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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 280/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida
that the old attitudes were changing. The formation of the Bi-
racial Committee indicated that an additional level had been
reached as well.
One of the most explosive civil .rights issues of the 1950’s and
1960’s was the integration of public schools. Problems occurred
when integration came to the county’s educational system, but in
retrospect the change was accomplished reasonably well. On the
whole the white Floridians of North Florida were opposed to
school integration. Although the United States Supreme Court had
ruled in the Brown decision of 1954 that the segregation of races in
public schools was unconstitutional, resistance was witnessed
throughout the state. The governor and other public officials gave
every indication of a reluctance to desegregate the schools. In 1955
the legislature tried to preserve segregation by passing a bill
providing for the assignment of pupils to schools on the basis of
“health, safety, good order and educational welfare but not race.”
In 1959 Senator Emory J. Cross of Gainesville was the leader in the
movement to close schools rather than integrate them. Also favor­
ing Cross’s measure were Senators G. T. Melton of Lake City and
Charley Johns of Starke.17
Although court suits demanding desegregation of public
schools in Florida were filed in Dade County in 1956, and in Duval,
Volusia, Escambia and Palm Beach Counties in 1960, the issue did
not reach the action stage in Columbia County until the late 1960’s.
Columbia County’s schools in the late 1960’s were operating on a
“freedom of choice” basis which meant in practice that black
students could go to formerly all-white schools if space was
available and they could arrange their own transportation. Not
many black students attended under those circumstances, but the
few that did, such as Robert Allen, Melissa Williams, and Reginald
Evans, were truly modern-day pioneers and helped to set the stage
for a more general acceptance of integration.18
17Cox and Dovell, Florida, pp. 233-34; Ocala Star Banner, February 25, 1959.
18Silas Pittman and others, Interview, November 29, 1976.
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