'.-.

/(J

L L(J-.

--

_-,. -

\ ..

^,a\n vr.v!

Fr,-^raLwul

sEJRE liTio-..-,

-;stl - i:i3

Ro:en Lerr:.s La Frankie

I:r.s ;rojeci was ccne lnder tj.te supervlsion of:

Prctessor iiarr;.' L. 3rov,i , jr. troies sor Davic B " Austrn Prcfessor Robert A. Dentier

S-consor

A: -rc.,'ec J-,' :i,e Connliiiee on

IJd LE

:re

Degree of Doctor cf Education

[4AY

1967

r-q

"rbnittec ln iarii. i f uIf iliment of the -lr..rents for tre DeEree of Doctor oi Eciucatron ln ieachers Coiie,e, Colur,rbia Unlversity
S

1967

Statement of Proiect This project is a case study of the public school conflict which occuned in Englewood, New Jersey, a suburb of New York C.l

''

Engle-

uood is a residential community of over 27,000 located two miles from

\-

the New Jersey engance to'the George Washington Bridge and was one

of the

ftst

northern communities to receive national prominence because

of the racial problems which confronted

The purpose of

its public schools.

this project was to describe and analyze the

crlti'

cal Board of Education's policy decisions that had relevance to the issue of racial segregation in the public schools of Englewood from 1930 to

1963. Events and Critical Policy Decisions were e:{amined for the imrnediate and

ultimate effects and influences felt by all parties who had

'8toke' ln the issues

This study is concerned

wtti the

nature of the dectsion-maktng

Flcess as it operated in Englewood, New Jersey, the people who

ctme intolved, and
I

h-:

and

lgu

the lmpasse occuned.

to illuminate

lhls, (l)

seven Critical Policy'Dectsions have been studied r'l relatton to:

the ptanning process, (2) policy-making, (3) politlcaltechnlgues

cnd, (4) 6d6inistlative

procedures
Procedures Followed

A case study approach was employed in an atiempt to describe

del

clilon*rnaking by the Boards of Education and Superlnteirdents.

ltd;b'j'i

racral :i3a ,1ct ihe cr::.::f : ci la';:::E reie.'a:.ce :o. of l::'--'llcations for were then ors':lre,:raiion were lccordeC as pert.t;lent Cata ' These ciata the dat3 revealed c.lnized lnto ten topical caiegor:;.es ' An examinati:n of

i.cisions

made by the Boal<j

ui ijr'ic.:].:,,:.. d;ii sJpi]: ]]]i.ri.JCais ' .:1 .:l^ ] rJ

seqreg?ti'n iI:. extended, alleviated, or rnaintained e c:ildiijon of racial

t:e Englewood Public Schocls.

The*qe

decisions which resulted in the

relevance to racial es..3ilishment or continuation of school policy having

segregatron j.n the public schools were termed
Seven

"Critical Policy Decisions'

the basis Criticai Policy Decisions were identified and became

of the significant for iurther research carried out to determine the nature
took action and processes utilized through which the decision-makers
r,rade

decisions.
from the files Newspaper accounts of the events were researched

oi the Enqlewood Press Io

Fro::.i

and from articles of various dally papers'

Of major these materia.Is, an exhaustive chronolOgy was developed

events which had relevance to racial segregation'

to make obserThe writer resofied to an event analysis technique

vatlons concernj.ng interactions and relationships of various community

per,iroups. As a supplement and to provide additional data' numerous

5!.,31 interviews were conducted vJith participants and observers' Conclus ions

Tr': frnai phase of the study consists of the v'riter's attempt

j j/' : -' :!1r,rnQS from the study of the decision-making process'

'l'

iiirilll

H
I
H
tt
3

r
[* fl
s, *,
I

Iirc i:;s,c of raci.l scqreg,ltron

lir,itr
5^

io

L.e

a m.jor problenr confronting the City of Englervood

'n

the publrc schoo.is rras, and con_..,

t,

.i poil;y of r,rcial scgrcgJrion and contar:t:r,er.! wds aciualiy ac_ :i\'.i), pursucd by the formal porver structure even as late as 1962.
Thc ncntbers

IJ

\' tk
t:
'ti
F,

of the

tsoards of Education vrere not the ,,real,, deci_

slo;:-riakers of Board of Education policy.

Elforts of former Superintendents of School to exert influence in

ri,c decisron-making process were largely ineffective.
The

crtl' councir and lvfayor became jnvorvel borh officiaily

and

fi

rrotfrcialry in the decision-rnaking process concerning natters and :rircjes clearly within the p,.rrvielv of the Boards of Education.
The Engrewood

I
ii ii * f,l
i?

experience, r",

a"arr" to sensitize the reader to

6
F
it'f
f-r

fi

its public school population ho:ld certaiiry find it fruitful to read this study and to'profit from these
.ricriences so that the mistakes made by the Boards of Education and Superintendents in Englewood might be avoided.

c{iflain influences and relationships whiclr are like.ly to be found, a!_ :i.ough not in exactly the same lorrd, irr most other citjes. Therefore, r::y ctty which underlakes to desi'qregate

PR.II}CE

prc.ic-sis

oi racral sc.jregatton,in ncriler:.1 public scllocis

a;.rc
O;.re

have

:r"': .:J-::inl rn nulrbcr

C:-:i c.:ctsion of 1954.

siEni{icance si;ce ii,e time of the s:rpiene of the first northeir cc;nnunrties lo receive

'..r:r::..:l atie;itron because of the racial proble;:s confronting public

lc::;cls

r.,as Englewood, New Jersey.

Engiewood. a reside jrtial communit), of over 27 ,ACl located

:H; ;ties fro,tr the New Jersey entrance to the George Vlashinjton Bridge,

t: u ra:ier unique conimunity in rnany ways, a conmunity that mi;ht well

r{Tre ds a nicrocosnl for further study, especiaily regarding the issue of

ra:.ll se;regation of northern urban centers.

T

Probably the most serious problem to conftont the

t'rr5l(-:rce arose lrom charges of

city slnce its

racial serreEation in the public schools,

cc::,o::!y.referred to ds the de Iggl-g segregation issue. The problem had

::c :,e:rcsls prior to the turn of the century, but after 1g30, the problern

t t
f I

:.;dii lc take on a more significant meanin.g, finally compelling the Board

(.: !c-co:10n, Supertntendent, and ultimately the total community, offi_

ilr:.i

f I I t
I I

ro recog.ize and seek a viabre settrement to the impasse that con-

3c:,:ro ihe

t f
E

clty. Many plans, policies, administratlve procedures, ex_

arose; but, at rnost, they served only as temporary

.n-i ri:.:iions, and polltical techniques were advanced to solve the raclal ;3.:;ens
a.s r,hey

'qf-lf, e.

:r 1j

ilifidr.r:

'futf ls"f. "Lr

h.
-,_ _E

.4.*

ffij'

ltl..

i'

. l-

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sil-ili::rs untii oiher crrses arcse. Much ir:ne, effort, mone!'.

e:1d

frus-

:raitJii hsve been the price paic for atte:t)ctlng to maintain !:.e status quo
d.r!;

i.:ilin.l to recoE:rrze anc to ceal efiec'rively !!ith the neei for change.
Bchavioral scientists iend to agree that change, r^hether

it is

l::C;cei b),nat'.rre or by iran. results in co;rflict. Nothing sig:lificEnt in

:: i.ttlic of education or related areas cen be accomplished vrihout a certetn anount of struggle and conflict. as conflict is the natuIal olrreiative

.ii ch3nqe. Changing the stalus quo when conditions wanant it bcomes
<lr o:reration

requlring great skili, even \f]]en one possesses ti'ie back-

qrorld and know-irow necessary to have a reasonably Jood chance for success. On the other hand, failure to recojnize the neeci for change renis ro multiply the problem within the static condition and often results
rn

catrstrophic consequences sometimes brought about by a neglect on

rhe part of the decision-makers to take slakes of

full and sensitlve account of the

all persons or qroups to be touched or influenced by the deci-

srcn. Neglect in turn leads to an inadequate or distorted perception of

the real problem at hand.

This problem of raciai segregation was created over an extendcd perlod of time by people who lived together in a community in a defi-

ltlc stdte of transition. This study is concerned wlth these people

v;irn how and

and
be

y{y the resultant impasse occurred.

An attempt

will

naie at the same time to show the cleavages that spllt the commurrity.
The followlng, then, are the resealcher's propositions: (l)
Prror to reachlnq

a viable solution in a condltlon lnvolving a maJor iv

l;:ii..rssc, a ccrtain conditjoning perlod must pass in order for the co.nxrJnlt),

to br:come nrore receptive to change. (2) Chanqe rneans confirct -

;:tiie of signiircance in the field of education or related dreas can be acc,:,;illrshed \Aithout a certain amount of struggle anC conflict as contlrc! ls ii'.e natural correlatlve of chan3e.

(3) Prior to reaching a viable soiuconflict, tlme, effort,

:to:: of a ma.jor soclal-ecol\omrc riilemma much

:,c::oy, and frustration are expended, resultin3 in a certain amount of

rlsie
a:rC

and mlsunderstanding.

(a) The "logic" of the planning process

the expert professional advlce and counsel rendered by educatlonal

rcnrnrstrators is often thwarteci and/or transformed from its original con-

lr\t

on the 1^ays to becoming actual

policy. Ifwe focus on the actions it

bec.ones

ol rhe loard of Education and the Office of the Sr-iperintendent,

&LvloJs that Boards of Education ncrmally tend to perpetuate the interests

c:ii culiures they represent.' Too, the office of Superintendent of Schools

4
&

ll o ;uasi-political offlce and therefore

1s

quite llkely rendered Ineffec-

s s g

!11! by vrtue of the nature of the position and relatlonship to hls

t.:.plo1,er--the Board of

t
*

Education. (5) Rational declslon-making as a

r:ii:j,!rd of good planning is an ideal, but real orqanizations (like real ;*.;.ie) do not make decisions in a substantially rational rnurrn"r.l F*-

It!j, lIc determlnation of what constitutes rational behavior cannot

rt.in hllhout reference to the obJectives of the lnfluential partles to

be a

i,l ':all(-i. Declsion-making \^1thin the political power structure is often

lliartln Meyerson and Edward C. Banfield, Polltics, Plannino lbc Pubirc Interest (Glencoe, Il1.: The Free Press, I955) p. 15.

!=:.

n*

' :t, ,t ;_: ,i !.r :';

,rri;r('d

dt nalntair)lnu thc status of thc inlluential. In practice, thls ob-

lecrlve takcs precr:cience over dccision-nraking based upon carefullv

;;i;,.rcteci, lon_:-r;::rge planning.

T:us, the
::)d"v

Englewoocl experiences to be presented jn

this

paper

scrve io sensitrze the reacer to certain rnfluences and reiationships

Bhic)', dre :r'osi oiher

lrkely to be found, althou3h not in exactly the same form, in

cities, Tiierefore, any city which undertakes to desegregate

rls public schcol population is almost certain to meet problems similar to ir,os!'encountered by the Board of Education and

lts superlntendent ln

i'glewood. Generally speaking, the public interests which came lnto crnlllct in Englewood should be indicative of the public interests that
no;,conflict in other cities facinJ a crisis of thls nature.l
The purpose of

this project is to describe and analyze the

cntlcar Board of Education's policy decrsions that had relevance.to the

lssue of racial segregaiion in the erementary schools of Engrewood, New

t
$

i
'$

lcrsey, fron 1930 to 1963. The critical policy decisions have been
rl:Cred in relation

11

to: (l) the plannlng lrocess, (2) pollcy_maklng,

ili politicat techniques and (4) administrative procedures.

