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a > “sd - .# z; er, “wag: ” A ee od ot - han — ry 7 i ad = .* . _ * twee . e ba tie THE ORANGEBURG STORY writing a new ending to an old Story in the South. in the county seat of Orangeburg, fifty-seven Negroes asked that their children receive more adequate education and be allowed to enter unsegregated public schools. They filed their- petition in September, 1955. One month earlier, thirty-seven persons in nearby Elloree had asked for the same right. The answer was the same throughout Orangeburg County: threatened economic ruin, intimidation, in an area described as a place having a wonderful racial policy. In the town of Orangeburg, a mother whose baby hod been supplied a special milk formula for more than a year, was denied this service because she asked for her rights. A farmer near Elloree who owned 350 acres, clear of debt, was refused a small oan. The White Citizens Council cut off all supplies and credit to the small merchants and farmers who signed the petition. Paid informers were posted obout the town to report on anyone offering aid. The school board at Elloree demanded that all school teachers sign a statement that they were not members of the NAACP. The school board also insisted that the teachers sign a statement saying that they are apposed to integration. This, the twenty-four Negro teachers refused to do and they were fired in May of 1956. It is an old story in the South, Negroes asking for their rights, white men not only denying them their rights, but adding persecun tion because they had the cour- age to ask. Fred Moore, St dent Council Presider of ftate Callege in Orangeburg, 3. ( Dismissed Elierse teachers telk with Mri. Clark ot Highlander Werkshep But in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, there is somethin new—the Negroes refused to knuckle under in this campaign o intolerance and hate. In Elloree, under the leadership of Mr. L. A. Blackman an school principal Mr. Charles E. Davis, the farmers, the merchant: ond the teachers stood firm. Mr. Blackman stood before a meeting of the Klan and told them he planned to stay in Elloree despite th Klan leaders’ call to “run Blackman out of town." In the town of Orangeburg, the students at State College, lec by Fred Moore, joined the townspeople in circulating the names o: all members of the White Citizens Council. More than 2,000 copies of the list were circulated. The Negroes refused to pay for segregation and they stoppec buying from members of the White Citizens Council. A large mail order house shipped in catalogues so that the people could buy from out of town. Car pools were organized to haul in bread and othe: necessary supplies. Financial aid for the smalt farmers and merchants poured ir from all parts of the country and when the final count was taken, between forty and fifty thousand dollars were avaiteb!e for Iqan. Some stores, once prosperous but managed by n-embers of the White Citizens Council, are no. closed. The peopl: ->fused to buy segregation. 4 the farmers, +oachers on South Carclina, who oskec merchants of hate? merchants of Orar x bury Count iota egiets. wall sure -Dut ili tt