Letter, Louisiana Governor Robert Kennon to President Dwight D. Eisenhower Regarding School Segregation

z OF STATE OF LOUISIANA * + EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT THE WHITE HOUSE BATON ROUGE Nov 23 9 18 AM $53 ROBERT F. KENNON November 20, 1953 GOVERNOR RECEIVED The Honorable Dwight D. Eisenhower The White House Washington, D. C. Dear General Eisenhower: I was pleased to note from press reports that you will give personal consideration to the answers to be submitted by the Department of Justice to the United States *OF100A Supreme Court in connection with the public school litigation now pending. Throughout the history of our public school system every state has exercised the right to operate its own schools, and the United States Supreme Court has sus- tained this right in a series of cases extending back some three-quarters of a century. State laws have required parents to send their children to school and under state laws the state and local communities have accepted the responsibility of pro- viding the best schools which their resources permitted. During the past ten years great progress has been made in improving pub- lic school systems in the South. For instance, Louisiana has in- creased its minimum salary for beginner teachers holding a BA degree in both its white and colored schools to $2400.00 for the nine months school year. Modern high schools for colored citi- zens have been constructed, particularly in our larger cities where better financial resources exist and further development is in prospect. The states are presently finding it diffi- cult to provide the additional school facilities needed for the fast-growing school population. The effect of the increased postwar birth rate is being felt heavily in the lower age class rooms. Yet the states have met the problem to date without federal aid. A federal edict contrary to the established order and customs