School Desegregation Case Filed in Savannah, GA.

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Press Releases, Loose Pages. School Desegregation Case Filed in Savannah, GA., 1962. 1270f90b-bd92-ee11-be37-6045bddb811f. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/d9a7ab7a-a94b-4a36-99e7-d9fbc14a9cd4/school-desegregation-case-filed-in-savannah-ga. Accessed December 04, 2025.

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    PRESS RELEASE 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 
1OCOLUMBUS CIRCLE + NEW YORK19,N.Y. © JUdson 6-8397 

DR. ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS JACK GREENBERG CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY 
President General Counsel Associate Counsel 

S25 

SCHOOL DESEGREGATION CASE 
FILED IN SAVANNAH, GA. 

January 19, 1962 

NEW YORK - NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorneys filed a sweeping school 

desegregation suit in Savannah, Ga. this week. 

The complaint, filed January 18 in the Federal District Court at 

Savannah, asked for a permanent injunction enjoining the ‘Board of 

Public Instruction of Chatham County, Ga. (Savannah), its members and 

the Superintendent of Schools of Chatham County, from continuing their 

policy, practice, custom and usage of operat‘re a compulsory biracial 

school system." 

The suit was filed on behalf of thirty-six Negro children who now 

attend segregated public schools in Savannah. 

The court was asked to issue a decree requiring the Board to pre- 

sent a desegregation plan which would affect (1) school zone lines; 

(2) assignment of pupils; (3) assignment of teachers and principals; 

and (4) handling of budgets, funds, employment and construction 

contracts. 

A date for hearing on the case has not yet been set. 

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund attorneys representing 

the Negro children are B. Clarence Mayfield and E. H. Gadsden of 

Savannah, Ga., and Jack Greenberg, Constance Baker Motley and Derrick 

A. Bell, Jr., of New York City. 

aaeepacas 

January 19, 1962q 

LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA SCHOOL BOARD 
ORDERED TO DESEGREGATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

NEW YORK - Desegregation of public schools in Lynchburg, Va. was 

ordered this week by Federal Judge Thomas J. Michie of the District 

Court for the Western District of Virginia. 

Judge Michie ruled that two Negro students are entitled to enter 

the all-white E. G. Glass High School in Lynchburg beginning January 

29. He also ruled that the local School Board must submit a desegre- 

gation plan which will not be based on assignment of pupils by race. 



so= 

At the same time, Judge Michie denied relief to two of the 

original four Negro plaintiffs, ruling that it would 'not be in their 

best interest" to be admitted to the white school because of their 

academic records. 

The Lynchburg Board had previously assigned all Negro students to 

the Dunbar School and all white students to the Glass School without 

respect to residence. Judge Michie noted that while distance and 

academic qualifications were considered by the Virginia Pupil Place- 

ment Board, the system of initial assignments by the Lynchburg Board 

constituted racial discrimination under the Brown decision of 1954. 

This is the first Virginia school decision which requires a local 

board to submit a desegregation plan for initial assignment of pupils. 

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund attorneys who repre- 

sented the Negro plaintiffs were Reuben E. Lawson of Roanoke, Va., 

Jack Greenberg and James M. Nabrit, III, of New York City. 

jee-0es--

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School Desegregation Case Filed in Savannah, GA.

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