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HOW
CLAYMONT
HELPED TO CHANGE
AMERICAN HISTORY!
Claymont
High School integrated peacefully in 1952, nearly two years
prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's rendering of the now famous Brown
v. Board of Education decision in May 1954 which required
integration in schools throughout the nation. The Brown
case was based in part on the decision of and wording by
Chancellor Collins J. Seitz in two Delaware cases: Bulah v.
Gebhart and Belton v. Gebhart.
Claymont
High School was unique because the School Board wanted equal
opportunity for all students and worked to insure that
the school would be integrated even though it would require that
the school be taken to court (Belton v. Gebhart). However,
without the perseverance of Superintendent Harvey Stahl and the
School Board, the high school would not have been able to
integrate even with Seitz's remarkable decision.
HOW CLAYMONT
HELPED TO
CHANGE AMERICAN
HISTORY!
All
Delaware public schools, in 1950, were required by the state
Constitution to be segregated -- "separate but equal",
based on an 1896 United States Supreme Court decision, Plessy
v. Ferguson. Claymont schools were segregated but the School
Board members and Superintendent Stahl wanted this practice to
end. How to do it legally? When Chancellor Collins J. Seitz
determined in Parker v. University of Delaware in 1950
that the University must admit Black students immediately,
Claymont seized the opportunity of having Seitz as the sitting
Chancellor and NAACP attorney Louis L. Redding willing to take
these cases -- by encouraging Claymont residents to sue Claymont
High School.
1951 --
The Claymont school board and Superintendent Stahl encouraged
Black students (through Principal Pauline Dyson) who were
attending State Line School to apply for admission. Legally the
school would have to deny them and the parents/students would
then sue the school and the case would be tried in Chancellor
Seitz's court (Belton v. Gebhart). The parents and the
school knew the application would result in a court case, as
this was the only legal method for having the school integrated.
April 1,
1952 -- Chancellor Collins J. Seitz determined that Claymont
High School and Howard High School were not equal and therefore
Claymont High School must admit Black students immediately.
This is significant because in no other segregated state in the
U.S. were Black students admitted even in cases where
White/Black schools had been found unequal.
August
28, 1952 -- The Delaware State Supreme Court upheld the Seitz
decision.
September
3, 1952 -- Claymont schools had not received an official mandate
from the Delaware School Board that the students could be
admitted. After determining that the students would be admitted
even without official notification, the Superintendent and
school board spent the day phoning and trying to get the
mandate. They received a verbal mandate late at night. The
School Board, parents/students, Attorney Redding, Superintendent
Stahl had all worked together to be sure that when the state
finally gave permission, that all the papers were ready, the
students were ready, and the teachers were ready.
September
4, 1952 -- Eleven Black students were admitted to Claymont High
School -- quietly, without incident. If the students had not
attended on September 4th, Claymont would not have been
legally integrated until 1954. Why? The State had appealed
the cases and once the appealed cases were legally filed in
another court, the students could not enroll in Claymont.
September
5, 1952 -- The very next day, the State Attorney of Delaware
called Claymont and demanded that the new students be sent home
because the Delaware cases had just been added to the U.S.
Supreme Court case -- Brown v. Board of Ed. Claymont
refused to send the students home thereby becoming the first
segregated public high school to legally integrate.
*
Claymont High School integrated nearly two full years prior to
the U.S. Supreme Court rendering of the now famous Brown v.
Board of Education decision in May 1954 which required
integration in schools throughout the nation. The Brown
case was based in part on the decision and wording of Chancellor
Seitz in Delaware.
No
National Guard was needed, no fights erupted, no press was there
-- the day of desegregation passed virtually unnoticed. This was
just another school day. Claymont was a town of people who
believed in doing what was right for everyone in their town. And
so it was done.
The
eleven students who enrolled in1952 were: Carol Anderson, Joan
Anderson, Merle Anderson, Bernice Byrd, Elbert Crumpler, John
Davis, Spencer Robinson, Robert Sanford, Styron Sanford, Almena
Short, and Myrtha Trotter. Louise Belton whose name appeared on
the court case never attended Claymont High School.
November
18, 1997 -- The Claymont Community Center held a ceremony
recognizing the events of 1992 -- with special honors given to
Judge Collins J. Seitz, who was in attendance. A historic marker
was placed in front of the old Claymont High School to
commemorate the school and the events of 1952.
Resources:
Claymont School Board minutes,
Various newspaper articles of 1951-52
from Wilmington area.
Personal memories of Mrs. Evelyn E. Tryon
WE
RECOGNIZE AND CELEBRATE THE
COURAGE
of all who
were willing to do whatever had to be done so that Claymont High
School could provide the best it could for all the children of
Claymont. Special honor is given to the following people:
Superintendent Harvey Stahl,
who guided the school with quiet dignity and respect for all;
Chancellor Collins J. Seitz,
who stood alone and made a decision because he believed in
Justice for everyone;
Attorney Louis L. Redding,
the first Black member of the Delaware Bar, who diligently
fought these cases in court;
Mrs. Pauline Dyson,
principal of State Line School, who, with her intelligence and
deep morality, guided the way;
The Black students and parents
who were willing to fight for Justice and Change and these students
who were willing to attend Claymont High School;
Members of the Claymont School
Board: George F. Brown, A. Eugene Fletcher, E. Edward Rowles,
and Sager Tryon.
Brochure
was produced by Virginia Tryon Smilack and
printed by the Claymont Community Center.
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