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St. Louis School Desegregation pp 89–115Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

It Takes a Village

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Part of the book series: Historical Studies in Education ((HSE))

Abstract

Chapter 5 examines key actors who contributed to the goal of desegregating St. Louis schools and looks at the gendered ways that power was exerted in the desegregation fight. Two of the key actors profiled in this chapter are women whose voices have been missing from the literature regarding school desegregation. Key actors include plaintiff Minnie Liddell, Head of the Voluntary Coordinating Council Susan Uchitelle, District Court Judge James Meredith, and Circuit Court Judge Gerald Heaney. Each played a critical role in helping to implement school desegregation in St. Louis. This chapter offers a brief explanation of how St. Louis desegregation unfolded compared to Chicago to show the unique nature of St. Louis’ process for desegregating schools. Powerful political bosses prevented meaningful desegregation in Chicago, while activist judges wielded power in St. Louis and forced school officials to create effective desegregation programs.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The notion that Liddell was a reluctant activist was expressed by Professor Kimberly Norwood during an interview with Hope Rias, June 5, 2014. As a law professor in St. Louis, Norwood has studied Liddell’s case extensively.

  2. 2.

    See Liddell v. Board of Education, 469 F. Supp. 1304 (District Court, 1979).

  3. 3.

    Ibid.

  4. 4.

    Judge James Meredith resigned from the Liddell case in 1980, citing poor health. He died shortly afterward. Judge William Hungate took over the case from Judge Meredith.

  5. 5.

    Liddell VIII, 758 F. 2d 290, 1985 (Circuit Court). Retrieved From 731 The Federal Reporter, 2d, Series, 1985, 1310, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri–St. Louis, Heaney Desegregation Case, Box 9; see also Gerald W. Heaney and Susan Uchitelle, Unending Struggle: The Long Road to an Equal Education in St Louis (St. Louis, MO: Reedy Press, 2004).

  6. 6.

    Nathanial Sheppard Jr., “Problems Seen for St. Louis Desegregation,” Special to the New York Times, March 10, 1983. Accessed February 19, 2016 http://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/10/us/problems-seen-for-st-louis-school-desegregation.html.

  7. 7.

    William H. Freivogel, “St. Louis: Desegregation and School Choice in the Land of Dred Scott,” in Divided We Fail: Coming Together Through Public School Choice, ed. The Century Foundation Task Force on the Common School (New York: Century Foundation Press, 2002), 209–235.

  8. 8.

    Ibid.

  9. 9.

    Frank Kovarik, “School Deseg: History, Politics, Impact, Future?” Occasional Planet, January 12, 2011, http://www.occasionalplanet.org/2011/01/12/school-deseg-history-politics-impact-future; Nikole Hannah-Jones, “The Continuing Reality of Segregated Schools,” New York Times Magazine, July 31, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/magazine/the-continuing-reality-of-segregated-schools.html?_r=0; see also Trymaine Lee, “White School District Sends Black Kids Back to Failed Schools,” MSNBC, June 25, 2015, http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/white-district-sends-black-kids-back-failed-schools; see also Susan Uchitelle, interview with Hope Rias.

  10. 10.

    Robert Tabscott, “Minnie Liddell’s Quest.” St. Louis Beacon, September 29, 2009, https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/20621/minnie_liddells_quest.

  11. 11.

    Dale Singer, “Mother on the March,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 31, 1998, http://business.highbeam.com/435553/article-1G1-56399232/mother-march.

  12. 12.

    Ibid. Some parents ended the boycott early, but Liddell remained steadfast, homeschooling her children until the school board found a resolution that she could support. Liddell’s children were offered a transfer back to Yeatman, but Liddell sued anyway on behalf of children who did not have the opportunity that her children had to attend a new school in their neighborhood.

  13. 13.

    Ibid.

  14. 14.

    Shera Dalin, “Spearheaded Lawsuit over Desegregation, Liddell, Her Suit Led to City-County Transfer Plan,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 29, 2004, A1, https://business.highbeam.com/435553/article-1G1-114711912/spearheaded-lawsuit-over-desegregation-liddell-her.

  15. 15.

    Singer, “Mother on the March,” 11–15.

  16. 16.

    Kimberly Norwood, interview with Hope Rias, June 5, 2014.

  17. 17.

    Timothy J. Fox, “Liddell at 40: Conference Celebrates Landmark School Desegregation Case Hero, Examines Urban Education’s Future,” Washington University Law, Washington University in St. Louis, http://law.wustl.edu/m/content.aspx?id=9181.

  18. 18.

    Ibid.

  19. 19.

    The description of Liddell’s incredible sense of presence was explained in interviews the author conducted with Kimberly Norwood, Susan Uchitelle, Judge Limbaugh, and Dale Singer. Each person made similar references to Liddell’s ability to command respect.

  20. 20.

    Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr., interview with Hope Rias, June 3, 2014.

  21. 21.

    Ibid.

  22. 22.

    Dale Singer, interview with Hope Rias, June 4, 2014.

  23. 23.

    Kimberly Norwood, interview with Hope Rias, June 5, 2014.

  24. 24.

    Ibid.

  25. 25.

    Singer, “Mother on the March,” 14.

  26. 26.

    Kimberly Norwood, interview with Hope Rias, June 5, 2014; see Liddell v. Caldwell (Liddell I), 546 F.2d 768, 774 (8th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 433 U.S. 914 (1977).

  27. 27.

    Kimberly Norwood, interview, June 5, 2014.

  28. 28.

    Singer, “Mother on the March.”

  29. 29.

