1 Digital Durham Final Paper Amanda Truelove The History of Education in Durham, NC, 1950 Throughout history, Durham, NC has been recognized as one of the leading educational centers of the South, due to the fact that the city of Durham recognizes the importance of education for the democratic society. The Durham community also understands the importance of education as the foundation of good citizenship, thus encouraging the establishment of a sound system of education. However, although the city of Durham values education, prior to the 1950s, public schools in Durham were separated based on race. Race relations during this time were largely dominated by racial segregation, and White and Black students attended separate schools. During the 1950s, there was very little integration between the races, as was mandated and upheld by the law. It was not until the mid 1950s that progress started to be made with regards to the desegregation of schools in Durham, as Black citizens in Durham fought to overturn the notion of separate-­‐but-­‐equal education (Beezer, 1983). This project therefore looks specifically at the history of education in Durham, NC, during the 1950s. Specifically, through this project, I have researched and analyzed the significant events during the 1950s that have lead to the desegregation of schools in Durham. In 1950, there were 22 public schools in Durham, including 2 senior high schools, and 3 junior high schools, according to the 1950 Durham City Directory. In total, there were 10,665 students enrolled in public schools in Durham during this 2 time. Of the 22 public schools in Durham during 1950, 14 of the schools were for White students, while there were 8 schools for Black students. Students were assigned to schools on a segregated basis, and there was no integration between races. Even though there were many controversial issues surrounding racial relations during this time, segregation between the races was mandated by the law, as a result of the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896. Through this case, the Supreme Court sanctioned legal separation of the races, and ruled that separate but equal facilities did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment. It was not until the mid 1950s that progress started to be made with regards to the desegregation of schools in the city of Durham (Beezer, 1983). The first major court case to appeal the segregation of schools was Brown v. Board of Education, in 1954. Specifically, 13 parents from Topeka, Kansas, tried to overturn the policy of separate-­‐but-­‐equal, and aimed to reverse the policy of racial segregation for the sake of their children, and all of the other disadvantaged Negro students. Oliver Brown headed the case on behalf of his daughter, Linda, a third grade student, who was required to attend Monroe Elementary School, a segregated black school, while Summer Elementary, an all white school, was only just 7 blocks from her house. The parents of Topeka fought to enroll their children in schools that were the closest to their homes, and on a non-­‐segregation basis. After reviewing the case, it was declared that laws establishing separate public schools for white and black students were unconstitutional. Thus, the case of Brown v. Board of Education overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which had allowed 3 state-­‐sponsored segregation. This was a very important step towards the integration of White and Black citizens (Martin, 1998). One of the most significant cases that helped to lead to the desegregation of schools in Durham was McKissick v. Durham City Board of Education. This case referred to the act by which the parents of Joycelyn McKissick and Elaine Richardson sued for their daughters’ reassignment to Durham High School, previously an all white school during that time. Specifically, the parents wanted their children to attend the school nearest their residence, and on a non-­‐segregation basis. Unfortunately, the Durham Board of Education refused the reassignment of both students to Durham High School, stating that segregation between the races was a necessity to keep the community running properly and efficiently (Anderson, 1990). However, the Black community of Durham did not give up, and finally in 1959, the Durham City School Board overturned its decision regarding the McKissick case, and allowed the reassignment of 8 Negro students to attend previously all white schools. Two students were reassigned from Hillside to Durham High, two from Whitted to Brogden Junior High, two from Whitted to Carr Junior High, and two from Whitted to East Durham Junior High. At the same time, the Durham board of Education also rejected applications from 217 other black students who had the dream of attending school on a non-­‐segregation basis. In the spring of 1960, Joycelyn McKissick became the first female black graduate of Durham High School (Anderson, 1990). 4 (http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/3513310/article-­‐NO-­‐NORMAL-­‐
FIRST-­‐DAY-­‐OF-­‐SCHOOL ) The picture above is from the Herald Sun Newspaper, and depicts, Floyd McKissick Sr., second from right, and Evelyn McKissick, far right, escorting Henry Vickers, and Andree McKissick, two of the first black students to attend Carr Junior High School, on September 2, 1959. This picture is truly remarkable in the fact that it captures the intimidation, yet the courage evoked, by each of these brave African Americans as they prepare to cross the education color line. Although the McKissick case was a significant step towards the desegregation of schools in Durham, complete integration between the races was still a long way away. In 1965, the freedom-­‐of-­‐choice plan was implemented to further the process of desegregation, and to allow parents the opportunity to choose which public schools their children attended. Under this plan, students were given the right to attend schools independent of their race. However, although in theory the freedom-­‐
