A Timeline of Boston School Desegregation, 1961-1985 With Emphasis on 1964-1976 By Jeremy Wolff Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project Northeastern University School of Law For Union of Minority Neighborhoods Contents Pre-1964.....................................................................................................................................................3 1964............................................................................................................................................................5 1965............................................................................................................................................................6 1966............................................................................................................................................................8 1967..........................................................................................................................................................10 1968..........................................................................................................................................................11 1969..........................................................................................................................................................12 1970..........................................................................................................................................................13 1971..........................................................................................................................................................13 1972..........................................................................................................................................................14 1973..........................................................................................................................................................20 1974..........................................................................................................................................................26 1975..........................................................................................................................................................58 1976........................................................................................................................................................104 Post-1976...............................................................................................................................................105 2 Pre-1964 1849 Roberts v. City of Boston filed by Benjamin F. Roberts on behalf of his daughter Sarah who had applied to attend a white school closer to her home under the Equal Education Act of 1845. The Supreme Judicial Court ultimately upheld the local segregation ordinance.1 May 17, 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decides Brown v. Board of Education,2 in which it holds that separate educational facilities necessarily violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The court concluded “that in the field of public education the doctrine of of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.3” Because of the complexities involved, the court deferred the formulation of a specific remedy, but nonetheless mandated some process toward integration. 1959 Little Rock, Arkansas, begins to implement integration.4 1961 Memphis, Tennessee, begins to implement integration. NAACP officials begin to exert pressure on Boston School Committee to acknowledge the pressure of segregation in city’s schools with open hearings, organization of school boycotts, court litigation. They ask that the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination undertake study of extent of segregation of Boston’s public schools. MCAD later concluded that race was neither a factor in the assignment of children to schools nor factor in quality of educational opportunity. The report was rejected by NAACP and other black organizations.5 January, 1961 Judge Irving Kaufman decides Taylor v. New Rochelle Board of Education.6 The first instance of a northern city ordered to desegregate by a Federal Court, New Rochelle was found to have created a de facto segregated elementary school through a series of policies designed to gerrymander neighborhood boundaries to keep black students in the school while granting variances to white students to allow them to attend elsewhere.7 May 23, 1963 Paul Parks, president of the Boston Chapter of the NAACP, charges that black students at 13 predominantly non-white schools were below the city average in testing and and cost per pupil. Black students in Boston fall behind as much as two to three grade levels by the sixth grade. May 29, 1963 The Committee on Racial Equality (CORE) argues that Boston public schools are both segregated and provide unequal educational facilities for black 1 Roberts v. City of Boston, 59 Mass. 198 (1850). 2 347 U.S. 483 (1954). 3 347 U.S. at 495. 4 All events prior to 1970 taken from the Boston Globe time-line: “Imbalance: A 10-year calendar of controversy,” Jan. 7, 1973. 5 United State Commission on Civil Rights, “School Desegregation in Boston; A Staff Report Prepared for the Hearing of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in Boston, Massachusetts in June, 1975,” 61 (hereinafter “USCOCR Report”). 6 191 F. Supp. 181 (S.D.N.Y. 1961), affirmed 294 F.2d 36 (2d. Cir. 1961). 7 191 F. Supp. at 195. 3 students. Over 7,000 blacks attend segregated schools in Boston at this time. June 11, 1963 300 black and white Bostonians march on city hall to protest school desegregation. June 14, 1963 Black community leaders plan school boycotts in protest of school conditions. Boston Juvenile Court John J. Connelly warns 500 students under his jurisdiction to attend school on June 18, citing fines of up to $50 or six months in prison for persons causing or encouraging the delinquency of a child. June 15, 1963 Meeting between Boston School Committee (BSC) and black leaders to avert the school boycott. Black leaders presented 14 demands to the Committee, including the following: 1. Recognition of de facto segregation 2. Review of open enrollment plan 3. Faculty training in human relations 4. Visual aids which represented all races 5. Expansion of vocational guidance 6. Elimination of discrimination in hiring and placing teachers. 7. Investigation into why Boston had no black principals 8. Review of intelligence testing 9. Right to discuss selection of the new superintendent with Dr. Harold Hunt, an independent consultant June 16, 1963 The Catholic Interracial Council of the Archdiocese of Boston released a statement expressing confidence in the sincerity of the planned school boycotts. June 17, 1963 Gov. Peabody and staff meet with the Boston NAACP concerning boycotts. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frederick Gillis argues that Boston is not segregated and that each of the city's schools is integrated. June 18, 1963 The first “Stay-Out-For-Freedom” school boycott occurs. Protesting school desegregation, half of the 5,000 blacks at Boston junior and senior high schools stayed out of school. Instead, boycotters attended “Freedom Workshops” at the St. Mark Social Center. Speakers included the Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts, Rt. Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes, Jr.; the Northeast Methodist Bishop, Rt. Rev. James K. Mathews and Mr. Bill Russel. June 19, 1963 BSC member Henry F. Barry accuses Rev. James P. Bresden, an organizer for the June 18 boycott, of violating state law. June 20, 1963 BSC approves establishment of a committee of black community leaders to help carry out the proposals of the NAACP. June 26, 1963 The STOP Boycott takes place in Boston. The primary organizer, Hubie Jones, urged all blacks to stay home from work, buy nothing, and not take public transportation. July 9, 1963 BSC takes first steps toward forming a committee of community members to address problems at Roxbury and South End schools. Invitees for committee membership included Irene Robinson, Paul Parks, Archie Williams, Theodore 4 Peters, Rev. Nathan Wright, Ruth Batson, Ernest Headley, Ms. George Keeley, Ms. Harry Elan, and Alice Yancey. July 29 BSC offices are picketed. Protesters demanded that the committee meet with the NAACP's Education committee, though the event was not organized or endorsed by the NAACP itself. Access to BSC offices was blocked by human chain for one hour in the morning. The majority of protesters were white. August In part as a result of the July 29 demonstration, the BSC engages in a series of meetings with with the NAACP Education committee on Boston school segregation. August 15 BSC ceases its meetings with the NAACP Education Committee and refuses to discuss “de facto segregation” any further. August 19 The Massachusetts Board of Education (BOE) condemns de facto segregation and urges the elimination of racial imbalance in schools throughout the Commonwealth. August 20 Gov. Peabody states that segregation exists in the Commonwealth's schools and that it must be overcome. He also suggests that the NAACP stop using the phrase “de facto segregation.” August 29 Kenneth Guscott, President of the NAACP Boston extends an invitation to BSC to continue talks and indicates his willingness to reach a settlement by avoiding the “de facto” issue. Superintendent Gillis announces adoption of an “open enrollment” plan, in which students could attend any public school if parents provide transportation. September 5 Eight