
A. That’s right.



92

Q. And the other method, you say, you devised yourself 
also ?

A. It ’s a modification of methods which have been used 
by others too.

Q. Now, do you believe that there is such a conception as 
the universal consciousness of kind!

A. No, sir, I do not.
Q. You don’t subscribe to that?
A. I don’t believe that such a conception has any modern 

psychological validity.
Q. Do you believe that there is such a thing as recogniz­

ing the visible difference between races?
A. Oh, certainly, that is perceptible.
Q. And these children recognized the visible differences 

between those dolls that you showed them* didn’t they? 
[fol. 131] A. They recognized the visible differences be­
tween these two dolls.

Q. Do you recognize the psychology that people, based 
upon the Universal Consciousness of Kind, Social Heritage 
and the degree of Visibility of Differences between Races 
and so forth, enters into the problem of dealing with the 
existence of two different races in great numbers in a par­
ticular area?

A. I do not recognize that at all, sir.
Q. You don’t recognize that?
A. I do not recognize it as a principle which should 

govern Democratic relations.
Q. Do you recognize that there is an emotional facet in 

the problem of two different races living in large numbers 
together in the same area?

A. I have just given you results which indicate the con­
sequences of that kind of emotional tension.

Q. Well, did you examine any white children while you 
were up there?

A. I did not examine any white children in Clarendon 
County.

Q. Have you ever made any examination on what the 
effect would be in taking into account the present condi­
tions at the present time in South Carolina of forcibly mix­
ing the two races, say between the ages of seven and four­
teen in the public schools ?



93

A. I have no direct knowledge of that, sir, because I don’t 
[fol. 132] know that.

Q. Yon haven’t made any study of that?
A. May I ask for clarification of your question?
Q. I say, have you ever made any study sufficient to form 

an opinion as to what would be the effect psychologically 
upon the white children at the present time and under 
present conditions forcing them together in mixed schools— 
children of two races in such a place as School District 22 
in Clarendon County?

A. Would you care for me to answer that question in 
terms of my opinion?

Q. I say, have you ever gone into that subject to deter­
mine what the contrary effect would be?

A. No, I could only give you an opinion as to what I 
believe would happen, but I couldn’t tell you what I know 
would happen.

Judge Parker: The time for recess has arrived. How 
long is it going to take you to finish this cross examination?

Mr. F igg: I would just as soon take it up when we come 
back, your Honor, and I won’t lengthen it.

Judge Parker: All right. W e’ll adjourn until half past 
two o ’clock.

(Eecess for lunch.)

Afternoon Session, Monday May 28, 1951.

Judge Parker: All right. Let the witness come back. Go 
ahead, Mr. Figg.

[fol. 133] Cross-examination.

By Mr. Figg—Continued.
Q. I think you said that you came down last Thursday 

and Friday to School District 22 in Clarendon County?
A. That’s correct.
Q. And you administered this test that you had devised 

to some total twenty-six pupils ?
A. That’s correct, sir.
Q. Now, how were those pupils chosen?



94

A. A list of the children of the plaintiffs in this case 
w a s '— -—

Q. Who had the list when yon got there?
A. The person who accompanied me had the list.
Q. The person accompanying you?
A. The person who accompanied me had the list.
Q. Who was that?
A. A  Mr. Montgomery.
Q. And who is he?
A. Mr. Montgomery is the person who lives and works 

in this area for the N. A. A. C. P.
Q. All right. Does he live in Summerton?
A. I do not think so.
Q. But he had a list of the children?
A. He had a list of the children of the plaintiffs.
Q. And you asked the principal for those particular 

children?
A. I asked the principal for all of those children between 

[fol. 134] the first and fourth grades.
Q. Well, I mean, every child that you talked to or ad­

ministered the test to was on the list?
A. No, that’s not true.
Q. What?
A. That’s not true. I also asked for a child from each 

grade in which there was a plaintiff child that w7as of the 
same age and the same sex, between the ages of six and 
nine.

Q. Who selected those children?
A. I asked that they be selected at random except in 

terms of these things which I wanted controlled.
Q. Who did you ask to select them at random?
A. I asked Mr. Montgomery to ask the principal that.
Q. You didn’t yourself ask the principal?
A. I talked to the principal when I first went in myself, 

yes.
Q. And got the permission for the entire thing?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, you said you arranged these tests yourself?
A. Yes. My wife and I developed these.
Q. Your wife and you?
A. We devised these particular tests.
Q. You and your wife devised these particular tests?



95

A. Yes.
Q. And how many times had it been used before you used 

[fob 135] it at Clarendon!
A. I would say about------You mean how many differ­

ent people?
Q. Yes.
A. About four hundred.
Q. About four hundred. And, where was that done?
A. It was done in Springfield, Massachusetts and------
Q. How many there?
A. How many?
Q. How many at Springfield?
A. Oh, I would say about a hundred and fifty or some­

thing like that.
Q. About fifty?
A. A hundred and fifty.
Q. A hundred and fifty?
A. I would say so.
Q. And where else?
A. In Arkansas.
Q. How many there?
A. In Pine Bluff, Arkansas; Little Rock, Arkansas; and 

Hot Springs, Arkansas. I would say about a hundred and 
sixty or a hundred and seventy, or something of that sort.

Q. At any other places?
A. Some in New York. The results of the children we 

have tested in New York have not been published.
[fol. 136] Q. So that this method that you and your wife 
devised had been used on about four hundred children 
before this occasion?

A. Approximately, yes.
Q. And, would you say that that was a satisfactory 

demonstration of its accuracy and merit to base an opinion 
of its value on?

A. I would say so, particularly in the light of its use and 
its acceptance by other psychologists.

Mr. Figg: That’s all.



96

Re-direct examination.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Mr. Clark, this method that you and Mrs. Clark 

used, has this method been employed or used by other 
psychologists? Is your test a variation of the standard 
tests that are used or what?

A. I would say that it ’s a modification of a general type 
of test which has been used by some psychologists, yes, sir. 
It is a projective test.

Q. When you spoke of four hundred experiences, you are 
merely talking about the four hundred times in which you 
have used the test?

A. The four hundred times that I have used the method, 
yes.

Mr. F igg: May I ask him one more question, Your Honor ?
Judge Parker: All right.

Recross examination.

By Mr. Figg:
Q. Has it been used by anybody else that you know of? 

[fol. 137] A. Yes, sir, it has.
Q. Where was that?
A. A graduate student at Columbia University has used 

our method with white children. Unfortunately I have not 
gotten those results, but I have permitted her to use our 
dolls and our methods on a master’s thesis which she was 
using.

Q. Well, may I ask why the standard or general tests 
were not used on this occasion?

A. Because there are no standardized or general tests 
for exploring this particular problem. This particular 
problem is a problem which has just been recently studied 
by the use of these tests. It therefore follows that the tech­
niques are being developed and are being used.

Mr. Figg: That’s all.
Judge Parker: Stand down. Call your next witness.
Mr. Marshall: May it please The Court, we had a con­

ference during the luncheon recess. We only have available



at the present time this afternoon two more witnesses, and 
they will not take long, and I think it ’s obvious, if your 
Honors please, for the concessions made by the defendant 
this morning, which we did not know about and had no idea 
about, the other witnesses that we have are all busy people 
and they are all out of town people, and we had arranged 
for them to come in tonight on the theory that our case 
would still be going on. And, I was wondering, sir, since 
[fob 138] there is no jury involved in this case, if the de­
fendants would put on their testimony with us with the 
right to some back. I don’t wrnnt to rest. I don’t think we 
have enough to rest.

Judge Parker: Well, you’d better put all the witnesses 
you have up.

Mr. Marshall: The two we have will be very short, though.
Judge Parker: All right. Put them up and let’s get 

through with them.

M e . J am es L. H upp  was d u ly  sworn.
Direct Examination.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Mr. Hupp, what is your present occupation!
A. I am Dean of Students and Professor of Education 

and Psychology at the Wesleyan College of West Virginia 
at Buchanan, West Virginia.

Q. How long have you held that job?
A. Eight years.
Q. What other teaching experience have you had!
A. I have taught in a one-room elementary school and 

in a graded elementary school, been Principal of an ele­
mentary school, taught in high school and been principal 
of high schools, and have taught in college and universities.

Q. What is your educational background?
A. I ’m a graduate of Ohio University at Athens, Ohio, 

where I received a Bachelor of Science and Education 
[fol. 139] Degree; from Columbia Teacher’s College, Colum­
bia University where I received a Master of Arts Degree; 
from Ohio State University where I received a Doctor of 
Philosophy Degree.



9 8

Q. Now, Mr. Hupp, what exactly is your specific field or 
specialization in the field of education?

A. I majored at Columbia University and at Ohio State 
University in School Administration and received a diploma 
in school administration along with my Master’s degree 
at Columbia.

Q. Have you published any articles or books on the subject 
of education?

A. I have.
Q. And what are they?
A. Well, I have made a study of the administration and 

the curriculum in the field of history. I made a study of the 
items used on report forms used throughout the United 
States in making* reports on school affairs. I made a study 
of the teaching of social sciences in the State of Ohio, and 
others.

Q. Ho you belong to any professional societies?
A. I do.
Q. Will you name a few of them?
A. Well, I belong to the American Association of Political 

Science, Social Science and History, I believe it is. I forget 
the exact title of it. And, the American Association of 
Science, and I am a member of the National Society for 
the Study of Education. I am a member of the American 
[fol. 140] College Personnel Association. I have been a 
member of the West Virginia Academy of Science, and the 
West Virginia Association of Higher Education. I ’m an 
immediate Past President of the West Virginia Associa­
tion of Higher Education—and many others.

Q. All right, sir. Is the college at which you are now 
teaching a public or a private school?

A. It is a private school owned and operated by the West 
Virginia Conference of the Methodist Churches.

Q. Now, Dean Hupp, based on your experience and back­
ground, as an educator, assuming a situation in which the 
public schools for Negroes are segregated, that they are 
required to attend schools which are segregated from those 
which are maintained for the rest of the population, in your 
opinion, would the Negro child educated under those cir­
cumstances be able to secure equal educational facilities?

A. My answer is no, that he would not.
Q. Now, what do you base that opinion upon?



9 9

A. It is my opinion that when Negro children and white 
children are separated so far as education is concerned, 
that Negro and white students do not get a clear picture 
of each of the races. Therefore, their education is distorted 
to that extent, and is not a clear-cut all around education.

Q. Now, what do you conceive to be the function of public 
education?

A. Well, I could use one word to describe it. I could say 
[fol. 141] that the business of education in our societies is 
to produce good citizens—citizens able to function efficiently 
in a Democracy as we have. From another point of view, 
it is the business of education to help children as they grow 
and develop in facing the tasks that they meet because 
of the fact that they are growing, developing persons. And, 
in this growing up, a child matures physically, socially, 
intellectually and emotionally. And, if he’s going to grow 
up and be an all-around well, developed integrated per­
sonality, every one of these phases of development must be 
given attention by educators because they are all inter­
related and inter-dependent, and if one is not taken care of 
as well as it should be, all of the others are injured to some 
extent. Therefore, since social development is one of these 
phases, and a very important phase, I don’t believe our 
children, white or black, get the social development that 
they really should get when education is carried on in 
segregated schools.

Q. Now, Dean Hupp, have you any experience in par­
ticipating or observing a school situation which formerly 
had excluded Negroes; we’ll say a segregated school which 
kept Negroes out, and then admitted them; began to abandon 
that policy and admit Negroes? Have you had any ex­
perience with that type of situation?

A. I have.
Q. And where?

[fol. 142] A. At West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Q. How did that transition take place?

Mr. Figg: Your Honor, we object to any testimony as 
to any events in West Virginia because it ’s a very different 
evidentiary situation.

Judge Parker: How is that competent?
Mr. Carter: Well, your Honor, as I understood the



100

questions raised by the defense, there is emphasis on the 
emotional situation development. It seems to me that the 
defense was raising the question that there would he a great 
deal of emotional tension involved in a situation in which 
Negroes and whites were thrown together for the first time 
in a school system, and it seemed to me that, having raised 
that point, we were called upon to, meet it.

Judge Parker: Well, isn’t the question that you are 
addressing to this witness directed to the policy of educa­
tion rather than to the rights under education? I t ’s not the 
function of the Court to determine what is the best educa­
tional policy; it is the function of the Court to see that 
all men are given their rights.

Mr. Carter: I agree, your Honor. That’s true, but the 
defense, it seems to me, having raised this question as to 
whether this would be wise by virtue of some of the 
questions directed at our witnesses, I thought that it was 
necessary for us to attempt to meet that with this witness, 
[fob 143] Judge Parker: Well, g'o ahead, but make it as 
short as you can.

Mr. Carter: I won’t delay it.
The Witness: Are you ready for the answer?

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Please.
A. A little over two years ago, the Administration Com­

mittee of West Virginia Wesleyan College voted to admit 
students—qualified students—without reference to race, 
creed or color. This, of course, had to be taken before the 
faculty committee, and then from the Faculty Committee to 
the Board of Trustees. It passed through the faculty and 
then a week or so later went before the Board of Trustees, 
and was passed by the Board of Trustees. Two years ago 
we admitted our first Negro student, and we have had Negro 
students on the campus for the past two years. And, these 
emotional tensions and so forth that you hear about, we 
have had no experiences of that kind. Our student body 
accepted these people with open arms. In fact, at the first 
meeting of the freshman class, they selected one of these 
Negro students to represent them on what we call the Com­
munity Council, which in many schools is called a student 
government.



101

Q. Do you consider the opportunity to go to an unsegre­
gated school an essential element in public school educa­
tion?

A. I do.
Q. Why?

[fol. 144] A. Well, I think that in America, that people 
ought to have the right and privilege to attend schools of 
their choice. And, by opening up the doors of West Virginia 
Wesleyan to colored people, we had persons, of course, who 
chose to attend our school in preference to segregated 
schools. I think that’s a right that American citizens should 
possess.

Mr. Carter: Your witness.
Mr. Figg: We have no questions, your Honor.
Judge Parker: Stand down. Call your next witness.

M b . L ouis K bsseumanu  w as d u ly  sw orn .

Direct Examination.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Mr. Kesselmann, what is your present occupation?
A. I am Associate Professor of Political Science at the 

University of Louisville.
Q. How long have you held that position?
A. I have been at the University of Louisville since 1947. 

I have been Associate Professor starting this year.
Q. What other teaching experience if any have you had? 
A. Prior to my coming to Louisville, I taught for six 

years at Ohio State University as an instructor in the De­
partment of Political Science.

Q. Have you published any articles of any kind?
A. Yes. I have one book which was published by the 

University of North Carolina press on the Social Politics 
of F.E.P.C. and a series of articles on F.E.P.C. and Labor 
questions.
[fol. 145] Q. Would you indicate where you received your 
education and degrees that you hold?

A. I received all three of my degrees—the Bachelor of



102

Arts, the Master of Arts, and the Doctor of Philosophy—at 
Ohio State University. /

Q. Are yon affiliated with any professional societies?
A. Yes. I am a member of the American Political Science 

Association in which I am a member of the International 
Relations Committee. I am also a member of the Inter­
national Relations Reserve Association, the American Arbi­
tration Association, and various other organizations.

Q. Now, Professor Kesselmann,' your field is the field of 
Government or Political Science, is that right?

A. That’s correct.
Q. Do you have any opinion as to whether a public school 

system, which is operated on a racial segregated basis; do 
you have any opinion as to whether such a system would 
cause adverse effects or would have adverse effects in 
operation among the individuals?

A. Yes, I do have such opinion. My particular interest 
in the field of Political Science . . .

Mr. Figg: Your Honor, I object to that question because 
I don’t think that this witness has been qualified to answer 
that question. He said his work is in the field of Govern­
ment. This question would havq been properly addressed 
[fol. 146] perhaps to another witness, but I don’t think this 
one has been qualified to answer that question.

Judge Parker: What do you say as to that?
Mr. Carter: Well, your Honor, this Professor Kessel­

mann is not an expert in terms of Government; he is a per­
son who has studied the science of government. He is an 
educator to that extent.

Judge Parker: He’s not a specialist in education is he?
Mr. Carter: No, sir.
Judge Parker : Well, how can he express an opinion on a 

matter of educational policy?
Mr. Carter : He can express an opinion, your Honor, be­

cause of what we will bring out, or attempt to bring out, as 
a person who deals in the science of government, he would 
have to investigate the effect of certain things upon certain 
matters, and in the development of citizenship, the ques­
tion of what method is usable or is best used in determining 
whether a person would use a ballot of a certain form, and 
so forth—whether or not an idea is developed in the child



103

or in the people as to support Democratic institutions. And, 
I think that he would be preemptorily qualified for that 
question.

Judge Parker: It seems to me that any lawyer or any 
man who has any experience in government would, be just 
as well qualified as he would be to express an opinion on that, 
[fol. 147] He is not a scientist in the field of education.

Mr. Carter: No, sir, he’s not a scientist in the field of 
education.

Judge Parker: Do you seriously contend he is qualified 
to testify as an educational expert? What do you say about 
that, Mr. Marshall?

Mr. Marshall: May it please the Court, what we have 
been trying to do is to present as many experts in the field 
with as many different reasons why we consider that segre­
gation in and of itself is injurious to the child who is 
segregated. Professor Kesselmann, we hoped, would be 
able to testify as to the effect insofar as the study of govern­
ment and the development of necesary fundamentals. We 
deliberately haven’t brought witnesses who testified ac­
cumulatively. We want as many reasons as we can get.

Judge Parker: Are you going to offer any more witnesses 
along this line?

Mr. Marshall: No, sir. The other witnesses are REAL 
scientists.

Judge Parker: Well, I ’ll take it for what it ’s worth. Go 
ahead.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Do you remember the question?
A. I think that I do. My particular interest in the field 

of Political Science is citizenship and the Political process. 
And, based upon studies which we regard as being scien- 
[fol. 148] tifically accurate by virtue of use of the scientific 
methods, we have come to feel that a number of things result 
from segregation which are not desirable from the stand­
point of good citizenship; that the segregation of white and 
Negro students in the schools prevents them from gaining 
an understanding of the needs and interests of both groups. 
Secondly, segregation breeds suspicion and distrust in the 
absence of a knowledge of the other group. And, thirdly,



104

where segregation is enforced by law, it may even breed 
distrust to the point of conflict. Now, carrying that over 
into the field of citizenship, when a community is faced with 
problems which every community would be faced with, 
it will need the combined efforts of all citizens to solve 
those problems. Where segregation exists as a pattern 
in education, it makes that cooperation more difficult. Next, 
in terms of voting and participating in the electorial process, 
our various studies indicate that those people who are low 
in literacy and low in experience with other groups are not 
likely to participate as fully as those who have . . .

Judge Parker: I don’t think his answer is addressed to 
your question. Bring him to the question.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Mr. Kesselmann . . .
Judge Parker: He’s just arguing generally about things. 

Bring him to the question and let him answer the question.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. What I wanted to get at, Professor Kesselmann, is 

[fol. 149] what do you regard as! the adverse effects, from 
the point of view of a political scientist, on the individual 
who is educated in a segregated school—the specific adverse 
effects on the individual.

A. I thought I was answering the question.
Judge Parker: He’s asking you what the effect is on the 

individual. You’re talking about the community. Can you 
answer the question on the individual?

The Witness: No, sir, I cannot, unless you generalize about 
the community.

Judge Waring: I ’m assuming you are testifying to the 
community as being a group of individuals, are you?

The Witness: That’s true.
Mr. Carter: That’s all.
Mr. Pigg: We have no questions.
Judge Parker: Anything else?
Mr. Marshall: Now, if your Honor pleases, I don’t know 

what to do at this stage except to make the suggestion that 
we suspend. We are not ready to rest,



105

Judge Parker: Well, I think in view of the fact that your 
adversary made that admission this morning that curtailed 
the length of the case, that it ’s nothing but fair that they 
go ahead with their testimony.

Mr. Figg: What’s that, sir?
Judge Parker: I say, I think it ’s nothing but fair that 

[fob 150] you go ahead with your’ testimony. He says he 
has no other witnesses here, but he’ll have them here in 
the morning.

Mr. Figg: Well, we were not ready to go ahead with our 
testimony, your Honor. We had been told that his testi­
mony would take two or three days.

Judge Parker: Well, I ’m hoping all of it is not going to 
take three days.

Mr. Figg: I haven’t conferred with our witnesses present 
preparatory to examining them. If you gave us some kind 
of a recess, we can probably do something along that line.

Judge Parker: Could you get ready to go ahead in fifteen 
minutes ?

Mr. F igg: I can report in fifteen minutes, sir.
Judge Parker: All right. Court will take a recess for 

fifteen minutes?
(Recess.)

*  # # *  # # #

[fol. 151] A fter  R ecess

Judge Parker: All right, gentlemen, are you ready to 
proceed?

Mr. F igg: If the Court please, we have two witnesses that 
we can call at this time, and I would like to ask Mr. E. R. 
Crow to take the stand.

E. R. Cro w ,, ca lled  as a w itn ess b y  and on behalf o f  the 
defen dan ts , be in g  d u ly  sw orn , w as exam ined  and testified  
as f o l lo w s :

Direct examination.
By Mr. F igg:

Q. You are Mr. E. R. Crow?
A. I am, sir.



106

Q. And where do you live, Mr. Crow!
A. At Sumter, South Carolina.
Q. How long have you lived at Sumter, Mr. Crow?
A. Since 1946; six years. -
Q. And during the period from 1945 until recently did 

you hold any position with the Public Schools of Sumter?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And what was that position, sir.
A. I have been Superintendent of Schools.
Q. Of the City of Sumter?
A. That’s right.
Q. Mr. Crow, approximately how large a school system is 

that?
A. Approximately 7,200.0

[fol. 152] Q. Does that include White and Negro children?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What is the approximate proportions of white and 

Negro children?
A. Approximately 53-47.
Q. Fifty-three per cent white and forty-seven per cent 

Negro?
A. Yes, sir; that is just approximately the figure.
Q. Now, Mr. Crow, prior to being Superintendent of the 

schools in Sumter, what other educational positions did you 
hold and where did you fill them ?

A. Prior to going to Sumter I was a Principal in the 
Columbia School System.

Q. That is in the City of Columbia, South Carolina?
A. Yes, sir. For a year and a half I was in the Ele­

mentary Schools and then for fifteen years with the 
Columbia High School, and immediately prior to that I 
was Principal of the High School at Union, South Carolina.

Q. Where did you get your education, Mr. Crow?
A. At Furman University, where I got my A. B. Degree, 

and I got my Master’s Degree from the University of 
South Carolina. I have also attended Summer Quarters 
at Chicago, Peabody, Virginia and also at the University 
of South Carolina.

Q. Now, were you recently appointed Director of the 
State Educational Finance Commission?



107

A. Yes, sir; I was appointed Director of tie State Edu­
cational Finance Commission.
[fol. 153] Q. Now this is the State Commission that was 
set up by the 1951 Legislature!

A. Yes, sir.
Q. It was set up to handle the educational problems pro­

vided for in the educational legislation in the State appro­
priation, a part of which was the imposition of a three per 
cent Sales Tax and the authorization of a Seventy-five 
Million Dollar bond issue, and so forth. Is that correct!

A. That is correct.
Q. And were you asked by the Trustees of School District 

No. 22 in Clarendon County last week to come there and 
make a survey of their schools !
. A. Well------

Q. Perhaps “ survey”  is not the word. Were you asked 
to look at it!

A. I was asked to go to Summer ton, School District No. 
22, to be able to point out the potentialities of this new 
problem in respect to building and other aids and how 
it would affect this particular school district.

Q. What day were you there, Mr. Crow!
A. May 22d.
Q. Did you also give consideration to the centralization 

of the High School Districts while yon were there!
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did you do along that line, sir?

[fol. 154] A. I secured enrollment figures and the average 
daily attendance figures from the Superintendent of Schools 
there, these figures applying to both the Summerton Dis­
trict No. 22, and the other districts in the centralization 
High School setup there.

Q. What were the districts?
A. What were the districts ?
Q. Yes, sir; besides District 22.
A. Districts Nos. 3, 4, 8 and 30.
Q. And what information did you receive as to the 

enrollment at the Summerton High School?
A. That is the White High School?
Q. Yes, sir.
A. The enrollment was 78.



108

Q. And what was the average daily attendance at that 
school?

A. Seventy-three.
Q. What was the enrollment at the Summerton Ele­

mentary School?
A. One hundred and ninety-nine.
Q. What was the average daily attendance, sir?

' A. It had an average daily attendance of 180.
Q. Now, Mr. Crow, what was the enrollment at the Scott ’s 

Branch School in the High School grades?
A. One hundred and forty-nine.
Q. With an average daily attendance of what?
A. Of 124.
Q. What was the enrollment in District 22 for the ele­

mentary grades?
[fol. 155] A. Seven hundred and seventeen.

Q. What was the average daily attendance?
A. Pour hundred and sixty-nine.
Q. Four hundred and sixty-nine, you say?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now what was the total white enrollment in the five 

districts?
A. Two hundred and seventy-seven.
Q. There is no separate white enrollment in the other 

four centralized districts?
A. No, sir; all the white enrollment is in the Summerton 

Schools, High School and Elementary Schools.
Q. Now, Mr. Crow, what is the total Negro enrollment 

in the five districts?
A. Two thousand one hundred and forty-four (2,144).
Q. And the average daily attendance in the Negro Dis­

tricts is what?
A. One thousand five hundred and thirty-eight. (1,538).
Q. Now on the basis of the information that you obtained 

in those districts, did you ascertain the potential, the finan­
cial potential toward the providing of school buildings and 
equipment and facilities under the 1951 legislation?

Mr. Marshall: If the Court please, we object to any 
testimony as to what will be done in the future. Our 
Supreme Court on several occasions has spoken on that, 
as has the Court of Appeals, that those rights guaranteed



109

[fol. 156] under the Fourteenth Amendment are rights as 
of now, not the future.

Judge Parker: That is right, but what this Court may 
do in its decree might depend on whether they were making- 
efforts in good faith to better the condition of these people.

Mr. Marshall: Except, sir, that in a recent opinion in the 
McKissiek case, in the North Carolina case------

Judge Parker: Yes, I know that, and we will hear you 
on that when you come to argue the case. Let’s get it in 
the record now and we can argue it later. Answer the 
question.

A. What was the question?
Q, That potential you received there as a result of your 

study was what?
A. The Act in question appropriates Fifteen ($15.00) 

Dollars per pupil per year times the number of pupils in 
average daily attendance, and that amounts to $12,690.00 
per year in District No. 22. Now in the combined area 
embracing all five districts in the centralized high school 
set-up, the total would be $26,865.00.

Q. That is a year?
A. Yes, sir; that is a year. Now the Act permits bor­

rowing against the future on the same basis up to a period 
of twenty years to the extent of 75% of the total expected 
accruals over a twenty year period, it being understood that 
the average daily attendance will remain constant.

Q. What would that mean for the districts, Mr. Crow? 
[fol. 157] A. That would mean that District No. 22, could 
borrow against the State Fund, $190,350.00. The com­
bined Districts 22, 3, 4, 8 and 30, could borrow against the 
State Fund $402,975.00. That would be to pledge 75% 
of the expected amount to be received over a period of 
twenty years.

There would be in addition to that amount 25% thereof, 
less interest paid on money borrowed, which under the 
Act is set at 2%%.

Q. And that twenty-five per cent you refer to, that would 
be paid annually in cash to the district?

A. It would be available annually to the district, yes, 
sir. The amount would be reduced by any amount of inter­



110

est, however, that would be due to the State on money 
borrowed from the State.

Q. On the existing- 75% loan?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now would the potential of the district borrowing 

remain stationary as of the time of the loan, at the time 
the loan was made, or would it increase as the average daily 
attendance. increased!

A. The Act appropriates $15.00 per pupil per year aver­
age daily attendance, and as the average daily attendance 
increases, the amount of money for the district would like­
wise increase proportionately.

Q. And in that particular district, Mr. Crow, with an 
average low daily attendance, particularly in the Negro 
[fob 158] districts, the potential would increase in their 
borrowing power, would you say to around a substantial 
amount?

A. Yes, sir; I would say that it would. I haven’t figured 
out the percentage, but it seems to me it would be about 
a 65% or 70% potential increase of daily average attend­
ance of nearly one third of those pupils and that would 
increase the borrowing potential also.

Q. The average white daily attendance is a little more 
than 90?

A. Yes, sir. I believe that is about right.
Q. Then would you say that there is quite a potential 

increase of borrowing power of the average daily attend­
ance among the 2,144 pupils enrolled in the Negro schools, 
is that correct?

A. Yes, sir; that is correct. Now there is another possible 
source of increase for those schools, and that is that the 
attendance is also increasing, and that would bring in 
another possible source.

Q. Now at this time let me ask you this; if under this 
1951 Act the Commission of which you are the Director, 
would have to approve the plan arrived at in any school 
district, or county, before it became effective; is that right?

A. That is true, sir.
Q. And the declared purpose of the Act, I believe, was 

to provide the quality of educational opportunity for all the 
children throughout the State, is that correct?



I l l

A. That is its purpose; yes, sir.
[fol. 159] Q. And has the Commission gone on record to 
specifically carry out that policy!

A. As you know, the Commission has just been organized 
under the Act setting up this new Commission and this Act 
was just signed by the Governor on the 20th of May.

The Commission has had two meetings for organiza­
tion purposes and no policies have been adopted as yet, 
but I can testify that it is the objective of all connected 
with the Commission to carry out the purposes as stated in 
the policy of the Act, which are two-fold.

First, to guarantee equal educational opportunities to 
all the children of the State, and

Second, I consider this of almost equal importance to 
the first perhaps, to bring about the existence of responsi­
ble school jurisdictions to take the place of some fifteen 
school districts that now exist in South Carolina.

Q. And does that Commission have authority in reference 
to possible consolidation of school districts?

A. Yes, sir; it does.
Q. Is that one of the provisions of the Act?
A. It definitely states that; that it is the function of the 

Commission to approve consolidations. That is definitely 
stated in the Act.

Q. As to school transportation in the event of consoli­
dation; is that to be a state or a local function?
[fol. 160] A. The financing of it will be a State function 
and it will be administered through the County Boards 
of Education on routes set up and approved by the State 
Commission.

Q. It will be financed by the State, and administered by 
the local Boards after it has been approved by the State 
Commission?

A. That is correct.
Q. It will be entirely financed by the State?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And there are statutory standards laid down in 

reference to transportation in the Act, are there not?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now did your figures determine the amount per en­



112

rolled pupil in these five districts that could be borrowed 
at this time?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. Will you state that amount!
A. The amount per pupil in the combined district!

■ Q. Yes, sir.
A. The total amount is based upon, not the enrolled 

pupils, but upon the average daily attendance, and the 
amount would be $402,975.00. 
i Q. Now that is $187.00 for each pupil enrolled?

A. Approximately; yes, sir.
Q. Assume that a class-room unit of thirty pupils is 

being considered by your Board, how much per class-room 
unit could that secure in the way of loans, under this legis­
lation ?
[fol. 161] A. It would be thirty times $187.00, which would 
be $5,610.00.

Q. Five thousand six hundred and ten dollars ?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Has District No. 22 communicated with you or with 

your Commission with reference to making application for 
financing under this Act?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. I believe that the Sales Tax goes into effect on 

July 1st?
A. That is correct, sir.
Q. But the organization has been set up ?
A. The organization has been set up; yes, sir.
Q. Is it the purpose of the Commission of which you are 

Chairman, under the Act, and are you charged with making 
a survey of all the schools in the State?

A. Yes, sir; it is.
Q. Now, Mr. Crow, in Sumter, in the City of Sumter 

School System, do you have both white and Negro schools?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was that true of the Columbia schools, also where you 

were formerly employed?
A. Well, there were both white and Negro schools in the 

Columbia system but I was only connected with the white 
schools.

Q. But in Sumter you are Superintendent of the whole 
system ?



113

A. That is correct.
Q. And that includes both white and colored schools! 

[fol. 162] A. It does.
Q. Now, let me ask you this; in the light of your experi­

ence as a school administrator, if it were assumed that 
separate schools for the white and colored races were neither 
commanded or prohibited by law, and it was also assumed 
that the several schools of the school system afforded sub­
stantially equal educational facilities and opportunities, 
would you state whether or not in your opinion it would be 
wise or unwise at the present time and under present condi­
tions for South Carolina and for the two races, that they be 
mixed in the same schools in administrative practice?

A. I think, sir, it would be unwise.
Q. Unwise?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. In your opinion as a school administrator, Mr. Crow, 

do you believe that a system at the present time and under 
present conditions in South Carolina would be possible of 
proper administration with mixed schools?

A. No, sir.
Q. Will you tell us why?
A. The existence of the feeling of separateness between 

the races of this State would make it such that it would be 
impossible to have peaceable association with each other in 
the public schools.

In my opinion it would be impossible to have sufficient 
[fol. 163] acceptance of the idea of mixed groups attending 
the same schools to make it possible to have public education 
on that basis at all.

Q. In your opinion, Mr. Crow, would the mixing of the 
two races in the same school under present conditions and 
at the present time in South Carolina improve the education 
that they would both get or would it cause it to deteriorate?

A. In my opinion it would eliminate public schools in 
most, if not all of the communities in the State.

Q. Would or not, in your opinion, there be community 
acceptance of mixed schools at this time?

A. There would not be.
Q. Would or not there be a probability of violent emo­

tional reaction in the communities ?
8—101



114

A. There would be, I am sure.
Mr. F igg: The witness is with you.

Cross-examination.

By Mr. Marshall:
Q. Mr. Crow, what is the name of this Commission you 

are a member of?
A. The State Educational Finance Commission.
Q. And do I understand you correctly that the Commis­

sion has full charge of disbursing all funds under this 1951 
Act of the Legislature?

A. It has control, by approval of the disbursing of the 
funds for State aid for public schools, that is for public 
[fol. 164] school construction and also transportation funds.

Q. About what is the percentage of Negro population to 
white population in South Carolina?

A. I do not have the information at once.
Q. I mean just approximately, if you can.
A. Well, it would be, I would say, about forty per cent, or 

forty-five.
Q. Are you administering funds that would be distributed 

in school systems, forty of which happen to be Negro?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. My next question is, are there any Negroes on your 

Commission?
A. No.
Q. Has there been any discussion as to whether there will 

be any Negroes on that Commission by the members?
A. There has not been any discussion as to that by the 

Commission. The Act provides that the members be ap­
pointed by the Governor and be confirmed by the Senate.

Q. Do you have any Negro employees on your Commis­
sion?

A. Not as yet.
Q. When did District 22 inquire about this application ?
A. About a week ago, I don’t remember the exact date.
Q. Have they filed their application yet?
A. No. The fact is, the Commission has just been organ­

ized. It has not established the procedure for the processing



115

of applications, but as soon as that is done, the district will 
[fol. 165] be notified.

Q. When the money is sent down, is it allocated in a lump 
sum to the counties? Or to the districts; just how is that 
done?

A. It is allocated to the districts in those counties that 
operate on the district system. A few counties in the State 
operate on the county unit system, and in such cases it goes 
to the counties.

Q. It goes in a lump sum?
A. It does; yes, but it goes to projects that have been 

previously approved by the Commission.
Q. What I want to know is, is it possible within the frame­

work of the State quota for the Negroes to be counted on 
daily average attendance in order to get a lump sum of 
money, and as a matter of fact be entirely possible for the 
Negro schools not to get a nickel of it?

A. That would be in violation of the stated objectives of 
the Act, and would be going contrary to it, and contrary to 
the reason for creating the State Educational Finance Com­
mission.

Q. Is there anything in the Act to prevent that from 
happening?

A. I recall only the fact that the Commission is directed 
to proceed to guarantee equal educational advantages and 
opportunities to all of the children of the State.

Q. Mr. Crow, how much study have you done on the ques­
tion of racial tension?

A. If you mean formal study to qualify myself as an ex- 
[fol. 166] pert, I have done none.

Q. I mean any kind of study, Mr. Crow.
A. I would not say any study especially, but I have ob­

served conditions and people in South Carolina all of my 
life, but I have not studied racial tensions as such.

Q. Do you know of any situation in which previously 
segregated schools were mixed?

A. In South Carolina?
Q. In any place.
A. I have never been connected with any schools outside 

of this State, and I have never known of any in this State 
that come under your question.



116

Q. How do you draw your conclusion as to what will 
happen if they are mixed!

A. Because of my knowledge of what people say, from 
their expressions with reference to thi's issue are.

Q. You are speaking of white people?
A. Mainly. '
Q. How many Negroes do you know?
A. That would be impossible to answer. I know a great 

many Negroes.
Q. Well, approximately how many?
A. I couldn’t answer that; I couldn’t answer as to how 

many white people I know. That is an impossible question. 
I do not know how many Negroes I know.
[fol. 167] Q. Do you know anything about the Negroes’ 
beliefs in this thing?

A. Probably so; yes.
Q. You think so?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know what the Negroes’ reaction would be to 

mixed schools ?
A. Well, I have heard------
Q. Of your own knowledge, now.
A. I could not predict what they would do, but I have an 

opinion that is based upon what a number of Negro school 
administrators have said to me, that if this issue should be 
settled on a voluntary basis that you would have a continu­
ance of substantially the same situation.

Q. You are speaking of Negro public school administra­
tors ?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. Are any of the administrators you are talking about 

not employed by white school boards and responsible to 
them?

A. All the school administrators I know are employed by 
white school boards.

Q. Do you consider the people in South Carolina to be 
law abiding? Are they a law-abiding group of people?

A. That is a comparative question I presume and I do not 
have the information with reference to comparative sta­
tistics as to crime, but I would say that one’s life is not in 
[fol. 168] danger in South Carolina. I would say it is a 
law-abiding state.



117

Q. I am not trying to confuse you, I am just trying to get 
your testimony as to this. If this Court issues an injunc­
tion, a Federal Court of your State ending segregation in 
your schools, is it your testimony that the people of South 
Carolina would disobey it? Is that what you want to say?

A. No, I didn’t say that.
Q. Well, do you think they will obey it?
Mr. Figg: That injunction would not be directed to the 

people of South Carolina, it would be directed to certain------
Judge Parker: Any injunction issued by this Court would 

be obeyed.
Mr. Marshall: I am sure of that, your Honor.
Q. You spoke, Mr. Crow, of community acceptance.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What community do you mean; the white or the Negro 

community ?
A. Well, of course I am thinking, as I stated, of the white 

community, but as I have stated, a good many Negroes, 
Negro school administrators have said that if they remained 
free to choose the schools to which they would go, they would 
prefer to have schools of their own race.

Q. Can you give me the names of some of those adminis­
trators?

A. No, sir.
Q. You don’t remember their names?
A. No, I do not.

[fob 169] Q. If I understand your testimony correctly, you 
said one of the reasons it would be impossible to remove 
segregation was because there was a feeling of separateness 
in existence that had been there for a long time, is that 
correct?

A. That is right.
Q. And it is your opinion that if that feeling of separate­

ness exists, that it will prohibit or prevent, or to use your 
own words, make it impossible to get the schools to become 
mixed?

A. Under any circumstances at the present time, yes, sir.
Q. Didn’t you also say that the schools would not be in 

operation?
A. I did not say they would not be in operation, I said in



118

my opinion the public schools of the state would be aban­
doned.

Q Would be abandoned?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do I understand you correctly to say that the people 

in South Carolina, the white people, would deprive their own 
children of an education for this reason?

A. I didn’t say they would do that.
Q. I thought you said they would abandon the schools, 

maybe I misunderstood you.
A. I don’t think the General Assembly of South Carolina 

would appropriate money for the public schools if segrega­
tion is eliminated, and I don’t think that the local com­
munities would vote taxes for the current operation of 
schools, if segregation is eliminated.
[fol. 170] Q. Is that an opinion or a surmise?

A. I t ’s an opinion.
Q. Your opinion?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you think you are qualified to give an opinion as to 

what the Legislature of South Carolina will do in the future?
A. I would not claim that I am, but I have heard a good 

many of the members of the Legislature express similar 
views.

Q. Are you aware of any colleges or universities of the 
Deep South that have admitted Negroes for the first time 
during the past year, in the Deep South, I mean?

A. I have seen where some have admitted Negro graduate 
students.

Q. Assuming that Negroes were admitted to the Uni­
versity of Arkansas on a professional level and nothing 
happened, would that in any way change your opinion as to 
what would happen in South Carolina?

A. I would say that mixed groups in graduate courses is 
quite a different thing from the mixing of public school 
pupils of all ages in our public schools.

Q. What is the difference other than age ?
A. Well, in the first place few people are involved in 

graduate courses, they are on a mature level and that elimi­
nates a good deal of the feeling, shall I say discrimination as 
between the two races.

Q. That is your only difference?



1 1 9

[fol. 171] A. I don’t know; there may be others. The 
college is removed from the community in the sense that it 
is further removed than the public schools.

Q. How is/that different?
A. You have an entirely different question when you 

consider adults that have entered graduate schools than 
when;vyau consider pupils entering* our local public schools. 
/"'Q. Would the fact that Negroes have been admitted to 
public schools in Indiana for the first time within the last 
year, chdnge your opinion?

a . m .
Q. Why?
A. /  we have in South Carolina a different ratio of the 

two /faces, and all the testimony which has been given here 
today with reference to these places where segregation can 
be eliminated, has been in communities where after all 
segregation has never been a problem.

Q. Where segregation has never been a problem you say; 
now I am just trying to get it clear what you said.

A. What I was trying to say, Mr. Marshall, is that the 
problem of the mixed groups and racial tensions is less in 
communities where the minority population is smaller. 
That has been true of the testimony that I have heard here 
today with reference to the success of the elimination of 
segregation in other communities.
[fol. 172] Q. Mr. Crow, assuming that in Clarendon 
County, especially in School District No. 22, the population 
was 95% white and 5% Negro, would that change your 
opinion ?

A. No.
Q. Then that is not really the basis of your opinion, is it?
A. The question that you have asked me is in my opinion 

will the elimination of segregation be fraught with unde­
sirable results, and I said that I thought it would. That 
may not be stating your question exactly, but that is still 
my answer.

Q. As a matter of fact, Mr. Crow, isn’t your opinion based 
on the fact that you have all of your life believed in segre­
gation of the races, isn’t that reason the real basis of your 
opinion ?

A. That woudn’t be all.



120

Q, Is that part of it?
A. I suppose that is part of it.
Mr. Marshall: Your witness.
Judge Parker : Do you wish to ask him anything further, 

Mr. Figg?
Mr. Figg: Yes, sir.

Redirect examination.

By Mr. Figg:
Q. When you were employed as director of this Commit­

tee what was the date?
A. May 7, 1951.
Q. And I believe you said the Commission has not as yet 

[fol. 173] established its entire employee setup?
A. That is true.
Q. It hasn’t as yet formed it?
A. No, sir.
Mr. Figg: That is all.
Judge Parker: Come down.
(Whereupon, the witness was excused.)

Mr. Figg: We call Mr. Betehman as our next witness.
H. B. B etch m an  called as a witness on behalf of the De­

fendants, being first duly sworn, was examined and testified 
as follows:

Direct examination.

By Mr. F igg:
Q. Mr. Betchman, where do you live?
A. Summerton.
Q. How long have you lived there in Summerton?
A. Twenty-five years.
Q. What official position there do you have in the pub­

lic school system of Summerton, District No. 22?
A. I am Superintendent of schools.
Q. How long have you been superintendent of schools?



121

A. For about fourteen years.
Q. What did you do before that?
A. I was principal of the school for about four or five 

years and two years at Chafin and coach.
[fob 174] Q. And what schools does School District No. 
22 presently operate?

A. Summerton elementary, and High, Scott’s Branch 
elementary, and High School, Ram Bay elementary, and 
Liberty Hill elementary.

Q. Summerton High School is operated by what districts ?
A. Well, it is operated by districts 8, 30, 22, 4 and 3, if I 

said a while ago it was operated by 22, I did not mean that 
was the only district.

0. And that is a centralized High School District?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. A separate body politic from School District No. 22?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And the Board of that High School District is com­

posed of the board Chairmen of the component districts?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. School District 22 is represented on that Board by 

whom ?
A. Mr. R. M. Elliott.
Q. Who testified this morning?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. He is Chairman of School District No. 22?
A. On the District 22 Board and Summerton High School 

Body.
Q. And Mr. Crow has testified that he was down there last 

week to look at the schools and get information for the 
purpose of establishing the district potential under the new 
school Act, is that correct?
[fol. 175] A. Yes, sir.

Q. He saw you while he was there?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And got the information that he has from you?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where did you get it from?
A. I compiled it from the County Superintendent of Ed­

ucation’s Office.
Q. You got it from the official record.
A. Yes, sir.



122

Q. Now the Ram Bay, two-teacher school is located where 
in your district?

A. That is in the far eastern corner of the district.
Q. And is that in a rural section of the district?
A. Yes, sir; it is.
Q. How many miles is it from Summerton?
A. I would say five or six miles.
Q. Now the Town of Summerton is in School District 22?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How large approximately, is the Town of Summer- 

ton in population?
A. It has about 1,500 people in it.
Q. About 1,500?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is there any other town in that school district?

[fol. 176] A. No, sir.
Q. The rest’of them are outside the corporate limits of 

Summerton and that is in strictly an agricultural section?
A. It is entirely agricultural.
Q. Where is the Liberty Hill School in that District, that 

four-teacher school?
A. In the extreme western part of the district.
Q. About how far from the Town of Summerton?
A. About three miles.
Q. Is or not that school located there for the benefit of 

people living in that section of the school district?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now do the Trustees propose to continue the Ram 

Bay school indefinitely, that two-teacher school?
A. No, sir.
Q. Have they made efforts to get rid of it before?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When was that?
A. I would say about 1936 or 1937.
Q. Was it actually discontinued by the Trustees at one 

time?
A. I am not sure, but I think it was.
Q. Well, why was it kept if it was once discontinued?
A. Well, Summerton, District 22, does not have any 

transportation for white or colored, and those colored peo­
ple in that section of the country wished it continued, if



123

they would not continue it, those children would have a long 
[fol. 177] ways to go to come to Summerton.

