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The Sibley Commission was a committee assembled by the state government of Georgia in 1960 in order to investigate potential methods to implement school integration.

DOING ALLEN 1996, ON PAGE 86.

BOOKS.[1]

VERY LONG.[2][3]

Background[edit]

Racial segregation in public schools[edit]

Further information: School integration in the United States
White Americans protesting against school integration at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1959

In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States issued their landmark decision in the court case Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.[4][5] In response, conservative state politicians in the Southern United States adopted a policy of massive resistance where they passed a number of legislative acts designed to delay or outright stop attempts to integrate public schools.[5] In Georgia, where historian Alton Hornsby Jr. described the state's general assembly as "overwhelmingly segregationist",[6] legislators had previously approved a constitutional amendment that would have cut state funding to any public institution that voluntarily integrated,[7] and in 1956, the state government passed additional legislation outlining the transfer of public school property to private entities in the event of mandatory integration.[5] Much of this legislation had been passed under the administration of Governor Marvin Griffin, who was succeeded by Ernest Vandiver in 1959.[4] As part of his campaign, Vandiver promised to uphold the laws signed by Griffin that would have defunded integrated public institutions,[4] often saying "no, not one" with regards to admitting African American students into white-only institutions.[8][9]

Legal action against segregation in Georgia[edit]

On January 11, 1958, the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP filed a lawsuit (Calhoun v. Latimer) against the Atlanta Board of Education alleging that the board was enforcing racial segregation in Atlanta Public Schools in violation of the ruling in Brown.[10] In June 1959, presiding Federal Judge Frank Arthur Hooper ordered the board to submit a desegregation plan by January 1960.[11] By the end of the month, the board submitted a plan that would have seen a limited integration of four of Atlanta's whites-only schools over several years, with one grade being desegregated per year.[12] Despite having a very limited scope and not specifying an exact start date, Hooper approved the plan, which he felt satisfied the requirements set forth in Brown.[12] The board's plan, however, meant that, without a change to existing legislation, Atlanta's public schools would either have to violate federal laws or violate state laws concerning integration, with the latter resulting in the defunding and closing of the school system.[13]

Formation of a blue-ribbon committee[edit]

Griffin Bell (pictured c. 1977) served as Governor Ernest Vandiver's chief of staff and formulated the idea for the Sibley Commission.

Following Hooper's 1959 order that Atlanta's schools must desegregate, Governor Vandiver organized a five-member group of lawyers, headed by his Chief of Staff Griffin Bell,[14] to act as his advisory panel on the issue of school segregation.[15] The group traveled to other states in the Southern United States, such as Alabama and Virginia, to observe how they were handling similar court orders to integrate their public schools, though in Bell's opinion, "Nobody had any idea what to do".[15] Upon returning to Georgia, Bell drafted a plan to create a commission, composed of leaders from parent–teacher associations, union representatives, and members of the state's business community, that would travel throughout the state to gage the residents' opinions on school segregation and integration.[15] In addition to gaging public opinion, the committee's hearings would also allow members of the public to air their grievances and would remove some of the pressure from elected officials.[15][16][7] Speaking later of the committee, then-United States Senator Herman Talmadge of Georgia further stated that the committee would "hold hearings ... for the purpose of educating the segregationists on the inevitability of public school desegregation".[17] While some of Vandiver's other advisors were against the idea, the governor personally supported it.[15] Additionally, the idea of a blue-ribbon committee was supported by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce President Ivan Allen Jr..[13]

In choosing a leader for this committee, Vandiver chose John A. Sibley for the role.[15][7] Sibley, who was 72 years old at the time,[18] was a well-known local businessman and lawyer who had served as the chief counsel for The Coca-Cola Company and the president of the University of Georgia's alumni association.[13][19][7] Both Bell and Sibley had previously worked for the law firm of King & Spalding, and Bell had personally recommended him for the position.[15] In part, Sibley was selected by the governor and his advisors because of his opposition to school integration,[7] and in correspondences between Sibley and Representative Carl Vinson, he expressed support for racial segregation in schools, which he justified in part with a concern over miscegenation.[20] To create the committee, Vandiver called upon Representative George Busbee to introduce legislation for its creation to the Georgia House of Representatives.[7] The committee, officially titled the Georgia General Assembly Committee on Schools but commonly referred to as the Sibley Commission after its head,[5] was created by the state government in February 1960.[21]

