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| Benedict College Photo from Richland Library |
At the start of the 1958 year, despite requests from state officials and actions by President Veal, Hoffman, Rideout, and Wiggins remained faculty at the HBCU Allen University and Andre Toth remained a student. The State Board of Education had withheld approval teacher training at Allen University. If the board persisted through the end of the academic year, many Allen graduates would be unable to secure teaching jobs, ruining the university. However, in the short term, the conflict stood at an impasse.
President Veal's last chance for avoiding further government intervention by dismissing faculty occurred at a January 10, 1958 meeting of the Board of Trustees. It did not go well for him: he was booed after saying Governor Timmerman was "a very fine man." While he had reportedly entered the meeting planning to demand dismissal, he ended up stating that he would not recommend the dismissal of the three professors at the time.
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| Photo of chaotic January 10 meeting of the Board of Trustees of Allen Univeristy Photo from the Columbia Record newspaper, January 10, 1958. |
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| On the left is Benedict College President J. A. Bacoats Photo from Richland Library |
Five days later, on January 15, 1958, Timmerman deliver his annual address in which he condemned Allen University for having been infiltrated by "undesired and highly trained communist workers". This is the address I mentioned in the first post in this series. Timmerman's address was the first time a public officially brought charges against Allen University.
In a second address at the end of the month, on January 29, 1958, he expanded his accusations by alleging that Benedict College, an HBCU that neighbors Allen, was also harboring subversives. He accused 3 Benedict faculty members of being communist workers and said that Benedict College President J. A. Bacoats had been involved with communist organizations. Bacoats, he said, had sponsored an event organized by a magazine which "propagated the Communist Party line under the guise of being a religious journal."
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| Governor Timmerman speaking to law enforcement From A Capital Blog |
Timmerman's speeches inflamed people. The day of his January 15 speech, 11 Allen University students went to the all-white University of South Carolina and tried to register for classes. Four Benedict College students tried to do the same on January 24. Each student were told by a university official that they could not be examined for admission.
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| Unidentified Allen University students attempting to enroll at the University of South Carolina Photo from Richland Library |
White U of SC students responded to the attempts to desegregate their university with angry counter-protest. On campus, they greeted the Allen students with the chant, "Two, four, six, right; we don't want to integrate." Later, after the Allen students left, a 9 foot tall cross was burned in front of the student union, and an African American was hung in effigy. Around the effigy's neck was a sign warning African Americans: "They tried but don't you."
Despite the inflamed atmosphere, spring semester proceeding along the lines of fall semester. President Veal, and now President Bacoats, spent the term responding to the Governor's speeches, pressuring the professors to resign, arguing with Board of Trustee members over dismissal procedure, and responding to investigations by the AAUP.
At end of the semester, the whole controversy reached an abrupt conclusion: the Boards of Trustees dismissed all six faculty members. None of the faculty received any reason for their dismissal, or even formal notice that they were being dismissed, and they all left the schools at the end of the academic year.
Despite the provocation that his enrollment represented, there was no public discussion of Andre Toth after he successfully enrolled at Allen. However, when the 1958-1959 academic year started, he was no longer enrolled as a student.
In a later interview, Toth said that he wanted to return to Allen but school officials told him that it was too costly for him to remain a student and denied him access to dorm housing. He spent the year working as an elevator operator and bus boy in New York City and then transferred to Wilberforce University, an HBCU in Ohio. His departure brought the HBCUs conflict with state officials to an end.
This series continues with:
Despite the inflamed atmosphere, spring semester proceeding along the lines of fall semester. President Veal, and now President Bacoats, spent the term responding to the Governor's speeches, pressuring the professors to resign, arguing with Board of Trustee members over dismissal procedure, and responding to investigations by the AAUP.
At end of the semester, the whole controversy reached an abrupt conclusion: the Boards of Trustees dismissed all six faculty members. None of the faculty received any reason for their dismissal, or even formal notice that they were being dismissed, and they all left the schools at the end of the academic year.
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| Andre Toth with other international students and Allen student leaders Photo from Richland Library |
In a later interview, Toth said that he wanted to return to Allen but school officials told him that it was too costly for him to remain a student and denied him access to dorm housing. He spent the year working as an elevator operator and bus boy in New York City and then transferred to Wilberforce University, an HBCU in Ohio. His departure brought the HBCUs conflict with state officials to an end.
This series continues with:
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