Q. So it was continued there because of the number of 
people whose children lived in that area and who wished that 
school to be kept in operation?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. Rather than have it closed and have their children 

transferred to Scotts Branch or some other school in the 
district.

A. Yes, sir.
Q. You say there was no transportation for school pupils 

of either race furnished by the school district No. 22?
A. No, sir.
Q. Is that transportation to Summerton High School 

from the other component Districts?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And the High School itself is located in District No. 

22, and there is none in the others, so those pupils are 
brought to this centralized high school by transportation 
furnished by these other component districts?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. And do the white pupils from other districts come to 

Summerton elementary schools?
A. They do, sir.
Q. Do these other districts have any other elementary 

or grammar schools ?
[fol. 178] A. No, sir.

Q. These other four do not have any schools except the 
Negro schools?

A. That’s right.
Q. And those pupils come to the elementary and high 

school located in the Town of Summerton?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. For all practical purposes there has already been a 

consolidation as far as the white schools are concerned?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Are you familiar with the colored schools in those four 

districts ?
A. No, sir.
Q. Now, something was said here about improving the 

grounds around the Summerton elementary school, what 
about those grounds?



124

A. There was no tar or treatment or anything within the 
Summerton school grounds, other than the high school; 
you are speaking of the elementary school now; wTell there 
is not anything in there.

Q. What about the High School!
A. The High School has a drive-way around, around in 

front which is surface treated by the Highway Depart­
ment, and I understand the State Highway Department took 
over that part and have it marked off.

Q. That is a curcular drive up to the front of the school 
and that is surface treated?
[fol. 179] A. Yes, sir.

Q. How about the rest of the grounds around there, have 
they been surface treated, too?

A. No, sir.
Q. That centralized High School was built by the five 

districts ?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Which came together under a separate body politic 

and issued bonds and built that school?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Prior to that time where had the white High School 

pupils gone?
A. Well, they had, but not all, come to Summerton.
Q. What school did they go to?
A. To Summerton, some came to Summerton elementary 

school, too.
Q. How many rooms has that got?
A. Eight.
Q. Eight rooms?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When was the Summerton High School built?
A. In the fall of 1936, we went into it.
Q. It was built in 1936?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What kind of project was that?
A. A  PWA project.

[fol. 180] Q. A loan and grant project when the Federal 
Government was trying to stimulate employment ?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. And the District applied for a loan and grant project 

to build that school?



125

A. Yes, sir.
Q. And from that loan and grant project came the Sum- 

merton elementary school, that eight-room building!
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know whether there was an application for a 

project for a colored school also at that time!
A. Yes, sir; it was tried, but as the education of eight 

percent faced us, and the PWA went out of business, we 
were taxed up to our limitation.

Q. Which was built first, the Summerton High School or 
the Scott’s Branch school!

A. Summerton High School.
Q. Which was the last school built in the district!
A. Scott’s Branch.
Q. How long was that built after Summerton High 

School?
A. After we built the High School, it was about a year 

or two, their school burned down, then wTe built the Scott’s 
Branch School about two years after, I guess.

Q. How did you build the Scott’s Branch School!
A. Where did we get the money?

[fob 181] Q. Yes.
A. We borrowed it from the Sinking Fund.
Q. From the Sinking Fund?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. According to what specifications was the Scott’s 

Branch built?
A. We used the same specifications as for our High 

School. We had those approved and used them.
Q. Were those plans approved by the State Department 

of Education for school house construction?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And you would say the floor-plan was substantially 

the same as that used in the Summerton High School?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did it actually have more room?
A. Scott’s Branch?
Q. Yes.
A. I think it has one, two, four, six; yes, it has one or two 

more rooms.
Q. Has it been necessary to add additional rooms to 

Scott’s Branch since it was built?



126

A. Yes, sir; we had a tremendous increase over there 
ever since Santee-Cooper was built. I have a scale back 
from that time as to how the increase has come along and 
we have had to build three more rooms there since then, 
some just recently.
[fol. 182] Q. How did the building of the Santee-Cooper 
increase your school population?

A. It run a lot of people out as the water filled in, it ran 
them out of the water.

Q. They had to move from where the water was going 
and so they moved up your way?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. They were practically all Negroes?
A. I think we increased about 190 students from that 

area, I have a document compiled by one of my school 
principals, and he traced them from back there up to Sum- 
merton.

Q. And that was when—do you recall when that project 
was being built; was it not in the late ’30s, since the Scott’s 
Branch School was built?

A Yes, sir; since the first building was built.
Q. And you have had to add on extra rooms?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now you have how many grades in Scott’s Branch 

School?
A. Twelve grades.
Q. How many teachers there ?
A. Fourteen teachers.
Q. Fourteen?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now I note of the figures Mr. Crow had as to your 

potential borrowing power of your district, that the average 
[fol. 183] daily attendance of the Negro schools was not 
available, have you any figures on the percentage?

A. Yes, sir; I have them all, sir.
Q. Would you give them to us ?
A. In Scott’s Branch, the enrollment was 694, average 

daily attendance was 462.
Q. Where did you get those figures?
A. Those reports were given to me by the various prin­

cipals of these different schools.



127

Now in the Earn Bay school, the average enrollment was 
67, and the average daily attendance was 43.4.

Liberty Hill had an average enrollment of 105 and an 
average daily attendance of 72.61. That is up through the 
eighth month. I am mighty afraid it is going to be lower 
after the eighth month.

Q. These are current figures through the eighth month 
of this school year?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. Are there any particular times of the year when your 

average daily attendance suffers worse than at others ?
A. Yes, sir; at the beginning and at the ending of the 

year.
Q. For how long at the beginning?
A. Well, they ask us all along, we survey the county and 

keep in touch with thing’s, and they want us to keep the 
schools closed until we can get the cotton picked and some­
times that runs us a little late.
[fob 184] I know my principal this year asked about run­
ning on Saturdays and I asked him a question about run­
ning on Saturdays as to whether his attendance wouldn’t 
be lower, and he said ‘ ‘ They will be absent a day whether 
we run on Saturday or not.”  Then at the end of the year 
the attendance is down again.

Q. And that lasts about how long?
A. It starts just about the end of the eighth month and 

runs through the ninth month, four weeks, I ’d say.
Q. What accounts for that absenteeism?
A. Well, I will say because they are most all small 

farmers and live in rural sections and say they want the 
children to go out to work, and then my principal tells me 
that he is going to be out one day a week anyway all during 
the year, I don’t know why, but I guess he can tell you when 
he gets on the stand.

Q. Does that two months at the beginning and at the 
end of the school year become a definite problem in the 
operation of the schools?

A. Yes, sir; it is a tremendous problem. Under that 
setup we have twenty teachers in the three schools and with 
an average attendance of thirty, it looks like I am going to 
lose a teacher if attendance does not pick up.

Q. That is based on what?



128

A. On enrollment and average attendance, on both.
Q. It is based on both?
A. Yes, sir.

[fol. 185] Q. So it has an effect upon the financial ability 
of the district to carry a certain number of teachers'?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. Does it also have an effect upon the educational situ­

ation in general in the schools ?
A. Yes, sir. Absenteeism hurts.
Q. Is it good to have that much absenteeism from an 

educational standpoint?
A. No, sir.
Q. Have efforts been made under the compulsory educa­

tion law to militate against that?
A. We insist upon that, and we have our teachers to 

teach the bad result of absenteeism, and also insist that the 
teachers go around quite a bit among the people, it is hard 
for me to ever find them, so the teachers do what they can 
about it.

Q. What are they doing?
A. Working they say.
Q. You mean working the field?
A. Well, I can’t say about that, sir; I don’t know.
Q. That is what you understand is the reason they are 

at home ?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. That their parents keep them home to work?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do a lot of parents of these colored pupils operate 

their own farms ?
[fol. 186] A. A good many are small farmers; yes, sir.

Q. Now what is the daily average attendance in the white 
schools ?

A. Can I look at my notes?
Judge Parker: Yes, that is all right, read them, if you 

want to.
A. Up through the eighth month it is 254 and that is 91%.
Q. Ninety-one percent daily average attendance on the 

white pupils, and I believe you said the white pupils come 
from the five districts?

A. Yes, sir.



Q. Now, Mr. Betckmah, in reference to the furnishing 
of the building, and facilities and educational opportunities 
in your District to all pupils, will the 1951 legislation be of 
substantial assistance to that district?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. And do you know that an application has already been 

requested for permission to use the full potential of the 
district to obtain the necessary funds?

A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is it the policy of the Trustees and yourself and your 

administrators of this district to utilize to the fullest ad­
vantage the resources that will now be at hand to develop 
the educational facilities and education in that district?

A. Yes, sir.
[fol. 187] Q. What is the condition of the Summerton ele­
mentary school physically?

A. It is bad, too, sir.
Q. That was built, I believe in 1907 ?
A. In 1907, yes.
Q. They got the sandstone right on the spot did they not, 

or I believe the legend so has it.
A. No, they built the cement blocks right there on the 

spot.
Q. Is the building now in a good state of repair?
A. It is practically beyond repair.
Q. It is practically beyond repair?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Which would you say, if you had to compare the two, 

was in a better state of repair, or better condition, Scott’s 
Branch or Summerton?

A. From a physical condition I would a lot rather have 
Scott’s Branch over a plant that was provided in 1934 or 
1935 and that was planned similar to our high school and 
has lighting that is so much better.

Q. The lighting is better in the Scott’s Branch School?
A. Yes, sir; it is.
Q. The lay-out is modern?
A. Yes, sir; it is a single story building and Summerton 

is a two-story building and the stone is beginning to crack 
on the corners and is beginning to decay, and------

129'

9—101



130

[fol. 188] Judge Parker: In the light of your admission 
of this morning what is the significance of all this, Mr. Figg?

Mr. Figg: Perhaps I am going off the track a little, your 
Honor, but I was just trying to develop the background.

Judge Parker: That would be most material if you hadn’t 
made those admissions, but having admitted the conditions 
are not equal, you are now trying to bring up the equality, 
and I do not see where that is pertinent. You need not 
waste much time on this.

Mr. F igg: I agree with your Honor, I was attempting to 
explain something that did not count. I will turn the wit­
ness over to the other side.

Cross-examination.

By Mr. Marshall:
Q. I will just ask you two or three questions. Isn’t one 

of the reasons for absenteeism from school is that the 
schools are in such bad shape!

Judge Parker: I didn’t understand that question.
Q. Isn’t one of the reasons for absenteeism from school 

the fact that the schools are in bad shape?
A. I won’t say that, because in comparison with our two 

schools the elementary school enrollment is up. I think it 
absolutely the case of small farmers and their work, want­
ing their children to help on the farm.

Q. I am not asking you,- sir, about District 22 alone, I am 
[fol. 189] speaking about the general rule for absenteeism, 
isn’t that one of the reasons accepted by educators?

A. That absenteeism is due to schools being in bad con­
dition?

Q. Yes, that sometimes the condition of the school gives 
no encouragement to the child to come back.

A. Yes; sir; sometimes that is true.
Mr. Marshall: That is all.
Judge Parker: Do you have any more questions, Mr. 

Figg?
Mr. Figg: No, sir.
Judge Parker: Comedown.
(Whereupon, the witness was excused.)



131

Judge Parker: All right, gentlemen, proceed.
Mr. F igg: Those are the witnesses that we had arranged 

to put up today, your Honor. We are not prepared to put 
up any others at this time.

Judge Parker: Will your witnesses be here in the morn­
ing, Mr. Marshall?-

Mr. Marshall: As far as we know, sir; they will all be 
here in the morning.

Judge Parker: How much longer will it take to complete 
your case?

Mr. Marshall: The most of the day, if possible, I will 
complete it in less than a day.

Judge Parker: Do you think you can get through with 
your case during the morning hours?

Mr. Marshall: That depends on the cross examination, 
sir.
[fob 190] Judge Parker: We want you to have your wit­
nesses here on both sides in the morning, if they are not 
here it is just too bad, for we will go ahead.

What about beginning court in the morning at 9 :30? We 
are taking out a few minutes ahead of time this afternoon, 
so if it suits we will start in the morning at half past nine.

Mr. Marshall: That is all right with us, your Honor. I 
want to say that we have some of the defendants here under 
subpoena and now we find we do not need them and we 
would like to have them excused, as I imagine they have 
business to attend to. Also the principals of the schools.

Judge Parker: Those you have under subpoena you are 
excusing now, if they wish to be excused?

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.
Judge Parker: They may be excused. Is there anything 

else? We will now adjourn court until 9 :30 in the morning.
(Whereupon Court was adjourned at 4:30 o ’clock p. m. 

Monday, May 28 until 9 :30 o ’clock a. m., May 29th, 1951.)
[fol. 191] Trial of the above cause continued this 29th day 
of May, 1951, in the United States Courtroom at Charles­
ton, South Carolina, at 10 o ’clock a.m.,
[fob 192] Mr. Marshall: May it please the Court, two of 
our witnesses are in court and two will be in this after­
noon. We are ready with the two.

Judge Parker: All right. Call them now.



D avid K rech:, Sworn.

Direct examination.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Mr. Krech, what is your occupation!
A. I am at present on leave from the University of Cali­

fornia as visiting professor of social psychology at Harvard 
University.

Q. How long* have you been associate professor?
A. I have been doing research and teaching psychology 

since 1933.
Q. What is your educational background? What degrees 

do you hold?
A. I have a Master of Arts degree from New York Uni­

versity, a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Cali­
fornia.

Q. Have you published any books or articles?
A. Quite a number; about 40 scientific articles in psycho­

logical journals and three or four books.
[fob 193] Q. What professional societies do you belong to?

A. I am a fellow of the American Psychological Associa­
tion, and President of one of the Divisions of the American 
Psychological Association. I am a member of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member 
of the American Association of University Professors, and 
a member of Sigma Xi, the honorary scientific society of the 
United States.

Q. Now, Mr. Krech, is the examination of legal segrega­
tion in education and its effect upon the individual a proper 
function of a social psychologist?

A. It is one of the most significant problems which social 
psychologists have dealt with and one of the books that I 
refer to devotes as many as two chapters to that very 
problem. It is a problem which has taken the attention of 
research psychologists, perhaps that one problem more so 
than any other single problem of our social behavior.

Q. Have you studied the problem?
A. Well, as I pointed out, since I devoted about two 

chapters of our book, I have spent quite a good deal of 
time studying that problem.

132



133

Q. Now Mr. Krech, assume that segregated public schools 
are required by law for Negroes, have you formed any 
opinion as to what effect this situation will have upon the 
Negro child? ■

A. Very definite, and if I may say considered opinion.
Q. Will you kindly say what that opinion is and on what 

[fol. 194] do you base it?
A. My opinion is that legal segregation of education is 

probably the single, most important factor to wreak harm­
ful effect on the emotional, physical and financial status 
of the Negro child, and may I also say, it results in a harm­
ful effect on the white child.

Q. Would you explain in a little more detail this harmful 
effect that you describe, emotionally, financial and physical.

A. Well, the reason why I make such a statement, and I 
realize it is a rather strong statement, that in my opinion 
legal segregation which involves (1) a legal definition of 
an individual in terms of race, and involves a statement of 
some of his rights in relation to race, is the most significant 
factor to promote, encourage and enhance racial prejudice 
and racial segregation of all kinds. The reason for that 
psychologically is primarily this: No one, unless he is men­
tally diseased, no one can long maintain any attitude or 
belief unless there are some objective supports for that 
belief. We believe, for example, that there are trees. We 
would not long continue to believe that there are trees if 
we never saw a tree. Legal segregation, because it is legal, 
because it is obvious to everyone, gives what we call in our 
lingo environmental support for the belief that Negroes are 
in some way different from and inferior to white people, 
and that in turn, of course, supports and strengthens beliefs 
of racial differences, of racial inferiority. I would say 
[fol. 195] that legal segregation is both an effect, a con­
sequence of racial prejudice, and in turn a cause of con­
tinued racial prejudice, and insofar as racial prejudice has 
these harmful effects on the personality of the individuals, 
on his ability to earn a livelihood, even on his ability to 
receive adequate medical attention, I look at legal segre­
gation as an extremely important contributing factor. May 
I add one more point. Legal segregation of the educa­
tional system starts this process of differentiating the Negro 
from the white at a most crucial age. Children, when they



134

are beginning to form their views of the world, beginning 
to form their perceptions of people, at that very crucial age 
they are immediately put into the situation which demands 
of them, legally, practically, that they see Negroes as some­
how of a different group, different being, than whites. For 
these reasons and many others, I base my statement.

Q. These injuries that you say come from legal segrega­
tion, does the child grow out of them? Do you think they 
will be enduring, or is it merely a sort of temporary thing 
that he can shake off?

A. It is my opinion that except in rare cases, a child who 
has for 10 or 12 years lived in a community where legal 
segregation is practiced, furthermore, in a community where 
other beliefs and attitudes support racial discrimination, it 
is my belief that such a child will probably never recover 
[fol. 196] from whatever harmful effect racial prejudice 
and discrimination can wreak.

Q. Mr. Ivrech, assume another situation, assume that 
iii segregated public schools to which Negroes attend are 
inferior to white schools, will education in that situation 
have any adverse effect on the Negro child?

A. Very definitely. Psychologists have a long time ago 
given up the notion that what we call intelligence, I. Q., is 
independent of the education and of the experiences of the 
individual, and an inadequate education reflects itself, and 
we have empirical data to substantiate this, reflects itself 
in a lowered I. Q., in lowered ability to cope with the prob­
lems of life. I might point out that I do not hold with some 
people who suggest the white man, who is prejudiced against 
the Negro, has no cause to be so prejudiced. I would say 
that most white people have cause to be prejudiced against 
the Negro, because the Negro in most cases is indeed inferior 
to the white man, because the white man has made himself 
through the practice of legal segregation. There is no 
psychologist that I know of who would maintain that there 
is any biological, fundamental difference between the two 
groups of people, but through the practice of inadequate 
education, that was a hypothetical situation that you gave 
me, as a consequence of inadequate education we build into 
the Negro the very characteristic, not only intellectual, but 
also personality characteristics, which we then use to justify 
[fol. 197] prejudice.



1 3 5

Cross-examination.

By Mr. Figg:
Q. Where were you born?
A. Poland.
Q. And at what age did you come to this country?
A. Three.
Q. Where did you live when you came here?
A. New Britain, Connecticut.
Q. And then where ? California?
A. No. I also lived in New York City, Chicago, Colorado, 

Pennsylvania,—I taught at those places, and California, 
and the last year I was visiting professor of social psy­
chology at Oslo University in Norway.

Q. Have you ever lived in one of the States which has 
legal segregation?

A. Only when I was taking my basic training in the 
United States Army.

Q. And what state was that?
A. Florida.
Q. And have you ever made any study on this problem 

we are discussing in any State which has legal segregation?
A. I am sorry I didn’t hear the question.
Q. Have you ever made a study of this problem we have 

been discussing in a State which has legal segregation? 
[fol. 198] A practical study.

A. As a man who is primarily devoted to the science of 
psychology, I think I am familiar with perhaps every study 
that has been made in this area. I base my conclusions 
not on my own studies obviously but on the field of 
psychology.

Q. You base your opinion not on your own practical 
investigation of the problem but on the sum total of the 
reading which you have done on the study which you have 
made.

A. Beading and research. That is right.
Q. But no practical research in a State which has legal 

segregation?
A. All research is practical.
Judge Parker: Answer the question.



136

Q. I am talking about, have you? 
A. I myself, no, I haven’t.

Mss. H elen  Teager, sworn.

Direct Examination.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. Mrs. Trager, what is your occupation?
A. I am a teacher. I am a lecturer at Vassar College in 

Poughkeepsie, New York, and consultant in curricula at 
Vassar.

Q. How long have you held this position?
A. Just this year. At the present time I am also a 

consultant in curriculum and human relation to a special 
project sponsored by Yale University and the Bureau of 
[fol. 199] Intercultural Education in the rural schools of 
Connecticut.

Q. What other teaching experience have you had?
A. I have taught in the elementary school, both public 

and private. I have been educational consultant to city 
schools in New York, Philadelphia, Denver, Colorado, San 
Diego, California, Detroit, Michigan. I have been lecturer 
and group leader of workshops for teachers and adminis­
trators in the field of elementary education and human 
relations education at Columbia University Teachers Col­
lege, at the University of Minnesota, at the University of 
Utah, at New York University, and San Diego College.

Q. Would you describe your educational background 
briefly for us?

A. I am a graduate of the New York Training School for 
Teachers, from which I received a diploma to teach in 
elementary schools. I have a Bachelor of Science, New 
York University, and a Master of Arts from the same 
University.

Q. Have you published any books or articles?
A. Yes, in the last ten years I have published under my 

own name or with colleagues about twenty manuscripts; 
about six of them are pamphlets in the general field of 
democratic education; others are articles on problems of



137

curriculum, child development, human relations. They 
have appeared in professional journals such as the NEA, the 
National Education Association, the Journal of Supervision 
[fol. 200] and Curriculum Development, Genetic Psychology 
Monograph, Journal of Psychology. I have done some 
writing which has appeared in Year Books. One was re­
printed by the National Mental Hygiene Association, also 
in the field of curriculum and problems of human relations.

Q. Now, Mrs. Trager, have you had any actual and 
practical experience in determining the personality prob­
lems of Negro school children of public school age as caused 
by racial discrimination and racial segregation!

A. Yes, I have.
Q. Will you describe what that experience is!
A. It has been of two kinds, experience as a classroom 

teacher who has taught both Negro and white pupils, and 
as a teacher of teachers from the North and South, who 
teach Negro and white pupils; and the other kind of ex­
perience has been a much more intensive one where I was 
director of a study in the public schools, attended by Negro 
and white students. It was a study which I think bears 
directly on the problems we are discussing here. Would 
you like me to tell something about it?

Q. Will you describe it.
A. The study I directed was conducted in the Philadel­

phia Public Schools. I was invited as a curriculum con­
sultant to help plan a program that would build good demo­
cratic human relations in the primary grade children’s 
classroom behavior. In order to do that, we assembled a 
staff of people, including psychologists and assistants, 
[fol. 201] We recruited for the purposes of study the 
teachers of children in the classroom, and had those teachers 
and those psychologists study how these children feel about 
themselves and about other people, so that we could properly 
build a program of democratic human relations. In other 
words, we were attempting to discover where we were 
starting from. Do they have feelings which are anti­
democratic? As a sample, there were 250 children, ages 
5 to 8. The study was conducted for 3 years and it had 
various phases. I think that the study of the feelings of 
children about their own group membership, their attitudes



138

to other people, how their emotions about their group mem­
bership affected their behavior, was the important part of 
the study.

Q. Just what method briefly, what method did you use to 
determine this?

A. We used several methods. The teachers observed the 
children in the classrooms and kept very careful records of 
behavior, anecdotal, the children were interviewed by psy­
chologists. The methods there used were the fairly familiar 
projective play techniques, purposely because it would be, I 
think, futile to ask children about their feelings directly, and 
what we always need to do is to observe them reveal their 
feelings. It would be futile to ask youngsters how they feel 
about being members of their own group or how they feel 
about other people because they would assume there is either 
a right answer or that they are expected to give certain 
kinds of answers. And I think that the projective play 
[fol. 202] technique has demonstrated that we were able to 
get behind or get at the feelings of Negro and white children.

Q. As a result of this study, did you reach any conclusions 
on the question of the personality problems such as being 
caused by racial discrimination and segregation.

A. I wonder if it is all right if I refer to my notes on that?
Judge Waring: Yes, you may do that.
Judge Parker: Yes. That will be all right.
Judge Waring: You may use your notes.
A. Thank you. In order to determine what kind of pro­

gram would help these children to develope democratic be­
havior, get along with other children, have self-respect, we 
were interested in their feelings about themselves and other 
people, and our tests were directed to that end. I would like 
to point out where the Negro and white children evidenced 
the same feelings and where they evidenced different feel­
ings because I think that is relevant. First, even at 5 years 
old, we found that all of the children were aware of group 
differences, that is racial differences. Our study was not 
merely of—in the area of race. It included the area of 
religion, but I am going to here refer to only our findings on 
race. As I say, at 5 both Negro and white children were 
aware of differences. The difference, however, between the 
reactions of Negro and white children, one difference was



139

that the white children talked freely about race and race 
[fol. 203] differences; whereas the Negro children showed 
obvious discomfort and avoidance. Both, in their inter­
views, saw being Negro as a disadvantage. The white 
children saw the white as being the preferred group and 
they wanted to be white and felt that other children pre­
ferred to be white. The white children expected that the 
Negro children also would prefer to be white. The Negro 
children on the other hand, on the issue of what they would 
like to be, whether they accept themselves in other words or 
not, at one and the same time said that Negro children liked 
to be Negro but that Negro children would like to be white, 
and this contradiction seemed to be terribly important and 
was a tendency throughout the sample. It appeared to us 
that under this was a conflict and inability to accept one’s 
own group and yet the psychological need to accept what one 
is. Interestingly enough, both Negro and white children 
perceived the Negro group as meaning' the same thing, and 
in 5-year olds, 6-year olds, and 7-year old terms, our groups 
from 5 to 8, they perceived Negro as meaning that you are 
not liked by people, that you won’t be asked to play, that you 
won’t be allowed to do things that other children can do. 
Both groups perceived that to be the meaning of Negro. 
Both groups had fears and misconceptions about each other, 
and they were frequently the same fears and misconceptions. 
They had misconceptions about what makes one white and 
what makes one Negro and they gave the weirdest and the 
[fol. 204] most frightening and inaccurate explanations of 
race. Some white children saw white as being the ultimate 
evolution in a kind of baking process, where you come out 
white finally, and that brown people are something not 
quite finished. And some of the Negro children had that 
kind of explanation for race. More important than the 
misconceptions, although they were a serious—suggested 
an area for serious study and curriculum building, the Negro 
children, unlike the white children, showed a tendency to 
expect rejection. This expectation of rejection increased 
sharply from 5 to 8 years old, so that in their growing up, 
they were learning to expect not to be accepted. Another 
shift from 5 to 8 on the part of the Negro children in their 
feeling’s, personal reaction, behavior, was evidence that they 
began to rationalize this rejection, their not being accepted,



140

with phoney explanations. Whereas at 5, a Negro child 
would indicate that he expected Negroes not to be accepted 
and would give as the reason “ Because he isn’t white”  or 
“ Because he is black,”  or using the vernacular “ Because 
he is a nigger. ”  At 8 the explanations were evasive, avoid­
ant, again showing the kind of discomfort I mentioned 
earlier. . There would be explanations of “ Because he can’t 
play the way they can,”  “ Because he doesn’t live near 
them,”  but not “ Because he is colored.”  And so we dis­
covered that basic needs on the part of all human beings, 
basic emotional need for self-respect, to be accepted by 
others, to feel that you belong, were frustrated in the Negro 
[fob 205] children in our study.

Q. Do you feel that these conclusions that you have 
reached, do they cause actual injury to the personality of 
the individual?

A. I think unquestionably they do. In working with 
children, the problems they have in study, in getting along 
with each other, in accepting themselves, are related to their 
own image of themselves and their feelings about their 
group. A child who expects to be rejected, who sees his group 
held in low esteem, is not going to function well, he is not 
going to be a fully developed child, he will be withdrawn, or 
aggressive in order to win the acceptance he doesn’t get.

Q. Does this interfere with his education, the learning- 
process, the amount that can be gained?

A. I think that any psychologist and certainly any educa­
tor would agree that blocks to learning are frequently psy­
chological blocks, and one of the great or common problems 
is self-doubt in human beings, and where there is self-doubt 
energy is wasted in that direction and learning is not very 
effective. We spend a tremendous amount of time, as I am 
sure your teachers do, in the State, trying to understand 
why children behave as they do and what emotional prob­
lems they have, and only as we understand their emotional 
problems can we help them to learn.

Q. Now, on that point, Mrs. Trager, can we remedy the 
[fol. 206] injuries that you have described?

A. I am sorry I can’t hear you.
Q. Can you remedy the injuries to the child that you have 

described as caused by racial segregation and discrimination 
in a, say public segregated school?



141

A. I don’t believe you can. I agree with Dr. Krech that 
segregation becomes the rationalization for prejudice, and 
it would appear when schools are legally segregated to the 
children who are segregated in them, that this separation, 
this defferenee of status, is inevitable, and 1 think that under 
those circumstances the children can’t overcome the feeling 
of inadequacy they have by virtue of having been separated 
from other people.

Cross-examination.

By Mr. F igg:
Q. Where were you born!
A. New York City.
Q. And where is your home now?
A. Riverdale.
Q. In New York?
A. Yes.
Q. Have you ever lived in a State that has segregation in 

the schools by law?
A. Only during the War when my husband was at the 

Charleston Army Air Base.
[fol. 207] Q. Where?

A. During the last War when my husband was at the 
Charleston Army Air Base.

Q. Here?
A. Yes.
Q. How long were you here?
A. I was here only as a visitor but he was here quite some 

time.
Q. And I understand that this observation study that you 

have testified to was made in Philadelphia?
A. That is correct.
Q. Have you made a similar study anywhere else?
A. No. May I qualify that?
Q. Yes.
A. I have presently in the senior class at Vassar students 

who are from the South and who are planning to teach in 
the South. I have had in other years students who have 
worked with me from most of the Southern States who teach 
either in the Negro Segregated schools or the white schools,



142

and we have spent our time in the area of human relation’ 
problems such as we are discussing today.

Q. What I asked you was: Have you made a study similar 
to the one you have testified to anywhere else?

A. No.
Q. And does Pennsylvania have segregated schools ?
A. They do not have legally segregated schools. There 

[fol. 208] are schools where only Negro children attend, 
and in that sense they are segregated in effect.

Q. Why is that?
A. There are some sections in any city in this country 

where Negro people live and the schools then become the 
schools of that district. If white people live there, they 
attend that school.

Q. So in the ordinary process of dividing school buildings 
even in a city like Philadelphia, you will find actually schools 
virtually for one race?

A. Yes, that is correct.
Q. Now, this school that you were testifying to in your 

survey, was that one school or children from various 
schools ?

A. Children from six schools.
Q. Were they mixed schools or were they segregated 

schools?
A. There were some schools that were so-called homoge­

neous, although no school is, that is, they were white chil­
dren but there was a difference of religion within them, and 
economic differences. There were schools with racial mix­
ture other than Negro and white, but they included that, and 
there was one school where all of the children were Negroes.

Q. And you found that at as early an age as 5, when you 
first got hold of these children, there was consciousness of 
group and group differences at that age, white and colored.

A. Yes.
[fol. 209] Q. And of course that didn’t come out of the 
schools, did it?

A. I think if anything our study demonstrated, that did 
not come out of schools.

Q. It came out of the homes, didn’t it?
A. It came out of many things, not just the home.
Q. At the age of 5, the chances are that it came mostly out 

of the home, isn’t that true ?



143

A. Well, our side would quote in some instances the 
source of their information. Then it was not always the 
home, although we know the home is an important factor in 
the learning of children. It was playground. It was what 
they saw on the bus. It was what they knew about where 
father worked, or couldn’t work. It was all of their learn­
ing in the total community in the society of their 5-year 
oldness, and they were aware of many things, arid their 
sources included church and shop, and market place.

Q. But in States where there is no segregation, either by 
law or in practice, you frequently find all colored or all white 
schools, don’t you?

A. Yes. I thought I had said that.
Q. I read in the paper the other day where the All-Negro 

Basket Ball Team representing* the Christy High School 
somewhere in Indiana won the basket ball championship, 
and I gathered from that that what you say has occurred in 
various places where they do not have segregation. Now, 
[fob 210] you haven’t made such a study as that in any State 
that does have segregation by law, have you?

A. No, I have not.
Q. In the schools of Philadelphia, did you notice the pro­

portion of the white and colored teachers in the school sys­
tem there?

A. I can’t give you the proportion, no, but I know that 
there are both in every level of administration, including 
the office of the superintendent.

Q. How about any other places that you have observed?
A. Oh, that varies as patterns of prejudice vary in this 

country.
Q. You do know that in the State of South Carolina, for 

instance, that the colored children are taught by colored 
teachers, do you not?

A. Yes, I do.
Q. And a great many of them have had very good train­

ing and have qualified themselves, and have equal salaries, 
of course, under the State law. You know that, don’t you?

A. Yes.
Q. I want to ask you if you would agree with this state­

ment that I read in the Myrdal book, American Dilemma, 
you are familiar with that book?

A. Yes.



144

Q. He said that “ Some Negroes, however, prefer the 
ffol. 211] segregated school, even for the North when the 
mixed school involves humiliation for Negro students and 
discrimination against Negro teachers. ’ ’ Do you agree with 
that statement?

A. Yes, and I would go one step further, I think that 
minority groups frequently self-segregate themselves by 
choice because of the unequal status they have in society. 
However, that isn’t a solution.

Q. Do you admit that the conception that I referred to 
yesterday of the universal consciousness of kind?

A. I think all of the data from the study that I was asso­
ciated with would deny that there was universal conscious­
ness of kind. So long as children have the emotional conflict 
of wanting to be what they are not, universal consciousness 
of kind is an invalid theory.

Q. Do you concede that emotional conflict between the 
races and frustrations and aggression etc., do arise between 
the white and colored races where they live together in the 
same area in great numbers ?

A. Yes, they do.
Q. Now, let me ask you if you agree with this statement. 

In Mr. Myrdal’s book, following the statement which I just 
read you, this occurs, and I want to see if you, in your expe­
rience, are inclined to agree with this: He said ‘ ‘ DuBois has 
expressed this point of view succinctly, ‘ Theoretically the 
Negro needs neither segregated schools nor mixed schools’.”  
[fol. 212] Do you agree with that?

A. No, I don’t agree with that.
Q. “ What he needs is education.”  Do you agree with 

that ?
A. Yes.
Q. “ What he must remember is that there is no magic 

either in mixed schools or in segregated schools.”  Do you 
agree with that?

A. I agree with that a hundred percent.
Q. “ A mixed school with poor and unsympathetic teach­

ers, with hostile opinion, and no teaching concerning black 
folk is bad.”  Do you agree with that?

A. Yes.
Q. “ A segregated school with ignorant place-holders, in­



145

adequate equipment, poor salaries, and wretched housing-, is 
equally bad.”  Do you agree with that?

A. No, I would say it is worse.
Q. It is worse. “ Other things being equal, the mixed 

school is the broader, more natural basis for the education 
of all youth.”  Do you agree with that?

A. Yes.
Q. “ But other things seldom are equal,”  he winds this 

quotation up, “ And in that case, the sympathy, knowledge 
and truth outweigh all that the mixed school can offer. ’ ’ Do 
you agree with that?

A. No, I don’t. May I explain that last point?
[fol. 213] Q. Yes.

A. From my experience as a teacher, it seems to me that 
the learning to live together, and the learning to accept one 
group by the other on the part of children, must be made 
possible for them in life situations. In schools, as presently 
understood, is a life situation. I think it essential that chil­
dren have the experience of meeting with, working with 
others who are different from themselves. The reason I 
say that is that in one of our testing situations, where both 
Negro and white children were asked to play with dolls, 
which were also Negro and white, to dress them, to choose 
houses for them, to tell what kind of work they did and 
where they were going, and the clothes that they were 
wearing, the white children who tended to give the worst 
clothes to the Negro doll and the good clothes to the white 
doll, who also gave the worst house to the Negro doll be­
cause that is where that person would live or doll, who gave 
the lowest type of work to the Negro doll, were also the 
children who had the highest amount of hostility toward 
Negro people. It would seem to me that by keeping Negro 
children in segregated schools, separate from white, what 
automatically happens is that they have a low status 
because they are kept from this living in school together, 
and that the low status which was understood by our white 
children as being Negro status, increases hostility between 
[fol. 214] groups. And I think that increase of hostility, 
which was apparent in our children, when they associated 
low status with Negroes, is precisely what we want to avoid

10—101



146

if we are going to have any kind of peace and good lnrna.ii 
relations, and democratic human relations in our society.

Q. Did you say that in your study you found differences 
based upon religious reactions of children at those young 
ages?

A. I am not sure I get your question.
Q. I say, didn’t you mention that you had also found 

differences in your study that were referable to religion 
as well as race?

A. We studied the beliefs, attitudes and behavior of 
children along religious lines too, yes.

Q. You would say that those differences certainly came 
out of the home, didn’t they?

A. And all of the other life experiences of children, yes.
Q. Now, wouldn’t a great deal of what you have said 

about separate schools here today, apply to church schools 
also?

A. As a matter of fact, they do, but to a lesser degree, 
and let me illustrate what I mean. Children in the public 
schools, when they referred to their schools, sometimes in­
advertently called them Protestant schools. They also re­
ferred to, because in our testing situation we had an oppor­
tunity for them to react to parochial school children in 
[fol. 215] school. They also evidenced feelings of hostility 
toward parochial school children. However, there wasn’t 
anything like the degree of hostility, because the parochial, 
the Catholic for instance, the Catholic people are not held 
in as low esteem in our society as are the Negro people, 
and that difference was reflected proportionately in our 
data.

Q. We have in some places religious prejudices, in places 
like Boston, as well as places in other parts of the country. 
Would you attribute that kind of prejudice to separate 
schools?

A. No.
Q. Partly?
A. I think anything which keeps groups apart, where 

there are no bridges to understanding and no effort made 
to understanding, there is as a result hostility and mis­
understanding. In that sense, yes.



147

Redirect examination.

By Mr. Carter:
Q. You have had experience, have yon not, in attempting 

to correct these injuries which you have described, haven’t 
you, Mrs. Trager?

A. Yes.
Q. And what conclusion have you reached as to where 

they can be corrected in terms of public schools ?
A. It seems to me that misconceptions children have, 

fears, what we call self-hate, feelings of inadequacy, can be 
[fol. 216] corrected only in situations which don’t perpetu­
ate those fears, misconceptions, and feelings of inadequacy. 
And I think, therefore, that mixed schools give us the base 
in which to function, give us the setting, if not the factors 
that are needed for the re-education of children. I think 
that when that mixture is absent, when opportunity for 
learning and working with people is absent, it is not pos­
sible to reeducate children along lines of feeling and be­
havior toward people.

Judge Timmerman: Do you eliminate the home from 
that consideration? You said a school base. You don’t 
think the home is a base?

A. I think that the home can help a great deal in the re­
education of children, but where we seek to help children 
resolve their emotional conflicts, frequently that is possible 
in the school, where it is not possible in the home. That is 
true, I think, whether it is emotional conflict because of 
sibling rivalry, a feeling of rejection on the part of a child 
from the mother, or feeling that one is inadequate because 
one is a Negro.

Judge Timmerman: Assuming all you say is a conse­
quence, do you think those conditions rise first in the home 
or first in the school?

A. I think unquestionably they arise in the home first 
because the first years of a child’s life are in the home. I 
[fol. 217] think the place, however, where education can 
take place, and must, if we are to diminish the amount of 
hostility and fear that children of all groups have toward 
each other, is in the school.



148

Q. Mrs. Trager, in your opinion, could these injuries 
under any circumstances ever be corrected in a segregated 
school? “

A. I think not, for the same reasons that Dr. Krech gave. 
Segregation is a symbol of, a perpetuator of, prejudice. It 
also stigmatizes children who are forced to go there. The 
forced separation has an effect on personality and one’s 
evaluation of one’s self, which is inter-related to one’s 
evaluation of one’s group.

C olloquy B etw een  C ourt and C ounsel.
Mr. Marshall: May it please the Court, Mr. Figg has 

some other witnesses. The reason I asked him is because 
our witnesses won’t be in until 3:14 this afternoon. We 
couldn’t get them here last night.

Judge Parker: We are not going to wait the trial on 
them.

Mr. Marshall: If they don’t get here in time, we under­
stand that, sir.

Judge Parker: All right, go ahead with the defense then.
Mr. Figg: Your Honor, we have one or two witnesses 

[fol. 218] that we expect to call and they have just come in 
this morning from Columbia, and I have not had a chance 
to confer with them prior to putting them on the stand 
because I had expected to do that at the conclusion of the 
plaintiff ’s case.

Judge Parker: You want 15 minutes?
Mr. Figg: Yes, sir.
Judge Parker: All right, we will take a recess for 15 

minutes.
(Recess.)
Mr. Figg: If your Honor please, I have talked with the 

witnesses who came in this morning from Columbia. The 
greater part of them, I find, are witnesses on the question 
of facilities, which we have already conceded on the record 
are not equal, and we have no witnesses to call at this time. 
We want to reserve the right to call witnesses after the 
plaintiffs ’ witnesses have testified, but at this time we have 
no witnesses to call.

Judge Parker: What do you say? What do you want to 
do? You say you have no witnesses to call.



149

Mr. Marshall: May it please the Court, this is the first 
[fol. 219] time I have been in this position, of not having 
witnesses, but as I explained yesterday——

Judge Parker: Who is it that you have got that is not 
here?

Mr. Marshall: We have Professor Robert Redfield from 
the University of Chicago, who is an anthropologist. We 
want his testimony on the question of the unreasonableness 
of segregation laws based on race. I could not get hold of 
him, he is enroute. And the other witness is Professor 
Newcomb from the University of Michigan, a socio-psychol­
ogist, and I say, sir, in all fairness, that they are vital to 
our case.

Judge Parker: I don’t see why they are not here. You 
had notice yesterday and planes come from the University 
of Michigan to Charlotte in 3 hours.

Mr. Marshall: But, sir, there is no plane that gets in,—■ 
that he could catch after 5 o ’clock yesterday afternoon that 
would get him in before today. The last one left out at 6, 
and Dr. Redfield is enroute. I realize the position I am in.

Judge Parker: Haven’t you got a statement as to what 
they would say ?

Mr. Marshall: I could give one.
Judge Parker: I say, have you got one? Haven’t they 

given you a statement?
Mr. Marshall: No, sir.

[fol. 220] Judge Parker: I thought you might put that in 
evidence.

Mr. Marshall: I could get one together, sir. Dr. Redfield 
has testified before and I know almost exactly what he would 
say.

Judge Parker: In what case did he testify?
Mr. Marshall: In the Sweatt case and the Sipuel case.
Judge Parker: Haven’t you got his testimony in those 

cases?
Mr. Marshall: I don’t have the record, sir, but I could 

have it typed out in short order.
Judge Parker: Our Supreme Court once said that the 

best thing a man can do, when he has a case in court, is to 
attend to it, Both sides ought to have given this case more 
attention.

Mr. Marshall: If your Honor please, these witnesses are



150

—it is just almost impossible to get them. They are all 
coming on a volunteer basis, and they have commitments. 
For instance, we have two witnesses that we just can’t get. 
They have gone overseas.

Judge Parker: You have a good deal of testimony along 
this line.

Mr. Marshall: Except the anthropologist. That is the 
only one. The anthropologist, sir, Dr. Bedfield’s primary 
[fol. 221] testimony is that the anthropologists have agreed 
that but for the extent of skin coloration, there is no differ­
ence between individual human beings; and two, that given 
a similar learning situation as between Negro and white 
children, the Negro child will do much the same as the white 
child and there will be no racial difference in their ability 
to learn or in their ability to attend school.

Judge Parker: That is the type of testimony you want to 
introduce, and did I understand you to say you introduced 
it in the Sweatt case?

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.
Judge Parker : By this same witness ?
Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.
Judge Parker: What do you gentlemen say about ad­

mitting the testimony in the Sweatt case to be introduced 
in the record of this case?

Mr. Figg: We are not familiar with the testimony in the 
Sweatt case, but we would have no objection, if they have 
that testimony, to their introducing it.

Judge Parker: Well, do you have it?
Mr. Marshall: No, sir, but I can get it right quick, be­

cause I know we have one of the records in Washington. 
We could have it put on a plane right away.

Unidentified Person in Courtroom: I have a copy in my 
room at the hotel.
[fol. 222] Mr. Marshall: With you? The Sweatt record?

Unidentified person: Of the Texas case.
Mr. Marshall: Good.
Judge Parker: All right, get that and read it. That will 

take care of that.
Mr. Marshall: Very well, sir, at that we will rest.
Judge Parker: Can you send for it and get it over here 

right away?



151

Unidentified Person: Yes, sir. I will get it.
Mr. Marshall: I submit, sir, I don’t think we have to 

wait for it necessarily.
Judge Parker: All right. 1 think that is correct. Do you 

want to introduce any further testimony for the defense!
Mr. Figg: We want to introduce in evidence, if your 

Honor please, the Inaugural Address of Governor Byrnes, 
which is referred to in the addition to the answer which 
was filed yesterday.

Judge Parker : All right.
Mr. Figg: Also, his message to the General Assembly on 

the 1951 School Legislation, and for the convenience of the 
Court, we have a printed pamphlet of the portion of the 
appropriation act which is referred to as 1951 School Legis­
lation, which we would file in the record because I don’t 
[fob 223] think it has come out officially in the Statutes yet.

Judge Parker: All right, put them in. Have you got 
3 copies of the bill!

Mr. F igg: I think we will be able to get them.
Judge Parker: All right, we will be glad to have them. 

Is there any other evidence for the defense ?
Judge Timmerman: Get 3 copies of each of those docu­

ments if you can.

Inaugural Address of Governor James F. Byrnes, Mes­
sage of Governor Byrnes to Legislature on 1 9 5 1  School 
Legislation, and Excerpts from General Appropriation Act 
1 9 5 1 ,  marked in evidence as Defendants’ Exhibits A, B, 
and G, respectively.