The commission[edit]

- March 3, 1960: Commission's first hearing held in Plains, Georgia, INFO ON WHY.[16]

- Jimmy Carter and his wife attended the meeting, but did not speak, info on why.[22]

- Carter did not speak at the meeting, Calvin Trillin says it could have killed his political career.[23]

- Results from hearings mirrored demographics in the area, INFO ON THAT.[24][25]


- March 23, 1960: Several hundreds attended the Atlanta meeting at Henry Grady High School, primarily supported keeping schools open, but also vocally wanted segregation.[26]

- Meetings showed that almost all white residents wanted public schools instead of private ones, but 55 percent were in favor of closing the schools if segregated.[25]

- Julian Bond attended and spoke at one meeting in Atlanta, representing members of the Atlanta University Center.[27]





- Committee held hearings throughout the state to determine people's views on integration.[4]

- Traveled to every congressional district in the state.[5]

- Traveled to all ten of Georgia's congressional districts.[28]

- Held ten hearings across the state in March 1960.[7]

- Interviewed roughly 1,800 people.[28][13][29]

- Sibley oversaw the hearings and orchestrated the questions in order to garner more support for the "local option" choice, which was legally acceptable per Hooper's rulings.[7]

- Hearings were for white people, but black people also testified.[16]

- Sibley hoped to foster support for token integration while maintaining segregation by and large.[7]

- Deliberately, Sibley proposed two options.[16]

- Despite Sibley's handling, 60 percent of witnesses favored total segregation.[7]




- April 28, 1960: In spite of the majority support for total segregation, Sibley issued the committee's final report, which recommended accepting Hooper's ruling and outlined several paths to maintaining a large degree of segregation.[7]

- Issued on April 28, 1960.[25][30]

- This local option plan was approved by the committee in an 11 to 10 vote by its members.[28]

- Committee sent an official report endorsing local option and a minority report, the latter of which received very little attention.[24]

- April 1960: Committee reported in favor of other routes towards segregation aside from threatening to close schools.[31]

- After the reports were issued, judge presiding over Aaron v. Cook ordered Atlanta schools to be desegregated by May 1961.[24]

- May 1960: Judge ordered desegregation by the fall semester of 1961.[25]


- Local option plan would have seen the repeal of the state's massive resistance legislation.[13]

- Between April 1960 and January 1961 (when the General Assembly was set to vote on desegregation), Sibley attempted to garner support for his moderated integration proposals.[7]

- January 1961: Before the General Assembly could vote, UGA experienced a desegregation crisis that resulted in the integration of that university, despite the chances of a federal-state showdown.[7]

- UGA issue occurred prior to the legislature acting on the committee's report.[28]

- Court ordered UGA to integrate on January 6, 1961, three days before the legislature was set to convene and debate on the Sibley Commission report.[9]

- January 18, 1961: In light of the UGA desegregation crisis, Governor Vandiver spoke before the General Assembly in support of full adoption of the Sibley Commission's proposals, paving the way for Atlanta's public schools to integrate in August 1961.[7]

- Info on the UGA crisis, which eventually resulted in the university remaining open.[32]

- Include the final two sentences from the New Georgia Encyclopedia regarding the commission and how it simultaneously avoided violence seen in other southern states, while also allowing local school boards to prolong the integration process.[7]



- Committee's report recommended that each school district should be allowed to determine on their own if they would support defunding their public school systems or keeping them open.[4]

- Committee showed that Atlanta leaders favored keeping the schools open in the event of integration, but the state as a whole, by a small margin, supported closing the schools.[5]

- Committee discovered that a significant minority of individuals in the state supported keeping public schools open regardless of integration.[33]

- Committee's Majority Opinion favored the local option.[5]

Aftermath[edit]

- Given the committee's opinion, the general assembly passed an act outlining the local option strategy and clarifying several provisions to hinder the full scope of integration.[5]

- Committee's recommendations passed overwhelming amidst the UGA desegregation activity.[34]

- LIST OF SPECIFIC LEGISLATION PROPOSED BY GOVERNOR.[34]

- Before the committee's recommendations could be acted on, the University of Georgia desegregated.[4]

- Vandiver refused to defy a court ruling that ordered the university to be integrated, and he urged the general assembly to rescind the defunding law.[4]

- January 6-10, 1961: UGA integrated.[35]

