New Orleans, LA., Nov. 30
Press Release
December 7, 1956

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Press Releases, Loose Pages. New Orleans, LA., Nov. 30, 1956. e0bc3345-bc92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/d878ccab-de14-4f7f-ba96-d2e505906ab9/new-orleans-la-nov-30. Accessed July 30, 2025.
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PRESS RELEASE® NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 107 WEST 43 STREET « NEW YORK 36, N. Y. ¢ JUdson 6-8397 ARTHUR B, SPINGARN oa President ROY WILKINS Secretary ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS Treasurer FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURGOOD MARSHALL Director and Counsel ROBERT L. CARTER Assistant Counsel ARNOLD de MILLE Press Relations December 7, 1956 NEW ORLEANS, LA., Nov. 30,--A United States Court of Appeals last week ruled that the federal Public Housing Administration cannot duck its responsibility as a government agency bound by statutory obliga- tions or be excluded as a party subscribing to segregation policies which bar Negroes from local public housing projects. The ruling was rendered by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on November 30, in a case brought by 18 Negro families in Savannah, Ga. who sought admittance to an all-white public housing project erected on the site of the "Old Fort," which was formerly an old Negro residential area. The Negro families had been displaced from the "Old Fort" to make way for the project. Families displaced to make way for such a project have a federal statutory preference for admis- sion to federally-aided public housing anywhere in the city. However, Negroes were refused admission to Fred Wessels Homes, the public hous ing project erected on the site of the "Old Fort," solely because of their race, While the Public Housing Administration has not been directly charged by Congress with the duty of preventing discrimination in hous- ing project units, the Court said, the dity nevertheless stems from the requirements of the Fifth Amendment to the federal Constitution which prohibits the federal government ting. and its agencies from segrega- The case was originally filed with the U. S. District Court for Southern Georgia on May 20, 1954 by attorneys for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund on behalf of the 18 Negro families. Named in the suit were the PHA, the Atlanta Field Office Director, the Savannah Housing Authority and its officers. The suit was dismissed on October 21, 1955 on motion of the PHA and its Atlanta director on the ground, among others, that the court lacked jurisdiction and the 224 PHA had fulfilled its statutory obligation by placing in its contract with the Savannah Housing Authority a provision regarding the statu- tory preferences and on the ground that the PHA had nothing to do with the segregation policy. The court held that if the facts alleged in the complaint are proved, they "show a failure on the part of the PHA to comply with the ' and this would constitute a above statutory tenant selection policy,' violation of plaintiffs' rights to due process under the Fifth Amendment. "The view thus expressed is in accord with the Supreme Court deci- sion in Bolling v. Sharpe [the Washington, D. C. School Segregation Case]," the court said. "In view of our decision that the Constitution prohibits the states from maintaining racially segregated public schools, it would be unthinkable that the same Constitution would impose a lesser duty on the federal government." The Court also pointed out that although the segregation policy was initiated by the Savannah Housing Authority it was approved by the federal agency. In addition, the lower court's dismissal of the action against the Savannah Housing Authority and its officers was reversed by the Court of Appeals and the entire case sent back to the lower court for trial on the merits. NAACP Legal Defense attorneys for the Negroes were Thurgood Marshall, director-counsel of Ie gal Defense and Constance Baker Motley, both of New York, and Frank Reeves of Washington, D. C. and A. T. Walden of Atlanta, Gea gia. = 30 = N. C. SUPERIOR COURT OPENS GOLF COURSE TO NEGROES Dec. 7, 1956 CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. .--The City of Charlotte today lost a five year court battle in its efforts to prevent Negro citizens from using the city's only golf course when a Superior Court judge granted an injunction permanently enjoining the Charlotte Park and Recreation Commission from excluding Negroes from the Bonnie Brae links. The injunction was sought on behalf of 16 Negroes who were refused use of the golf course in December 1951. It was issued in the more recent of two suits in which the validity of the Commission's acts was involved, =3< The first suit was brought by the Commission, itself, immediately after the Negroes protested to it. Sought in that suit was a declara- tory judgment as to the validity of certain provisions in the deeds conveying the property on which the golf course is located on the con- dition that the land would revert if non-whites used the recreational facilities. And named as defendants, along with the land grantors, were the original Negro complainants. Several days later the Negroes themselves filed a suit, seeking an injunction restraining the Commission from denying them use of the park on the ground that such exclusion was a denial of their constitutional rights, This suit, however, was continued pending final disposition of the earlier attion and, therefore, did not come to trial until today. In granting the injunction today, Superior Court Judge Susie Sharp was not persuaded by the fact that the city possibly stands to lose one-third of the property which comprises Revolution Park because of the decisions in the earlier case and sustained the validity of the reverter provision. Judge Sharp, however, delayed the effective date of the injunction for 90 days to allow the city tim to acquire or regain possession of the property affected by the reverter clauses. Appearing on behalf of the Negroes throughout the litigation were Spottswood W. Robinson, III of Richmond, Va., Southeast Regional Coun- sel of the Legal Defense Fund and T, H. Wyche of Charlotte. a0 =.