Mr. F igg: If your Honor please, we had intended at the 
cross examination of the anthropological-social psycho­
logical witnesses to refer to and question them in reference 
to some statements on this subject, an address by Dr. How­
ard W. Odom, in Atlanta, on April 27, 1951, entitled, “ The 
Mid-Century South Looking Both Ways,”  and we wanted 
in connection with that testimony to be able to call the 
Court’s attention to portions of this address.

Judge Parker: Well, what do you want to do!
Mr. Figg*: I would be glad to file it in the record.
Judge Parker: Well, I don’t think you can do that. If



152

you want to call Dr. Odom, you can call him, but I don’t 
[fol. 224] think you can put his address in the record.

Mr. Figg: I don’t think I could get him here.
Judge Parker: I think that is an entirely different basis 

from the Inaugural Address of the Governor, which is a 
State paper.

Mr. Figg: Yes, sir. The Court will take judicial notice 
of the things that I have offered. And as to this (indi­
cating) of course I think portions of it would have been 
appropriate on the cross examination of the witnesses—of 
the witness whose statement is going to be put in the 
record. It is a matter of general learning. It has had wide 
circulation and is the kind of matter which the legislature 
may take into account, along with all the other general 
learning on the subject, in the matter of adopting legisla­
tion or constitutional provisions, and we think that it would 
be proper, it and other matters of general information and 
opinion by recognized experts and people in the educa­
tional world, they could also be taken into account in 
legislative action and could be referred to to sustain the 
Legislative action under the principle that when the legis­
lature has passed legislation, it is valid if it is sustainable 
on any reasonable basis. And we had expected to make use 
of that material, as I say, in cross examination, and we 
thought perhaps that along with the statement that is to 
be received in evidence, we might indicate portions of this 
speech of what we had in mind, particularly for that 
[fol. 225] witness.

Judge Parker: I don’t know of any principle of law 
that would justify your doing that.

Mr. Figg: I might suggest this: It could be used in 
arguing the case.

Judge Parker: Oh, of course. When counsel are arguing 
a case, they can make any real argument they want to and 
refer to anybody’s opinion they want to, but that is not a 
thing to put in evidence.

Mr. Figg: I regret very much that I won’t be able to get 
some comments on some of Dr. Odom’s opinions on this 
subject.

Judge Parker: I imagine this man was cross examined 
in the Texas case. If you want to introduce his testimony



1 5 3

in the Texas case, I imagine he was cross examined out there. 
Of course, he wasn’t cross examined about Dr. Odom’s 
speech because Dr. Odom hadn’t made the speech at that 
time. If you want to delay the case until this man comes 
here, if you want to cross examine him, we will think about 
that. I don’t say we will do it. Are you suggesting that?

Mr. Figg: No, sir. I think we can cover the situation 
that we have in mind in the argument of the case. We have 
referred to what we had in mind and ask the Court as a 
matter of general learning on the subject to take it into 
account.
[fol. 226] Judge Parker: I think that this is true about 
this case: You have gone to considerable trouble on both 
sides to present the case, and we ought to hear it fully. 
I am not going to allow it to be dragged out and unneces­
sarily delay it, but I want the record fully made so that 
when it goes to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court will 
have the advantage of anything that anybody wants to say 
about the case that is relevant. For that reason, I don’t 
w-ant counsel on either side to feel that wre are cutting them 
off. We are disposed to let everything go in the record 
that is relevant to the issue here. I understand that so far 
as this Doctor from the University of Chicago is concerned, 
that his testimony is really available, and if the case might 
be improved, why I might for all practical purposes let it 
come in. What about the other man?

Mr. Marshall: We will just have to do without him, sir. 
He hasn’t testified in any of these cases that I know of.

Judge Waring: When do you expect him here, today or 
tomorrow?

Mr. Marshall: 3:14 this afternoon, assuming the plane 
is on time.

Judge Parker: You don’t know how he is coming, do you?
Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir, he is coming by Delta Air Lines, 

3:14.
Judge Timmerman: If he arrives at the North Charleston 

[fol. 227] Airport, it will be 4 or 4:30 when he gets here.
Mr. Figg: It might be, if your Honor please, that counsel 

would have no objection to Dr. Odom’s address being- 
offered and received in evidence and we could agree on



154

what he believes his witness who is on the Delta Air Line 
would testify and add that to the record.

Mr. Marshall: Your Honor, I am familiar with that 
speech and I would certainly want to question Dr. Odom. 
I am also happy to say that I know Dr. Odom, but that is 
a speech and not a scientific study.

Judge Parker: I don’t think Dr. Odom’s speech would 
be competent, but the situation that confronts us now is: 
What are we going to do about this case f As I understand, 
you have no other testimony for the defense!

Mr. Figg: Not at this time, your Honor.
Judge Parker: Well, I am talking about this time. This 

is the time we are talking about. We are fixing to close 
the case right now.

Mr. F igg: As I stated a while ago, if other witnesses are 
to be called, we had reserved our right to call witnesses if 
the testimony was objectionable.

Judge Parker: I understand you to say that if these 
witnesses are allowed to testify that are on the way here, 
that you may want to offer testimony in answer to them, 
but otherwise you won’t offer any testimony.
[fol. 228] Mr. Figg: That is right.

Judge Parker: And you don’t want to offer any testimony 
in reference to the testimony given by this Doctor in the 
Sweatt case!

Mr. Figg: I haven’t seen that testimony and I doubt,— 
as you say, your Honor, he was probably cross examined. 
It wouldn’t take two minutes after we see the testimony 
to tell.

Judge Parker: They have gone for the testimony now. 
It is now 5 minutes past 11 o ’clock and they ought to be 
here by quarter past 11 with it. He has been gone about 
10 minutes. Well, I don’t see anything to do except to 
recess the court for about—until half past, 11 o ’clock. We 
will come back then and see what we are going to do with 
respect to the progress of the case.

Judge Timmerman: Counsel can consult and see if they 
can’t agree about some things.

Judge Parker: Yes, I think that is important. Counsel 
can confer and see what you want to do about it.

(Recess.)



155

[fol. 229] Judge Parker: All right. Have you agreed on 
a solution?

Mr. Marshall: We have here, sir, a transcript of the 
case of Herman Marion Sweatt versus Theophilis Shiekel 
Painter, et ah, the University of Texas case, which includes 
the testimony of Doctor Robert Redfield; the entire testi­
mony, including direct examination, cross examination and 
re-direct. It runs between pages 189 and 208. We have 
discussed it with counsel for the defendant and I understand 
he is willing to have it in evidence on the one point that 
if here he would testify substantially that way.

Mr. Figg: We admit that if the witness were here he 
would testify as he testified in that case.

Judge Parker: All right. Let it be admitted, then. Put 
it in the record. I don’t think it ’s necessary to read it now. 
You can refer to it in the arguments.

Judge Waring: That’s direct and cross examinations!
Mr. Figg: Yes, sir. The whole of the testimony.
Judge Parker: All right.
Mr. Marshall: Doctor Robert Redfield.
Judge Timmerman: Redfield?
Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.
Judge. Parker: All right. Now, is there anything else 

that you want to offer in the record ?
[fol. 230] Mr. Marshall: Nothing else, sir, except we did 
check on Professor Newcomb and he left at 8:15 this morn­
ing, but he will not be here. So, we are perfectly willing to 
rest.

Judge Parker: All right. We don’t want to cut you off 
if you think that his testimony is vital. We would hear him 
when he comes. Do you want to offer anything further 
yourself?

Mr. Figg: No, sir, we have no further evidence, your 
Honor.

# # # # # # #



156

(Doctor Robert Bedfield’s testimony from the case of 
Sweatt vs. Painter, et al., was copied into the record as 
follows:)

D octor R obert R edfield , a witness produced by the 
relator, having* been by the Court first duly sworn as a 
witness, testified as follows:

Direct examination.

Questions by Mr. Marshall:
Q. Give the Court your full name, sir.
A. Robert Redfield.
Q. And your present occupation1?
A, I am now Professor of Anthropology and Chairman of 

the Department of that name at the University of Chicago.
Q. Will you review briefly your past qualifications, and 

your training, and the positions you have held, and the 
general work you have been doing?

A. After taking a Bachelor’s Degree, I went to the 
[fob 231] University of Chicago Law School and took a 
degree of J. D. I was admitted to the Bar of the State of 
Illinois, and two years thereafter returned to academic life, 
where I received training in Anthropology and Sociology, 
and special work in, the problems between the racial and 
color groups. I received a Doctor’s Degree in 1928.

Except for periods when I have been giving instruction 
at other universities in the United States, I have been 
employed at the University of Chicago as a teacher, and 
doing research work, and as an educational administrator.

I have also been in charge of the research program for 
Carnegie Institute at Washington, and at the present I 
am in that capacity. Last October I gave up the position 
of Dean of Social Sciences at Chicago University, a position 
I held for 12 years.

Q. How long have you been studying in the field of racial 
differences ?

A. About 20 years.
Q. And in that period of time have you considered the 

question of alleged racial differences in school students?



157

A. I have considered many aspects of the problem of 
differences between national groups, including school 
students.

Q. And have those studies included the comparison of
students of both races, studying under the same circum­
stances?

A. I have followed the literature in that field, as well 
[fob 232] as, of course, making my common-sense observa­
tions as a teacher and administrator.

Q. Well, Dr. Redfield, as a result of your studies, are you 
in a position to give your opinions on the general subject? 
I will give you more specific ones later, but I wish on the 
general subject of, one; the inappropriateness of segrega­
tion to the purposes of education, the inappropriateness of 
segregation in education to the interests of public security 
end of it, and to the general welfare of the community.

Mr. Daniel: Your Honor, we object because this lawsuit 
involves only education in law and procedure. We object 
to any questions or opinion evidence that may be offered 
as to general surveys, not limited to law schools, which are 
composed of those who have completed certain preliminary 
work in other fields, and we object to the testimony that has 
been called for by this question, to the question, and to any 
other questions along that line.

Mr. Marshall: May it please the Court, this ease has 
narrowed down to one issue. I think the pleadings did con­
siderable toward the end of narrowing it down. In the first 
place, in our original petition we claimed that the refusal 
to admit the relator was in violation of the 14th Amendment, 
and in all of the pleadings filed by the State of Texas, no 
question has ever been raised as to the qualifications of 
relator other than his race or color, so that is out of con­
sideration.
[fob 233] The defense of respondents is summed up in 
their first supplemental answer, large paragraph 2, small 
(1) in parenthesis, in this statement.

I am quoting.
“ The Constitution and laws of the State of Texas 

require equal protection of law and equal educational 
opportunities for all qualified persons, but provide for



separate educational institutions for white and negro 
students.”

And then follows the allegation that the refusal to admit 
the relator in this case was not arbitrary at all, and was not 
in violation of the 14th Amendment, but was in keeping 
with the segregation statutes of the State of Texas, and in 
that way joined issue; and in the second supplemental 
petition we alleged:

“ In so far as respondents claim to be acting* under 
authority of the Constitution and laws of the State of 
Texas their continued refusal to admit the relator to 
the Law School of the University of Texas is nonethe­
less in direct violation of the 14th Amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States.”

If there can be any doubt as to our position in the case, 
in the fourth paragraph in the same pleading in the supple­
mental petition, we state:

“ In so far as the Constitution and laws of Texas 
relied on by respondents prohibit relator from attend­
ing Law School of University of Texas because of his 
race and color such constitutional and statutory pro­
visions of the State of Texas as apply to relator are 
in direct violation of the 14th Amendment to the Con­
stitution of the United States.”

So I think that the lines are drawn in this case, and the 
direct attack has been made that the statutes requiring 
segregation, the general statutes which prohibit this relator 
[fol. 234] from attend- the University of Texas, we claim 
are unconstitutional, and we have the right to show their 
unconstitutionality.

How do we propose to do so? Several ways. Before 
that, I would like to bring this out. As to whether there is 
any question as to the validity of segregation in this case, 
the Attorney General brought it out with the last witness. 
He deliberately brought it out, according to which, as I 
understand from his cross examination, the Attorney Gen­
eral believes the relator has changed his position from con­
forming to the statute to now insisting that segregation 
was invalid, and it was the Attorney General who asked

1 5 8



159

the last question which puts the validity of the segregation 
statutes flat in issue in this case.

There are several ways of going about proving the 
unconstitutionality of statutes. They haven’t shown any 
line of reasoning for the statutes. I imagine they are 
relying* on the presumption that the statutes are constitu­
tional. If they are relying on that we have a right to put 
in evidence to show that segregation statutes in the State 
of Texas and in any other state, actually when examined, 
and they have never been examined in any lawsuit that I 
know of yet, have no line of reasonableness. There is no 
understandable factual basis for classification by race, and 
under a long line of decisions by the Supreme Court, not 
on the question of Negroes, but on the 14th Amendment, 
all courts agree that if there is no rational basis for the 
classification, it is flat in the tenth of the 14th Amendment, 
[fob 235] The Court: I will let you offer your testimony. 
I will give you your bill, and I will allow it, at any rate.

Mr. Daniel: Do I understand they will be limited to 
surveys on law students, or education in general?

The Court: Of course, it is like throwing a rose into a 
group of flowers. The odor is there. We are presumed to 
act only upon what is admissible testimony, in the last 
analysis, anyhow, so I am going to hear it, and if in my 
opinion it is material and admissible testimony, I will 
consider it. If it isn’t, I will not.

Mr. Marshall: Thank you, sir.
The Court: It will be in the record.
Mr. Daniel: We may have our full bill on it, without 

repeating our objection?
The Court: That is right, it will follow right through.
Mr. Daniel: Unless there is something else.
The Court: Yes.

By Mr. Marshall:
Q. Dr. Redfield, as to the question of the relationship of 

segregation to the purposes of education, will you first 
give us what are the overall acceptable purposes of educa­
tion as construed by educators in the field? What is the 
main purpose of public education?

A. No two men, of course, will state this the same way, 
but I should say that the main purposes of education are to



160

[fol. 236] develop in every citizen in accordance with the 
natural capacities of those citizens, the fullest intellectual 
and moral qualities, and his most effective participation 
in the duties of the citizens.

Q. Dr. Redfield, are there any recognizable differences 
as between Negro and white students on the question of 
their intellectual capacity!

Mr. Daniel: Your Honor, we object to that. That would 
be a conclusion on the part of the witness. It covers all 
neg'ro students and all white students. It isn’t limited to 
any particular study or subject or even show what it is 
based on.

The Court: I suppose his qualifications he has testified 
to would qualify him to draw his conclusion.

Mr. Marshall: We will follow with what he bases it on.
A. I f your Honor will allow me I will present the answer 

in that form.
The Court: Yes.
A. We got something of a lesson there. WTe who have 

been working in the field in which we began with a rather 
general presumption among our common educators that 
inherent differences in intellectual ability of capacity to 
learn existed between negroes and whites, and have slowly, 
but I think very convincingly, been compelled to come to 
the opposite conclusion, in the course of long history, 
special research in the field.

The general sort of situation, your Honor, which brings 
[fol. 237] about this opposite conclusion, the conclusion 
that I may state now, significant differences as to intel­
lectual ability, or as to ability to learn, if any, are probably 
not present between the twTo groups. We have been brought 
to that conclusion, your Honor, by a series of studies which 
have this general character.

Samples from the two groups, negroes and whites, are 
placed in as nearly identical situations as possible, and 
given the limited tasks to perform, tasks which are under­
stood to be relevant to the intellectual faculties, or the 
capacity to learn. Then these samples are measured 
against each other as to the degree and kind of success in 
performing these limited tasks. That is a general descrip­
tion of the material which leads to the conclusion I have 
stated. Perhaps at this point it is sufficient to say that



tlie general conclusion to which I come, and which I think 
is shared by a very large majority of specialists------

Mr. Daniel: We object to that as hearsay, your Honor.
The Court: I think so.
A. The conclusion, then, to which I come, is differences 

in intellectual capacity or inability to learn have not been 
shown to exist as between negroes and whites, and further, 
that the results make it very probable that if such differ­
ences are later shown to exist, they will not prove to be 
significant for any educational policy or practice.

By Mr. Marshall:
Q. As a result of your studies that you have made, the 

[fol. 238] training that you have had in your specialized 
field over some 20 years, given a similar learning' situa­
tion, what, if any differences, is there between the accom­
plishment of a white and a negro student, given a similar 
learning situation?

A. I understand, if I may say so, a similar learning 
situation to include a similar degree of preparation?

Q. Yes.
A. Then I would say that my conclusion is that the one 

does as well as the other on the average.
Q. Well, in your experience, your studies in this par­

ticular field, what is your opinion as to the effect of segre­
gated education; one, on the student—I will give them all 
to you, and then you can take them separately—two, on 
the school, and three, on the community in general. Will 
you give your opinion?

A. My opinion is that segregation has effects on the 
student which are unfavorable to the full realization of 
the objectives of education. First,—for a number of rea­
sons, perhaps. I will try to distinguish.

Speaking first with regard to the student I would say 
that in the first place it prevents the student from the full, 
effective and economical coming to understand the nature 
and capacity of the group from which he is segregated. 
My comment, therefore, applies to both whites and negroes, 
and as one of the objectives of education is the full and 
sympathetic understanding of the principal groups in the 
[fol. 239] system in which the individual is to function as

161

11—101



162

a citizen, this result which I have just stated is unfortunate.
In the second place, I would say that the segregation 

has an unfortunate effect on the student, which I might 
now anticipate, since, to my opinion, has an unfortunate 
effect on the general community, in that it intensifies 
suspicion and distrust between negroes and the whites, 
and suspicion and distrust are not favorable conditions 
either for the acquisition and conduct of an education, or 
for the discharge of the duties of a citizen. You asked me, 
did you not, as to the class, and the community?

Q. The school was the second, and the community was 
the third.

A. I think I have perhaps indicated the difficulties with 
reference to the school. The school room situation is, 
provides less than the complete and natural representation 
of the full community. That is the general view of educa­
tors, or it is my view, I should say. It is my view that 
education goes forward more favorably if the community 
of student, scholar and teacher is fairly representative of 
the total community. Rather, the highly specialized and 
the development of the suspicion and distrust which the 
segregated situation brings about is correspondingly 
unfavorable in the school.

With respect to the general community, I suppose there 
isn’t a great deal to add, but if I am still answering' your 
question, I might say this. In my opinion, segregation’acts 
[fob 240] generally on the total community in an unfavor­
able way for the general welfare, in that it accentuates 
imagined differences between negroes and whites. These 
false assumptions with respect to the existence of those 
differences are given an appearance of reality by the 
formal act of physical separation. Furthermore, as the 
segregation, in my experience, is against the will of the 
segregated, it produces a very favorable situation for 
the increase of bad feeling, and even conflict, rather than 
the reverse.

Q. Dr. Redfield, what has been your personal experience 
concerning the admission of minority groups to educa­
tional facilities to which they had previously been denied 
admission?

A. Well, as I have indicated, my principal experience 
has been in connection, in the University of Chicago, and



in its related educational insitutions. The situation there 
generally is that no segregation is practiced in any of the 
educational facilities of the University, neither in the 
class room nor in the dormitory, or in eating facilities or 
anywhere else in the educational facilities. While the same 
city or community in which the University lies is one in 
which segregation or exclusion is practiced as a matter 
of custom, but not as a matter of law, in a very wide variety 
of situations, and facilities open to the general public.

In giving that background, I come to the question of 
what my experience has been with negroes theretofore 
denied some educational facilities, and I have had ex­
perience with one or two such situations in the Univer- 
[fol. 241] sity of Chicago and its affiliated institutions, and 
that in each of the cases that I can recall the result has 
been, in my opinion, highly beneficial to education and to 
the University community.

Q. Were there any ill effects at all?
A. I don’t know of any.
Q. Do you know of any good effects?
A. Yes. Perhaps I should mention a case. The stu­

dents were denied admission, negro students were dis­
couraged from admittance is perhaps a more accurate 
statement, to the laboratory school of the University.

They were discouraged admission for a great many 
years. Then it was made apparent that they would be 
welcome, and they began to come, and there was an opposi­
tion from a minority of the academic community to the 
step. Many evil consequences were told. None of those 
consequences took place, but, on the other hand, there was 
an improvement in the community in that there was a 
representation of the national community which is favor­
able to education, and the relations between the white and 
the negro groups were improved in parent-teacher and 
endeavor.

Q. Thank you, Doctor.
Mr. Daniel: I want to be sure that my exceptions and 

objections have gone to the entire testimony.
The Court: Oh, yes.



164

Cross-Examination.
[fol. 242] Questions by Mr. Daniel:

Q. Dr. Redfield, how many of those surveys of the re­
action of students have been limited to law school students!

A. Are you speaking of surveys which I made personally, 
or of which I have known!

Q. Which you made personally?
A. I have never made a survey of law school students.
Q. Is this testimony you have been giving based on sur­

veys you have made, or you have read about?
A. In larger measure, the latter. I have participated.
Q. You have participated in some?
A. Yes.
Q. But the majority of the studies you have been testify­

ing about and upon which your testimony is based, are 
studies made by other people, and which you have read?

A. That is the nature of science, sir.
Q. Yes. I just want to be sure that is in the record. 

Somebody may not know that is the nature of the science. 
Have you yourself made any study of the effect of separate 
education in law schools ?

A. No, sir.
Q. As I understand it, it is your opinion that it is dis­

crimination against the white students to require them to 
go to a white University here in Texas; is that right?

A. If I understand the meaning of what I said, that isn’t 
what I was attempting to say. I was attempting to describe 
[fol. 243] the concensus in regard to educational objectives 
in the policy of segregation.

Q. And you applied that to separate white schools, with 
only white students. You said several times, I believe, in 
your testimony, I believe you said several times that the 
same applied to segregation of white students, making them 
go to the separate school.

A. I think it is to the advantage of any student to be in 
a community that is largely representative of the national 
community.

Q. To that extent, you believe that any state that re­
quires the white students to go into a separate school from 
the negro students is to that extent a discrimination against 
the white students ?



A. I am not sure the other description was used, but I 
think it worked both ways.

Q. It worked both ways. You have talked about a 
gradual change that you have observed. All of your testi­
mony, I believe, indicated a gradual change in the situation 
you have talked about, and in the conclusion you have 
reached.

A. With reference to admission of negroes to facilities 
that had theretofore been denied them?

Q. Yes.
A. The case I had in mind was where there was a period 

when they were not admitted, and then a period when they 
were admitted. I don’t know how you use the word 
‘ ‘ gradual. ’ ’
[fol. 244] Q. As I understood, you thought there wras some 
difference between ability to learn------

A. I beg your pardon. You are now asking me with 
respect to the quality of students, as to this matter of racial 
difference?

Q. Yes.
A. I said opinion on the subject has gradually changed.
Q. Isn’t that generally due to the fact that the subject 

matter has gradually changed over a period of years ?
A. We are wiser than we were, yes, sir.
Q. Don’t you believe that in a community where segre­

gation has been enforced as long as it has in some of our 
southern localities, that the only way that the ultimate goal 
that you think is the best can be properly obtained is by a 
gradual change, instead of forcing it upon the community?

A. If I can answer the question at all, your Honor, I 
would like------

The Court: You can explain.
A. I think that all change should not come on any more 

rapidly than it is consistent with the general welfare.

By Mr. Daniel:
Q. Yes, sir. In other words, you will agree with the other 

eminent educators in your field, the fields in which you are 
acquainted, that it is impossible to force the abolition of 
segregation upon a community that has had it for a long

165



166

number of years, in successfully obtaining tbe results that 
are best?
[fol. 245] A. No, I don’t agree to that.

Q. Do you think the laws should be changed tomorrow?
A. I think that segregation is a matter of legal regula­

tion. Such a law can be changed quickly.
Q. Do you think it has anything to do with the social 

standing in the community?
A. Segregation in itself is a matter of law, and that law 

can be changed at once, but if you mean the attitude of the 
people with respect to keeping away from people of another 
race, then perhaps I have another answer.

Q. I am speaking about desired results for the individual 
and the community, and for the state.

A. Will you ask your question over again?
Q. With respect to the individual, the state, the com­

munity and the schools, do you, in your opinion, believe 
that an immediate change in segregation will accomplish 
the results that you have testified as being best in a com­
munity where segregation has been enforced and recognized 
for many years?

A. I think in every community there is some segregation 
that can be changed at once, and the area of higher educa­
tion is the most favorable for making the change.

Q. You admit there are areas in which the change can 
not be made at once?

A. You mean in 24 hours, with more harm than good 
resulting?

Q. Yes.
[fol. 246] A. Certainly.

Q. Or within a year?
A. May I state my opinion again ?
Q. Instead of 24 hours, we will say within a year or two.
A. I will put it this way. I think this will satisfy you on 

that as covering my opinion. I think the steps by which, 
and the rapidity with which segregation in education can 
be removed with the benefits to the public welfare will vary 
with the circumstances.

Q. In other words, the circumstances of the community 
and how long there has been segregation will have a bear­
ing on it?

A. Yes, sir.



167

Q. In other words, do you recognize or agree with the 
school of thought that, regardless of the ultimate objective 
concerning segregation, that if it is to be changed in south­
ern communities where it has been in effect for many years, 
if it is to be changed successfully, it must be done over a 
long period of time, as the people in that community change 
their ideas on the matter ?

A. That contention, I do not think, will be my opinion on 
the matter scientifically.

Q. Does that represent, scientifically, a school of thought 
on that, in your science, in the matter?

A. There are some that feel that way.
Q. Yes, sir. You are acquainted with the history of the 

carpet bagger days in the Civil War?
[fol. 247] A. I feel better acquainted with it today, sir, 
than anybody.

Q. Dr. Redfield, let me get you clearly on that. You are 
not talking about your own trip down here, are you, to 
Texas? You say you are acquainted with it today?

A. It just drifted into my mind.
Q. You recall the carpet baggers, where they packed up 

and came down here from out of the state. You didn’t mean 
to be talking about your trip down here, did you? You are 
the only witness from out of the state that we have had on, 
so far. You didn’t mean to be talking about the trip down 
here?

A. I am afraid the idea has come into my mind now.
Q. That wasn’t what, you referred to?
A. It is in my mind now.
Q. Are you acquainted with the history of the carpet 

bagger days in the south?
A. In a very general way.
Q. You know, do you know, from that history, that the 

attempt to force the abolition of segregation in the south 
just didn’t work?

A. Yes, of course.
Q. Do you feel like the social attitudes and beliefs of the 

people in that day had some bearing on whether or not it 
would work?

A. Oh, yes.
Q. Of both races 1 

[fol. 248] A. Oh, yes.



168

Q. Are you acquainted with Howard University Law 
School in Washington?

A. No, sir, only by reputation.
Q. You know it is a negro law school?
A. Yes.
Q. Have you made any check on the separate Negro Law 

School as to the kind of educational facilities and equality 
of opportunities that are offered the students of that school ?

A. No.
Q. Would you undertake to testify here, Dr. Redfield, 

that students attending that separate Law School for 
Negroes at Howard University do not receive equal educa­
tional opportunities in law with those attending a similar 
white school?

A. In my opinion, deprivation of opportunity to exchange 
professional and intellectual matters with members of the 
other major groups in their nation is one of the short­
comings of the school.

Q. You have never made any check, though, as to stu­
dents who have come out of that school, and where that has 
been a handicap on them, have you?

A. No, I never have.
Q. It is just your idea it is a handicap, without hav­

ing checked to see whether or not it is?
A. That is right.

[fol. 249] Q. Are you acquainted with Lincoln University 
by reputation, a separate law school for Negroes in Mis­
souri?

A. I have heard of it.
Q. Have you made any survey of the students educated 

in that school?
A. I think I have indicated I made no survey of legal 

education.
Q. You are not prepared to say whether or not those 

students who received their legal education in that separate 
law school come out of there handicapped in any respect 
as far as their knowledge of the law is concerned, are you?

A. I have the opportunity of transforming a conclusion, 
and as far as there is validity in that, I can draw a conclu­
sion as far as segregated education is concerned.

Q. I am talking about the individuals who have come out 
of the separate Negro Law School, Have you made any



169

check to see whether they have received equal educational 
opportunities with white students of Missouri in the white 
law school?

A. I have had no occasion to.
Q. Then, you don’t know whether there are any disad­

vantages or not, actually, to those individuals, do you?
A. In the particular case of those individuals ?
Q. Yes, sir.
A. By virtue of knowledge I might have of them in par­

ticular, no.
[fol. 250] Q. Do you recognize, Dr. Redfield, that there 
should be some limit to your theory of abolition of segre­
gation ?

A. I think I have indicated a limit.
Q. A limit?
A. Yes, a limit.
Q. What limit do you say there should be, and will still 

give what you think is necessary from the standpoint of 
public education ?

A. The general welfare would be served by extending 
non-segregation, at the expense of segregation, and that 
general limit will be defined in my particular conclusion, as 
the particular circumstances.

Q. Is it necessary that there be social commingling?
A. I understand that by social commingling is meant 

communication of students and professor, and intellectual 
endeavor—yes.

Q. Is that as far as you think it is necessary to have such 
commingling to obtain the objectives you think are so neces­
sary?

A. I think that whatever commingling is a natural and 
proper accessory to the educational endeavor will in the 
long run develop to the general welfare.

Q. Do you think it is necessary to have social com­
mingling of the races in order to obtain the things you think 
are necessary to give, to attain the objective that you say 
is set for public education?
[fol. 251] A. The question is repetitious. I have answered 
it.

Mr. Durham: If your Honor please— —
The Court: I really believe he has answered it. If you are



170

not quite satisfied, General, you may ask another question.
Mr. Daniel: I am not quite satisfied. I don’t want to ask 

an embarrassing question, but yet—you have testified—I 
really want to know—you have testified that you believe cer­
tain segregation must be done away with in order to accom­
plish the best for the school and the community?

A. If you are thinking about intermarriage—if that is in 
your mind, I would be delighted to answer.

Q. My mind hadn’t gotten quite that far on the subject.
A. I am sorry.
Q. I am simply trying to ask you, since you have testified 

that a certain amount of doing away with segregation is 
necessary, I want to know your explanation, or expert 
opinion, on how far it must be done away with in order to 
accomplish the best for the individual, the school and the 
community.

Mr. Marshall: This case is at least limited, and the direct 
examination is most certainly limited, to education.

The Court: I understood that is what he answered, that 
only in so far as it was necessary for students to have a 
mutual exchange of ideas along professional and educational 
lines.

Mr. Marshall: But this question isn’t limited to that.
The Court: I understood he answered as I stated, a g*ood 

[fol. 252] while ago, General.
Mr. Daniel: I have asked how far he thinks that is neces­

sary.
A. In order to accomplish the educational objective?
Q. Yes.
A. Roughly speaking, in the class rooms and in the 

natural discussion of educational objectives we have com­
mon rooms in our University where the students meet to 
discuss common educational problems.

Q. What about fraternities ? Is it necessary that there be 
commingling there ?

A. In any particular situation, I should think probably 
not.

Q. You think it is not necessary that they belong to the 
same social groups ?

A. This might not be your case, but I should say probably 
not.



171

Q. You feel like a Negro student at a separate school that 
doesn’t have the same fraternities or scholarships as the 
other school------

A. I was thinking of social fraternities.
Q. Let’s limit it to that.
A. That seems relatively unimportant. I could answer it 

either one way or the other, and I would like to see the 
particular case to see how I would answer it.

The Court: Are there other questions ?
Mr. Daniel: Yes, sir; just a second, your Honor.

[fol. 253] Q. Doctor, are you acquainted with the Encyclo­
pedia Britannica, the publication by that name ?

A. I have a set. I don’t look at it very often.
Q. You are from the University of Chicago ?
A. Yes.
Q. Is that publication now published under the auspices 

of that University?
A. Yes, sir; and it badly needs rewriting*.
Q. It is published under the auspices of your University?
A. Yes.
Q. Have you read the article therein on education, and 

segregation of the races in American Schools ?
A. If I have, I don’t remember it.
Q. You don’t remember it. Have you written any articles 

for the Encyclopedia Britannica?
A. No, we are just beginning a revision of anthropological 

articles, and it seems there has to be a very drastic change.
Q. Do you know who wrote the articles in the Encyclo­

pedia Britannica on the subject of higher education for 
Negroes, and segregation?

A. I don’t remember such articles.
Q. Do you recognize the Enclopedia Britannica and the 

articles on such subjects as an authority in the field?
A. No, I do not.
Q. You do not?

[fol. 254] A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know of some scientists in your field who do 

recognize those articles?
Mr. Durham: We object to that as being irrelevant and 

immaterial, what somebody else recognizes.



172

The Court: That would be his—perhaps not what they 
recognize, but what they have said about it.

A. I think I could answer that question, and do more 
justice to the meaning than just with a yes or no answer.

By Mr. Daniel:
Q. Go right ahead.
A. All of the articles you have mentioned in that publica­

tion are of extremely uneven merit, so that the men with 
whom I have talked who have studied it—I haven’t studied 
it—tell me that certain articles are extremely good and other 
articles are extremely bad. That is about the best I can 
answer.

Q. I understand you are going to leave, and we may 
want to know something about that, as an authority. Is that 
Encyclopedia Britannica, could we here in the Court—could 
the Court, in your opinion, consider that as one of the recog­
nized authorities in the field, if they have an authority on 
the subject?

A. I don’t think you could, for the reason that you might 
hit on one of the articles that was particularly out of date.

Q. You haven’t read the articles on the subjects we are 
talking about?
[fob 255] A. If I have, I have forgotten it—I probably 
have.

Q. But it is your opinion the Court couldn’t accept that as 
an authority?

A. You might get a bad one. I couldn’t say.
Q. Could you give us some of the authorities that you 

think we would be justified in taking as authorities on the 
subject you have testified to us about? Have you written 
any books on the subject?

A. Not with respect to the American Negro. I have writ­
ten on the general subject with respect to other racial 
groups. Franz Boes, Ruth Benedict, Ashley Montague, 
Otto Kleinberg. Is that enough.

Q. Give us one more.
A. One more. I will .make it a good one. Then, Dr. 

Leslie White.
Q. Do all of these scientists have the same, share your 

ideas as to segregation?



173

A. I don’t know.
Q. Do you know any scientists who have written books or 

articles on the American Negro, on segregation, who do not 
share your ideas!

A. Many of the scientists that study this problem have not 
written or expressed themselves on the education results of 
segregation. They are agreed, all that I have mentioned, 
and a great many more on the conclusions which I gave in 
[fol. 256] direct testimony in the first of my remarks with 
regard to the probability, or the existence of inherent differ­
ences in educational capacity, but the application of the 
conclusion to the school situation concerns a very much 
smaller group of people, because the group of people con­
cerned with that are educational administrators and the like 
and many of those people whose names I have given you are 
not educational administrators.

Q. But on your conclusion as to education, you told me 
there were authorities in the field who disagreed with your 
conclusion!

A. I think not.
Q. Maybe I am speaking about the gradual change.
A. I don’t know who I could cite for that.
Q. That is all.

Redirect examination.
Questions by Mr. Marshall:

Q. Dr. Redfield, you testified on cross examination that 
your opinions were based on your own studies, but mostly 
on other studies that have been made. I want to ask you as 
to whether or not the studies you are speaking of made by 
other people were scientific studies or not?

A. They were.
Q. And I want to ask you as to whether or not they were 

mostly published scientific studies?
A. They were.
Q. Generally recognized in your field as authorities ? 

ffol. 257] A. Yes, they were.
Q. Do you know of any recognized scientific study that 

recognizes any inherent racial difference among the races, 
as to capacity to learn?

A. A man named Portees in Australia published some



174

papers which I have read, on the Australian aborigines, 
which reach the conclusion that there are inherent differ­
ences between the races. I am sure there are other papers 
that reach a similar conclusion. They are all specific studies, 
and the conclusions are drawn on differences in achievement 
in the races, and the case of Portees is one. John Ferguson 
is publishing one, but there are very, very few that would 
draw the opposite conclusion to the one that I have stated 
concerning the inherent difference.

Q. Isn’t it true the Australian aborigine is on the bottom 
of the heap?

A. The important thing is there are different studies, and 
it has taken them a long period of time to reach the conclu­
sion I have offered.

Q. Isn’t it true the majority of scientists in your field are 
in, agreement there is no inherent racial difference?

A. Yes.
Q. Isn’t it true that such studies as the Kleinberg study 

in 193A and others, are specific factual studies which show 
that a given fact situation, there is no difference ?

Mr. Daniel: We object to that because it is leading.
[fol. 258] The Court: Of course, it is leading.

Mr. Marshall: Your witness.

Recross-examination.
Questions by Mr. Daniel:

Q. Dr. Redfield, in determining the question of changing 
the laws and regulations in a community concerning segre­
gation, howT far, in your opinion, should the community, 
should the State consider the community attitudes of both 
of the races concerning the matter?

A. It would depend upon the circumstances. I can make 
an observation, which I think is a partial answer. I think 
the effect of having a regulation—I guess I will have to make 
a speech to answer that.

Q. I don’t believe------
A. I have got quite a long------
Q. I don’t believe it calls for that. I will ask you this: 

Do you think the community attitude of both of the races 
should be considered when you go to see what is best in the 
way of the field of education for that community?



175

A. I think so. You understand that the attitudes of the 
community are complex. Attitudes in the State of Illinois 
and the State of Texas, I take it, are, one; some white people 
don’t want to be near neg'roes under certain conditions, and 
those same white people want equality of education and 
other opportunities in America, and there are both kinds of 
[fob 259] attitude in making the change.

Q. Would you consider the attitude of some Negroes that 
would rather have segregation themselves, in determining 
the educational situation?

A. Yes, and you have to consider that Texas, with other 
Americans, share the view that equality of opportunity is 
due every man in this country, and they are struggling, as 
are all of us, to reconcile those attitudes.

Q. You would take those two into consideration before 
you would arrive at what is best to be done for the indi­
vidual and the community ?

A. Always understanding both kinds of attitudes.
Q. I will ask you, Dr. Redfield, if you have made any check 

on the relative number, of where the Negroes of this country 
who hold college degrees, have obtained those degrees? 
Have you made any study as to the opportunities offered 
for the Neg'roes of this country to obtain college degrees?

A. I have read reports on it.
Q. Isn’t it true that the figures of 85% of the Negroes of 

this country who have college degrees received them from 
southern, separate colleges?

A. I don’t remember.
Q. Does that sound about right?
A. When you say it, sir, it does.
Q. Thank you. Are you a member of the National Asso- 

[fols. 260-309] ciation for the Advancement of Colored 
People?

A. No.
Q. That is all.
(Witness excused.)

[fols. 310-316] Reporter’s Certificate to foregoing tran­
script omitted in printing.



[fol.317] [File endorsement omitted]

In U nited  S tates D istrict  Coubt

I concur:
(S.) Geo. Bell Timmerman, U. S. Dist. Judge.

I concur:
(S.) John J. Parker, Chief Judge 4th Circuit. 

H arry  B riggs, Jr., et al., Plaintiffs,

versus
E. W . E llio tt , Chairman, J. D. Carson and G eorge K en ­

nedy , Members of the Board of Trustees of School Dis­
trict No. 22, Clarendon County, S. C .; Summerton High 
School District, a body corporate; L. B. McCord, Super­
intendent of Education for Clarendon County, and Chair­
man A. J. Plowden, W. E. Baker, Members of the County 
Board of Education for Clarendon County; and H. B. 
Betcham, Superintendent of School District No. 22, 
Defendants.

176

O pin io n—Filed June 23, 1951
On application for Declaratory Judgment and Injunction.

Heard May 28, 1951. Decided------
Before Parker, Circuit Judge, and Waring and Timmerman, 

District Judges.
Harold E. Boulware, Spottswood Eobinson, III, Eobert L. 

Carter, Thurgood Marshall, Arthur Shores and A. T. 
Walden, for Plaintiffs; T. C. Callison, Attorney General 
of South Carolina, S. E. Eogers and Eobert McC. Figg, Jr., 
for Defendants.

[fol. 318] P ark er , Chief Judge:
This is a suit for a declaratory judgment and injunctive 

relief in which it is alleged that the schools and educational 
facilities provided for Negro children in School District 
No. 22 in Clarendon County, South Carolina, are inferior 
to those provided for white children in that district and that



177

this amounts to a denial of the equal protection of the laws 
guaranteed them by the Fourteenth Amendment to the 
Federal Constitution, and further that the segregation of 
Negro and white children in the public schools, required 
by Article II section 7 of the Constitution of South Carolina 
and section 5377 of the Code of Laws of that state,* is of 
itself violative of the equal protection clause of the Four­
teenth Amendment. Plaintiffs are Negro children of school 
age who are entitled to attend the public schools in District 
No. 22 in Clarendon County, their parents and guardian. 
Defendants are the school officials who, as officers of the 
state, have control of the schools in the district. A court 
of three judges has been convened pursuant to the pro- 
[fol. 319] visions of 28 USC 2281 and 2281, the evidence 
offered by the parties has been heard and the case has 
been submitted upon the briefs and arguments of counsel.

At the beginning of the hearing the defendants admitted 
upon the record that “ the educational facilities, equipment, 
curricula and opportunities afforded in School District 
No. 22 for colored pupils * * * are not substantially equal 
to those afforded for white pupils.”  The evidence offered 
in the case fully sustains this admission. The defendants 
contend, however, that the district is one of the rural school 
districts which has not kept pace with urban districts in 
providing educational facilities for the children of either 
race, and that the inequalities have resulted from limited 
resources and from the disposition of the school officials 
to spend the limited funds available “ for the most imme­
diate demands rather than in the light of the overall 
picture. ’ ’ They state that under the leadership of Governor 
Byrnes the Legislature of South Carolina had made pro­

* Article II section 7 of the Constitution of South Carolina 
is as follows: “ Separate schools shall be provided for 
children of the white and colored races, and no child of 
either race shall ever be permitted to attend a school pro­
vided for children of the other race.”

Section 5377 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina of 
1942 is as follows: “ It shall be unlawful for pupils of one 
race to attend the schools provided by boards of trustees 
for persons of another race.”

12—101



178

vision for a bond issue of $75,000,000 with a three per cent 
sales tax to support it for the purpose of equalizing' educa­
tional opportunities and facilities throughout the state 
and of meeting’ the problem of providing equal educational 
opportunities for Negro children where this had not been 
done. They have offered evidence to show that this educa­
tional program is going forward and that under it the 
educational facilities in the district will be greatly improved 
[fol. 320] for both races and that Negro children will be 
afforded educational facilities and opportunities in all 
respects equal to those afforded white children.

There can be no question but that where separate schools 
are maintained for Negroes and whites, the educational 
facilities and opportunities afforded by them must be equal. 
The state may not deny to any person within its jurisdic­
tion the equal protection of the laws, says the Fourteenth 
Amendment; and this means that, when the state under­
takes public education, it may not discriminate against any 
individual on account of race but must offer equal oppor­
tunity to all. As said by Chief Justice Hughes in Missouri 
ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, 305 U. S. 337, 349, “ The admis­
sibility of laws separating the races in the enjoyment of 
privileges afforded by the State rests wholly upon the 
equality of the privileges which the laws give to the sepa­
rated groups within the State. ’ ’ See also Sweatt v. Painter, 
339 U. S. 629; Corbin v. County School Board of Pulaski 
County 4 Cir. 177 F. 2d 924; Carter v. School Board of 
Arlington County, Va. 4 Cir. 182 F. 2d 531; McKissiek v. 
Carmichael 4 Cir. 187 F. 2d 949. We think it clear, there­
fore, that plaintiffs are entitled to a declaration to the 
effect that the school facilities now afforded Negro children 
in District No. 22 are not equal to the facilities afforded 
white children in the district and to a mandatory injunction 
requiring that equal facilities be afforded them. How this 
[fol. 321] shall be done is a matter for the school authorities 
and not for the court, so long as it is done in good faith 
and equality of facilities is afforded; but it must be done 
promptly and the court in addition to issuing an injunction 
to that effect will retain the cause upon its docket for further 
■orders and will require that defendants file within six 
months a report showing the action that has been taken 
by them to carry out the order.



179

Plaintiffs ask that, in addition to granting them relief 
on account of the inferiority of the educational facilities 
furnished them, we hold that segregation of the races in 
the public schools, as required by the Constitution and 
statutes of South Carolina, is of itself a denial of the equal 
protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amend­
ment, and that we enjoin the enforcement of the constitu­
tional provision and statute requiring it and by our injunc­
tion require defendants to admit Negroes to schools to which 
white students are admitted within the district. We think, 
however, that segregation of the races in the public schools, 
so long as equality of rights is preserved, is a matter of 
.legislative policy for the several states, with which the 
federal courts are powerless to interfere.

One of the great virtues of our constitutional system 
is that, while the Federal government protects the funda­
mental rights of the individual, it leaves to the several 
states the solution of local problems. In a country with 
a great expanse of territory with peoples of widely differ­
ing customs and ideas, local self government in local 
[fol. 322] matters is essential to the peace and happiness 
of the people in the several communities as well as to the 
strength and unity of the country as a whole. It is uni­
versally held, therefore, that each state shall determine for 
itself, subject to the observance of the fundamental rights 
and liberties guaranteed by the federal Constitution, how it 
shall exercise the police power, i.e. the power to legislate 
with respect to the safety, morals, health and general 
welfare. And in no field is this right of the several states 
more clearly recognized than in that of public education. 
As was well said by Mr. Justice Harlan, speaking for a 
unanimous court in Gumming v. Board of Education, 175 
II. S. 528, 545, “ while all admit that the benefits and burdens 
of public taxation must be shared by citizens without dis­
crimination against any class on account of their race, the 
education of the people in schools maintained by state tax­
ation is a matter belonging to the respective States, and 
any interference on the part of federal authority with the 
management of such schools cannot be justified except in 
the case of a clear and unmistakable disregard of rights 
secured by the supreme law of the land. ’ ’



180

It is equally well settled that there is no denial of the 
equal protection of the laws in segregating children in the 
schools for purposes of education, if the children of the 
different races are given equal facilities and opportunities. 
The leading case on the subject in the Supreme Court is 
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 IT. S. 537, which involved segrega- 
[fol. 323] tion in railroad trains, hut in which the segrega­
tion there involved was referred to as being* governed by 
the same principle as segregation in the schools. In that 
case the Court said:

“ The object of the amendment was undoubtedly to 
enforce the absolute equality of the two races before 
the law, but in the nature of things it could not have 
been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, 
or to enforce social, as distinguished from political 
equality, or a commingling of the two races upon terms 
unsatisfactory to either. Laws permitting, and even 
requiring, their separation in places where they are 
liable to be brought into contact do not necessarily 
imply the inferiority of either race to the other, and 
have been generally, if not universally, recognized as 
within the competency of the state legislatures in the 
exercise of their police power. The most common in­
stance of this is connected -with the establishment of 
separate schools for white and colored children, which 
has been held to be a valid exercise of the legislative 
power even by courts of States where the political 
rights of the colored race have been longest and most 
earnestly enforced.”

