No Easy Way: Integrating Riverside Schools—A Victory for Community
Click items on the timeline to discover a civil rights story.
In this memoir of his time as president of the Riverside school board, Littleworth sets the stage by giving us Riverside in the 1960s. Against a backdrop of growth and economic progress, the civil rights issues of the time play out in a community that struggles with de facto segregation in its schools.
Lowell School, a school transformed from integrated to segregated, is burned by an arsonist. Parents at the same moment petition the School Board for integration. These factors set in motion a crisis that grips the community only 20 days after the upheaval of the Watts riots.
Littleworth shepherds the school board and the community through the unfolding events, hoping to avoid violence. The resulting solution is a testament to the entire community.
This project was made possible with support from Cal Humanities, an independent non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, visit calhum.org.
1924
-
1924 
Cross burning at rally of Ku Klux Klan attended by 5,000 persons, Riverside Polytechnic High School
1924
Cross burning at rally of Ku Klux Klan attended by 5,000 persons, Riverside Polytechnic High School
An expanded platform that targeted Catholics, Jews, and foreigners in addition to blacks helped Klan membership balloon to approximately 5 million nationwide in the 1920s. In Riverside, they held a large rally to gain support for their platform. Their strategy, called 'the decade', required each Klan member to recruit ten people to vote for Klan candidates in local elections. Candidates ran on policies of fundamentalism, devout patriotism, and white supremacy, making speeches blasting bootleggers, motion pictures, and intellectuals. In Riverside, the One Hundred Per Cent American League, an organization whose menacing accusations bore many similarities to the Klan, supported Mayor Edward Dighton, an ardent prohibitionist elected in 1928. The Riverside Enterprise, run by J. R. Gabbert, takes an editorial stand against Dighton, who sues for libel. The Enterprise wins. John Gabbert (shown above) recalls both the rally and the lawsuit.
Sources and Links
1950
-
1950 
Arthur L. Littleworth moves to Riverside
1950
Arthur L. Littleworth moves to Riverside
Littleworth graduates with law degree from Yale University, settles in Riverside with his wife, Evie. Joins Best, Best & Krieger.
Sources and Links
1954
-
January 1, 1954 
Lowell School, originally built in 1911, expands
January 1, 1954
Lowell School, originally built in 1911, expands
Lowell adds 3 new classrooms to 4 built in 1951. Lowell is an integrated school until 1961.
Sources and Links
-
January 1, 1954 
Irving School rebuilt on the site of the original 1891 school
January 1, 1954
Irving School rebuilt on the site of the original 1891 school
Irving School (above right) is rebuilt on the site of the original 1891 school (above left) at the request of the Eastside Citizens Committee, library added 1963. Irving is a predominately segregated school.
Sources and Links
-
May 17, 1954 
The U. S. Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, rules public school segregation unconstitutional
May 17, 1954
The U. S. Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, rules public school segregation unconstitutional
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas: The U.S. Supreme Court finds segregation of public schools unconstitutional, saying, "We must look instead to the effect of segregation itself on public education. . . To separate them from others of similar age and qualification solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone." The Court also quoted from the lower court in the Kansas case: " Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law; for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to [retard] the educational and mental development of Negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racially integrated school system. The plaintiff's (above left) case is argued by NAACP lawyer and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall argues the case (above right).
Sources and Links
1955
-
May 31, 1955 Second U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education
May 31, 1955
Second U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education
\"Prompt and reasonable start toward full compliance\" is defined as the way school boards must approach integration, \"at the earliest practicable date.\" This has the effect of allowing school districts to consider their physical facilities as a factor in moving forward. Many districts use this as an excuse for inaction.
Sources and Links
-
December 14, 1955 
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white passenger.
December 14, 1955
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white passenger.
Rosa Parks stands up for her rights and the rights of all African Americans by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger when the \"whites\" section becomes filled on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. When the bus driver moves the sign demarcating the \"colored\" section toward the back of the bus, Parks refuses to move. She is arrested and her actions lead to the year-long Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Sources and Links
1957
-
September 4, 1957 
Little Rock Nine integrate Central High School under protection of National Guard
September 4, 1957
Little Rock Nine integrate Central High School under protection of National Guard
Governor Orville Faubus blocks nine African American students from entering Central High School in Little Rock. President Eisenhower sends the National Guard and the students are admitted to the school by the end of September.
Sources and Links
1958
-
January 1, 1958 
Littleworth joins the Board of Riverside Unified School District.
January 1, 1958
Littleworth joins the Board of Riverside Unified School District.
Littleworth joins the School Board on March 17, 1958, to fill the unexpired term of a member who resigned. He runs for election that November and wins. His son, Todd, and daughter, Anne, are shown in this campaign ad.