The Board of Educatlon and office of the Superlntendent were

*
t

r !
*
$

ll,r' tocdl polnt for the

.:,:tJ

study. competing considerations were described

thc resultant

critical pollcy decisions analyzed (galns and penaltles)

i ; f
b

I Martin Lieyerson and ldward C. Banfield, Politics, plannlnq g_{_$g_lgbllc Interest (Glencoe, Il1.: The Free Press, l95S) pp. ll-15.

d s

vl

.rr:,) irrc ilrijJaci on th{r sclrools and t}le conlrnunity. The influences and ; )::ii.s erieried Dy'rhe resircnsible decisron-rnaking groups on each other
h,,:.,dssessrtci in the li.;p^-rrrenie nt played

lljht of the rolc the

Board of Educatlon and the

, Tire iInmedr.rte and ultimate ef fects and inf luen-

"'rr leli bl all parties wlo had a ,,siake" in the issues v;ere traced and

i t
I

i'::crrb,:d frorn thcir tentative beqinnings through the actual declsions

irld* ln each case to show how the decisions nriqht have been trans_
l:-'.::cd rn the process.

f
;
+

& f

The nature of the decision-makinJ process, or -h-gly declsions

rrrc

reachec and

vfu ihey were ultimately advanced as solutions to the analyticaily. The aim was to describe how
ad_

::ii-,Jsse uere considered

:l:lstrJtive and poiitical decisions were made and to provide a framework

.l irdly5ls to enable one to see how better decisions might be made.

Tlre study does not include a specific

list of recommendations

:';i {rcilon. The inteliectual objectlve was rather to assess these general
itrr;r'5r:tons and critical policy decisions from the point of view of

;'l::rcdl

socio.logy and the theory

of administration via a case study

ap_

;r:xch.

Tire study was conducted over a period

of eighteen months. Ex-

'r-rrvp lntervie\'/s \rcre conducted with leading particlpants for the pur...:e cl supplenenting and interpretlng extenslve matertals secured from

Jr

.,:

n111

5, nlnutes, speeches , and newspaper fiies.

In the conduct of the study, the writer did extenslve research

r!:.!:c;rertod irom 1930 to 1963, including all , or portlons of, the re_

!lrr1 o! tlrree chief school adminlstrators.

ea}qrystE*!.&

fi,,
$

f r
t
r

Outlire of the $jg!y

T:ls.',,,is (l st,lci), oi'.::; i::gicv,'ood, New Jersey school con-

:ir.t.

A cas. '.-

s:::j. arjrroacii',..es e;iplo)'!-ci in the atteiript to descrlbe '- I ';- loarcis cI Ei:cation and Superintendents
from

.' -ll to l:-o3 ir. ::ai'.ers rela'.ed ro racial se.Jregatlon.

The

cfficial minutes of the Boards of Education for the perlod

ir,':r 1933 ro 196: were e;iami.ed as a starting point of the study. Every
;1.:r il:at met the criterion of having relevance to or implications for

rrcral se;re;ation was recordeci as pertinent. These data were then or,14::::ed

into ten topical categories as follows: (1) Changing Boundary Transfers (3) Staff Personnel (4) Public Relatlons (indi-

'-:. cs (2) Stuceni

r':'i:ais) (S) Public Reiations (interest groups) (6) School Plant Planning
i.') Currlculum Revrsions, Additions, Total Instructional Program (B) Com-

.-::it-y Surveys, Studies, Trends, Predictions, Statistics (9) Human RelaItr,:,s

(it) Superiniendents - White - Stearns - Shedd.

,;j'_,'

:Crnliflcation of Critical Policv Decislons

An ex?mination of the <iata drawn from mlnutes of the Boards of

lrl.:co!1()n
;1;a:Cs
1.r

or;anized in the ten catelories revealed decisions made by the

of Education and Superinterideirts which had extended, allevlated,

::alrtalned a condltion of racial segregation ln the Englewocd Publlc

Scl:ools. These declsions which resulted ln the establlshment or con-

ry'.s'rc! .a l.ii:

a{i
'
::n

r.r

r'lr, 'I

'.j,ia

i
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1

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.t;,1

' . : ".i'i

4'

'i{

....:.]

l::,..dilor o! sc:,-,-i :c)rc;.'havrng relcvance io racial segregatlon tn the

;,lirc

scl)oL\is

i\ere:.rned critical pollcy iecisrcns. for a ciecislon to

ir:l.ssl:iei es a cri::cdl polic! declsion, lhe cecision had to havere:...jr,:c r:) d

::,.as:rei

ci^ange

in the starus ggg cr to hdvc naintained the

in \ri]lci'r si.aj^.ci:E pollcy rtas uncier attack.

':.1'1s :i.r
:..ic

i-r ;:.-r:i:s:t:.ccs

r, l; crder'.o r. icentifieci as a criiicai pol.icy ciecision, the decision

lo ire prececec:.r'a:id,/or followed by a serres of connrunity reverDer-

,r:r:;:s rn the ior:r of conflicts inraclvrlg individuals or co;nnrunlty organi-

l*Ci:orolocv oi Events
Sever crrtr.cai policy decisrons v.'ere icientified. They, in turn,

:rcdne the centers of inq|iry aimed at describing the process by which cc.lsloiis v;ere rrade in matters related to racial seeregation in the schools
,': l:rqiewood, New

lersey. In this'phase cf the study, newspaper acof events surrouiiding the seven crltical policy

;:r-it:il

dnd other records2

cierailei account of the events were compil-ed by referring to -[ournai, v,s!-.apers: Enqleu.ood Press Ber:en Evenina Record, New -.-':-.---g!, lJer'ari Star Ledrier, anci ihe liew Yori Herald Tribune. Compre'-. ilJ! lrawspaper frles belongrng to the lnglewooci School District from ::i. rr:ouqh 19J3, anci newspaper files of Mrs. Robert Greenberg, a cltl:c' .rl [;r';lewcx]d, were utilized for the stuCy. Where newspaper refer"'ir'!i)irccs Iack paqe nurnbcrs, it'1s because pdqe nuntbers were uniirr;dl.ic from the newsijaper files used in this study.

1A

: ..J ,rf

rr,

2Tlre wrirer was in the unique position as assistant principal of :)ri,;hi Morrow Hrgh School, the publrc high school of Englewood, New ,rr'..v. lie, iherefore, irad access to records, rnemoranda, first-hand

:'1.:j:::Jllon anci,

i:.:a

irirst,

actually, he was a participant observer during the period

lo August, 1966.

1962

&

i
f
*

f f *

.:,.,'iSioi)S r\ar.3 a

_:: :::i,J. Fronl th.esC i]t.tterials, a;i r-:i:.aistive

ChrOnOi_

.',,\es deva]a--a: i: :rjcr

. ' r-,.tr !.-ircu r- c-^ 1i, !:.r-:,,.:._.u

evc.iS reie'a.ti to rscral se:rL-gition \^,hich

;:iinq the thi'rti-two ;,ear perioJ stuciied.

:-\1aki1g_process

.',:

.,. :l

rs of

t:." :i

: :s ::

I
t
f
{

VJli:- :.-,:s c::arieC chronolo;y p,repared,

u::rlyzeci tne

t:e researcher
The process by
tO

ei..:.:: r:-i:he cjecision-naking lrrocess.

h:ICr crltical .D:t:,-- ieclsions were made was descrr:ed in relatlon ::.: follcwing: (i)
:_-.e

planning process, (2) policy-rnaki;:E, (3) political

i{:l:-r}ques and (_:i ea.::inistrative procedures. From thrs description the

'^ilie!

v!as able

tc::serve the inieractrons and relationships

among

in-

ct'lduals and e:,:._:1itlr groups reflected in the record and to see how
r|.e dctions

reialec io o;re event impinged upon and created conditions re-

1u:ilng in anothe! ',nt in the chain of decisions-

blervlews

I
i&

One acci:tonal technique was employed in narshalling the data

r
$

!t

ihe

study.

Tr:e

yj.iter and one assistant, Mr. Ronald Breiger l, a

"tu-

C.r:t at DwiJhr Mcr:-ov;

Eigh School, conducted over eiEhty formal and in-

t
(

lcr::.al interviews- I:tierviews were arranged with certain partlcipants rn,l cbservers incluc!n; two of the Superintendents of

f
I

Schools2.

The

[:r; le*ood

3r.r;".'" contribution was parilcularly valuable because he frld crevtously es:allished a good reputation with the Negro community of
.

lM..

2lntervie'ros we,e conducted with former Sujerintendent Flarry L. .!i.arns, and lv{arx R. Shedd, present Superintendent oI Schools.

: 4...

..1,:'. 11r\,,s, c!]ndllatcd idl(ri,l\, .rftcr ihe construcito;t of ti:e basic chronol-

:.r' oi r)ver)ts,
*::ior
v,

sca\,r-:ai

iif o purposes i.n particular: They prOvided the

itir dn opLrortJrti.i:i to test the accuracl, and completeness of his

;.:, l1;;1i11.i11, accounts

;nd to collcct nuli)erous details that added further

ii 5i.;lris it)io the eve:.ts a:iC tencieci to tre the various events together.

l ricrvie\\s, iherefore, \'ere noi stanciard in content but they were entered l:'.o \rIih the purposcs r.reniioned above and usually to add other specific ric:rs of rnfcrn)ation required to reflect accurately the events as they took
;

lacc trnci rhe parts individuals and groups played in this unfolding.

qers.l-q!e-l-r
The

final phase of the studl, consists of the writers attempt to

ir{lw out meanings from the data on the decision-making process collected
u:rc analyzed j:r

in this study of the f,nglewood School Conflict. Emphasis

ihis concluding seciion is placed upon testing the valldlty of the

rr:r'..r's prevtously stated propositions reJarding the conflict theory as

li.cse oropositions related to the issue of racial segreqatlon and the re-

5-il3:.: critical decisions that \^'ere made relevant to the Englewood

Scr-ocl

Conflict.
format of the Report
The study

is dlvided into four parts. Part One is devoted to

historicai background and ecologlcal characterls-

irrc dcvelcirnent of the

tl:is of

tie cc;nnunity. Part T\ro provides the reader wlth an extenslve

x1

,'t,,

rr

. tolt.'i "iF,.,l
"'('+l
.i.r

;:

ll

t',
,.r:

h
tr

s f"
g

i,r:l:rology of evcnis fronr lS'30 to ]963 that had rclevance to the issue of

&

* I li
;ii

;li:,rl

se;;re-;atron in

f,ngicuood. Thts part is littroduced as a lneans of

ho\A'

*i

ri.rssifying all signrf icarlt events. showirrg

thc) *'ere iltcrrelated,

t
& fr
d+
1..

!r.:s provldrng a frame('ork of reference usecj as a basis for conductinl

lc:lr,al onci jnfornral intervier!s of certain

participants.

The detailed

$'
'f

r.:i,)rology also proviies the reader the unique cpport.unity to assess the

il b #
tg

r]il,l utrlized by the rariter thereby permitting the reader to arrlve at his oln conclus ions .
Part Three

$
u

is inuoduced as a sequential follow-up in an

ri
'fv.

I'

or:clytlcal attempt to focus on the decision-makers, to better understand

i.&l\\

decisions made were arrived at and why these particular declsions

it
rore made.
Part four identifies and describes the Critical Policy Declsions
r:ode by the decision-makers, the alternatives faced and the consequences

*
Y"j

E,

t$ tr.

n t{,

s
*t

lo ihe communlty.
The Summary and Conclusions follow which tend to point up the

*
rt'

',il;lCit),'of the researcher's original propositions. Much evldence

ls pre-

iF.

l 'L
t'

lertecj ihat iras serlous implications for other cities facing the problem of

r:l:

trctel segregation within public schools.

t;
;$
S1

H i
*',

.:

ii-

F
$_

fr

TABLE

OI

CONTENTS Page

ii.:iAci
n lrluJ: lLlK
11\'1r'A.b5L

iii

' ,qi nt Tlar Fc

::ST OI' iLLUSTRATIONS

PART
Sorne

I"

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Re]evant Laws and Court Cases .

2. New Jersey School Law of l88l

I. Roberts vs. City of Boston of lB49

.1. The I947 Constitution of the State of New Jersey 5. The United States Supreme Court Decision of

3. PIcssy vs. ferguson Dbcisjon of lB96 May I7,

1954

6. New Rochelle Case of t96l

Ecologicai Characteristics of Englewood

...

l. Geographic Location 2. "lr{ain Street" Community 3. Development of Serious Conflicts 4. Engiewood In ltansition
5. Religious Characteristics of the Community 6. The Four Wards 7. Englewood's School Buildings
The Private and Parochial Schools

t.

9. Student Rccognition of Problem

10. Four Factors Contributing to Segregatlon

J#-:,.

i.r.:,:

li.