Later in the opinion the Court said:
“ So far, then, as a conflict with Fourteenth Amend­
ment is concerned, the case reduces itself to the ques­
tion whether the statute of Louisiana is a reasonable 
regulation, and with respect to this there must neces­
sarily be a large discretion on the part of the legis­
lature. In determining the question of reasonableness 
it is at liberty to act with reference to the established 
usages, customs and traditions of the people, and with 
a view to the promotion of their comfort, and the 
preservation of the public peace and good order.”  
(Italics supplied).



181

Directly in point and absolutely controlling upon us so 
long as it stands unreversed by the Supreme Court is 
Gong Lum v. Rice 275 U. S. 78, in which the complaint was 
that a child of Chinese parentage was excluded from a 
school maintained for white children under a segregation 
law and was permitted to enter only a school maintained 
for colored children. Although attempt is made to dis­
tinguish. this case, it cannot be distinguished. The ques­
tion as to the validity of segregation in the public schools 
on the ground of race was squarely raised, the Fourteenth 
[fob 324] Amendment was relied upon as forbidding segre­
gation and the issue was squarely met by the Court. What 
was said by Chief Justice Taft speaking for a unanimous 
court, is determinative of the question before us. Said he:

“ The case then reduces itself to the question whether 
a state can be said to afford to a child of Chinese 
ancestry born in this country, and a citizen of the 
United States, equal protection of the laws giving her 
the opportunity for a common school education in a 
school which receives only colored children of the 
brown, yellow or black races.

“ The right and power of the state to regulate the 
method of providing for the education of its youth at 
public expense is clear. * * *.

‘ ‘ The question here is whether a Chinese citizen of 
the United States is denied equal protection of the laws 
when he is classed among the colored races and fur­
nished facilities for education equal to that offered to 
all, whether white, brown, yellow or black. Were this 
a new question, it would call for very full argument 
and consideration, hut we think that it is the same ques­
tion which has been many times decided to be within the 
constitutional power of the state legislature to settle 
without intervention of the federal courts under the 
Federal Constitution. Roberts v. City of Boston 5 
Cush. (Mass.) 198, 206, 208, 209; State ex rel. Games 
v. McCann 21 Oh. St. 198, 210, People ex rel. King v. 
Gallagher 93 N. Y. 438; People ex rel. Cisco v. School 
Board 161 N. Y. 598; Ward v. Flood 48 Cal. 36; Wy- 
singer v. Crookshank 82 Cal. 588, 590; Reynolds v. 
Board of Education 66 Kans. 672; McMillan v. School



182

Committee 107 N. C. 609; Cory v. Carter 48 Ind. 327; 
Lehew v. Brummell 103 Mo. 546; Dameron v. Bayless 
14 Ariz. 180; State ex rel. Stoutmeyer v. Duffy 7 Nev. 
342, 348, 355; Bertonneau v. Board 3 Woods 177, s. c. 
3 Fed. Cas. 294, Case No. 1,361; United States v. 
Buntin 10 F. 730, 735; Wong Him v. Callahan 119 F. 
381

“ In Plessy v. Fergnson 163 U. S. 537, 544, 545, in 
upholding the validity under the Fourteenth Amend­
ment of a statute of Louisiana requiring the separation 
of the white and colored races in railway coaches, 
a more difficult question than, this, this Court, speaking 
of permitted race separation said:

“  ‘ The most common instance of this is connected 
with the establishment of separate schools for white 
and colored children, which has been held to be a valid 
exercise of the legislative power even by courts of 
States where the political rights of the colored race 
have been longest and most earnestly enforced. ’

“ Most of the cases cited arose, it is true, over the 
establishment of separate schools as between white 
pupils and black pupils, but we cannot think that the 
question is any different or that any different result 
can be reached, assuming the cases above cited to be 
rightly decided, where the issue is as between white 
pupils and the pupils of the yellow races. The decision 
is unthin the discretion of the state in regulating its 
public schools and does not conflict with the Fourteenth 
Amendment.”  (Italics supplied).

[fol. 325] Only a little over a year ago, the question was 
before the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia in 
Carr v. Corning D. C. Cir. 182 F. 2d 14, a case involving the 
validity of segregation within the District, and the whole 
matter was exhaustively explored in the light of history 
and the pertinent decisions in an able opinion by Judge 
Prettyman, who said:

“ It is urged that the separation of the races is itself, 
apart from equality or inequality of treatment, for­
bidden by the Constitution. The question thus posed 
is whether the Constitution lifted this problem out of



183

the hands of all legislatures and settled it. We do not 
think it did. Since the beginning of human history, 
no circumstance has given rise to more difficult and 
delicate problems than has the coexistence of different 
races in the same area. Centuries of bitter experience 
in all parts of the world have proved that the problem 
is insoluble by force of any sort. The same history 
shows that it is soluble by the patient processes of 
community experience. Such problems lie naturally 
in the field of legislation, a method susceptible of ex­
perimentation, of development, of adjustment to the 
current necessities in a variety of community circum­
stance. We do not believe that the makers of the first 
ten Amendments in 1789 or of the Fourteenth Amend­
ment in 1866 meant to foreclose legislative treatment 
of the problem in this country.

“ This is not to decry efforts to reach that state of 
common existence which is the obvious highest good in 
our concept of civilization. It is merely to say that 
the social and economic interrelationship of two races 
living together is a legislative problem, as yet not 
solved, and is not a problem solved fully, finally and 
unequivocally by a fiat enacted many years ago. We 
must remember that on this particular point we are 
interpreting a constitution and not enacting a statute.

“ We are not unmindful of the debates which occurred 
in Congress relative to the Civil Rights Act of April 
9, 1866, The Fourteenth Amendment, and the Civil 
[fol. 326] Rights Act of March 1,1875. But the actions 
of Congress, the discussion in the Civil Rights cases, 
and the fact that in 1862, 1864 and 1874 Congress, as 
we shall point out in a moment, enacted legislation 
which specifically provided for separation of the races 
in the schools of the District of Columbia, conclusively 
support our view of the Amendment and its effect.

“ The Supreme Court has consistently held that if 
there be an ‘ equality of the privileges which the laws 
give to the separated groups’, the races may be sepa­
rated. That is to say that constitutional invalidity does 
not arise from the mere fact of separation but may 
arise from an inequality of treatment. Other courts 
have long held to the same effect.”



184

It should he borne in mind that in the above cases the 
courts have not been dealing with hypothetical situations or 
mere theory, but with situations which have actually de­
veloped in the relationship of the races throughout the 
country. Segregation of the races in the public schools has 
not been confined to South Carolina or even to the South 
but prevails in many other states where Negroes are present 
in large numbers. Even when not required by law, it is 
customary in many places. Congress has provided for it 
by federal statute in the District of Columbia; and seven­
teen of the states have statutes or constitutional provisions 
requiring it. They are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, 
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missis­
sippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, 
Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.* * And the 
[fol. 327] validity of legislatively requiring segregation in 
the schools has been upheld wherever the question has been 
raised. See Wong Him v. Callahan, 119 F. 381; United 
States v. Buntin, 10 F. 730; Bertonneau v. Board of Direc­
tors 3 Fed. Cas. 294, No. 1361; Dameron v. Bayless 14 Ariz. 
180, 126 Pac. 273; Maddox v. Neal 45 Ark. 121, 55 Am Rep. 
540; Ward v. Flood 48 Cal. 36, 17 Am. Rep. 405; Cory v. 
Carter 48 Ind. 327, 17 Am. Rep. 738; Graham v. Board of 
Education 153 Kan. 840, 114 P. 2d 313; Richardson v. 
Board of Education 72 Kan. 629, 84 Pac. 538; Reynolds v. 
Board of Education 66 Kan. 672, 72 Pac. 274; Chrisman v. 
Mayor 70 Miss. 477,12 So. 458; Lehew v. Brummell 103 Mo. 
546, 15 S. W. 765, 11 L. R„ A. 828, 23 Am. St. Rep. 895; 
State v. Duffy 7 Nev. 342, 8 Am. Rep. 713; People v. School 
Board 161 N. Y. 598, 56 N. E. 81, 48 L. R. A. 113; People 
v. Gallagher, 93 N. Y. 438, 45 Am. Rep. 232; McMillan v. 
School Committee 107 N. C. 609, 12 S. E. 330, 10 L. R. A. 
823; State v. McCann 21 Ohio St. 198; Board of Education 
v. Board of Com’rs 14 Okla. 322, 78 Pac. 455; Martin v. 
Board of Education 42 W. Va. 514, 26 S. E. 348.* No cases

* Statistical Summary of Education, 1947-48, ‘ ‘ Biennial 
Survey of Education in the United States, 1946-48” , ch. 1 
pp. 8, 40 (Federal Security Agency, Office of Education).

* See also Roberts v. City of Boston 5 Cush. (Mass.) 198, 
decided prior to the Fourteenth Amendment.



1 8 5

have been cited to us holding- that such legislation is viola­
tive of the Fourteenth Amendment. We know of none, and 
diligent search of the authorities has failed to reveal any.

Plaintiffs reply upon expressions contained in opinions 
relating to professional education such as Sweatt v. Painter 
[fol. 328] 339 IT. S. 629, McLaurin v. Oklahoma State 
Regents 339 U. S. 637 and McKissick v. Carmichael 4 Cir. 
187 F. 2d 949, where equality of opportunity was not 
afforded. Sweatt v. Painter, however, instead of helping 
them, emphasizes that the separate but equal doctrine of 
Plessy v. Ferguson has not been overruled, since the 
Supreme Court, although urged to overrule it, expressly 
refused to do so and based its decision on the ground that 
the educational facilities offered Negro law students in that 
case were not equal to those offered white students. The 
decision in McKissick v. Carmichael was based upon the 
same ground. The case of McLaurin v. Oklahoma State 
Regents involved humiliating and embarrassing treatment 
of a Negro law student to which no one should have been 
required to submit. Nothing of the sort is involved here.

The problem of segregation as applied to graduate and 
professional education is essentially different from that 
involved in segregation in education at the lower levels. In 
the graduate and professional schools the problem is one 
of affording equal educational facilities to persons sui juris 
and of mature personality. Because of the great expense 
of such education and the importance of the professional 
contacts established while carrying on the educational 
process, it is difficult for the state to maintain segregated 
schools for Negroes in this field which will afford them 
[fol. 329] opportunities for education and professional 
advancement equal to those afforded by the graduate and 
professional schools maintained for white persons. What 
the courts have said, and all they have said in the cases 
upon which plaintiffs rely is that,, notwithstanding these 
difficulties, the opportunity afforded the Negro student must 
be equal to that afforded the white student and that the 
schools established for furnishing this instruction to white 
persons must be opened to Negroes if this is necessary to 
give them the equal opportunity which the Constitution 
requires.

The problem of segregation at the common school level is



186

a very different one. At this level, as good education can be 
afforded in Negro schools as in white schools and the thought 
of establishing professional contacts does not enter into the 
picture. Moreover, education at this level is not a matter of 
voluntary choice on the part of the student hut of compulsion 
by the state. The student is taken from the control of the 
family during school hours by compulsion of law and placed 
in control of the school, where he must associate with his 
fellow students. The law thus provides that the school shall 
supplement the work of the parent in the training of the 
child and in doing so it is entering a delicate field and one 
fraught with tensions and difficulties. In formulating educa- 
[fol. 330] tional policy at the common school level, therefore, 
the law must take account, not merely of the matter of 
affording instruction to the student, but also of the wishes 
of the parent as to the upbringing of the child and his 
associates in the formative period of childhood and ado­
lescence. If public education is to have the support of the 
people through their legislatures, it must not go contrary to 
what they deem for the best interests of their children.

There is testimony to the effect that mixed schools will 
give better education and a better understanding of the 
community in which the child is to live than segregated 
schools. There is testimony, on the other hand, that mixed 
schools will result in racial friction and tension and that the 
only practical way of conducting public education in South 
Carolina is with segregated schools. The questions thus 
presented are not questions of constitutional right but of 
legislative policy, which must be formulated, not in vacuo or 
with doctrinaire disregard of existing conditions, but in 
realistic approach to the situations to which it is to be 
applied. In some states, the legislatures may well decide 
that segregation in public schools should be abolished, in 
others that it should be maintained—all depending upon the 
relationships existing between the races and the tensions 
likely to be produced by an attempt to educate the children 
[fol. 331] of the two races together in the same schools. The 
federal courts would be going far outside their constitu­
tional function were they to attempt to prescribe educational 
policies for the states in such matters, however desirable 
such policies might be in the opinion of some sociologists or 
educators. For the federal courts to do so would result, not



187

only in interference with local affairs by an agency of the 
federal government, but also in the substitution of the judi­
cial for the legislative process in what is essentially a 
legislative matter.

The public schools are facilities provided and paid for by 
the states. The state’s regulation of the facilities which it 
furnishes is not to be interfered with unless constitutional 
rights are clearly infringed. There is nothing in the Consti­
tution that requires that the state grant to all members of 
the public a common right to use. every facility that it 
affords. Grants in aid of education or for the support of 
the indigent may properly be made upon an individual basis 
if no discrimination is practiced; and, if the family, which 
is the racial unit, may be considered in these, it may be con­
sidered also in providing public schools. The equal protec­
tion of the laws does not mean that the child must be treated 
[fob 332] as the property of the state and the wishes of his 
family as to his upbringing be disregarded. The classifica­
tion of children for the purpose of education in separate 
schools has a basis grounded in reason and experience; and, 
if equal facilities are afforded, it cannot be condemned as 
discriminatory for, as said by Mr. Justice Reed in New York 
Rapid Transit Corp. v. City of New York, 303 U. S. 573, 
578: “ It has long been the law under the Fourteenth 
Amendment that ‘ a distinction in legislation is not arbitrary, 
if any state of facts can be conceived that would sustain 
it ’. ” *

* See also, East v. Van Deman & Lewis Co., 240 U. S. 342, 
357; Borden’s Farm Products Co. v. Baldwin, 239 U. S. 194, 
209; Metropolitan Casualty Ins. Co. v. Brownell, 294 U. S. 
580, 584; State Board of Tax Com’rs v. Jackson, 283 U. S. 
527, 537; Lindsley v. Natural Carbonic Gas Co., 220 TJ. S. 61, 
78; Alabama State Federation of Labor v. McAdory, 325 
U. S. 450, 465; Asbury Hospital v. Cass County, N. D, 326 
U. S. 207, 215; Carmichael v. Southern Coal & Coke Co. 301 
IT. S. 495, 509; South Carolina Power Co. v. South Carolina 
Tax Com’n, 4 Cir. 52 F. 2d 515, 518; United States v. Caro- 
lene Products Co., 304 U. S. 144, 152; Bowles v. American 
Brewery, 4 Cir. 146 F. 2d 842, 847; White Packing Co. v. 
Robertson, 4 Cir. 89 F. 2d 775, 779.



We are cited to cases having’ relation to zoning ordinances, 
restrictive covenants in deeds and segregation in pnblic 
conveyances. It is clear, however, that nothing said in these 
cases would justify our disregarding the great volume of 
authority relating directly to education in the public schools, 
which involves not transient contacts, but associations which 
affect the interests of the home and the wishes of the people 
with regard to the upbringing of their children. As Chief 
[fol. 333] Justice Taft pointed out in Gong Lum v. Rice, 
supra, “ a more difficult”  question is presented by segrega­
tion in public conveyances than by segregation in the schools.

We conclude, therefore, that if equal facilities are offered, 
segregation of the races in the public schools as prescribed 
by the Constitution and laws of South Carolina is not of 
Itself violative of the Fourteenth Amendment, We think 
that this conclusion is supported by overwhelming authority 
which we are not at liberty to disregard on the basis of 
theories advanced by a few educators and sociologists. Even 
if we felt at liberty to disregard other authorities, we may 
not ignore the unreversed decisions of the Supreme Court of 
the United States which are squarely in point and conclusive 
of the question before us. As said by the Court of Appeals 
of the Fourth Circuit in Boyer v. Garrett, 183 F. 2d 582, a 
•ease involving segregation in a public playground, in which 
equality of treatment was admitted and segregation was at­
tacked as being per se violative of the Fourteenth Amend­
ment :

“ The contention of plaintiffs is that, notwithstanding 
this equality of treatment, the rule providing for segre­
gation is violative of the provisions of the federal Con­
stitution. The District Court dismissed the complaint 
on the authority of Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U. S. 537, 
16 S. Ct. 1138, 41 L. Ed. 256; and the principal argument 
made on appeal is that the authority of Plessy v. 
Ferguson has been so weakened by subsequent decisions 
that we should no longer consider it as binding. We do 
[fol. 334] not think, however, that we are at liberty thus 
to disregard a decision of the Supreme Court which that 
court has not seen fit to overrule and which it expressly 
refrained from reexamining, although urged to do so, in 
the very recent case of Sweatt v. Painter, 70 S. Ct, 848.



189

It is for the Supreme Court, not us, to overrule its 
decisions or to hold them outmoded. ’ ’

To this we may add that, when seventeen states and the 
Congress of the United States have for more than three 
quarters of a century required segregation of the races in 
the public schools, and when this has received the approval 
of the leading appellate courts of the country including the 
unanimous approval of the Supreme Court of the United 
States at a time when that court included Chief Justice Taft 
and Justices Stone, Holmes and Brandeis, it is a late day to 
say that such segregation is violative of fundamental consti­
tutional rights. It is hardly reasonable to suppose that 
legislative bodies over so wide a territory, including the 
Congress of the United States, and great judges of high 
courts have knowingly defied the Constitution for so long a 
period or that they have acted in ignorance of the meaning 
of its provisions. The constitutional principle is the same 
now that it has been throughout this period; and if condi­
tions have changed so that segregation is no longer wise, 
this is a matter for the legislatures and not for the courts. 
The members of the judiciary have no more right to read 
[fob 335] their ideas of sociology into the Constitution than 
their ideas of economics.

It is argued that, because the school facilities furnished 
Negroes in District No. 22 are inferior t'o those furnished 
white persons, we should enjoin segregation rather than 
direct the equalizing of conditions. In as much as we think 
that the law requiring segregation is valid, however, and 
that the inequality suffered by plaintiffs results, not from 
the law, but from the way it has been administered, we think 
that our injunction should be directed to removing the 
inequalities resulting from administration within the frame­
work of the law rather than to nullifying the law itself. As 
a court of equity, we should exercise our power to assure 
to plaintiffs the equality of treatment to winch they are 
entitled with due regard to the legislative policy of the 
state. In directing that the school facilities afforded Ne­
groes within the district be equalized promptly with those 
afforded white persons, we are giving plaintiffs all the 
relief that they can reasonably ask and the relief that is 
ordinarily granted in cases of this sort. See Corbin v.



190

County School Board of Arlington County, Virginia, 4 Cir. 
182 F. 2d 531. The court should not use its power to abolish 
segregation in a state where it is required by law if the 
equality demanded by the Constitution can be attained 
[fol. 336] otherwise. This much is demanded by the spirit 
of comity which must prevail in the relationship between the 
agencies of the federal government and the states if our 
constitutional system is to endure.

Decree will be entered finding that the constitutional and 
statutory provisions requiring segregation in the public 
schools are not of themselves violative of the Fourteenth 
Amendment, but that defendants have denied to plaintiffs 
rights guaranteed by that amendment in failing to furnish 
for Negroes in School District 22 educational facilities and 
opportunities equal to those furnished white persons, and 
injunction will issue directing defendants promptly to fur­
nish Negroes within the district educational facilities and 
opportunities equal to those furnished white persons and to 
report to the court within six months as to the action that 
has been taken by them to effectuate the court’s decree.

Injunction to Abolish Segregation Denied.
Injunction to Equalize Educational Facilities Granted.
A true copy. Attest. Ernest L. Allen, Clerk of U. S. 

District Court, East. Dist. So. Carolina. [Seal.]

[ fo l . 337] D issenting  Opin io n

This case has been brought for the express and declared 
purpose of determining the right of the State of South 
Carolina, in its public schools, to practice segregation 
according to race.

The Plaintiffs are all residents of Clarendon County, 
South Carolina which is situated within the Eastern Dis­
trict of South Carolina and within the jurisdiction of this 
court. The Plaintiffs consist of minors and adults there 
being forty-six minors who are qualified to attend and are 
attending the public schools in School District 22 of Claren­
don County; and twenty adults who are taxpayers and are 
either guardians or parents of the minor Plaintiffs. The 
Defendants are members of the Board of Trustees of School 
District 22 and other officials of the educational system of 
Clarendon County including the superintendent of educa­



191

tion. They are the parties in charge of the various schools 
which are situated within the aforesaid school district and 
which are affected by the matters set forth in this cause.

The Plaintiffs allege that they are discriminated against 
by the Defendants under color of the Constitution and laws 
of the State of South Carolina whereby they are denied 
equal educational facilities and opportunities and that this 
denial is based upon difference in race. And they show 
that the school system of this particular school district 
and county (following the general pattern thht it is ad- 
[fol. 338] mitted obtains in the State of South Carolina) 
sets up two classes of schools; one for people said to belong 
to the white race and the other for people of other races 
but primarily for those said to belong to the Negro race 
or of mixed races and either wholly, partially, or faintly 
alleged to be of African or Negro descent. These Plain­
tiffs bring this action for the enforcement of the rights to 
which they claim they are entitled and on behalf of many 
others who are in like plight and condition and the suit 
is denominated a class, suit for the purpose of abrogation 
of what is claimed to be the enforcement of unfair and 
discriminatory laws by the Defendants. Plaintiffs claim 
that they are entitled to bring this case and that this court 
has jurisdiction under the Fourteenth Amendment of the 
Constitution of the United States and of a number of stat­
utes of the United States, commonly referred to as civil 
rights statutes.1 The Plaintiffs demand relief under the 
above referred to sections of the laws of the United States 
by way of a Declaratory Judgment and Permanent Injunc­
tion.

It is alleged that the Defendants are acting under the 
authority granted them by the Constitution and laws of the 
State of South Carolina and that all of these are in contra­
vention of the Constitution and laws of the United States. 
The particular portions of the laws of South Carolina are 
as follows:

Article XI, Section 5 is as follows:
“ Free Public Schools—The General Assembly 

shall provide for a liberal system of free public 
schools for all children between the ages of six and 
twenty-one years . . .”



1 9 2

Article XI, Section 7 is as follows:
“ Separate schools shall b  ̂ provided for children 

of the white and colored races, and no child of either 
race shall ever be permitted to attend a school pro­
vided for children of the other race.”

Section 5377 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina 
is as follows:

“ It shall be unlawful for pupils of one race to at­
tend the schools provided by boards of trustees for 
persons of another race.”

1/ is further shown that the Defendants are acting under 
[fol. 339] the authority of the Constitution and laws of the 
State of South Carolina providing for the creation of vari­
ous school districts,2 and they have strictly separated and 
segregated the school facilities, both elementary and high 
school, according to race. There are, in said school district, 
three schools which are used exclusively by Negroes: to 
wit, Rambay Elementary School, Liberty Hill Elementary 
School, and Scotts Branch Union (a combination of elemen­
tary and high school). There are in the same school 
district, two schools maintained for whites, namely, Sum- 
merton Elementary School and Summerton High School. 
The last named serves some of the other school districts 
in Clarendon County as well as No. 22.

It appears that the Plaintiffs filed a petition with the 
Defendants requesting that the Defendants cease discrimi­
nation against the Negro children of public school age; 
and the situation complained of not having been remedied 
or changed, the Plaintiffs now ask this court to require the 
Defendants to grant them their rights guaranteed under 
the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the 
United States and they appear to the equitable power of 
this court for declaratory and injunctive relief alleging 
that they are suffering irreparable injuries and that they 
have no plain adequate or complete remedy to redress the 
wrongs and illegal acts complained of other than this suit. 
And they further point out that large numbers of people 
and persons are and will be affected by the decision of 
of this court in adjudicating and clarifying the rights of



193

Negroes to obtain education in the public school system of 
the State of South Carolina without discrimination and 
denial of equal facilities on account of their race.

The Defendants appear and by way of answer deny the 
allegations of the Complaint as to discrimination and in­
equality and allege that not only are they acting within 
the laws of the State in enforcing segregation but that all 
[fol. 340] facilities afforded the pupils of different races 
are adequate and equal and that there is no inequality or 
discrimination practiced against these Plaintiffs or any 
others by reason of race or color. And they allege that 
the facilities and opportunities furnished to the colored 
children are substantially the same as those provided for 
the white children. And they further base their defense 
upon the statement that the Constitutional and statutory 
provisions under attack in this case, that is to say, the 
provisions requiring separate schools because of race, are 
a reasonable exercise of the State’s police power and that 
all of the same are valid under the powers possessed by 
the State of South Carolina and the Constitution of the 
United States and they deny that the same can be held to 
be unconstitutional by this Court.

The issues being so drawn and calling for a judgment 
by a United States Court which would require the issuance 
of an injunction against State and County officials, it be­
came apparent that it would be necessary that the case 
be heard in accordance with the statute applicable to cases 
of this type requiring the calling of a three-judge court.3 
Such a court convened and the case was set for a hearing 
on May 28, 1951.

The case came on for a trial upon the issues as presented 
in the Complaint and Answer. But upon the call of the 
case, Defendants’ counscd announced that they wished to 
make a statement on behalf of the Defendants making cer­
tain admissions and praying that the Court make a finding 
as to inequalities in respect to buildings, equipment, facili­
ties, curricula and other aspects of the schools provided 
for children in School District 22 in Clarendon County and 
giving the public authorities time to formulate plans for 
ending such inequalities. In this statement Defendants 
claim that they never had intended to discriminate against

13— 101



194

any of the pupils and although they had filed an answer 
to the Complaint, some five months ago, denying inequali- 
[fol. 341] ties, they now admit that they had found some; 
but rely upon the fact that subsequent to the institution of 
this suit, James F. Byrnes, the Governor of South Caro­
lina, had stated in his inaugural address that the State 
must take steps to provide money for improving educa­
tional facilities and that thereafter, the Legislature had 
adopted certain legislation. They stated that they hoped 
that in time they would obtain money as a result of the 
foregoing and improve the school situation.

This statement was allowed to be filed and considered 
as an amendment to the Answer.

By this maneuver, the Defendants endeavored to induce 
this Court to avoid the primary purpose of the suit. And 
if the Court should follow this suggestion and fail to meet 
the issues raised by merely considering this ease in the light 
of another “ separate but equal”  case, the entire purpose 
and reason for the institution of the case and the convening 
of a three-judge court would be voided. The sixty-six 
(66) Plaintiffs in this cause have brought this suit at what 
must have cost much in effort and financial expenditures. 
They are here represented by six attorneys, all, save one, 
practicing lawyers from vfithout the State of South Caro­
lina and coming here from a considerable distance. The 
Plaintiffs have brought a large number of witnesses ex­
clusive of themselves. As a matter of fact, they called 
and examined eleven witnesses. They said that they had 
a number more coming who did not arrive in time owing 
to the shortening of the proceedings and they also stated 
that they had on hand and had contemplated calling a large 
number of other witnesses but this became unnecessary by 
reason of the foregoing admissions by Defendants. It cer­
tainly appears that large expenses must have been caused 
by the institution of this case and great efforts expended 
in gathering data, making a study of the issues involved, 
interviewing and bringing numerous witnesses some of 
whom are foremost scientists in America. And in addition 
[fob 342] to all of this, these sixty-six Plaintiffs have not 
merely expended their time and money in order to test 
this important Constitutional question, but they have shown 
unexampled courage in bringing and presenting this cause



195

at their own expense in the face of the long established 
and age-old pattern of the way of life which the State of 
South Carolina has adopted and practiced and lived in 
since and as a result of the institution of human slavery.

If a case of this magnitude can be turned aside and a 
court refuse to hear these basic issues by the mere device 
of an admission that some buildings, blackboards, light­
ing fixtures and toilet facilities are unequal but that they 
may be remedied by the spending of a few dollars, then, 
indeed people in the plight in which these Plaintiffs are, 
have no adequate remedy or forum in which to air their 
wrongs. If this method of judicial evasion be adopted, 
these very infant Plaintiffs now pupils in Clarendon 
County will probably be bringing suits for their children 
and grandchildren decades or rather generations hence'-in 
an effort to get for their descendants what are today denied 
to them. If they are entitled to any rights as American 
citizens, they are entitled to have these rights now and not 
in the future. And no excuse can be made to deny them 
these rights which are theirs under the Constitution and 
laws of America by the use of the false doctrine and patter 
called “ separate but equal”  and it is the duty of the Court 
to meet these issues simply and factually and without fear, 
sophistry and evasion. If this be the measure of justice to 
be meted out to them, then, indeed, hundreds, nay thousands, 
of cases will have to be brought and in each case thousands 
of dollars will have to be spent for the employment of legal 
talent and scientific testimony and then the cases will be 
turned aside, postponed or eliminated by devices such as 
this.

We should be unwilling to straddle or avoid this issue 
[fol. 343] and if the suggestion made by these Defendants 
is to be adopted as the type of justice to be meted out by 
this Court, then I want no part of it.

And so we must and do face, without evasion or equivoca­
tion, the question as to whether segregation in education 
in our schools is legal or whether it cannot exist under our 
American system as particularly enunciated in the Four­
teenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Before the American Civil War, the institution of human 
slavery had been adopted and was approved in this coun­
try. Slavery was nothing new in the world. From the



196

dawn of history we see aggressors enslaving* weak and less 
fortunate neighbors. Back through the days of early civili­
zations man practiced slavery. We read of it in Biblical 
days; we read of it in the Greek City States and in the 
great Roman Empire. Throughout medieval Europe, forms 
of slavery existed and it was widely practiced in Asia Minor 
and the Eastern countries and perhaps reached its worst 
form in Nazi Germany. Class and caste have, unfortu­
nately, existed through the ages. But, in time, mankind, 
through evolution and progress, through ethical and reli­
gious concepts, through the study of the teachings of the 
great philosophers and the great religious teachers, in­
cluding especially the founder of Christianity—mankind 
began to revolt against the enslayement of body, mind 
and soul of one human being by another. And so there 
came about a great awakening. The British, who indulged 
in the slave trade, awakened to the fact that it was im­
moral and against the right thinking ideology of the 
Christian world. And in this country, also, «came about a 
moral awakening. Unfortunately, this had not been suf­
ficiently advanced at the time of the adoption of the Ameri­
can Constitution for the institution of slavery to be pro­
hibited. But there was a struggle and the better thinking 
leaders in our Constitutional Convention endeavored to 
prohibit slavery but unfortunately compromised the issue 
[fol. 344] on the insistent demands of those who were en­
gaged in the slave trade and the purchase and use of slaves. 
And so as time went on, slavery was perpetuated and 
eventually became a part of the life and culture of certain 
of the States of this Union although the rest of the world 
looked on with shame and abhorrence.

As was so well said, this country could not continue to 
exist one-half slave and one-half free and long years of 
war were entered into before the nation was willing to erad­
icate this system which was, itself, a denial of the brave 
and fine statements of the Declaration of Independence and 
a denial of freedom as envisioned and advocated by our 
Founders.

The United States then adopted the 13th, 14th and 15th 
Amendments and it cannot be denied that the basic rea­
son for all of these Amendments to the Constitution was 
to wipe out completely the institution of slavery and to



197

declare that all citizens in this country should be consid­
ered as free, equal and entitled to all of the provisions of 
citizenship.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States is as follows:

“ Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the 
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, 
are citizens of the United States and of the State 
wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce 
any law which shall abridge the privileges or immu­
nities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any 
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law; nor deny to any person 
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. ’ ’

It seems to me that it is unnecessary to pore through 
voluminous arguments and opinions to ascertain what the 
foregoing means. And while it is true that we have had 
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of legal opinions outlining 
and defining the various effects and overtones on our laws 
and life brought about by the adoption of this Amendment, 
one of ordinary ability and understanding of the English 
language will have no trouble in knowing that when this 
Amendment was adopted, it was intended to do away with 
discrimination between our citizens.
[fol. 345] The Amendment refers to all persons. There 
is nothing in there that attempts to separate, segregate or 
discriminate against any persons because of their being of 
European, Asian or African ancestry. And the plain in­
tendment is that all of these persons are citizens. And then 
it is provided that no State shall make or enforce any law 
which shall abridge the privileges of citizens nor shall any 
state deny “ to any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
protection of the laws ’ ’.

The Amendment was first proposed in 1866 just about a 
year after the end of the American Civil War and the sur­
render of the Confederate States government. Within two 
years, the Amendment was adopted and became part of the 
Constitution of the United States. It cannot be gainsaid 
that the Amendment was proposed and adopted wholly and 
entirely as a result of the great conflict between freedom and



198

slavery. This will be amply substantiated by an examina­
tion and appreciation of the proposal and discussion and 
Congressional debates (See Flack on Adoption of the 14th 
Amendment) and so it is undeniably true that the three 
great Amendments were adopted to eliminate not only 
slavery, itself, but all idea of discrimination and difference 
between American citizens.

Let us now come to consider whether the Constitution and 
Laws of the State of South Carolina which we have hereto­
fore quoted are in conflict with the true meaning and in­
tendment of this Fourteenth Amendment. The whole dis­
cussion of race and ancestry has been intermingled with 
sophistry and prejudice. What possible definition can be 
found for the so-called white race, Negro race or other 
races. Who is to decide and what is the test? For years, 
there was much talk of blood and taint of blood. Science 
tells us that there are but four kinds of blood: A, B, AB and 
0  and these are found in Europeans, Asiatics, Africans, 
Americans and others. And so we need not further consider 
the irresponsible and baseless references to preservation 
[fol. 346] of “ Caucasian blood” . So then, what test are we 
going to use in opening our school doors and labeling them 
“ white”  and “ Negro” ? The law of South Carolina con­
siders a person of one-eighth African ancestry to be a Negro. 
Why this proportion ? Is it based upon any reason: anthro­
pological, historical or ethical? And how are the trustees 
to know who are “ whites”  and who are “ Negroes” ? If it 
is dangerous and evil for a white child to be associated with 
another child, one of whose great-grandparents was of 
African descent, is it not equally dangerous for one with a 
one-sixteenth percentage ? And if the State has decided that 
there is danger in contact between the whites and Negroes, 
isn’t it requisite and proper that the State furnish a series 
of schools one for each of these percentages? If the idea is 
perfect racial equality in educational systems, why should 
children of pure African descent be brought in contact with 
children of one-half, one-fourth, or one-eighth such an­
cestry? To ask these questions is sufficient answer to them. 
The whole thing is unreasonable, unscientific and based 
upon unadulterated prejudice. We see the results of all of 
this warped thinking in the poor under-privileged and 
frightened attitude of so many of the Negroes in the south­



199

ern states; and in the sadistic insistence of the “ white 
supremacists”  in declaring that their will must be imposed 
irrespective of rights of other citizens. This claim of “ white 
supremacy” , while fantastic and without foundation, is 
really believed by them for we have had repeated declara­
tions from leading politicians and governors of this state 
and other states declaring that “ white supremacy”  will be 
endangered by the abolition of segregation. There are 
present threats, including those of the present Governor of 
this state, going to the extent of saying that all public educa­
tion may be abandoned if the courts should grant true 
equality in educational facilities.

Although some 73 years have passed since the adoption 
[fol. 347] of the Fourteenth Amendment and although it is 
clearly apparent that its chief purpose, (perhaps we may 
say its only real purpose) was to remove from Negroes the 
stigma and status of slavery and to confer upon them full 
rights as citizens, nevertheless, there has been a long and 
arduous course of litigation through the years. With some 
setbacks here and there, the courts have generally and pro­
gressively recognized the true meaning of the Fourteenth 
Amendment and have, from time to time, stricken down the 
attempts made by state governments (almost entirely those 
of the former Confederate states) to restrict the Amend­
ment and to keep Negroes in a different classification so far 
as their rights and privileges as citizens are concerned. A 
number of cases have reached the Supreme Court of the 
United States wherein it became necessary for that tribunal 
to insist that Negroes be treated as citizens in the perform­
ance of jury duty. See Strauder v. West Virginia,4 where 
the Court says at page 307:
. . . “ What is this but declaring that the law in the States 
shall be the same for the black as for the white; that all per­
sons, whether colored or white, shall stand equal before the 
laws of the States, and, in regard to the colored race, for 
whose protection the amendment was primarily designed, 
that no discrimination shall be made against them by law 
because of their color? The words of the amendment, it is 
true, are prohibitory, but they contain a necessary implica­
tion of a positive immunity, or right, most valuable to the 
colored race,—the right to exemption from unfriendly legis­

tr



200

lation against them distinctively as colored—exemption 
from legal discriminations, implying inferiority in civil 
society, lessening the security of their enjoyment of the 
rights which others enjoy, and discriminations which are 
steps towards reducing them to the condition of a subject 
race. ’ ’

Many subsequent cases have followed and confirmed the 
right of Negroes to be treated as equals in all jury and grand 
jury service in the states.

The Supreme Court has stricken down from time to time 
statutes providing for imprisonment for violation of con­
tracts. These are known as peonage cases and were in 
regard to statutes primarily aimed at keeping the Negro 
“ in his place” .5

In the field of transportation the court has now, in effect 
declared that common carriers engaged in interstate travel 
must not and cannot segregate and discriminate against 
passengers by reason of their race or color.6 
[fol. 348] Frequent and rep-ated instances of prejudice in 
criminal cases because of the brutal treatment of defendants 
because of their color have been passed upon in a large 
number of cases.7

Discrimination by segregation of housing facilities and 
attempts to control the same by covenants have also been 
outlawed.8

In the field of labor employment and particularly the rela­
tion of labor unions to the racial problem, discrimination 
has again been forbidden.9

Perhaps the most serious battle for equality of rights has 
been in the field of exercise of suffrage. For years, certain 
of the southern states have attempted to prevent the Negro 
from taking part in elections by various devices. It is un­
necessary to enumerate the long list of cases, but from time 
to time, courts have stricken down all of these various de­
vices classed as the “ grandfather clause” , educational tests 
and white private clubs.10

The foregoing are but a few brief references to some of 
the major landmarks in the fight by Negroes for equality. 
We now come to the more specific question, namely, the fieid 
of education. The question of the right of the state to prac­
tice segregation by race in certain educational facilities has



201

only recently been tested in the courts. The cases of Gaines 
v. Canada, 305 U. S. 337 and Sipuel v. Board of Regents, 332 
IT. 8. 631 decided that Negroes were entitled to the same 
type of legal education that whites were given. It was 
further decided that the equal facilities must be furnished 
without delay or as was said in the Sipuel case, the state 
must provide for equality of education for Negroes “ as 
soon as it does for applicants of any other group” . But 
still we have not reached the exact question that is posed in 
the instant case.

We now come to the cases that, in my opinion, definitely 
and conclusively establish the doctrine that separation and 
[fol. 349] segregation according to race is a violation of the 
Fourteenth Amendment. I, of course, refer to the cases of 
Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U. S. 629 and McLaurin v. Oklahoma 
State Regents, 339 U. S. 637. These cases have been fol­
lowed in a number of lower court decisions so that there is 
no longer any question as to the rights of Negroes to enjoy 
all the rights and facilities afforded by the law schools of 
the States of Virginia, Louisiana, Delaware, North Caro­
lina and Kentucky. So there is no longer any basis for a 
state to claim the power to separate according to race in 
graduate schools, universities and colleges.

The real rock on which the Defendants base their case is 
a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the 
case of Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U. S. 537. This case arose in 
Louisiana and was heard on appeal in 1895. The case re­
lated to the power of the State of Louisiana to require 
separate railroad cars for white and colored passengers and 
the Court sustained the State’s action. Much discussion has 
followed this case and the reasoning and decision has been 
severely criticized for many years. And the famous dis­
senting opinion by Mr. Justice Harlan has been quoted 
throughout the years as a true declaration of the meaning of 
the Fourteenth Amendment and of the spirit of the Ameri­
can Constitution and the American Way of life. It has also 
been frequently pointed out that when that decision was 
made, practically all the persons of the colored or Negro 
race had either been born slaves or were the children of 
slaves and that as yet due to their circumstances and sur­
roundings and the condition in which they had been kept by



202

their former masters, they were hardly looked upon as 
equals or as American citizens. The reasoning’ of the pre­
vailing’ opinion in the Plessy case stems almost completely 
from a decision by Chief Justice Shaw of Massachusetts,11 
which decision was made many years before the Civil War 
and when, of course, the Fourteenth Amendment had not 
even been dreamed of.

But these arguments are beside the point in the present 
[fol. 350] case. And we are not called upon to argue or 
discuss the validity of the Plessy case.

Let it be remembered that the Plessy case decided that 
separate railroad accom-odations might be required by a 
state in intra-state transportation. How similar attempts 
relating to inter-state transportation have fared have been 
shown in the foregoing discussion and notes.12 It has been 
said and repeated here in argument that the Supreme Court 
has refused to review the Plessy case in the Sweatt, Mc- 
Laurin and other cases and this has been pointed to as proof 
that the Supreme Court retains and approves the validity of 
Plessy. It is astonishing that such an argument should be 
presented or used in this or any other court. The Supreme 
Court in Sweatt and McLaurin was not considering railroad 
accomodations. It was considering education just as we are 
considering it here and the Supreme Court distinctly and 
unequivocally held that the attempt to separate the races 
in education was violative of the Fourteenth Amendment of 
the Constitution. Of course, the Supreme Court did not 
consider overruling Plessy. It was not considering railroad 
matters, had no arguments in regard to it, had no business 
or concern with railroad accom-odations and should not 
have even been asked to refer to that case since it had no 
application or business in the consideration of an educa­
tional problem before the court. It seems to me that we 
have already spent too much time and wasted efforts in 
attempting to show any similarity between traveling in a 
railroad coach in the confines of a state and furnishing- 
education to the future citizens of this country.

The instant case which relates to lower school education, 
is based upon exactly the same reasoning followed in the 
Sweatt and McLaurin decisions. In the Sweatt case, it was 
clearly recognized that a law school for Negro students had 
been established and that the Texas courts had found that



203

the privileges, advantages and opportunities offered were 
substantially equivalent to those offered to white students 
at the University of Texas. Apparently, the Negro school 
[fol. 351] was adequately housed, staffed and offered full 
and complete legal education, but the Supreme Court clearly 
recognized that education does not alone consist of fine 
buildings, class room furniture and appliances but that in­
cluded in education must be all the intangibles that come 
into play in preparing one for meeting life. As was so well 
said by the Court:

. . . “ Few students and no one who has practiced
law would choose to study in an academic vacuum, 
removed from the interplay of ideas and the exchange 
of views with which the law is concerned. ’ ’

And the Court quotes with approval from its opinion in 
Shelley v. Kramer (supra):

. . . “ Equal protection of the laws is not achieved 
through indiscriminate imposition of inequalities.”

The Court further points out that this right to a proper and 
equal education is a personal one and that an individual is 
entitled to the equal protection of the laws. And in closing, 
the Court, referring to certain cases cited, says:

“ In accordance with these cases, petitioner may claim 
his full constitutional right: legal education equivalent 
to that offered by the State to students of other races. 
Such education is not available to him in a separate law 
school as offered by the State.”

In the companion case of McLaurin v. Oklahoma State 
Regents, McLaurin was a student who was allowed to 
attend the same classes, hear the same lectures, stand the 
same examinations and eat in the same cafeteria; but he sat 
in a marked off place and had a separate table assigned to 
him in the library and another one in the cafeteria. It was 
said with truth that these separations were merely nominal 
and that the seats and other facilities were just as good as 
those afforded to white students. But the Supreme Court 
says that even though this be so :

“ These restrictions were obviously imposed in order 
to comply, as nearly as could be, with the statutory re­



204

quirements of Oklahoma. But they signify that the 
State, in administering the facilities it affords for 
professional and graduate study, sets McLaurin apart 
from the other students. The result is that appellant is 
handicapped in Iris pursuit of effective graduate in­
struction. Such restrictions impair and inhibit his 
ability to study, to engage in discussions and exchange 
views with other students, and, in general, to learn his 
profession.
[fol. 352] “ Our society grows increasingly complex, 
and our need for trained leaders increases correspond­
ingly. Appellant’s case represents, perhaps, the epi­
tome of that need, for he is attempting to obtain an 
advanced degree in education, to become, by definition, 
a leader and trainer of others. Those who will come 
under his guidance and influence must be directly 
affected by the education he receives. Their own educa­
tion and development will necessarily suffer to the 
extent that his training is unequal to that of his class­
mates. State-imposed restrictions which produce such 
inequalities cannot be sustained.”

