Little Rock School District recall, Arkansas (1959)
| Little Rock School District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Bob Laster Russell Matson Ed McKinley Ben Rowland Everett Tucker |
| Recall status |
Recall defeated (3) |
| Recall election date |
| May 25, 1959 |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 1959 Recalls in Arkansas Arkansas recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
Recall elections against all six members of the Little Rock School District Board of Directors in Arkansas were held on May 25, 1959. Ted Lamb, Bob Laster, Russell Matson, Ed McKinley, Ben Rowland, and Everett Tucker were on the ballot. Voters approved the recalls of Laster, McKinley, and Rowland, removing them from office with 52.94% to 55.47% of the vote. Voters defeated the recall of Lamb, Matson, and Tucker, keeping them in office with 50.85% to 52.41% of the vote.[1][2]
The recall efforts began after Laster, McKinley, and Rowland voted to not renew the contracts of 44 district employees. The vote was held on May 5, 1959. Before the vote, Lamb, Matson, and Tucker left the meeting and declared that there was no quorum after the board could not agree on employee contracts for the 1959-1960 school year. Laster, McKinley, and Rowland passed the non-renewals with a 3-0 vote after McKinley declared that a quorum remained since the meeting had started with one.[2]
The votes for non-renewal came after the school district's "Lost Year," which refers to the closing of all four of the district's high schools for the 1958-1959 school year.[3] Local media at the time said the teachers were fired because they were believed to be in favor of integration.[2] To read more about the school district's Lost Year, click here.
All six board members were elected to the board on December 6, 1958. Lamb and McKinley were elected to three-year terms, Laster and Tucker were elected to two-year terms, and Matson and Rowland were elected to one-year terms. The election followed the resignation of five members of the board—William Cooper, R.A. Lile, Harold Engstrom Jr., Wayne Upton, and W. Frank Lambright—on November 12, 1958. Dale Alford, the sixth member of the board prior to that election, was the sole member of the board until his term expired on the date of the election.[4]
Recall vote
Ted Lamb recall
| Ted Lamb recall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Recall | 12,513 | 49.15% | ||
 Retain | 12,944 | 50.85% | ||
| Election results via: Arkansas Democrat Gazette | ||||
Bob Laster recall
| Bob Laster recall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Recall | 13,996 | 55.47% | ||
| Retain | 11,235 | 44.53% | ||
| Election results via: Arkansas Democrat Gazette | ||||
Russell Matson recall
| Russell Matson recall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Recall | 12,320 | 48.71% | ||
| Retain | 12,971 | 51.29% | ||
| Election results via: Arkansas Democrat Gazette | ||||
Ed McKinley recall
| Ed McKinley recall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Recall | 13,340 | 52.94% | ||
| Retain | 11,860 | 47.06% | ||
| Election results via: Arkansas Democrat Gazette | ||||
Ben Rowland recall
| Ben Rowland recall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Recall | 13,692 | 54.29% | ||
| Retain | 11,527 | 45.71% | ||
| Election results via: Arkansas Democrat Gazette | ||||
Everett Tucker recall
| Everett Tucker recall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Recall | 12,093 | 47.59% | ||
| Retain | 13,317 | 52.41% | ||
| Election results via: Arkansas Democrat Gazette | ||||
Recalls against Laster, McKinley, and Rowland
A group called Stop This Outrageous Purge (STOP) formed to recall Laster, McKinley, and Rowland after they voted to not renew the contracts of the 44 district employees. STOP focused the reason for the recalls on the vote to not renew the contracts. The group worked with the Women’s Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (WEC), which had formed earlier in the school year to campaign for reopening the district's high schools.[5]
The Little Rock PTA Council passed a resolution in favor of the recalls on May 6, 1958. "We feel that board members who attempt such highhanded tactics are not qualified to hold offices of such great responsibility," the PTA Council said in a statement. "It is our feeling that Little Rock voters should carefully consider all legal measures allowed by Arkansas law to achieve recall of officials who use their positions to jeopardize our public school system."[2]
Recalls against Lamb, Matson, and Tucker
A group called the Committee to Retain Our Segregated Schools (CROSS) formed in reaction to the recall effort against Laster, McKinley, and Rowland. CROSS filed recall petitions against Lamb, Matson, and Tucker. The group said those three members illegally left the school board meeting on May 5, 1959.[6]
