Howard High School’s Role in Brown V Board Case

Howard High School played a unique role in one of Delaware’s court cases that was included in the Brown v. Board decision of 1954. Delaware had two cases included in the Supreme Court case, Belton v. Gebhart (July 1951) and Bulah v. Gebhart (August 1951). Howard High was compared to Claymont High School in the Belton v. Gebhart case.

Ethel Lee Belton and seven other parents filed a lawsuit on behalf of their eight children against Francis B. Gebhart, and other members of Delaware’s Board of Education. The minor plaintiffs filed in protest of being denied admission, enrollment, and attendance to the segregated high school in Claymont, DE. This school only allowed white students per state law. The minor plaintiffs were named: Louise Ethel Belton, Elbert James Crumpler, Richard Leon Davis, John Terrell Davis, Spencer W. Robinson, Styron Lucille Sanford, Alma A. Short, and Myrtha Delores Trotter. All of these minor plaintiffs were students of Howard High School, which was nine miles away from the plaintiffs’ home while Claymont High was about a mile and a half away. You may have heard about the Claymont Twelve when it comes to this case. This phrase includes additional black students that were not mentioned in the lawsuit, however, they shared the same circumstances and were mentioned later in the complaint.

Howard High School operated differently in the 1950’s than today. During this time, there was a Junior High School, which was 7th grade to 9th grade, that was on the first floor of the school. There was also a Senor High School, 10th to 12th grade, which were taught on the 2nd floor. Howard also was in charge of another school, the George Washington Carver Vocational School (Carver). This is where the vocational courses (career areas) were taught, and this school was about nine city blocks from Howard High. The distance between Howard High and Carver was one of the main issues of the lead plaintiff, Louise Ethel Belton, because she also had health issue that made walking that far a problem.

According to the findings of the Delaware Supreme Court, Howard High and Claymont High’s buildings were admittedly equal except for Howard High’s gymnasium considered to be inadequate due to its small size. This was known by Howard High staff as some gym classes were given at the Walnut Street YMCA gymnasium. When comparing the student population of both schools, its faculty and accreditation they were also determined to be mostly equal. Howard and Claymont were both accredited and approved by the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of Middle States. Howard High had 1,274 students, Grades 7-12, and Claymont had 404 students, Grades 10-12. 49% of Howard’s teachers held bachelor’s degrees and 38% held master’s degrees. In Claymont High, 36% of the teachers had bachelor’s and 59% held master’s degrees. At this time, it wasn’t required to have a bachelor’s degree to obtain a master’s degree. Carver, on the other hand, was considered to be not up to par. It had conditions that were considered unsuitable for the students. The conditions of Carver, and the distance between Howard’s buildings is what led Delaware’s Supreme Court to agree with Louis L. Redding’s argument that the conditions were not separate but equal.

Howard High would eventually relinquish control of Carver as they began to only teach high school students. Middle school students were transferred to The Bancroft School, and the vocational courses returned to the Howard High building. Howard was an exception to the rule of other segregated schools for black students as it was not in disrepair and not below the standards of other schools for white students. Howard would go on to be the last segregated school in Delaware. It did not desegregate until 1975.