THE ALBANY HIGH SCHOOL CRISIS, 1969
Mr. Alvin L. Petty
Program Coordinator
The Albany Interracial Council
December 17, 1969
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to acknowledge the cooperation
and aid that so many people, churches, and organiza-
tions too numerous to name have extended during
this period of crisis.
David Almquist, Norman Early, Frank Lownes,
and Johnny White, among many, have been most
helpful in the preparation of this report. My
special thanks go to Norman Dodge for his exten-
sive research, without which this paper would not
have been possible,
Ae L. P.
Early in November, 1969 Albany, New York appeared to be a
study in tranquillity. Most people had forgotten the disturbances
of 1967; the summer of 1969 had passed without incident. Mayor
Erastus Corning had rolled easily to reelection for the seventh time
on November 4, and despite campaign accusatiorm of "official lawless-
ness'' and the presence of barren slums in view of ambitious state and
private building projects, the Mayor could point with pride to the
relatively low crime rate in Albany.
When Superintendent of Schools James T. Hepinstall met for
four hours with a group of about fifty Albany High and Albany State
students to discuss four demands presented by black students on Monday,
November 10, the Albany Times-Union did not consider the event to be
worthy of the front page, or even page 2. Ina year which featured
hundredsof demonstrations and demands from students throughout the
nation, a peaceful discussion of some high school demands was was
simply nothing to get excited about. The meeting was conducted fairly
harmoniously and the students were clearly not expecting instant
implementation of their demands. The "demands" were not of the
popular, "non-negotiable, undonditional" variety commonly utilized by
the SDS and other radical groups.
The "demands", exactly as they were presented, follow:
1, That Black History be a regular part of our study.
2. That Black teachers be hired to teach Black subjects
3. That Black films be utilized and that Afro-American
styles be worn without present insulting of wearers
by faculty,
4, That discrimination, provocation and harassment of
Black students by teachers stop.
EXAMPLES: 1.
ll.
12.
"You people"
Nasty remarks made by teachers about
our Elack heros.
No remarks about our wearing our
cultural styles,
White teachers, principals, etc.
refuse to orderly listen to our
grievances and basically ignore us.
Teachers purposely speak only to
white students in a tricky way.
Only the problems of white students
deserve the teacher's attention.
The use of eyes and face to show disdain
for Blacks.
Teachers getting together to write down
every minor violation to get us kicked
out of school.
Continued refusal to allow Blacks to
speak to classes on school problems
That two Black cooks be hired (one at the
Annex and one at the main building) to
prepare soul foods to be added to daily
lunch menu.
That more Black cooks be generally hired.
Because Blacks are being kicked out and
denied the right to attend school, we
demand the right of appeal with help from
community groups we select.
The Superintendent agreed to meet with six Black students
from Albany High School on Wednesday, November 12 at 10:00 A.M, in
the School Administration Building to further discuss the ''demands.''
Tuesday passed uneventfully, but a powder keg of anger,
frustration, and racial tension, the existence of which many observers
and most Albanians had not even suspected, exploded on Wednesday
morning. An inappropriate and tragically incommunicative response on
the part of the city and school administrations and the police toa
complex, shifting set of circumstances resulted in an unnecessary,
angry and shattering confrontation,
Sometime before 6:30 A.M. Wednesday, it appears (despite
some inconsistencies in police and school statements) that a few
people, apparently unknown to the vast majority of students, entered
the Albany High School and chained all doors shut, except one at the
school annex, The custodian who reported this fact to the police
stated that the group consisted of four individuals. The police were
called and the building secured. No description of the four intruders
was given and no statements regarding this case have been made. A
fact that the police apparently overlooked was that both the boys and
girls lockerrooms had been barricaded from the inside, making it impos-
sible for the students arriving later to obtain books for classes.
The pupils who began arriving at the high school about 8 A.M,
knew nothing of the earlier entrance into the building. A group of
college students and other outsiders, numbering between ten and twenty ,
entered the building as the doors were first opened for school. Were
these people "outside agitators'' and were the situations to arise
"fostered and created" by them as Mayor Corning statel later. The
preponderance of evidence does not support this view.
Almost all of the nonstudents who entered the building had
many inter-relationships with the students at the Albany High School.
As one student stated, "There's a lot of interaction between the
Black students in the community - at the university and at the high
— <-
school. Many had attended Albany High only a few years ago, The
outsiders, it appears, were not the ringleaders. As they fanned out
into the corridors of the main building, they were a distinct minority
of the people posted in the hallways; the mejority consisted of
Albany High students, The posted students and outsiders advised Black
students to go to the auditorium and boycott classes to support the
"demands,"
They were to await a report from their representatives,
who were scheduled to meet with Dr. Hepinstall at 10:00 A.M.
