Fifty Years of Challenges to the Colorline Montgomery, Alabama

182 Pages·2015·4.25 MB·English

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History Theses Department of History
12-2009
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Alison L. Murphy
Georgia State University
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Murphy, Alison L., "Fifty Years of Challenges to the Colorline Montgomery, Alabama." Thesis, Georgia State
University, 2009.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1242964
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FIFTY YEARS OF CHALLENGES TO THE COLORLINE
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA

by

ALISON L. MURPHY

Under the Direction of Timothy Crimmins

ABSTRACT

After fifty years of challenges to the color line in Montgomery, Alabama, the Metropolitan
Statistical Area is more integrated now than it was in 1950. Through exploring the effects of
Brown v. Board of Education, the bus boycott, school integration court cases, re-segregation of
schools in city and suburban districts, and federal open-housing policies, the volatile
transformation appears to shows how, after fifty years, Montgomery has moved from a
segregated dual society to a partially integrated society in spite of the massive resistance to
integration.

INDEX WORDS: Montgomery, Alabama, Integration, Desegregation, Federal Housing
Policy, Fair Housing Act, Central Alabama Fair Housing Center,
School integration, Dual school system, Unitary school system
FIFTY YEARS OF CHALLENGES TO THE COLORLINE
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA

by

ALISON L. MURPHY

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts
in the College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University
2009
Copyright by
Alison Lynn Murphy
2009
FIFTY YEARS OF CHALLENGES TO THE COLORLINE
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA

by

ALISON L. MURPHY

Committee Chair: Timothy J. Crimmins, Ph.D.
Professor of History
and Director of the Center for
Neighborhood and Metropolitan Studies
at Georgia State University

Committee: Glenn T. Eskew, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History
at Georgia State University

Electronic Version Approved:

Office of Graduate Studies

College of Arts and Sciences

Georgia State University

December 2009
iv

Dedication
To Grandma
May 20, 1927-August 14, 2009
v

Acknowledgements
This work could not have been possible without the generous patience, understanding,
and guidance of Dr. Timothy Crimmins who spent countless hours molding my thought process
and reading over preliminary drafts and “mini-papers” to guide me to a completed thesis. Dr.
Crimmins knew how to work with me and how to help me evolve my work successfully.
I also owe a lot to Dr. Glenn Eskew for being on my committee and using his knowledge
of Alabama cities to help structure my research on Montgomery.
I have had many mentors in my life that have shaped my education and made the
completion of this degree possible including Mrs. Michelle Bostwick (high school
English/Newspaper teacher), Mrs. Penny Stovall (high school history teacher), and most
specifically Dr. Marylin Darling (college professor, GSU Ph.D., and long time friend).
Additionally, my family who somewhat patiently accepted that I was really “writing my
paper” and could not attend all family outings, specifically, Mommie Dearest, Laura, Grandpa,
my best friend Wilma, and especially my Grandma.
vi

Table of Contents

DEDICATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v
LIST OF TABLES vii
LIST OF FIGURES x
Introduction 1
1. CHAPTER 1: 1954-1967 3
1.1 Patterns of Segregation in Montgomery in the 1950s 7
1.2 Segregation in Montgomery 12
1.3 School Desegregation 31
1.4 The American Dream 45
2. CHAPTER 2: 1967-1980 48
2.1 Fair Housing 49
2.2 Segregation in Montgomery 53
2.3 School Integration 61
3. CHAPTER 3: 1980-2000 82
3.1 National Political Landscape on Segregation 82
3.2 Patterns of Class Segregation: Socioeconomic Landscape in 1990 85
3.3 Suburban Integration 91
3.4 Protecting Rights Under the Fair Housing Act 94
3.5 The Fair Housing Act: Neighborhood Integration 101
3.6 Public & Private School Integration 102
4. CHAPTER 4: Montgomery: 2000 & Beyond 110
4.1 The Current State of the City: 2000 110
4.2 Governmental Leadership: National and State Government Policy 111
4.3 Patterns of Class Segregation: Socioeconomic Landscape in 2000 114
4.4 Suburban Integration 131
4.5 Protecting Rights Under the Fair Housing Act: The Fair Housing Act – 135
Did it Work?
4.6 Current State of the Schools: 2000: Dissimilarity in Public and Private 138
School Demographics
4.7 Re-segregation of the Schools: Effectiveness of Desegregation Orders 151
Conclusion: Patterns of Segregation in Montgomery in the 2000s 157
5. Bibliography 158
vii

List of Tables

Table 1: State of Housing Units by Wards in 1950

Table 2: Population Increase in the City of Montgomery and Montgomery's Metropolitan Area
Counties from 1960-1990

Table 3: Black and White Population Over 25 Years Old for the State of Alabama in 1960

Table 4: Black and White Population Over 25 Years Old with a High School Degree for the State
of Alabama in 1960

Table 5: Black and White Population Over 25 Years Old with a High School Degree for the City
of Montgomery in 1960

Table 6: Public and Private High School Students for the City of Montgomery in 1960

Table 7: Public and Private High School Students by Race for the State in 1960

Table 8: Public and Private School Students by Race for the State in 1980

Table 9: Change in Private School Attendance for the State from 1960 to 1980

Table 10: Public and Private High School Students for the MSA in 1980

Table 11: Public and Private High School Students for Autauga County in 1980

Table 12: Public and Private High School Students for Elmore County in 1980

Table 13: Public and Private High School Students for Lowndes County in 1980

Table 14: Public and Private High School Students for Montgomery County in 1980

Table 15: Public and Private High School Students for all Counties in the MSA in 1980

Table 16: Population Increase for Montgomery's Counties in the MSA from 1970 to 1990

Table 17: Dwellers by County in 1990

Table 18: Dwellers in the City in 1990

Table 19: Public and Private High School Students by Race for the Four Counties in
Montgomery's MSA in 1990

Table 20: Public School Data for Montgomery's MSA from 1988 to 2000
viii

Table 21: Percentage Increase and Decrease in Public School Enrollment by Race for the MSA
from 1988 to 1999

Table 22: Percentage of Nonwhite Dwellers by Ward from 1950 to 2000

Table 23: Average Home Values by Ward from 1950-2000

Table 24: Characteristics of Dwelling Units by Ward in 1950

Table 25: Characteristics of Dwelling Units by Ward in 1970

Table 26: Characteristics of Dwelling Units by Ward in 2000

Table 27: Characteristics of Ward 23 from 1950-2000

Table 28: Characteristics of Ward 1 from 1950-2000

Table 29: Characteristics of Ward 5 from 1950-2000

Table 30: Characteristics of Ward 2 from 1950-2000

Table 31: Characteristics of Ward 4 from 1950-2000

Table 32: Characteristics of Ward 6 from 1950-2000

Table 33: Characteristics of Ward 3 from 1950-2000

Table 34: Characteristics of Ward 7 from 1950-2000

Table 35: Home Value by Ward Compared to Percentage of Nonwhite Dwellers 1950-2000

Table 36: Population Increase by Counties 1960, 1990-2000

Table 37: Demographics of Public High Schools in the City in 2006

Table 38: Public School Data from 1950-2000

Table 39: Private School Data from 1960-2000

Table 40: Private High Schools in Montgomery in 2006

Table 41: High Schools in Autauga County

Table 42: Racial Dissimilarity in Public and Private Schools for Autauga County