Solicitor General’s Memorandum Summarizing Court-Ordered School Desegregation Cases (1957)

Date: October 28, 1957

Created By: J. Lee Rankin

Original or Replica: Original

Era: The Presidency, Civil Rights

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Records as President, Official File, Box 615, OF 142-A-5 (4); NAID #17368590

This document is a letter from Solicitor General J. Lee Rankin to Sherman Adams, Assistant to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, dated October 28, 1957. In response to a request from the White House, Rankin transmits a comprehensive list of court orders and desegregation plans affecting public schools and institutions of higher education throughout the United States. The memorandum was prepared in the aftermath of the Little Rock Crisis, when the Eisenhower administration sought a clearer understanding of the status of school desegregation following the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

Rather than discussing individual desegregation cases, the letter explains how the accompanying report is organized. Rankin categorizes school districts according to whether they were already complying with federal court orders, had failed to comply, were scheduled to begin desegregation in 1958 or later, had established local desegregation plans, or were involved in pending litigation. The report also includes cases involving the admission of African American students to colleges and universities. Rankin notes that much of the information was compiled from the Southern School News and the Race Relations Law Reporter, two of the leading sources tracking school desegregation litigation during the 1950s, and offers to provide additional information if needed.