Si-Clii(l;lllcrN ilr' lLGLI,"-OOD (i930 -

C1:IiO;\OLOGY

Oi t'.:l:-S r::-:\'"')if

TO RACiAL
1963)

ii:; o: SLrpcrinteitic:ti \\'Iiio:, J. U'i'.!:. i. f ir:,i F.',:cicL:c Rrie;.:.c=s -.o Raci3l Seq!egation l. I'rist Poitcl Decisrci iilt'"a:r; io Racia] Segrej. l. f .irl: i'tro Sigrriicant EVents .i. Trc lr.c"r Lr:rcc]n junicr High School i:: ol Supcrrniendcni Harrl' L. S:eari:s.
I
!T

)1

al icn

3l

J.

De {i;rrnr-: }'1ajor School Froblenr in 1953 j. Oui-'vaici Ngro Migration .i. Thc Ohlo State Survey :. The Question of liomoEeneous Grouping o. iio.rrd Resi:tnations - L{ayor's Action

. iorl;,' Ch;rges of Segregation

7. \crv Rochelle Case

. O:rq!: oi the Stearns R.ePort :. i,t'w Si-'c;reqation Charges li,. iirr,an Lcague Supports Board ll. 'lnntro.rersial Deadline: February 1, I.. T;rc lirst "Sit-In" Case :i. Threat of Boycott I i. ii,-,lease of Stearns Repo:-t ! ,. Dt.mocrdtic Party's Stand
.
i ',..

1962

j,l

ril tit ril

l'. l$. :,

ii,.'sli,-nallon of President; ApFointrnent of Negrro Thc Dcnronsiration School. Govr,rnor's View of Problem N{ark R" Shedd
56

iit ril

Li ol Sui)crrniendent

il,'aral lnterrnediate School

Or r,;rn

Denrorrstration School PIan Abolished Proposed

of Ilnglewood Movement

Lr.ncoln School Boycott li:ui.c (lomilt is sioner Intervenes

il.r:
i.i,.s

ii.i'rr:asc rn Private School Enrollment istancc to Central lnierrnediate School i Lc;1,51 ot ine State Fact finding Team ( Cr'nudl inlermedlate School PIan Rejected

i4i
tsr.

74

#i

s
4tt

ru

83
BB

tsii ll'tr &rl

#i g

f'

L.

96

r:
fif
Sr
it

PART

IV"

CRITICAL POUCY DECISIONS

ffi F
l'n.rt Criiical Policy Decision. . . .

l0l

F
tsY

l. Constructing a Second Junior High School at

Lincoln School (1938)
c

fl 'l
i.

Seco:rd

Critical PoIicY Decision.

Boundary Lines (1954)

106

iiik

,ie
a*

,t:

1. Altering the Traditional Neighborhood School

Tirud and l'ourth
.i

t:: td
.

Critical Poiicy Decisions'

lr3

Fi:

l1
!:i

. Constructing a New f,lerrentary School (i957); Constructing a New Junior Hiqh School and Auditorium (1957)
--.

$ry

Fi

i"1'

i1::h Crirical PolicY Decision.

I

I2t

:'
t-.
4t_

i,l'
L.

. \larn'Laining the Traditional Neighborhood School

Policy
(1962)

S;xrh Crrlical PoIicy

Decision....

l3l
(1962)

)!:,
lrl:n

:i.t;

l. Esiablishlng a Demonstration School

Sevenlh

il 'r

Critical Policy DecisioD..r.

I38

iii

l. Establishing a Central IntermeCiate School (1962)

'lhr
Scven

Critical Policy Decisions ' ' ' xvii

144

LlJSicNs"

I5I
167

I76

3. R,rports, Studics and Special Conferences, r930 - 1963.....

t79

LIST OF TABLES

Table

Page

l. 2. 3. 4.

Populat:.on of lnqiewood Acccrding to

U. -

S.

Ccnsus Reports (1930

1960)

..
1960)

l6

Per Cent of Non-White Population (1930

..

I6

Per Cent of Non-White Population byWards Background Daia and Racial Composition of Englervood Public Schools, Octoberr

(1960).....

196i LAt the Heiqht of Crisis)

5.

2t

Negro Enrollment for the Public Schools

Englewood (1930

- t964)

of
24

N{ayors of Englewood and Board of Education

Appointees (1930 - i963) . .

Members of Boards of Education According to

76

Mayoralty Appointments and Showing Baiance of Power According to Wards.

8.

78

Members of Boards of Education and Other

Significant Background Data (1930 - 1963).

q

80

"Inside" Community Organizations and Degree oflnvolvement " "..

"Outside" Community Organizations and Degree of Inrrolvement " "..

...:

"

90,91,92
97,98 r50

10.

Il. AnAnalysis of the Seven Critical Policy Decisions.....

12.

Background Data and Racial Compcsition of Englcrvood Public Schools, October, 1964 (After Viable Settlement). .

163

LIST OT ILLUSTRATIONS

:)
,jr i. .

iiEure I. :.
inglcwood, New JerseY
Social Map of Englewood, New Jersey byWard>

Page

I,',

l0

i',
1,

t, E:
'F.

.....

12

fl
1

3. Popuiations

l',,
f,r.

by Wards According to Race and Median Famiiy Income and Housing Value by Census

Tracts-1960..
f,nglewood Public Schools Showing Chronological

l8

*-

Deveiopment of:

f., {..

I. Englewood Public Schools. 2. School Boundary Lines Prior to 1954" 3. School Boundary Line Changes as Result of Board of Education Second Critical Policy Decision of 1954
i.
Socrogram of Mayoralty Appointments of Members of Boards of Education (i930 - 1964) (This Sociogram Shorvs Lines of Succession, P'esidence, Wards Re-

presented and Indicates Involvement in Critical

Policy Decisions.) .

82

PART

I"

I]ISTOF,ICAL BACKGROUND

#*

A. fuj-e-Rolqvattt La"s

ancl Co

Tc provide the reader with a rnore comprehensive insi-cht into the

r:arure

of ihe total

prcl-.lc;-il

of racial segreijation, the v.rlier presents

verl briei historical survey of the events which occurreci outsiCe the com-

nunity. These events date as far back as lE49 with the court case of
r'1s.
,

'n'oi,or1s vs

- Citv of Boston.
1849

i l
f

I. Ro)erts vs. Citv of Boston of

Roberts

s
lFc;
,f ..!i

*,
tr

{
t

vs. Citv of Boston was the ffst school

segTegatlon case

!!'er arqued in the United

become an

States. It was argued by a nan who was to

+
*,

outstanding spokesman for Negro rights in the North; charles

|:

Sunrner,

:he lawyer of record. I a Negro girl who had been refused admlsslon

;.
*:,

Surnner represented to a

$
t:
;l

white school because of a local ordinance statinJ that the educa-

f:
+,*t'

s
ii
..lt

tlon of the races had to be

separate. This case had

many of the ear-

r,arks of the cases presently being heard in the state and Federal

l^

courts. suniner maintalned two llnes of argument: (l) that all cltrzens

$.

{i

N,s!

rl lr'lassachusetis were guaranteed equal rights under the blll of rights

$
ii

l
's
\.

lliarry S. Ashmore, The Ne,:lro and the Schools (Chapel Hill:

Unrverslly of North Caroiira Press, I954)

pp. 3-4.

':::, :1J:o coi,stl',1:ia:., (-) t:,e sepa.'atc scicois ci D--s::--.'..4:e In'

:!:.r1.,'

unc.qual.

I:-.

i.'ct :rrs cltent hac lo rnaii a ciisti:-ce o: 1,100

sr-.e

:i,:: ri

c-'rder

to aitcic i.:.r cldssfs \!nen

ao"iJ ha"e'.reliei only

'

jr.,:l to a \rijtie sci.!--ol ihai was locateo near her ho;:,e.1 (See

:is:l:,c)n)'cf Superrnieicent of Engleuooc, Scha:1s, Iiarr-w L. S:earns,

:c.arr.ir;rg

whrte stuciei''is attending Quarles School insteaC cf the pre-

c.::tndntly Negro Lincoln School.) Chief Justrce'Shaw heic e;ainst

S.;nncr and cilsmissed his central thesis (this 1^as prior to
11

tre adcption

lirc fourte enth Anendi:rent to the Fecieral Constituticn) *'i'u\ the

0;l:1lin ihat any caste cistinction aggravdted by segre;a:ed scnools,

"ii n e;<ists, is
lrrr . "

no1 createci by larv and

procabiy cannot be cia;Eed by

L lira

Tersev School Law

of l88I
of significance occurred
when

The next legal event

tie liew ]ersey

ia'.;lslature enacted the following important school law

in l88l:

No child between the age of four and twenty years shall be exciuded from any public school on account of nrs or her religion, nationality or color, A memi:er of any ircard of education who shall vote to exclude fronc any publlc school any such child on account of his or her relrgion, na.tionality, or color shall be gui.lty of a misicrneanor, and punished by a flne of not ress than fifty (1ollars, or by inrprisonnrent in the county'jail, *orihouse, or pcnr.tentiary of the county in which the offense shall have been committed, Ior not less than thirty days nor rrore than siJ months, or by both fine and lmprisonxrent,

:#

Illarry S. Ashmore, The Neoro and the Schools (Chapel Hill: ':\'r.rsrty of North Carolina Press, 1954) pp. 3-4.

ln lhe Crscretion of the courl. I

r\l:horgr this law has been in eifect since i8Sl, rt too, supports
::.,,

prirc:plc '.hat "Lalv has

ne

vcr -vci :rade rnan noralr " because it

:,r:1, ci

io iie,,'ei,t separate racial eciucatr.on from deveio.oilg. In fact,

ri'xrculiy, j.t cieveloped while the larv vras in effect.

In Nevr Jersey the lavr nade no distrnction between the races as
lo tl)cu'rights

in the pubiic schools at any time. Yet separate educa-

r'on, up to the high school graCe, persists in a semi-iegal way in sone

o! the southern sectlons of the State even today.2

l.

Plessv
The

vs. Ferquson Decision of

1896

classic case, of course, resulted i.n ihe Plessv vs. Ferquson

The Supreme Cotrt of the United States sustained

il:S-!!.]9!-9t]!gq.

:he consiitutionaij.ty

of seqlregation laws in this famous case which

*i:i:rred in Louislana. The Court maintained that it was powerless to

cn!;rrce

legislation that attempted to rely on the moral law. The State

oj louisiana mandated that the railroad companies had to make pro,."lrions for

transportation on a separate but equal basis for the white

l::d colored racial groups.3 lf,lcairor and Vishnu Oak, "Development of Segregated Education iersey" (unpubiished Masterrs dissertation, North Carolina i:ileqe, Durham, October, 1938) P. 6.
rr: Nr''.r

2mia., ts-zo.
3Rob".t R. Hamilton and Paul R" Mort, The law and Public l'.t;,:,:lron (New York: The Foundation Press, Inc., 1959) p. 5ll.

It is lntcrcsilng to note that the united states s"rprein" co"t ari

.ci r;1 i.lct or1'riidlv

t:e

"separaf e i)ut equal doctrrne,

" but that it

,:.jl:riiled

anC c,:r'clopcC

out of ihe case of Rocerts vs ' Cilv of Boston'

:-. '.:.!j case

uf Pi-ssv vs. Fcrquson, tire Supre:rc Court in essence had

.,i|L'tr

s(lncilcn to thc tirL'ory o{ segregation as well as to the actual

;r:.iJr,rJC 1d::J.'is

I of 1t,';:rovrdrnq the accolnmodatrons were equal' ln this

case, the Court referred to Justice Shaw's precedent setting

of a dictum. Plessy, d nlan of one-eighth Negro descent'

c.rse by way
ilsr:(lci

the Couri to uphold his personal rights accorded.him under the

Amendments to the Federal

:irteenth and Fourteenth

constitutton.

The

Cc'rrt handed ciown a declsion against Plessy, stating:

Laws permitting, and even requiring (separation of the races) ilr places where they are ltable to be brought into contact do not necessariiy imply the inferiority of either race to the other, and have been Jenerally' if not untversally, recognized as within the competency of the state IeJlslatures in the exercise of their police power' The most comlnon instance of thls is connected with the establishment of separate schools for white and colored childrep, which has been held a valid exercise of the le.lislative power even by courts of states where the political rights of the colored race have been longest anC most earnestly enforced.

.i.

