Segregation academies being the term used to describe the private schools that starting sprouting mainly in the 1960s (and probably mainly in the south) to economically forestall academic integration in light of the legal and societal changes.
I’m just curious about the documentation and paperwork on the founding of the *schools, and whether or there was anything in writing saying, "Enrollment shall not be open to [persons of a certain ethnicity]. And where that original paperwork might reside, since they almost certainly would have undergone changes in the ensuing 50 years or so.
*Well, actually, just the one from my own hometown, but I guess the same would apply across the board.
What state and town? Do you have the name of the school? I have looked at this in a general sense from the perspective of white Citizens’ Councils but attempting to find the actual school administration documents will require more information, if they can be found at all. Also, do you know anything about the Citizens’ Council branch overseeing the effort to forestall integration in this area? Obviously, I’m assuming this is in the south.
Jefferson Davis Academy in Blackville SC.
Calhoun Academy in St. Matthews SC
Hammond Academy in Columbia SC
Thanks, but I don’t know anything about Citizens’ Councils, and they either existed or were involved in the creation of these and others.
I think most of them probably were, but I don’t know that for a fact.
Obviously none of them refer to themselves as ‘segregation academies.’ And in the few I looked up, there are only skeletal references about their founding, mainly stuff like the year [typically between 1965 and 1970], the first headmaster, and possibly who donated the land.
Segregation academies actually have a counterpart of sorts amongs previously all-Black schools. One writer referred to the (mostly 1950s) creation of new all-Black schools in segregated areas as ‘equalization schools,’ the idea being that by maybe the new schools would be a little more ‘equal’ (as in ‘separate but equal’) and " Maybe if we build some spiffy new schools for Blacks to replace the run-down, dilapidated places they currently have, maybe they’ll quit complaining."
The names of these schools are a clue. Jefferson Davis was president of the Confederacy. The other 2 are named after notorious political figures in the Nullification movement of the antebellum period. Hammond, in particular, behaved in a reprehensible fashion, sexually abusing both family members as well as his slaves. They are hardly appropriate namesakes for schools. Nevertheless, however, I am unable to find the actual documents from when these schools were chartered. These are almost certainly recorded in bound volumes in South Carolina libraries because they would have involved official actions of the state but I cannot find online records going back that far for South Carolina. To be perfectly honest, I would not expect to see an explicit prohibition of enrolling black children even if I could find them. More likely, these records would simply discuss the incorporation of the school and racial “issues” would have been handled locally without making official records. For Calhoun Academy, we do have more information because that particular school battled the IRS for tax exempt status over many years. It appears the school did not create a non-discrimination policy until 1985 when it initiated efforts to get an IRS tax exemption. This became a case in the courts and, in 1990, the court ruled against the school’s application because the policy appeared merely superficial, rather than reflecting a genuine desire to integrate. Unfortunately, the entire decision is not available online (but I’m sure you can find it in bound volumes if you go to an appropriate law library). The best I can do on the decision is a collection of excerpts someone has posted.
White Citizens’ Councils formed in the wake of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. Their central purpose was to lead the fight to prevent and/or delay integration as long as possible, usually by denouncing integration as an extension of communism. The first council formed in Mississippi but, eventually, chapters were formed across the south. They weren’t necessarily a monolithic organization but did form a loose structure. In specific cases, it may be impossible to conclusively know whether an organized Citizens’ Council was involved due to a lack of documentary records. These folks didn’t want people to know the extent of their racial hatred and how nefarious their activities really were. For the same reason, we don’t have extensive documentation of KKK activities. However, I think we have clues in how these institutions were founded. The History page on the website of Hammond Academy claims the school was “founded in 1965 by a group of citizens”. This “group of citizens” was likely an actual white Citizens’ Council or a less organized group with the same ideology. Also, the local newspaper in Barnwell County has an interesting article concerning Jefferson Davis Academy:
I would suggest this may well indicate the existence of an organized Citizens’ Council.
If you’re wondering about the timing when these schools began cropping up, it’s not hard to figure out. In many areas of the south, white citizens carried out what is known as “Massive Resistance.” They successfully delayed the integration of the schools for many years. Federal courts were prodding them along but the individual districts offered excuse after excuse. It wasn’t until 1971, when SCOTUS issued a ruling requiring that a school system be integrated instantly in the middle of a school year that they all fell in line. IIRC, integration was delayed in Columbia, SC until the 1964-65 school year. Hence, a panic ensued among white people with money because they could see the writing on the wall (i.e. that all schools would eventually be integrated). So, the movement to found private schools accelerated in order to maintain segregation as much as possible.
Yes, that was exactly the thinking. Indeed, they even tried that line of argument in court. However, Brown v. BOE & it’s related decisions rejected this premise all together and explicitly ruled that segregation all by itself was discriminatory.
Obviously, the segregation schools were founded for the sole purpose of keeping the niggers* out.
But in the dry legal sense, these schools were no different than any other private school, anywhere in the country.
So I assume that the school could be founded and licensed by the state’s Dept of Education using the standard procedures for accreditation , etc.
It may have a charter stating its purpose , but that could easily be vaguely worded, perhaps something like “to provide the children of our community with a proper education based on Christian ethics and Southern values.” Everybody would know what that meant.
*yes, I said that. Deal with it.
It’s the accurate historical term for a discussion of the Jim Crow south.
Ugly facts require using ugly words.
I’ve often found this to be the case in “official” records. For instance, while researching something else, I once came across incorporation documents for the second KKK (I believe it was from the state of Georgia) and it did not say anything about hating black people. Yet, clearly, that’s what the organization stood for in practice. In my experience, bigots try to hide their bigotry or deny it exists. That’s just the way it is.
As an amateur historian, I agree that it’s important to use words in their proper historical context when appropriate, lest we forget how these words were used.