- During UGA desegregation, multiple state politicians publicly voiced their opposition to defunding and closing the university.[35]

- During UGA integration, Vandiver initially gave contradictory statements, but ultimately allowed the university to be funded.[36]

- January 9, 1961: Vandiver stated before opening session of legislature that funds would not be withheld, but said the opposite several days later.[9]

- Soon after UGA integrated, many letters were written to the state government in support of keeping the institution open.[37]

- Ultimately, the government repealed massive resistance laws, as in Tennessee and Virginia, and adopted the plans outlined in the Sibley Commission.[37]

- Last few days of January 1961: State government repealed massive resistance, INFO ON SPECIFICS.[38]




- Several months after UGA, the Atlanta school system integrated.[4]


- The committee's report aided lawmakers in the desegregation process, per the New Georgia Encyclopedia.[39]

- Vandiver recommended following the commission's recommendations, avoided massive resistance in Georgia.[40]

- The committee's report helped persuade white people in the state to maintain open schools.[41]


- Statements from Atlanta Mayor William Hartsfield regarding integration in January 1961[6]

- January 4, 1961: Federal district court approved a "token integration" plan for Atlanta desegregation.[6]


- August 1961: Atlanta public schools desegregated, with nine black students enrolling in the formerly all-white system.[5]

- August 30, 1961: The Atlanta Public Schools integrate.[39][42]

- Atlanta's public school integration drew praise from many national publications and politicians, including President JFK.[42]

- Atlanta's integration was the first public education integration in Georgia beneath the college level, and it occurred without violence.[42]

- Alton Hornsby Jr.: "Atlantans succeeded when so many other cities had failed".[43]

- Hornsby: Three reasons for success in Altanta's desegregation.[43]

- The committee's report was one of the first instances of opposition to massive resistance in Georgia.[44][45]

- Quote about how organizing the committee was one of the few successes in Georgia.[46]

- Sibley Commission came back up during Bell's confirmation hearings for federal office, info on that HERE.[47]

- Sam Nunn: Sibley Commission saved Georgia.[48]

- Bell received honorary degree from Morris Brown College in part because of his work with the Sibley Commission.[48]


- Bell in 1977 said that the committee was progressive in Georgia for the time.[49]

- State Representative James E. McKinney, speaking in 1977, defended the committee and stated that the overt racial nature was necessary to get it to pass through the general assembly.[50]

- Joseph L. Rauh Jr.: 1977, Rauh used the Sibley Commission to oppose Bell's nomination, READ THESE PAGES.[51]

- Julian Bond said he viewed the committee as a ploy by Vandiver to prolong segregation.[27]

- Clarence Mitchell Jr. also stated similarly that the committee hurt black people's rights.[52]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Roche, Jeff (1998). Restructured Resistance: The Sibley Commission and the Politics of Desegregation in Georgia. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. ISBN 0-8203-1979-1.
  2. ^ Dartt, Rebecca H. (2008). Women Activists in the Fight for Georgia School Desegregation, 1958–1961. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-3843-3.
  3. ^ Kruse, Kevin M. (2007) [2005]. White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism. Politics and Society in Twentieth-Century America (First paperback ed.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-4897-3.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Henderson 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hatfield 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Hornsby 1982, p. 125.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Huff 2020.
  8. ^ Allen 1996, p. 86.
  9. ^ a b c Silver & Moeser 1995, p. 106.
  10. ^ O'Brien 1999, p. 146.
  11. ^ O'Brien 1999, pp. 160–161.
  12. ^ a b O'Brien 1999, p. 171.
  13. ^ a b c d e Silver & Moeser 1995, p. 105.
  14. ^ Lanier 2016.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Murphy 1999, p. 67.
  16. ^ a b c d Michael 2008, p. 20.
  17. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1977, p. 3.
  18. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1977, p. 461.
  19. ^ Allen 1996, pp. 56–57.
  20. ^ Allen 1996, p. 57.
  21. ^ Sokol 2006, p. 123.
  22. ^ Michael 2008, pp. 20–21.
  23. ^ Trillin 2017, p. 205.
  24. ^ a b c Michael 2008, p. 21.
  25. ^ a b c d Sokol 2006, p. 124.
  26. ^ Sokol 2006, pp. 123–124.
  27. ^ a b United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1977, p. 417.
  28. ^ a b c d Murphy 1999, p. 68.
  29. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1977, p. 658.
  30. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1977, p. 252.
  31. ^ Tuck 2001, p. 102.
  32. ^ Murphy 1999, pp. 68–69.
  33. ^ Hornsby 1982, p. 129.
  34. ^ a b Pratt 2005, pp. 108–109.
  35. ^ a b Hornsby 1982, p. 126.
  36. ^ Hornsby 1982, pp. 127–129.
  37. ^ a b Silver & Moeser 1995, p. 107.
  38. ^ Hornsby 2009, pp. 216–217.
  39. ^ a b New Georgia Encyclopedia.
  40. ^ Tuck 2001, p. 109.
  41. ^ Allen 1996, p. 68o.
  42. ^ a b c Hornsby 1982, p. 120.
  43. ^ a b Hornsby 1982, p. 121.
  44. ^ Hornsby 1982, p. 133.
  45. ^ Hornsby 2009, p. 217.
  46. ^ Murphy 1999, p. 71.
  47. ^ Murphy 1999, pp. 178, 186.
  48. ^ a b United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1977, p. 5.
  49. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1977, p. 462.
  50. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1977, pp. 340–341.
  51. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1977, pp. 252–258, 271–277.
  52. ^ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary 1977, pp. 604–605.