Tire 1947 Constitution of the State of New Tersev

TherevisionoftheConstitutionoftheStateofNewJerseyledto
a Cocurnent

which included a section of RiEhts and Privlleges. Artlcle

lRobu.t R. Iiamilton and Paul R. Mort, The Law and Publlc Educa-

:icr

(New York: The Foundation

Press. Inc', 1959) p' 5lI'

2Harry S. Ashmore, Tle Ne('tro and the Schools (Chapel pp" Il-I2' '.inlverstty of North Caroilna Press, 1954)

HilI:

.tj
5

t1

l-::r:ir:hrs

scc'"ro:"\,

\o. 5, so statcsl "No person shall be denied

the

rl ti t!

1.r.ri':r,.nt of an:,, i:tYil or military

::..'r.):r.ririsrc

rigllt, nor be djscrimjnated against in

l: i;: Itl

l{

of a:r-i'ciVil or miiitary right, nor be scEregated in the

ir

::.::ra or in the p-bIic schools, because of religious principles, race,

: -c:, ::.;csu]', or natronai origin."I iiiis docunent gavc support to the Negro cause as it was a newly
ll:prcci Cocument ivhich Eave greater recognition and support to the
rc:se of rninorjty groups.

lif li'
I

|"
t,..

iit

tl

lir

li' It

:.

The Llnited States Supreme

Court Deciqlq!,a{-}4c)l-Lz.-1

.4.

what had started in the City of Boston in lB49 in the case of

i.:{'ris vs. City of Bogtlll was, in effect, climaxed in the greatest iri;le victory of the Negro people in all areas of life, especially in
i::r area of education. The historic words spoken in unanimity by the
Srpronc Court of the United States on May 17, 1954, maintained that: age and quaiifications solely because of their race gener-

To separate (Neqro children) from others of similar

ates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a rvay unlikely ever to be undone. . . .We conclude that rn the {ield of pub}ic education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' hes no place-. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. 2

This momentous decj.sion set the stage for making the application

lCharters of Freedom (New York: American Book

2virgLl

Co.,

1960)

p. 22.

;i::'pir & Brothers, 1962) p. 20I, (citing) United States Supreme Court, ).1.:;.'17, 1954, 347 U. s. 483, 74 s. Ct. 686, 98 L. Ed. 873.

A. Clift (ed.), Neoro Educatron in America (New York:

1:?

so ortc' citcd ,rs necessary to fulf iillng the Anlerican """ 'drr.r'rri'Js

f,!**n to, ail clirzens o{ the united states, The dccision extended the ff{!:;;,:c ol c.iual citizenship ar:d equality of opportunity and started
*Fl
[r

{rrllj rJrrlng toward a major revision in iaw and raclal practlces

Unrte.cj

!.i*:c

States. I

'ire Su;:renre Court in its declaration of the I954 decision noted

i,}u r:ll:he
,i.

development of educdtion and the stress and signlficance

{ *,*rr*t clr i! by roday's society when lt stated:

In approaching this problem, we cannot turn the e!c;k back to ]368 when the (Fourteenth) Anrendment was is)ttcc, or even to 189r, when the plessy vs. Ferguson r'1tp.6s61" bui equaj' ruling) was written. We must contidrr publlc education in the li,ght of its full development o:d rts present place in American life throughodt the Nation. Qrly ln this way can it be determined if segregatlon ln i'illtc schools delrives these plaintiffs of equal protection *!:he law....In these days, it is doubtful that any child ':l.ly be reasonably expected to succeed in life if he is ei.'1ied ihe opportunity of an education. Such an opporL*:ii1y, where the state has undertaken to provide it, ts a ti;hl .-..'htch must be made available to all on equal terms.2

ttrlr

drdmatlc ruling in May

of 1954, was

a direct reverqq! of the

,'* but rqual" clause as outlined under the plessy case

of lBg6.

,,,S* g*:$_:gg had been s.rddenly ciran;ed, but it was not untll May 31,

l1{iir ttst !he Unlied States

S{bf,**d$.:;r:tJn

S,-rpreme

Court unanimously adopted the

of rhe school ruling under the jurlsdiction of the United

(ed.) , Ne-'ro Educatior in America (New york: Harper 2d2, (citrn!t) UniteC States Sulrreme Court, May lZ,
74

S. Ct. 686,

98

L. Ed. 873.

rt':&+: rl..
:j,

o'. 'l'

.-''','5ii t ':1

',l

$t:,.,a,i, ';''
rlij,*--,.i :l
i+: .r.
Fi

t! l;,
.'

:'"'
I

l't ^, r. ;"-'iv . t,l. -:: r;,

.r'i,

...+!

,!^,;,:l

f,l
n:

. ,:,

'-

i",i,'r:l
I , il.ir3.1,

'
, ],'

l*iiil:',

i,

. -iri":,..-,'9. i ,..i";-.,,: 1'.

r. 'ii:
t.'

Sl,:ics Drstrrci Co,lr'.s. Tirus, a doc-trine that had been in

l;.r1f 3

"ff".t

to. o,rul

.,',',,, \!ds ,rLolished,I

.,. Nrrr Roc;ella Case of I96l ln l9:,i, litiJation of qreat relevance {or the community of
ii,,;leuooi occure d ru the New Rochelle Case or Taylor r.,s. Board of
:ri,c.Sl_19.t-of Nerv

Rochelle, New York, I9l F, Supp. IBI (S.D.N.y.

l9i,l) . This case i.s often referred to as the "Little Rock of the North,,,
ds
Ce

lt

vvas'!he

fjrst highly publicized case concerning charges of

facio seEregation ln a northern public.school. On January 24, 1961, lrving R. Kaufman of the Unlted States Distrlct Court handed down

Judge

hrs cecision aqainst the New Rocheile Board of

Xaufman four.rd

Educatlon. Thus, ]udge

lt unnecessary to decide whether school boards should color-blind. Here, where the
race, it had
a

consider race or whether they should be

school board had discriminated agalnst members of a

rtghi and indeed a duty to conslder the factor of race rrsht tne wrong
111

if necessary to

it had previously done. Moreover, good faith efforts

this srtuation were not enough. The school board had an absolute to undo the harm that it had caused. Judge Kaufman dld not in his

dury

oprnlon spell out

just how thls should be done. Rather, he left it to

tle school

board to present a pian for "desegregation," whlch he might

l',,ir.Jit A. cltft (ed.) Neqro Education in America (New York; , Harper [. Brothers , 1962) p. 202, (citlng) United States Supreme Cou-rt, May 17,

r!54,

347

U.S. 483. 745. Ct.686,

98

L. Ed.873.

cr(j('r irllc .-ilc.i c: :lavc maCc, to right the \!ronq he had found.l
J JU!_'L

r.,,r^'r i': "- i-.rn went Ll\ren futther and cieclared that since 1949, .\-

1:.(.

Dcaic

of f:,::::.oa had not acted in good faith toward correcting or

...oivr:1g

ixe Lr:-ccli School problen- In fact, the Board had actually

r.!i:'(,d to

n3r:::::: seqregation and had intended to do just that.

li:',"' ?.,::helle Case is noteworthy because in many respects

The

rt plrallels i::e iii,;lewood

Case. Even the school buildings that were

Lincoln, in honor of the Great

ii:volved r.n roi;: cases were named

irancipator. li is inportant, also, as it served to give an impetus to

:hc cduse

of rhe \egroes who were determined to break out of ghettos

orcj achieve

eqjalliy of opportunity. Another similarity is that

even

sone

of the pa-r.rcipants who played major roles in the New Rochelle case

cventually

pial'ei Lnportant roles in the Englewood Case. Mr. PauI Zuber,

a$orney who had been successful with the Skipwith Case

young NeEiro

in r-ewYork
Rc,chelle Inro the

Ciiy, was asked to serve as legal advisor in the New

case. After a startling success there, he was actually brought

f,nglewood

Case. Dr.

Dan

W- Dodson, a nationally recognized

hrman

relations expert and the person who had undertaken a study of the

r,:cral imbaiance at the Lincoln School

rr(:ommended

in New Rochelle, was also

to the Englewood Board of Education by the N.A'A'C'P' to

,crve as one of the consultants for the depth study undertaken by the

lThe Unr:ed States Commission on Civil Rights, Civil Riqhts U.S.A., Purlic Schools North and west' 1962 (Washington, D.C.: 1962)

p. 69.

S r, r'rr;-.1,-:'.-;::'.:

a: S--tiocis, Dl. Harry L. Stearns. I

!. i:.llc:i::i
.. U ,( .':c;':i:l

Che::.-tsristics oi licle$,ood

---^:.^

-O_-.:ilOl

Englev,c.cc rs ioc::eci

iwo:niles tron the New Jcrsey entrance to in tne southeasiern section of

Bergen

l:.c Gccrge Yr'astri!:_c:On ts:rCge

Couniy. s!;Een coun'.)' is rocateci i^ the northeastern corner of New

]ersey borderirg lhe

Nei'york state on the north and the Hudson River is containec in a rand area of ress than five

on square

east.

En-clewood

nrles, geographically er-tending cown the western slopes of the pau.sades

'.o the norrhern edge

o{ the "meadowland" which borders the Hackensack

River.

Englev;ood was founcied

haven

ln lgS9. It was created to establish

lor the wealthy wall street commurers, and thus became known as

thc "Be&oom of
sren
ri'.q

wall street-" It was an ideal location for the busi.ness-

of 'rhe city, linked by rail and ferry, well within acceptable commut-

dtstance yet far enough away from

all the noise and congestion of

clty iife to afford a country environment in close proximity to New york

Crty.

l.

"N1ain

Sueet" Communitv

The early setrlers of this region were principally the Dutch, the

''.S.A.. Pubirc Schoois North and West,

rP. Jv

ITh. Unit"d States Commission on Civil Rights, Civil Riqhts

1962

?o-<, J..

(Washlngton, D. C.: 1962)

, -btit:

ll
t:rrllish, thc
r','rs Ioundcd Fre:-.cL.

tie Poies and tire Norwegians.

.!.899

AJthough Englewood

in lS,r9, ii was not unti}

that it was incorporated as a

.r,1,.I L develop:: ts a rrmain strect neiqhborhood" t].pe of community

u'irch resulted in ue location of major businesses, churches, governne:rtal

offices, sciocls, and other vital community systems along the

ci'.,v. Since Englervood was one of the oldest

rnain sffeet of the

established communities in the area,

it served for years as a hub for

nany of the surrouncing municipalitiesr acting as the business center

and

accepting tuition students in the public schools from several out-

lying school di.stricts.

3. Development of Serious Conflicts

As Englewooci elolved from a wealthy community to one of highly

diversified nature, serious community problems developed. Pinancial

wous exacted their

toll from the community as man], WaIl Street bankers

resided in Englewood.

In the late 1930rs, the Nazi Bund Oroanization threatened the

lntcrnal security of tl"re

city. In the 1940rs, arguments arose between

|arrous community orEanizations and members of the Board of Education

over the use of Harold Ruggrs
charged

textboks in the public schools. It was

that his books tended to undermine the American government

branded by some people as basically "un-American." The

a:ld rvere

IelglgyqoO Press J-ournal, Englewood, N.

t959.

I.,

Centennial Edition,

TICURE 2

soct_Al

\t

cF h*cLE\{ooD. Nnv
BY WARDS

IFtRsEy

'

*?.J
-c,

p A

s
@

@cl
Palisade

Avl

iiiin,,'inet Trirbfifi;;E l. Ban

I,.

lurincss

af

2. Thcatre 3. R ai lrd Stati l. C ity HaU i. Fire Houe 6. Library 7- P6t Office l. ?. 3. 1. 5. 6. 7. 5. 9. l. ?. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Schools (Poblic)

lrmNin EIeh,

Lincoln Flea Libertt,Elem. Cleveland EIeb.

EugJewood

EDgle St. CentBl

Rosereh Elem. DwiSht Morow [lS.

jr.

Qurle s Eler.

!LS.

scl)oois

fnlte*oql Bolr llS.

Dhighr Sch@l Cirls f lbabeth llono'Elem,

(Priure)

f **m*x* S
2. Episcopal 3. Roman Cetholic 4. Temple Emanu-El 5, Beptin 6. Methodlrt

/^\ E/

Welfaft Aqencies

1. HdpiEl 2. Memcial Hou

Mcidr flen

St. Cecilia Elem. Sr. Cecilia ll.s'

t,

cJnflict over the usc of these books evcntually swept the entire nation. In the early I950's, charges of ,,teaching Comnrunlsm,, in the
pul,lic scnools were made against certain teachers in the Enqlewood

s.irool systenl. other significant issues have arisen from time to time
rnvolving such questions as the "Bethune InciCent,,, in which the
rrght of controversial speakers to use public school

facilities was

I challenged.

