Eliminating Educational Segregation in the Nation's Capital—1951—1955
| Published date | 01 March 1956 |
| Date | 01 March 1956 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271625630400113 |
| Author | Irene Osborne,Richard K. Bennett |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
98
Eliminating
Educational
Segregation
in
the
Nation’s
Capital—1951—1955
I N
September
1951
the
Community
i.
Relations
Program
of
the
American
Friends
Service
Committee
began
a
project
designed
to
aid
in
the
elimina-
tion
of
segregation
in
the
city
of
Wash-
ington.
Extensive
practices
of
racial
exclusion
and
discrimination
were
espe-
cially
significant
and
disturbing
in
the
city
which
symbolizes
a
democratic
peo-
ple
and
expresses
the
nation’s
will
to
a
watchful
world.
When
we
began
this
Quaker
program
we
had
no
clear
idea
of
how
we
could
help.
We
did
have
a
conviction
that
to
segregate
is
to
do
harm,
that
people
would
rather
do
bet-
ter,
that
the
means
could
be
found
to
right
a
great
wrong.
This
is
the
story
of
that
Quaker
project.
The
four-year
program
did
its
work
with
two
staff
members
during
the
first
three
years,
with
only
one
for
the
final
year.
We
began
with
a
job
description
which
read
only,
&dquo;See
what
you
can
do
about
segregation
in
the
nation’s
capi-
tal.&dquo;
Often
uncertain
and
sometimes
afraid,
we
knew
that
we
must
learn
and
that
we
would
need
the
help
of
other
people.
The
decision
to
concentrate
on
prob-
lems
of
segregation
in
the
fields
of
edu-
cation
and
recreation
was
made
early.
We
first
took
a
look
at
the
city
to
find
where
progress
in
desegregation
was
taking
place
and
where
it
was
lacking,
and
to
determine
the
resources
and
needs
of
an
already
established
struc-
ture
of
citizens’
organizations.
When
we
had
completed
our
first,
intensive
look,
we
felt
that
we
saw
the
need
for
additional
organizational
effort.
Basic
to
all
other
forms
of
segrega-
tion
was
the
absolutely
dual
school
sys-
tem.
It
kept
white
and
Negro
children
apart
in
the
years
that
counted
most.
It
left
no
areas
for
joint
effort
of
white
and
Negro
parents
or
white
and
Ne-
gro
teachers.
The
school
structure
was
widely
cited
as
the
reason
for
a
simi-
lar
pattern
in
other
institutions.
Al-
though
citizens
had
protested
and
op-
posed
school
segregation
for
years,
re-
peated
failure
and
an
awareness
of
the
great
difficulty
of
doing
the
job
ham-
pered
effective
action
and
resulted
in
apathy.
School
and
District
officials
took
the
view
that
the
school
laws
re-
quired
complete
segregation.
Real
com-
munication
was
not
possible
while
the
basic
issue,
that
of
the
immorality
and
human
wastefulness
of
segregation,
was
not
even
accessible
for
discussion.
Closely
allied
to
the
school
system
was
the
public
recreation
system.
The
Recreation
Board
in
1949
had
adopted
an
official
policy
of
gradual
desegrega-
tion
of
its
playgrounds.
In
the
first
three
years,
under
the
gradual
policy,
only
30
out
of
140
areas
had
been
opened
for
interracial
use.
On
most
of
the
interracial
playgrounds,
more
effec-
tive
programing
was
still
needed.
The
years
1951
to
1955
proved
to
be
dramatic
for
the
history
of
the
city
and
for
the
story
of
desegregation.
In
these
years,
the
city
made
changes
in
its
ra-
cial
practices
so
rapidly
as
to
be
star-
tling
to
even
the
most
optimistic.
These
changes
grew
out
of
complex
social,
eco-
nomic,
and
political
forces
world
wide
in
scope.
The
city’s
progress
reflects
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