1960
-
1960 Minorities comprise approximately 14% of Riverside's population and they live in segregated areas
1960
Minorities comprise approximately 14% of Riverside's population and they live in segregated areas
A study of the integration effort in Riverside schools discusses the Riverside population and community-wide segregation in 1960: \"Negroes came to Riverside early, but their numbers grew slowly. As late as 1960 they constituted only 4.7 percent of the total population, while Mexican-Americans constituted 8.5 percent... Even from the earliest days the minority population of the town had been concentrated in segregated areas, segregated through restrictive covenants in real estate, custom, tradition, choice, racial discrimination, and economic condition, but segregated nonetheless... Most Mexicans not living in Arlington or Casa Blanca, and virtually all of the city's Negroes lived on the east side of the Santa Fe tracks, north of Fourteenth Street, with the Mexicans concentrated between the tracks and Park Avenue, and the Negroes between Park Avenue and Eucalyptus.\" This type of segregation, caused by where people live, is called de facto segregation when found in school populations.
Sources and Links
-
1960 New classrooms built at Casa Blanca School
1960
New classrooms built at Casa Blanca School
Casa Blanca School has four new classrooms constructed, added to the four new classrooms constructed in 1955
Sources and Links
-
1960 
Lowell becomes approximately 50% minority
1960
Lowell becomes approximately 50% minority
For the first forty years of its history (1911-1951),Lowell School was maintained as virtually an all white school. By the fifties the board could no longer maintain it in this status. The neighborhood around the school was changing significantly and rapidly. New neighborhoods to the south and east were opened and served with new schools. Together, these two factors pushed the minority enrollment up at Lowell, from virtually nil at the end of World War II to approximately fifty percent by 1960. . . . The opening of Victoria School in 1955 and Emerson School in 1956 had cut into Lowell/'s enrollment of Caucasian pupils.\" That change is obvious in the make up of this first grade class in 1959.
Sources and Links
-
February 1, 1960 
Woolworth's lunch counter sit-ins begin in Greensboro, North Carolina
February 1, 1960
Woolworth's lunch counter sit-ins begin in Greensboro, North Carolina
Four African American students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College make purchases at an integrated counter at a F. W. Woolworth's store in Greensboro, North Carolina. After making their purchases, they take seats at the \"whites only\" lunch counter. They are refused service but continue to sit there until the store closes. The next day, the protest grows and spreads, initiating the lunch counter sit-ins.
Sources and Links
1961
-
January 1, 1961 The School District constructs Alcott School and sets a boundary that will leave Lowell segregated
January 1, 1961
The School District constructs Alcott School and sets a boundary that will leave Lowell segregated
The Hendrick study observes the transition of Lowell from an integrated to a segregated school: \"By the 1960-61 term, the minority population residing in the immediate area surrounding Lowell School had grown into a distinct majority. Yet, because approximately two hundred majority-white pupils still attended from an area south of the Tequesquite Arroyo, the ethnic composition of the school remained slightly more than fifty percent majority. But 1960-61 was to be the last year of this arrangement. Had the immediate neighborhood surrounding Lowell been willing, it might have been nearly the final year of the school itself. . . . The opening of Alcott School in 1961 came close to evacuating Caucasian children from Lowell. The actual number of majority group children would be reduced as a result of that opening to approximately thirty-five, out of a total projected enrollment of 356.\"
Sources and Links
-
May 1, 1961 Parents object to new Lowell School boundary
May 1, 1961
Parents object to new Lowell School boundary
Parents, wanting an integrated school experience for their children, circulate a petition asking the Board to abandon its decision of the boundary between Alcott and Lowell because it will result in Lowell becoming segregated. Board agrees but discusses costs and lack of time before September.
Sources and Links
-
May 4, 1961 
The first group of racially mixed Freedom Riders leaves Washington, DC enroute to New Orleans led by CORE Director James Farmer.
May 4, 1961
The first group of racially mixed Freedom Riders leaves Washington, DC enroute to New Orleans led by CORE Director James Farmer.
The first group of racially mixed Freedom Riders leaves Washington, DC, enroute to New Orleans led by CORE Director James Farmer. In Anniston, Alabama, one bus was firebombed and burned. In Birmingham, a mob of Ku Klux Klan beat the riders with iron pipes, baseball bats , and bicycle chains. Riders were again beaten upon arrival in Montgomery, Alabama. Replacement riders proceeded to Jackson, Mississippi where they are arrested. Over the summer, more than 60 rides take place across the south until in December, the Interstate Commerce Commission rules segregation in public transportation facilities illegal.
Sources and Links
-
May 15, 1961 Lowell Study Committee formed
May 15, 1961
Lowell Study Committee formed
Petitioners request a stay of the boundary decision and the formation of a study committee. Board agrees to develop a solution, forms Lowell Study Committee from parents, community, School Board, chaired by Arthur Littleworth.
Sources and Links
-
June 16, 1961 Lowell Study Committee recommends dispersal of upper grades to other schools
June 16, 1961
Lowell Study Committee recommends dispersal of upper grades to other schools
Lowell Study Committee, headed by Arthur Littleworth, recommends dispersal of upper grades into other schools for September 1961, and a community-wide study of integration for schools, housing, and recreation.
