Page 292 - a-history-of-columbia-county-florida-(1996)-edward-f-keuchel

A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 281/340

Since the Second World War
Early in 1970 Columbia County received a court order to
integrate its public schools. The faculty members were to be
integrated in February and the students for the fall term. A lottery
was employed for teacher assignment. The lottery offered a basic
fairness in its approach but nevertheless meant that many teachers
had to leave familiar schools and students and go to new surround­
ings in the middle of the academic year. Many of the white
teachers going to black schools had had little or no experience with
black students, and it was a similar situation for black teachers in
white schools. In September of 1970 the student bodies of the
public schools were integrated. Charles Parnell of the federally-
funded desegregation center in Miami, and a former Columbia
countian, offered much practical direction in making the tran­
sition as smooth as possible.19
The primary problems during the change centered around
disorganization, discipline and resistance. Most of the resistance
came from the community and not the student body, and included
segments of the black community as well as the white. The black
schools had their own heritage and identity which were threatened
by the consolidation coupled with integration. Richardson High,
for example, was closed, and Columbia High became the only
public high school in the county. Some small rural schools were
closed as well.
In retrospect it is surprising that there were not more prob­
lems during this integration phase than actually developed. School
Superintendent Silas Pittman reported excellent cooperation
among the teachers. Even though it was anticipated that federal
marshals might be called in, that did not become necessary. On the
whole the faculty and students, if not liking the situation, regarded
it as acceptance of the law, and this acceptance, in time, was
transferred to the community as a whole. It would be naive to
assert that the integration of the county’s public schools marked an

19 Ibid.
209

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