Hayes-Taylor
Y.M.C.A.
November 21, 1957
Mr. President and Members of the Men's Civic Club:
Your kind invitation to speak to you is greatly appreciated.
I remember with pleasure your previous courtesies. The good will you
have shown me places me under obligation to you and evokes from me a
sense of deep gratitude. I prize your friendship. Your generous
approval and staunch support humbles me, but makes me strive to be
worthy.
I am glad we can meet and talk with understanding and good
will. I share Dr. W. H. Hampton's desire to see the channels of communication kept open between the races.
It would be impossible to tell you how greatly I deplore
the bitterness and hatred that is rampant these days. No one knows
better than I the lengths to which it goes. If it were in my power,
I would substitute calm, concession, and restraint. I do hope these
evil days will pass; I confidently expect them to.
As superintendent of schools it has been my desire to
serve without discrimination, and with equal educational opportunity to
all the children of all the people. (Of course there are differences
but they are of circumstances rather than of purpose.)
I come today to appeal to you for the support of the Bond
Issue to be voted upon December 10. The facts are these:
I. Information Sheet
II. Capital Outlay Needs
[Speech by Benjamin L. Smith to the Greensboro Men's Civic Club]
Date
1957-11-21
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 typescript copy of a speech given by Benjamin L. Smith to the Greensboro Men's Civic Club discusses Smith's efforts for school desegregation, and requests for support of a upcoming bond referendum. Smith states that he wants to provide "equal educational opportunity to all the children of all the people."
Type
text
Original format
speeches
Original dimensions
8.5" x 11"
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.01210.0957
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/
Hayes-Taylor
Y.M.C.A.
November 21, 1957
Mr. President and Members of the Men's Civic Club:
Your kind invitation to speak to you is greatly appreciated.
I remember with pleasure your previous courtesies. The good will you
have shown me places me under obligation to you and evokes from me a
sense of deep gratitude. I prize your friendship. Your generous
approval and staunch support humbles me, but makes me strive to be
worthy.
I am glad we can meet and talk with understanding and good
will. I share Dr. W. H. Hampton's desire to see the channels of communication kept open between the races.
It would be impossible to tell you how greatly I deplore
the bitterness and hatred that is rampant these days. No one knows
better than I the lengths to which it goes. If it were in my power,
I would substitute calm, concession, and restraint. I do hope these
evil days will pass; I confidently expect them to.
As superintendent of schools it has been my desire to
serve without discrimination, and with equal educational opportunity to
all the children of all the people. (Of course there are differences
but they are of circumstances rather than of purpose.)
I come today to appeal to you for the support of the Bond
Issue to be voted upon December 10. The facts are these:
I. Information Sheet
II. Capital Outlay Needs
