Mr. McLAIN. That is right. It is up to the FHA now. Mr. McLAIN. When did you file it? Mr. LOUGHEAD. Last Friday. Mr. MCLAIN. Last Friday in San Francisco. Senator SPARKMAN. Good. Mr. McLAIN. And following the community center is our floor plan for couples: Living room, bedroom, bath, and kitchen. We are incorporating all of the Senator SPARKMAN. How many units, four? Mr. BROWN. Six under plan A. That is the plan for couples. They have a separate bedroom in plan A. Senator SPARKMAN. All right, sir, thank you very much. (The plot plans and floor plans attached to Mr. McLain's statement will be found in the files of the committee.) Mr. McLAIN. I want to say this, our organization-and we have a very active and very fine organization in Alabama; your own State is very interested in the program. Senator SPARKMAN. Where are your headquarters there? Mr. MCLAIN. Birmingham, Ala. Miss CHILDERS. Jack Kelley, from Haleyville, is president of it. Mr. Kelley is a member of the State legislature. Senator SPARK MAN. Oh, yes, I know him. Miss CHILDERS. Mr. Wallace is vice president. Mr. Wallace recently won the nomination for governor. Senator SPARKMAN. Thank you very much. It is a program that this committee is concerned with. We know you have been working at it for several years, trying to devise some workable plan to get adequate housing for elderly citizens. Mr. McLAIN. We feel that after 18 months pursuing this subject right in this field that we have come up with the answer. Senator SPARKMAN. Thank you very much. We are glad to have had all of you. The committee will stand in recess until 2 o'clock. (Whereupon, at 12:37 p. m., the committee recessed, to reconvene at 2 p. m. this date.) AFTERNOON SESSION Senator SPARKMAN. Let the subcommittee come to order, please. Other members of the subcommittee are supposed to be here later on, but I think we had better get started for fear there might be a call to the Senate. Our first witness is Mrs. Ruth Hankins Nesbitt of the American Council on Human Rights. Mrs. Nesbitt, will you come around, please? We have your statement, and it will be printed in full in the record. You handle it as you see fit. STATEMENT OF MRS. RUTH HANKINS NESBITT, REPRESENTING AMERICAN COUNCIL ON HUMAN RIGHTS Mrs. NESBITT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am Ruth Hankins Nesbitt of the American Council on Human Rights. Our constituent organizations are Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. Senator SPARKMAN. May I ask you, Are those college sororities or are they graduate, or alumni, organizations? Mrs. NESBITT. They are composed of both. It is a national organization composed of undergraduates and graduates. Senator SPARKMAN. All right. Mrs. NESBITT. The total strength of the organization is about 40,000 people, distributed throughout the United States. The American Council on Human Rights is a cooperative program of national Greek-letter groups who work for the extension of civil rights through social action and education. In behalf of the American Council on Human Rights and its constituent organizations, we wish to express our appreciation for the opportunity to testify and present our views on proposed housing legislation before the committee. FULL OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL AMERICANS As Americans, we are interested in the general welfare of the Nation, full opportunity for all people: Opportunity for decent housing, broader educational opportunity, right to job opportunities, protection of individual rights, and at the same time the improvement of the society in which we live. ACHR believes that better housing for all Americans, including the minority groups, is a foremost human rights objective. Better housing is a high priority ACHR social action program. ACHR supports generally the housing program of the Nation, including that part of the program dealing with slum clearance, urban renewal, public housing for people in low economic brackets, sufficient middle-income housing and decent housing for those "cleared out," as guaranteed in the Housing Act of 1954. However, our position, as indicated in previous testimony before this committee, is that the Housing Act or any amendments must apply to all persons without regard to race, creed, or color in all phases and aspects of housing and must not permit of any segregation or other form of discriminaiton. The American Council on Human Rights calls to your attention the strong affirmation on nondiscrimination in all American life, including housing, adopted by leaders at the recent summit meeting sponsored by the National Newspaper Publishers Association in Washington, D. C., May 12-13, 1958. SPECIFIC TESTIMONY ON BILLS BEFORE COMMITTEE We speak specifically on the committee print, dated May 8, 1958, and bills pertaining to college housing, urban renewal, and low-rent housing. COLLEGE HOUSING Bills S. 3213, S. 3281, S. 3351, and others, all variously relate to college housing-to increase authorization, to provide financial assistance for the construction of science facilities, and to provide equipment, classrooms, laboratories, and related facilities. ACHR endorses these bills and particularly the amendments dealing with the broadening opportunities for scientific studies. I am sure we all agree there is need for scientists in the present age. But do we agree that the need is so great that we can allow a stumbling block labeled "segregation" to bar a prospective scientist from a classroom? Our council respectfully urges you to amend the above-cited bills, so as to limit financial and/or any other assistance to those colleges which admit students without regard for their race, religion, or creed. We do not overlook the fact that there has been some improvement in higher education in the South for students of all races since the Supreme Court decision of May 1954. But in view of the nuclear age in which we are now living, ACHR is more convinced than ever that in order to meet the burning need for trained manpower there can be no