Evening star., 1954-05-18
Child Principals Show Little
Interest in Historic Decision

bled:
1T (the decision) will help
the future of the race. Help
other children. Better teaching,
better space, better books"
His mother was taking it calm
ly. She had long ago put the
matter in the hands of the Lord
and the lawyers. Some one had
called her, she said, and shouted:
I'm just as excited as you
are!
"Well, honey, get yourself to-
gether," Mrs. Boiling replied,
cause I'm not excited at ALL"
Would she have a celebration?
"It doesn't call for that" she
said earnestly. "Just be thank
full that the Lord guided the
mems (the justicesD hearts"
Spottswood's brother, Wanna
maker Boiling, was also a prin-
cipal in the suit, which arose
when a group of colored STU
dents were refused admission to
the white Sousa Junior High
School. Wannamaker has since
turned Is and dropped out of
school.
He had promised his mother,
she said, that he will leave his
job in the kitchen Of the Army
Navy Club and get his schooling.
Schooling is important to Mrs.
Boiling.
The upheaval will make little
difference to Spottswood. He will
be graduated three JuneS from
now and will attend Spingarn
until he does.
Another principal uneffected
is Sarah Briscoe. At 10. she has
been out of school almost since
the suit began three years ago.
She has asthma.
Notified by The Star yester-
day that she, with her colleagues,
had wrought a social switch in
the Nation, she had nothing to
say.
No Time to Think.
II haven't had much time to
think about it," she stated.
Sitting in the living room of
the family house in the Barry
Farms public housing develop
ment. decorated with pink walls,
red drapes and family pictures
in opulent frames, Sarah thought
for a time and decided she really
didn't know how" it felt.
Her father, William Briscoe,
does plastering, painting and
the like in a string of apartment
houses, Sarah said. He is sep
arated from her mother, q maid,
who has q room somewhere in
Southwest.
Sarah takes care of the three
younger children. She can't take
a job she said because of her
illness. She is one of eight
children. A piece of cardboard
patches a broken living room
window.
At the home of Adrienne and
Barbara Jennings, the two other
plaintiffs, their mother, Mrs.
James c. Jennings, awaited their
return from School-also Spin
garn.
Feels every Gratified."
"1 feel very gratified." she
said.
A friend had called her at the
Naval Gun Factory, where she
operates a teletype machine. to
tell her the news. Her husband,
who works as a helper IN the
same plant, didn't hear it until
he arrived home.
She had volunteered her chill
dren as principals in the suit,
she said, because she at one time
had five children in the District
schools-each in a different one.
The cost of school transit tickets
mounted. the children had to
stand out in the rain and they
were sometimes late for school
through no fault of their own.
And both Mr.. and Mrs. Jennings
had been educated in Brunswick,
N. j., where there was no segre-
cation.
Barbara and Adrienne heard
the news at school. There was
little reaction. they reported,
among their fellow students.
When DR.. Williams announced
the decision in an assembly
called to watch movies and a
talent show. there was no ap-
plause. no cheering, just a buzz
of conversation.
The girls had little to say on
their own about the matter.
Their mother declared it would
help other mothers and her two
children-Charles, 8. and Bever-
ly. 9. The two girls. in whose
name the suit was brought, at
Is and II. viii I'LL out their terms
at Spingarn. j.