Sources[edit]

Futher reading[edit]












MICHAEL KRUSE, political journalist

WASHINGTON AVENUE GREEN

SWEET GUM HEAD / MARTIN PADGETT / BILL SMITH (Atlanta LGBT history topics)

LIST OF GEORGIA HISTORICAL MARKERS (base it off of list of New Hampshire historical markers, but year instead of number)

1914 PRAIRIE CREEK MINE STRIKE, SEBASTIAN COUNTY, ARKANSAS

SHAKESPEARE MEMORIAL, PHILADELPHIA

1919 KNOXVILLE STREETCAR STRIKE (Use "Labor Conflict in Urban Appalachia: The Knoxville Streetcar Strike of 1919" by James A. Burran, Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Spring 1979).

MUSKEGON MUSEUM OF ART

2023 UAW MACK TRUCKS STRIKE

REBELS WITH A CAUSE, urban youth organization led by Eartha Kitt

ROME SIT-INS

SWIFT'S PEANUT PORK FACTORY STRIKE, interracial strike that occurred in post-WWII Moultrie, GA (mentioned in Beyond Atlanta)

ANDERSON PARK, ATLANTA (mentioned in Beyond Atlanta)

JUNE 1943 RACE RIOT AT CAMP STEWART, GEORGIA (reported by the New York Times)

SIBLEY COMMISSION, GEORGIA (mentioned in Beyond Atlanta)

STATUE OF HENRY CLAY, LEXINGTON CEMETERY

BEAR CREEK MAROON NEAR SAVANNAH

1918-1919 SAVANNAH STREETCAR STRIKE

1915 PITTSBURGH STREETCAR STRIKE

1914 MONAGHAN MILL STRIKE

Upload images from THE UPWARD PATH by Mary Helm on Internet Archive

WILLIAM M. REILLY MEMORIAL, PHILADELPHIA

1917 TEXAS GULF COAST OIL STRIKE

THE PILGRIM by John Quincy Adams Ward

JOSEPH GABRIEL STARKE, Australian politician

1933 FUNSTEN NUT STRIKE

1916 MESABI IRON RANGE STRIKE, IWW

WHALEMAN STATUE, NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS

STATUE OF NICHOLAS HERKIMER

HERKIMER MONUMENT

STATUE OF THOMAS LOWRY, MINNEAPOLIS

MINGOE, 1691 RAIDERS

1915 ARIZONA MINERS STRIKE, COPPER MINES, 8,000 MINERS (also possibly known as Clifton-Morenci-Metcalf Strike)

1947 TERRYTOONS STRIKE

1831 SNOW TOWN RIOT, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

1898 by Andrew O'Connor

HILLANDALE FARMS FIRE

1970 ASBURY REVIVAL

1891 SAVANNAH DOCK WORKERS STRIKE (Philip S. Foner wrote about this in The Black Worker Vol. III)

PROPOSED WASHINGTON MONUMENT IN NEW YORK CITY (look up Atlas Obscura article)

1938 philly city workers strike plaque at city hall

PRESIDENTIAL STATUES IN RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA

PRESIDENTS NORTH CAROLINA GAVE THE NATION, monument at the NC State House

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