The recent case of McKissick v. Carmichael, 187 F. 2nd 
949 wherein the question of admission to the law school of 
the University of North Carolina was decided follows and 
amplifies the reasoning of the Sweatt and McLaurin cases. 
In the McKissick case, officials of the State of North Caro­
lina took the position that they had adopted a fixed and con­
tinued purpose to establish and build up separate schools 
for equality in education and pointed with pride to the large 
advances that they had made. They showed many actual 
physical accomplishments and the establishment of a school 
which they claimed was an equal in many respects and 
superior in some respects to the school maintained for 
white students. The Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit 
in this case, speaking through Judge Soper, meets this issue 
without fear or evasion and says:

“ These circumstances are worthy of consideration 
by any one who is responsible for the solution of a 
difficult racial problem; but they do not meet the com­
plainants ’ case or overcome the deficiencies which it



205

discloses. Indeed the defense seeks in part to avoid 
the charge of inequality by the paternal suggestion that 
it would be beneficial to the colored race in North Caro­
lina as a whole, and to the individual plaintiffs in 
particular, if they would cooperate in promoting the 
policy adopted by the State rather than seek the best 
legal education which the State provides. The duty of 
the federal courts, however, is clear. We must give first 
place to the rights of the individual citizen, and when 
and where he seeks only equality of treatment before 
the law, his suit must prevail. It is for him to decide 
in which direction his advantage lies. ’ ’

In the instant case, the Plaintiffs produced a large number 
of witnesses. It is significant that the Defendants brought 
but two. These last two were not trained educators. One 
was an official of the Clarendon schools who said that the 
school system needed improvement and that the school 
officials were hopeful and expectant of obtaining money 
from State funds to improve all facilities. The other wit- 
[fol. 353] ness, significantly named Crow, has been recently 
employed by a commission just established which, it is 
proposed, will supervise educational facilities in the State 
and will handle monies if, as and when the same are received 
sometime in the future. Mr. Crow did not testify as an 
expert on education although he stated flatly that he believed 
in separation of the races and that he heard a number of 
other people say so, including some Negroes, but he was 
unable to mention any of their names. Mr. Crow explained 
what was likely and liable to happen under the 1951 State 
Educational Act to which frequent reference was made in 
argument on behalf of the Defense.

It appears that the Governor of this state called upon 
the legislature to take action in regard to the dearth of 
educational facilities in South Carolina pointing out the 
low depth to which the State had sunk. As a result, an act 
of the legislature was adopted (this is a part, of the General 
Appropriations Act adopted at the recent session of the 
legislature and referred to as the 1951 School Act). This 
Act provides for the appointment of a commission which is 
to generally supervise educational facilities and imposes 
sales taxes in order to raise money for educational purposes



206

and authorizes the issuance of bonds not to exceed the sum 
of $75,000,000. for the purpose of making grants to various 
counties and school districts to defray the cost of capital 
improvement in schools. The Commission is granted wide 
power to accept applications for and approve such grants as 
loans. It is given wide power as to what schools and school 
districts are to receive monies and it is also provided, that 
from the taxes there are to be allocated funds to the various 
schools based upon the enrollment of pupils. Nowhere is it 
specifically provided that there shall be equality of treat­
ment as between whites and Negroes in the school system. 
It is openly and frankly admitted by all parties that the 
present facilities are hopelessly disproportional and no one 
[fob. 354] knows how much money would be required to 
bring- the colored school system up to a parity with the white 
school system. The estimates as to the cost merely of 
equalization of physical facilities run anywhere from forty 
to eighty million dollars. Thus, the position of the De­
fendants is that the rights applied for by the Plaintiffs are 
to be denied now because the State of South Carolina in­
tends (as evidenced by a general appropriations bill enacted 
by the legislature and a speech made by its Governor) to 
issue bonds, impose taxes, raise money and do something 
about the inadequate schools in the future. There is no 
guarantee or assurance as to when the money will be avail­
able. As yet, no bonds have been printed or sold. No money 
is in the treasury. No plans have been drawn for school 
buildings or order issued for materials. No allocation has 
been made to the Clarendon school district or any other 
school districts and not even application blanks have, as yet, 
been printed. But according to Mr. Crow, the Clarendon 
authorities have requested him to send them blanks for this 
purpose if, as and when they come into being. Can we 
seriously consider this a bona-fide attempt to provide equal 
facilities for our school children?

On the other hand, the Plaintiffs brought many witnesses, 
some of them of national reputation in various educational 
fields. It is unnecessary for me to review or analyze their 
testimony. But they who had made studies of education and 
its effect upon children, starting with the lowest grades and 
studying them up through and into high school, unequivo­



207

cally testified that aside from inequality in housing appli­
ances and equipment, the mere fact of segregation, itself, 
had a deleterious and warping effect upon the minds of 
children. These witnesses testified as to their study and 
researches and their actual tests with children of varying 
ages and they showed that the humiliation and disgrace of 
being set aside and segregated as unfit to associate with 
others of different color had an evil and ineradicable effect 
[fob 355] upon the mental processes of our young which 
would remain with them and deform their view on life until 
and throughout their maturity. This applies to white as 
well as Negro children. These witnesses testified from 
actual study and tests in various parts of the country in­
cluding tests in the actual Clarendon School district under 
consideration. They showed beyond a doubt that the evils 
of segregation and color prejudice come from early training. 
And from their testimony as well as from common experi­
ence and knowledge and from our own reasoning, we must 
unavoidably come to the conclusion that racial prejudice is 
something that is acquired and that that acquiring is in early 
childhood. When do we get our first ideas of religion, 
nationality and the other basic ideologies ? The vast number 
of individuals follow religious and political groups because 
of their childhood training. And it is difficult and nearly 
impossible to change and eradicate these early prejudices, 
however strong may be the appeal to reason. There is 
absolutely no reasonable explanation for racial prejudice. 
It is all caused by unreasoning emotional reactions and 
these are gained in early childhood. Let the little child’s 
mind be poisoned by prejudice of this kind and it is prac­
tically impossible to ever remove these impressions however 
many years he may have of teaching by philosophers, re­
ligious leaders or patriotic citizens. If segregation is wrong 
then the place to stop it is in the first grade and not in 
graduate colleges.

From their testimony, it was clearly apparent, as it should 
be to any thoughtful person, irrespective of having such 
expert testimony, that segregation in education can never 
produce equality and that it is an evil that must be eradi­
cated. This case presents the matter clearly for adjudica­
tion and I am of the opinion that all of the legal guideposts, 
expert testimony, common sense and reason point unerringly



208

to the conclusion that the system of segregation in education 
adopted and practiced in the State of South Carolina must 
go and must go now.

Segregation is per se inequality.
[fol. 356] As heretofore shown, the courts of this land have 
stricken down discrimination in higher education and have 
declared unequivocally that segregation is not equality. 
But these decisions have pruned away only the noxious 
fruits. Here in this case, we are asked to strike its very 
root. Or rather, to change the metaphor, we are asked to 
strike at the cause of infection and not merely at the symp­
toms of disease. And if the courts of this land are to render 
justice under the laws without fear or favor, justice for all 
men and all kinds of men, the time to do it is now and the 
place is in the elementary schools where our future citizens 
learn their first lesson to respect the dignity of the indi­
vidual in a democracy.

To me the situation is clear and important, particularly 
at this time when our national leaders are called upon to 
show to the world that our democracy means what it says 
and that it is a true democracy and there is no under-cover 
suppression of the rights of any of our citizens because of 
the pigmentation of their skins. And I had hoped that this 
Court would take this view of the situation and make a clear 
cut declaration that the State of South Carolina should fol­
low the intendment and meaning of the Constitution of the 
United States and that it shall not abridge the privileges 
accorded to or deny equal protection of its laws to any of its 
citizens. But since the majority of this Court feel otherwise, 
and since I cannot concur with them or join in the proposed 
decree, this Opinion is filed as a Dissent.

(S.) J. Waties Waring, United States District Judge.
Charleston, South Carolina. Date: June 21, 1951.

[ fo l. 357] N otes

1. Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the 
United States, Section 1; Title 8, USCA, Section 41, Section 
43; Title 28, USCA, Section 1343.

2. Constitution of South Carolina, Article XI, Section 5.



209

Code of Laws, 5301, 5316, 5328, 5404 and 5405. Code of 
Laws of South Carolina, Sections 5303, 5306, 5343, 5409.

3. Title 28, USCA, Sections 2281-84.
4. 100 U. S. 303.
5. Peonage: Bailey v. Alabama, 219 U. S. 219; U. S. v. 

Reynolds, 235 U. S. 133.
6. Transportation: Mitchell v. U. S., 313 U. S. 80; Morgan 

y. Virginia; 328 U. S. 373; Henderson v. U. S., 339 U. S. 816; 
Chance v. Lambeth, 186 P. 2nd 879; Certiorari denied May 
28, 1951.

7. Criminals: Brown v. Mississippi, 297 U. S. 278; Cham­
bers v. Florida, 309 U. S. 227; Shepherd v. Florida, 341 
IT. S. 50.

8. Housing: Buchanan v. Warley, 245 IT. S. 60; Shelley v. 
Kraemer, 334 H. S. 1.

9. Labor: Steele v. L & N R. R. Co., 323 IT. S. 192; 
Tunstall v. Brotherhood, 323 U. S. 210.

10. Suffrage: Quinn v. U. S. 238 IT.S. 347; Nixon v. Hern­
don, 273 IT. S. 536; Lane v. Wilson, 307 U. S. 268; Smith v. 
Allwright, 321 IT. S. 649; Elmore v. Rice, 72 F. Supp. 516; 
165 F. 2nd 387; Certiorari denied, 333 IT. S. 875; Brown 
v. Baskin, 78 F. Supp. 933; Brown v. Baskin, 80 F. Supp. 
1017; 174 F. 2nd 391.

11. Roberts v. City of Boston, 5 Cush. 198.
12. See cases cited in Note 6.

[fol. 358] [File endorsement omitted]

l x  U nited  S tates D istrict  Court 

[Title omitted]

D ecree— Filed June 23, 1951
In the above entitled case the Court finds the facts to 

be as set forth in its written opinion filed herewith and 
on the basis thereof it is adjudged by the Court:

(1) That neither Article II section 7 of the Constitution 
of South Carolina nor section 5377 of the Code are of them­
selves violative of the provisions of the Fourteenth Amend-

14—101



210

rnent to the Constitution of the United States and plain­
tiffs are not entitled to an injunction forbidding segre­
gation in the public schools of School District No. 22.

(2) That the educational facilities, equipment, curricula 
and opportunities afforded in School District No. 22 for 
colored pupils are not substantially equal to those afforded 
for white pupils; that this inequality is violative of the 
[fols. 359-437] equal protection clause of the Fourteenth 
Amendment; and that plaintiffs are entitled to an injunc­
tion requiring the defendants to make available to them 
and to other Negro pupils of said district educational facil­
ities, equipment, curricula and opportunities equal to those 
afforded white pupils.

And it is accordingly ordered, adjudged and decreed 
that the defendants proceed at once to furnish to plaintiffs 
and other Negro pupils of said district educational facilities, 
equipment, curricula and opportunities equal to those fur­
nished white pupils;

And it is further ordered that the defendants make 
report to this Court within six months of this date as 
to the action taken by them to carry out this order.

And this cause is retained for further orders.
This the 21 day of June 1951.

(S.) John J. Parker, Chief Judge, Fourth Circuit.
------------- , IT. S. District Judge, Eastern District

of South Carolina, (S). G-eorge Bell Timmerman, 
U. S. District Judge, Eastern and Western Dis­
tricts of South Carolina.

I do not join in this decree for the reasons set forth in 
a separate dissenting opinion.

(S.) J. Waties Waring, U. S. District Judge, Eastern 
Distinct of South Carolina,

A true copy. Attest.
Ernest L. Allen, Clerk of U. S. District Court East. 

Dist. So. Carolina. (Seal.)



2 1 1

[fol. 438] [File endorsement omitted]

In U n ited  S tates .District  C ourt 

[Title omitted]

R eport of D efendants P u rsu an t  to D ecree D ated Ju n e  21, 
1951.—Filed December 20, 1951

[fol. 439] Come now the defendants above named, with 
the exception of George Kennedy who has departed this 
life, and respectfully show unto this Honorable Court as 
follows:

1. In the Decree entered by the Court in this cause dated 
June 21, 1951, it was ordered, adjudged and decreed that 
the defendants proceed at once to furnish to plaintiffs and 
other Negro pupils of School District No. 22 in Clarendon 
County, South Carolina, educational facilities, equipment, 
curricula and opportunities equal to those furnished white 
pupils in the said School District, and that “ the defendants 
make report to this Court within six months of this date 
as to the action taken by them to carry out this order.”

2. Inasmuch as the consolidation of Negro schools and 
the construction of new school facilities presented the major 
problem in complying with the Court’s decree, it is appro­
priate to outline first the measures which were taken by 
the defendants to qualify for and obtain State aid for con­
structing school facilities, made available to school dis­
tricts for the first time in Act No. 379 of the Acts of 1951, 
Articles II, III, IV and V, which levied a three per cent, 
general sales tax in the State and authorized the issuance 
of State School Bonds on the strength thereof of up to 
$75,000.00 to obtain immediate funds for extending such aid.

3. Under Article III, sections 6 and 7, of that Act, a new 
county board of education was appointed in Clarendon 
County, which was authorized and empowered “ to con­
solidate schools and school districts, in whole or in part, 
whenever, in their judgment, the same will promote the 
best interests of the cause of education,”  in the county, and 
on June 29, 1951, the new County Board of Education of 
Clarendon County transmitted to the State Educational 
Finance-Commission notice of an order consolidating School



212

Districts Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 22, 26, and 30* in the county 
into a single school district to be known as School District 
No. 1. Thereafter the other school districts of the county 
were by like orders consolidated into two additional new 
School Districts, so that the County’s- 34 school districts 
[fob 440] were thus combined into 3 new districts.

4. In the meantime, litigation having arisen in the 
Supreme Court of South Carolina and in the United States 
District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina 
in which the constitutionality of the sales tax and School 
Bond provisions of the said Act No. 379 of 1951 was assailed, 
the Supreme Court of South Carolina, on July 9, 1951, 
upheld the constitutionality of the legislation in State ex rel. 
Roddey v. Byrnes, (S. C.) 66 S. E. 2d 33, and shortly there­
after the constitutionality of the legislation was upheld by 
decree of a special court of three Judges in the United 
States District Court.

5. The State Educational Finance Commission, of which 
the Governor ex officio is Chairman, is charged with the 
administration of the educational provisions of Act No. 
379, Section 3 of Article IV of which provides:

“ No grants accruing to any school district or oper­
ating unit shall be expended for any purpose unless 
such expenditure has been approved by the Commis­
sion. In order to guide the Commission in passing 
upon requests for the use of grants, the County Boards 
of Education of the respective counties are directed to 
prepare a survey of necessary capital improvements 
and/or a plan for tax relief on school indebtedness 
within the operating unit. Such surveys shall show 
existing facilities, desirable consolidations, the new 
construction and new facilities necessary and desirable 
for the efficient operation of the public schools of the 
county, and a plan of tax reduction in the school dis­
trict or operating unit by use of such funds in retiring 
any outstanding indebtedness for school facilities. The 
Commission is authorized in its discretion to deny all 
applications for the use of funds of the said public 
school Building Fund from any county until such time 
as an acceptable and reasonably satisfactory plan, 
looking* particularly to efficiency through consolidations



213

of school districts, has been submitted by the County 
Board of Education, and all applications from school 
districts or operating units shall conform to the plan 
of the County Board of Education.”

6. On July 16, 1951, the State Educational Finance Com­
mission promulgated the following Criteria for School 
District Reorganization:

“ The State Educational Finance Commission has 
been charged with the responsibility of bringing about 
desirable consolidation of school districts in South 
Carolina. Section 3, Article III, of the General Appro­
priation Act for 1951 states, ‘ It (the Commission) shall 
effect desirable consolidations of school districts 
throughout the entire State.’ The following statement 
of policy has been approved by the Commission as a 
guide to County Boards of Education and to school 
district trustees in carrying out the purpose of this Act.

“ (1) Elementary schools shall be so planned as to 
have sufficient enrollment to provide a teacher for 
each grade taught, except in those cases where natural 
[fol. 441] barriers, sparseness of population, or other- 
reasons, make the application of this requirement un­
wise. Separate elementary school districts must be 
consolidated with high school districts.

“ In rural areas where long distances are involved, 
consideration should be given to the possibility of es­
tablishing community primary schools for the first 
three grades. This accomplishes two purposes. It 
keeps a school in the community and eliminates the 
necessity of transporting small children such great 
distances. A three teacher primary school for three 
grades is in accord with this principle.

“ (2) Inefficiency of operation and inadequate edu­
cational opportunities are caused by small enrollments 
in many of our present high schools. Recent studies 
show that in high schools with enrollments of from 
50-100 the per pupil cost is fifty-three per cent greater 
than in those with enrollment of 200. New High



schools should have a minimum potential enrollment 
of 250 in grades nine through twelve, with the same 
exceptions as listed above for elementary schools. In 
cases where the State Board of Education has recog­
nized a high school as being* accredited, or in the 
process of accreditation, the term ‘ new high school’ 
will not apply.

“  (3) Each school district (administrative unit) shall 
provide high school facilities within the district for 
both races. In some instances this will mean one high 
school for the minority race and two, or more, for the 
majority race. The essential requirement is that ad­
ministration of school facilities for both races be under 
the control of the same board of trustees. Counties 
operating* under the county unit system meet this re­
quirement. Other counties must reorganize into admin­
istrative areas large enough to insure a sufficient 
number of educable students of each race to maintain 
a high school for each race. Consideration should also 
be given to the principle of equalizing taxable wealth 
in the school districts. An area with a small proportion 
of the children to educate should not be created in such 
a way as to possess an undue proportion of the taxable 
wealth of the county.

“ (4) In many instances reorganization of adminis­
trative units (consolidation of school districts) can best 
be effected by disregarding county lines for school dis­
trict purposes. Nearly every county will have small 
border areas where children have been attending 
schools in the adjoining county. School districts should 
•conform as nearly as possible with the natural socio­
economic boundaries of a community. County Boards 
of Education of adjoining* counties should meet to­
gether and work out desirable consolidations where 
over-lapping occurs.

“ Reorganization of administrative units (consolida­
tion of school districts) is the first step to be taken by 
County Boards of Education since it is the reorganized 
district that will be eligible for school building aid. 
No individual district can apply for, and receive funds,



215

until the overall plan of reorganization for the county 
has been approved by the Commission. Counties which 
have undergone reorganization in recent years should 
re-examine their situation in the light of the preceding 
principles adopted by the Commission.”

7. On July 16, 1951, the State Educational Finance Com­
mission also informed the defendants that upon proper 
application new School District No. 1 would be allotted the 
maximum amount for which it could qualify for capital 
expenditures for school facilities.

8. In order to qualify therefor, the said School District 
requested that the State Educational Finance Commission 
[fol. 442] cause the required building survey to be made 
in the district, and by direction of the Commission such 
survey was made in the month of July, 1951, by the State 
Supervisor of Schoolhouse Planning.

9. On August 6, 1951, the State Educational Finance 
Commission adopted a resolution providing for the issuance 
and sale of $12,500,000.00 in State School Bonds, $7,500,- 
000.00 thereof to be used for the purchase of school bus 
equipment under article Y of said Act No. 379 (providing 
for the equipping, maintenance and operation of all school 
transportation by the State), and $5,000,000.00 to be used 
for school building purposes. The bonds were duly issued 
and sold, and on November 15, 1951, the proceeds thereof 
were received by the State Treasurer and placed to the 
credit of the State Educational Finance Commission.

10. During the month of September, 1951, the State 
Educational Finance Commission furnished to new School 
District No. 1 nine school buses for use in the district, and 
school transportation is now furnished to the white and 
Negro pupils of the district in accordance with the terms 
of Act No. 379.

11. The Building Survey of new School District No. 1 
having shown the advisability of constructing a new school- 
house for a Negro high school at Scott ’s Branch in Summer- 
ton, using the same campus as the existing Scott’s Branch 
School, and the remodeling and enlargement of the latter 
(formerly used for both elementary and high school grades) 
to be used only as an elementary school, the defendants and



216

the other trustees of new School District No. 1 caused plans 
and specifications for such construction and remodeling: to 
he prepared by architects, and such plans and specifications 
were approved by the State Educational Finance Commis­
sion on October 9, 1951. Copies of architect’s drawing of 
the Scott’s Branch High and Elementary Schools when 
completed, elevation plan, and floor plan of the new high 
school building are herewith filed as Appendix A of this 
Report.

12. Application was made on August 30, 1951, for the 
allocation of priority for the critical materials needed in 
the construction, and” as late as October 15, 1951, the Super- 
[fol. 443] intendent of the district was informed by the 
Office of Education, Federal Security Agency, that the 
application would be held in the files and considered just as 
soon as the Office of Education received an adequate quan­
tity of controlled materials. The defendants sought the 
aid of Governor Byrnes in an effort to expedite the granting 
of the application, so that they might advertise for bids on 
the construction, and under date of October 24, 1951, they 
received the necessary priority dated October 19, 1951.

13. On October 16, 1951, the State Educational Finance 
Commission approved the consolidation orders of the 
County Board of education referred to above, and author­
ized the expenditure by new School District No. 1 of the 
maximum amount for whieh it qualified under Act No. 379.

14. On November 14, 1951, bids were received by the 
school trustees of the district for the construction of the 
new Scott’s Branch Negro high school and the remodelling 
of the existing Scott’s Branch School, in response to due 
advertisement for such bids, and the construction contract 
was awarded to Harllee-Quattlebaum, the lowest bidder, 
for the contract price of $261,000.00. The construction is 
now in progress, and the facilities are expected to be com­
pleted and in use when the schools open in September, 1952, 
barring unforeseen delays.

15. On November 27, 1951, the State Educational Finance 
Commission approved formal application from School Dis­
trict No. 1 for an advance under the Act of $278,550.00, and 
on November 28, 1951, placed that amount in the treasury



217

of Clarendon County to the credit of the district to he 
expended as follows:

(1) Construction of new high school on site of
Scott’s Branch school and remodelling of 
former high school on same site for ele­
mentary school...........................................$261,000.00

(2) Architect’s fee ...........................................  13,050.00
(c) Sites acquired for Negro elementary

schools:
Davis station............................ $1,500.00
St. Paul’s ..................................  3,000.00 4,500.00

$278,550.00

[fol. 444] 16. On October 15, 1951, an order of consolida­
tion signed jointly by the County Board of Education of 
Clarendon County and the County Board of Education of 
Sumter County transferred former School Districts Nos. 1 
and 2 in Clarendon County from new School District No. 1 of 
said county to Pinewood School District No. 23 of Sumter 
County. As a result of the change in area and school 
population thus made in new School District No. 1, the 
State Educational Finance Commission was requested to 
have the July building survey reviewed and amended by 
the Supervisor of Schoolhouse Planning, and a copy of 
the amended survey and report is herewith filed as Ap­
pendix B of this Report. The school population of the 
present new School District No. 1 according to enrollment 
is 2,568 Negro school children and 298 white school children.

17. The Court will observe from the amended Building 
Survey, Appendix B hereof, that the construction of the 
new Negro High School at Scott’s Branch and the remodel­
ling of the existing Scott’s Branch School as an elementary 
school carries out the recommendation in this respect made 
in said Building Survey. When that construction and re­
modelling is completed, the Scott’s Branch Negro High 
School building and the Scott’s Branch Elementary School 
building will be at least the equal of any school building- 
in the district. The pupils formerly attending* the Ram- 
bay, Silver, Oak Grove, St. John, Zoar Hill and Scott’s 
Branch Schools, representing an enrollment in 1951 or



218

949 and an average daily attendance of 616, will attend the 
Scott’s Branch Elementary School.

All Negro high school pupils in the district, representing 
a 1951 enrollment of 197, will attend the new Scott’s 
Branch Negro High School.

18. Land sites have been acquired at St. Paul’s and at 
Davis Station for the new Negro elementary schools which 
are recommended to be constructed for the St. Paul’s and 
the Rogers areas, respectively, the funds for such acquisi­
tion having been included in the $278,550.00 deposited in 
the county treasury for School District No. 1, as stated 
in paragraph 15, supra. The defendants and the other 
trustees of School District No. 1 have approved the rec- 
[fol. 445] ommendations in the amended Building Survey, 
and have already caused plans and specifications to be 
prepared for the construction of these two Negro elemen­
tary school buildings, which plans and specifications will 
be submitted for approval by the State Educational Fi­
nance Commission as soon as they are completed. There­
after they will advertise for construction bids as soon as 
the requisite priority for obtaining controlled materials 
needed in the construction have been obtained from the 
Office of Education, Federal Security Agency. Applica­
tions for such priority have already been made.

The pupils formerly attending the St. Paul, Panola, St. 
Phillips, Rockland, Oaks, Butler, Santee and Liberty Hill 
Schools, and a part of those formerly attending the Maggie 
Nelson School, representing a 1951 enrollment of 849 and 
an average daily attendance of 639, will attend the new 
St. Paul’s Elementary School.

The pupils formerly attending the Spring Hill, St. James, 
Felton Rosenwald, White Oak, and Pine Grove Schools, 
and a part of those formerly attending the Maggie Nelson 
School, representing a 1951 enrollment of 573 and an aver­
age daily attendance of 423, will attend the new Rogers 
School at Davis Station.

When these two new Negro elementary school buildings 
have been constructed and placed in operation, and it is 
hoped that this can be done by the next school year, 1952- 
1953, they will be at least the equal of any school buildings 
in the district, and all existing school buildings having



2 1 9

less than one teacher for each grade taught will have been 
abandoned.

19. The amended Building Survey recommends the con­
struction of a gymnasium in connection with the Scott’s 
Branch construction and remodelling, hut as indicated in 
the Survey such construction can be done only when the 
materials needed are released from the critical list of the 
National Production Authority. The defendants are in­
formed that priority for such materials cannot nowr be 
obtained for gymnasium construction, but such a project 
is included in the program which they have approved and 
are engaged in carrying out.

20. The school trustees of School District No. 1 also in- 
[fol. 446] tend when possible to carry out the recommenda­
tions in the amended Building Survey that a new white 
elementary school be constructed to replace the present 
Summerton elementary school, which is unsafe and unfit 
for school purposes, and that the Summerton White High 
School be reconditioned. They have had to defer these 
matters, however, because the earlier construction of the 
Negro school buildings will eliminate the schools in the 
district having less than one teacher for each grade taught, 
which is an important requirement in the Criteria for 
School District Reorganization promulgated by the State 
Educational Finance Commission, as shown in paragraph 
6, supra.

A statistical synopsis of the immediate and ultimate re­
sults of the construction and remodelling program of School 
District No. 1 is herewith filed as Appendix C of this 
Report.

21. In addition to the provisions which have been made, 
as above shown, for schoolhouse construction, School Dis­
trict No. 1 has already equalized all teachers’ salaries in 
the district by local supplements, has equalized all curricula 
in the White and Negro schools, and has expended school 
district funds in the sum of $21,522.81 for desks, tables 
and other equipment in the Negro schools and for improve­
ments in existing Negro school buildings pending occupancy 
of those which are being and will be constructed. The result 
of such expenditures in the Scott’s Branch School was 
noted in “ The Eagle,’ ’ the Scott’s Branch School paper, 
a copy of which is herewith filed as Appendix D of this



220

Report, attention being particularly called to pages num­
bered 2 and 5 thereof.

22. That by Act No. 13 of the Acts of 1951, ratifying 
an Amendment to Article X, Section 5 of the Constitution 
of South Carolina, the school districts of Clarendon County 
are permitted to incur bonded indebtedness to an amount 
not exceeding 30 per cent, of the assessed value of all 
taxable property therein, without regard to the amount 
of bonded indebtedness now outstanding or hereafter cre­
ated by any municipal corporation or political subdivision 
located wholly or partly within any of said school districts, 
as a result whereof School District No. 1 will have the ti­
ff ol. 447] nancial resources as shown in the amended Build­
ing Survey, to carry its recommendations out, and the 
defendants intend to ask the General Assembly at the 1952 
Session to enact legislation under said Amendment to au­
thorize the district to borrow the funds on its own bonds 
needed to do so.

23. The defendants respectfully show unto the Court 
that, under the circumstances prevailing in the period since 
the Court’s decree, they have made every effort to improve 
the educational facilities, equipment, curricula and oppor­
tunities afforded Negro pupils in School District No. 1 
of Clarendon County, including the plaintiffs and the other 
Negro pupils attending the schools of former School Dis­
trict No. 22; that they have approved and adopted a plan 
and program which they are carrying out as expeditiously 
as possible to provide equal educational facilities, equip­
ment, curricula and opportunities to the White and Negro 
school children of said District alike; that the consolidation 
of former School District No. 22 into new School District 
No. 1 was necessary to enable the district to qualify for 
and obtain the funds wherewith to carry out their program 
and accomplish said purposes; that they intend to continue 
to carry out the plan and program to a conclusion without 
any delay within their power to control; that they verily 
believe that, the expeditious completion of such a plan and 
program will afford the equality directed to be furnished 
by them in the decree of June 21, 1951; and that they stand 
ready to file additional reports in the Court from time to 
time as the Court may direct showing the progress of their 
efforts in carrying out the said decree.



221

Wherefore, the defendants pray that the Court do re­
ceive this Report, and do make such further order as it may 
deem proper for the filing of an additional Report or 
Reports by them.

(S.) S. E. Rogers, Summerton, S. C .; (S.) Robert 
McC. Figg, Jr., Charleston, S. C., Attorneys for 
Defendants.

[fols. 448-449] Duly sworn to by R. M. Elliott; jurat 
omitted in printing.



222

(Here follow, 3 pliotolithograplis, folios 450, 451, 452)



THE NEWS AND COURIER, CHARLESTON, S. C„ SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 7. 1951

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[fol. 453] A ppendix B

SUMMERTON BUILDING SURVEY, DECEMBER, 1951 

[fol. 454] State of South Carolina

State E ducational F inance Commission 

Columbia, S. C.

December 17, 1951
Summerton School Board
Summerton
South Carolina

Gentlemen:
We are herewith transmitting our revised survey of the 

Summerton Area schools. We are grateful to Mr. H. B. 
Betchman for assistance in this work and to other officials 
of the school.

We urge that this survey be restudied as frequently as 
necessary to determine the wisdom of expenditures for 
buildings and operation of the schools. We cannot urge 
you enough to restudy this situation almost without ceasing.

Personnel of the State Educational Finance Commission 
is ready to offer any assistance in restudies that you find 
it necessary to make.

Very sincerely yours, 
W. B. Southerlin, Supervisor, Schoolhouse Planning. 

W BS/cf

[fol. 455] Bevised Building Survey Report with Recom­
mendations

Immediately following the division of Clarendon County 
into three districts, the Summerton School District #1  
School Board, through its administrative superintendent, 
requested that the State Educational Finance Commission 
assist in making a careful survey of the school plants in 
the area comprising 23 elementary schools and one high 
school for the Negro children, and one elementary and one 
high school for the white children. The plants were studied



224

very carefully with the assistance of Mr. H. B. Betchman 
and a report in detail was written and presented on July 14, 
1951.

Since the report was made a petition was circulated by 
the citizens of an area in the northwest section of the 
district setting forth a request that they be transferred to 
the Pinewood Area in Sumter County. This petition was 
granted by the Clarendon County Board of Education on 
October 15, 1951 and certified on October 19, 1951. This 
action necessitates a restudy of the Summer ton School 
District and a revised report is herewith being written.

Following are the schools petitioned to Pinewood Area 
for the Negro children:

Schools Petitioned to Pinewood
Name of School
Spring Grove 
Wells 
New Hope 
Calvary

Total

Enrollment 1951
173
89

124
65

451

[fob 456] No effort was made to determine the number of 
white children affected in this move to Pinewood. How­
ever, the number of white children is so small that it would 
have no appreciable consequence to any area.

The schools for the Negro children who were left in the 
greatly reduced attendance area are, as originally planned:

Schools Retained in Summerton Area
Name of School

Panola 
Rockland 
Silver 
St. John

Total

Enrollment 1951
118
31

110
33

292

The transfer of retained pupils to Scott’s Branch and 
St. Paul would, in our opinion, be wise since the average



daily attendance is not large enough to meet minimum re­
quirements for a grade per teacher. This would necessi­
tate the adding of three additional rooms on each of the 
elementary school plants at Scott’s Branch and St. Paul.

These pupils can be located in these attendance areas 
since the greatest number in an original area has been 
transferred to Sumter County. This move necessitates 
making changes in the total plan as outlined in the July 
report. It might be well to constantly study the entire dis­
trict and be ready to make any changes in the total plan 
that will be of benefit to the children. It appears that en­
rollment has not been accurately reported in the past and 
it is possible that space recommended in July, or even 
in this report, would need to be changed because of change 
in enrollment. Mr. H. B. Betchman reports that enroll- 
[fol. 457] ment is down considerably so far this year. This 
is a problem that would indicate that the plans should be 
restudied and adjusted in accordance with needs often.

In order that one may have a, guide in determining space 
needs, it is suggested in the next paragraph that areas be 
computed on a basis which can be clearly understood and 
can be used as a guide for future needs or adjustments in 
overall building plans.

Generally, one may set up minimum needs in a classroom 
as 660 square feet for the classroom proper, 135 square feet 
for corridor space, 30 square feet for storage space, and 
50 square feet for toilet space. This means that each class­
room must be computed on the basis of 875 square feet of 
floor space.

For a cafeteria one may set up a minimum of 10 square 
feet for each child to be served in the dining area at one 
time, and not less than 300 square feet should be provided 
for the kitchen. Usually this is figured at the rate of IV2 
square feet per meal served just so long- as the space does 
not fall below 300 square feet. Storage space varies but, 
as a rule, one should allow one-half square foot per meal 
served for storage.

The size of the site for elementary schools should be 
five acres plus one acre for each 100 pupils of ultimate 
enrollment. This is a minimum size and is not to be con­
sidered as ideal by any means. The location and size of

15—101



226

the sites are suggested under each area listed in the re­
mainder of the report.

St. Paul Area
An attendance area for an elementary school should be 

in the St. Paul Area. It is strongly urged that a new site 
be secured for this plant. The present buildings at St. 
[fol. 458] Paul appear, on the exterior, to be in good con­
dition but this is a false impression. The building's will re­
quire extensive work to modernize and to make them mod­
erately comfortable. The new site should contain at least 
10 or 12 acres that is well drained. The following schools 
should be consolidated into this center:

Name of School Enrollment 1951
St. Paul 265
Panola 118
St. Phillips 169
Rockland 31
Oaks 26
Butler 55
Santee 20
Liberty Hill 105
Maggie Nelson (part) 60

Total 849

The number of pupils in this school will require 21 class­
rooms and a cafeteria. Twenty-one classrooms on the 
basis explained earlier in this report will make a total of 
18,375 square feet and a principal’s office of 220 square feet.

Experience indicates that a school cafeteria that will 
seat over 225 pupils at one time for feeding purposes is 
not using economy. A pupil who is served first will finish 
his meal and leave his space vacant for the child being 
served some 10 minutes later. Children can hardly be 
served in one line over 12 per minute so it is clear to see 
that to provide space larger than to seat 200 is not wise, 
[fol. 459] Hence we are suggesting that the cafeteria din­
ing area contain only 2,000 square feet. Kitchen area 
should contain, for this area, about 617 square feet and a



227'

storage area of about 200 square feet. For this complete 
building a total of 21,192 square feet is needed. This does 
not include cost of site, furniture, and instructional aids. 
At seven dollars per square foot this plant would cost 
$148,344.00.

Recommendations for St. Paul Area
1. A site of at least 10 acres of well drained land.
2. Twenty-one classrooms. Suitable office space and 

some storage space.
3. Cafeteria to seat 200.
4. Plans so made that additions can be made economic­

ally and quickly.
5. Construction cost must be held low.
6. Furniture cost should not exceed $600.00i per room.
7. Cost of cafeteria equipment must be held at a minimum.

Rogers Area
The Rogers Center for elementary children seems logical 

to locate about two miles north of Rogers on State .High­
way #64. It is recommended that this site contain at least 
10' acres of land. The pupils in this area may not have 
to travel over eight miles by bus to reach this school center. 
The schools that make up this center are:

Name of School Enrollment 1951
Maggie Nelson (part) 123
[fol. 460] Spring Hill 64
St. James 90
Felton Rosenwald 146
White Oak 32
Pine Grove 118

Total 573

This center will require 15 classrooms making a floor area 
of 13,125 square feet with a cafeteria of 2,760 square feet. 
The principal’s office should not exceed 220 square feet. 
The total space necessary would be 16,875 square feet and 
at seven dollars per square foot would cost $112,735.00.



228

The cost does not include land, furniture, or instructional- 
aids.

Recommendations for Rogers Area
1. A site of 10 acres well drained should be secured.
2. Fifteen classrooms, a principal’s office of not over 

220 square feet, some storage space.
3. That a cafeteria be provided to seat not over 200.
4. Construction cost must be held low.
5. That plans be so made that additions can readily be 

made economically.
6. Furniture cost should not exceed $600.00 per room.
7. Cost of cafeteria equipment must be held at a minimum.

Scott’s Branch Area
In the Scott’s Branch Area the 10 room frame structure 

of the Scott’s Branch School is good and can be made 
into an excellent structure by insulating the ceiling, reced­
ing the interior, reflooring, replacing bad windows, rewir- 
[fol. 461] ing and installing concentric ring lighting, in­
stalling good chalkboards, installing central heat, and in­
stalling necessary sanitary facilities. We would suggest 
that this structure have underpinning to add to the beauty 
of the exterior. Underpinning will also add comfort to the 
floor area. The following schools should be consolidated 
into the Summerton Area :

Name of School Enrollment 1951
Rambay 66
Silver HO
Oak Grove 114
St. John 33
Zoar Hill 81
Scott’s Branch 545

Total 949

According to the average attendance, it will be necessary 
to construct eight additional rooms adjacent to the pres­
ent plant to house the elementary children at this center.



229

Using the same cost basis this report has used on other 
centers it seems clear that these additional rooms will cost 
$49,000.00. To modernize and repair the present plant will 
cost nearly $25,000.00. The addition of three rooms over 
the July plan will cost $18,375.00. A total of $92,375.00 will 
be required for the elementary school.

Recommendations for Scott’s Branch Area
1. Modernize the present plant by carrying out recom­

mendations above.
2. Add eleven classrooms with health and safety features 

as needed. Suitable office space must be provided.
[fol. 462] 3. Add sufficient health and safety features to
the modernized structure to meet requirements of health.

4. That plans be so made that additions to the elementary 
plant can be economically done.

5. That plans be so made that additions can readily be 
made economically.

6. Furniture cost should not exceed $600.00 per room.
7. Cost of cafeteria equipment must be held at a mini­

mum.

Scott’s Branch High School
The high school can economically be located on the same 

campus as the Scott’s Branch Elementary School. In the 
survey report in July it was recommended that additional 
land be secured adjacent to the present site to make the 
total site contain 23 acres of land. Verbally, it wTas urged 
that this be done at once before the survey report became 
public property and the land owners might demand more 
than the land was worth. It was pointed out that to locate 
here would be a great advantage because of city water 
and sewage disposal that could be made available with the 
cooperation of the city. Septic tank and drain tile for such 
a large enrollment would be very expensive.

The high school had an enrollment of 149 and an average 
attendance of 123 last year. The monthly report for No­
vember, 1951, indicated an enrollment of 197. It was sug­
gested in the July report that space might wisely be pro­
vided for 250 pupils at this time and, to date, evidence con­



230

firms the advice. The contract has been let for adding the 
space, not only for the elementary school, but for complete 
renovation of the present elementary plant and erection 
of the high school as well.
[fol. 463] In the earlier report it was strongly urged that 
the Division of Instruction, State Department of Educa­
tion, be consulted in outlining space necessary for the high 
school program. The high school and the elementary build­
ing is already under construction and it seems evident 
that an excellent plant will be ready September, 1952, bar­
ring unfor-seen work stoppage or disasters.

In the earlier report it was strongly1 urged that building 
plans be so made that additions could be made readily and 
economically as needed. It is gratifying to noter that suit­
able office, storage, and special classroom were provided in 
the plans now being used to construct the Scott’s Branch 
flight School.

In the July report it was pointed' out that a gymnasium 
of standard size should be constructed as soon as steel is 
available for such construction. It was estimated that such 
a gymnasium should contain a floor space of 65 feet by 
104 feet, or approximately 6,760 square feet. Such a struc­
ture should be constructed for not over $100,000.00 Some 
excellent gymnasiums have been constructed over the State 
for approximately $85,000.00 and it seems reasonable to 
assume that such can still be done with carefully planned 
materials for construction, and at such time as these ma­
terials are released from the critical list of the N.P.A. 
Shower facilities should be provided in order to permit 
a physical education program.

In July it was stated that provisions should be made for 
10 classrooms, two all purpose home economics rooms, 
library, health suite, adequate storage space, gymnasium, 
and agriculture shop which it was believed would be ade­
quate. It is entirely possible that the administrative super­
intendent of the school system might have been advised 
[fol. 464] to change this recommendation after following 
the earlier suggestion to consult the Division of Instruc­
tion of the State Department of Education. The total area 
of these spaces should be nearly 17,270 square feet without 
the gymnasium.



2 3 1

The cost of space without gymnasium was estimated in 
July to be reasonable at $120,890.00. If the gymnasium 
should be included then the total cost of the high school 
was placed at $220,890.00.

Eecommendations for Scott’s Branch High School
1. That acreage be added to present school site so as to 

total approximately 23 acres. This is the minimum rec­
ommended for the size elementary and high school com­
bined that will exist in Summerton.

2. That at least 10 classrooms, two all purpose home 
economics rooms, library, health suite, adequate storage 
space, agriculture shop, and gymnasiums be provided. The 
gymnasium to be constructed when National Production Au­
thority permits.

3. That a cafeteria be constructed to serve both the ele­
mentary and the high school pupils.

4. That plans be made so additions can readily and 
economically be made.

5. That construction cost be held low.
6. Furniture cost should not exceed $600.00 per room.
7. Cost of cafeteria equipment must be held at a mini­

mum.
Summerton Elementary and High Schools
The present elementary school for white children is un­

safe and unfit for school children and just as soon as pos­
sible provisions should be made to replace this structure, 
[fol. 465] In the July report it was strongly recommended 
that this plant, as it now stands, be razed and replaced 
by a modern one story plant.

Since the enrollment of the elementary school is 232 it 
will warrant the provision of only seven classrooms. It 
is suggested that a new structure be provided on the 
present high school site next to the present gymnasium. 
Enough land to make the site adequate for minimum size 
is not available at this time so it is recommended that 
minimum requirements as to size of site be suspended until 
such time as the property is available at a reasonable price.

Seven classrooms for the elementary school will neces­
sitate approximately 6,135 square feet of floor area which,



232

at seven dollars per square foot, will cost about $42,945.00.
A cafeteria to serve both elementary and high school 

should be large enough to seat 150 pupils at one time. This 
will require approximately 2,100 square feet for dining 
area and kitchen and at seven dollars will cost about $14,- 
700.00.

The present high school building should be modernized 
by painting, rewiring, installing concentric ring lighting 
fixtures, replacing decayed window frames and other ex­
posed wood. Several other needs are necessary in the 
present building but it is thought all of this work might 
be done for about $8,000.00., In addition, the high school 
shop needs renovating and it is possible this will cost an 
additional $8,000.00.

For the Summerton Elementary and High Schools, it 
will be necessary to spend not less than a total of $73,000.00. 
This does not include cost of razing the old two story 
elementary building now in use.

[fol. 466] Summary of Work to be Hone

The total cost of work estimated to be done is as follows:
St. Paul Elementary .............................$148,344.00
Rogers Elementary ..............................  112,735.00
Scott’s Branch Elementary ................. 92,375.00
Scott’s Branch High (including gym ). . 220,890.00
Summerton White Elementary.... 57,645.00
Summerton White High ......................  16,000.00

647,989.00
Architectural fee (estimate)................. 38,873.94

$686,862.94

Contract has been let for the Scott’s Branch work for 
everything except the gymnasium. Since the change in 
area of district by petition, it was necessary to recommend 
in this report an addition of three classrooms to the Scott’s 
Branch Elementary School. The contract for Scott’s 
Branch, plus fees, will be about $276,978.00 without the gym­
nasium and the three additional rooms that must be added 
to care for pupils transferred in' the recent shake-up.



233

In other words, the cost of work to be done with the con­
tract as it now stands will amount to the following:

St. P a u l................................ $148,344.00
Rogers ................................. 112,735.00
Summerton White Elemen-

ta ry ................................... 57,645.00
Summerton White High. . . 16,000.00
Scott ’s Branch (3 additional

rooms) .............................. 18,375.00
Scott’s Branch Elementary ]
Scott ’s Branch High (less )• 274,050.00 (Fees included

gym) ................................I for contract)
Scott’s Branch gym (with

arch, fee) ........................  106,000.00
Fees (approximately).........  19,123.44

$752,272.44

Income on average daily attendance according to last year 
would amount to $32,310.00. An advance of $484,650.00 on 
average daily attendance for a 20 year period is available. 
This gives a net total of $516,960.00 to apply on school 
plants.
[fol. 467] The total cost of projects as planned would be 
$752,272.44, With $516,960.00 contributed by the State, a 
balance of $235,312.44 would need to be secured from local 
program of taxation.

Mr. H. B. Betchman reported by telephone on December 
7, 1951 that the valuation of the property within the district, 
since the annexation of an area to Sumter County, was now 
$807,320.00. It is understood that the Clarendon County 
may now bond itself for school purposes up to 30 per cent 
of valuation. At 30 per cent $242,196.00 can be raised. 
Bonds outstanding, according to Mr. Betchman, are for an 
amount of $14,925.58. A net amount of $227,270.42 would 
be provided with such a bond issue and this will almost care 
for the complete program as recommended for all the 
children. The district should have enough property to be 
sold that is not useable for schools to cover the difference 
when thp smaller schools are vacated.