Sources and Links
-
June 28, 1961 Superintendent recommends Open Enrollment instead of integration
June 28, 1961
Superintendent recommends Open Enrollment instead of integration
Board defers to Superintendent on recommendations of Lowell Study Committee, citing cost, timing, and preserving the principle of the neighborhood School, Miller recommends Open Enrollment policy for grades 5 and 6. Board agrees. Miller writes letters to all families of 88 total 5th and 6th grade students offering open enrollment. 45 respond and 8 request transfers. No transfers actually occurred for the first two years of the policy, until 1953-1964.
Sources and Links
-
September 1, 1961 
Alcott School opens and Lowell's population goes from 50% minority to 90% minority.
September 1, 1961
Alcott School opens and Lowell's population goes from 50% minority to 90% minority.
These photos of Lowell School third grade classes in 1960 (left) and 1961 (right) show the change of Lowell from an integrated school to a segregated school.
Sources and Links
1962
-
January 1, 1962 Littleworth elected president of School Board
January 1, 1962
Littleworth elected president of School Board
Arthur Littleworth is elected president of the School Board, succeeding Mr. Hampson. He served on the board beginning in March 1958 until his resignation in 1972.
-
June 14, 1962 California State Board of Education first considers eliminating segregation
June 14, 1962
California State Board of Education first considers eliminating segregation
California State Board of Education begins to take steps to prohibit segregation stating, \"In all areas under our control or subject to our influence, the policy of elimination of existing segregation and curbing any tendency toward its growth must be given serious and thoughtful consideration by all persons involved at all levels.\"
Sources and Links
-
September 1, 1962 Starts Higher Horizons program
September 1, 1962
Starts Higher Horizons program
The school district and Lowell Principal Richard Purviance, assisted by the Lowell PTA, begin a small Compensatory Education program at Lowell School called \"higher horizons\", consisting primarily of enrichment activities and field trips.
Sources and Links
-
October 23, 1962 California State Board of Education requires the elimination of segregation
October 23, 1962
California State Board of Education requires the elimination of segregation
Policy becomes part of the California Administrative Code, requiring schools to \"exert all effort to avoid and eliminate segregation of children on account of race or color.\"
Sources and Links
1963
-
January 1, 1963 Rumford Fair Housing Act
January 1, 1963
Rumford Fair Housing Act
The Rumford Fair Housing Act provided that landlords could not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, religion, sex, marital status, physical handicap, or familial status in rental accommodation. While this did not completely overturn housing discrimination and did not affect housing covenants preventing the resale of homes to minorities,
Sources and Links
-
March 18, 1963 Riverside changes methods for school boundary studies to avoid de facto segregation
March 18, 1963
Riverside changes methods for school boundary studies to avoid de facto segregation
Riverside Unified School District votes in favor of considering ethnicity as a factor in future boundary studies, in order to avoid de facto segregation, a change from prior policy.
Sources and Links
-
June 1, 1963 
Riverside forms Human Relations Council
June 1, 1963
Riverside forms Human Relations Council
NAACP President Jesse Wall visits Arthur Littleworth and asks him to be a part of the Human Relations Council he is forming in Riverside. Littleworth accepts and they discuss racial issues in the schools. Wall, a teacher at Ramona High School tells Littleworth about problems in the schools. Littleworth and Superintendent Bruce Miller create an agenda for the discussion of racial issues before school starts in the fall. Jesse Wall is shown in a recent photo, above.
-
June 27, 1963 California State Supreme Court takes a strong stand against segregation in Jackson v. Pasadena City School District
June 27, 1963
California State Supreme Court takes a strong stand against segregation in Jackson v. Pasadena City School District
The California State Supreme Court accepts the concept of \"affirmative integration\" stating, \"where such [residential] segregation exists it is not enough for a school board to refrain from affirmative discriminatory conduct. . . . The right to an equal opportunity for education and the harmful consequences of segregation require that school boards take steps, insofar as reasonably feasible, to alleviate racial imbalance in schools.\"
Sources and Links
-
August 28, 1963 
Martin Luther King, Jr., leads the March on Washington
August 28, 1963
Martin Luther King, Jr., leads the March on Washington
The March on Washington draws 250,000 to the National Mall in Washington, DC, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gives his famous \"I Have a Dream\" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Sources and Links
-
September 1, 1963 
San Dimas Conference explores race relations in Riverside leads to Compensatory Education Program
September 1, 1963
San Dimas Conference explores race relations in Riverside leads to Compensatory Education Program
Administrators and principals hear panel discussion by Jesse Wall, NAACP president and teacher at Ramona High School and shown in the photos above: Alice Key, editor of The Voice (above left); Robert Bland, engineer at Norco Naval Ordnance Laboratory and NAACP Education Committee Chair (above center); Etienne Caroline, a Riverside police detective and NAACP member (above right).
