Evening star., 1954-11-20
|Fasf, SureSfeps
Aid Infegraiion,
Experts Report
Conclusion Drown
In 24-city Study Of
School Transition
By james 6. Deans

gdbl0u W0TkS DeSb WuSu IL u car
ried forward quickly and de-
cisively. two social scientists re-
ported today.
This conclusion is given by
Robin M. williams, jr.. and Mar
garet w. Ryan. both Of Cornell
University. in . new book re-
porting on school, desegregation
steps in "a American cities. The
book, called Schools In Transis
tion." and published today by
the University Of North Carolina
Press. is the second in a series
on school segregation being
financed by the Ford Founds-
tion's Fund for the Edvance-
ment of Education.
Teams Of investigators studied
the history of school integration
since World War II in each Of
the "a cities.
Lengthy Efforts Confuse. :
.Transition from segregation
to non-segregation-and to some
measure of true integration-
took place in most of the "a
communities with a smoothness
and lack of open friction which
| typically surprised officials and
teachers" the authors report.
"In general, a clear-cut policy.
administered with understanding
but also with resolution, seems
to have been most effective in
accomplishing desegregation with
a minimum of difflculty. Long,
drawn-out efforts and fiuctuat-
| ing policies appear to have maxi
mized confusion and resistence."
the book adds.
The "a cities covered In the
book are in six States which
the authors describe as having
a Southern exposure" The
cities are Cincinnati, Ohio: At
lantic City. Burlington, Camden.
Mount Holly and Salem, N. j.;
Cairo. H.: Elkhart, Evansville,
Gary, Indianapolis, Jefferson
vile, New Albany and South
Bend, Ind; Douglas, Nogales.
i Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., and
Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Clovis,
Hobbs. Las Cruces and Roswell,
N. Mex.
| South Bend has never had
legal segregation, but has had
problems in operating integrated
schools. All the cities except
Hobbs and Clovis began desegre-
CATION prior to last Mays SUI
preme Court anti-segregation de-
ciSion.
Some Friction Noted.
| Desegregation has not been
accomplished in all cases without
difficulty, the authors report
In Cairo a bomb was exploded
| harmlessly-outside the home Of
a Negro physician. In Camden
parents protested appointment
of a Negro principal at former
white school and a group Of stu
dents temporarily withdrew. In
Gary high school students staged
protest strike.
In Atlantic City the use Of
a school of choice" rule. per-
mitting attendance at any
school provided there is room,
allowed white students to re-
treat to more distant schools as
Negroes moved in. leaving ele-
mentary schools almost non-in-
tegrated.
In other New Jersey commune
ties, as well as elsewhere, strict
districting prevented such an
exodus. the authors report.
Some Conclusion Listed.
The study lists these other
conclusions on the plus-side of
the desegregaticn problem:
Friction between, Negro and
white pupils has been slight. A
frequent report from school Of
f1cials has been that 'if the
parents did not interfere. the
children got along all right"
Only in communities having
an overt resistance to desegre-
CATION were there any initial re-
ports Of friction, land these ap-
parently resolved into the live
aid-let-live attitude"
Some communities fired Negro
teachers rather than assign
them to integrated schools, but
others integrated them. too. In
teacher integration, profess
sional standards soon take
precedence over previous racial
attitudes"
| Some school systems have In
tegrated teaching staffs, even
though pupil integration is very
slight, feeling this serves to
broaden the horizons Of the stu
dents.
| Integration has saved some
school systems money through
/ consolidation.
No Permanent Opposition.
Opposition in the community
appears to have withered as the
desegregatlon operation neared
completion. the authors report.
In none of the "a cases did op-
ponents form permanently or
ganized blocs.
4 School officials at the outset
generally were subjected to
pressures both pro and con, the
authors say. but "once q def
mite policy was established, the
normal functioning Of the
schools was Of no further un-
usual or dramatic interest to
Ithe community"
The book points out that not
only white citizens have raised
objections to desegration. In sew
eral communities there was
| strong oftY,aeifiov, froyv. Haorno.