Have you ever wondered what stories made headlines in Jacksonville 50 years ago? It may have been a different era of history, culture and politics, but there are often parallels between the kind of stories that made then and today. As interesting as the similarities may be, so are the differences. These are some of the top stories from the week of May 25-31, 1959. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• Fire, which broke out in the kitchen of the Inn, Ponte Vedra Beach, caused damage estimated at nearly $2,000. The blaze apparently started from an accumulation of grease in an exhaust duct over a gas stove. Fire was contained mainly to the ceiling and to the interior areas around the duct leading out through the tile roof. There were no injuries reported and the volunteer fire department extinguished the fire.
• Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Parsons were honored at a reception at the Cummer Museum, which would soon open. Parsons had been engaged as director of the museum, which was established by the DeEtte Holden Cummer Museum Foundation.
• The City Commission ordered that new appraisals be made of the value of the two municipal golf courses which were closed April 7 to prevent African-Americans from playing the links at the same time as white golfers.
Commissioner Dallas Thomas, in charge of the courses, designated Walter Benjamin and George Fish to make separate appraisals of the Brentwood and Hyde Park courses. In an appraisal made in 1958, Fish had fixed the value of the two courses at $1,069,155.
The City Commission closed the courses after a federal court order cleared the way for African-Americans to play on the links at the same time as whites. Before the federal court action resulting from a suit filed by local African-American golfers, African-Americans were allowed to play one day each week at each course and whites were not allowed to play on those days.
When asked why he requested the new appraisals, Thomas replied, “No comment.”
Representatives of organizations considering forming private corporations to operate the facilities on a lease from the City had already met several weeks earlier with Thomas in a closed session. Thomas had made no subsequent announcement on whether any plan had been approved to lease or sell the courses.
• Insufficient funds over a period of years was blamed by School Superintendent Ish Brant and School Board Chairman Raymond David for the run-down condition of Duval County schools and their lack of recommended safety features.
Brant and David were guests, along with Assistant Fire Marshal O.H. Byrd, at a meeting of the Jacksonville-Duval County Safety Council Fire Division. Referring to a recent fire department survey of hazardous conditions in county schools, David said, “This is a condition built up over a long time because of lack of funds.”
He also expressed the belief that, “Our coming budget is not adequate, as I see it, to provide the money necessary to make our schools safe.”
Brant gave the opinion that, “If we had all the schools we need to stop double sessions and get our children out of substandard classrooms, we wouldn’t have enough money to operate those schools.”
David said the school budget was largely inflexible with the exception of maintenance funds. He said, “Certainly if we do the work (installing fire escapes and alarm systems) we’ll have hardly any money for maintenance.”
The superintendent pointed out that only 30 percent of Duval County’s school budget was derived from local sources. The rest was supplied by the state and federal governments and was earmarked for specific use such as salaries and construction.
• The district Court of Appeal in Tallahassee upheld tax-exempt status for a Jacksonville business college saying Florida school children might soon be forced to depend on private schools for their education.
The ruling was handed down in the case of Jones Business College which at the time had been offering courses in business law, accounting, stenography and secretarial work since 1948.
The business school brought suit in 1957 seeking a ruling that it was exempt from ad valorem taxes under the State Constitution on the ground it was a nonprofit educational institution.
Duval Tax Collector Clyde H. Simpson, Tax Assessor Leon E. Forbes and State Comptroller Ray E. Green disagreed and contended the firm was a commercial business operated for profit and not entitled to tax exemption.
The Appeal Court held unanimously in upholding the Duval Circuit Court that the school’s property was used exclusively for educational purposes.
Acting Chief Judge John Wiggington, who wrote the opinion, said that both before and immediately after the War Between the States students of Florida primarily received their education in private schools.
“Current events portend that history in the making is about to repeat itself,” he said. “Coercive writs emanating from courts in the federal system are gradually wresting from the respective states of this nation the control and management of their public school systems. Forced compliance with social philosophies repugnant to the mores of our citizens is now being required in public school administration
“As a result our State Legislature is presently engaged in the consideration of laws which will permit the compulsory closing of our public schools and provide a subsidy with which students may attend private schools of their choice.
“Under existing circumstances, sound reason dictates that our laws should not be construed in such a narrow fashion as to discourage the continuance or impede the establishment of the very private schools on which our students may soon be forced to depend for an education.”