,i.

Enqlewood In Transition

Two major events contrlbuted heavily to the future problems of

Lnglewood at

this time: The GeorEe 1 -ashinEton Bridge opened to

traffic in 193I, connecting New York City with Englewood and provid-.
tng the

linkage necessary for exodus of those people who wanted to

flee the City of New York;2 A Ereat out-migration from New york City occurred following World War
people

II, at which time many middle class white

flocked to the suburbs.

Between 1940 and 1950, Englewood's population increased from

approximately 19,000 to 23,000. rlas takinE

3 A ..,rery significant transformatlon

place. Englewood previously had been predominantly a

lwo-class socio-economic community comprised of the wealthy and the

IEnqlewood
2Enqlewood

Press TournaI, Englewood,

N. |., May 1,

1952.

Press, Englewood, N. J., February

I0,

1933,

p.

I
,li
:li tti

'Ibjo.,

February

t7,

1933.

iii

l4 .cr)r. Nolv, \ rth thc increascd mobility of the populaiion Iolloi{ing

:ir war, the bulk of thc new population becante miCCIe class. Many of
r:.,:

uealthy citizens of Envlewood had brought or imported Negro domes-

ll.- workers ironi the South in the early I920's.

T\^o interesting events relevant to racial seJregatton in Engleuood

Cr)e

in

1933 were reported and described in the EnqIer*ood Press.

such item was reported as

follows: (Headlines)

" 150 Southern

Negroes Imported To Englewood Since Last August By At Sl0

Speciai System

Apiece,"I In another articie

stated: (Topic Headlines)

Cated February

17, 1933, the follow-

lr9 was

Segregation Advocated; Negroes Sharply Object. Blankenhorn Rebuked by Colored Group.for Making Suggestion; Negroes Express Surprise at Story of Influx to "Mecca For the Indigent" Here. Segregation of the NeEroes in Englewood and the desienation of Lincoln School as the City's colored school are oeciared b1'Councilnan iacob F' Blankenhorn to be the only likely nreans of "making Englewood less attractive for the indigent Negro."2 Thc "Negro community" increased in numbers to the point where

ln;Iewood, except for Hackensack, contained the greatest number of

lregro

residents in all of Bergen County-3 The 1960 U. S- Census indicated a total population of 27,057 persons residlng ln

Roports

lEnqlewood Press, Englewood,

N. J., February 10, 1933, p. l.

2:loia., February

i7,

1933'
1933.

3luia., February Io,

,ff^=

I5

ingler';cc3. O: tiris tciaI, approxima'Lly i\eenr.)"-seven per ceii ivere l\egroes" Thc',';hrte pcpulation had increasecj a iotal of only 3,679
Iron 1930 to 1.960. The non-white populatio:l had approximatel-v ioubled

ris peiceiiage of the toia! population.

The Vast rnajorit), of ihe Negro population in Englewood (apprcxi-

::.atei1'r.ini]; per cent) resides in the Fourtn

Ward.

The Fourth Ward,

althouqh predominantly Negro today, follorsed a pattern

of invasion-

succession with the ItaIian, Irish and Jeivish populations formerly habiting the area,

in-

Ori-oinally, the Fourth Ward was an all white area, but from the
early part of the century, a gradual ransfo;:ration resulted in a Negro

ghetto. As a consequence of the population shift, the Fourth Ward,

roday, houses nearly lngleruood.

all of the

more than 7,000 Negroes who

live in

5. Reiisious Characteristics of the Comnglily

Englewood has a total of at least twenty-six churches and temples.l

It is generally agreed that the population is approximately fiJty per cent

Protestant. One-haif of these,
gatron patierns are

lo.Tto,

are Negroes. Racial segire-

still adhered to for the most part within the Protesfifty per cent of the population is

tant churches. The remaining

jewish drvided evenly betvveen the Roman Catho.tic Chu:ch and the

lDirectorv and Guidebook, City of Englewood, N. J., 1955.

TASLE

rc:]:it i'i-ia\

cI ai i-.l-E\r'cc!) ACTCi.DI\C TO ll. \

{1930'r:nd)
Tolel
\1'hir e

CI]iSUS REPORTS

Ir;rt

rc

Polulati17,SLlj

\i !ii ie P.puIalias

\.-.x -\\'h ite Pof{ lf,tj dr

Tci:

Inqease
@ -1t'hir c
^-

Polulatio

ls,l63
I

I -----I
6rb
z,eeo
13

S,91 6

5.939

18,92e I
2d,057

18,942 I
TABLE 2
PER

Ct^*T OF NON'rfHITf TPUlnTrON

(1930

1960)

l9

!-j

')0 9rl

9rl.

Pm CE{T OF I-OI--WHITE FOPL'I,TION BY WARDS

(

le6o)

s{d

h ed II

r:ti III
f!'

\ xJ Lrl.

lo

20

30

40

Adap(ed frcm Eprlewood'r Sch@lr

{Hdttrd UDiversity, May,

1965) p' 13'

T7

::i'.1s,

eaci.r

cl3::'::i:': ailirroximatel)/ n'Jent:"-five pcr cent of the total

rc.p.:iairon of Ingl cr';cod.

t, i-,-. Frl:r

\\iarCs

aL.- I^\+r' i< c,'!.-riivided politicalLy rnto four rnajor rL-! 1i:E r,arn

divisions'

The

sueet' Falisacies Avenuer divides ihe connunity from east to west is bisected fy the Erie Railroad uacks cutting through the

and tn turn

have divided connunity irorn norih to south. These "natural barriers"

the city into four

politicai wards which have contributed greatly to the

wards tended to problem of racial segregation. The establishment of

with each soliciify the various status groups that had become identified
\vard a:ld

served, for the most part, as lines of demarcation. Ironically,

equated to the posiihey were assigned numerical values which were tion they reflected on the socio-economic scale'

e'g" the First Ward

greatest amount per conlained the highest price real estate and the the next highest' and capita income per family, and the SecondWard
so forth"

7.

Enqlewoodrs School Buildinqs The Englewood public school system includes

five elementary

and two scliools, one located in the First, Second' and FourthWards' in the Third

Ward. Each elementary school was organized on a K plan.

The Lincoln Elementary School' located ln the

ihrough slxth grade

!

r'
Fourth Ward

of - the school to become the center of controversy because

*
+

the oldest lts ninety-eight per cent Negro enrollment - was originally

|ICURE
Ptli

ilLi Ttl\

)S l l ., \, ..

. :

.\ aat'll DN tr TO RACE "l\D \1Il!'N FA\{ILY NCOME r:t, \/ilTil I\ a)-: -\ fi i\'i5 - 1:)oJ

L-

sr

\\'ARD

pf"?utnrrort

al

U^RD

f- SH;TE - 3,?o7 rt/dl v,{,rE l+L ToThL' 1,o{3

H;e_";
F 4olfr.oo"
ll"xs.t I -TR^cT -1 ui',:,irY vttr/\. I i::'(h l tvetr -9,(!l V r T.lL-a+8 ,^\ u*te'gJ1 '8.tr 1&
2ND \1'ARD

f,cEl,7- {rfl {d;fE - 36

q''1,'?-)
fi4d6.{-

f,lcrl UHrrE

?o?sLAfrrtrt 3y grrD il*ire - t +to

totr. - sliT

'1rt

lPef,cerr x"x ufitz-77

Iililil
APA$,r,11.
Leqend !

*"tt]
+.

ward Boundary Lises

Census Tracts

6
f;Hl

Mediln HdrinS Value

Median Family

lrc@c l-2'

\"

i'

Adapted from EnllewFd's

Sch@15

(Harverd Univgsity, 1965)P'13' Map

I9
ci'r:.cntrlry school in thc system.
Drrlr in

It hdd been destroycC by fue and rein

1938.

19I6.

A rving'xas added to the building

Llberty Schooi, thc oldest scl]ool rn the system, built in 190I,

l5 located in the Third Vr'ard but

is very near the Lincoln School' Also,

i!ii-;isd in ihe ThrC Ward is the Cleveland School built in 1909, and locrled in the northr'astern section of the Third

Ward. Two additions

:rve been made to the Cleveland School, one ds recently as 1949.

Originally, the Franklin School, buiit in I907, and located in the iI'st ward, was considered the "elite" elementary school forthe
socro-economic group. upper

I Thi, schooi has since

been replaced by the

rew Donald Quarles campus-style elementary school completed

6nd located

in I959,

on a ten-acre tract in a rather secluded section of the Filst

\','arci. Roosevelt School $rrh an addltion added

, located in the Second Ward, was built in

1949.

1915,

in

The junior and senior high school plants are located on the same
carnpus

of approximately thirty-four acres located in the Third Ward'

Junior High Schooi, composed of grades seven, eight

The new Englewood

and

nine, was completed in 1961, along with a new auditorium that is

;rresently utilized by both the junior and senior high

schools.

(The new

junior high schools, one Iolunior high school replaced the wvo former
cdied at the Engle street building in the Fifst ward and the other, the
i_incoln Junior
ii
lr

High School , located in the Fburth Ward.) The senior high

li
it

Ilnterview with a P.T.A. officer, I965.

;r

it ti
ri'

20

ii:r:ri, which rs c-,f inglish Tudor design, was built in 193i, and has
l(rvcC io housc grades
r.:'rooi

ten, eleven, and tvrelve.

The originai high

building has had no major alterations or aCdiiions sjnce the

.'r:lrral slruc'rure v,as built more than thirty years ago.

From

a study of the background data and racial composition of the

::blic schools, one can reasonably conclude that a conservative policy

:i

schocl plant plar-rning and schooi organization has been the policy

,ro::^.cted

in Engiewood. The only new elementary plant to be built since

the Quarles School in the First Ward at a cost of approximate-

1916, was

ly 51,000.000.

:.

The Private and

Parochial Schools

Englewood's private and parochial school s'-stems enroll more :|an 1200 resident students. In addition, approximately 170 other
resrdent students

I attend non-public schools outside the community.

irrs fact means that approximately twenty-seven per cent of the reslCc;1t

pupil population attends schools other than the public schools. of the wealthiest and most influential families of Englewood.conto send their chiidren to private schools within or outside the com-

),iany
lr|.rue

nJnity, perpetuating a family tradition. Those who send their children

io rhe parochial schools also have their primary

interest, both morai

and

irnancial, centered on other than the public schools. Thus, parents

ICenter for Field Studies, Harvard University Graduate School of ioucation, "Englewoocl's Schools" (1965), pp. 54-55 (Mimeographed)'

7'c _1.1

-=

NO

38*8;S
>NFO

N6N

i
c-

c
o
J

F
t)

N$i:

6Ni
2

a
U U

@<6 6NO 96

1-On4 coo6

o
a
d A

'4v

;-da
E
U

No9a <$oo

6d

60666 O4NN d66Nq

< 44 F 9o
pI

p:
4<
U
J

;di

Oco

@eEo:

:/:itl)x

.34
6<a
I

z
F

;:"
! ir 6(J
.r' Jl i

<:

c
a

I
i

a
U
.a

a.:

-c -: c :-' u =4-< .dL<. '/, .1-: tiiu:4

=;

a:/.t;<
o eNoi6

O,rZ o'J< O< o

NNN 6oo od 6

d<< u- clB

6 ; O 6 o 6 d:: d: @ i cl4 cl

d,

a i 4

O<O .
b9o

do d E:t

O
o

d t
O
d

o !
E.