-
September 15, 1963 
16th Street Baptist Church bombed
September 15, 1963
16th Street Baptist Church bombed
Ku Klux Klan bombing kills four girls,(shown above, left to right)) Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Carole Robertson (age 14), Cynthia Wesley (age 14), and Denise McNair (age 11), and injures 22 in an attack against this center for civil rights activities. The bomber, Robert Chambliss, is charged only with possessing dynamite and is fined. Later in 1971 when FBI files are opened, Chambliss is convicted of murder. In 2001, two co-conspirators, Thomas Blanton, Jr., and Bobby Cherry were also convicted.
Sources and Links
-
September 16, 1963 
Arthur Littleworth and B. Rae Sharp of the School Board meet with minority community leaders on test scores
September 16, 1963
Arthur Littleworth and B. Rae Sharp of the School Board meet with minority community leaders on test scores
Meeting held between minority community and school board on segregated schools, facilitated by Jesse Wall, teacher at Ramona and NAACP President. Arthur Littleworth, B. Rae Sharp, and Ray Berry attend from the School Board. Alice Key, Etienne Caroline, and Robert Bland attend from the minority community. Robert Bland points to lower test scores and prompts discussion on how to equalize opportunity. Bruce Miller (left), Arthur Littleworth (center), and B. Rae Sharp (right) are shown in the photo above.
Sources and Links
-
October 1, 1963 Teacher aides implemented from Proposals for Integration
October 1, 1963
Teacher aides implemented from Proposals for Integration
Teacher's aides are used to support Compensatory Education, with 21 aides from University of California Riverside divided among Irving, Lowell, and Casa Blanca Schools.
Sources and Links
-
October 7, 1963 
Proposals for Integration
October 7, 1963
Proposals for Integration
Ray Berry, Assistant Superintendent, presents \"Proposal for Integration\" that includes libraries at all three minority schools, additional teacher aides from UCR, black history classes and enrichment programs, extending Open Enrollment district-wide. All five proposals are adopted, to be implemented immediately.
Sources and Links
1964
-
January 1, 1964 Libraries implemented from Proposals for Integration
January 1, 1964
Libraries implemented from Proposals for Integration
Libraries opened at Irving, Lowell, and Casa Blanca Schools. Jesse Wall and Richard Purviance named responsible for Compensatory Education in 1964.
Sources and Links
-
May 16, 1964 Riverside Unified School District recognized by NAACP
May 16, 1964
Riverside Unified School District recognized by NAACP
Riverside Branch of NAACP gives the Board of Education an award for \"Outstanding service to the community in acknowledgment of and sincere efforts toward resolution of the problem of de facto segregation in Riverside.\"
Sources and Links
-
June 1, 1964 
Freedom Summer
June 1, 1964
Freedom Summer
Civil rights organizations conduct massive voter registration drives in the south, three volunteer registration workers James, Chaney, Michael Goodman, Michael Schwerner murdered in Mississippi.
Sources and Links
-
July 2, 1964 
Civil Rights Act of 1964
July 2, 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin ending unequal application of voter registration requirements and making racial segregation illegal in schools, in the workplace, and by facilities serving the general public (known as \"public accommodations\").
Sources and Links
-
July 16, 1964 
Community leaders begin to advocate full integration, not Compensatory Education.
July 16, 1964
Community leaders begin to advocate full integration, not Compensatory Education.
Gay Caroline writes in Riverside/'s African American newspaper, The Voice, after attending the 55th Annual convention of the NAACP, \"We were reminded that desegregation is an integral part of good education, that compensatory education and integrated education are needed simultaneously. We must look carefully at special programs ... and reject them when they are used as a substitute for desegregation...if we are forced to make a choice, then we must choose integration.\"
Sources and Links
-
September 15, 1964 Community and Board evaluate Compensatory Education
September 15, 1964
Community and Board evaluate Compensatory Education
Jess Ybarra, Gay Caroline, Etienne Caroline, Jesse Carlos, Robert Bland, Bill Davis, Jack Clark, Alice Key, Mrs. [Frances] Allen, J. Baker, and Donald Renfro from the minority community; James Jordan and Jesse Wall from the minority community and also Riverside Unified School District administrators; Bruce Miller, Kenneth Farrer, Ray Berry, Donald Taylor, and Richard Purviance from the school district, and Art Littleworth meet to evaluate the Compensatory Education Program. District meeting notes conclude; \"Do not let compensatory education be a substitute for real integration. Continue program but work on de facto segregation also.\"
Sources and Links
-
September 21, 1964 Open Enrollment extended from Proposals for Integration
September 21, 1964
Open Enrollment extended from Proposals for Integration
Students in all grades at Lowell, Casa Blanca, and Irving eligible for Open Enrollment.