It is strongly recommended that the utmost care be



234

exercised in the building* program. It cannot be too 
strongly urged that the building cost be held at such a 
level as will not make maintenance cost too great in the 
years ahead. Utmost care must be exercised to prevent 
overbuilding and using too expensive materials.

It is recommended that a complete spot map be made of 
every child within the district, one for elementary, and one 
for high school children. This should be done for both 
races. In addition, it is strongly recommended that a pre­
school census be taken getting the name of the child, age, 
name of parent and race so that this can be used in planning 
for needs far enough ahead that rooms need not be over­
crowded at any time.

[Here follows 1 photo, folio 468]



GENERAL HIGHWAY 
AND

TRANSPORTATION MAP

CLARENDON COUNTY
SOUTH CARO LINA

PREPAR ED  BY TH E

SOUTH C A R O LIN A  S T A T E  HIGHW AY D E P A R T M E N T
!N C O O P E R A T IO N  W ITH  TH E

U.S. DEPARTM EN T OF A G R IC U LTU R E
BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS

DATA O B T A IN E D  PROM

S T A T E -W ID E  HIGHW AY PLA N N IN G  SU RVEY

S C A L E  O F M ILES

-...-..1
1937

POLYCOM! C PROJECTIONS
COUNTY POPULATION 1940 CENSUS 3/.SOO 
COUNTY AREA IN SQUARE MILES 6*0

GENERAL HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION MAP CLARENDON COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA >4

468



235

I

[fol, 469] A ppendix  C

Existing Negro Elementary Schools of School District No. 1 
Being Consolidated By Remodelling and Construction 
Program.

Name of School Enrollment 1951 A.D.A. 1951
St. Paul 265 211
Panola 118 87
St. Phillip’s 169 121
Rockland 31 19
Oaks 26 22
Butler 55 33
Santee 20 17
Liberty Hill* 105 89
Maggie Nelson 183 124
Spring Hill 64 48
St. James 90 62
Felton Rosenwald 146 113
White Oak 32 29
Pine Grove 118 87
Rambay* 66 44
Silver 110 79
Oak Grove 114 . 72
St. John 33 19
Zoar Hill 81 66
Scott’s Branch* 545 336
Scott’s Branch High School* 197 158

Totals 2,568 1,836

*These are the schools of former School District No. 22. 
Practically all. Negro high school pupils of the 7 districts 
consolidated into School District No. 1 attended the Scott’s 
Branch School, 9-12 grades, when it was a school of former 
School District No. 22.



236

[fol. 470] II

Distribution of Negro Pupils in School District No. 1 after 
Completion of Remodelling and Construction Program

Enrollment A. D. A.
Name of School 1951 1951

St. Paul Elementary * 849 639
Rogers Elementary 573 423
Scott’s Branch Elementary ** 949 616
Scott’s Branch High School 197 158

Totals 2,568 1,836

* Includes Liberty Hill School from former School Dis-
trict No. 22.

*'* Includes Rarnbay School and Scott’s Branch, ele-
mentary pupils from former School District No. 22.

I l l

White Schools of School District No. 1 Affected by Remod-
elling and Construction Program

Enrollment A. D. A.
Name of School 1951 1951

Summerton Elementary * 236 232
Summerton High School * 62 58

Totals 298 290

* All White pupils of the 7 districts consolidated into 
School District No. 1 attended the Summerton Elementary
School when it was a school of former School District No. 
22, and all White high school pupils of such 7 districts at­
tended the Summerton High School when it was a central­
ized high school.



237

Estimated Cost of Immediate Negro School Remodelling 
and Construction, Including Land Site Cost and Archi­
tect’s Fees.

St. Paul’s Elementary 
Rogers Elementary
Scott’s Branch Elementary, Scott’s Branch 

High

[fol. 471] IV

Total* **

Representing an expenditure per Negro pupil 
on the basis of 1951 average daily attendance.

* Actual contract price and architect’s fees.
** Gymnasium (when materials situation permits con­

struction) and three additional rooms for Scott’s Branch 
Elementary School (if needed) will increase this total esti­
mate to $677,976.70, representing an expenditure per 
Negro pupil of $369.27 on 1951 average daily attendance.

V

Estimated Cost of White School Remodelling and Construc­
tion Planned Under Program, Including Architect’s 
Fees.

Summerton Elementary 60,527.20
Summerton High 16,800.00

77,327.20

Representing an expenditure per White Pupil of $266.65 
on the basis of 1951 average daily attendance.

158,761.20
119,871.75

274,050.00

552,682.95

of $301.02

* This work is in deferred status until all negro schools 
having less than 1 teacher for each grade taught have been
eliminated, and until funds are available from local school 
district borrowing.



238



APPENDIX b

233

soor's mmm ssmm, m



240

m iTm ni stm

Editcr-in  C h ie f,.. .  

Aseoeiat# E d ito r ,,, 

Business Maaager,, .  

Cireuiatlag M iter , 

Advertising Manager 

Sports E d ito r ,,. . . .  

Cartoonist,

t r im *  ®, Mssgweesl 

, , .B eatrice  B?ow» 

. tu r t le  Hishtrafg 

. . . .  Louie O liver

. . . . . . .  Vera Bras®

, . . . ,  Jota Cayses 

. .  Robert Mivene

Advising ComaiHeei Mrs. B. B, Welle 
Miss T. L. Great 
, Kira. R. Carter 
Mrs. A, 5. Ra«ia

PUBLISHED MONTHIX BX THt, STUDiaJT BODY OP SCOW'S 
btuuiCH HIGH SCHOOL, SUhwiatTuti, SOUTH CottOXIM.



EDITORIALS

A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR 

"THE WAR IN KOREA"
Korea is  a place that was unknown to us a 
short while back, but new, it  is  the most 
talked about country on the map- Why? Be­
cause we have a war going on over there, 
and our boys are lighting. When I  say 
"Our £ oys" I mean the.sons and husbands 
of America. It looks now as if  there w ill 
bs a third world war, which means more of 
our boys w ill be killed or wounded. That 
mean more of my friends, your friends and 
even I  w ill be going into the Armed Servi-

g-te ourselves, such as (1) Do 1 have the 
qualifications for the profession or vo- 
c, .tier. of ray choice? Will 1 have the 
ckrnce to acquire a good position? Am I 
sure about what I  w-nt to do? Does this 
job express a promising future? To stop 
and think, makes things very vague, but 
only you can answer those questions, 
lit?, a review of your high school academ­
ic and vocational activities, the answers 
to these questions w ill gradually become 
explicit,

In most high schools, elective and select­
ees, which w ill bring sorrow to our motherstive subjects, are offered. These serve 
fathers, and loved ones. But that is  a the purpose of developing and cultivating
"must" and its got to be done, now or nev- the individual's abilities. With this 
er. training, it  makes one somewhat sure of

his capabilities. If  ono is  sure of what 
he or she wants, to do, it  gives him a 
peace of mind.

The only information most of us get about 
the situation is  by reading newspaper, ma­
gazines, and sometimes seeing newsreels in 
the theater. If  we understand, and think 
seriously about what we read and see, we 
should realize how tough things are over 
there.

entering a profession for future secu­
rity depends on more than the person's 
ability, it  also depends upon his atti­
tude. toward his work. 'When a person like 
the job he has, he does better work, and 
he puts his whole interest in that job. 
This makes for greater success.

Some of us know what it  means to recieve a 
better or telegram stating that your son 
or husband has been killed or is  missing
in action, let, some of us do not realize After graduation, we w ill be confronted 
the sorrow it  has brought and w ill bring with these problems, and we shall find 
to our mothers, fathers, and loved ones. that it  is  best to face them with our
I'm praying, hoping, and longing for the heads up. "Shrinking from life , is  no
end of this terrible "Death Trap" called shelter!! It is  best to face these matters 
war. May God be with our sons and husbandswith confidence, because with work, and 
and bring them back to America, safe, and faith, security and happiness are the next 
sane. steps.

"God Bless America".

Willie E. Magwood (Junior), 
Editor-In-Chief

AFTER GttADUATION
Facing the future on your own,is serious
an., urffieult. The most important u».__
o f a person's life , is  when he cr she : 
mates the final step across the wall of 
paternal or maternal protection. Gradu­
ation day is  the outlet for some of us, 
while others may s t ill  be dependent.

When an individual graduates from high 
school, there are many obstactles to cope 
with. Some so unusual, that we interro-

Vera Brown, 
Advertising Manager

HEW TEADHIRS ADDED TO OUR STAFF 
TWO more teachers have been added to our 
teaching staff this term, namely Mrs. B.
V ,  Hells and. Miss T. L. Grant. So far we've 
gotten along well in our school work,

Mrs* B.S . fells h®s the music classes, 
with which she is  doing a very commendable 
job. Miss T.L. Gra nt is the commercial 
instructor, A subject that is very use­
ful and interesting. They are doing a
good job of developing the students.

474



2.
NKIf COURSES ADDED TO OUR CURHXCUHM

MUSIC APPRECIATION

T here are 15 members of the 12th grade 
taking Music Appreciation, VJe are jerk­
ing very hard with our advisor (Mrs.B,". 
Vel̂ s) in order that we may appreciate 
a ll types of music, now, and in later 
years.

,'e have studied already the string choir, 
and the woodwind choir of the orchestra.

THE THTHG CLASSES

For the first time, a course in typing 
is  offered in the Scott’ s Branch School; 
for the term 1951-52.

Wo find the course very interesting, and 
I think we are making rapid progress. 
Miss Grant, our instructor, started us 
of by teaching us the parts of the type­
writer, After she familiarized us with

Surprisingly enough, we discovered that the the parts, she then took us step by step 
members of the string choir are; the violin,into the fundamentals of typing, 
the viola, the cello, and the double bass,
They represent the Soprano, alto, tenor, 
and bass respectively.

And then to learn that the wood wind choir 
was the most fasoinating part of the orche 
stra, was really amaz ing. It ’ s members ____
are the flute, (the Colortura soprano), the are making progross, 
oboe, (the lyric Soprano), the Clarinet
(the dramatio Soprano) and the bassoon (the We wish to thank the superintendent,

To begin with it  was like a first gra­
der getting used to his hook and pencil, 
but our instructor was patient and made 
us feel confident that we were making 
progress. Most of us can go along with 
the assignments which is  proof that we

bass),

It isn’ t strange any more to know that the 
flute is  related to the picoalo, the oboe 
to the Snglish horn, the Clarinet to the 
Bass Clarinet, and the Saxaphone, and the 
Bassoon to the Double Bassoon, Our interest 
is now turned toward the Bass choir

principal, and a ll others who made it  
possible for this course to be added to 
our curriculum.

I  hope the classes that follow us w ill 
appreciate this offer as much as wo.

This is  our first year of Music Appreciation 
and I do think our advisor can see us 
steadily improving.

All of us like music, and naturally we are 
trying to make excellent grades, with the 
help of our advisor.

Remember readers, we appreciate music by 
listening to music, more often,

Elizabeth Guess

STillene Ragin 
Twelfth Grade

475



ALl'in MATLR

Scott's Branch H iji School 
(tune: " Auld Lang Syne")

1. Dear S. B. S. we pledge ourselves 
To thy precepts and thy aim s.
We love thy Glorious guiding 
light, and pledge anew our Love.

rtefrain: For S. B. S. we ^ve our
a ll, for S. B. S. we stand.
We'11 always hold our honor high,
For dear ole S. B. S.

2. 'We’l l  fight for thee we'er we go 
Thou glories ne'er forget
We'll keê  thy standards flying high, 
In a ll we do or say.

3. Thy flag of truth amd honesty 
We'll wave o'er a ll the land
Tell a ll thy sons and dau^ters know 
Thy precepts strong and true.

October 11, 1945 
Summerton, South Carolina



S P 0 8  I S

PALMETTO ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION 
The f i r s t  m eeting fo r  the P alm etto Ath­
l e t i c  A s s o c ia t io n  " a s  h e ld  on F riday Hoy. 
16 , 1951. Our coach  Mr, J .B . Mays, ta lk ­
ed about many th in g s . To m ention a few ! 
(1 )  D on 't  s ta y  oa t la t e  a t n ig h t; he horns 
by 9530. £2) D on 't  smoke when ex p ectin g  
to  p la y  a game. (3 )  Beware o f  your Eng­
l i s h ,  I f  y ou  are caught on ce, remember 
you  have o n ly  two more t im es. I f  again , 
y o u ' l l  take a l i t t l e  v a c a t io n , and p ro ­
ba b ly  y o u ’ l l  .hang up your s u it  f o r  the 
y e a r . So, boys and g i r l s  check  up on 
your s e l f .

BASKETBALL SCHEDULE 
1951 -  52

Homs games

St. Paul... ....................   .Bee, ^
Berkley....................  .Dec, 1^
Greeleyville..................  .Jan, ,11
Ellorae........ ..........   Jan. 16
St. Stephen,,.........Feb. I
St. George,...... ............    .Feb. 6
Manning.. .Feb, 1a

(All home games w ill begin at Ji JO)
The main p o in t  o f  t h is  m eeting was to  
e l e c t  o f f i c e r s .  They a re :

P r e s id e n t . . ....................... R obert Gaymon
V ice  p r e s id e n t ..............V i l l i e  Magwood
S ecre ta ry ..................... .Nancy Johnson
A ss is ta n t s e c r e t a r y . , .M yrtle  R ichburg
T rea su rer ............................Dorothy O liver
B usiness Manager............W il l ie  Boyd
H e lp e r s . .............................. John Gaymon

................................ R oosev e lt  P o s t e l l

Games Away

Elloree,............   .Sec. 17
St. Paul,.........    .Dee. 20*
Greelyville .............................Jan, 18*
St, G e o r g e . J a n .  25
Berkley...............   Jan. 30
Manning...........................Feb, 8
St. Stephen.. . . . . . . . . . . . .Feb. 13

• Games w i l l  be p layed  a t  n ig h t.
Nancy M. Johnson

477



245

MARVELOUS IMPROVEMENTS ARE STILL 
BEING MADE AT SCOTT’S BRANCH

Rsmsmbor lust term we told you through our 
school paper about improvements at our 
school? W ill, m  nor a met with far great­
er improvements this school year. Mr. 
Batchman and other school officials saw to 
it  that each class room was equipped with 
new, modem desks a Sufficient number for 
each room. Every child in tho school is  
comfortably seated.

The first and second grades have the lat­
est in seating for those grades. They havi 
tables to seat six with corresponding chaii 
In front of each child is  a drawer for 
his books. The chairs and tables vary in 
heights, because some of the children are 
taller than others. The third through the 
twelfth grades have tho same type of desks 
but different in sizes.

The faculty members are the same as last 
term with two others added. They are 
Miss Thelma dr ant who has charge of the 
typing classes and Mrs. Bessie Wells,
-who teaches music. These two bring the 
faculty number to sixteen, including the 
principal, Mr. E,L. Wright, who is  in 
his second year at Scott's Branch.

Summing up a ll this, there is a sure 
sign that Scott's Branch is soon to be 

ione of the largest Rural schools in this 
'section of the state.

We feel that the patrons of the community 
appreciate these improvements, and we
know their children do,

(Mrs.} Amy Ragin, Reporting

The Home BeomomiCB room is also modemly 
equipped. In it  has been placed an elec­
tric range, a refrigerator, four now Silv­
er sawing machines with seai to accompany, 
tables, and a number of other* items neces­
sary for that department.

Walk into the Scott’ s Branch library room 
you find new, modem library tables with 
sturdy,Will-built matching chairs. There 
are also magazine racks on which are k£pt 
the latest editions of some of the leading 
magazines, A new set of Britaimica ency­
clopedias has been added to the shelves 
and a large number of novels for the high 
school students use in outside reading,

For the first time, typing has been added 
to the curriculum at Scott’s Branch, This 
course- is under the direction of Miss Grant 
a graduate of Allen University, Columbia,
In her classroom has been placed fifteen 
typewriters on typing tables, Cash with1® 
drawer for the pupils to keep their mate­
rials, The students in this class are do­
ing nicely.

Along with a ll these improvements, the ex­
cavation has begun for a new school build­
ing of modern design w ill consist of eigh­
teen or more class rooms. The estimated 
261 thousand dollar structure is  to be the 
"1;■  st ’word" in modernity, ThankB to the 
superintendent for his untiring efforts to 
get the construction of the building under­
way.

THE VALUE OF A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION

Have you ever heard of a college grad­
uate today who hasn't had a high school 
education? A high school education is 
the foundation for our future profession. 
No matter what profession you choose, 
you w ill find that your high school ed­
ucation is your first requirement.
And as high school students, we should 
put every minute of our time in some­
thing worthwhile. If we should study 
more, and stop playing around, we would 
benefit ourselves more. If  we could only 
talk with some of our great Negro leaders 
today, I believe they would tell us that 
a high school education is the foundation 
far anyone sucess.

So let us use our time wisely because 
today time is valuable and the world is 
calling for men and wom en who are sk ill­
ed in their chosen professions. Fellow 
students let's get down to business.

Set's get our foundation while we are 
here in high school, so that when we get- 
out in the world we won't have to work 
for little  of nothing. With determin­
ation and faith, we w ill be able to ac­
complish our aims.

Joe Dallas Jr.
Senior

478



6

Cl a s s  m s

246

First Grade A

First G rads A has a n  e n r o l l m e n t  o f  7$ 
pupils. « ith e very large attendance. 
as a whole wo are doing nicely.

We had stories and songs for Thanks­
giving whi oh the children enjoyed.

During our activity period the children 
like to draw, sing, and te ll stories. 
The class is  divided into three groups. 
Reporter——*'— ..illie  ^ . o r i 0 g s
Teacher —— — t>. 1. iilson

" .-a  j .' B

„'e the loemoers of IB are very proud 
to be in school, now that we have 
gotten started we like school v,ry 
much and are striving very hard to 
get our lessons. ..e have 76 students 
registered, with and enrollment of 65.

The firso group of the cl.ss has fin­
ished ooow 1 and doing nicely with 
the second book,
among our activities we line drawing 
th® best. For Thanksgiving, we drew 
many pictures, with the hel̂  of our 
teachers.

ihe class has been organised.with 
Henry /̂ olomau ’as A resident and Lurunt 
ttiChardson -.s je^orter.

Reporter*— - ”—  Durant Richardson 
Instructor ®—  Nancy U. June

S C ®  GHAD3
The second grade is progrossing slowly, 
tat steadily.
James ‘..'ashingtoa is  president of the 
cl s». They enjoy the stories, and  
music that is  produced on our record 
player. It is a port of our Friday* s 
entorteinment.
Our honor student for the second six 
we ks are
James ’..'aSMagtoa, Julia Hampton,
Jttineta Richardson, and Botty J . 
Bitherspooa.,
Julia Hampton, Sac. Reporting

THIRD GRADS

'.,'o are the third grade children of 
Seott’ a Branch High School, wife the 
enrollment o f  86.

V o  o r e  trying hard to show improve­
ment in our studies and on our art.

Ve are beginning to make pine straw 
mats, '..'a are .grouped in A, B, and 
0 classes. The G class is making 
improvement, and the B class is  do­
ing much better.
.o  a r e  now learning about Indians 
end people in far awey countries.

Our reporters are;
Lthel ! ae Brown 
Phylis Henry 
liariah C^ullette 
Vivian Coullett®
Instructor-!Srs. C.N. Gregory

FOTETH GR.D13

o in the Fourth Grade are glad to get 
a chance to te ll you some of the things 
iping on in our classroom this year. 
First , we w ill te ll you that we are a 
happy group of children. Happy for a 
number of reasons: ’.’e like each othajj 
we like our teacher, v s  like our books, 
and we like the various activities 
carried on in our room. Reading end 
writing, and trithmetie are fine, but 
we like our Geography best of a ll.
','hy? Beet use we' re finding out what 
children in other parts of the world 
are doing. How they make a living, 
viiet they eat and how they eat. Gome 
of the things that wo have learned a- 
bout children in other lands sound 
strange, but we suppose our way of 
life  seems strange to them too.

Next time we’ l l  te ll you the names 
of those who are making high marks 
in the class,
So long until then.

The Fourth Grade Class

m



FIFTH GIL IIS

7-

The majority of the Fifth Grade pupils 
are working, hard to become one hundred 
percenters, in every respect during 
this school year.

Our slogan is:
-Cooperation1,' with our teacher, class­
mates, and all who are concerned about 
us.

Cur Thanksgiving program was quite a 
success. Everyone seemed to have en­
joyed it.

Teacher —--- ——------- Mrs, II,D. Jtokos
Eeportsr —————  Gussie Mae Johnson

GDCTK GIL D'S

lie the members of the Girth Grade 
are making progress in our studi .s.
In Science wc are studying climate 
and woEther conditions. (In tho '..alls 
of our class-room you will find 
drawings of thermometers, anemomet­
er, barometers, maps showing the 
various clouds, also maps showing 
how tho different air masses travel. 
Our art work is worth inspecting.

Nov: that we are entering tho Christ­
mas Season overyone1s spirit is high, 
hoping to spend a happy season.

’ e hope to have a large honor roll 
for this six weeks. ’lie would be hap­
py to have you visit our class-room 
at any time.

- Reporters:
Mamie dee Lawson 
hosa Leo Jones

Teacher M.C. Ling

EIGHTH GiL.DE

Our vacation ended with the opening 
of school, ,.11 hearts were not hap­
py over the idea.

Upon entering, wo found the same 
faces with a number of additions.

Class officers for school year’ s 
51-52:

Prosident-Eubye Leo Smith
Vico Pros.-Lou Nancy Gr; ymon
Socretary-Golestine Parson
,.sst. Gee. -Bernio. Mcknight
Troasuror-Francos Owens
Xr.ias Saving Treas.-Helen Brailsford

lie are wishing each and everyone a 
most successful year.

Reporters: 
nnnio H. Oliver 
James King

FRESHLiN OLnSS

This is our first year of high echo 
ol and wo hope that it will bo a 
happy and successful yoar. lie cro 
-djusting oursclvos gradually to tte 
new riles that govern us as high 
school pupils.

i.o are studying hard to get our 
lessons, and aro trying s t ill hard­
er to please all of our teachers 
by good conduct, and by showing 
good scholastic ability.

Our officers aro tho following: 
Prooidont-Llane Ra.gin 
Vice Pros.-Boatrice Brown 
Secrotary-Jorvine Georgia 
nsst. Soc.-IIorgareo 'lashington 
Treasurer-anne L. Brailsford

Reportor:Rubyo Johnson 
,.dvisor:Miss G.J. Brown

SOPHOMORE IT IS
The Sophomore Class of Scott’ s 
High School are indeed proud of 
tho officers that wo hove elect­
ed for the school year.

They aro:
Prosedont-Louis Oliver 
Vice Pres.-Ida II. Lawson 
nsst. Sec.-Lucilo Cinty 
Troasurer-C-esie L. Gaymon 
Chaplin-,.llon Brailsford 
Reporter-Ilffic II. Baxter

480



248
8.

Each. of these officers are trying 
to carry out thoir duty to the best 
of their ability. Ve will co-oportte 
with the Student Council to make our 
school the bast. Because wo know 
that the Student Council is the most 
effective means of leadership in our 
school. Tho Tenth Grade sponsor is 
f’iss Ragin, She is also tho Home 
Economics sponsor.

Vs tro wishing the entire student 
body and faculty a prosperous ye,.r.

Reportor-Iiffio 11. Baxter

JUNIOR CLnSS K3VS

The following officers we elector!
Sept. 18, 1951-52.
President-Villie Edward Magwood 
Vice Pres.-Myrtlo Riahburg 
Secretary—Lillio  Eva Johnson 
..sst. Soc.-Mamie Lue Singlotary 
Treasurer—Lulcatha Singleton 
Business Manager-Daniel Charles 
Helper--—Osclese Doughty 
Reportor—Roosevolt Postell

'..'o the members of tho JuniorClass are 
trying to raise some money to complete 
tho many projects we have for the 
year. One of our projects so SVy 
in raising this money is selling 
candy. Vo s t ill have some candy 
left, and wo would like mory much 
for you to help us soil our i t .

Roosevelt Postoil 
(a Junior)

SENIOR CLa JSS KVV3

Ve, the Seniors of 1951 and *52, 
along with our advisor, Mr.a, a.
Fuller, are striving very hard to make 
our good, better and our bettor, 
best. At tho beginning of school, 
wo started out in a very high 
school spirit in both lesson and 
business and wo s t ill huvo that 
spirit.

Ve elected our class officers as

following:
Prosidcnt-Villievv, Boyd 
Vico Pros.-Joo Dallas 
Secretary—-Dorothy M, Oliver 
Asst, Soc.-Villons a,Ragin 
Treasurer—Nancy Johnson 
Business Manager-Vera Brown

On Vcdnesday, October Jl, 1951, 
wo gave a Halloween Dance featuring 
Ray Adams and his Band which was the 
first end last dance given at the 
school.

Now wo are working very hard on our 
class song, motto and our class 
play which wo have Elreudy order and 
received. Ve are doing ull wo can 
to make this a successful grad­
uating class of 1951 and *52.

Dorothy ti, Oliver 

Greetings To Everyonei
sss: ysira?r^si8§ ?8J!iBsai8f.
fort to make it  so. 1 aving paid 
our State dues in fu ll, and plan 
to attend our district convention 
and our Ptate convention, and by 
a ll means attend camp next year.

,re have made progress in the past 
two years, having a >’ew omeinakers 
° t ”te -resident,•»*yrtle Riehburg, 
who is outst'nding in a ll activ­
ities It is an honor to shave 
one so qualified for this positi­
on 'e also have a tistrict offic­
er, who is Vers Brown, also an out­
standing student

The number of chapters attending 
the M.K.A. and *VF.A. joint pro­
gram at the Ptate Fair is defin­
ed as a sign of interest in the 
association,

N.H.A. Reporters 
Scott’s B. School 
Summerton, S.C,

The officers are: Tress.-Ida Lawson 
’’’rest den t-wyr tie Riehburg Chn.-C.B.
V, ^res.--Rachel Ragin Reporter-V,R, 
Secretary -Vera Brown Advisor-Miss C.Ragin

481



249

POET? S CORNER

COURTESY

Courtesy is valuable in many ways*
Almost everyone had it in the olden days 

Courtesy means politeness on which we 
must rely-

It brings joy to us and others as the 
years go by*

Courtesy begins at home and not the 
world outside

If truly courtecusat home, courtesy will 
always abide*

A greeting is such a little  thing,
say the following will always clings 

Ŝay goodbye* or ®how» do- you- dof 
What* s the difference between the two? 
All doors are open to courtesy 
So why not learn it now 
If you don’t you’l l  soon be sorry?
Try to learn it possibly somehow 
There is always t me for‘courtesy*
Even though life  is short.
If you don’t 1 

you,
Take it light Iff- be a\good sport.

X must is havkng manners 
in public places; 

please don’t t y to tun 
down these a :es

A POEM I L IKE TO THINK ABOUT AND I 
PUOTE;

THE HOUSE BY THE SIDE IF THE 
ROAD

By- Walter Foss
There are hermit souls that live with­
drawn,
In the plare of their self content,
There are souls like stars, that dwell 
opart in a fellowship fimament*

pioneer souls that blaze their 
re highways never ran® 
live by the side of the road, 

friend to man.

L^t me' live in a house by the side of 
he ipad, '“here the races of men go by 

ten who are good and the men who
as bad as I®
sit in the scrooner’s seat, 
■ ynic’s ban,

the house by the side of

’hen I came to school that morning, I 
knew that something was wrong,
The subjects were very tiresome, the 
Classes were very long.

At first I meet the principal, and he 
Wasn’t so gay.
Something told me at that moment, this 
T-ras to be an unpleasant day*

My classmates seemed to bother me so, 
There must have been some thing, they 
Wanted to know,
But I snubbed them all and asked 
Them to go® I

I  couldn’t wait until 2?15,.so that 
Y could get away,
hnpatlent, I lingered around, there 
Was something, I  wanted to say,
Soon it all in a rush, this 
was my most unpleasant Day®

And be p friend to man® 

e from my house by the side of the
, i

By tihe side of the highway of l i fe  
The men who press with ardor of hope 
Ti/e men who are faint with strife 

.t, I turn #ot away from the s&lles, 
nor their tears.
Both parts of an infinite plan;
Let me live  in my house by the side of 
the road,
And be a friend to man.

Juanita Biggins

Money

Workers earn it , spendthrifts bum 
Bankers lend it ,  women spend it 

Forgers fake it , taxers take it 
Dying leave it ,  heirs recieve it 
Thriftysave it , misers crave it 
Robber seize it , rich increase it 
Gamblers lose it , Icould use it®

To thine own se lf be true.

Do not give to receive, 
Give to help

Vera Brown 482



10.

250

LET'S LAUGH A TOILS THE SHXPBR

JOB— ® What*e the hurry? that are you 
running for?

HARRY—I'm trying to stop a, fight.
JOB——Who's fighting?
HARRY—Me and another fellow.**»*«
TOSH—Mother, can you write your name 

with your eyes shut?
MOTHER-I-think go, Toni.
TOi«I— All right, then mother let's see 

you shut them and sign this re­
port card.

GAEL-—Bid you ever hear the story about 
the three eggs?

JXMMXS-No, what?
CARL—-Too bad.

V3RA——What do you think of our little  
town?

TOHI---- I t 18 the first cemetery I've ever
seen with traffic lights.#**■»«

KLAIHE-Beatri ce, vfey ds you walk so slow?
BEA——Because its winter.
ELAIHE-Shat's no reason.
BEA——Yes it  is too. I don't want to 

catch a cold.

TEA——Toni, what doss a sat walking on 
the beach remind you of?

TOSI—Why it  reminds me of Christmas.
V35RA----Why?
SOHI-—He has sandy slaws.

NANCY—Since Christmas Is almost here, I 
guess the boys will stop dating 
us, huh Dot?

DOT— Why John was at my house last night
NANCY—Well, you'll soon see the change.

Ysa must have forgotten, Christmas 
means gifts.**«»*

lIUBfiMThy do Egyptian women wear veils 
over tM r feces?

CORINE-they want to get a husband.

JOB------Willie I'm so sorry you missed the
train bat your friends made it . 

WILLIB-It's them you should be sorry for.
They were seeing me to the station 
I !m going away.

BUY CHRISTMAS SEALS

0.1.J. said don't l e t  W.B. eat them up 
at Christmas time.
F.M.R. said she can get who she want, 
so don't worry about the boys.
0. D. is sad over her friend J.L.D. ’ho 
has gone to N.Y.CC
C.H. said don't let C.W. worry J.G. 
when ha cosies horns for Christmas.
M.I.S. and L.S. are happy as ever.
L.M.R. and T.G, Jr are on the ball.
Wonder what is happening between I.W.L. 
BsH, and M.F.Jr. are getting along 
terrible.
I wonder what D.M.O.and J.G. will do 
when I.C. comes home.
F.R. and E.J. are getting along fine.
J.G. is cutting hard; I wonder what she 
will do when G.W.C. comes home.
R.C. and A , I .  are really on thd ball.
V.B. was cutting with R.R. but there 
will be some changes when L.W. comes from 
Korea.
H.J. was cutting hard with J.D. but it  
seems as if  he disappeared,
1. L. and C.JB.B. is really on the boll 
L.lt.R, is cutting out on C.L.W,
H.M.B. and 3?„L. are getting along f ne, 
she is receiving mail from H.S.

So long until the next issue 
"THE SNIPER"

m m im H iHHHHHHHmmM m m im tm
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FRUITS
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VEGETABLES

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q u id , RELIABLE SERVICE 484



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486



254



255

I n U nited  S tates D istrict Court 

[Title omitted]

Order T ran sm ittin g  R eport to U n ited  S tates S uprem e  
Court— Filed January 8, 1952

In the above entitled cause, the defendants having on 
December 20, 1951, filed a report as required by the decree 
of this Court of June 21, 1950, setting forth what has been 
done to carry out the mandate of said decree; and it ap­
pearing that the plaintiffs have appealed from said decree 
to the Supreme Court of the United States and that the 
cause is now pending in that court:

It is now ordered that the said report be received and 
filed by the Clerk of this Court and that the said Clerk 
transmit a certified copy thereof together with copy of 
this order to the said Supreme Court and that this Court 
withhold further action thereon until the Supreme Court 
has acted on the appeal and remanded the case.

This the 8th day of January 1952.
(S.) John J. Parker, Chief Judge, Fourth Circuit; 

George Bell Timmerman, U. S. District Judge, 
Eastern District of South Carolina.

In my opinion, the report and this decree have no place 
in this case and, therefore, I do not join herein.

January 8, 1952.
(S.) J. Waties Waring, United States District Judge.

A true copy. Attest. Ernest L. Allen, Clerk of U. S. 
District Court, East. Dist. So. Carolina.

[fol. 488] [File endorsement omitted]

16—101



256

I n  U nited  S tates D istrict C ourt 

S u prem e  C ourt oe th e  U nited  S tates, O ctober T erm , 1951

No. 273

H arry B riggs, Jr., et a l ., Appellants,

[fol. 489] [File endorsement omitted]

v.
R . W . E lliott , et a l .

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the 
Eastern District of South Carolina

Opin io n—Filed February 7, 1952 
(January 28, 1952)

Per Curiam  :

Appellant Negro school children brought this action in 
the Federal District Court to enjoin appellee school offi­
cials from making any distinctions based upon race or 
color in providing* educational facilities for School Dis­
trict 22, Clarendon County, South Carolina. As the basis 
for their complaint, appellants alleged that equal facilities 
are not provided for Negro pupils and that those consti­
tutional and statutory provisions of South Carolina re­
quiring separate schools “ for children of the white and 
colored races ’ ’ * are invalid under the Fourteenth Amend­
ment. At the trial before a court of three judges, appellees 
conceded that the school facilities provided for Negro 
students “ are not substantially equal to those afforded in 
the District for white pupils.”

The District Court held, one judge dissenting, that the 
challenged constitutional and statutory provisions were 
not of themselves violative of the Fourteenth Amendment. 
The court below also found that the educational facilities 
afforded by appellees for Negro pupils are not equal to 
those provided for white children. The District Court did 
not issue an injunction abolishing racial distinctions as

So. Car. Const., Art. XI, § 7; S. C. Code, 1942, § 5377.



2 5 7

[fol. 490] prayed by appellants, but did order appellees to 
proceed at once to furnish, educational facilities for Negroes 
equal to those furnished white pupils. In its decree, en­
tered June 21, 1951, the District Court ordered that ap­
pellees report to that court within six months as to action 
taken by them to carry out the court’s order. 98 F. Supp. 
529.

Dissatisfied with the relief granted by the District Court, 
appellants brought a timely appeal directly to this Court 
under 28 U. S. C. (Supp. IY) § 1253. After the appeal 
was docketed but before its consideration by this Court, 
appellees filed in the court below their report as ordered.

The District Court has not given its views on this report, 
having entered an order stating that it will withhold fur­
ther action thereon while the cause is pending in this 
Court on appeal. Prior to our consideration of the ques­
tions raised on this appeal, we should have the benefit of 
the views of the District Court upon the additional facts 
brought to the attention of that court in the report which 
it ordered. The District Court should also be afforded 
the opportunity to take whatever action it may deem ap­
propriate in light of that report. In order that this may 
be done, we vacate the judgment of the District Court and 
remand the case to that court for further proceedings. 
Another judgment, entered at the conclusion of those pro­
ceedings, may provide the basis for any further appeals 
to this Court.

Is is so ordered.
Mr. Justice Black and Mr. Justice Douglas dissent to 

vacation of the judgment of the District Court on the 
grounds stated. They believe that the additional facts con­
tained in the report to the District Court are wholly irre­
levant to the constitutional questions presented by the ap­
peal to this Court, and that we should note jurisdiction 
and set the case down for argument.



258

I n U nited  S tates D istrict  C ourt 

[Title omitted]

M otion  for J udgm ent—Filed February 7, 1952

To the Honorable, the Judges of the United States District
Court for tlie Eastern District of South Carolina:
Come now the plaintiffs, by their attorneys, and move 

the Court:

A. For an early hearing and final disposition of the issues 
of this case, and

B. For final judgment for the plaintiffs granting the re­
lief as prayed for in the complaint.

As grounds therefore, movants represent:
1. At the trial on the merits, the defendants amended 

their answer by conceding* that the school facilities pro­
vided for Negro pupils were “ not substantially equal to 
those afforded in the District for white pupils. ’ ’

2. The “ Report of Defendants Pursuant to Decree Dated 
June 21, 1951”  heretofore filed shows that the physical 
facilities for Negro pupils are still unequal to those for 
white pupils.

3. This Report by defendants prays that a further order 
be issued ‘ ‘ for the filing of an additional Report or Reports 
by them. ’ ’
[fol. 492] 4. During the final argument of counsel for the
defendants in the original trial, Chief Judge Parker stated:

“ You have come into court here and admitted that 
facilities are not equal, and the evidence shows it be­
yond all peradventure. Now, it seems to me that it ’s 
not for the Court to wetnurse the schools. Assuming 
that segregation is not abolished by the decree, it would 
be proper for this Court to direct an equalization 
of educational facilities. And we wouldn’t tell you 
how to do it. We wouldn’t attempt to supervise the

ffol. 491] [File endorsement omitted]



259

administration of the schools; all we can do is to tell 
you to do what the constitution enjoins upon you. ’ ’

5. The Defendant’s Report concerns itself only with im­
provement with respect to physical facilities of schools set 
aside for Negroes. The Report shows absolutely no prog­
ress in removing the inequalities resulting from enforced 
segregation which the undisputed testimony of expert wit­
nesses showed existed in the public schools of Clarendon 
County. Plaintiffs presented uncontroverted evidence at 
the trial which conclusively demonstrated that equal edu­
cational opportunities could not be obtained by plaintiffs 
and other Negro pupils, even assuming a situation of com­
parability in physical facilities, where Negro pupils are re­
quired to attend separate schools solely because of race 
and color. The undisputed testimony disclosed that the 
state’s requirement that Negro children attend segregated 
schools caused injury to them in the form of permanent 
psychological damage, affected them with a feeling of in­
feriority and impaired their motivation to learn. It was 
further demonstrated that these injuries would continue 
as long as the schools remained segregated. This report 
filed by the defendants leaves this testimony undisputed.

6. It is, therefore, clear that plaintiffs’ rights guaranteed 
by the Fourteenth Amendment are being violated and re­
main unprotected. The injury is irreparable. The only 
available relief is by injunction against the continued denial 
[fol. 493] of their right to equality which is brought about 
by compulsory racial segregation required by the Constitu­
tion and laws of South Carolina. (So. Car. Const. Art. XI, 
Sec. 7; S. C. Code, 1942, Sec, 5377.)

7. Plaintiffs can get no immediate relief except by the is­
suance of a final judgment of this Court enjoining* the en­
forcement of the policy of racial segregation by defendants 
which excludes Negro pupils from the only schools where 
they can obtain an education equal to that offered white 
children.

8. Plaintiffs can get no permanent relief unless this Court 
declares that the provisions of the Constitution and laws 
of South Carolina requiring racial segregation in public 
schools are unconstitutional insofar as they are enforced by 
the defendant herein to exclude Negro pupils from the only



260

schools where they can obtain an education equal to that 
offered white children.

Respectfully submitted, Harold R. Boulware, 1109% 
Washington Street, Columbia 20, South Carolina; 
Spottswood W. Robinson, III, 623 North Third 
Street, Richmond, Virginia; (S.) Robert L. Carter, 
Thurgood Marshall, 20 West 40th Street, New 
York 18, New York; Attorneys for Plaintiffs.

February 5, 1952.

[fol. 494] Certificate of service (omitted in printing).

[fob 495] [File endorsement omitted]

I n  U nited  S tates D istrict  Court 

[Title omitted]

Order S etting  D ate oe S econd H earing— Filed February
14, 1952

In the above entitled cause it appearing that defendants 
have filed a report pursuant to the decree heretofore entered 
and that the Supreme Court has remanded the case in 
order that this Court may give consideration to the report 
and that plaintiffs have filed a motion for an early hearing 
of the case and for judgment; and it further appearing that 
it will be more convenient to all parties concerned that the 
hearing of the case be had at Columbia, S. C., instead of at 
Charleston, and counsel having consented to the hearings 
at Columbia:

Now, therefore, it is ordered that a hearing be had on 
the report of defendants, filed as aforesaid, and upon the 
motion of plaintiffs, at Columbia, S. C. on Friday, February 
29, 1952, at 10:30 o ’clock in the morning.

It is further ordered that the trustees and officials of new 
school district number 1 referred to in the report be given 
notice of the hearing and that they show cause at that time



261

why they should not be made parties to the suit and bound 
by all orders and decrees that may be entered therein.

Done at Charlotte, N. C., this February 13, 1952.
(S.) John J. Parker, Chief Judge, Fourth Circuit.

A true copy. Attest.
Ernest L. Allen, Clerk of U. S. District Court, East. 

Dist. So. Carolina.

[fol. 496] [File endorsement omitted]

1st U nited S tates D istrict C ourt 

[Title omitted]

Order C o n tin u in g  H earing—Filed February 15, 1952
In the above entitled cause, upon application of plaintiffs, 

it is ordered that the hearing heretofore set for February 
29, 1952, be continued to March 3, 1952, and be held at 
Columbia, S. C. on the latter date at 10:30 o ’clock in the 
morning.

Done at Charlotte, N. C., this February 14, 1952.
(S.) John J. Parker, Chief Judg’e, Fourth Circuit.

A true copy. Attest.
Ernest L. Allen, Clerk of U. S. District Court East. 

Dist. So. Carolina.

[fols. 497-499] Cl e r k ’ s N ote

Judge John P. Parker’s letter of February 9, 1952 and 
reply of Judge J. Waties Waring of February 11, 1952 are 
included as a part of this record by direction of the Court.

Ernest L. Allen, Clerk.



In U nited  S tates D istrict Court 

[Title omitted]

M otion th at  R . W. E llio tt , et a l . B e , M ade P arties to th e  
S u it , etc .— Filed March 3, 1952.

Come now the respondents R. W. Elliott, Chairman, and 
J. D. Carson, E. M. Touchberry, W. A. Brunson and A. E. 
Brock, Sr., constituting the Board of Trustees of School 
District No. 1, Clarendon County, S. C., and H. B. Betch- 
man, Superintendent of School District No. 1, and as and 
for their return to the order of this Court dated February 
13, 1952, respectfully show as follows:

1. That the defendants R. W. Elliott and J. C. Carson 
were designated in this action as members of the Board of 
Trustees of School District No. 22 of Clarendon County, 
S. C., the defendant Elliott also being designated as Chair­
man of said Board, and that the defendant H. B. Betchman 
was designated in this suit as Superintendent of School 
District No. 22.

2. That on October 16, 1951, the State Educational Fi­
nance Commission of South Carolina approved the order 
[fol. 501] of the County Board of Education of Clarendon 
County wherein and wbiereby former School District No. 22 
of Clarendon County was consolidated with six other school 
districts of said County into a single school district known 
as School District No. 1, Clarendon County, S. C., such 
consolidation having been ordered by the said County Board 
of Education under Article III, Sections 6 and 7, of Act 
No. 379 of the Acts of the General Assembly of South 
Carolina of 1951.

3. That the defendants R. W. Elliott and J. D. Carson 
and also the respondents E. M. Touchberry, W. A. Brunson 
and A. E. Brock, Sr., were appointed School Trustees of the 
said School District No. 1 of Clarendon County in and by 
the said order, with R, W. Elliott as Chairman, and that 
the defendant H. B. Betchman is now the Superintendent 
of Schools of the said School District No. 1 of Clarendon 
County.

262

[fol. 500] [File endorsement omitted]



263

5. That the respondents hereby severally consent to an 
order making them parties to the suit in their respective 
capacities as trustees and officials of School District No. 1, 
Clarendon County, S. C., and providing that they be bound 
by all orders and decrees that have been or may hereafter 
be entered herein.

Wherefore, The respondents pray that the Court do enter 
an order making the said E. W. Elliott, Chairman, J. D. 
Carson, E. M. Touchberry, W. A. Brunson, and A. E. Brock, 
Sr., constituting the Board of Trustees of School District 
No. 1, Clarendon County, S. C., and H. B. Betchman, Super­
intendent of School District No. 1, parties to this suit in 
their respective capacities as such, and providing that they 
be bound by all orders and decrees that have been or may 
hereafter be entered herein.

R. W. Elliott, A. E. Brock, Sr., J. D. Carson, 
[fol. 502] W. A. Brunson, E. M. Touchberry, H. B. 
Betchman. S. E. Rogers, Summerton, S. C .; Robert 
McC. Figg, Jr., 18 Broad Street, Charleston, S. C., 
Attorneys for Respondents.

[fol. 503] In United States D istrict Court

[Title omitted]

R eport of the Defendants Supplementary to the R eport 
F iled December 20, 1951—Filed March 3, 1952

Come now the defendants and beg leave to file this Report 
which is supplementary to the Report filed herein on Decem­
ber 20, 1951, pursuant to Decree dated June 21, 1951, in 
which Supplementary Report they would respectfully show 
unto this Honorable Court as follows:

1. That on December 20, 1951, pursuant to decree dated 
June 21, 1951, the defendants made report to this Court as 
to the action taken by them to carry out the said decree in 
which they were ordered to proceed at once to furnish to 
plaintiffs and other Negro pupils of School District No. 22 
in Clarendon County, South Carolina, educational facilities,



264

equipment, curricula and opportunities equal to those fur­
nished white pupils in the said School District.