Ly 6:45, over a hundred blacks had congregated in the
auditorium, Later student claims that permission had been given to
use the auditorium are improbable - the door wes barricaded. Some
students were dedicated to staying until the ''demands'' were met, some
were simply the malcontents and troublemakers to be found in any grouc.
and the vast majority was apparently rallying behind the representati».
and waiting for a report on the meeting with Hepinstall, or any kind
of communication on the subject, The Albany State students and other
outsiders, while generally more militant than their high school coun*::
parts, stressed the need for order and insisted that the sit-in and
boycott be entirely nonviolent,
Communication was something that was not forthcoming. At
roughly 9:00 A.M. an emergency conference was ¢onducted at City Hall,
with Mayor Corning, School Superintendent Hepinstall, and Police Chief.
Edward Mefrdle, None of these men knew the objectives of the auditor:
ium occupants nor did they know the relationship between the earlier
ee
intrusion and the group in the auditorium. They had not even deter-
mined the origin of the strangers who had been posted in the hails.
Although what transpired at that emergency meeting is not known, it
appears that without making any attempt to communicate with the ‘'sit-
ins'' or to understand the situation, they simply decided to call. .
police to Albany High. Dr. Hepinstall and Chief McArdle later stated
that "'to insure the safety of the students" it was decided to end the
"sit-in' by police force, if necessary.
Up to this point, some of the situation had indeed been
"fostered and created" partially by outsiders. But the situation was
not yet a serious one; it was, in fact, easy resolvable until the
three men decided to implement their fateful plan.
Chief McArdle arrived at the school at about 10:00 A.M. just
as other patrol cars were also arriving. Dr. Hepinstall had apparently
left the situation to the discretion of Albany High School Principal
John Bach and Chief McArdle, who were to act within the guidelines
stated above, i.e., to end the sit-in by persuasion or force. Because
Dr. Hepinstall had not taken the trouble to find the relationship
between the 10:00 A.M. meeting and the people in the auditorium, the
last chance for communication (and a peaceful end to the whole mess)
was wasted. The delegation of students who appeared at the Albany
School Central Administration Building found the building secured by
police. While observing other persons freely going in and out of
the building, they were told simply that the building was closed.
— <u
Later in the day, Hepinstall reported that he had been too occupied
with the "other disruption" to meet with the student representatives.
Frustrated, angry, and disillusioned, the students returned
to the high school. Although it is unclear how it happened, word of
the rebuffed delegation's experience reached the assemblage in the
auditorium. Positions hardened instantly along the same line.
"Nobody was going to move until Hepinstall met with us.'' The handling
of the situation, however, was now out of the superintendent's hands.
At about 10:15 A.M., Dr. Harry Hamilton, a professor at
Albany State and president of the Albany chapter of the N.A.A.C.P.,
arrived and asked Chief McArdie and Mr. Bach that he be allowed to
speak to the group. They told him that he could be allowed five or
ten minutes to talk. Moments later, Arthur Mitchell, a black communit,
leader, and Reverend George L. Burns, pastor of the Macedonian Baptis‘
Church, entered the auditorium to add their pleas to leave quietly.
Rather than consulting the three adults, from whom nothing
had been heard in the half-hour since they had entered, Chief McArdle
ordered twenty yellow-helmeted policemen to break through the barricade
and enter the auditorium brandishing riot sticks. Dr. Hamilton,
Mr. Mitchell, and Reverend Burns, who later stated that they had made
considerable progress and that a peaceful and orderly withdrawal was
probably imminent, were ignored. The police lined up in front of the
stage and issued an ultimatum, giving the group five minutes to leave,
«£m
Despite the fact that emotions were running high about the
apparent rebuff the students had received from Dr. Hepinstall, a com-
bination of faith in Dr. Hamilton's assurances and respect for the
police seem to have led at least a third of the frustrated young people
to leave immediately. The police estimate that about three-fourths of
those in the auditorium left peaceably. It appears that due to the
fact that some students were showing no signs of leaving, the police,
in the words of Chief McArdle, began "easing" the congregation from
the hall - before the end of the five minute time limit. A male
college student began exhorting others to stay with a bullhorn and
then a melee, which culminated in seven arrests, was suddenly in pro-
gress. Two policemen and five students were in need of medical atten-
tion when it ended.
It is virtually impossible to reconstruct the melee from the
broadly conflicting claims of the students and the police, but the
weight of the testimony indicates that, while the students were pro-
bably not totally blameless, the police were excessively brutal.