Sources and Links
-
November 1, 1964 
Repeal of the Rumford Fair Housing Act
November 1, 1964
Repeal of the Rumford Fair Housing Act
Voters repeal the law that prohibits landlords from discriminating with a measure that says that any person can sell, lease, or rent property or decline to sell, lease, or rent property based on personal discretion. This ballot measure is often cited as one of the factors behind the Watts Riots. In Riverside, picketers protest the repeal (above).
Sources and Links
1965
-
March 7, 1965 
Selma to Montgomery marches in support of voting rights
March 7, 1965
Selma to Montgomery marches in support of voting rights
Voting rights volunteers attempt to register voters. The White Citizens' Council, Ku Klux Klan members, and local officials meet the efforts with barriers including literacy tests, economic pressure, and violence. Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965: state troopers and police attack 600 marchers just after they cross the Pettus bridge on their way from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Fifty marchers are hospitalized as a result of injuries. A subsequent march to Montgomery, beginning on March 21 and ending on March 25, began to turn the tide and led to the eventual passage of the Voting Rights Act.
Sources and Links
-
May 17, 1965 
RUSD Associate Superintendent Ray Berry suggests the Board consider eliminating de facto segregated schools
May 17, 1965
RUSD Associate Superintendent Ray Berry suggests the Board consider eliminating de facto segregated schools
Ray Berry (shown above) presents his Supplemental Report on Instruction, 1964-1965 to the School Board. He states, \"Considerable thought and effort should continue to be found, not only on how to improve programs in de facto segregated schools, but how to eliminate the schools themselves.\"
Sources and Links
-
August 6, 1965 
Voting Rights Act of 1965
August 6, 1965
Voting Rights Act of 1965
To protect voting rights, the government passes legislation to enforce voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The law includes measures that prohibit any state or local government from imposing any voting law that discriminates against minorities. It specifically includes measures used to \"qualify\" voters, like literacy tests. The photo above by Yoichi R. Okamoto shows President Johnson presenting the signing pen to Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sources and Links
-
August 11, 1965 
Watts Riots
August 11, 1965
Watts Riots
Watts Riots shake nation with 34 deaths, 900 injuries, and destruction or damage to almost 1,000 buildings, 13,900 members of National Guard deployed. Riot slogan is Burn, Baby, Burn.
Sources and Links
-
August 24, 1965 Mrs. Donald Renfro, a Lowell parent, files a ''Request for Out of Area Attendance Permit'' for her children
August 24, 1965
Mrs. Donald Renfro, a Lowell parent, files a ''Request for Out of Area Attendance Permit'' for her children
Mrs. Renfro files an application for her son and daughter, Donald and Danice, to transfer out of Lowell School on August 24, 1965. One week later, she returns for a clarification of the policy. The response she receives is that she must wait up to 3 weeks to determine where there is space available in classrooms at her preferred transfer schools. The interaction creates ill will which leads to a meeting with other parents on September 1, 1965. The larger group of mothers meets to discuss grievances with transfer process, and decides to hold larger community meeting on Friday, September 3 to formulate action plan.
Sources and Links
-
September 1, 1965 Riverside's school population exceeds 25,000.
September 1, 1965
Riverside's school population exceeds 25,000.
Riverside population 133,200 and school enrollment of 25,374. Minority students are 16.71%, comprised of 6.09% African American, 9.96% Mexican American, and .66% Others. All schools have some minority population but Irving is entirely minority students and Lowell and Casa Blanca are virtually all minority students.
Sources and Links
-
September 3, 1965 
Parents meet and decide to petition School Board for integration
September 3, 1965
Parents meet and decide to petition School Board for integration
Meeting to discuss transfer policy. Mayor Ben Lewis (left) and Councilmember John Sotelo (right) are invited. Decision to circulate petition calling for the closing of Lowell and Irving Schools and complete integration of school system to be presented to School Board September 7.
Sources and Links
-
September 4, 1965 Integration petition drive
September 4, 1965
Integration petition drive
Petitioners gather 396 signatures, a large percentage of Lowell and Irving parents, calling for Lowell and Irving to be closed and schools to be integrated citywide.
Sources and Links
-
September 7, 1965 
School Board meeting, petition received, fire discussed
September 7, 1965
School Board meeting, petition received, fire discussed
School Board receives petition from parents, takes comments from the petitioners, and sets a September 13 meeting date for further discussion. Heated discussion takes place. Superintendent Bruce Miller reports on the Lowell fire, recommends double sessions on an emergency basis until other arrangements can be made for Lowell students. The parents react negatively to Miller/'s suggestion.
Sources and Links
-
September 7, 1965 Plan for boycott and Freedom Schools
September 7, 1965
Plan for boycott and Freedom Schools
Approximately 50 parents, pushing for integration, meet at Community Settlement House and decide on a boycott and the formation of Freedom Schools until the School Board agrees to integration.
