NORTH CAROLINA
GUILFORD COUNTY
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT
GREENSBORO DIVISION
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: BrendaK. Florence
(designated in the petition herein as
Brenda Kay Florence) from Bluford
School to Gillespie Elementary School.
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: Jimmie B. Florence
from Bluford School to Gillespie
Elementary School.
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: Elijah H. Herring,
Jr. (erroneously designated in the
petition herein as Elijah J. Herring,
Jr.), from Lincoln Junior High School
to Gillespie Junior High School.
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: Russell Herring
from Lincoln Junior High School
to Gillespie Junior High School.
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: Josephine Ophelia
Boyd from Dudley High School to
Senior High School.
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: Harold McDuffie
Davis from Lincoln Junior High School
to Gillespie Junior High School.
A F FID A VI T
B. L. SMITH, first being duly sworn, deposes and says:
1.
I am now Superintendent of the public schools of the Greensboro city administrative unit, which is the Greensboro school district,
and have been Superintendent of the public schools of the Greensboro school
district for the preceding 21 years.
As Superintendent of Schools, I am the principal administrative
official of the school system.
[Affidavit for reassignment of African American students to all-white schools]
Date
1957-08-28
Creator
Smith, Benjamin Lee
Biographical/historical note
Benjamin Lee Smith was born February 6, 1893 in, Caldwell County, N.C. He received his A.B. from Duke University in 1916, and his M.A. from Duke in 1937. He served as superintendent of schools in the western North Carolina cities of Forest City, Rutherford-Spindale, and Shelby before assuming the same position in Greensboro, N.C., in 1935. His twenty-three year tenure in Greensboro included the years immediately following the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision ordering desegregation of public schools. In 1959, he participated in the National Civil Rights hearing on school integration. Smith died in 1961. Ben L. Smith High School in Greensboro is named for him.
Subject headings
Segregation in education--United States;Race relations
Topics
School desegregation, 1954-1958
Place
Greensboro (N.C.)
Description
This six-page affidavit pertains to the reassignment of six African American students to all-white schools Gillespie Elementary School and Greensboro Senior High in 1957, documenting Greensboro's first sucessful attempt at desegregating it's public school system. The affidavit was submitted by Greensboro public school superintendent Benjamin L. Smith to the Greensboro Division of the Guilford County Superior Court.
In the affidavit, Superintendent Smith argues that because of Brown v. Board of Education, the school board cannot deny the applicants reassignment. He argues that school administrators have been given plenty of preparation for desegregation in the three years following the court decision, and that integrated classes at Carolina Convalescent Hospital and Greensboro Cerebral Palsy School, as well as pupils at local universities, have been successful. For these reasons, Smith argues, the reassignments should be granted. A month later, the students—Josephine Boyd, Brenda Florence, Jimmie Florence, Elijah Herring, Russell Herring, and Harold Davis—were enrolled at their prospective schools, desegregating Greensboro schools for the first time.
Type
text
Original format
reports
Original dimensions
8.5" x 14"
Original publisher
[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified]
Language
en
Contributing institution
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University
COPYRIGHT NOT EVALUATED. The copyright status of this item has not been fully evaluated and may vary for different parts of the item. The user is responsible for determining actual copyright status for any reuse of the material.
Object ID
Duke_RL.01210.0975
Digital publisher
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5305 -- http://library.uncg.edu/
NORTH CAROLINA
GUILFORD COUNTY
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT
GREENSBORO DIVISION
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: BrendaK. Florence
(designated in the petition herein as
Brenda Kay Florence) from Bluford
School to Gillespie Elementary School.
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: Jimmie B. Florence
from Bluford School to Gillespie
Elementary School.
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: Elijah H. Herring,
Jr. (erroneously designated in the
petition herein as Elijah J. Herring,
Jr.), from Lincoln Junior High School
to Gillespie Junior High School.
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: Russell Herring
from Lincoln Junior High School
to Gillespie Junior High School.
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: Josephine Ophelia
Boyd from Dudley High School to
Senior High School.
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR REASSIGNMENT: Harold McDuffie
Davis from Lincoln Junior High School
to Gillespie Junior High School.
A F FID A VI T
B. L. SMITH, first being duly sworn, deposes and says:
1.
I am now Superintendent of the public schools of the Greensboro city administrative unit, which is the Greensboro school district,
and have been Superintendent of the public schools of the Greensboro school
district for the preceding 21 years.
As Superintendent of Schools, I am the principal administrative
official of the school system.