    Kimberly Norwood, interview, June 5, 2014.

  30. 30.

    “James H. Meredith, 74, U.S. Judge in St. Louis,” New York Times, December 10, 1988, http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/10/obituaries/james-h-meredith-74-us-judge-in-st-louis.html.

  31. 31.

    Liddell v. Board of Education, 469 F. Supp. 1304.

  32. 32.

    Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974).

  33. 33.

    See Judge Stephen Limbaugh, interview with Hope Rias, June 3, 2014.

  34. 34.

    Liddell v. Board of Education, 469 F. Supp. 1304.

  35. 35.

    Ibid.

  36. 36.

    “Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–Present,” Federal Judicial Center, History of Federal Judiciary, https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/hungate-william-leonard. See also, Betsy Taylor, “Ex-Rep., Former Federal Judge William Hungate Dies at 84,” Southeast Missourian, June 23, 2007, https://www.semissourian.com/story/1219228.html.

  37. 37.

    Heaney and Uchitelle, Unending Struggle, 118.

  38. 38.

    Ibid., 114.

  39. 39.

    Freivogel, “St. Louis: Desegregation,” 209; see also Liddell, 469 F. Supp. 1304, http://openjurist.org/804/f2d/500/liddell-v-board.

  40. 40.

    Liddell v. Board of Education, 469 F. Supp. 1304.

  41. 41.

    Ibid.

  42. 42.

    491 F. Supp. 351, 357, 1980 (District Court); see also Liddell VIII, 1985. 804 F.2d 500 (Circuit Court). While the initial ruling was made in District Court, it was appealed and upheld by the Circuit Court.

  43. 43.

    Liddell v. Board of Education, 469 F. Supp. 1310.

  44. 44.

    Freivogel, “St. Louis: Desegregation.”

  45. 45.

    Heaney and Uchitelle, Unending Struggle, 127.

  46. 46.

    Liddell v. Board of Education, 469 F. Supp. 1304.

  47. 47.

    “The Farmers’ Plight,” Time, October 3, 1955, 10–31; see also “Candidates Trade Blows in Hot Debate,” Ada Evening News, May 29, 1960.

  48. 48.

    Doug Grow, “In a Time of Minnesota Giants, None Stood Taller Than Judge Heaney,” Minnpost, June 23, 2010, https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2010/06/time-minnesota-giants-none-stood-taller-judge-heaney.

  49. 49.

    Larry Sillanpa, “Judge Gerald Heaney 1918–2010,” Workday Minnesota, June 23, 2010, http://www.workdayminnesota.org/articles/judge-gerald-heaney-1918-2010.

  50. 50.

    Dennis Hevesi, “Gerald W. Heaney, a Judge Who Ruled for the Desegregation of Public Schools, Dies at 92,” New York Times, June 22, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/us/23heaney.html.

  51. 51.

    Sillanpa, “Judge Gerald Heaney”; see also Grow, “Time of Minnesota Giants.”

  52. 52.

    James Oberstar, quoted in Grow, “Time of Minnesota Giants.”

  53. 53.

    Gloria A. Ross, “Gerald W. Heaney: Judge in St. Louis School Desegregation Case, War Hero,” St. Louis Beacon, June 23, 2010.

  54. 54.

    Heaney and Uchitelle, Unending Struggle.

  55. 55.

    Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, interview with Hope Rias, June 3, 2014.

  56. 56.

    Gerald W. Heaney, “Memorandum to Minnie Liddell,” n.d., Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri–St. Louis, Heaney Desegregation Case, Box 7.

  57. 57.

    Minnie Liddell, “Letter to Judge Heaney,” August 5, 1999, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri–St. Louis, Heaney Desegregation Case, Box 7.

  58. 58.

    Singer, “Mother on the March,” 15; see also “Craton Liddell, 43; Plaintiff in School Busing Lawsuit,” Los Angeles Times, January 3, 2003, http://articles.latimes.com/2003/jan/03/local/me-passings3.3.

  59. 59.

    Singer, “Mother on the March,” 15.

  60. 60.

    “Craton Liddell, 43.”

  61. 61.

    Gerald W. Heaney, memorandum, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri–St. Louis, Heaney Desegregation Case, Box 7.

  62. 62.

    Gerald W. Heaney, “Condolence Letter to Minnie Liddell,” January 3, 2003, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri–St. Louis, Heaney Desegregation Case, Box 7.

  63. 63.

    Gerald W. Heaney, “Condolence Letter to the Family of Minnie Liddell,” April 1, 2004, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri–St. Louis, Heaney Desegregation Case, Box 7.

  64. 64.

    Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, interview with Hope Rias, June 3, 2014.

  65. 65.

    Ross, “Gerald W. Heaney.”

  66. 66.

    Susan Uchitelle, interview with Hope Rias, November 24, 2015.

  67. 67.

    Ibid., August 12, 2014.

  68. 68.

    Heaney and Uchitelle, Unending Struggle.

  69. 69.

    Susan Uchitelle, interview with Hope Rias, November 24, 2015.

  70. 70.

    Ibid.

  71. 71.

    Judge Limbaugh reported during an interview how much he respected Liddell. He also confirmed my conclusions that Judge Heaney did as well. Heaney’s correspondence also suggests as much. Uchitelle spoke highly of Liddell during our interview in November of 2014. See also Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, interview with Hope Rias, June 3, 2014.

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  1. Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, VA, USA

    Hope C. Rias

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Rias, H.C. (2019). It Takes a Village. In: St. Louis School Desegregation. Historical Studies in Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04248-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04248-6_5

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