Dr, Hamilton, all of the students, and several teachers observing from
the hallway were appalled by the policemen's violence.
What followed when the students had been run off school
property and the remainder of the students, who had been held in home-
rooms all morning, were released was eminently predictable. Outraged
and maddened by the events of the morning, many students, of whom five
were apprehended, committed irrational acts of vandalism. A car was
overturned, windows broken, and a fire set in a trash truck, It is
almost amazing, in view of the strained emotions of that day, that so
little damage was done.
Later in the day, as Mayor Corning, Chief McArdle, and
Superintendent Hepinstall were speaking to the press concerning the
disturbance, the black community was mobilizing to support the blacks
arrested as e result of the Albany High School confrontation.
Community leaders rose almost unanimously in condemning the city and
school administrations for their actions. Meetings were held by many
organizations, but the one receiving the most attention was a joint
“press conference" held by the Brothers and the Black Panters, two
militant civil rights groups, at Trinity Institute. Mr. Leon Van Dyk<-
the coordinator for the Brothers, spoke to over two hundred black
people. calling for a boycott of the schools and an investigation.
Joint Action for Community Organization (JAFCO), a South End group,
issued a statement characteristic of many made that day, saying that
"School administrators, city officials, and the police must take a
major responsibility for the violence which occurred at Albany
High School,
4. demonstration scheduled for 7:30 Thursday morning never
materialized. The Panthers had announced the protest Wednesday night,
but Dr. Hamilton stated Thursday that the demonstration was ‘announced
ie
prematurely", ''never formally planned, and minority groups felt that
nothing could be accomplished by marching on City Hall today." This
happening was perhaps indicative of things to come. Lack of time to
organize and problems in communication were to plague organized support
for the students for the next few weeks. Equally indicative, however,
was the peaceful procession of over two hundred placard-carrying
demonstrators around the Public Safety Building. The predominately
young crowd (school had been cancelled for the remainder of the week
in all five public junior high and high schools) was led by Dr. Nathan
Wright, head of the Afro-American Studies Department at Albany State.
Inside Police Court an overflow crowd was occasionally some-
what noisy as Acting Police Court Justice Harold Segal set bail at
250 dollars for three "sit-ins'', all of whom pleaded innocent to a
charge of obstructing governmental administration. One of the four
remaining defendents, who were facing felony charges (second degree
assault, unlawful entry, resisting arrest) was arraigned and sent to
Albany County Jail pending setting of bail. By the next day, all four
were free on bail of 250 dollars,
On Thursday afternoon, six students and Dr. Harry Hamilton
met with Superintendent Hepinstall, Deputy Superintendent David Bray,
and Albany High School Principal John S, Bach for three hours in the
Joseph Henry Memorial Building. No comment was made by either group
following the meeting, but the next day, Friday, a statement was made
saying that a scheduled Friday meeting had been postponed until Monday
so that the students could meet for counseling with parents and
attorneys at the Legal Aid Society. The meeting, which was well
attended by clergymen and community leaders, drew up some new ‘demands’
in addition to those of the students. Among the ''demands'’ were a
method of voting to insure a suitable proportion of blacks in student
government, a black dean, revision of the entire Albany school system,
the dropping of charges against all twelve students (including five
arrested for subsequent acts of vandalism), and the ending of alleged
police harassment, <A ‘'demand'' not incorporated in this list, but
which was beginning to be seriously promoted by many groups, was for a
Civilian Review Board. A meeting sponsored by United Black Parents wa.
scheduled for Sunday afternoon to rally community support for the
"demands,"
Over six hundred blacks gathered in St. John the Paptist
Church at three o'clock Sunday afternoon in support of the ''demands.’’
Mrs. Ruby Eughes called for the parents to unite behind the student «
and Mrs, Vernell Allen, chairman of United Black Parents, said that
her organization would demand a public apology to the students by the
city and school administrations.
Signs of definite optimism were present as students and
officials emerged from a scheduled four-hour discussion on Monday.
A statement read by Judge John A. Holt-Harris substantially granted
the original ‘'demands'" made by the black students. The students,
apparently harboring some doubts as to whether the agreement would
actually be implemented in the near future, were “cautiously
optimistic." The officials were "very, very happy. Judge Holt-
Harris statement follows:
"1. Black history is a regular part of the curriculum and
will continue to be. We will work with the United Black
Parents and Students Alliance of the Albany High School
and all interested parents and groups. It will be a part
of the regular course of instruction from kindergarten
through grade 12. This will include the introduction of
black documentary films and other resource material.