Sources and Links
-
September 7, 1965 
Littleworth informed of arson
September 7, 1965
Littleworth informed of arson
City Manager John Wentz informs School Board President Arthur Littleworth of the fire just before he presents zoning case to morning City Council meeting
Sources and Links
-
September 7, 1965 
Lowell School burned
September 7, 1965
Lowell School burned
An arsonist sets fire to the old building at Lowell School sometime before 4 a.m. The photo above shows neighborhood children playing on the steps the day after the fire.
Sources and Links
-
September 8, 1965 
Board and administration develop new plan for Lowell students
September 8, 1965
Board and administration develop new plan for Lowell students
Board members and administrators meet the following morning and reject double sessions and work to develop a new plan to bus lower grade students to other schools and move upper grade students into the newer classrooms on the Lowell campus, shown above.
Sources and Links
-
September 9, 1965 
Fearing possible violence, Arthur Littleworth attempts to avoid boycott, meets with leaders
September 9, 1965
Fearing possible violence, Arthur Littleworth attempts to avoid boycott, meets with leaders
Ruth Bratten (above left) helps to set up a meeting between Littleworth and the boycott leaders. They meet at boycott headquarters, Donald Renfro/'s home, 2740 Carlton Place. Littleworth announces no double sessions, and transfer of lower grade students to other school. Leaders decline to call off boycott but invite Littleworth to a community meeting Friday night, September 10.
Sources and Links
-
September 10, 1965 
Community meeting at Irving School
September 10, 1965
Community meeting at Irving School
The Eastside community holds a meeting Friday evening at Irving School (above left), chaired by Mrs. Josephine Stewart (above right). Before the meeting, Littleworth is urged to announce integration of Lowell and Irving but cannot act until the School Board meets on September 13th. Miller is advised not to attend. Littleworth attends, accompanied by Ray Berry. Board members Sharp and Stern, Mayor Lewis, and Jesse Wall are in the audience. Littleworth announces integration of Lowell kindergarten through 3rd grade students into other schools and no reconstruction of Lowell at its current location. He asks for 30 days to develop a full plan addressing integration and sets October 18 as date to have a report. Crowd becomes increasingly agitated, demands immediate integration. Mrs. Stewart suggests Littleworth and Berry leave.
Sources and Links
-
September 10, 1965 Boycott leaders meet
September 10, 1965
Boycott leaders meet
About 200 parents and community leaders meet after Irving gathering, and although no formal vote is taken, there is overwhelming support for boycott.
Sources and Links
-
September 10, 1965 RUSD administrators gather at Miller's house
September 10, 1965
RUSD administrators gather at Miller's house
Littleworth and Berry meet with Donald Taylor and Bruce Miller at Miller/'s house, fearing the potential for violence, Littleworth calls City Manager John Wentz at 11 pm and shares his fears that there may be violence at the opening of school. They set a city-school officials meeting for next day.
Sources and Links
-
September 10, 1965 Annual district teachers meeting at Ramona High School
September 10, 1965
Annual district teachers meeting at Ramona High School
Over 1,000 teachers and principals attend the annual school year \"kick off\" meeting at Ramona High School. Littleworth informs them about the fire, boycott, and plans for Lowell children.
Sources and Links
-
September 11, 1965 Berry shares proposal for integration with Renfro and Bland
September 11, 1965
Berry shares proposal for integration with Renfro and Bland
In an effort to make sure that the boycott leaders understand that the Board will take action on Monday, Berry shares the Board/'s plan to relocate Lowell student and commit to integration.
Sources and Links
-
September 11, 1965 City and School officials meet to discuss crisis Saturday morning at 8 a.m.
September 11, 1965
City and School officials meet to discuss crisis Saturday morning at 8 a.m.
City Manager John Wentz, City Attorney L. T. Kincaid, the chief of police, and the public works director meet with Riverside Unified School District officials including Littleworth, the full Board of Education, Bruce Miller, Ray Berry, and the county counsel. They make a plan for the first day of school, Monday, September 13th. The chief of police arranges for additional protection, if needed from the county, March Air Force Base, and the National Guard. They agree to station plainclothes police at schools at risk of violence but to minimize police presence. They develop instructions for principals about avoiding the provocation of incidents.
Sources and Links
-
September 12, 1965 
State Superintendent Max Rafferty calls Bruce Miller, offers assistance.
September 12, 1965
State Superintendent Max Rafferty calls Bruce Miller, offers assistance.
State Superintendent of Schools, Max Rafferty (above left), calls Bruce Miller to offer assistance. Wilson Riles (above center) of the state Office of Compensatory Education, makes arrangements to send Ted Neff (above right) to help if he can. Neff arrives and spends Monday, September 13th talking with community members. He encourages community and boycott leaders to attend Board meeting at 4 pm to see what action the Board takes on the petition. Neff communicates fears of violence to school officials.