CROSS was founded by Reverend M. L. Moser Jr., who worked at Central Missionary Baptist Church in Little Rock.[6] The group worked with the Capital Citizens Council and the Mother's League of Central High School, both groups that supported keeping the high schools segregated. "We urge all patriotic citizens who believe in states' rights, constitutional government and racial integrity to secure a petition, sign it and circulate it as soon as possible," Margaret C. Jackson, member of the Mother's League, said.[2]
Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus (D) voiced support for CROSS' recall efforts.[6]
Background
Lost Year
All four Little Rock high schools were closed after Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus (D) signed multiple new bills into law in September 1958 that sought to stall desegregation efforts in the state. One of the bills, Act 4, "allowed the closure of any school threatened with racial integration" with voter approval. Another bill, Act 5, "allowed state monies to follow any displaced student to the school of his choice, whether privately or publicly funded."[3] Another bill gave voters the power to recall school board members.[2]
The Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that Little Rock's high schools had to immediately integrate on September 12, 1958. Following the ruling, the Little Rock Board of Directors announced that the high schools would admit students of both races when the school year began on September 15, 1958. After that announcement, Faubus used Act 4 to temporarily close all four schools on September 15, 1958, "in order to avoid the impending violence and disorder which would occur and to preserve the peace of the community," according to the proclamation.[3][7]
The city's voters had to approve the school closures in order for them to remain closed. A vote was held in Little Rock on September 27, 1958, asking if the city's voters were in favor of "racial integration of all schools within the Little Rock School District." The WEC formed in reaction to the vote and campaigned for racial integration in order to open the schools.[3][7] The vote was 19,470 to 7,561 in favor of keeping the schools closed.[8]
On September 29, 1958, the Little Rock Board of Directors leased the district's high schools to the Little Rock Private School Corp. That same day, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the board could not lease the schools. With no public high school option in Little Rock, students sought schooling options in private schools, in other parts of Arkansas, or out of state.[7]
Though no students attended high school that year, the district's teachers and administrators were required to fill their contracts. The district eventually began using the high school teachers as substitutes in the elementary and middle schools. During the 1958-1959 school year, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 115, which made it illegal for teachers or state employees to be members of the NAACP. The Assembly also passed Act 10, which required teachers and state employees to sign an affidavit listing out the organizations they had belonged to for the past five years.[3][9][10]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Arkansas
To get the recalls on the ballot, supporters had to file approximately 6,300 signatures. Both groups filed signatures with the Pulaski County Clerk on May 12, 1959. STOP filed 9,603 signatures, and CROSS filed 7,754 signatures. On May 15, 1959, the Pulaski County Election Commission scheduled the recall elections for May 25, 1959.[2]
Voters had the option to vote for or against the recalls. On June 11, 1959, the Pulaski County Board of Education appointed three members to fill the vacancies caused by the three successful recalls.[1][2]
See also
- Ballotpedia's Recall Report
- Little Rock School District, Arkansas
- Recall campaigns in Arkansas
- Political recall efforts, 1959
- School board recalls
- States that allow school board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The New York Times, "Little Rock Posts on Schools Filled," June 12, 1959
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Arkansas Democrat Gazette, "LR SCHOOL CRISIS: Teachers' firings, vote on board turned tide," May 24, 2009
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Encyclopedia of Arkansas, "Lost Year," accessed November 27, 2023
- ↑ Little Rock School District, "Board Members (and their Terms)," accessed November 17, 2027
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Arkansas, "Stop This Outrageous Purge (STOP)," accessed November 27, 2023
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Encyclopedia of Arkansas, "Committee to Retain Our Segregated Schools (CROSS)," November 27, 2023
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Arkansas Democrat Gazette, "What happened after Central High crisis?" March 3, 2007
- ↑ National Park Service, "Little Rock Central High School: Crisis Timeline," accessed November 27, 2023
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Arkansas, "Act 115 of 1959 (Anti-NAACP Law)," accessed November 28, 2023
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Arkansas, "Act 10 of 1958 (Affidavit Law)," accessed November 28, 2023
