The Claymont Twelve

09/20/2022

Since it was mentioned at the School Board meeting tonight I was asked to again share the information about The Claymont Twelve Fund.

Last week Claymont was honored by a visit from Joan Anderson one of the actual Claymont Twelve. On Thursday she visited Claymont Elementary School and told the children about her experience at being one of the first Africans Americans to attend Claymont High School.

On Friday the Claymont Community Center held a ceremony honoring the 70th Anniversary of those students starting the school year at Claymont on September 4, 1952.

Thanks to a favorable court decision by the Delaware Courts these brave students peacefully integrated Claymont two years before the matter would be settled nationally by Brown v Board of Education.

The Delaware decision was appealed to the US Supreme Court and was made a part of Brown. It is important to note that our Delaware case is the only one affirmed by Brown all the other cases that made up Brown had upheld segregation in schools.

The Brandywine Education Foundation founded the The Claymont Twelve Fund two years ago to raise funds to endow scholarships in honor of these brave students and their parents. The Foundation was able to award the first three scholarships to the class of 2022 this spring.

You are invited to join in and help endow these scholarships so that each year when senior awards are given out we will be sure to “say their names” in the granting of these scholarships.

I have attached the link the Brandywine Education Foundation where you can make a donation online to support The Claymont Twelve Fund. You can also print out a form and make a donation by mail if you wish.

It was an amazing opportunity to meet Joan Anderson, Friday and hear first hand the story of The Claymont Twelve. The impact they made in 1952 is still very important 70 years later and we need to ensure that all of our students in the Brandywine School District fully understand just how critical a role our little corner of the country played in one of the most important Civil Rights cases of the 20th Century.

Funds to address small financial needs that may prevent children from participating in school-sponsored events such as field trips and after school activities

09/04/2022

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Claymont Twelve’s integration of Claymont High School.

On September 4, 1952, eleven students entered Claymont with no problems. One of the twelve had moved into Wilmington during the court case and decided not to attend Claymont.

These brave students and their parents had filed suit to be allowed to attend Claymont which was closest to their homes and where many of them paid school taxes to support Claymont while their kids were excluded from attending there.

In 1951 these parents and children hired Louis Redding to sue the Board of Education to allow their kids to attend Claymont instead of having to travel into Wilmington to attend Howard High School.

In 1952, the Hon. Collins J. Seitz (the father of our current Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court) decided in favor of the plaintiffs in a groundbreaking decision. While he said he could not overturn the controlling Supreme Court decision from 1896 he could see that the concept contained within was enforced. Since that concept was “separate but equal” he found that Claymont and Howard were indeed separate but by no means equal. Further he decided there was no way the state could make them equal without further injury to the students and therefore ordered that they be admitted to Claymont.

The state quickly appealed to the State Supreme Court which upheld the lower court’s decision. At that point the Claymont School Board voted at a special meeting on September 3, 1952 to admit the students even though they did not have a written order giving them permission from the State Board of Education. The State Board did call into the meeting and give verbal permission.

The next day the children were admitted and about midday the State Attorney General called to order that they be sent home as the State of Delaware had appealed to the Supreme Court. The district refused and the children continued to attend.

The case was taken up by the Supreme Court and added to other cases as part of the famous Brown vs Board of Education. The important thing to remember though is the Delaware decision was the only one of those cases that was affirmed by Brown as it was the only one decided in favor of integration.

Right here in what is now the Brandywine School District history was made 70 years ago today. Too many have never heard about the Claymont Twelve and their role one of the most important Civil Rights Cases of the 20th Century.

The Claymont Twelve fund at the Brandywine Education Foundation seeks to change that. This fund will provide scholarships to seniors from the three high schools in the Brandywine School District.

Three members of the class of 2022 received the first scholarships from the fund.

We invite you to join us and help fully fund this important endowment.

Your donation of any amount is appreciated but we ask you to consider buying as “share” of the endowment. Each share is $12.00. So support this effort by buying one share for $12.00, 5 shares for $60, 10 shares for $120, 12 shares for $144 or more!

Visit our website and you can make an online donation or print a form out to make a donation by mail. Whatever amount you can donate will go 100% towards the Claymont Twelve Fund endowment.

https://www.brandywineeducationfoundation.com/donate

Thank you for your support!