Sources and Links
-
September 13, 1965 
Boycott, Freedom Schools open
September 13, 1965
Boycott, Freedom Schools open
Parents and children, mostly from Lowell and Irving, hold a peaceful boycott of schools, and 200 to 250 attend Freedom Schools in 6 locations under the banner "Parents Boycott for Better Education." There is only one picketer. Fifty-four minority children living in the Casa Blanca area sit in at Washington School. The Board dispatches substitutes for the children, who are allowed to remain in the auditorium.
Sources and Links
-
September 13, 1965 
Boycott committee meets at Eastside neighborhood Masonic Hall after School Board meeting, ends boycott
September 13, 1965
Boycott committee meets at Eastside neighborhood Masonic Hall after School Board meeting, ends boycott
Boycott committee meets after the School Board meeting. While some people feel the School Board will act in good faith, others feel it is necessary to keep up the pressure until there is definitive action, still others feel that it is not practical to maintain the Freedom Schools. In the end, the group decides to end the boycott.
Sources and Links
-
September 13, 1965 
School Board meeting to consider integration petition
September 13, 1965
School Board meeting to consider integration petition
The School Board holds its scheduled meeting on the parents/' petition on September 13th. The meeting is held at Grant School in order to accommodate the crowd. Board commits to fully integrating Riverside schools, passing a motion that states \"The Riverside Unified School District from the Board of Education through the staff is committed to the full and total integration of the schools in the district.\" The plan to transfer Lowell students in kindergarten through third grade immediately and kindergarten students from Irving by September 20th to other schools is ratified by the Board. Even though protesting parents make a specific request for full desegregation by September 1966, the Board is unwilling to commit to a specific date without a plan for school housing and transportation. Board votes to have a complete plan for integration in place by October 18. Board also votes to change the school transfer policy, placing responsibility in the hands of principals to expedite transfers, and also that all pending transfers will be acted on by Wednesday, September 15th.
Sources and Links
-
September 15, 1965 Integration begins with Lowell and Irving students
September 15, 1965
Integration begins with Lowell and Irving students
264 kindergarten and first through third grade students transferred from Lowell and Irving to classes at 10 different schools. Some problems arising from transferring students by grade level occur including splitting students from the same families to different schools.
Sources and Links
-
September 20, 1965 School Board appoints community advisory committee for integration plan
September 20, 1965
School Board appoints community advisory committee for integration plan
Riverside Unified School District Board votes to appoint advisory committee to help Board and administrators develop a plan with the mandate: complete integration, firm dates, recommendations on mechanics beyond physical desegregation.
Sources and Links
-
October 4, 1965 Board names members of the Advisory Committee for Integrated Schools
October 4, 1965
Board names members of the Advisory Committee for Integrated Schools
Members appointed to the advisory committee are Percy Baugh, M.D., Robert Bland, Mrs. Richard Boylan, Jr., Gerald Burke, Jesse Carlos, William H. Davis, Augustine A. Flores, Mrs. Matt Frost, Truman Johnson, Mrs. Patricia Kennington, Joseph Palaia, Donald E. Renfro, Mrs. Belen Reyes, and Richard Roa. Board members Arthur Littleworth, Evelyn Kendrick, and Margaret Heers and Superintendent Bruce Miller, Associate Superintendent Ray Berry, and Jesse Wall comprise the RUSD members.
Sources and Links
-
October 5, 1965 Community meeting of people opposed to integration
October 5, 1965
Community meeting of people opposed to integration
Littleworth attends meeting of parents opposed to integration, most are from the Alcott School attendance area. Bland and Renfro also attend. Bland and Littleworth answer questions.
Sources and Links
-
October 18, 1965 Petition drives for and against plan
October 18, 1965
Petition drives for and against plan
Two petitions against the integration plan are circulated, garnering 1649 signatures. Two pro-integration petitions circulated in the Highland attendance area are signed by 208. 190 parents of 300 of the 370 students attending Casa Blanca School sign one of two petitions opposing integration.
Sources and Links
-
October 18, 1965 Proposed Master Plan for School Integration presented to Board
October 18, 1965
Proposed Master Plan for School Integration presented to Board
Proposed Master Plan for School Integration presented to Board and 500 members of public at Magnolia School, includes: closing Lowell and Irving by fall 1966; citizens committee to help develop plan for integration at Casa Blanca by May 1 ,1966 with some integration by September 1966; adjusting minority school populations for balance in other schools; transitional education assistance for students. Superintendent Miller strongly recommends adoption. Speakers split for and against but many community, business, and political organizations speak in favor.
Sources and Links
-
October 19, 1965 City Council refuses to vote to support plan
October 19, 1965
City Council refuses to vote to support plan
The Riverside City Council refuses to consider a motion proposed by Ward 2 Councilmember John Sotelo to support integration, saying it is a School Board problem not a City Council problem.
Sources and Links
-
October 21, 1965 Press supports integration
October 21, 1965
Press supports integration
The Press and Daily Enterprise support integration plan and criticize failure of City Council to support it.
