27-Hour Integration

As campaigning for a municipal election was getting in high gear, the Rev. Theodore Gibson, president of the Miami N.A.A.C.P., called on City Manager Ira Willard with a plea that Miami's sternly segregated recreational facilities be opened to Negroes. To the Rev. Gibson's surprise, South Carolinian Willard swiveled in his chair and tossed the question to City Attorney William L. Pallot. The Supreme Court, said Pallot. has made the issue clear--a city has no right to bar Negroes from public facilities. At City Manager Willard's direction, word immediately went out to recreation workers that racial restrictions were off.

Six Negroes managed to get into the swim in two municipal pools in the 27 hours before Miami's four commissioners and Mayor Robert K. High hurriedly restored the "white only" bars. Growling that he had been the victim of a political plot to embarrass him, Mayor High directed Willard to reverse his decision. The issue was referred to city hall for further deliberations, which are likely to go on until well after Miami's municipal elections, Nov. 17.

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