Funds to address small financial needs that may prevent children from participating in school-sponsored events such as field trips and after school activities

05/17/2022

Today we mark the 68th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education which struck down the legal concept of separate but equal in our schools.

Did you know that Delaware played a part in that landmark decision?

Two years before Delaware had decided Belton v. Gebhart. That case was really two cases Belton and Bulah v. Gebhart. The Belton case found that twelve students in Claymont could attend the previously all white Claymont High School rather than have to go into Wilmington.

This was the first time a court had ruled in favor of integration. The state appealed and the case made it’s way to the Supreme Court where it became one of the five cases that were decided as part of Brown.

However on September 4, 1952, two years before Brown would be decided those young African Americans we now know as the Claymont Twelve were admitted to Claymont.

The lead plaintiff E. Louise Belton however remained at Howard High School as her family had moved closer while the case was pending.

This year we will celebrate the 70th anniversary of Belton v. Gebhart.

The Brandywine Education Foundation has founded the Claymont Twelve Fund which once fully endowed will fund a $1,000 scholarship in honor of each of these brave twelve students.

On this historic anniversary of the ratification of the Delaware decision join us in honoring the Claymont Twelve with a donation to the fund.

Please visit our page where you can donate online or print a page to mail in.

https://www.brandywineeducationfoundation.com/donate

04/07/2022

What better way to celebrate the confirmation of the first African American female to the U. S. Supreme Court than by making a donation to help endow the The Claymont Twelve Fund at the Brandywine Education Foundation.

Just as the Claymont Twelve broke down racial barriers in Delaware so it will Ketanji Brown Jackson break down racial as well as gender barriers on the Supreme Court.

The Claymont Twelve Fund will grant scholarships to the graduates of the Brandywine School District in honor of those twelve brave students and their parents who stood tall and forced the integration of Claymont High School in 1952.

Visit our webpage to make either an online donation or to print a form out to mail in.

Your donations today will help the next generation break down still more barriers in the future.

The Brandywine Education Foundation. Supporting the students, staff and families of the Brandywine School District in Wilmington, Delaware.

03/01/2022

Did you know that Louis L. Redding was the first African-American male admitted to the bar in Delaware? He was admitted in 1929. He was the lead attorney on Belton v Gebhart which was decided in favor of the Claymont Twelve?

The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court where it was heard as part of Brown v Board of Education. In that case the Supreme Court ended the legal concept of separate but equal in education.

The Delaware case was the only one decided in favor of integration.

Louis Redding was a giant in the Delaware legal Community.

01/17/2022

When he was a young boy in Atlanta, Dr. King was friends with a local neighborhood boy who was white. In September 1935 the boys started school. Dr. King attend Yonge Street Elementary which was the local school for black kids. His white friend attended the local school for whites.

Soon afterwards the boys parents stopped allowing the boys to play together telling King, "we are white, and you are colored."

At that moment Dr. King decided he was going to hate all white people, but his parents instead taught him that it was his Christian duty to love all people. Dr. King's acceptance of this simple truth changed the course of history.

What would be more fitting on this the day in which we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. then to support an effort to celebrate and honor the courage of Twelve brave students and their parents who, in 1952 challenged the idea that they had attend an all black school even when it meant they passed by another school right near their home.

The struggle of the Claymont Twelve would forever change Delaware and through their case being included in Brown v. Board of Education two years later in 1954 would forever change the entire country.

On this King Holiday consider a contribution to the Claymont Twelve Fund at the Brandywine Education Foundation. We are working to endow a fund to grant a scholarship in the name of each of these students annually in the Brandywine School District.

The lift is a large one it will take $300,000 but if each one takes just a small part we will succeed. Consider a donation of just $12.00 for one share in the fund. Or maybe $24.00 for two shares, ten shares for $120. Of course larger donations are most welcome but the point is to take action and support this fund. Just in the short time since we started we have already raised nearly $5,000.00.

You can visit our web page at: https://www.brandywineeducationfoundation.com/ and make a donation online or print out a form and mail in a check. Be sure to notate that your donation is for the "Claymont Twelve Fund"

The photo is young Dr. King around the time he would have started school.

