WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)

Description

In this WSB newsfilm clip from November 14, 1960, two African American girls integrate the previously all-white McDonogh 19 Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, watched by white policemen and by cheering African Americans.The clip begins with a car driving past the camera; inside a young African American girl with a white bow in her hair looks out the window. Next, white policemen in dark uniforms get off a bus. A white federal marshal walks with an African American woman and young girl up the stairs of McDonogh 19 school. The clip then shows African American women cheering and clapping their hands before the camera turns back to the African American woman and girl entering the school. Another woman and girl climb the steps and also enter the school. Finally, the camera again focuses on policemen as they get off a bus.During the clip, an unseen reporter narrates the action. The clip audio is inconsistent and comments may not be completely recorded. The reporter indicates that the four African American girls integrating the two elementary schools in New Orleans were driven by United States marshals, who "made sure no harm came to the children or their parents as they entered and left school." The reporter also explains that while white policemen were there "to see that integration took place without trouble," segregationist spectators yelled at the children and their mothers, and African American spectators applauded the integration.Although federal judge J. Skelly Wright overturned New Orleans school segregation laws in 1956,...

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia