St. Paul recorder., 1963-12-12
Arkansas OfficiuIs
Puzzled Over SfofuS
Of MIXED" Couple

years ago Gov. Orval Faubus of
Arkansas called out the states
national guard in a futile effort to
stop nine Negro girls from enter
ing an all-white high school in
Little Rock, but last week Negro
and white couple were living to-
gether as man and wife in Pine
Bluff, and no immediate action
was taken against them.
However, legal authorities ad-
nitted they were troubled by the
inte rr a CT a development. Their
problem was what to do about the
marriage Of two integrationists,
one white, the other a Negro, who
had married in Cincinnati, Ohio,
where intermarriage is legal, and
then returned to live in Pine Bluff.
where such marriages are banned
by law.
The couple are William w. Hen
sen, Jr., "a, white field secretary
of the local branch of the Student
Non-Violent Coordinating Commit
tee, and the former Ruth Buffing-
ton of Pine Bluff. The couple, who
have indicated they are ready for
any legal test, are both members
of the Pine Bluff Movement, an in
itegration group fighting racial
segregation.
Hansen and Miss Burlington
were married in Cincinnati on Oct.
12.
If legal action is brought against
them for violating Arkansas jim
crow law forbidding intermarriage
it is likely to be the first such test
of its kind. Attorneys said they
knew of no other instance where
the legality of an interracial mar
riage performed in another state
had been tested in Arkansas courts.
Under Arkansas law, mixed
marriages are illegal and void"
and persons involved in them are
guilty of misdeameanor. Persons
found guilty Of such violation
could be sentenced to as much as
year in Jail. However, last week
no one seemed in any hurry to
prosecute the Hansens.
Meantime, the Hansens have in
dicated that they are not awed by
the anti-mi2dng law. Following
their marriage, Mrs. Hansen went
to visit her mother in Memphis,
Tenn, sbut her husband remained
in their home here to see If Ark
ansas officials would start legal
proceedings against them.
Arkansas Atty. Gen. Bruce Ben
nett, who has fought the NAACP
in the courts for a number of
years, denounced the marriage as
an effort to foment trouble, but
said he was powerless to act be-
cause he lacked jurisdiction. He
said charges would have to be
filed by the Pine Bluff prosecuting
attorney.
But the prosecuting attorney E
w. Brocluman, Jr., refused to even
comment on the case, and city at
torney George Holmes was un-
available for comment.
Bennett called Hansen and his
wife troblemakers who were work.
ing for organizations whose pur-
poses were to create dissension for
the people of the South. Benefits
statement referred to the Hansen's s
fight against segregation.
Hansen has been Jailed several
times for participating in anti
segregation demonstrations in both
the North and the South. His wife
was expelled from Arkansas AM
& N college here for participating
in a sit-in demonstration in down.
town Pine Bluff last winter. At the
time, she lacked only a semester
to graduate. She plans to enroll
soon at the University of Cincin-
natl.
Mrs. Hansen said her mother ap-
proved Of the marriage. Her moth
er's only concern, she said, was
whether her daughter was happy.
Mrs. Hansen said she Is.
GnBISo q RHoNASm