Cobb v. Montgomery Library Board, Civ. A. No. 1807-N.

• Decision Date: 07 August 1962
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 1807-N.
• Citation: 207 F. Supp. 880
• Parties: Robert L. COBB, a Minor, By and Through His Next Friend, George Cobb, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. MONTGOMERY LIBRARY BOARD, Hon. Earl D. James, Hon. L. B. Sullivan, Hon. Frank W. Parks, Individually and as Members Ex-Officio, Montgomery Library Board, and Montgomery Museum Board, W. E. Goodwin, Individually and as Chairman of the Montgomery Library Board, and Ferris J. Martin, Jr., Individually and as Library-Director of the Montgomery Public Library, Montgomery Museum Board, and Donald A. Winer, Individually and as Director of the Montgomery Museum Board, and the successors in each such office of the Montgomery Library Board and of the Montgomery Museum Board, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama

207 F. Supp. 880

Robert L. COBB, a Minor, By and Through His Next Friend, George Cobb, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. MONTGOMERY LIBRARY BOARD, Hon. Earl D. James, Hon. L. B. Sullivan, Hon. Frank W. Parks, Individually and as Members Ex-Officio, Montgomery Library Board, and Montgomery Museum Board, W. E. Goodwin, Individually and as Chairman of the Montgomery Library Board, and Ferris J. Martin, Jr., Individually and as Library-Director of the Montgomery Public Library, Montgomery Museum Board, and Donald A. Winer, Individually and as Director of the Montgomery Museum Board, and the successors in each such office of the Montgomery Library Board and of the Montgomery Museum Board, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 1807-N.

United States District Court M. D. Alabama, N. D.

August 7, 1962.

Charles S. Conley, Montgomery, Ala., for plaintiff.

Whitesell & DeMent, Montgomery, Ala., for defendants.

JOHNSON, District Judge.

The plaintiff, as authorized by Rule 23(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A., brings this action for the benefit of himself and other members of his class that are similarly situated. The plaintiff seeks to have this Court declare that any statute, ordinance, custom or usage which provides for or enforces segregation of members of the Negro race in the public library system and the public museum of the City of Montgomery, Alabama, is null, void and violative of the Constitution of the United States. The plaintiff further seeks a preliminary order restraining and enjoining the defendants, their agents, or those acting in concert with them, from making and/or enforcing any distinction based upon race or color in regard to the use of services and facilities of any branch of the Montgomery Public Library and the Montgomery Museum.

The defendants are the Montgomery city commissioners, as the three members of the governing body for the City of Montgomery, the chairman and the director of the Library Board, the Montgomery Museum Board, and the director of the Montgomery Museum.