"2, The Board of Education will continue to aggressively
recruit qualified black teachers and administrators where-
ever they can be found. The student committee has called
our particular attention to the field of physical educa-
tion and one of our principal recruiting efforts will be
in this field,
"3. Afro-American attire is acceptable dress for attendance
at school in compliance with the Commissioner's (of Educe-
tion) guidelines concerning sefety, decency and distraction.
"4, In service sensitivity training for faculty will be
introduced, It will encompass training in language and
expression which blacks find offensive to ensure that such
language and expression will not be used. It will also
ensure against any discrimination in time allocation or
any other facet of classroom instruction.
"5. We have agreed in principle that the student council
should be so situated that it will guarantee black students
representation, The mechanics will be the subject of further
study °
"6, Agreement in principle has been reached on the inclusion
of a black guidance professional on the high school staff,
Study of the Ossinning high school structure and the position
of Mr. Raskow will be made jointly by the committees,
) "7, The Board of Education heartily endorses and encourages
the formation of a Parent-Teachers Association and the in-
volvement of black parents therein. We await specific sug-
gestions in this regard.
"8, The quality and adequacy of the menus presently offered
at the High School and Annex will be studied and every ~
effort will be made to include dishes which, in preparation
and content, appeal to black students.
"O, Other aspects of the requests made by the student
committee and the parents committee will be the subject
of future meetings and of on-going study in the immediate
future. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday,
November 24, at 1:30 p.m."
Most Community leaders regarded the agreement as a definite
advance, but even if it was immediately implemented (as many doubted
it would be), there was still the matter of seven students facing
charges as a result of the disturbance in the High School, in addition
to other "demands" that had been brought by various organizations
since the confrontation, Things were looking brighter, but many
felt that there was a long way to go.
On Tuesday morning at about 6:30 A.M. about seventy white
students on a sidewalk outside Albany High School indicated a desire
for an auditorium meeting. School officials contacted Dr. Hepinstall,
who said that he could meet with a delegation of students in the
Joseph Henry Memorial Euilding. Although no details of the meeting
were released, it later became apparent that the white students were
concerned about the granting of the black '"demands,."' ''The agroement,
Hepinstall assured the white students "will only improve educational
ae be
services for all students and will deprive none." Another meeting
@ with white students was set for 9:30 A.M. Thursday.
On Tuesday evening, about thirty representatives of various
groups, including the N.A.A.C.P., J.A.F.C.O., Black Action Now, the
Brothers, the Black Student Alliance, and United Black Parents, met
at the Clinton Square Neighborhood House. The possibility of a school
boycott and its many variations were discussed. Consensus appeared to
be moving toward either a short boycott or a boycott on the days when
hearings for the accused students were to take place. A meeting was
scheduled for the next evening at the same place in order that a
coordinating committee of the concerned groups might be instituted.
On Wednesday morning, for widely diverse reasons, over 150
© white students left school to rally on the banks of the small lake in
Washington Park, Most student spokesmen announced opposition to soul
food and felt that some teachers favored black students. They also
supported a smoking room within the school and a mid-morning break,
as well as other "requests" not even remotely related to the black
"demands." Careful attention was given to the use of the word -
"request'' as opposed to the word "demand", although the only sub-
stantial difference was that the "requests" were never put in writing.
. significant minority of white spokesmen simply voiced support for
"coolness" and peaceful action. Referring to the possibility of a
black school boycott, one student stated that "we can work this whole
thing out a lot sooner if everyone stays in school."’ He was, a bit
ironically, skipping school to make the statement. Although
Dr. Hepinstall observed that emotions were "running at a high level”,
there was no violence.
4&t the Clinton Square Neighborhood House on Wednesday
evening students and representatives of various organizations met
to plan a boycott. Alvin L. Petty of the Albany Interracial Council
had explored the possibility of using graduate students, and
possibly undergraduates, from the Afro-American Studies Department of
the State University to staff "Freedom Schools", but he had not yet
received a determination. Many churches, as well as the Clinton
Square Neighborhood House and Trinity Institute, were to be used for
the "Freedom Schools."" The boycott was to begin the next day, coin-
ciding with the beginning of hearings for the students arrested in
the November 12 incident.
The hurriedly planned boycott that began on Thursday morning
often bordered on chaos. Due to State University policies, it was
deemed advisable that university students not participate, Large
numbers of students had not been adequately informed of the boycott
and communications between leaders was often too sketchy. Many
churches that had given permission for building use as "Freedom
Schools" saw no one show up. Trinity Institute and the Clinton Square
Neighborhood House were, however, relatively full of students, most
ie a
~,
of whom were beyond the elementary school level. The two centers
@ virtually emptied as both groups recessed on Thursday and Friday to
attend the hearings. Most of the students returned for classes in
ava
the afternoon. Although a number of "'classes'' were held, there was
little, if any, academic ecucction accomplished during the boycott.