of-­‐choice plan seemed effective, most schools remained segregated, as only a small percentage of black students choose to attend white schools, and no white students 5 choose to attend a black school. The two documents below were found in the Stephen, C. Harward papers, in Special Collections. The first document is from August 1965, and it is a letter to parents, written by the Superintendent, addressing the freedom-­‐of-­‐choice plan for desegregation. Specifically, the letter mentions that a plan for desegregation has been put into place to help racially balance the Durham public schools. It states that the schools will operate without regards to race, color, or nation origin, and that all students will be given the absolute right to choose which school they would like to attend for the following school year. The second document is the actual choice of school form given to each parent, allowing them to highlight which schools are their top choices for their children to attend. 6 7 8 These two documents highlighted above are greatly significant in the fact that they provide pure evidence of the issues related to desegregating Durham’s public schools in the past. Being able to use these documents as primary sources has been extremely valuable to my project, and my overall goal of further researching the history of education in Durham. Although the freedom-­‐of-­‐choice plan operated under the right idea for desegregating the public schools, segregation was still a prevalent issue in Durham during this time, as was the case of racial tension between White and Black citizens. The freedom-­‐of-­‐choice plan allowed white citizens to avoid integration, thus moving further away from the goal of complete integration. It was not until 1970 that the federal court ordered the immediate racial balancing of Durham public schools. However, when the court ordered integration in 1970, the district’s population consisted of mainly African American citizens, as a result of white flight, and a rapid expansion of private/parochial schools. The population of Durham had dropped from about 15,000 in the early 1960s, to approximately 9,000 in 1970, which highlights the rise of the African American race in Durham, and it also draws attention to the great impact that racial relations can have on a community (Anderson, 1990). According to the Durham Public School website, in Durham public schools today, there are 30 elementary schools, 10 middle schools, 12 high schools, and 3 secondary schools. Approximately 55% of the students in Durham public schools are Black, 25% White, 14% Hispanic, 3% Asian, and 3% other. These demographics 9 clearly indicate the dominance of the African American race in the Durham community, a community in which these individuals had to fight for the right to an equal education in the past. Looking back through history, it is clearly evident that the education system was greatly affected by the racial relations in the Durham community. The issue of providing every student with an equal educational opportunity was a main concern, however, it was quite clear that there was great discrimination in how White and Black students were educated. In the 1950s, the Black community came together to make significant strides in their fight for equality, and the right for equal educational opportunities. Through their hard work, persistence, motivation, and determination, the Black community was able to fight for their rights to integrate schools, and give Black students an equal chance to be successful in the future. To help illustrate my project and my research, I have used Google Earth to map each of the public schools present in Durham in 1950. By using the 1950 Durham City Directory, I was able to locate each of the schools present in Durham during this time, and highlight each school as either White or Colored. Using the city directory, and mapping the schools on Google Earth were extremely helpful in aiding me to distinguish the racial boundaries present during this time as they related to education, and specifically, I was able to further analyze and get a better sense of the history of education in Durham. The technology and resources that we have available for use today allowed me to go into great depth in furthering researching my topic of interest. With the help of Google Earth, I was able to 10 successfully map and highlight the specific locations of each public school in Durham, in a clear and efficient way. Also, using archival material, such as the 1950 Durham City Directory, documents from the Stephen C. Harward collection, and various other articles and newspaper clippings, I was able to construct and piece together the puzzle of the events leading to the desegregation of schools in Durham. I did have a few problems, however, when trying to overlay the 1951 Public Works map of Durham onto Google Earth, as it was rather difficult to get all of the streets to line up correctly. This made me realize how tedious such work could be! I have very much enjoyed working on this project over the course of this semester. Although at times working with archival material and using technology was quite complicated and stressful, I feel that I have really learned a lot, and have gained a great amount of valuable information. Before I took this class, I definitely did not have a very strong background in history nor technology, as I was more interested in the education component of the course. However, over the course of the semester, I have gained a greater appreciation for this type of work, and I am happy that I had the opportunity to gain hands on experience researching a topic of my choice related to the history of education in Durham. Thanks for a great semester! 11 References 1950 Durham City Directory – Obtained from Duke University Library Anderson, J.B. (1990). Durham County: A history of Durham County, North Carolina. Duke University Press. Beezer, B. (1983). North Carolina’s Rationale for Mandating Separate Schools: A Legal History. The Journal Of Negro Education. 52 (3), 213-­224 Digital Durham – http://digitaldurham.duke.edu/ Durham Public Schools Website -­‐ http://www.dpsnc.net Durham Civil Rights Heritage Project – Civil Rights Time Line – North Carolina Collection – (http://www.durhamcountylibrary.org/dcrhp/timeline.php) Martin, W. E. (1998). Brown v. Board of Education: a brief history with documents. Palgrave Macmillan. Stephan. C. Harward Collection – Special Collections – Duke University Library The Herald Sun Newspaper: -­‐ http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/3513310/article-­‐NO-­‐NORMAL-­‐
FIRST-­‐DAY-­‐OF-­‐SCHOOL -­‐ http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/3513240/article-­‐Fighting-­‐
segregation-­‐has-­‐Durham-­‐roots 12 Pauli Murray Project – Looking Back 50 Years – Durham School Desegregation – http://paulimurrayproject.org/looking-­‐back-­‐50-­‐years-­‐durham-­‐school-­‐
desegregation/