2. That in said Report it was shown that in compliance 
with the provisions of Act No. 379 of the Acts of the General 
Assembly of South Carolina of 1951 and with the criteria 
promulgated by the State Educational Finance Commission 
thereunder, and in order to qualify for State financial aid 
under said Act for the construction of school facilities, the 
aforesaid School District No. 22 was by order of the County 
[fol. 504] Board of Education of Clarendon County consoli­
dated with six other school districts of the county into a 
single school district known as School District No. 1 of said 
county, which order of consolidation was duly approved by 
the State Educational Finance Commission on October 16, 
1951; and that the school trustees and superintendent of said 
School District No. 1 have made return to the order of this 
Court dated February 13,1952, consenting that they be made 
parties in such capacities to this suit and be bound by the 
orders and decrees herein.

3. That in said Report it was also shown that the school 
trustees of School District No. 1 had prepared, approved 
and adopted a school house construction program, based 
upon a comprehensive survey of the educational needs of 
the district; had already let the construction contract for 
the complete remodelling of the Scott’s Branch Elementary 
School for Negro pupils and the construction of the Scott’s 
Branch High School for Negro high school pupils; had 
caused plans to be prepared for the construction of the two 
other elementary schools for Negro pupils recommended in 
said survey and included in said plan and program; had 
made application for priority for the critical materials re­
quired in such construction; had instituted school bus trans­
portation for all pupils in the district (no such transporta­
tion had theretofore been furnished to any pupils of either 
race in School District No. 22); had equalized all teachers’ 
salaries in the district by local supplements; and had 
brought about complete equalization of curricula in the 
white and Negro schools in the district.

4. That in said Report it was also shown that, pending 
occupancy of the new and remodelled schoolhouses afore­
said, the school district had expended the sum of $21,522.81



265

for school furniture and equipment in the Negro schools and 
for improvements thereto, as a result of which efficient edu­
cation is being afforded to the pupils in the construction 
interval, and the existing situation as to school facilities is 
no different from that which inevitably occurs whenever 
major schoolhouse construction and remodelling is engaged 
in by a school system.

5. That in said Report the enrolled school population of 
the consolidated district, School District No. 1, was given on 
[fol. 505] the basis of the then available enrollment figures 
as 2,568 Negro school children and 298 white school children, 
whereas the current figures as of February 25, 1952, are 
2,799 enrolled Negro school children and 295 enrolled white 
school children, with average daily attendance of Negro 
school children of 2,003 and average daily attendance of 
white school children of 269. That the 1952 enrolled Negro 
high school pupils is 360, 200 of whom are enrolled in Scott’s 
Branch School, 109 in St. Paul School, 30 in Maggie Nelson 
School, and 21 in Felton Rosenwald School. That the figure 
of 197 enrolled Negro high school pupils given in said 
Report referred only to those attending the Scott’s Branch 
School.

6. That since the filing of said Report, the plans for 
the two new Negro elementary schools recommended in 
the survey and included in the district’s plan and program, 
one in the St. Paul area to be known as the St. Paul ele­
mentary School and the other in the Rogers area to be 
known as the Spring Hill Elementary School, have been 
completed and approved by the State Educational Finance 
Commission; the district’s application for priority in the 
allotment of critical materials required in the construction 
of these schools has been granted by the appropriate 
Federal agency; and the district has advertised in the 
press for bids on the construction contracts to build said 
schoolhouses.

7. That since the filing of said Report, the school trustees 
of School District No. 1 recommended in writing to the 
General Assembly the enactment of legislation empowering 
them and the Treasurer of Clarendon County to issue and 
sell bonds of the district in a sum not exceeding the dis­
trict’s debt limitation (which, as mentioned in said Report,



266

is now, as a result of a 1951 constitutional amendment, 
30% of the district’s assessed valuation instead of the 
8% limitation generally applicable under the Constitutional 
provision in reference thereto in the State Constitution); 
that such enabling legislation was introduced in the form 
shown by House Bill No. 2065, a printed copy of which 
is hereto attached as a part hereof; and that such legis­
lation was duly enacted in said form and was signed by 
His Excellency, the Honorable James F. Byrnes, Governor 
of South Carolina, on March 1, 1952, as shown by copy 
of “ An Act to Provide for the Issuance of Bonds of School 
[fob 506] District 1 in Clarendon County in a Sum not 
exceeding the Constitutional Limit for School Purposes and 
to Provide for the Payment of Same,”  duly certified by 
the Secretary of State of South Carolina, which certified 
copy is herewith filed.

8. That in the action which has been and is being 
taken by the defendants to carry out the order of this 
Court dated June 21, 1951, they have utilized to the maxi­
mum the financial resources available to them under said 
Act No. 379 of the Acts of 1951, which made available for 
the first time State aid for constructing school facilities; 
that under said Act School District No. 1 has had building 
projects for Negro schools approved in the total amount 
of $516,960.00, as shown by letter of E. R. Crow, Director 
of the State Educational Finance Commission, to Governor 
Byrnes, dated February 15, 1952, which is hereto attached 
as a part hereof, and which also shows the building proj­
ects approved under said Act in a number of other counties 
of the State in the comparatively short time since the 
organization of the State Educational Finance Commission 
and the court decisions upholding the validity of the 
legislation, there being projects for Negro school con­
struction totalling $5,515,619.15 (73.4%- of the total) and 
projects for white school construction totalling $1,992,- 
018.00 (26.6% of the total) approved and under way to date.

9. That the defendants respectfully show that with the 
State aid approved for School District No. 1, as aforesaid, 
and the district’s authority to borrow on its faith and 
credit under the 1952 Act aforesaid, they are confident that 
they have the financial resources to carry through the



267

construction plan and program which they have adopted 
and which they are carrying out as expeditiously as pos­
sible; and that when the said plan and program lias been 
fully carried out they verily believe that equal educational 
facilities, equipment, curricula, and opportunities will exist 
for all school children in the district alike; and that steps 
have been taken by them to see that equal education will 
be afforded to all school children in the district in exist­
ing physical facilities during the completion of the dis­
trict’s construction and remodelling program, so that 
conditions in said period will be no different from those 
[fol. 507] always existing in any school system during a 
period of substantial new construction and remodelling.

10. That the defendants are acting in good faith not 
only to afford the equality directed to be furnished by them 
in the decree of June 21, 1951, but also to build up the 
system of public schools in said School District No. 1 and 
develop and expand the educational opportunities and 
advantages enjoyed by the school children of both races 
therein on an equal basis; and as evidence of their good 
faith they stand ready to file such additional Reports in 
this cause as the Court may direct, showing the completion 
of their action in carrying out the said decree.

Respectfully submitted, S. E. Rogers, Summerton, 
S. C. Robert McC. Figg, Jr,, 18 Broad Street, 
Charleston, S. C. Attorneys for Defendants.

Duly sworn to by R. M. Elliott. Jurat omitted in print­
ing.



268

[fol. 507a] Calendar No. H. 2065

Introduced by Clarendon County Delegation 
Printer’s No. 444-H. Bead the first time February 22, 1952.

A BILL
!T o Provide for the Issuance of Bonds of School District 

No. 1 in Clarendon County in a Sum Not Exceeding* the 
Constitutional Limit for School Purposes and to Provide 
for the Payment of Same.

Be in enacted by the General Assembly of the State of 
South Carolina:

S ection  1. The Board of Trustees of School District 
No. 1 and the Treasurer of Clarendon County are author­
ized and empowered to issue and sell serial coupon bonds 
of the school district in a sum not exceeding the consti­
tutional limit. The proceeds of the bonds shall be used for 
constructing and equipping school buildings and facilities 
used in connection with schools, including the purchase of 
sites for such buildings or facilities. The bonds shall be 
in such denominations, and shall bear such interest, not 
exceeding four per cent per annum, as the board of trustees 
and the treasurer may prescribe. They shall be payable 
at the office of the Clarendon County Treasurer from time 
to time over a period not exceeding twenty years. The 
bonds may be redeemed on call after ten years from the 
date of same. The bonds shall be sold at public sale after 
an advertisement for bids shall have been published in a 
paper of general circulation within the county at least 
twice fifteen days prior to the date of the opening of 
bids.

S ec. 2. The bonds shall be signed by the treasurer and 
the Board of Trustees of School District No. 1 in Claren­
don County. The coupons attached to the bonds need 
only be signed by the county treasurer and the chairman 
of the board of trustees, and their lithographed or en­
graved signatures thereon shall be a sufficient signing of 
same.

Sec. 3. The bonds shall be exempt from the payment of 
all county, state, school and municipal taxes.



269

Sec. 4. The full faith, credit, and taxing power of the 
school district are hereby irrevocably pledged for the pay­
ment of the bonds and all interest thereon, and the Auditor 
of Clarendon County shall levy an annual tax upon all the 
taxable property in the school district sufficient to pay the 
bonds and interest as they may mature, and the treasurer of 
the county shall collect the taxes so levied as other taxes are 
collected.

Sec. 5. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith 
are hereby repealed.

Sec. 6. This act shall take effect upon its approval by 
the Governor.



270

[fol. 507B]
STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA 

STATE EDUCATIONAL FINANCE COMMISSION
Commission
Governor James F. Byrnes (State Seal)

Chairman 
Jesse T. Anderson 
L. P. Hollis
Dewey H. Johnson COLUMBIA, S. C.
J. C. Long
D. W. Robinson February 15, 1952
Elliott White Springs

Honorable James F. Byrnes 
Governor of South Carolina 
Columbia, S. C.
Dear Governor:

E. R. Crow 
Director

P. C. Smith 
' Assistant 

Director

To date the State Educational Finance Commission has given its approval to building 
projects in the counties and school districts listed below:

Building Projects Approved
Negro Schools White Schools Total

Clarendon County
Summerton School District No. 1.........

Jasper County
Hardeeville School District No. 4 .........

Richland County
Columbia School District No. 1............

Sumter County
Sumter School District No. 17..............

Barnwell County
Barnwell School District No. 1.............

Darlington County
Darlington County School District.......

Charleston County
St. James School District No. 1............
Moultrie School District No. 2 .............
James Island School District No. 3. . . .
Cooper River School District No. 4 ----
St. John’s School District No. 9 ...........
St. Andrews School District No. 10... .
Charleston School District No. 20........
St. Paul’s School District No. 23..........

[fol. 507C-508]
Spartanburg County

Fairforest District No. 6 .......................
Aiken County

Aiken County School District...............

516.960.00 $ ..................... $ 516,960.00

75,914.00   75,914.00

340.000. 00 227,135.00 567,135.00

732.802.00 161,646.00 894,448.00

136,705.15 77,040.00 213,745.15

706.668.00 83,000.00 789,668.00

270.240.00 ....................... 270,240.00
215.000. 00 ...................... 215,000.00
108.280.00 185,000.00 293,280.00
449.000. 00 ...................... 449,000.00
296.800.00 20,000.00 316,800.00
30,000.00 90,140.00 120,140.00

800.000. 00 650,000.00 1,450,000.00
512.640.00 ....................... 512,640.00

324.610.00 ....................... 324,610.00

498,057.00 498,057.00

Percentage
$5,515,619.15 $1,992,018.00 $7,507,637.15 

73.4 26.6 100.00
From the above table it will be seen that approved projects for Negro schools represent 
73.4 per cent of the total. The percentage allocated to Negro projects would be greater 
but for the item for Aiken County. Although the approval in this county was for white 
school projects, it is expected that additional enrollment, due to the Savannah River 
Project, will enable the county to repay the loan without affecting the normal use of money 
to improve Negro school facilities. If this item had not been included in the calculation 
the percentage of money allocated to Negro schools would be 78.7.

Respectfully and sincerely yours,
(signed) E. R. Crow 
E. R. Crow, DirectorERC/kh



271

[fol. 509] In U nited States D istrict Court

[Title omitted]
T ranscript op H earing

At a special term of court, a hearing in the above cause 
was had at Columbia, South Carolina, in the United States 
Courtroom on March 3, 1952, at 10:30 o ’clock a. m.

[fol. 510] Robert McC. Figg., Jr., Esq., and S. E. Rogers, 
Esq., for the Defendants.

Judge Parker: This is a Special United States District 
Court of Three Judges convened for the hearing of the case 
of Briggs and others against Elliott and others. As origi­
nally convened, the Court consisted of Judge Timmerman, 
Judge Waring, and myself. A decree was entered after 
a hearing in Charleston. An appeal was taken to the Su­
preme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court 
of the United States remanded the ease in order that we 
might give consideration to a report made by the defend­
ants after the entry of the decree. In the meantime, Judge 
Waring had reached retirement age and had taken re­
tirement. Inasmuch as he had been a member of the origi­
nal Court, I thought it appropriate that he be designated 
to sit in the further hearing of the case. On February 9, 
after I ha a received notice of the motion which is pending 
here and the Mandate from the Supreme Court had come 
down, I wrote Judge Waring, stating to him that I should 
designate him to sit in the further hearing of the case if he 
was willing to do so and asked that he advise me whether he 
was willing to accept the designation. Under date of 
February 11, I received from Judge Waring a letter stat­
ing that he was not willing to accept a designation to sit in 
[fol. 511] the further hearing of the case or take any part in 
it. It thereupon became necessary that I designate an­
other Judge to sit in the hearing of the case instead of 
Judge Waring, and I have designated Judge Armistead M. 
Dobie, one of the Circuit Judges of the Circuit, who has had 
wide experience in cases of this sort, to sit in the further 
hearing of the case with Judge Timmerman and myself. 
I enter the Order designating Judge Dobie, and here

17—101



272

are copies which you may send to the other members of the 
Court and to the Clerk of the Circuit Court at Richmond. 
Mr. Clerk, here is a copy of the letter that I wrote to Judge 
Waring, and here is a copy of Judge Waring’s letter to 
me. Let them be made a part of the record in the case, 
and let copies be furnished to the other Judges.

Are you ready to proceed with the further proceeding 
of the case for the plaintiffs!

Mr. Marshall: Plaintiffs are ready, sir.
Judge Parker: Are defendants ready?
Mr. P igg: Defendants are ready, your Honor, and I think 

at this point I should say that in your Honor’s order con­
vening the special court for this hearing, a rule to show 
cause was contained, addressed to the Trustees of School 
District No. 1 of Clarendon County, which by consolidation 
was created out of School District No. 22 and six other dis­
tricts of that County under the legislation of 1951. And we 
have filed a return signed by the five Trustees of School 
[fol. 512] District No. 1, two of whom are party-defendants 
in their capacity as Trustees of School District No. 22, and 
the other three of whom were appointed under the 1951 
Act to be Trustees of School District No. 1, along with 
the two members of School District No. 22, the surviving 
members. Mr. Kennedy has died since the hearing in 
Charleston. In that Return they state the facts of the 
consolidation and the fact that they are now the Trustees 
of the School District which contains the schools in question 
here and that they consent to be made parties to the suit 
in their respective capacities as Trustees. And Mr. Betcli- 
man is Superintendent of School District No. 1. They con­
sent to an order making them parties and to be bound by 
all orders and decrees that have been or may hereafter be 
entered herein. That Return has been filed with the Clerk 
and I presume the Court has copies of it.

Judge Parker: The Clerk handed us copies just before 
we came on the Bench. What do you say for the plaintiffs ?

Mr. Marshall: No objection, sir.
Judge Parker: All right. An order will be entered mak­

ing them parties to the cause.
Mr. Pigg: If your Honors please, under the decree of 

the Court dated June 21,1951, the defendants filed a report



with the Clerk of the' Court, which was directed to he made 
[fol. 513] by them within six months from the date of that 
decree. That report was filed on December 20 and gave in­
formation as to the action which had been taken by the 
defendants to carry out the Court’s decree. I have here 
a report supplementary to that report which shows what 
action has been taken since December 20, 1951, which I 
would, on behalf of defendants, ask leave to file in the 
cause. We do not have any order requiring us to file it 
and for that reason I had not delivered it to the Clerk, 
but ask the Court for authority to file it.

Judge Parker: I think it appropriate to file it. Do you 
see any objection to that?

Mr. Marshall: We have no objection, sir.
Judge Parker: All right.
Mr. F igg: I have already given counsel copies of this 

return and of this Supplementary Report so that they have 
been able to consider it. I f the Court desires, I will sum­
marize the Supplementary Report. Your Honors, I knowq 
are familiar with the December Report.

Judge Parker: We are familiair with the December 
Report, yes.

Mr. P igg: In the Supplementary Report there is a brief 
summary of the December Report, showing what had been 
done up to that time, which is in Paragraph 3 of this Sup­
plementary Report.
[fol. 514] (Reading) “ That in said Report it was also 
shown that the school trustees of School District No. 1 had 
prepared, approved and adopted a school house construc­
tion program, based upon a comprehensive survey of the 
educational needs of the district; had already let the con­
struction contract for the complete remodelling of the 
Scott’s Branch Elementary School for Negro pupils and the 
construction of the Scott’s Branch High School for Negro 
high school pupils; had caused plans to be prepared for the 
construction of the two other elementary schools for Negro 
pupils recommended in said survey and included in said plan 
and program; had made application for priority for the 
critical materials required in such construction; had insti­
tuted school bus transportation for all pupils in the district 
(no such transportation had theretofore been furnished

273



274

to any pupils of either race in School District No. 22); 
had equalized all teachers’ salaries in the district by local 
supplements; and had brought about complete equalization 
of curricula in the white and Negro schools in the district.

“ That in said Report it was also shown that, pending 
occupancy of the new and remodelled schoolhouses afore­
said, the school district had expended the sum of $21,522.81 
for school furniture and equipment in the Negro schools and 
for improvements thereto, as a result of which efficient 
education is being afforded to the pupils in the construction 
[fol. 515] interval, and the existing situation as to school 
facilities is no different from that which inevitably occurs 
whenever major schoolhouse construction and remodelling 
is engaged in by a school system.

“ That in said Report the enrolled school population of 
the consolidated district, School District No. 1, was given 
on the basis of the then available enrollment figures as 
2,568 Negro school children and 298 white school children, 
whereas the current figures as of February 25, 1952, are 
2,799 enrolled Negro school children and 295 enrolled white 
school children, with average daily attentanee of Negro 
school children of 2,003 and average daily attendance of 
white school children of 269. That the 1952 enrolled Negro 
high school pupils is 360, 200 of whom are enrolled in Scott’s 
Branch School, 109 in St. Paul School, 30 in Maggie Nel­
son School, and 21 in Felton Rosenwald School. That the 
figure of 197 enrolled Negro high school pupils given in 
said Report referred only to those attending the Scott’s 
Branch School.

“ That since the filing of said Report, the plans for the 
two new Negro elementary schools recommended in the sur­
vey and included in the district’s plan and program, one in 
the St. Paul area to be known as the St. Paul Elementary 
School and the other in the Rogers area to be known as the 
Spring Hill Elementary School, have been completed and 
[fol. 5i6] approved by the State Educational Finance Com­
mission; the district’s application for priority in the allot­
ment of critical materials required in the construction of 
these schools has been granted by the appropriate Fed­
eral agency; and the district has advertised in the press 
for bids on the construction contracts to build said school- 
houses.



275

“ That since the filing of said Report, the school trustees 
of School District No. 1 recommended in writing to the 
General Assembly the enactment of legislation empowering 
them and the Treasurer of Clarendon County to issue and 
sell bonds of the district in a sum not exceeding the dis­
trict’s debt limitation (which, as mentioned in said Report, 
is now, as a result of a 1951 constitutional amendment, 
30% of the district’s assessed valuation instead of the 
8% limitation generally applicable under the Constitu­
tional provision in reference thereto in the State Constitu­
tion) ; that such enabling legislation was introduced in the 
form shown by House Bill No. 2065, a printed copy of which 
is hereto attached as a part hereof; and that such legisla­
tion was duly enacted in said form and was signed by His 
Excellency, the Honorable James F. Byrnes, Governor of 
South Carolina, on March 1, 1952, as shown by copy of 
‘An Act to Provide for the Issuance of Bonds of School 
District 1 in Clarendon County in a Sum not Exceeding the 
Constitutional Limit for School Purposes and to Provide 
[fol. 517] for the Payment of Same,’ duly certified by the 
Secretary of State of South Carolina, which certified copy 
is herewith filed.

‘ ‘ That in the action which has been and is being taken by 
the defendants to carry out the order of this Court dated 
June 21, 1951, they have utilized to the maximum the 
financial resources available to them under said Act No. 
379 of the Acts of 1951, which made available for the first 
time State aid for constructing school facilities; that under 
said Act School District No. 1 has had building projects 
for Negro schools approved in the total amount of $516,- 
960.00, as shown by letter of E. R. Crow, Director of the 
State Educational Finance Commission, to Governor 
Byrnes, dated February 15, 1952, which is hereto attached 
as a part hereof, and which also shows the building projects 
approved under said Act in a number of other counties of 
the State in the comparatively short time since the organi­
zation of the State Educational Finance Commission and 
the court decisions upholding the validity of the legisla­
tion, there being projects for Negro school construction 
totalling $5,515,619.15 (73.4% of the total) and projects for 
white school construction totalling $1,992,018.00 (26.6% 
of the total) approved and under way to date.



276

“ That the defendants respectfully show that with the 
State aid approved for School District No. 1, as aforesaid, 
and the district’s authority to borrow on its faith and credit 
[fol. 518] under the 1952 Act aforesaid, they are confident 
that they have the financial resources to carry through the 
construction plan and program which they have adopted 
and which they are carrying out as expeditiously as pos­
sible ; and that when the said plan and program has been 
fully carried out they verily believe that equal educational 
facilities, equipment, curricula, and opportunities will 
exist for all school children in the district alike; and that 
steps have been taken by them to see that equal education 
will be afforded to all school children in the district in 
existing physical facilities during the completion of the 
district’s construction and remodelling program, so that 
conditions in said period will be no different from those 
always existing in any school system during a period of 
substantial new construction and remodelling.

“ That the defendants are acting in good faith not only 
to afford the equality directed to be furnished by them in 
the decree of June 21, 1951, but also to build up the system 
of public schools in said School District No. 1 and de­
velop and expand the educational opportunities and ad­
vantages enjoyed by the school children of both races 
therein on an equal basis; and as evidence of their good 
faith they stand ready to file such additional Reports 
in this cause as the Court may direct, showing the comple­
tion of their action in carrying out the said decree. ’ ’
[fol. 519] Judge Parker: The Report has been tendered 
and will be filed. Do you offer any further evidence in 
support of the Report? As I understand this hearing, we 
are here primarily to consider the Report. Do you have any 
evidence you want to offer in support of it?

Mr. Pigg: We will offer such evidence as the Court might 
think it would care to hear, your Honor, but we have not 
come prepared to do that. We thought we were just re­
porting the facts. In other words, we have tendered that 
Supplementary Report because, since we are meeting in 
March, we did not want to come in here and stand on the 
December Report and have you ask us: “ What have you 
been doing since December?”  Now, what has happened 
since December is that the inchoate activities in the De­



277

cember Report, which, we could only prophesy to some ex­
tent at that time, have now been made a reality. The other 
two Negro elementary schools, the bids of the contractors to 
build them have been duly advertised. I don’t recall just 
when the bids will be let.

The legislation, which the December Report showed to be 
necessary to approve the financial ability of the District 
to carry through its adopted program, has now been 
enacted without qualification or condition or contingency, 
and these Trustees are empowered now to employ the 
financial resources to the full constitutional extent of the 
faith and credit of the district, so that today we stand in a 
[fol. 520] position of telling the Court that everything 
which is included in the program adopted by this district, 
which they showed in December they believed would pro­
duce compliance with the Court’s decree, is now actually 
under way. It is not in the planning stage. It is not in the 
stage where the defendants have to tell the Court, for in­
stance, that they will ask the General Assembly to pass 
enabling legislation.

So that today the whole program is actually a reality 
and underway in a practical sense. Now, that is what this 
Report does. It says there is no longer any prognostication 
about the future. If the program will produce equality 
of facilities, that equality is every day being provided. As 
far as curricula is concerned, that was equalized immedi­
ately, and the other things that were mentioned in the 
December Report. So that the only thing that today re­
mains in anything but a completed status are the schools, 
both elementary and high schools. The contractors had 
255 days to build the high school, but that contract was 
let last fall and that school will be in existence for the next 
school year. The two Negro elementary schools are pres­
ently being advertised for construction contracts. As 
we pointed out in the December Report, nothing has been 
done by the Trustees as yet toward providing for the new 
white elementary school, which was recommended in the 
survey in the place of the Summerton Elementary School, 
[fol. 521] which is practically in a state beyond repair. 
But the reason why the Trustees have gone into the con­
struction, which they have reported to the Court, is that 
the State Educational Finance Commission, carrying out



278

the 1951 Act, laid down certain criteria. They required 
so much needed consolidation, and as a result, in Claren­
don County, instead of 34. school districts, that County 
now has 3, one of which we are talking about today.

Another important condition that they attach to ap­
proval for State aid for capital construction is that no 
schoolhouse should be provided which has less than one 
teacher for each grade taught. And this plan therefore took 
up, first, the problem of getting all of the schoolhouses 
of this district on that basis, and the construction in this 
program will give modern schools, having ample school­
rooms and a teacher for each grade taught in all of the 
Negro schools in the seven districts, which have been 
consolidated into School District No. 1.

Now, we think the pupils in the remaining schools of 
School District No. 22, as soon as this Scott’s Branch re­
modelling and new construction is through, will have at 
least equal schools. Actually, they probably will have the 
best schools, because the newest is always the best. And 
the pupils who resided in these other districts to the ex­
tent that they now have an enrollment of 2799, as compared 
[fol. 522] with the 295 white enrollment, will all have 
modern schools with ample schoolrooms, ample furniture, 
ample facilities, ample aids to education of every kind 
on a modern basis, approved by the State Educational 
Finance Commission and the State Department of Edu­
cation, and there will not be a single pupil in the district, 
white or Negro, who will be attending a school where there 
is less than a teacher for each grade taught. There will 
be no more one, two, four, or other teacher schools, except 
that the younger, primary schools are permitted, under 
the State Educational Finance Commission criteria, to 
have a three-grade school for primary children, closer 
to where they live, with three teachers. They have got to 
meet the one teacher for each grade taught test. But that 
is the only exception under those criteria. And when we 
have measured up to that, and that is what the plan calls 
for, this will be a modern and complete public school 
system for all alike.

Judge Parker: Mr. Marshall, what do you say?
Mr. Marshall: May it please the Court, it is our position 

on the report, that we do not question anything in the



279

report. So far as we know, it is accurate. The points 
that we do not know about, we are perfectly willing to 
take the word of responsible officials of the State. So 
that insofar as the report is concerned, we are willing to 
face the report as being accurate and true, and we make no 
[fob 523] objection, and we do not question anything in 
the report.

Judge Parker: Now, do I understand you to say that 
you admit that the defendants are acting in good faith 
and. are proceeding to equalize conditions as required by 
the decree entered here on June 21?

Mr. Marshall: I take this position, sir: That they are pro­
ceeding towards eventual physical equalization, equalization 
of the physical facilities, with the realization that none of 
us can actually be certain of what will happen in the future 
but in saying that I do not question that they do intend 
to equalize the physical facilities, so far as the report is 
concerned, I do not agree that it meets the order of June, 
because the order itself said that they should proceed to 
furnish equal facilities, and they are not yet furnishing 
equal facilities. They are proceeding to lay the plans 
for the buildings which will eventually furnish equal facili­
ties.

Judge Parker: Well, none of us can build a building 
overnight. The question is whether or not they are pro­
ceeding in good faith to do what they can to equalize con­
ditions.

Mr. Marshall: To build equal facilities, but if I could 
just for a moment, sir------

Judge Parker: Well, I understand you do not admit 
that any conditions exist that require segregation, I 
[fol. 524] understand that.

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir, that is right.
Judge Parker: But that has been ruled on by the Coirrt. 

What we are considering now is the question: Whether the 
physical facilities, curricula, and the other things that 
can be made equal, without the segregation issue, are being 
made equal ?

Mr. Marshall: I think, sir, that the order of the Su­
preme Court was to consider what had happened on this 
report, and I believe that the Gaines case, followed by the 
Sipuel case, together say that the facilities must be equal



280

at the time of the suit, at least. The Sipuel ease, your 
Honors will remember------

Judge Parker: If the Supreme Court had taken that 
view, there wouldn’t have been any sense in sending the 
case back to us, because we stated that the conditions 
were not equal at that time, and we directed that they 
be made equal. If the Supreme Court had taken your 
view, there wouldn’t have been any use or sense in sending 
it back to us. The only thing necessary to do would be 
to reverse us.

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir, but I also think it is significant 
that the Court did not just send it back. The Court also 
vacated the June judgment.

Judge Parker: Well, they vacated the June judgment 
so that we will have full power to enter any order that 
[fol. 525] was appropriate. I have learned what they 
were doing there. In Duke Power Company vs. Greenwood 
■County, the case was remanded without the vacation of 
the order, and the Supreme Court said that that was not 
the proper procedure, that if you remanded a case for 
the lower Court to do anything, you must vacate the order.

Judge Dobie: What do you think we ought to do, Mr. 
Marshall? I mean, what this Court ought to do sitting 
here today?

Mr. Marshall: The minimum, I should say, sir, would 
be that the Court say that as of the present time tlye 
facilities are not equal, the physical facilities are not 
equal. At this stage I am not talking about the other testi­
mony in the case. I am just talking about the physical 
facilities. Under the Sipuel case and the Gaines case, and, 
as a matter of fact, the two cases in the Fourth Circuit, 
both the Corbin case and the Garter case, they must furnish 
these equal facilities as of now, either in the building 
of schools and showing that they are completely equal, 
or destroy the segregation pattern, which were the grounds 
for it in the Gaines case, about the admissibility of the 
law segregating the races. And I think, sir, and I would 
urge the Court,—and we have a memorandum on it which 
I was going to submit if we had argument,—that if this 
Court lets the matter stand as it now stands, then the 
[fol. 526] Federal Court is in the position of policing,



281

or supervising, or whatever word is used, the school hoard, 
that is, the defendants in this case.

Judge Parker: No, we very frequently issue directions 
to the parties before us under the National Labor Rela­
tions Act. We are not policing collective bargaining. We 
are directing them to bargain, and if they do not bargain, 
we will put them in jail. Now, what wTe have directed 
these people to do is to equalize conditions. We under­
stand that you can’t build a schoolhouse between suns. 
It takes some time to do it. They have got to raise the 
money and they have got to do it, but we intended, 
.when we entered that order, for them to proceed in good 
faith and to do it as quickly as possible. Now, the ques­
tion is : Are they doing it as quickly as possible ?

Mr. Marshall: I might say, sir, that every day they 
are not equal, these plaintiffs are losing rights, for which 
they cannot be adequately compensated.

Judge Dobie: Well, what can we do about that? It is 
fairly obvious,—I will take judicial notice of it, that you 
can’t have teachers in schools before you have schools. 
Now, if these defendants in this case have done every­
thing that they reasonably could do to carry out the decree 
of the Court, they can’t do any more at this stage, can 
they ?
[fol. 527] Mr. Marshall: No, sir, they cannot physically 
do more. It is impossible for them to build those schools 
overnight.

Judge Timmerman: Well, do you want us to put them in 
jail for not doing something that you know they can’t do?

Mr. Marshall: It is something they can do, sir. They 
could break down the segregation.

Judge Dobie: Let that alone.
Judge Parker: That is the same question.
Mr. Marshall: Then, as I say, sir, at the present time 

there is no relief that we can get that would be adequate 
if that question is closed. We are not responsible for this. 
This is not a case where plaintiff through his own actions 
has put himself in a position. The defendants in this case 
knew about this and the requirement that equal facilities 
had to be furnished. They, at least, knew it as far back 
as the Gaines case in 1938, and they made no effort to 
equalize. They made no effort to do anything until this



282

lawsuit was filed. Now, we end up with the clear under­
standing and agreement on all sides that we are being 
denied fundamental constitutional rights. We also recog­
nize that every day that the Negroes are required to go to 
the unequal schools, their constitutional rights are being 
violated, and it is not a question of group rights, that even­
tually the school will be so assembled. Take, for example, 
[fol. 528] the seniors in those schools. I don’t care, what 
happens in the next year, their rights have been irrevocably 
harmed, and there is nothing they can do about it. The 
State of South Carolina and the defendants in this case 
are offering a certain number of years of education to the- 
children in the County, and every year the Negro loses an 
equal education, he loses that much education, concrete edu­
cation, and there is no way to get that back. Now, the ques­
tion that they will eventually be equalized, if T might say, 
sir, is the question that came up all along. In the Gaines 
case, on the professional school level, the decision was, it 
seems to me, as I read it, that the State of Missouri could 
either set up on equal law school or admit Gaines into the 
existing law school.

Judge Timmerman: Let me asked you this: Do you con­
tend that in the white schools in this district, the original 
District 22, that the buildings and the facilities and the 
teachers are sufficient to absorb all of the Negro pupils 
in the other schools?

Mr. Marshall: No, sir.
Judge Timmerman: Well now, if we ordered them to ab­

sorb them and it is a physical impossibility and we know 
they are not going to do it, then the only alternative 
we leave them is to close up and give neither white nor 
colored any educational advantages.
[fol. 529] Mr. Marshall: No, sir, that is not------

Judge Timmerman: How is that going to help those 
whom you represent?

Mr. Marshall: That is not my idea, sir. My idea is that 
they merely say, “ We will not assign students to these 
schools on a racial basis. We will assign them on any 
other basis.”

Judge Timmerman: If you do that, won’t you inevitably 
have inequality?



283

Mr. Marshall: You will have inequality and there is noth­
ing in the Constitution—

Judge Timmerman: Well, isn’t that what you are com­
plaining about?

Mr. Marshall: No, sir. We are complaining about in­
equality because of race or color. Inequality doesn’t exist, 
inequality never existed in a democratic form of govern­
ment, but the only inequality that we are arguing about, 
which the Supreme Court has repeatedly banned, is 
inequality on the basis of race. There are no two equal 
schools that I know of any place, unless they are both built 
simultaneously, and the children can be assigned to those 
schools on any logical basis, but the only thing we complain 
of is that you can’t take a good school and a bad school and 
arbitrarily say that the Negro has to go to the bad 
school. The Negro might end up in the bad school, but 
[fol. 530] he can’t end up in there because of race or color. 
That is our position. It would not mean that they will 
all have to go in the same school. They would take the 
good facilities and the bad facilities and send the children 
to them without assignment on the basis of race.

Judge Dobie: Now, in the light of what you said, may 
I ask my question: What do you think we should do?

Mr. Marshall: I think, sir, in my argument------
Judge Dobie: Yes, you made a long argument, but you 

haven’t made the faintest suggestion as to what you think 
we should do.

Mr. Marshall: My suggestion, is, sir, that an order be 
entered that the facilities are not yet equal under the con­
stitution and under the order of June, either one.

Judge Dobie: That was admitted in the original trial, 
wasn’t it?

Judge Timmerman: How wrould that differ from what 
was entered in the original order?

Mr. Marshall: I was going further, sir. And therefore 
under the Gaines and Sipuel decisions, the rules of the 
defendants which prohibit the Negro children in that County 
from going to the only school where they can get equal 
facilities must be enjoined, and at the same time the 
policy of segregation must end.

Judge Dobie: In other words, you want us to strike down 
[fol. 531] segregation.



284

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir. But at this stage, 1 am trying-1 
to stay within the framework of the June order. I am 
not saying to strike it down on the basis of segregation 
per se, but on the basis that the facilities that are being 
offered the Negroes are not equal as of today.

Judge Parker: Well now, on the framework of the June 
order, this is what was said in the Opinion of that case, 
and this is what the majority of the Court concurred 
in and what the Supreme Court had before it when it 
remanded the case: “ It is argued that because the school 
facilities furnished Negroes in District No. 22 are inferior 
to those furnished white persons, we should enjoin segre­
gation rather than direct the equalizing of conditions.”  
That is precisely the argument that you are making now. 

“ Inasmuch as we think that the law requiring segregation 
is valid, however, and that the inequality suffered by 
plaintiffs results not from the law but from the way it has 
been administered, we think that our injunction should be 
directed to removing the inequalities resulting from ad­
ministration within the framework of the law rather than 
to nullifying the law itself. As a Court of Equity, we should 
exercise our power to assure to plaintiffs the equality of 
treatment, to which they are entitled, with due regard 
for the legislative policy of the State. In directing that 
[fol. 532] the school facilities afforded Negroes within the 
district be equalized promptly with those afforded white 
persons, we are giving plaintiffs all the relief that they 
can reasonably ask and the relief that is ordinarily granted 
in eases of this sort. See Corbin vs. County School Board 
of Arlington County, Virginia, 182 Fed. 2d, 531. The 
Court should not use its power to abolish segregation in a 
State where it is required by law if the equality demanded 
by the Constitution can be attained otherwise. This much 
is demanded by the spirit of comity which must prevail 
in the relationship between the agencies of the Federal Gov­
ernment and the States if our constitutional system is 
to endure.”  Now, it seems to me that we faced the very 
question that you are making right there and said what 
we thought about it. Don’t you think so?

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir. I think you did, sir.
Judge Parker: And that was before the Supreme Court, 

and if the Supreme Court had thought we were wrong about



285

that, the Supreme Court should have reversed us. But 
instead of doing that, they sent it back for us to consider 
this report which we had ordered to be made six months 
after the entry of the decree.

Mr. Marshall: Might I suggest, sir, it could have been 
that the Supreme Court might be interested in finding out 
whether or not the physical facilities were now equal, as 
of today.
[fob 533] Judge Dobie: Mr. Marshall, the Supreme Court 
knew on that record that not even God, unless He performed 
a miracle, could equalize in six months. You couldn’t build 
all of those schools in six months anywhere in the world, 
could you?

Mr. Marshall: No, sir, but------
Judge Dobie: All that is required is that these people 

take reasonable steps, in good faith, to do all that they can, 
so far as in their power may lie, to proceed towards this 
equalization. Isn’t that true?

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir. If I might draw an analogy. In 
the Sipuel case, the Supreme Court took the same position, 
that Oklahome couldn’t set up a law school overnight. Yet 
Oklahoma did try to do it. They tried to set up one within 
a week, but it didn’t work. And I might say, sir, in the 
Corbin case and in the Carter case, both of those cases 
were brought back in court on a motion for further relief. 
And we are still being denied our rights under those de­
cisions, and I don’t know how long it will go on. I think 
that we are in the same position with the elementary school 
case that we were in with the law school case and the Sweatt 
case.

Judge Parker: Am I correct in thinking that the curricu­
lum has been equalized? I understood your adversary to 
say that.
[fol. 534] Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.

Judge Parker: The curriculum has been equalized. That 
is to say, the colored child can study the same subjects that 
the white child can study, but as of now, the buildings are 
not as good, and they are preparing to build new buildings 
for the colored children, which will give them better schools 
really than the white children have over there. Now, isn’t 
that so?



Mr. Marshall: That they say, sir. I don’t know whether 
they will be better or not.

Judge Parker: Well, new ones are generally better.
Mr. Marshall: But if your Honor pleases, it is still my 

position that the rights we are alleging here are personal 
and individual rights. They are not group rights. The 
question as to what Clarendon County and the defendants 
in this case are going to do for the Negro race in the future 
is not an issue in this case. The issue in this case is the 
rights of these plaintiffs, and these plaintiffs,—some of 
whom graduate this year, some of whom are in the upper 
brackets in the classes,—they are being denied these rights 
every single day, and they are not the type of rights which 
are usually the subject of discretion of an Equity Court. 
They are constitutional, protected rights, and whether we 
take Plessy vs. Ferguson, or whether we take Sweatt and 
[fol. 535] McLaurin, the rule is the same, that the facilities 
are either equal or they are being denied their constitu­
tional rights. If wTe throw aside the segregation point for 
the moment, we are still faced with the point that the 
plaintiffs in this case, regardless of what the defendants 
will do in the future, regardless of what they have already 
done or put in words, that it will be a time before they will 
get their rights.

Judge Dobie: Well, what can we do, Mr. Marshall?
Mr. Marshall: Order them to stop depriving them of 

their rights nowr by the policy of segregation.
Judge Dobie: It all goes back to that.
Judge Parker: Do you imagine that right here—this is 

March. Do you imagine that the colored children, who have 
been going to the colored schools over there for four or 
five months now, would switch over and go to the white 
school right in the middle of the term?

Mr. Marshall: Some of them would still stay there, sir.
Judge Parker: Wouldn’t all of them stay there? I went 

to high school once,—it was a long time ago, but the idea 
of switching high schools in the middle of the term never 
occurred to me as a practical thing.

Mr. Marshall: If the curricula of the twTo schools were 
identical, it wouldn’t be any problem. They would probably 
[fol. 536] be on the exact same day’s work.

Judge Timmerman: If they were already filled up,



287

wouldn’t there be a problem of sitting somebody on some­
body else’s lap?

Mr. Marshall: No, sir, it would be a problem of shifting 
some of the white children by district lines, or what-liave- 
you, and mixing them, or sharing the school equally. It 
might be that they wouldn’t all go to the white school.

Judge Timmerman: Well, which ones would go there?
Mr, Marshall: That would be up to the school board to 

determine, and they could use any rule except race.
Judge Timmerman: That would be discrimination, 

wouldn’t it?
Mr. Marshall: Not unless it is on race.
Judge Timmerman: According to your contention, that 

would be discrimination. If a part of them were dis­
criminated against and a part of them not, do you think 
that would meet the law?

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir, because in New York, for example, 
there are schools that are the finest schools in the world and 
there are other schools that are the most dilapidated build­
ings in the country, but there is no discrimination. That is 
barred by the constitution.

Judge Timmerman: But I thought you said this is an 
[fob 537] individual right.

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.
Judge Timmerman: If it is an individual right and if 

A and B are both being discriminated against, if you 
stopped discriminating against B, would that satisfy the 
complaint of A?

Mr. Marshall: Not if it is on the basis of race.
Judge Timmerman: Well, it doesn’t do it on any basis, 

does it?
Mr. Marshall: But the constitution has said that there 

must be a reasonable basis, and if the school board assigns 
a certain group of children to a dilapidated school on an 
unreasonable basis, then it is in violation of the 14th Amend­
ment, but there has to be a showing that it is unreasonable.

Judge Parker : I would like to ask Mr. Figg, when do you 
anticipate that the Scotts Branch High School will be com­
pleted? What do the plans indicate?

Mr. Figg: The architects, I think, wrote the other day
18—101



288

that the contract calls for 255 days, and that will expire in 
Aug’ust.

Judge Parker: August of this year?
Mr. Figg: Yes, sir.
Judge Parker: Does that mean that when the school 

opens in September, the Scotts Branch school will be ready 
[fol. 538] for occupancy?

Mr. Figg: Yes, sir, it will be in full operation. That is 
my understanding. The contractor will turn it over in 
August, arid it will be equipped and ready to go in Septem­
ber.

Judge Parker: Can’t you get that in the record? I think 
that is a very important fact, and it ought to be stated more 
than just by hearsay.

(Mr. Figg confers with associates)
Judge Dobie: You can’t tell about the teachers and all 

of that, of course, until the schools are completed.
Mr. Marshall: I am sorry, sir, I did not hear you.
Judge Dobie: I say, you can’t tell about the teachers 

assigned, and equality, and all of that until the schools are 
completed.

Mr. Marshall: Oh, no, sir, not until the schools are com­
pleted.

Judge Timmerman: You have made no attack on the 
teachers, have you?

Mr. Marshall: No, sir.
Judge Timmerman: It was my understanding that you 

had not.
Judge Dobie: As I observed in the Richmond case the 

other -way, I am not an expert in Education. I only had 
42 years’ experience, and I never had a course in Practice 
[fol. 539], Teaching. It just seems to me that all through 
these cases there has been an undue stress on buildings 
and on facilities. For example, I went to a high school in 
Norfolk some years ago, and there wasn’t a teacher in there 
that had ever taken a course in Education. There wasn’t an 
Educator in any way connected with the school, and there 
wasn’t any one of them who had studied these modern psy­
chological courses, and of course you know what the net 
result was. I think it was the finest high school that they 
have ever had in the South! And why? Because every one



289

of them were magnificent teachers and they taught because 
they were born that way!

Mr. Marshall: Might I say, sir, that my high school 
mathematics teacher had one year above high school and 
she had the reputation of being the best mathematics teacher 
in that area, and she was without a doubt the best.

Judge Dobie: Yes. I am frank to say that all through 
this movement and all, I would like to see this teacher thing 
stressed much more than the buildings, not that I don’t 
think that the buildings are important, but I think the 
teacher is the big thing. There is more caught than is 
caught against the log. j

Mr. Marshall: I think, sir, that there are a lot of people 
in the world today who, you might say, taught themselves.

Judge Dobie: There is a whole lot in that. But that is 
[fol. 540] not practical now, Mr. Marshall. We all know 
that. But there is a good deal in it.

Mr. Marshall: I know quite a few who are good examples 
of it.

Judge Dobie: And some of them had magnificent teachers.
Judge Parker: All right, go-’ ahead.
Mr. Figg: Your Honor, in the December Report, we 

stated that it would be ready for the next school year. We 
did not give the exact date, but I would like to ask the 
Court’s leave to file a certificate in the record from the 
architects, who are supervising the construction, as to the 
terms of the contract1 and the completion date provided in 
there. I know it is 255 days from last fall.

Judge Parker: I think that we ought to have some assur­
ance that the school is going to be completed and completed 
promptly. If it is goings to be completed this fall, that is 
about as soon as could reasonably be expected.

Mr. Figg: We will file the information, the specific re­
quirement of the contract is that it be completed in 255 days 
from the starting day, and the architects will give a progress 
report that will show when that will happen.

Judge Timmerman: Furnish the other side with a copy, 
[fol. 541] Mr. Figg: Yes, sir.

