EDUCATION
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the segregation of schools was unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education, which called for the desegregation of schools across the nation. Integration of schools was a top priority during the Civil Rights movement. Despite the declaration, White Americans remained hostile and pushed back against the declaration. In 1956, a group of Southern congressmen in the House of Representatives released a signed document called the Southern Manifesto, condemning racial integration in public schools. This laid the foundation for the polarization related to school issues throughout the country.
Students stand outside during times of desegregation waiting for their bus. Special Collection, Cleveland State University
Overcrowding
Within Cleveland City Schools, classroom make up began to change due to the overcrowding in Black neighborhood classrooms versus White neighborhoods.
A drawing of Hazeldell Elementary school was on a postcard that was shared with the community members. Photograph Collection, Cleveland Public Library
Within 10 years (‘52-’53 school year and ‘62-’63 school year) enrollment increased by 28,000 Black students and only 4,500 White students. This left classrooms in Black neighborhoods overcrowded and White neighborhoods with empty seats. Therefore, relay classes were implemented in overcrowded schools. Students went to school for three hours, which was half of a school day. Even with this, 100’s of kindergarteners were left on the waiting list. In 1960 the Cleveland Board of Education School Housing Report shared that 130 relay classes still existed with the majority of them in Glenville and Hough.
The Call and Post reported in 1963 that Hazeldell Elementary School’s capacity for students was 1,310, yet they had 2,304 students enrolled. Darrell Branch, a Hazeldell elementary school alum shared that, “the neighborhood got so crowded in the mid 1960s that the schools weren’t big enough to hold us. So they bussed us to other schools in other neighborhoods because our classrooms were physically too crowded. But they didn’t bus us to integrate with these other students in primarily white neighborhoods. They bussed us because of space.”
Cleveland City School District utilized busses to transport students from overcrowded schools to different neighborhoods that had fewer students enrolled. Special Collections, Cleveland State University Library
Bussing
Students from Hazeldell were bussed to three different schools including a predominantly Italian school in Murray Hill. “That was the first time where now, the stuff that Hutley and Brinkley were showing me, hit home because now I’m on the bus. The bus is getting rocked. We don’t get to walk into the school at the start of the school day like all of the other kids. We’re sitting on the busses waiting on the bell to ring and all of the kids that are throwing rocks and taunting us would go into class and then we’d get ushered off of the bus, around the back, and sit and stay to have class,” Branch stated.
Students were kept to one classroom throughout the day and could not go to the lunch room, gym, or library. Some schools did not allow the students to go to the bathroom more than once a day. Evelyn Davis, who was a school teacher in Glenville at the time shared, “They would throw water and feces on those kids. They could not walk across the street to the school because that’s where most of the White people were. No blacks were supposed to be on Murray Hill and they sent those kids up there. They got in the room at 8:30am and stayed in that one room until 3:00pm. Coming back home they’d be soaked in the things people had thrown at them. I knew it, the principal knew, I hope Briggs knew it but we did nothing about it. And it bothers me.”
Students were bussed to different schools. Special Collections, Cleveland State University Library
In Glenville, residents describe the lengths by which their Black students had to go through to get to the White schools and the hostility they all faced during desegregation. “They were going to Case Western Reserve for summer school but they had to go through Murray Hill. And some of the adults were out there throwing objects out on the bus,” remembers Fannie Allen who had to send her children into the hot zones. Safety measures were put in place by some residents so Black students were not alone when going to or from school. Those that were students at the time vividly recall rocks being thrown at them and racial slurs being shouted as they attempted to get their education. “Parents in Collinwood did not want Black children going there. My daughter was in it. Since her dad worked nights he’d go up and fill up his car with girls and take them home because they couldn’t hardly go to school. They were throwing bricks and stones,” said Evelyn Davis, who had to send several of her children into the area and was a teacher in the district herself.