D=.3i3 8;$ 83s Ss 3 8;;

I
a iJ

"8

6 JUrl

'

'2 = ?, axi2;. ; ? ?R ! Y = .2o2 z; X..iXX I 6 i e;f !=1 A;

a 6 lo Y). ; ==;!FL ALQ49 o .dJ YA YW

22

who send 'rheu chilffen io the public

:iols a:c,

:---

inori'.y group. I
j
!

irgiertood H:gn School student and ecl:or of the school

:,.\!s!)aper \\'rcie

'. ,i
i!
I

ar article rn 19'17, entitled An lxa::rle ior a Nation'

l '!

ii rvas prepe.rec ior one of her college classes and mace reference to

lie rnpeniiig crisis in Englewood.

years- Srrce I not'eci there I have seen

Irved in Enqlewood, New Jersey, for eleven some changes take place. T:.e population increased from 16,000 tc 25,000... I har,e g:en aware, too, of things that have renained constani. f:ie beautiful high schooi, even though ciesperately rn neeci, has not been provided with an auditorium. The wealiil.' fanilres contlnue to iive on exquisite estates nrCden cenind rnassive, old trees in the lovely hill section' The .'iegroes remain crowded together in their own section of tov,'r known as Texas...I want the white adults to recognr.ze the inteilectual equality of the Negroes as did thei cirliren in the hiqh schooi who elected liegroes to office i:: several of the organizations there. I want Englewoc,d to be a national examp.le of a perfect community'

i:a.",e

Ir.l

Four Factors

Contributinq to SCqLCSalion

The probiem of racial segregation had been brewing for a long

rl]e. It was evident that ihe community-at-large, though, was aware

cf the probiern. The Boards
c','er,

oi Education and the superintendents, howSegregation developed'

iailed to recognize the problem officially'

i..:uca'.ion, "Engiewood's Schools" 2Enqlev;ood Press

lCenter for Field Siudies, Harvard University Graduate School of (l965), pp' 52-56 (Mimeographed) '

lournal, Englewood, N'J', November

27

'

1947

'

23

-:,r.;rol-.lr;r i::cone acti.J es a rrsult oI rfiree contr:bu.ring iactors:

(;) Il\:oiuntari, seEreEattc: ::-.u.i'.ed because o{ r:e poor scc:.o-economic

roi,jitions inio which the )i:qroes v,,ere tiuusi and which ihay hai come
:J accept as a way
by

of life-

(2) Voluntary segregation CevelopeC rrhere-

certain Negroes, in an a::e:.pi to perpetuate therr culture, rtr.shed to

irvc out

theu lives 6mong i..jr olvn ki.nd cf people. (3) Segregation by

.'rsign was
io coniain

evident. This rras a planrred attenpt by the powtr structure

the Negroes in a ,civen area. and in Englewood ihat area was

rle Fourth Ward. A fourth :a:ior occurreci after World War

n.
^{ore

em-

ltdsts was being placed on tle signifjcance of a secondary education

and

ihe need to "stay in

sciiool." Problems

rnounted for the school sys-

:en when the Negro studeirt, rvho formerly had been a

"victim. of the

statistical "dropout," anci v.'ho, in many instances, had failed to complete his junior high as well as

his senior high school years, now sudden-

iy rccognized the need to renain in

lncreas

school. This added to a rapidly

ing Negro enrollment.

Also, many middle class Jewishfamilies moved into the Thjrd

Ward from

outside the city, and these people, for most part, were highly

rnterested in a school systen of quality

education. Many of these families

loined ranks with the Negro iamilies in attempting to find a solution to a

* t
* t i
f

('ommon

problem

- quality educgtion for their children.

The fact that the Third Ward became an interracial neighborhood

especialiy as a result of this influx of Jewish families appears to have

had a great bearing on

the outcome of events in Englewood. In addition

TABLE NEGRO

of ENGLtviooD
Total

INROLLMINT FOR TIIE PUBLiC SCHOOLS (r930 - r964)

Negro Per Cent Negro

Year

lnroliment 3,3r6
3,825 3,520 3,759

Enrollment

Enrollment

l 930

643

9.4

I 940

775

20.2 22.0

I950
l9 6l

773

r,

382

6.8

I964

3.973

| ,662

4I.8

Adapt ed from

(Harvard Unlversity, 1965)

!ni! g-ocg' s-ggbglg p. 45.

e,t .;

t
I
i

.i,

25

thcy, as a people, have :J yal.Dr-rg cducatiorl , thc Jcwish people bccause

supportive of :.ii:r i)crsecuted thrcughout hlstory. were more than usually
:".! Nf(jroes
i,i'.r
i:,u

in rhcir stru!'lle to attaln equality' It would appear then'

in numbers' rl not bcen that Jewrsh people moved into the Thfci Ward
qreate! difficulty in iieErois of Enqlevrood would have experienced

rli:u fight for equalitY. per cent Although the Lincoln Elementary school was ninety-eight contained over six)irgro, thc Liberty School located in.the Thfd Ward
:y pcr cent Negro
TL^ chilCren of the newly enrollment at this time' The ^

e"ieblished Third Ward families attended

this school'

A]Iofthesefactorsplayedapartinaddingtotheproblemof
o',crcrorvded
liJ eri'rphasize

and tended conditions that later deveioped in the schools

the "racial imbalance" that had actually existed all the just :r,e. It is obvidus that a problem of this magnitude did not
hJppen;

i! deveioped over a long period of time'

P.\I,IT

II.

slGRlG.r,'IIOI'l IN ENGLEWOoD (i930

CHRO]\JOLOGY OF EVINTS RELEVANT TO RACIAL - 1963)

This chronology

is presented in a detailed fashlon for a two-fold

of factual information to enable the

;irlcse:
rcr,icr

(1) To provide a continuity

to "see" the story as it is unfolded , (2) to point up the siqnifi-

rlnce of events that were ciirectly related to each other and served as

r:r Cria used in the event analysis.

Thiscasestudywasdividedintothreeeras.Thefi'steraconsti:.,,j:-s

a portion of the administration of superintendent of schools winton

!.

',Virrte, who served

in this capacity from I918, throuqh August, 1944'

ii.ts era is introduced primarily as background material and tends to pro-

uie a setting for future events. The study is focused on the second era,
tl".,rt

of Superintendent Harry

L. Stearns, who served from August, 1944'

:hough

August, 1962, a period of eighteen years'

Thestudyinc]udesalimitedportionoftheeraofSuperintendent lfarkR.Shedd,whotookovertheofficeinJuneof1962,duringthe
hr:ght

of crisis. The third era is introduced primarily to provide a con-

ilrurty for the ca3e study which reached a climax at the time of the reitrcment
Shedd.

of Superintendent Stearns and the appointment of Superintendent

27

A.

Era of Superinte ndent Winton T. White

l. i:r:.: k ccr iqq iJllil!"!le-Racial

To ind.icate !hat

Scoreoation

this problem was actually one of long duration,

i:.,r of the fi-rst significant events occurred

h:.r,.rl i,.arcnts

in

1933 whcn a delegation board

be

of

irom the Lincoln school

Distlict attended a school

r',ceirng held September

19, 1933, and requested that theiJ chil&en

rcnsfcned to Liberty

School.l The Board of Education refused the re-

qrest, however. This became the first recorded reference in the Board
oi Education minutes to indicate that a probiem of
e):lsted

racial segregatlon

in the Englewood Schooi System.

In 1935 the Board of Education unanimously restated its policy

!:rar

appointments to the teaching staff were to be made on the basis of

jji.ess for the position without regard to the race, religion or color'2
;hrs was also the year in which the Board of Education ordered the closing cf the swimming pool at the Engle Street Junior High School.3 Although
tr

pool \fas officially stated by the Board that the reason for closing the
lhe Engle Street Junior High School was "for reasons of economy"'

:i

5.veral interviewees remarked that the pool was closed to prevent the

lBoard of Education Minutes, Englewood school

T
to

\rx'.l , New Jersey. September, 1933,

p' lBl'

District, Engle-

f
I

2ilid.

February 19, 1935, P- 253.

* L
?

3tbic., April 9, 1955, P. 260.

",;

I
t

23

::\:jj-;q o:

i:. races beconinq a sericds iiroblem because of the increSse

ll iiccro L:.roi!nent in the ir:;le Strect School. The sv;it:rrting pool at the
i:.91c Sirce:

lrnior

Hi-oh School i'.as the only pool in the cnti-re school sysbeen reactivated to

lc:r, lt ires clcsed by Boarc actlcn anrj it has not

ihls day.

:.

I-rrst

Fol:iv Decision Reletaxi'.o Racial Seqreoation first major policy cecision by the
Board of Education to
1938

The
ci:ange the

uaditionai pattern of school organization took place in

.{hen the tsoarci decided

to consiruct an addition to the Lincoln Elementary

Scnool. Tne priinary purpose vtes io convert this school structure into a
conbrnaiion eiementary anc junlor high school for residents of the Fourth
!'/ard-

I According to the

Board of Education, the Engle Street Junior High

Schocl was
A grant

overcrowded. On this basis the Board planned the changefiom the Federai Emergency Adninistration of Public

of

S79, 996

',','orks
Eoarci

for the addition to tlre school was approved. This action by the led to the first organized protest by a Negro organization when the pointed out that lbe number of students was too small to
be

r.irban League

support a
l;" 1.

full junior high scirool curriculum and that the school would

rn all Ne-cro school.2 Thu

:;chool

U.i-n

League urged the constructlon of a

{,

built rn a location that would insure an integrated enrollment-

t
!

r'
.

I '[
iSl

$oc,d, Nelr Jersey, July

lBcard of Education Minuies, Englewood School 26' 1938, p. 419.

District, Engle1938.

2Enclewood Press, Englewood,

N. J., October 6,

29

i. l:.i : liv: S: r-.il:ca!tt Even:s r- ri1i, .n- JrPL: e,,-^rirrenden.. rtaS auiholized by the BOard Of !.r!
lijucatlon ic :ransfer a
l-rncoln

shite siucen'. fron tl:e preCor.inantly Negro

Sciccl io the Liberiy Schooi upon tae recon:nenCation of her

fa:rly oh,vslcrun.I Tnit sane yeer the 3oarc of Education gave its ciinron, "iha: in the fut'ire chil&en shoulC aitend i}le elementary
scnool

in iie iistrict in uri,icn they live anci that transfers from one

dlsf)ct to another should be made by the Superintendent of Schools

only as a r:raiter of adminisuative necessity!!

!"2 lttis was the year,

rco, rn which the Englew'ood Urban League succeeded in having the

toard appoint a lfegro teacher to the new Lincoln funior High School in
the fourth

Ward. Norris Hatcher becaine the fAsi Negro teacher in the

city.3

history o{ the

i.

The New

Lincoln Iunrpl-I1&-h.-S-qh99l of Education in 1941 granted approval of the new

The State Board Lrncoln Junior

Hiqh School as a secondary school with such approval

cxpning June

30, 1942,4 thereby actually condoning two separate junior

iBoard of Education Minutes, Englewood School wriod, New Jersey, p. 52.

District, Engle-

2trtd. March 19, 1940, p. 71. ,

3rbtd.

4llid. , April 29,

1941

, p.

L52.

-14

r.i.f..

30 :..r:r sci.ools
:r.r:

lor i;-,t'C::.; ci f,rlq;icwooi' (iour:':11 1'ears Iater. in i955'

S:Jic Con',;ntss:c:.cr oi iducation hanced

io'!n a ruJtng rerrersing the

High School i:!\':o:rs State accrecl: riion chargrng ihai ine Lincoln iunlor

FJsarsciallySegre;a:eCschoo]andrlouldhai.etobeeliininated.)Prior ::S:at.'approvaloithe;ie\Njuniorhighschool,anrnvestigationofthe
l:,:ee upper grades h'as conducted by the Sta''e Board rtr;:,rne wheiher de rchool

of Education to de-

f3c:o segregation was inlDlved' This junior high

19'10

officially oper.ec in February of

rthen seventh grade students

:r::. ihc Fourth Ward rreie assigned to ihat scl^'ool' However' both iunior
f,igh

Street scnools were operated under the ainklistration of the Engle

at Lincoln Junior High School (I80 ]:nror High Schoot. The enrollment
f'.:prls

I 250 in grades seven through nine) did rpt meet the minimum of
Department. The Lincoln Junior High School was '

r.:q.rlred by the State

by the State of llo*ever, authorized and approved as a secondary school

!icw Jersey.2

of two During this same year, the Board approved the transfer
liegro students from

the Lincoln Junior High School to the Englewood

receive instruction in a foreign i;ntor High School to enable them to

j.l:rguage

School'3 not included in the curriculum of Lincoln Junior High

IEnolewood Press

' Englewood, I-

' J' ' February

27

'

I94l'

zluid., May l,
3Board

194

Engleof Education Minutes, Englewood School District' 9, 1941 ' p' 173' *ur:d, New Jersey, September

3I

l:.t 5:;rcl appror;ei'.:.c irarrsfer of a sr-udcnt from the Lincoln School to

ir'..:i:cr cie:rentarl sclco) on the basis of a doctor's certificate,

B. l: a c: l.

SuDerinter.)Ce

r:rr

L.

