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Chester school protests
The Chester school protests were a series of demonstrations that occurred from November 1963 through April 1964 in Chester, Pennsylvania. The demonstrations aimed to end the de facto segregation of Chester public schools that persisted after the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka. The racial unrest and civil rights protests were led by Stanley Branche of the Committee for Freedom Now (CFFN) and George Raymond of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP).
The protests intensified from February to April 1964, featuring civil rights rallies, marches, pickets, boycotts, and sit-ins. More than 600 people were arrested. National civil rights leaders such as Dick Gregory, Gloria Richardson, and Malcolm X came to Chester to support the demonstrations.
In April 1964, almost nightly protests brought chaos to Chester. The city deputized firemen and trash collectors to help handle demonstrators and the State of Pennsylvania deployed 50 state troopers to assist the 77-member Chester police force. The demonstrations were marked by violence and police brutality; activist James Farmer dubbed Chester the "Birmingham of the North".
The protests came to an end on April 26, when Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton convinced protestors to obey a court-ordered moratorium on demonstrations by forming the Pennsylvania Human Relations Committee to hold hearings on school desegregation.
In November 1964, the committee concluded that the Chester School Board had violated the law. The Chester School District was ordered to desegregate the city's six predominantly African-American schools. The city appealed the ruling, which delayed implementation, but eventually desegregated the schools.
As manufacturing in Chester declined during the 1950s and 1960s, most of Chester's labor force worked in low-paying service positions or industrial work. White and educated residents of Chester fled to suburban Delaware County to pursue better jobs and housing as more black residents moved into Chester. From 1950 to 1960, the white population decreased by 19% and the black population increased by 53%. The white exodus fortified residential segregation, until 80% of the black population lived in a cluster of census tracts in central Chester. White families that remained in Chester had a higher average income than black families: the median income for white families was $5,880 and the median income for black families $4,059. Black families constituted half of the impoverished population in Chester; white families, 25%.
Majority-black schools suffered from low funding and overcrowding. The buildings were generally old and made of weakening wood and plaster, with inadequate heating and bathrooms. Classrooms were small and stocked with secondhand books. Franklin Elementary School was a prime example of decrepit school conditions; the facility was constructed in 1910 for 50 students, but over fifty years later in 1963 it served over 1,000 students, almost all black. The library at Franklin Elementary was merely a few piles of books, the gym an empty coal bin, and the playground a cement area with a dangerous 4-foot drop on one side. The school's average class size was 39, twice that of nearby all-white schools. The school had just two bathrooms.
George Raymond became the leader of the Chester branch of the NAACP in 1942 and began to implement programs to end racial discrimination. He worked with J. Pius Barbour, the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Chester, to adopt a gradualist approach to civil rights.
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Chester school protests
The Chester school protests were a series of demonstrations that occurred from November 1963 through April 1964 in Chester, Pennsylvania. The demonstrations aimed to end the de facto segregation of Chester public schools that persisted after the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka. The racial unrest and civil rights protests were led by Stanley Branche of the Committee for Freedom Now (CFFN) and George Raymond of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP).
The protests intensified from February to April 1964, featuring civil rights rallies, marches, pickets, boycotts, and sit-ins. More than 600 people were arrested. National civil rights leaders such as Dick Gregory, Gloria Richardson, and Malcolm X came to Chester to support the demonstrations.
In April 1964, almost nightly protests brought chaos to Chester. The city deputized firemen and trash collectors to help handle demonstrators and the State of Pennsylvania deployed 50 state troopers to assist the 77-member Chester police force. The demonstrations were marked by violence and police brutality; activist James Farmer dubbed Chester the "Birmingham of the North".
The protests came to an end on April 26, when Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton convinced protestors to obey a court-ordered moratorium on demonstrations by forming the Pennsylvania Human Relations Committee to hold hearings on school desegregation.
In November 1964, the committee concluded that the Chester School Board had violated the law. The Chester School District was ordered to desegregate the city's six predominantly African-American schools. The city appealed the ruling, which delayed implementation, but eventually desegregated the schools.
As manufacturing in Chester declined during the 1950s and 1960s, most of Chester's labor force worked in low-paying service positions or industrial work. White and educated residents of Chester fled to suburban Delaware County to pursue better jobs and housing as more black residents moved into Chester. From 1950 to 1960, the white population decreased by 19% and the black population increased by 53%. The white exodus fortified residential segregation, until 80% of the black population lived in a cluster of census tracts in central Chester. White families that remained in Chester had a higher average income than black families: the median income for white families was $5,880 and the median income for black families $4,059. Black families constituted half of the impoverished population in Chester; white families, 25%.
Majority-black schools suffered from low funding and overcrowding. The buildings were generally old and made of weakening wood and plaster, with inadequate heating and bathrooms. Classrooms were small and stocked with secondhand books. Franklin Elementary School was a prime example of decrepit school conditions; the facility was constructed in 1910 for 50 students, but over fifty years later in 1963 it served over 1,000 students, almost all black. The library at Franklin Elementary was merely a few piles of books, the gym an empty coal bin, and the playground a cement area with a dangerous 4-foot drop on one side. The school's average class size was 39, twice that of nearby all-white schools. The school had just two bathrooms.
George Raymond became the leader of the Chester branch of the NAACP in 1942 and began to implement programs to end racial discrimination. He worked with J. Pius Barbour, the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Chester, to adopt a gradualist approach to civil rights.