Evening star., 1945-08-15
200 Jam Hearing to Protest
Play Area Segregation Legality
By HERMAN F. SCHADEN.

BY HERMAN F. SCHADEN.
A turn-away crowd of more tina
200 established a new attendanc
record for District Recreatio
Board meetings yesterday as tn
board let down the bars to thos
opposing racial segregation in rec
reation-a practice that originate
with the first Fairgrounds in 190'
1t was hearing called specificall
at the behest of those who proteste
against the boards newly adopte
bylaw spelling out policy OF long
accepted separate recreation facil
tiles, and they made the most G
the opportunity.
They stayed for three hours-fror
the time Chairman Harry S. Wende
laid the meeting open to ther
until Mrs. Alice G. Hunter, boar
secretary. proposed an amendmel,
to the segregation" regulation il
the boards bylaws.
Praises Star Articles.
Prefacing her remarks with tn
statement that The Stars recen
articles on the recreation problem
have been elightening, therefor
good" Mrs. Hunter said las boar
members 1 hope we have read an,
assimilated the opinions of the in
dividualS interviewed, and that ou
Of the whole we seriously realiz
the responsibility resting upon us.
The only colored member of tn
board, Mrs. Hunter read from by
laws Section 2, Paragraph 2 o
Chapter 4 the regulation adopte'
by the board June IL, which brough
protest from some quarters. !
reads:
Recreation programs for whit
residents shall be conducted in re
gions AT and in designated city
wide centers. Recreation program
for Negro residents shall be con
/ Quoted in regions OK and II
designated city wide centers"
Proposes Amendnent.
Mrs. Hunter proposed that to tn
regulation should be affixed the fol
lowing:
Provided that nothing in thes
regulations shall be deemed to max
any public facility unavailable t,
responsible groups and organization
which may wish in their use o
such facilities to permit the at
tendance and participation Of an,
citizen belonging to the same. or t,
prevent any citizen living in tn
community served by facility max
ing voluntary use thereof, if the.
SO desire"
Chairman Wender said the boar
would act on the amendment at it
next meeting in September.
The meeting was orderly, singu
larly free of personalities whicl
might rise in any debate. Their
were one or two verbal exchange
to match the temperature of tn
room But when the meeting brok
up with suggestion by the Rev
Stanford j. Harris. pastor Of Noun
Vernon Methodist Church. that tn
entire board resign" Chairman
Wender was smiling and the audi
ence was in good humor.
Whimsical Call for Order.
Once when a hearty ovation wa
given a speaker, Mr.. Wender callet
for order with the whimsical ex
planation that this is no popu
larity contest"
The case for the segregation
element was presented by Dean vii
liam H. Hastie of the Howard Uni
versity Law School. He summarized
the points brought out by severa
speakers for the newly organized
Citizens Committee Against Segre
cation in Recreation, composed O
80 white and colored organizations
In his preliminary remarks, MI
Hastie said Citizens COMMITTEE
speakers would enlarge on "thes,
issues we deem important:
Cd There is no legal justification
for the regulation in question, e
the effect of the boards ruling is t.
force discontinuance of unSegre
gated use of recreational facilitie
which has occurred frequently ant
repeatedly under the jurisdiction o
this board and its predecessors. 6
the boards ruling imposes embar
rassment and unjust hardship upol
numerous organizations with bot
colored and white members and a
I'VE are entitled to look to govern
mental agencies in Washington, tn
National Capital, to set an exampi
of decent and democratic behavio
for the Nation"
Citizen Group Spokesman.
Ernest F. Henry, Recreation Com
mittee chairman of the Federation
of Citizens Associations, acted a
spokesman for 70 affiliated organ
izations and proposed to answe
arguments against segregation wit
a statement endorsing continue
ton of the dual recreation system.
j. B. Tate, president of the Wash
/. ington chapter of the National Law
yers' Guild, attacked the board
position that segregation was hand
ed down to it by law.
He pointed out that Senator Bur
ton, Democrat, of Ohio, in charg
of the bill creating the Recreation
Board, moved and the Senat
agreed to strike out" a section {
the original bill providing for tn
board to recognize coordinate au
thority of white and colored persop
mel in the administration, operation
and conduct of the respective pro
grams to be adopted by the board
He further argued "the board
free to determine for itself the ad
ministrative policies to be followe
=" = with the guidance followed b
Congress when it eliminated fror
the statute the section requirin
segregation"
i Rose Park Tennis Courts.
1t. Col. James s. Schramm, 130
Thirtieth street NV, was peeve
because the Rose Park tennis court
were designated for use of colore
persons only.
For the past two years we an
our children have been playing ten
mis- on the courts there" he salt
Under the supervision of the mo.
LII Ill Is