Daily Hansan
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
Friday, October 13, 1961
59th Year, No.21
Negroes March in Protest
Seventy-six Negro students march down Jayhawk Blvd.
Seventy-six Negro students marched through the heart of the campus at 12:45 this afternoon, protesting the housing policy of the University administration.
Most other students, hurrying back to classes after lunch, took only passing notice of the marchers.
The Negroes carried signs reading,
"Where will we live?" "There is a
housing shortage," "We, too, are
students," and "What about our rights."
Hit Housing Policy
WHEN THE GROUP reached Strong Hall, Elmer Jackson, Kansas City senior, and Bob Turner, Rochester, N. Y., graduate, took the declaration upstairs, headed first for the dean of students office, turned, walked to the chancellor's office and presented the declaration to the chancellor's secretary.
They then returned to the group which was waiting quietly in front of Strong.
(The full text of the declaration appears on page 3.)
tears on page 12
The protest centers on a contro-
Around the World
By United Press International
WASHINGTON - The Atomic Energy Commission is getting ready to resume nuclear tests in the atmosphere in case President Kennedy rules that national security demands it, informed sources said today.
They also reported that this country has set off considerably more underground explosions than the three which have been publicly announced since resumption of U. S. tests in Nevada last month. None has loosed radioactive fallout as the Soviet tests have.
***
BERLIN — Communist police firing at nine refugees who rammed their truck to freedom through a barbed wire barricade pinned down five U. S. army MP's and 14 West German police today with a barrage of machinegun and rifle bullets.
No one was hit in the incident but the pre-dawn shooting by about ten Communist police (Vopos) was considered one of the most serious since the Aug. 13 border closing because U.S. troops were involved.
***
ORAN, Algeria—French soldiers fired on a Moslem mob today to quell bitter new rioting between Moslems and European settlers in this west Algerian port city.
Five Moslems—one of them a little girl—were reported killed in the clash. Many other demonstrators were wounded.
tors were wounded Police arrested about 400 rioters and took them to headquarters for an identity check.
***
WASHINGTON—President Kennedy met for 90 minutes today with his top policy advisers to discuss the Berlin crisis and presumably the question of whether U. S. troops should be rushed to South Viet Nam.
The President's session with his National Security Council came amid reports that he was "far from convinced" that American troops should be sent into South Viet Nam's mounting battle with Communist guerrillas.
Confused Reaction to Marchers
By Scott Payne and Clayton Keller
It was quiet at 12:45 today in the main lobby of Strong Hall. Students were bent over books at the tables and talking quietly.
Three girls were talking on the front steps just inside the door.
"WHO DID YOU CALL, Judy?
Who did you call?"
Just then the marchers came into view.
"Come on, Judy . . . look, look!
What's happening?"
"Golly!" Judy said.
One man said, "Oh, No! Freedom riders!"
A FEW PEOPLE stood up and looked out the door. Many paid no attention. Two men went outside and joined in conversation with demonstrators.
SOMEONE HEARD A disturbance. Everyone stood up—some on the rails—looking down the street.
"Let's go down there," one suggested.
"No, here they come," came the reply.
TWO WHITES CAME down the street. A group of their friends cheered.
As the Negroes came into sight, the crowd quieted. Someone muttered, upon seeing the placard at the front of the march.
"Here come the leaders," someone laughed.
"One guy has his sign turned around. What's the deal?"
The spectators paused for a minute, as if expecting something else to happen. Then they too began to disperse.
The spokesmen for the marchers came out of Strong. The Negroes dispersed.
ONE BOY ASKED, to nobody in particular;
"Gee whiz!" he said, reading the sign. "Where can we live?"
"Well, if they can't say anything—" a girl said disgustedly.
"I'm late for class," a boy said.
"See you later, Sue." said a girl.
--the marchers lined up in front of the entrance, facing the door.
By Arthur Miller
These observations were made inside and in front of the Kansas Union before the marchers arrived and as they passed:
12:15—Two students overheard
inside the Union made these comments to each other:
"Have you heard about the marchers?"
"Yeah, personally I would like to see them march right down the campus and into the river."
12:27—Two other students commented on the march. One said he heard the march was to start at the Theta House.
The other's reply: "Can't you imagine the Thetas helping them?"
12:35- The traffic flow began to pick up on Jayhaw Boulevard as
12:23—(outside the Union)—Everything was quiet, as usual. A campus police car with two officers, was parked nearby.
students and staff began to arrive for classes and office hours.
12:38- The Marchers were first visible coming north on Oread Ave, about a block and a half away.