Judge Parker: You have no objection?
Mr. Marshall: No, sir.
Judge Parker: Mr. Marshall, do you have anything to say



290

as to that? Do you question that the school will be available 
this fall?

Mr. Marshall: Assuming everything goes along, certainly, 
sir, I have no question about it. I believe the responsible 
officials and what they say. I am perfectly willing to con­
cede now that the point is correct, but I think for the sake of 
the record, it would be good to have the certificate.

Mr. Figg: My information is that it is over 40% com­
pleted now.

Judge Parker: The new building is 40% completed at this 
time?

Mr. Figg: Yes, sir.
Judge Parker: I think that ought to go in the record, 

because it will probably go back to the Supreme Court, and 
they will want to know exactly what is going’ on. All right, 
Mr. Marshall, do you want to say anything further about it ?

Mr. Marshall: No, sir. The only other point that I wanted 
to make on this original point that I started on is : That 
assuming the building is built, and assuming that they build 
a white school next year, we might be right back in court 
[fol. 542] again. And the only point I make on that is : That 
if we stick to the physical equality point alone, I think we 
will be in the same position as we were with the law school 
case. In the Corbin case for example, and in the Pulaski 
County case in Virginia, in that particular case the opinion 
was perfectly clear. The lower Court issued its order that 
facilities should be equalized. They were not equalized and 
we are back in court for further relief. In our motion for 
further relief we are raising the point which we knew we 
would eventually have to raise, which is, that in these cases 
the physical equality is such a varying thing from day to 
day, and it does not meet the constitution—the 14th Amend­
ment. And that is why I do, at least, urge the Court to go 
as far as the Sipuel and the Gaines cases, which is that the 
equality must be furnished now, and in the absence of 
equality, not because the segregation laws as such are in­
valid, but on the point that the facilities that are furnished 
are not equal. Then you cannot use them for the purpose of 
segregation. And that is the only point that we urge at this 
time. And that is about all on that, unless there are some 
more questions.



291

Judge Parker: Do you want to say anything else, Mr. 
Piggf

Mr. Figg: Just this, if your Honor pleases: I think that 
fundamentally counsel’s argument gets back on every phase 
[fol. 543] of the matter to the main question which he said 
was present in this case, which is the constitutionality of the 
State Constitution and statute demanding separate schools 
for the school children in the State. As far as the suggestion 
that the right was personal and that it means now is con­
cerned, it is obvious to the Court from the record in this 
case that that would not mean theoretically now, because it 
is impossible to find schools to order for the school children 
to be admitted to. We argued that in Charleston in June, 
and I think the Court understood from the record that you 
can’t put 2800 colored children and 295 white children in 
schools built for 295 white children. It would be impossible. 
And when the petitioners in this case and the motion here 
ask that an order be made to admit petitioners to the only 
schools where they can get the same education as the white 
children, which is another way of saying, “ to the white 
schools, ’ ’ there aren’t any white schools that could accom­
modate them. Probably the worst school in the whole dis­
trict is the white school, the Summerton Elementary School. 
It just happens to have a teacher for each grade. And for 
that reason, the Trustees have not gone into remodelling 
that school until they have eliminated the schools that do not 
have a teacher for each grade.

Now, as we see it, if your Honors please, this district is 
not going to furnish the difficulties to counsel that some of 
[fol. 544] the other cases have,—that he said they have 
faced in their other cases, because this is almost entirely a 
colored school district, as you can see from the figures, and 
the schools that are being built are colored schools, and there 
will always be a great number of schools, sizeable schools, 
in this district, and they will be for the colored children. I 
do not believe that a Court of Equity, under the State Con­
stitution and statute, providing for separate schools, is 
called upon even to exercise the discretion of a Court of 
Equity to say that there is a lack of schools. It isn’t that 
the children are assigned arbitrarily. You take the worst 
school and you take the best school, and you see what has 
happened, The schools have grown up where the people



292

live, and in this district almost everyone there, the great 
majority, ten to one in the school population, are colored. 
And there are a lot of schoolhouses all through the country­
side there where these colored people live, and then in the 
center of the district perhaps you. have a comparatively few 
of the white population. And where you have a white popu­
lation, you have a white school to come up. Now, unfortu­
nately back in the WPA days, they got ambitious and built 
a white high school that had brick veneer, because they had 
a lot of uneasiness among some of the other people. But 
these schools came into being under the operation of educa- 
[fol. 545] tional supply and demand. As the demand began 
to increase, the schools began to increase.

And actually, when you talk about the time that this school 
district had to equalize, the people there also had the same 
time to complain, and this is the first time that a complaint 
was ever made that the facilities for the colored pupils were 
not satisfactory. And we think that the program, with the 
aid of the State of South Carolina, that these Trustees have 
gone into, which in effect, your Honor, is almost six times as 
broad—not quite that much in proportion, but certainly it 
covers now seven school districts instead of the one con­
cerned in this case, is producing and building education, and 
educational facilities, and educational opportunities for the 
colored children in that district. Now, counsel says, “ You 
have limited facilities.”  And I do not agree with him that 
one has been assigned to one and one to another. That 
happened to be the residence, and that happened to be the 
way the communities produced their school demands and 
school construction in the past. We all know that. But to 
talk about just sprinkling the children among all of the 
schools in the district, regardless of whether they are near 
their residence, or where they live, to take white children out 
of Summerton and send them out to the far reaches of the 
district, just to be sure that you have so many colored and so 
many white there------
[fol. 546] Judge Dobie: There is nothing in the record, is 
there, to show that a situation like this would arise: Here 
are two schools, one for the colored and one for the white, 
under the South Carolina Constitution, and we will say that 
the schools are of equal size and the population is about



equal. There is nothing in the record to show—well, we have 
got two school- here, and School A is a verj  ̂ much better 
school than School B, so of course we will give that to the 
whites and give the other to the colored. There is nothing 
to indicate that, is there 1

Mr. F igg: No, sir. And learned counsel on the other side, 
I think, argued the restrictive covenant case of Shelley vs. 
Cramer, and he convinced the Court there that you did not 
achieve equal protection of the laws by the indiscriminate 
imposition of inequality, and that is what he is arguing be­
fore you here today. That is not the way to achieve equal 
protection of the laws under the Constitution of South Caro­
lina and its statute. The way to do it is just what this Court 
ordered in June. This Court took a practical view of this 
thing in the light of history and of common knowledge as to 
how these conditions developed. There was no guile or evil 
design that caused the school system of this district to come 
into being. It came into being day by day and year by year 
as there began to be children who wanted to go to school, 
[fol. 547] Judge Dobie: I guess a lot of it is like Topsy, it 
just grew.

Mr. F igg: That is right, sir. And now we have a situa­
tion where these Trustees could achieve equality tomorrow 
by shutting up all of the schools, or they could achieve 
equality by slicing off the assets that one school may have 
over another. But these Trustees and the State of South 
Carolina under the leadership of our Governor and the far- 
reaching legislation passed last year, with the sales tax, and 
the educational requirements that have been promulgated 
by the Finance Commission, set up under the educational 
financing law, is building education. It wants to build edu­
cation. It is taxing the people to build it, and it is making 
provision here to show the good faith of the State. In its 
aid to the Counties, so far up to February 15, 1952, over 
three out of every four dollars spent out of the sales tax 
legislation have been spent for the construction of Negro 
schools in some County or another in South Carolina. And 
every dollar that this district has gotten out of the State and 
can get out of the State up to this waiting is being devoted to 
the construction of Negro schools and to the improvement of 
their education. That is not only in this district. That wall 
probably always be the case, that certainly nine out of ten



294

dollars that this district gets out of the State will have to go 
[fol. 548] for Negro school construction because nine out of 
ten pupils are Negroes. And if you ordered segregation to 
end tomorrow you would bring into existence in the schools 
of this district classrooms where the average would be, in a 
30-pupil classro-m, 3 white and 27 colored children. Now, 
we heard a lot about personality development down in 
Charleston. But under that situation, whose personality 
would be developed? There has been a lot of effort in this 
case to take a theoretical view of these rights, but funda­
mentally when counsel says that the rights are derived from 
the Constitution of the United States, the primary right is 
derived from the Constitution of the State of South Carolina 
and its statutes alone, and that is the existence of a public 
school system. That is not provided for by------

Judge Parker: All that is true, but you must take account 
of this: That under the 14th Amendment, all persons within 
the jurisdiction are entitled to the equal protection of the 
lawTs.

Mr. Figg: That is right, sir.
Judge Parker: And the equal protection of the laws 

means equal opportunity under the law.
Mr. F igg: That is right, sir. And the Supreme Court, for 

the first time, hearing the argument that you ought to shut 
down a white school because there was no corresponding 
colored school in the Cumming case, refused to do it, and 
ffol. 549] said that is not progress in education. And this 
Court has taken the spirit of that decision and written it into 
its June decree.

Now, we, in the utmost good faith and with expeditious­
ness that was difficult to achieve under existing conditions, 
and probably at the waste of a little money, went ahead and 
ordered the construction of the Scotts Branch High School 
and the Scotts Branch Elementary School to be remodelled. 
Your Honors will recall the testimony was that it was a good 
schoolhouse if it were improved. Well, they have improved 
it. That contract was immediately let. The only thing that 
really held it up was the inability to get critical materials.

We showed in the December Report that we were denied 
on October 15 materials to build that schoolhouse, and the 
report then shows that the Trustees then communicated with 
the Governor, who communicated with other people, and on



295

October 19 priority was granted. But on October 15, these 
trustees were told, “ You can’t get the material to build that 
school.”  Yet in four days, they had gotten that reversed, 
with the aid of the G-overnor of the State and representatives 
of the State in Washington. Now, that is an evidence of 
high, good faith. They didn’t sit down with that letter of 
October 15 and corde to court and say, ‘ ‘ Judge we can’t build 
the school. They won’t let us have the materials with which 
[fob 550] to do it.”  In four days they got that ruling 
reversed and within a few days after that, the contract was 
signed, and, as I say, in August it will be completed. We 
will file a statement to that effect from the architects. And 
in September it will be in operation. Now, we think that that 
is circumstantial evidence that corroborates completely that 
these Trustees have set to work to carry out this decree, and 
they are going to continue to do it and bring it into reality 
as soon as possible.

You will remember that after the order of June 21, there 
was still pending a decision of the Supreme Court of South 
Carolina, which case was argued early in June, on the con­
stitutionality of the legislation. Then later a case was 
brought before a Three-Judge Court in this district. It 
wasn’t much of a case, I don’t think, by the time it got to 
the Three-Judge Court, because the major question had 
already been settled by the Supreme Court of South Caro­
lina. But those two decisions, one of which was in July or 
August, the latter one,—those two decisions cleared the way 
for the financing of this program.

And by the end of October, or certainly by the first part 
or early part of November, this contract was signed. There 
was no effort made even to achieve economy in carrying out 
the order of the Court. And I feel pretty certain that when 
[fob 551] you rush into observing the Court’s decree as 
they did, with the difficulties of getting critical material, 
with the difficulties of financing, and with the necessity of 
having a survey before getting any money at all,—because 
you can’t get any money from the State Educational Fi­
nance Commission without a survey, and with the necessity 
of consolidation in the County,—you couldn’t get any money 
unless a consolidation occurred, so that all of those things 
were done and the contract signed by November 1 under a 
decree dated June 21,



296

Now, we think that they have shown good faith, certainly 
up to December. And we filed this Supplementary Report 
to show that they didn’t stop there. They have gone ahead 
now and brought into a concrete reality the things that they 
couldn’t say were real then. And when the smoke and dust 
blows away, the Negro pupils of this district will have a fine 
school system. They will have a fine physical system. They 
will have a fine educational system, and the education will 
be better for white and colored there when they get through 
than it is now or than it was when this suit started. It will 
be a progressive thing, and it is almost a 100% Negro School 
District.

So we respectfully submit, if your Honors please, the test 
being the good faith and the expeditiousness and zeal of the 
defendants in this cause, they have established that. And 
[fol. 552] I think counsel is quite correct in not questioning 
it. The statement of responsible school officials of the dis­
trict, and, as he says, of the State, is corroborated up to the 
hilt by the facts themselves. I don’t believe anybody could 
have done any better than they did. And I think a significant 
piece of evidence is what they did about that ruling of 
October 15 that they couldn ’t have the material to build the 
schoolhouse. They got that reversed in four days. They 
didn’t sit down and say, “ This is a windfall. We don’t 
have to do anything.”  They went to work, and four days 
later the Governor got the ruling reversed.

Judge Dobie: That is a right substantial achievement, 
when you get any department in Washington to change its 
decision in four days, particularly if the first decision was 
wrong. That is certainly an achievement.

Mr. Figg: We think that showed the good faith of the 
defendants. We think it showed the good faith of the State, 
because all the defendants could do was to turn to the 
Governor and say, “ We have met with this.”  And the State 
went into operation. This district couldn’t have done any­
thing about it, but the State of South Carolina, through its 
Chief Executive, went into the picture, and I don’t think 
that this district could have changed that decision in four 
days, but the resources of the State proved sufficient. But 
[fol. 553] from the standpoint of the defendants, they were 
not defendants who sat off in a country school district and



297

said, “ Well, this is fine. This keeps us from having to build 
a schoolhouse. ”

So if your Honors please, we respectfully submit that 
these defendants have done what this Court ordered to the 
best of their ability up to this writing. They have done it 
faster than I would have guessed under existing conditions 
in the construction industry, with the war, with the economy 
comparatively dislocated, and so forth and so on. And as 
far as the pupils in this suit are concerned, those that do 
not graduate this year will enter the best school in that 
district in September, because that School District 22 will 
be in it, and the other colored pupils in the other six districts, 
and there are only colored pupils in the other districts.

Judge Dobie: I suppose you contend that those who are 
graduating, however regrettable the situation is, it is just 
not practical to do anything substantial about it.

Mr. F igg: That is right, sir.
Judge Parker: What do you suggest? I want to ask Mr. 

Marshall the same thing. What do you suggest is a proper 
decree for this- Court to enter?

Mr. Figg: Well, I think that the decree could properly 
[fol. 554] state that the defendants have shown good faith 
in their actions to carry out the decree of June, and that 
while the end of their program has not yet been reached, 
they are well into it, and that they have shown to the Court 
not only the will and the intention of furnishing the equality 
directed by the Court, but on the face of the record they have 
shown the ability, the financial ability to do it.

Judge Dobie: Should the decree contain any clause such 
as the one requiring further reports? Would you object to 
incorporating in the decree that the Court retain jurisdic­
tion to see that in the future these worthwhile and worthy 
efforts should be continued?

Mr. Figg: Well, as we said in both reports, we stand 
ready to file any additional reports that the Court may direct 
us to file. We did not want to be presumptuous and suggest 
that.

Judge Dobie: Well, you have been fine on that. You were 
directed to file one report and bless my soul you have filed 
two of them. The supplemental one brings it right down to 
date.



298

Mr. Figg: Yes, sir. These Trustees are willing to file 
such reports as the Court directs them to do, because they 
will have more to report. But they hope in not too long a 
time to report that the job has been done.
[fol. 555] Judge Parker: I am wondering if this isn’t 
correct: There wasn’t any doubt in my mind about the 
finality of the other decree. I don’t think there is any doubt 
in the minds of most people, but some got an idea that it was 
not a final decree. These people are entitled to a review, and 
they are entitled to a review unequivocably. I am wonder­
ing if it wouldn’t be wise, regardless of any requirement 
about any additional reports,—if you do not comply with 
the order of the Court duly entered, we don’t have to retain 
jurisdiction to punish you for it.

Judge Dobie: As Mr. Robinson observed in the Richmond 
case that we heard last week, we went into it in great detail 
and it was very thoroughly explored, and I think it will 
probably present the most complete record,—and I think Mr. 
Robinson will agree with me, that has ever been up. Both 
sides consented that there be not incorporated in the decree 
a requirement that there be future reports; because as 
Judge Parker said, any time it is not complied with, the 
remedies are ample to deal with them in other ways.

Mr. Figg: We feel that what we are supposed to tell the 
Court is : That we are carrying out the decree in good faith, 
doing the best we can, as quickly as we can, and we think 
that success is well in sight. We think it might be a little 
presumptuous to come in and say: “ Now, tell us to file some 
more reports.”  We feel that we are going to do the right 
[fol. 556] thing. We feel that we are entitled to suggest at 
this time that the Court may assume that too, unless counsel 
brings the matter back.

Judge Parker: This is true: The decree having been 
vacated, any decree should contain the mandate or the 
requirement that you proceed to equalize conditions. There 
is no question about that.

Mr. Figg: Yes, sir.
Judge Parker: What do you think ought to be in the 

decree, Mr. Marshall?
Mr. Marshall: May it please your Honor, Judge Parker, 

I think the Supreme Court opinion said something about—- 
it sounded like a final order to me.



299

Judge Dobie: Well, the Supreme Court intimated, did it 
not, in that issue, that the Court’s decree was appealable 
and you had very properly appealed itf

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir.
Judge Parker: I think they considered it a final decree. 

I don’t think there is any question about it. The Supreme 
Court regarded our decree as a final decree, because if they 
had regarded it as an interlocutory decree, there wouldn’t 
have been any necessity to vacate it.

Mr. Marshall: Yes, sir. Another judgment entered at the 
conclusion of these proceedings may provide the basis for 
any further appeal.
[fob 557] Judge Parker: Yes.

Mr. Marshall: May it. please the Court, we of course at 
this stage have not waived our original position about ask­
ing for the injunction on specific grounds.

Judge Parker: I understand that.
Mr. Marshall: And on this particular point, the decree 

that we would suggest would be the one that I mentioned 
before, the one based on the inequality of the physical facili­
ties as of now, and that they be enjoined from enforcing the 
rules and regulations requiring segregation.

Judge Parker: What do you say about whether we should 
require them to make an additional report here?

Mr. Marshall: Oh, I don’t think so, sir.
Judge Parker: You don’t think that is necessary.
Mr. Marshall: No, sir. I think that if, for example, we 

end up with no more than this order and they do not equalize, 
we can come back into court at any time. 1 understand an 
Equity Court keeps jurisdiction over its own order. On that 
point, if I might just for a moment, Judge Dobie, on the 
question about assigning students that you mentioned to Mr. 
Figg, that the defendants didn’t deliberately assign the 
Negro children to the inferior school, the effect of it was just 
the same. They have a rule, which is under attack, which 
says that the Negroes must attend the Negro schools, and 
unequal schools are inferior schools. So it ends up, whether 
[fob 558] they set the school up first or the pupil, it still 
ends up with them standing here and admitting that they are 
spending money and building like mad to equalize. So ob­
viously they were unequal even without going into the 
record. If there are no further questions, sir, I think I have



300

completed. We do have a memorandum that we would like 
to hand up.

Judge Parker: All right. We would like to have that, 
yes.

Mr. Marshall: I say frankly, sir, it is nothing new. There 
is nothing new in it.

Judge Parker: All right. Do any of the other counsel 
desire to say anything? Do you desire to say anything 
over here?

Mr. P igg: I just want to say one more thing, your Honor, 
I don’t think it is necessary, but counsel has in the record a 
motion for judgment today, and he has supporting grounds, 
and in ground five he uses the phrase “ undisputed testi­
mony”  once or twice.

Judge Parker: Well, he is just making the same argument 
that he made before. That is all that means.

Mr. Pigg: We don’t want to concede that and let the 
statement go by unchallenged. We do dispute that.

Judge Parker: All right. Do you want to file any mem­
orandum ?
[fols. 559-561] Mr. Figg: No, sir.

Judge Parker: All right. You have got a printed copy of 
the act attached to the report, haven’t you?

Mr. F igg: Yes, sir. I have a copy of the bill. Here are 
two other certified copies (handing).

Judge Parker: You attached a copy of the bill and this is 
a certified copy that shows that the bill became a law?

Mr. Pigg: Yes, sir.
Judge Timmerman: Were there any amendments?
Mr. Figg: No, sir, there were no amendments at all.
Judge Parker: All right. Is there anything else?
(No response.)
Judge Parker: All right, we will adjourn the court sine 

die.

Reporter’s Certificate to foregoing transcript omitted in 
printing.



301

[fol. 562] [File endorsement omitted]

I n U nited  S tates D istrict Court

I concur:
A. M. Dobie, U. S. Circuit Judge.

I concur:
George Bell Timmerman, U. S. District Judge.

H arry B riggs, J r ., et al ., Plaintiffs, 
versus

R . W . E uliott, Chairman, J. D. Carson and G eorge K en ­
nedy , Members of the Board of Trustees of School Dis­
trict No.: 22, Clarendon County, S. C.; Summerton High 
School District, a body corporate; L, B. McCord, Superin­
tendent of Education for Clarendon County, and Chair­
man A. J. Plowden, W. E. Baker, Members of the County 
Board of Education for Clarendon County; and H. B. 
Betchman, Superintendent of School District No. 22, 
Defendants.

Opin io n— Filed March 13, 1952 
Heard March 3, 1952. Decided------

Before Parker and Dobie, Circuit Judges, and Timmerman,
District Judge

Harold R. Boulware, Spottswood Robinson, III, Robert L. 
Carter, Thurgood Marshall, Arthur Shores and A. T. 
Walden, for Plaintiffs; T. C. Callison, Attorney General 
of South Carolina, S. E. Rogers and Robert McC. Figgs, 
Jr., for Defendants.

[fol. 563] P arker , Circuit Judge:
On June 23, 1951, this court entered its decree in this 

cause finding that the provisions of the Constitution and 
Statutes of South Carolina requiring segregation of the 
races in the public schools are not of themselves violative of 
the Fourteenth Amendment of the federal Constitution, but 
that defendants had denied to plaintiffs rights guaranteed 
by that amendment in failing to furnish for Negroes in



302

School District 22 educational facilities and opportunities 
equal to those furnished white persons. That decree denied 
the application for an injunction abolishing segregation in 
the schools but directed defendants promptly to furnish 
Negroes within the district educational facilities and oppor­
tunities equal to those furnished white persons and to report 
to the court within six months as to the action that had been 
taken to effectuate the court’s decree. See Briggs v. Elliott, 
98 F. Supp. 529. Plaintiffs appealed from so much of the 
decree as denied an injunction that would abolish segrega­
tion and this appeal was pending in the Supreme Court of 
the United States when the defendants, on December 21, 
1951, filed with this court the report required by its decree, 
which report was forwarded to the Supreme Court. The 
Supreme Court thereupon remanded the case that we might 
give consideration to the report and vacated our decree in 
order that we might take whatever action we might deem 
appropriate in the light of the facts brought to our attention 
upon its consideration. Briggs v. Elliott, 342 U. S. 350. 
When the case was called for hearing on March 3, 1952, de­
fendants filed a supplementary, report showing what addi- 
[fol. 564] tional steps had been taken since the report of 
December 21, 1951, to comply with the requirements of the 
court’s decree and equalize the educational facilities and 
opportunities of Negroes with those of white persons within 
the district.

The reports of December 21 and March 3 filed by defend­
ants, which are admitted by plaintiffs to be true and correct 
and which are so found by the court, show beyond question 
that defendants have proceeded promptly and in good 
faith to comply with the court’s decree.* As a part of a

* The facts disclosed by the ordered and supplemental 
report are these: In order to qualify for state aid the old 
school district 22 has been combined with six other districts 
to become district 1, whose officials have requested and have 
by order been admitted as parties to this action. Teachers’ 
salaries in the district have been equalized by local supple­
ment, bus transportation has been instituted (none was fur­
nished previously for either race), and $21,522.81 has been 
spent for furniture and equipment in Negro schools. En­



303

statewide educational program to equalize and improve 
educational facilities and. opportunities throughout the State 
of South Carolina, a program of school consolidation has 
been carried through for Clarendon County, District No. 22 
[fol. 565] has been consolidated with other districts so as 
to abolish inferior schools, public moneys have been appro­
priated to build modern school buildings, within the con­
solidated district, and contracts have been let which will 
insure the completion of the buildings before the next school 
year. The curricula of the Negro Schools within the dis­
trict has already been made equal to the curricula of the 
white schools and building projects for Negro schools within 
the consolidated district have been approved which will 
involve the expenditure of $516,960 and will unquestionably 
make the school facilities afforded’ Negroes within the dis­
trict equal to those afforded to white persons. The new 
district high school for Negroes is already 40% completed, 
and under the provisions of the construction contract will 
be ready for occupancy sometime in August of this year. 
That the State of South Carolina is earnestly and in good 
faith endeavoring to equalize educational opportunities for 
Negroes with those afforded white persons appears from

abling legislation has been secured in the state legislature 
which permits the issuance of bonds of the school district 
up to 30% of the assessed valuation (The enabling legisla­
tion was made possible by an Amendment to the Constitution 
of South Carolina passed in 1951. The mamimum had there­
tofore been 8%). Compliance with the requirements of the 
newly formed State Education Finance Commission has 
resulted in funds being made available to District 1 and a 
plan of school house construction based on a survey of edu­
cation needs has been prepared, approved and adopted. 
Plans have been approved for the building of two Negro 
elementary schools at St. Paul and Spring Hill and adver­
tisements for bids have been circulated in the press. The 
contract for remodeling the Scotts Branch Elementary 
School and for construction of the new Scotts Branch High 
School has already been let, construction has been com­
menced, and will, according to the record, be completed in 
time for the next school year.

19—101



304

the fact that, since the inauguration of the state-wide edu­
cational program, the projects approved and under way to 
date involve $5,515,619.15 for Negro school construction as 
against $1,992,018.00 for white school construction. The 
good faith of defendants in carrying out the decree of this 
court is attested by the fact that, when in October delay 
of construction of the Negro high school within the con­
solidated district was threatened on account of inability to 
obtain release of necessary materials, defendants made ap­
plication to the Governor of the State and with his aid 
secured release of the materials so that construction could 
go forward.
[fol. 566] There can be no doubt that as a result of the 
program in which defendants are engaged the educational 
facilities and opportunities afforded Negroes within the 
district will, by the beginning of the next school year begin­
ning in September 1952, be made equal to those afforded 
white persons. Plaintiffs contend that because they are 
not now equal we should enter a decree abolishing segrega­
tion and opening all the schools of the district at once to 
white persons and Negroes. A sufficient answer is that the 
defendants have complied with the decree of this court to 
equalize conditions as rapidly as was humanly possible, that 
conditions will be equalized by the beginning of the next 
school year and that no good would be accomplished for any­
one by an order disrupting the organization of the schools 
so near the end of the scholastic year. At heretofore stated, 
the curricula of the white and Negro schools have already 
been equalized. By the beginning of the next scholastic 
year, physical conditions will be equalized also. This is 
accomplishing equalization as rapidly as any reasonable 
person could ask. We dealt with the question in our former 
opinion where we said (98 F. Supp. at 537):

“ It is argued that, because the school facilities fur­
nished Negroes in District No. 22 are inferior to those 
furnished white persons, we should enjoin segregation 
rather than direct the equalizing of conditions. In as 
much as we think that the law requiring segregation is 
valid, however, and that the inequality suffered by 
plaintiffs results, not from the law, but from the way 
it has been administered, we think that our injunction



should be directed to removing the inequalities result­
ing from administration within the framework of the 
law rather than to nullifying the law itself. As a court 
of equity, we should exercise our power to assure to 
plaintiffs the equality of treatment to which they are 
entitled with due regard to the legislative policy of the 
state. In directing- that the school facilities afforded 
[fol. 567] Negroes within the district be equalized 
promptly with those afforded white persons, we are 
giving plaintiffs all the relief that they can reasonably 
ask and the relief that is ordinarily granted in cases 
of this sort. See Carter v. County School Board of 
Arlington County, Virginia, 4 Cir. 182 F. 2d 531. The 
court should not use its power to abolish segregation 
in a state where it is required by law if the equality de­
manded by the Constitution can be attained otherwise. 
This much is demanded by the spirit of comity which 
must prevail in the relationship between the agencies 
of the federal government and the states if our con­
stitutional system is to endure.”

For the reasons set forth in our former opinion, we think 
that plaintiffs are not entitled to a decree enjoining segre­
gation in the schools but that they are entitled to a decree 
directing defendants promptly to furnish to Negroes within 
the consolidated district educational facilities and oppor­
tunities equal to those furnished white persons. The officers 
and trustees of the consolidated district will be made parties 
to this suit and will be bound by the decree entered herein.

Injunction abolishing segregation denied.
Injunction directing the equalization of educational facil­

ities and opportunities granted.
A true copy. Attest.

Ernest L. Allen, Clerk of U. S. District Court, East.
Dist. of S. Carolina. (Seal.)



306

In' U nited  S tates D istrict Court

H arry B riggs, Jr., et al., Plaintiffs, 
versus

R. W. E lliott , Chairman, J. D. Carson and G eorge 
K en n ed y , Members of the Board of Trustees of School 
District No. 22, Clarendon County, S. C .; Summerton 
High School District, a body corporate; L. B. McCord, 
Superintendent of Education for Clarendon County, and 
Chairman A. J. Plowden, W. E. Baker, Members of the 
County Board of Education for Clarendon County; and 
H. B. Betchman, Superintendent of School District No. 22, 
Defendants

[ fo L  568 ] [F i le  e n d o rs e m e n t  o m itte d ]

D ecree— Filed March 13,1952
In the above entitled case the Court finds the facts to be as 

set forth in its written majority opinion filed June 23, 1951 
and its written opinion filed herewith, and on the basis 
thereof it is adjudged by the Court:

(1) That R. W. Elliott, Chairman, J. D. Carson, E. M. 
Touchberry, W. A. Brunson and A. E. Brock, Sr., consti­
tuting* the Board of Trustees of School District No. 1, 
Clarendon County, South Carolina, and H. B. Betchman, 
Superintendent of School District No. 1, be made parties to 
this suit in their respective capacities as such and be bound 
by all orders and decrees that have been or may hereafter 
be entered herein.

(2) That neither Article II section 7 of the Constitution 
of South Carolina nor section 5377 of the Code are of them­
selves violative of the provisions of the Fourteenth Amend­
ment to the Constitution of the United States and plaintiffs 
are not entitled to an injunction forbidding segregation in 
the public schools of School District No. 1.

(3) That the educational facilities, equipment, and oppor­
tunities afforded in School District No. 1 for colored pupils 
[fol. 569] are not substantially equal to those afforded for 
white pupils; that this inequality is violative of the equal



307

protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and that 
plaintiffs are entitled to an injunction requiring the de­
fendants to make available to them and to other Negro 
pupils of said district educational facilities, equipment, 
curricula and opportunities equal to those afforded white 
pupils.

And it is accordingly ordered, adjudged and decreed that 
the defendants proceed at once to furnish to plaintiffs and 
other Negro pupils of said district educational facilities, 
equipment, curricula and opportunities equal to those fur­
nished white pupils.

And it is further ordered that plaintiffs recover of de­
fendants their costs in this action to be taxed by the Clerk of 
this Court.

This the 12th day of March 1952.
(S.)John J. Parker, Chief Judge, Fourth Circuit, 

(S.) Armistead A. Dobie, U. S. Circuit Judge, 
Fourth Circuit, (S.) George Bell Timmerman, U. S. 
District Judge, Eastern and Western Districts of 
South Carolina.

A true copy. Attest. Ernest L. Allen, Clerk of U. S. 
District Court, East. Dist. So. Carolina. (Seal.)

[fol. 570] [File endorsement omitted]

I n  U nited  S tates D istrict C ourt 

[Title omitted]

P etition  eor A ppeal— Filed May 9, 1952
Considering themselves aggrieved by the final decree and 

judgment of this court entered on March 12, 1952, Harry 
Briggs, Jr., Thomas Lee Briggs and Katherine Briggs, 
infants, by Harry Briggs, their father and next friend and 
Thomas Gamble, an infant by Harry Briggs, his guardian 
and next friend; William Gibson, Jr., Maxine Gibson, 
Harold Gibson and Julia Ann Gibson, infants, by Anne Gib-



308

son, tlieir mother and next friend; Mitchel Oliver and Rich­
ard Allen Oliver, infants, by Mose Oliver, their father and 
next friend; Celestine Parson, an infant by Bennie Parson, 
her father and next friend; Shirley Ragin and Delores 
Ragin, infants, by Edward Ragin, their father and next 
friend; Glen Ragin, an infant, by William Ragin, his father 
and next friend; Elane Richardson and Emanuel Richard­
son, infants, by Luchrisher Richardson, their father and 
next friend; James Richardson, Charles Richardson, Doro­
thy Richardson and Jackson Richardson, infants, by Lee 
[fob 571] Richardson, their father and next friend; Daniel 
Bennett, John Bennett and Clifton Bennett, infants, by 
James H. Bennett, their father and next friend; Louis 
Oliver, Jr., an infant, by Mary Oliver, his mother and next 
friend; Gardeneia Stukes, Willie M. Stakes, Jr., and Louis 
W. Stukes, infants by Willie M. Stukes, their father and 
next friend; Joe Nathan Henry, Charles R. Henry, Eddie 
Lee Henry and Phyllis A. Henry, infants, by G. H. Henry, 
their father and next friend; Carrie Georgia and Jervine 
Georgia, infants, by Robert Georgia, their father and next 
friend; Rebecca I. Richburg, an infant, by Rebecca Rich- 
burg, her mother and next friend; Mary L. Bennett, Lillian 
Bennett and John McKenzie, infants, by Gabrial Tyndal, 
their father and next friend; Eddie Lee Lawson and Susan 
Ann Lawson, infants, by Susan Lawson, their mother and 
next friend; Willie Oliver and Mary Oliver, infants, by 
Frederick Oliver, their father and next friend; Hercules 
Bennett and Hilton Bennett, infants, by Onetha Bennett, 
their mother and next friend; Zelia, Ragin and Sarah Ellen 
Ragin, infants, by Hazel Ragin, their mother and next 
friend; and Irene Scott, an infant, by Henry Scott, her 
father and next friend, plaintiffs herein, do hereby pray that 
an appeal be allowed to the Supreme Court of the United 
States from said final decree and judgment and from each 
and every part thereof; that citation be issued in accordance 
with law; that an order be made with respect to the appeal- 
bond to be given by said plaintiffs, and that the amount of 
security be fixed by the order allowing the appeal, and that 
the material parts of the record, proceedings and papers 
upon which said final judgment and decree was based duly 
[fol. 572] authenticated be sent to the Supreme Court of the



309

United States in accordance with the rules in such case made 
provided.

Respectfully submitted, (S.) Harold R. Roulware, 
1109% Washington Street, Columbia, South Caro­
lina; (S.) Spottswood W. Robinson, III, 623 North 
Third Street, Richmond, Virginia; (S.) Robert L. 
Carter, Thurgood Marshall, 20 West 40th Street, 
New York 18, New York, Counsel for Plaintiffs- 
Appellants.

George E. C. Hayes, James M. Nabrit, Arthur D. Shores, 
A. T. Walden, Of Counsel.

Hated May 9, 1952.

[fol. 573] [File endorsement omitted]

In  U nited  S tates D istrict  C ourt 

[Title omitted]

Order A llow in g  A ppeal—Filed May 9, 1952
Harry Briggs, Jr., Thomas Lee Briggs and Katherine 

Briggs, infants, by Harry Briggs, their father and next 
friend and Thomas Gamble, an infant by Harry Briggs, his 
guardian and next friend; William Gibson, Jr., Maxine 
Gibson, Harold Gibson and Julia Ann Gibson, infants, by 
Anne Gibson, their mother and next friend; Mitehel Oliver 
and Richard Allen Oliver, infants, by Mose Oliver, their 
father and next friend; Celestine Parson, an infant by Ben­
nie Parson, her father and next friend; Shirley Ragin and 
Delores Ragin, infants, by Edward Ragin, their father and 
next friend; Glen Ragin, an infant, by William Ragin, his 
father and next friend; Elane Richardson and Emanuel 
Richardson, infants, by Luchrisher Richardson, their father 
and next friend; James Richardson, Charles Richardson, 
Dorothy Richardson, and Jackson Richardson, infants, by 
Lee Richardson, their father and next friend; Daniel Ben- 
[fol. 574] nett, John Bennett and Clifton Bennett, infants, 
by James H, Bennett, their father and next friend; Louis



310

Oliver, Jr., an infant, by Mary Oliver, bis mother and next 
friend; Gardeneia Stukes, Willie M. Stukes, Jr., and Louis 
W. Stukes, infants by Willie M. Stukes, their father and next 
friend; Joe Nathan Henry, Charles R. Henry, Eddie Lee 
Henry and Phyllis A. Henry, infants, by G. II. Henry, their 
father and next friend; Carrie Georgia and Jervine Georgia 
infants, by Eobert Georgia, their father and next friend; 
Rebecca I. Eichburg, an infant by Eebecca Eichburg, her 
mother andnexffriend; Mary L.Bennett,Lillian Bennettand 
John McKenzie, infants, by Gabrial Tyndal, their father and 
next friend; Eddie Lee Lawson and Susan Ann Lawson, in­
fants, by Susan Lawson, their mother and next friend; Willie 
Oliver and Mary Oliver, infants, by Frederick Oliver, their 
father and next friend; Hercules Bennett and Hilton Ben­
nett, infants, by Onetha Bennett, their mother and next 
friend; Zelia Eagin and Sarah Ellen Ragin, infants, by 
Hazel Ragin, their mother and next friend; and Irene Scott, 
an infant, by Henry Scott, her father and next friend, hav­
ing made and filed their petition praying for an appeal to 
the Supreme Court of the United States from the final judg­
ment and decree of this court in this cause entered on March 
12, 1952, and from each and every part thereof, and having- 
presented their assignments of errors and prayer for re­
versal and their statement as to the jurisdiction of the Su­
preme Court of the United States on appeal pursuant to the 
statutes and rules of the Supreme Court of the United 
States in such cases made and provided,

Now, therefore, it is hereby ordered that said appeal be 
and the same is hereby allowed as prayed for. 
ffol. 575] It is further ordered that the appeal bond in the 
form of cash in the amount of $500, already on deposit in 
this Court, be continued for this appeal.

It is further ordered that citation shall issue in accord­
ance with law.

George Bell Timmerman, Judge.
Dated: May 9,1952.

[f'ols. 576-577] Citation in usual form showing service on 
S. E. Rogers and Eobert MeC. Figg, Jr., omitted in printing.



311

I n U nited  S tates D istrict Court 

[Title omitted]

A ssignm ent  of E rrors and  P rayer for R eversal—Filed
May 9,1952

Harry Briggs, Etc., and all the others who are plaintiffs 
in the above-entitled cause, in connection with their appeal 
to the Supreme Court of the United States, hereby file the 
following Assignment of Errors upon which they will rely 
in their prosecution of said appeal from the order and 
decree of the District Court entered on March 13, 1952:

1. The District Court erred in refusing to enjoin the en­
forcement of the laws of South Carolina requiring racial 
segregation in the public schools of Clarendon County on 
the ground that these laws violate rights secured under the 
[fol. 579] equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amend­
ment.

2. The District Court erred in refusing to grant to appel­
lants immediate and effective relief against the unconstitu­
tional practice of excluding appellants from an opportunity 
to share the public school facilities of Clarendon County 
on an equal basis with other students without regard to 
race or color.

3. The District Court erred in predicating its decision 
on the doctrine of Plessy v. Fergusonl and in disregarding 
the rationale of Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Board 
of Regents.

Wherefore, plaintiffs] Harry Briggs, etc. and all the the 
others who are plaintiffs in the above-entitled cause, pray 
that the order and decree of the District Court entered on 
March 13, 1952, be reversed and for such other relief as the 
Court may deem fit and proper.

Thurgood Marshall, 20 West 40th Street New York 
18, New' York.

[ fo l .  578] [F i le  e n d o rs e m e n t o m itte d ]

Dated: May 9,1952,



312

[fols. 580-581] Statement required by Rule 12 of the 
Rules of the Supreme Court (omitted in printing).

[fols. 582-659] Acknowledgment of Service (omitted in 
printing).

[fol. 660] [File endorsement omitted]

I n  U n ited  S tates D istrict C ourt 

[Title omitted]
P r a e c ip e  e o r  T r a n s c r i p t — Filed May 14, 1952

To the Honorable Ernest L. Allen, Clerk of the Above- 
Named Court:
You will please prepare a transcript of the record in the 

above-entitled cause to be transmitted to the Clerk of the 
Supreme Court of the United States and include in said 
transcript the following:

1. Complaint.
2. Answer with exhibits.
3. Transcript of record, including all of the testimony 

and opening statements for defendants and plaintiffs but 
excluding the closing* remarks of counsel on both sides. 
(Excluding pages 225-274 of the Transcript of Testimony.)

4. Majority Opinion of Judges Parker and Timmerman 
and dissenting opinion of Judge Waring, dated June 21, 
1951.

5. Final decree dated June 21, 1951.
6. Petition for appeal in first appeal.
7. Order allowing appeal in first appeal.
8. Citation on appeal in first appeal.
9. Assignment of errors in first appeal.

[fol. 661] 10. Statement of Jurisdiction to the Supreme
Court in first appeal.

11. Statement of Plaintiffs-Appellants directing attention 
to Paragraph 3 of Rule 12 of the Revised Rules of the Su­
preme Court of the United States in first appeal.

12. Acknowledgment of Service of Notice of Appeal and 
other papers in first appeal.



313

13. Report of defendants pursuant to decree of June 21,
1951.

14. Order of court transmitting defendants’ report to the 
United States Supreme Court.

15. Opinion of United States Supreme Court dated Janu­
ary 28, 1952.

16. Plaintiffs-appellants ’ motion for judgment.
17. Order setting date of second hearing for February 29,

1952.
18. Order continuing hearing until March 3, 1952.
19. Motion by defendants-appellees requesting that R. W. 

Elliott, Chairman, J. D. Carson, E. N. Touchberry, W. A. 
Brunson, and A. E. Brock, Sr., constituting the Board of 
Trustees of School District No. 1, and N. B. Betchman, 
Superintendent of School District No. 1, be made parties to 
this suit, and providing that they be bound by all orders and 
decrees that have been or may hereafter be entered herein.

20. Defendants-appellees ’ report supplementary to report 
listed as Item No. 13 herein.

21. Transcript of second hearing held March 3, 1952.
22. Opinion and decree of district court filed March 13, 

1952.
23. Petition for appeal.
24. Order allowing appeal.

[fol. 662] 25. Citation on appeal.
26'. Assignment of Errors and prayer for reversal.
27. Statement of Jurisdiction to the Supreme Court of 

the United States.
28. Statement of Plaintiffs-Appellants directing attention 

to Paragraph 3 of Rule 12 of the Revised Rules of the 
Supreme Court of the United States.

29. Acknowledgment of Service of these appeal papers.
30. This Praecipe.

Thurgood Marshall, Counsel for Plaintiffs-Appel- 
lants.

Dated: May 9, 1952.



314

[fols. 663-672] [File endorsement omitted]

I n  U nited  S tates D istrict  Court

D esignation  of A dditional P ortions of th e  R ecord D esired 
to be I ncluded in  T ranscript—Filed May 21, 1952

To the Honorable Ernest L. Allen, Clerk of the above named 
Court:
The Appellees do hereby designate the following addi­

tional portions of the record desired by them to be included 
in the Transcript of Record herein, to wit:

1. Amendment to Answer allowed by the Court at the 
first trial;

2. The entire Transcript of Record at the first trial, in­
cluding all of the testimony, opening statement, colloquy 
between counsel and the Court on the closing of the testi­
mony, and the oral arguments of counsel, pages 225 to 274 of 
the Transcript of Testimony and Proceedings •

3. This Designation as to the record.
S. E. Rogers, Summerton, S. C., Robert McC. Figg, 

Jr., 18 Broad Street, Charleston, S. C., Counsel for 
Appellees.

Dated May 20, 1952.

[fob 673] Clerk’s Certificate to foregoing transcript 
omitted in printing.

[fols. 674-675] I n  U nited  S tates D istrict C ourt

[Title omitted]

S tipu lation  as to P rin tin g— Filed June 3, 1952
The parties to the above-entitled cause hereby stipulate 

that the following parts of the record should be printed by 
the Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States:

All portions of the record designated in Plaintiffs- 
Appellants ’ Praecipe dated May 9, 1952, heretofore filed, 
with the exception of Items 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, desig­



315

nated therein, which are Petition for Appeal, Order Allow­
ing Appeal, Citation on Appeal, Assignment of Errors and 
Prayer for Reversal, Statement as to Jurisdiction, State­
ment Required by Rule 12, Paragraph 3 of the Rules of the 
Supreme Court of the United States and Acknowledgment 
of Service, all relating* to the first appeal.

Thurgood Marshall, Of Counsel for Plaintiffs-Appel- 
lants.

Dated: May 20,1952.
Robert McC. Figg, Jr., Of Counsel for Defendants- 

Appellees.
Dated May 19th, 1952.

[fols. 676-677] [File endorsement omitted]

I n th e  S uprem e  C ourt oe t h e  U nited S tates, O ctober
T erm , 1952

No. 101

[Title omitted]

S tatem en t  oe P oints to be R elied U pon  and D esignation  
of P arts of R ecord to be P rinted '—Filed July 5, 1952

A. Appellants adopt for their statement of points upon 
which they intend to rely in their appeal to this Court the 
points contained in their Assignment of Errors heretofore 
filed.

B. Appellants designate for printing all those portions of 
the record as indicated in the Stipulation As To Printing, 
dated May 19th, 1952, heretofore filed in the above-entitled 
case.

Thurgood Marshall, Counsel for Appellants.



[fol. 678] S uprem e  C ourt of t h e  U nited  S tates, October
T erm , 1951

No. 816 

[Title omitted]

O rder N oting P robable J urisdiction—June 9, 1952
The statement of jurisdiction in this case having been 

submitted and considered by the Court, probable jurisdic­
tion is .noted and the case is assigned for argument im­
mediately following No. 436, Brown et al. vs. Board of Edu­
cation of Topeka, etc., et al.

(2805)

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