The boycott was allowed to die out when school resumed the next week.
Despite the fact that there was a great deal of ignorance
in the community regarding the boycott, and that school attendance
rose on Friday, it would probably be reasonable to say that the
boycott was a success in the areas of promoting solidarity behind
the arrested students and in focussing attention on the hearings.
However, another tactic was being considered even while the boycott
© was still in progress, In many of the classes on Friday, November 21,
an explanation of why a consumer boycott or selective buying campaign
might be necessary, and its effect in the commmity, was given.
On Monday, December 1, the newly-formed Albany Black Coali-
tion called on all persons supporting the black students' "demands"
to participate in a "selective buying" campaign against Albany
businesses during the Christmas shopping season. It is the hope of
the Coalition that merchants will urge the school administration to
rapidly implement the student's demands, All but about twenty-five
black-owned businesses are to be avoided in favor of stores in Colonie,
Rensselaer, Delmar, and other places outside of Albany. Despite the
e fact that the coalition has broad-based organizational support ranging
from the N.A.A.C.P., BAM, to the Black Panthers, it appears that
the campaign is not enjoying any considerable amount of success.
Commissioner Robert J. Mangum of the New York State Divi-
Sion of Human Rights announced on November 27, that an investiga-
tion of the November 12 racial violence had been begun at the behest
of the Albany New Democratic Coalition. State Legislator Holland
had announced earlier that his Committee on Civil Disorders would
be looking into the disturbance, As of this date, no published
conclusions have been made by either of these groups, although
numerous community organizations have attempted to review the facts
objectively and heave come to conclusions which give the city and
school administrations no significant measure of vindication for their
part in the crisis.
With implementation of the student "demands" apparently
moving slowly, one of the few bright spots in recent weeks has been
the establishment of a community relations post by the Albany Police
Department. On December 6, Chief McArdle announced the appointment
of Captain Kaye EH. Sorenson to organize a program of community
relations for the police department. fs the program progresses, the
chief said, it will be expanded to cover all aspects of police-
community relations. It is interesting to note that the same plan
had been proposed by a number of people, including the Brothers and
Alvin L, Petty, months earlier,
In a time of crisis, with emotions running high, what is
the role of the settlement house? Seeing the need for official
flexibility and carefully chosen responses to complex, rapidly chang-
ing problems, the Clinton Square Neighborhood Association has now,
in the wake of this crisis, formulated new ways of dealing with such
emergencies, The crises in Albany have made it painfully evident that
the usual methods of running an agency are not adequate to cope with
unstable conditions,
In view of the fact that the Clinton Square Neighborhood
/ssociation was caught unsuspecting by the series of events that took
place, and because it was impossible for executive director James
L,. White to consult his board on e@ number of crucial decisions, the
running of the agency was, for all practical purposes, left to the
discretion of the program director.
£ttempting to be responsive to the needs of the community,
the progrem director was often under fire for his decision to open
the doors of the center to legitimate community groups, including
those intent on establishing ''freedom schools" in possible opposition
to the policies of the Board of Education and the city administration
(both of whom are represented on the board). The school boycott, as
the staff of the Neighborhood House saw it, was an act with political
as well as educational overtones, and in addition it was the feeling
of the program director that, with the boycott taking place regardless
of the Neighborhood Association's position, it was best to have the
“a4? «
students under adult supervision in a social agency, An attempt was
made during this time to consult with board members and to keep them
informed of the situation at hand,
On December 8, 1969, the Board of Directors of the Clinton
Square Neighborhood Association endorsed and commended the actions
of the executive staff by passing a motion that, in effect, incor-
porated the extra legal process that it was necessary for them to use
into the bylaws of the Association. The motion follows:
that Clinton Square Neighborhood Association
adopts an open policy on building use
that any group so long as it does not inter-
rupt the normal flow of programs will be
permitted to use the facility
In questionable areas the discretion of the executive
director shall prevail. All requests for building use should be
relayed throush either of the program directors or the executive
director. <Any group wishing to use the building more than one time
must be required to fill out and sign the building-use application.
I feel that many important facts have been brought to light
by the crisis in Albany. The community was awakened to the fact that.
widespread, well-founded discontent has been simmering for some time.
The crisis also served notice to the settlement houses in the com-
munity that when new directions are being taken in the community,
settlement houses should be taking a responsible, constructive part
in the change.