Stearns

i-';rlV Charccs cf Secleqation The

first

even'r

of significance to occur under the administration

cl ijrrry L. Stearns took place

C!r::ir.-)ission

in I946 when the N4iddle Atlantic States

on ColleEes and Secondary Schools criticized the current

;,rlrcres pertaining
rn Divrght

io social and service club membership of students

Morrow High Schooi as a result of an evaluation for accredita-

l:on. Charges of discrimination according to race, color, and creed

uere leveled

at the administration.

During the year

Drvision Against

of

1948 a second significant event occurred: the

Discrimination of the New Jersey Department of Educati

ir

l:on, wrth the aid of county superintendents of schools, completed a

survey

of every schooi in the State to determine the extent of segrega-

ltcn.

The sLirvey revealed that

in forty-three New Jersey school districts,

ti

sc:,rregdilon

of pupils in the elementary schools was evrdent and in one

l1

rci:col

district, (Englewood), segregation at the jurrior high school level

uos reported.2

!1 I

ll

l1

lEnqlewood Press Tournal, EngJewood,

ll

I I

N.J., November 28,

1946.

2u.bun League, Engiewood, New Jersey, "Chronology of Events ielevan: to Defacto Segregation in Englewood, i939-I961" (Mimeographed.)

lr
i I
:

32

'i'he Board

oI Ec:ci'riol.r in 1953, aciing upon repeated requests

be

;::::r,:ssurcs, crnploycci the first Negro teacher, Casper HilI , to

r:::i1:rr,d oritstie the predominantly Negro Lincoln

School. He was ap-

;'::r:r:d io teach physics and btology at Dwight N{orrow High School.l

:. l1@
Dunng

this

sanre year, a report, Proposals for Development for.

r:1_i.rbirc Schools of Enqlewood, New Jersev, 1953, was submitted to

r).r !uDilc by the Board :cfrool problem as

of Education. The report defined the major

the Engle Street Junior Hiqh School. To eliminate

llls

problem, the Board proposed to bulld a sixteen-classroom addition

r:-.:rq

wit\

an auditorium and other necessary

facilities at Dwight Morrow

!il9n School and to change the school organizaiion to a junior-senior

l.l;h school

plan. This report also proposed "neighborhood school"

rsrndary line changes and the construction of an eighteen-room ele.^.c:rlary

school on Davison Piace and a new elementary school on

l,:layette Place to replace the Lincoln

ln bc abandoned

School.

The Lincoln School was

to the city as a future Civic Hall.2

In 1954 the Board of Education appointed a Citizens' Review

-lonrnrttee composed

of twenty-five citizens, supposabiy consisting of

Itsoard

r.rd,

New

of Education Minutes, Englewood School District, EngleJersey, October 13, 1953, p. 140.

2::larry
Schoc.ls

L. Stearns, "Proposals for Development for the Public of Englewood, New Jersey, I953. " (Mimeographed.)

??

].rois-sectlon cf ilie corimunity.I

The Cornmittee's task rvas

to study

.::ld "us.d by'.i:e Soard in preparation of

y.::i, ihe Board
to JJ!,lsc

its Buildlng Program, to sit

in the study of addjtional data and testrmony and further,

t

the Soard of community reaction as an aid in the formulation

I!

:trc

Boari of jts final recommendation to the Board of school Estimate

l::o crty

council.,, The report by this committee was submitted on March t

15, I 9s4. The Board of Education made the decision to hire outside educa-

lnndl experts to review all records of the proposed building progiram,

:o revlew

all records of the citizens' Review committee, and to review

to proposed new building

oplnions of citizens of Englewood relevant

cJnsiruction. Dr. Walter c. cocking of New York city and Dr. william

l.

Arnold of the

university of Pennsylvania were appointed as the "out3

rrdr?"

educational consultants.

InIr/iayofthesameyear,theBoardofEducationmadethedecision

to eliminate all out-of-town tuition students of Dwight Morrow High

School commencing

in September, 1956, to reduce overcrowding in the

various buildings and to permit better planning for

tile future'4
!

Illnolewood Press Tournal, Englewood, N' f', February 4, 1954'

2Board of Education Minutes, Englewood School sood, New Jersey, March 8, f954, P. I78'

District, Engle-

3tuia.

4luid., May 10, 1954, P. I76.

34
.

Ou'.\1

,rd Neqro \{icration

Sltoli.ly after \'\'crld War

Ii,

many Negro families began an outward

f ;J:dilon iront the Fourth ward area across the schc)ol district Iine into
:.'.ii su('iion

oi the lourth Ward that had been assigned attendance to

the

l;!i:rr1, lllementary

School. This migration, and an influx of many middle

;.,!ss whitt: families into the Thjrd Ward (predominantiy Jewish and prin-

i::rlly

from Nevr York City) resulted in a loss

of enrollment for the Lin-

';clr School and placed undue pressure on the enrollment capacities of

irc Llberiy and Cleveland Elementary Schools, both of which were located
:r the Thfd

Ward. The Board of Education, after some study,

made the

:rclsion to alter the neighborhood school boundary lines in order to re;:c!e overcrowding in the Cleveland School by increasing the size of the

ir.coln School District to include almost all of the Fourth Ward.

On June

28, 1954, the

Board adopted the resolution and diverted

rd:lc new krndergartners to Liberty School and others to

Lincoln.

The

re-

luli of this change in district lines was that some Negroes who had recenti}'noved out of that part of the Fourth ward serviced by the Lincoln school
i;urrd that

their chil&en were again to be assigned to the Lincoln school.

Ccmplalnts alleging discrimination were

filed with the State's Divlsion

,i;0lnst Discrimination against the Englewood Board of Education by the ,\-.A.A.C.P. on behalf of two Negro
)ierr jersey
c;t

famiiies. The case was the first in

in which a Board of Education had to appear as a defendant

crar!es of racial discrimination and was one of the first, if not the

35

cisc of this type, north of the Mason-Dixon Line. i

The BoarC of Ecucation proposed the cons'rr,rciion of a 93,200,000
;::ll.-rr hrgh
i}..,i1-;hi

school and auditorium to be located on properiy adjacent to

\lorrorv High School in February of 1955, as reconmended by Dr.

i.'c:--]irng anC

Dr. Arnold. This proposal, if implemented, rvould have

rlur:rnated the duai junior high school system in the City of Englewood.2

In May, 1955, the City Council made the decision to hire a firm
cf experts, Errgiehardt, .Engiehardt and Leggett, of New York

City, to

Ircpose school building plans because of the many questions being raised
b.v

the taxpayers. The firm was hired to pass judgment on whether the

3oard

of Education's proposal for building construction was adequate or

lot,

and

if not, to

make recommendations of their own.3

a

On May

19, 1955, the Commissioner of Education handed down

that the Englewood Board of Education was guilty of

decrsion charging

ctscrimrnation in the manner in which

school boundary
sound

it had redrawn the neighborhood

iines. It was ordered to redraw them on the basis of

educational practices in accordance with the principle set forth

ihat all children should be permitted to attend the school nearest their

restCence. Further, and for reasons unknown, the Commissionerwent

wood, New Jersey, June

lBoard of Education Minutes, Englewood School 28, 1954, P. 213.

District, Engle-

2lbid., February 10, 1955, p. 260.

3Enqlewood

Press Tcurnal, Englewood,

N. J., May 19, f955.

rlfltt{a { t\,. If,\,,a\-:) P-a'-l-- \aliL\l\

1. 1;.1.qr.,_,i r;..a:rc !:.;ar1. Sri.'-'l :r.t rJrn' Lii.! ?::s r.' 19S"1. 3. S::.o-'l if,:r,.l2n Lric C::::ies rs Resllt of Botd of a.rJcr:isr 5e.(rrd Ctr:i;:: i.li.\ Decision ol 1954.
5l:C.f N-. i!:ri3\CLOaIC,IL DE\ !1CP\1tliT CF:

1ST WARD

Froldin

School

Eogle Street Scb@t

li*f.[]"*m

tltHtr
,r

R@selelt Sch@l

Leqend:

Original Sch@l Difics.

-----

Schol Boun&ry LiaerAte! ChanSe in 195{

37

-.:.:c orccr the Soard oI Ecu.ation to elrnin3ie the separate junior high sci.col rn the Lincoljl

cilsirici as he charced that it constituteci a vioiaS'.at.e

:.-,i oi the

l9i7 Consiiiution of the

of New Jersey. and in effect,

n,rs.r r.:crally segreg:ted iunior high

schocl. The Board \r-as ordered to

ry September I, 1956. or at io alter these facilities by

il::--ri,3'.e ij)e Lrncoln Junror Hrgh School

;ti!i'!o
*ar

subrnrt plans for a firm commilnent

date -

I
City Council rejected, in July of 1955, the Board of Educa-

The

tron's building plan as outiined and proposed by the educational con-

suliants, Dr. Cocking and Dr. Arnold. The action was taken on the basis
cr{

findings and recommendations by the educational consultants of Engle-

harcr, Englehardt, and Leggett who claimed the plan was educationally
unsound

in some detaiis and not long-range enorrgh.2

The Board of Education complied with the decision of the Commissrtrner

of Education as handed down on May 19, 1955, in the case of

'J,':lrer and Anderson

The Board rn rhe

vs.

Board of Educatlon of the Citv of Enolewood-

of Xducation then established a new boundery line for children

Lincoln School area that met with the approval of the State
3

Commissioner of Education.

IDeclsion of the Commissioner of Education, Trenton, New Jersey Ilay I9, 1955, p. 9.
28ercen Evenins Record,

7:. i,

;:

]uiy 15,

1955.

3-.., lDrO.

3B

l l

in Octcber. 1955, the Board of Education rnace the decision to

l.olri .:

crty-wide conference on Englewood's school problems. The pub-

ltc rras rnvrted to a*.tend and

participate.

The meeting was sponsored

tri lhe Board of Education at the request of the Citizens'Committee on

i iLiiC LCuCalIOn.
The Board of Education in April Slarc's mandate that
galed school by

.I

of I956, in compliance with the

it eliminate Lincoln ]unior High School as a segre-

September, 1956, decided to eliminate the Lincoln ]unior

iirgh School by combining the seventh and eighth grade school system lnto
oxe to be

located at the Engle Street Junior High School. The ninth

grrade

s:udents from both junior high schools were sent to Dwight Morrow High

School, thereby changing the school system organization ftom a six-threethree

to a six-two-four arrangement. This resolution was advanced as a to serve until a new study of the school system and com-

ternporary one
l,.iunrty

could be completed and a buiiding program outiined.2

1.

The Ohio State Survev

The following month the Board of Education made the decision to hue Ohio State University's Bureau of Educational Research to conduct an lndependent survey of Englewood's school needs as suggested by the City

lEnolewood Press Tournal, Englewood,

2Board rvooC, New

N. J., September 29,

1g55.

of Education Minutes, Englewood School District, EngleJersey, MaY 14, 1956, P. 386.

"*t,.
39

Council

alter it had rejected the previous Board of Education's recommen-

I Crilons based on the Cocking and Arnold report.

Tne Board of Education released the results of the Ohio State Sur*1,Tcam to the public in July
Fcgrarn

of 1956. The cost of the recommended

\!as estimated at s7,500,000. The survey report recommended

rrlention of the present six-three-three schooi organization and outlined

c long-range
hrgh

plan for an eventual school system comprised of one senior

school, two junior high schools, and eight or nine elementary

2

tcnoQls.

The Board of Education was faced

1.,:rior

with the task of providlng a new

high school in accordance with the order by the Commissioner of

[ducation. Plans for a new junior high school had been underway even xlor to the Commissioner's ciecision, but had been blocked by the Common
Council and

the Board of School Estimate.

In March of i957, the Board of Educatlon, after questionable delay

and under

community pressures, made the decision to construct a new ele-

:e.ntary school

at Davison Place in the first Ward. Five previous studies,

lncluding the Board's original proposal dated December, 1953,3 hud

laied the Engle Street

i"o-

]unior High School as the school district's major

lBoard of Education Minutes, Englewood Schooi

rrood, New Jersey, PP. 34I-342. 2Enqlewood Press Tournal, Englewood,

Disuict, Engle-

N. J., July f2, f956.

3luid., May, 1954.