01/14/2022

Help us grow this page so we can share the story of the Claymont Twelve!

Like our page today and invite others to do so as well.

01/14/2022

As with any great or important undertaking the importance lies with the taking of action over mere appreciation of the concept.

We want to thank Heather Brooks for doing just that and taking action. She stepped up and funded two shares of the Claymont Twelve Fund.

Will you join her?

Visit the Brandywine Education webpage and click on the "donate" tab or to print out a form to mail in. Be sure to state your donation is for the "Claymont Twelve Fund"

https://www.brandywineeducationfoundation.com/

Thanks Heather!

The Brandywine Education Foundation. Supporting the students, staff and families of the Brandywine School District in Wilmington, Delaware.

01/13/2022

Almost a year ago the Brandywine Education Foundation launched this effort to share the story of the Claymont Twelve. They and their parents were the center of one of the greatest Civil Rights cases of the 20th Century. The case of Belton v Gebhart along with the companion case Bulah v Gebhart were consolidated and decided under Gebhart v Belton in 1952.

Both cases were filed by Louis L. Redding and Jack Greenberg to challenge Delaware's segregated schools. They were decided by Chancellor Collins J. Seitz of the Chancery Court in 1952. Both sides appealed to the State Supreme Court which affirmed the Chancery decision on August 28, 1952.

After waiting for the State School Board to issue written permission for the twelve African American students to be admitted to Claymont and it not coming, the board held a special meeting on September 3, 1952 to vote to admit them anyway. The State Board however did phone into the meeting and give verbal permission.

On September 4, 1952, eleven of the twelve entered Claymont without incident. The lead plaintiff whose name was on the case Ethel Louise Belton decided to remain at Howard as her family had moved closer during the trial.

The two Delaware cases were appealed by the State to the United States Supreme Court and became part of the Brown v Board of Education case which was decided 9-0 in favor of integration in 1954. The Delaware cases were the only ones that had been affirmed by Brown as they were the only ones to admit African American students to previously all white schools.

Today far too many people right here in Delaware have no idea the role our little state played in this landmark Civil Rights Case.

We aim to change that. We plan to bring to light the history of the case and the students who had a role to play in it. We want to ensure that all the students in the Brandywine School District learn about the importance of this case to our district, our state, and our nation.

We hope to inspire a major celebration to take place in September 2022 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Claymont Twelve.

In addition we have launched the Claymont Twelve Fund at the Brandywine Education Foundation. When fully funded this fund will award a scholarship in the name of each of the Claymont Twelve every year to a graduate of one of the three Brandywine School District High Schools.

We will say their name each year to honor them and promote the study of this case and change it brought about in our community.

Now it is your time to step up and join the effort. Make a contribution to the Claymont Twelve Fund at the Brandywine Education Foundation to help endow these scholarships.

The goal is lofty, to fully endow these scholarships we need to raise $300,000, however, while we would gratefully accept a donation to cover the balance we know that is unlikely.

Today we are asking you to buy a share of this effort, for just $12.00 a share you can help build a broad foundation for this endowment. Make a donation of just $12.00 and join our effort. If you can buy two shares at $24.00, or maybe 10 shares at $120.00 that would be awesome. Perhaps you are in a position to buy 100 shares for $1,200.

Whatever you can contribute will move us toward our goal, all these shares at just $12.00 each, 25,000 in all will add up to our goal of $300,000.

Even better maybe you choose to join us and purchase one or more shares per month for a year.

You can visit our website at:

https://www.brandywineeducationfoundation.com/ go to the donate button and you can donate online through paypal or print out a form to send a check in made payable to the Brandywine Education Foundation. Be sure to note that your donation is for the Claymont Twelve Fund. You can mail your donation to P.O. Box 731 Claymont, DE 19703.

Thank you for your continued support. Help us "Say their names".

05/18/2021

On this day in 1954 the Supreme Court handed down their famous Brown v Board of Education decision.

This 9-0 decision outlawed segregation by race in America’s public schools.

Two Delaware cases were decided in favor of allowing African American students to attend all white schools in 1952.

These cases were included with the other cases that were combined to form Brown v Board of Education. They were the only cases in Brown that were decided in favor of desegregation.