Sources and Links
-
October 21, 1965 Alcott parents opposed to integration voice objections to school district
October 21, 1965
Alcott parents opposed to integration voice objections to school district
Alcott parents opposed to integration meet with two school district representatives. Main objections are listed as: haste of decision, cost of transportation, abandoning viable school buildings, overcrowding at Alcott, and increasing minority attendance in future years,
Sources and Links
-
October 25, 1965 
School Board votes unanimously for integration plan
October 25, 1965
School Board votes unanimously for integration plan
Nearly 500 attend the meeting at Magnolia School. Petitions for and against integration are presented. Most speakers oppose the plan, urging delay. After more than two hours of discussion, board(shown above) votes unanimously to adopt integration plan. Parents in opposition meet after the Board meeting, but the group is persuaded to dissolve.
Sources and Links
-
November 1, 1965 
Casa Blanca Study Committee formed and charged with developing a plan by May 1, 1966
November 1, 1965
Casa Blanca Study Committee formed and charged with developing a plan by May 1, 1966
Riverside Unified School District forms Casa Blanca Study Committee of 40 community members, facilitated by Superintendent Bruce Miller. Committee holds 5 meetings between November 19, 1965 and May 12, 1966. On March 2, 1966, Miller presents a plan for integration of Casa Blanca students. The advisory committee unanimously approves the plan, completing the planning phase of its work two months before the May 1, 1966 deadline. The plan calls for transferring 180 students in 1966 and the balance of 250 in 1967. RUSD assigns Ernest Robles, shown above, to facilitate the plan.
Sources and Links
1966
-
January 1, 1966 California Supreme Court Overturns Proposition 14
January 1, 1966
California Supreme Court Overturns Proposition 14
The California Supreme Court overturns the 1964 proposition that allowed property owners to discriminate in the sale, lease, or rental of housing. The basis for the decision was that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Sources and Links
-
February 1, 1966 
Emerson School students are integrated into Highland and Hyatt Schools
February 1, 1966
Emerson School students are integrated into Highland and Hyatt Schools
Ninety-five students from Emerson are reassigned to Highland and Hyatt Schools as a part of integration plan. The program includes teacher in-service meetings at Emerson, Hyatt, and Highland to support teachers, in home visits, school tours .Students are reassigned on a class by class basis, avoiding any creation of a \"school within a school.\" In addition, students are reassigned geographically, keeping students from single families and close neighbors together. The transfer, with lessons learned, becomes the blueprint for fall 1966. Su Strickland, shown above, is one of the teachers who accompanies students from Emerson to Highland.
Sources and Links
-
February 2, 1966 Plan for integration based on a class by class approach, as well as geographic factors
February 2, 1966
Plan for integration based on a class by class approach, as well as geographic factors
The district is divided into sending and receiving schools. Using the Emerson model, plans for reassignment of remaining Lowell and Irving students is on a geographical basis, street by street, with an attempt to avoid splitting students from the same family and keeping smaller geographical areas together.
Sources and Links
-
May 1, 1966 
Littleworth, school district recognized at local, state, and federal levels for integration
May 1, 1966
Littleworth, school district recognized at local, state, and federal levels for integration
Littleworth is named outstanding elected official by the Riverside Civic League, RUSD is nominated by the teachers for a state award, and the National Education Association presents an award for distinctive merit to the district for its integration efforts.
Sources and Links
-
July 1, 1966 The U.S. government releases its study Equality of Educational Opportunity
July 1, 1966
The U.S. government releases its study Equality of Educational Opportunity
The study, by James Coleman, was requested by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and was a nationwide survey of the degree of segregation of minority group students and teachers and the relationship between segregation of minorities and the results of student achievement tests.
Sources and Links
-
September 1, 1966 RUSD Implements integration district-wide
September 1, 1966
RUSD Implements integration district-wide
The integration of Riverside schools is implemented without violence.
Sources and Links
-
November 8, 1966 Voters support School Board
November 8, 1966
Voters support School Board
The Press-Enterprise supports Arthur Littleworth and Evelyn Kendrick and both are re-elected to the School Board with large majorities.
Sources and Links
-
December 1, 1966 
Home-School Program implemented
December 1, 1966
Home-School Program implemented
Home-School Program with 11 community aides begins to prepare students for integration with home visits, block meetings, 1,500 meetings total. In June 1966, Home-School Program Supervisors Beatrice Pavitt, Esther Velez (shown above), and Ernest Robles arrange parent-child visits to new schools, and orientation programs. Principals, teachers, work to make sure that students are truly integrated but still get extra support if they need it. They are careful to avoid progress-based grouping practices that might lead to resegregation.
Sources and Links
1968
-
January 1, 1968 
Civil Rights Act of 1968
January 1, 1968
Civil Rights Act of 1968
Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1968 making housing discrimination illegal.
Sources and Links
1972
-
January 1, 1972 Littleworth retires from School Board
January 1, 1972
Littleworth retires from School Board
Having served for 12 years, 10 as president, Arthur Littleworth retires from the School Board