She also remembers finding solace in seeing other Black staff, while noting and speaking out on the mistreatment of Black students by their White colleagues. “I would stand by the door and say hello and they would rush past me and ignore me. If I’m sent over there to deseg that school, I’m going to deseg that school. Walking around on the third floor just looking through a window, a teacher was doing math problems and if the child got the answer right she would give them a yellow, blue, or purple jelly bean. But if the child got it wrong she gave them a black one. I opened that door like a whirlwind. She said it was a joke,” Davis shared. She maintained her determination toward creating a better and equal environment for kids at the school despite the lack of support from White teachers.
Wade Park Elementary in Glenville was the first school where Evelyn Davis taught and the student body was predominantly African American. Personal Collection of Evelyn Davis
Students recalled the relief of finishing a school day and making it back to their familiar friendly neighborhoods, away from the racist and sometimes violent attacks they endured throughout the day. “I couldn’t wait to get back home. Where nobody is going to throw rocks at me. It made me want to embrace the community even more. As a result of our experiences with the bussing, my friends and I would get on our bikes and ride down St. Claire street looking for payback. We had our moments of troublemaking and lashing out because of the fact that we didn’t ask to be there and be subjected to that kind of violence,” remembers Darrell Branch.
School Reform
People laid in ditches to protest the Cleveland City Schools’ decision to build new schools in Glenville. Photograph Collection, Cleveland Public Library
Activism to change the unsatisfactory school situation began prior to the 1950s with regular reports from the Cleveland NAACP and Urban League. Parents groups and civic groups increased including the addition of The Hazeldell Parent Group and United Freedom Movement. Groups were regularly marching through Glenville and Hough while attending every Board of Education Meeting.
In 1964 change was inevitable. Fifty civic groups, ministers, and activists known as the United Freedom Movement sent seven demands to the Board of Education to increase equity. One of the demands was to integrate classes of transported students instead of isolating them. The Hazeldell Parent Group staged sit-ins at the Board of Education meetings and marched for change.
When Evelyn Davis was sent to Almira Montessori School on the west side of Cleveland, the student body was predominantly White. Personal Collection of Evelyn Davis
The school board finally accepted the demands and created a 15 persons Human Relations Council to ensure equity, especially because they were in violation of the 1954 supreme court ruling as reported by the Plain Dealer in 1964. There was even a CORE sponsored sumposium with the topic, “The Negro revolt- What comes next?” where Malcolm X and Louis Lomax both discussed integration of schools as necessary with the conclusion of a peaceful march to a school.
At the same time, Cleveland City Schools had a different agenda. This was especially true in Glenville. They were building three schools in Glenville with the intention of ending bussing In 1964. The building of the schools was constantly being protested with sit ins and at meetings, but they were not successful. Bussing ended and schools desegregated due to kids going to all Black neighborhood schools. This is considered de facto segregation. Although parents and civic leaders protested about the schools that were built, Glenville students were sent back to their neighborhoods.The only students who stayed were those in the Major Works program in high school, which was a program for exceptional students.
Members of The United Freedom Movement attended many school board elections as a form of peaceful protest. Special Collections, Cleveland State University Library
Continued Separation
Police officers often attempted to break up protests through physical means if it did not dissipate peacefully. Special Collections, Cleveland State University Library
In the late 70s, Cynthia Evans was a student of Major Work. This meant that although she lived in Glenville, she had to go to Collinwood during this time, “Collinwood had race riots the first three months of me going there. It shocked me because after seeing all of the riots on television all of the time, I would go to Collinwood and we’re being snatched out of class every day for those three months because of these riots and protests. You wouldn’t get through the first period before they started fighting. I remember walking through the door and they were throwing punches. I got grabbed by security and the busses took us back.” Therefore, for some kids the violence against students continued.
The neighborhood began to decline due to civil unrest and some blame it on the busing movement. White families began to leave the city for the suburbs in a move known as the ‘white flight,’ causing enrollment to go down and school populations to decrease dramatically. “Glenville was mixed when we got there but then the Whites went out of there like wildfire. It was just about all Black within a year,” said Fannie Allen, who had several children go through the school system. Although schools were not forced to be segregated, they were and were still left with less resources than other schools.
The United Freedom Movement organized protests outside of the Board of Education. Photograph Collection, Cleveland Public Library