40

;i::ric:r

anC

pr.inc concern. I ne Stale had condemneC the Lincoln Junior

i:,;:. Schocl as a segregaled

school. The tsoard of Education. however,

d{,::.j.d ro construct a ne\\'elementary school as part of Phase I of a

r.::cl burloing neeCs

progran. This was followed by the decision to con-

::.:;jt d srn:rIe junior high school on the senior high carnpus located in
:'e ThIId Ward. The decisron to construct the new junior high school

lr::r only after iong and frustrated attempts to receive approval from the
Crl.v

Council for the necessary financiai appropriations. Questron of Homoceneous Groupinq

The Board of Education in August

l.

Thc

of i957 appointed a special staff

rr siucjy and direct the preparation of a program for the Engle Street Junior
tll-lh School

to care for individual pupil needs. (Homogeneous grouping

trC been recently disapproved for Englewood.) The aim of the Board

of

t2.;

I:rcation was to analyze each student's needs and special abilities so

l:.Jr lhey could be met most

iE
*tf

t::

effectively.l

ir
i,.j

In January

of I959, the Board of Education was sued for $250,000

:i

an Englewood

father of a student who was injured at the Engle Street

j:r:or High School when he was pushed by a Negro student, resulting in

rhd loss

of a leg. The suit charged that the school should not have been

li:le(jrated as students of different

abilities, backqrounds and economic

o:l crsciclinary attitudes were in attendance and that the teacher in

c:^arge

was unable to cope with the

situation- Ultimately the case was District, Engle-

IBoard of Education Minutes, Englewood School scoo, Nelv Jersey, June 10. 1957, p. 26.

11

',rr;'ilnated by a

ruling in the Appellate Division of the Supericr Court that

j.n her

:)r leacher involved in the law suit was not neqligent

cuties.l

:.

Soard

Resiqna:ions

- l\'lavor's Acjion

In N{ay of 1958, the Board of Education's proposal for a single

]Jxror nlgh school and
School campus

auditorium to be built on the D^'ight N{orrow High

at a cost of S1,898,000 was defeated in a referendum

rrt e. 2

It is interesting to note that the following month, General

Suatton, Otto E. Scherer, and William *:c 3oard of Education, resigned

James

J. Fitzpatrick, three merabers of

from.office.3 It is a common betief that

rle rhree members of the Board of Education resigned as a direct result of

'Le defeat, by a rcnool arid

referendum, of a proposal to construct a new junior high

auditorium. All three members had worked diligently on the

long period of time to see their efforts thwarted at the polls.

propcsal for a

Mayor Albert Moskin then appointed a committee of three eminent

lecal

construction experts to see if the existing buildinq plans could be

:.:iught within the present debt

limit.

By November, 1958, the Board

of

fducation accepted the recommendations of Upson, Boehm, and Coebler.

?he

recommendations adopted the basic Board of Education proposals as

lEnqlewood Press Tournal, Englewood,

N. ]., Decembr 3, f959.

ziuid.

, May 29, 1958. 3lbid., fune 19, August 7, August 28,

1958.

42

{-::;:cj lr ine referendurn, but !viih certain elinrn3tions in the

sE-,lcture

!.,i c:idi' eaononi!'s iraring rhe project from the 54.900,000 caiegory to

J:.iiil

.u00 ivhich rras rvithin the community debt

limit.l

'. I.ffi_!e_Ceihe greatest single event serving as a challenge to the staiic

;t:,..ol coniitions in Englewood came as a resuli of the "New Rochelle

,Jcse.' Thrs case involved charges of de facto segregation in the New

ishelle,

New York, Public

Schools. It was referred to as Tavlor vs.

i{.rrd oi ECucation

, l9I F. Supp. l8l (S.D.

.\.Y. I961) , and is often called the "Littie Rock' of the Nonh, as it was t}te
l:rsr htqhly publicized case concerning charges of de lgqlq-segfegation in

r.onhern

public school. The court handed down a decision against the ruled that the Board of Education Eust
down

lir:w Rocheile School Board and

'rtqht the wrong

it had previously done." The decision was handed

crJanuary 24, 196l.

f.

Oricrn of the Stearns RePort In April

of I961, the Board of Education commissioned tr- Harry L.

initiate an immediate study of

Siearns, the Superintendent of Schools, to

cilcllnent predictions and all factors that affected enrollment. Past survc)s and studies had been proved to be unreliable and had resulted

in

{5
r-.ar),

r3lse e ffollrnent predicrions and othcr inaccuracies.I Ti:e study

la:er becarne known to the comrnunity as the "Stearns Report.'

!. l:|,.. S..r-o3tion Cheices

Cn June
the

12. 1961, rvithin five months of the

NCULBo_g!_e:lg._8-q.S_9,

flist

open confrontation took place betvreen the Board of Ec:,cation and

liegro organizations, the iourth

N.A.A.C.P; and the "Interested Parents of the

Ward." A petition was presented to the Board of Education concernresponsibility of the Board to further desegregate the Englewood to desegregate the Lincoln School in particula!.
The

ing the

Pubiic Schools and

N.A.A.C.P. charged that the Board of Education was operating a segregated

school system as the enrollment of 532 Negro students and nine white

students constituted de facto segregation.2

(Ironically, almost thirty years

before, a group of white parents of the Fourth Ward had

Board

petitiond the

of Education to have their children moved to the then predominantly

white Liberty School.)

10. Urban Leaque Supports Board

On June
rion approving

29, 196i, the Englewood Urban League adopted a resolu-

the integration of the Liricoln School. The League declared

that there was no

official discrimination in the Englewood School System,

.r

ls
IEnqlewood Press Tournal, Englewood, N.

J., April f3, f961.

{:'

t'

t.-

2lutd., ]une 15, i961.

44

r-:'--..:: i)r(: Lrnco.ln SchooI \4'as a seEreEated school resultrng from the

rcSl:.':.i:il pattern of lrving. The Urban League urged the Board to pro-

:-::e. !clicy of ethnic iniegratron and to appoint an advisory committee

ci:::.::::ed crtizens to study ways of promoting racial integration of

ir::oli: SchooI.I

in September of 1961, the Board of Education stated its policy of

op!.sr:1.1

segregation and discrimination in

ali its forms, but for the

fus::r::e, and at the request of the N-A.A.C.P., agreed to consider the

:iarie! o! "racial imbalance" as part of the superintendent's depth study.

ilso, &e Board of Education announced its intention to complete on

lebrua:y 1,
tr-egroes lerns

I962, a survey of school popuiation, the deconcentration of

at the Lincoln school and to seek solutions to other pending prob-

such as what to do with the former junior high school'2 The

N.A,A.C.P- in November, 1961,

recommended to the Board of

lducatron the name of

Dr. Dan Dodson, Professor of Education, New York

University, as an additional consultant for the depth study that was underraken by

Dr. Stearns. The Board declded to retain Dr' Dodson along with
Wood, political scientist from M'I'T' and Dr' Robert Gutman'

D.

Robert

llnqlewoocl Press lourndl, Englewood, N. ]., June 29, I96l'

Zlb:a.,

September

28,

1961.

45

sccloloq;ist from Rutgers University. I

On January
.rnd

25, 1962, the

Bergen County Branch of the

N.A.A.C.P.

thc Congrcss fcr Racial Equality issued a joint statement asking the

3oard

of School !stimate to postpone its public hearing on the school

ruCgct until on or after february 15, instead of meeting on February

as

l,

orrgrnally scheduled. They asserted that Dr. Stearns had been con-

ducting a study on the problem of desegregation

in the Englewood

schools that was scheduled for completion by February and that the recommendations expected to result from

this study would have

an

rmportant bearing on budget considerations. They indicated that any

artempt
rron

to rush through a budget at this time, without due considera-

of the Stearns Report, would delay any hopes of change in the

racial complex of the

city schools until another year.2

Passive action developed into impassioned action on February

l,

1962, when Negro Attorney Paul Zuber (the attorney who had won the

New

Rochelle desegregation case for the N.A.A.C.P.) attempted to regis-

rer nine Donald

He

children of the Lincoln and Liberty Elementary Schools at the

Quarles Elementary School. They were denied registration.

then proceeded with the parents to the office of the Superintendent

ln order

to exhaust all administrative remedies prior to approaching the

lt

. IBoard of Education Minutes, Englewood School District, Englewood, New Jersey, November

13, 1961, P- 26.

2Enolewood Press Tournal, Englewood,

N. J., january 18,

1962.
t

46

s;:rci off,Cucation conccrning the

:.i'r

matter. The Board of Education ratified

dction taken by

its employees. It reaffirmed its position taken

5ci)tcrrber

5, ]961, to adhere to the established neighborhood boundary

,l :t.
Thc FiIst

"Sit-In" Case
N,A.A.C.P. and other demonstrators staged
a

Members of the

'lii-rn demonstration in City Hall as a result of the action taken at the

!o$d of Education meeting at which Attorney Paul Zuber was told by the
Scdrd

that the children could not transfer from Lincoln School to the

luarles School as they had attempted to do eariier in the

cenonstrators staged the

day. Over

100

sit-in, and at B:30 the next morning, eleven

charges

rti-ir demonstrators, seven of whom were white, were arrested on

oldisorderly conduct. tlason-Dixon Line for
enested when oi

It was believed to be the ffst arrest north of the

sit-in demonstrators. Four spectators were also

they refused to leave the same afternoon at the arraignment

tIe eleven.2
Paul Zuber, on February

5, 1962, initiated suit in United States its Superintendent

District Court against the Englewood Board of Education,

ol Schools, and
ruted on

the State Commissioner of Education. The suit was insti-

behalf of Alan Sheppard and others and sought to enjoin the

lBeroen Eveninq Record, lebruary

2New

2, L962, p. L.

York Tihes, Pebruary

2, Lg62.

47

iefendants from operating segregated schools in Englewood. I

The next day Governor Richard

J. Hughes of New Jersey discussed

the Englewood Schools situation at a press conference. He defended the ncighborhood school concept but supported
State Commissioner

integration. He asked the

of Education, Dr. Frederick M. Raubinger, to look

tnto the Englewood

tron were

situation. He maintained that if housing discrimina-

ended, the problem would be solved.2

The Board of Education Attorney, Abram

A. Lebson, later filed mo-

trons for dlsmissal in Federal Court of the Englewood School segregation

suit brought against the Board of Education and School Superintendent.

State

Superintendent, Frederick M. Raubinger, also a defendant in the

suit, filed a motion to dismiss the suit on the same general grounds that
the

plaintiff had not exhausted administrative channels as required by lawCounty Judge Benjamin P. Galanti on February 16, 1962, cleared

ali eleven sit-in demonstrators who had been charged with disorderiy conduct in the Englewood School
cause the State had faj.led the

controversy. The charges were &opped be-

to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the guilt of

cleven sit-in demonstrators.

13. Threat of Bovcott

Bergen County Chapters of

C.O.R.E. and the N.A.A.C.P., sup-

lBerqen Eveninq Reqord, February

2New York Times, February

6,

1962.

6,

1962.

i1

t: 4B
I I

i\rrrcd by the liitqro boycott icDruary

by Negro

irglclvood United Action Conrnittee, canred out a planned oI stores ollerated by white merchants in Englewood on

[,

I
!.

t.

t:

B, i952. The dcmonstration followeC in the wake of an attempt

parenis to iransfer nrne pupils from the Lincoln and Liberty

ii

Schools

to the precjominantly white Quarles School located in the First

ward.

i;.

Rclease of Stearns Report The Board of ECucation released, on March

12, L962, the long-

arvaited

school depth study report to the public at its regular monthly

:leetrng held in Academic

conrpleted

HaIl.

The report, composed

of I57 pages, was

after eleven months of study by Dr. Stearns, and three pro-

fessional

consultants. The report, "Enqlewood. Its Peoole and lts Schools'"

as "The Stearns Report," reviewed the social, historical, and

better known economic

characteristics of the city, and proposed six alternatives for

eltminating "racial imbalance."2 Th" significant findings noted that "racial imbalance" did exist in the elementary schools and outlined six
dllernate proposals for consideration by the community On March

15, 1962, the

Board of Education, through

its president,

William Kiss, made

it clear to the public that the "Stearns Report" did not

nccessarily rellect the thinking of the members of the Board. It was made

lNew York Times, February

8,

1962.

?Jbn,, March 12, 1962.