Olander, O. Karl Wilkins, Roy Breeden, James Kirton, Este Clair Atkins, Thomas Mascott, Ted Carey, Gordon Holmes, Gladys Connelly, Tom Holson, Al Day, Noel

Description

In June 1963 the Education Committee of the Boston Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) presented the Boston School Committee with a 14-Point Proposal to end de facto segregation in the public schools. The contentious and failed negotiations precipitated a series of nonviolent, direct action demonstrations in Boston, not the least of which was the June 18, 1963 Stay Out for Freedom Day. The Citizens for Human Rights, co-chaired by Rev. James Breeden, St. James Episcopal Church and Noel Day, Director, St. Marks Social Center, called for a Stay Out for Freedom direct action whereby Black junior and senior high school students would attend Freedom Schools rather than the Boston public schools. WGBH interviewed local and national civil rights leaders and Roxbury community residents in anticipation of the Stay Out. In the “Boycott Report,” Thomas Atkins, Executive Secretary of the Boston Branch of the NAACP provides a detailed report on the failed negotiations with the Boston School Committee. Of particular note is his explanation of the NAACP’s 14-Point Proposal presented by NAACP Education Committee, led by Ruth M. Batson, to end de facto segregation in the public schools and the reaction of the Boston School Committee. Also, he explains both the overwhelming support for and the possible legal ramifications of the Stay Out. Comments of solidarity for the Stay Out are provided by Roy Wilkins, the national Executive Secretary of the NAACP; Gordon Carey of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); and Rev. O....

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WGBH

Record Harvested From

Digital Commonwealth