12:40- Several students gathered on the sidewalks as the solemn marchers approached. The observers were silent. Most pedestrians looked casually at the demonstrators and continued on their way.
AT THE INFORMATION BOOTH, down the street, the music began and a student on top held up a sign advertising the Student Union Activities carnival. "Hear ye, hear ye—" came from the loudspeaker in the information booth.
★ ★ ★
Marcher Feels Justified
By Richard Currie
"We are a corporate body of people disagreeing with the Chancellor's stand on housing. We feel that as a state institution the University should not condone racial discriminatory practices," the Negro student said quietly.
He walked slowly, grimly. His face bore a look of resoluteness, of purpose. Dressed in a brown jacket and orange shirt, the Negro, Delbert Glover, Savannah, Ga., graduate, appeared at ease when he left the Kappa Alpha Psi house.
He joked with a marcher next to him, who carried a sign saying, "What about our rights?" His fists were clenched.
UP THE HILL he went toward the Rock Chalk Cafe, his gaze fixed on the ground. When he rounded the corner of 12th and Oread he glanced towards Westminster Center. Then he began staring at the ground again.
Calmly, carefully he walked, side by side with the other 75 marchers. Near the Union he brushed a fly from his face.
Past the Art Museum, he responded calmly to the applause his group received from six faculty members.
Confidence was in his face—unshakable confidence in his eyes, his gait and in the swinging of his hands as he walked down the sidewalk on Jayhawk Boulevard.
Dr. Wescoe answered that for the time beng, at least, the policy would not be changed.
versial policy of the University housing office which lists all rentals in Lawrence, including those landlords who may refuse to rent to Negro or foreign students.
The group approached Strong Hall. His eyes became misty. He looked at the people lined against the railings of Jayhawk Boulevard. They stared at him.
Monday, seven students asked Chancellor W. Clarke Wescoe to instruct the housing office to stop listing the rooms of landlords who discriminate
He walked across the lawn. Just where the lawn ends, he looked up at the top of Strong Hall.
In front of the steps he took a position in the last row of students. He put his hand in his pocket and waited.
He made way for a passageway to be formed so other students might pass through the group. Then he put his hand to his chin and gazed at the heavy doors of Strong.
sued at the heavy doors of Strong. After the students dispersed, he turned and walked away. "I feel justified," he said firmly.
nor be changed. Dr. Wescoe told the students that
James Gunn, administrative assistant to the Chancellor, said today in answer to a reporter's question:
"I really can't answer any questions about the march or the declaration because I haven't seen either. I just learned of it a moment ago when my secretary told me about it."
Chancellor Wescoe was in Boston today.
'one gains more from moral suasion han from edict.'
THE MARCHERS gathered at 12:30 in front of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity house. Moses Gunn, St. Louis graduate student, addressed the group.
The marchers carried a sign with the words "Moral suasion" crossed out. Underneath were the words, "More shelter."
Most of the marchers wore suits and ties.
"When we get on the campus," he said, "we do not talk, we do not smile. This is a silent march."
and uses.
The group was almost silent as it waited in the living room of the Kappa Alpha Psi house. Most of the girls studied, some talked among themselves. One girl read her weekly Western Civilization assignment. A fraternity member concentrated on a set of notes marked "Beware! Test Wednesday."
As the group moved out of the fraternity house, there was no laughter. Eyes were straight ahead. Some non-students were in the group. They were men in their 30's and 40's.
A spokesman for the group said 12:30 had been chosen as the best time to start the march because more students than usual would be on the sidewalks, going to classes after lunch.
THE NEGROES had two meetings to plan the march. Ten students, representing all the large Negro living groups, met Saturday.
More than one hundred Negroes were reported to have met Wednesday night for two hours, where they decided on the wording of the declaration to be given the Chancellor. They also voted to have the march.
"WE EXPLAINED that anyone at the meeting who did not want to march would not be considered an outcast, or anything like that," explained a spokesman, Moses Gunn, St. Louis graduate student.
"But no one disapproved the idea. We voted unanimously to march," Gunn said.
Besides Gunn, those students who spearheaded the march are Turner, Nolen Ellison, Kansas City, Kan., junior; A. W. Smalley and Ivory V. Nelson, Shreveport, La., graduate students.
TURNER WENT to see the Chancellor Saturday night. Turner told the Chancellor he represented no group, but had come to learn for himself how the Chancellor felt about the housing situation.
Turner indicated last night that the conversation he and Chancellor Wescoe had was inconclusive.