Fighting for Good Schools: The Public Education Committee of the NAACP Boston Branch

Ruth Batson’s interest in education started well before the night of June 11^th 1963 when she stood before the Boston School Committee and read a list of demands.  Being a mother, she was involved with her children’s education.  She taken several classes on nursery school education in the late 1940s and joined The Parent’s Federation of Greater Boston, a parent group that supported the public schools.  It was here she learned about The Strayer Report, which was a survey of the Boston Public Schools commissioned by the Boston Finance committee in 1944.  This report highlighted the crumbling schools and over crowding especially in Roxbury and the South End.  On December 28 1950, The Boston Traveler reported The Parent’s Federation of Greater Boston, under the leadership of Mrs. Ruth Batson, held a protest at Boston City Hall to discuss its recommendations with Boston’s mayor.  They were especially concerned because nothing had been done since the report had been written.  Mayor John Hynes told the protestors, “nothing could be done until the school committee resurveys the school population and arranges for maximum use of existing school buildings.” (1) Within a few short months, Ruth Batson threw her hat into the political arena when she decided to run for Boston School Committee member.  Her campaign slogan was “Mother, Educator, Civil Worker.”  Unfortunately she lost her bid, but that did not stop her from advocating for the children of Boston.

In 1953 Ruth read the NAACP was opening a Boston office, and she decided to pay them a visit to discuss her concerns regarding the physical condition of the Boston Public Schools, the lack of supplies, and poor curriculum in the black schools vs. the white schools.  She was disappointed to learn the NAACP did not have a committee to deal with public schools, and they could therefore not help her.  However, shortly after this visit Lionel Lindsay, the head of the NAACP Boston Branch, called Mrs. Batson and asked her if she would consider being the Chairman of the newly formed NAACP Public Education Sub-Committee.  It was a role Batson quickly accepted.  Little did she know that this new position would thrust her into the limelight in a few short years.  Later in life, Batson reflected, “From that day on, my life changed profoundly.  I learned how to sharpen my observation skills.  I learned how to write reports.  I learned how to stand before a legislative body and state the NAACP’s case.  I lost all fear of ‘important’ people or organizations.” (2)

The first thing Batson did was to form her committee and together they outlined their objectives.  One of their early goals was to meet with the principals in the predominately black schools.   “And we did what we called a survey.  Of course we didn’t even know we were doing a survey.  We just thought we’d go around and ask these principals these questions about education and black students.” (3).  The committee soon became a source for parents to voice their concerns regarding the conditions of the schools their children attended.  Issues parents raised varied from the lack of fire escapes and bathroom plumbing problems, to no school libraries and few supplies for teachers and students.  Committee members met with local politicians as well as city and school officials to discuss these problems.  In an effort to improve Boston schools, the committee organized parent groups to help advocate for their children.   More and more parents turned to the Public Education sub-committee to report concerns and to seek help in advocating for their children, the work of this standing sub-committee continually expanded, until the NAACP decided to make them a full committee.

In June of 1961 the NAACP Public Education Committee met with members from the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) to discuss de facto segregation in the Boston schools and to urge them to conduct a survey of the Boston schools taking into account racial demographics and quality of education.  It was decided MCAD would do preliminary research over the summer then go over the findings with the Public Education Committee in the fall.  After that meeting MCAD met with Frederick J. Gillis, Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, to discuss their findings.  When asked questions about racial demographics, Mr. Gillis always answered that there were no numbers on that issue.  On questions regarding quality of education, Mr. Gillis would answer that the school system upheld the highest standards of education in all of their schools.