#10941: NEWS WITH LOWELL THOMAS (CBS Radio), & FULTON LEWIS JR. NEWS AND COMMENTARY (WOR Radio).
1954-05-17, 4 min.
Lowell Thomas, Fulton Lewis Jr., Chief Justice Earl Warren, William Dawson
Supreme Court news with Lowell Thomas, Coast to Coast, CBS radio, followed by Fulton Lewis Jr. commentary, same day, on Supreme court justice Earl Warren unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas, mandating and sanctioning that in the future segregation of public schools would be a violation of the 14th Amendment and would in the future be unconstitutional.
Decision on integration:
Lowell Thomas:
"Good evening, everybody. Today's decision by the United States Supreme Court is called the most important action of its kind since the Emancipation Proclamation. Our high tribunal today outlawed racial segregation in schools, the decision written by Chief Justice Earl Warren. It was unanimous. Several complaints against racial segregation in schools upheld today in one sweeping decision. The court ruled against the Southern theory of separate but equal facilities. The decision stating separated educational facilities are inherently unequal. The verdict is complete and sweeping. But it does not mean total change at once. The court notes the far-reaching character of its action. Also, the great variety of local conditions to be considered. So there will be further hearings on the way, the decision is to be put into effect. The details are delayed until Autumn and, it may be a year before the court rules on the methods to end segregation in schools. The reaction in the South is immediate, and its angry with new proposals to transform the public schools into a private school system there. A technical change mostly, but one which might evade constitutional questions on segregation. Already three states, Georgia, South Carolina, and Mississippi have taken preliminary steps to turn their public-school systems over to private organizations. Meanwhile, Negro and sympathetic white groups in the South are jubilant. One organization calling a meeting of its leaders in Birmingham to decide on plans in line with today's decision."
This is a CBS radio aircheck from May 17th, 1954 (1:35), followed by Fulton Lewis Jr. reporting over WOR radio the same evening (2:00).
Fulton Lewis Jr. comments include:
Reactions from the South, no Supreme Court new terms intentions to be imposed overnight, may be a year before pragmatically implemented.
Negro democrat William Dawson from Illinois states that today's decision is the greatest and finest things that has happened since the Declaration of Independence to make a United America and to raise the status of America as the leader in the eyes of the world.
Lowell Thomas was an American radio broadcaster for both the NBC and CBS radio networks. He was employed by his sponsor, Sunoco Oil. He hosted the first television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled news broadcast on February 21st, 1940, over W2XBS, which is now the NBC television network, a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast.
Fulton Lewis' commentary program (presented as a "news" program, but which allowed him to choose his topic and to give his opinions in depth) ran from 7:00-7:15 p.m. Eastern time, five days a week. His audience liked Lewis' folksy broadcasting style. At his commercial peak, Lewis was heard on more than 500 radio stations and boasted a weekly audience of sixteen million listeners. His signature closing was "That's the top of the news as it looks from here." He also transitioned briefly to television in the early 1950s, but the format of his program did not appeal in that medium, so he returned to radio for the remainder of his career.