denial of education solely because of race or creed. URBAN RENEWAL We now refer to Senate Joint Resolution 153, S. 3548, certain sections of the committee print, and other bills,. Again ACHR commends the intent to aid urban renewal by authorizing additional funds and to accelerate the processing of applications of local public agencies. We also support cooperative efforts of smaller communities to fight blight and slums. On the other hand, ACHR must point out the establishment through urban renewal of racial segregation where racial integration previously existed. Negroes and whites have lived together in slum and blighted areas. The attached exhibit marked "A" of my report points out many areas of integration to be replaced by projects labeled for "white" or for "Negro." This is a backward step toward racial segregation the housing program is taking. For example, in Baltimore many substandard dwelling units were occupied by white and Negro alike. But the new Waverly project will be exclusively for white. Although there are renewal projects declared "open occupancy," nevertheless projects like the Baltimore Waverly area constitute segregation through urban renewal. We urge this committee that the Housing Act of 1949 and 1954, as amended, be further amended to so state that no individual will be barred from a redeveloped area on account of his race or creed. A recent bill, possibly not before the committee, gives business forced to move by urban renewal projects priority to return to the redeveloped area. This is commendable. We feel, however, the bill should be broadened to guarantee priority of return to any resident, particularly a property owner, as well as to a business, without regard for race, creed, or religion. LOW-RENT HOUSING The first section of the 1937 Housing Act set certain purposes and standards guiding the development of public housing as part of a policy statement. Many commendable planks are to be found in the policy, including the intention not to establish such large developments as to constitute communities of one economic class and provision of housing for elderly families. ACHR believes further that the projects should not constitute communities of one race. The projects for elderly families should include older people without regard to their race. We note recent 25834-58-51 court decisions have declared that qualified applicants cannot be barred from public housing solely on account of their race. Decisions in Indiana and California are examples. We think title III should be amended to recognize these principles. ACHR RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE COMMITTEE 1. That any Federal assistance to colleges be made available only to colleges which admit students without regard for race, creed, or color. 2. That redevelopers in a renewal or redeveloped area shall not deny housing to applicants on account of their race. 3. That both businesses and home dwellers forced to move by urban renewal projects shall be given priority to return to the redeveloped areas. 4. That no applicant for low-rent housing, including any urban renewal project area used as a site for low-rent housing, shall be denied housing on acount of his race, creed, or color. (Exhibit A to the statement of Mrs. Nesbitt follows:) Present and proposed residential reuse, 138 project areas approved for Senator SPARKMAN. Thank you very much. Senator Payne, any questions? Senator PAYNE. No questions. Senator SPARK MAN. Thank you very much. We are glad to have your statement. Mrs. NESBITT. Thank you. Senator SPARKMAN. I am going to call on Senator Payne to preside over the committee for a little while. Senator PAYNE. Mr. Chairman, if you do not mind, I would like to have the privilege of introducing the next witness. Senator SPARKMAN. Very well, sir. Senator PAYNE. Mr. Frank Chapman. Mr. Chapman, would you sit here, please? Mr. Chairman, the next witness is a man who serves as executive secretary of the Maine Municipal Association. It happens to be an organization of which I was one of the original organizers during the period I was mayor of Augusta, and I later served as a member of the executive committee. Frank Chapman, who is the present executive secretary, is a man who has done a very great deal in arousing a lot of interest in connection with the very things that the distinguished chairman of this committee, the able Senator from Alabama, Mr. Sparkman, whom I have the privilege to serve with and under on this committee, has been working so hard on over the years. Because we have certain problems in Maine that perhaps are a little different than they are in some other areas, although I do not think they are too dissimilar, I would like to have Mr. Chapman now set forth some of the things that he particularly feels would be of benefit to our State. It has to do particularly with Senate Joint Resolution 153, which I introduced for consideration in the hearings that are presently underway. Senator SPARKMAN. Thank you, Senator Payne. Mr. Chapman, we are delighted to have you, and we have a copy of your statement. It will be printed in full in the record. You proceed as you see fit. STATEMENT OF FRANK G. CHAPMAN, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, MAINE MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION Mr. CHAPMAN. Mr. Chairman, I do not have any plan to read this statement. I would like to make a few brief remarks to supplement some of the material in it. Senator SPARKMAN. You go right ahead in any manner you see fit. Mr. CHAPMAN. If you will turn over to about the fifth page, you will find a letter. As soon as we understood that Senator Payne had entered this resolution, our association called a conference among our member municipalities on urban renewal to determine what their thinking was on the subject, and this is a copy of the letter that we sent to them. You will note there that we had a director of slum clearance and various other municipal officials who knew what the program was about talk to these people. |