1. The Date Is: September 11, 1950

2. Desegregation in DC

3. The Fight Begins
Motivating Factors in the movement to end segregation in DC:
1) Ideology of World War II
2) Embarrassment of segregation in the national capital
The Segregation in Washington Report
Authored by the National Committee on Segregation in the Nation’s Capital
Key Members: E. Franklin Frazier, Charles H. Houston, Mordecai Johnson
Released in December 1948; Detailed study of:
Inferior job opportunities and low pay for blacks
Non-admittance to restaurants, hotels, theaters, stores
Police discrimination and unequal treatment in the courts
Harmful effects of overcrowded and segregated housing and schools

4. Desegregation of Housing and Public Accommodations
Hurd v. Hodge (1948)
Challenge to restrictive covenants in DC housing
Argued by Charles Houston
DC District Court and Court of Appeals upheld the covenants
1948: The Supreme Court rules that the covenants are Unconstitutional
The Lost Civil Rights Laws
Laws passed by the Territorial Gov’t during Reconstruction;
Banned racial discrimination in public accommodations
1950: Mary Church Terrell (at age 87) led a group that was refused service at Thompson’s Restaurant (14th and E)
1953: The Supreme Court decides that the “lost” laws were still valid;
This ended segregation in public accommodations;
Soon afterwards, playgrounds and pools were also desegregated

5. Charles Houston
Mary Church Terrell

6. Unequal Schools Inequality Statistics:
School Spending: $160/white student; $120 per black student
Student/Teacher Ratio: White Schools—34:1; Black Schools—39:1
Black schools were overcrowded and mostly old and dilapidated
December 1947: While several brand new schools for white students were under construction, the school board announced that five old white school buildings would be transferred to the black school system
This led to a week-long school strike by black families
September, 1950: Eleven black students attempted to enroll at the sparkling new white junior high school, John Phillip Sousa, and were denied admission
Howard law professor James Nabrit sued the school system on the black students’ behalf, in the case of Bolling v. Sharpe

7. John Phillip Sousa Junior High School

8. School Desegregation
In 1952, Bolling v. Sharpe was one of several school desegregation cases that were consolidated with Brown v. Topeka Board of Education
Unlike many places in the South, DC immediately complied with the decision in Brown:
In September 1954 black and white students began attending school together, with very little protest
Effects of integration:
“White Flight” to the suburbs
Within two years of integration, DC had a majority black population for the first time
Advent of “tracking” for struggling students
Continued inequality in schools—public schools were effective in wealthy areas; ineffective in poor areas
Symbolic importance

9. Discussion Questions:
1) Do you have any preference for white teachers vs. minority teachers? Explain your answer.
2) Paul’s student body is almost entirely African American and Hispanic American. Do you feel this has impacted your education, either positively or negatively? Explain your answer.
3) What more do you think can/should be done to ensure that DC’s schools are racially diverse?

10. Reminders: End of Unit Schedule
Wednesday, March 15: Review Day
Friday, March 17: Unit 2 Test
Monday, March 20 & Wednesday, March 22: Frederick Douglass House Field Trip
Tuesday, March 21: Work Day for Unit Assignments
Thursday, March 23: Field Trip Reflection/Unit 2 Project Day