The case is now submitted upon the pleadings, stipulations of the parties, depositions, oral testimony of witnesses taken before the Court, the exhibits to said testimony, and the briefs of the several parties filed at the conclusion of the hearing. Upon this submission this Court now in this memorandum opinion, as authorized by Rule 52, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, makes and enters the appropriate findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Jurisdiction of this case is conferred by §§ 1331(a), 1343(3) and (4) of Title 28, United States Code Annotated; §§ 1983, 1985 and 1988 of Title 42, United States Code Annotated. The questions involved arise under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The defendants do not seriously question the jurisdiction of the Court in this case. It has been stipulated and agreed that the building which houses the main library and museum in Montgomery, Alabama, was constructed with public funds and is presently being operated as a public institution. This case rests solely upon its facts. The complaint alleges discrimination; the defendants deny it. All parties recognize the law is well settled that if the public authorities discriminate, or attempt to discriminate, in the operation of either the Montgomery Library or Museum so as to exclude any race or members thereof, while admitting another, or members thereof, then such action is in violation of the Constitution of the United States. Browder v. Gayle, D.C., 142 F.Supp. 707; 352 U.S. 903, 77 S.Ct. 145, 1 L.Ed.2d 114; Holmes v. City of Atlanta, D.C., 124 F.Supp. 290; 5 Cir., 223 F.2d 93; 350 U.S. 879, 76 S.Ct. 141, 100 L.Ed. 776; Moorhead v. City of Ft. Lauderdale, D.C., 152 F.Supp. 131; 5 Cir., 248 F.2d 544; Ward v. City of Miami, D.C., 151 F.Supp. 593; City of St. Petersburg v. Alsup, 5 Cir., 238 F.2d 830; and Tate v. Department of Conservation and Development, etc., D.C., 133 F.Supp. 53; 4 Cir., 231 F.2d 615, 352 U.S. 838, 77 S.Ct. 58, 1 L.Ed.2d 56. See also the Southern District of Alabama case of Sawyer v. City of Mobile, S.D.Ala., 1961; 208 F.Supp. 548; the Northern District of Alabama case of Shuttlesworth v. Gaylord (November 1961), D.C., 202 F.Supp. 59; the Middle District of Alabama case of Gilmore v. City of Montgomery, D.C., 176 F.Supp. 776; 5 Cir., 277 F.2d 364; and for a case almost exactly like the case now before this Court, see Giles v. The Library Advisory Committee of the City of Danville, Civil Action No. 452, W.D.Va., September 1960.

On March 15, 1962, the plaintiff, a Negro citizen of Montgomery, Alabama, along with several other members of his race, sought to use the library facilities of the main Montgomery Library located at 445 South Lawrence Street, Montgomery, Alabama. The library had been established and was being operated with public funds as a public institution. The actual day-by-day supervision of the library was vested in the Library Board, as authorized by Title 55, §§ 285-287, 1940 Code of Alabama. The direct supervision of the operation of the library was vested through the Board in a library director. On April 5, 1949, the Library Board was created by an ordinance of the City of Montgomery by the authority of State law. This law confers "the government and supervision of such libraries" in the Board. The Board is granted "full power and authority" to operate, manage and control the library. The Montgomery City Commission exercises control and supervision over the operation of the Board in that the Commission has the power to appoint the Board, power to abolish the Board or the library, power to fill vacancies, and the general supervisory and police power exercised by the municipal governing authorities in the State of Alabama.

Housed in the same building with the library, but separated for convenience and practical reasons, is the Montgomery Museum. On the same date, March 15, 1962, the plaintiff, along with several other members of his race, sought to use the museum and museum facilities. The authority that actually operates the museum is the Montgomery Museum Board. The creation of this Museum Board was under the authority of Alabama Act 467, 1959. The actual day-to-day operation of the museum is vested by the Board, with the approval of the Montgomery city commissioners, in a "director of museums." The city commissioners for the City of Montgomery exercise, generally, the same control and supervision over the museum that is exercised over the library.

Upon seeking to use the library facilities on said date, the plaintiff was told that he was not free to do so, the attendant stating, "We do not serve Negroes in this library." After browsing around the library for awhile, the plaintiff then went to the museum to view some of its relics. He was informed by the attendant that he would have to be a "member of the association" to get admitted except on Wednesdays when the museum was open to visitors. The plaintiff was refused advice on how to become a "member of the association." The other Negroes who accompanied the plaintiff on this occasion were accorded essentially the same treatment in both the library and museum. Subsequently, but on the same occasion, the plaintiff and several of those accompanying him, were summoned to the office of the library director. The director informed them, among other things, that if they did not leave, he would call the city police.

The City of Montgomery at that time, and, insofar as this Court knows, at the present time operates a branch library at Cleveland Avenue. This branch library is, for all practical purposes, used exclusively by members of the Negro race. This plaintiff and several of those accompanying him were members of the branch library and held library cards at the time they sought to use the main library facilities on the occasion in question. The significance of this particular point to this case is that the defendants claim the main Montgomery Library is not operated on a segregated basis, that the only reason the plaintiff and those accompanying him were not given free access to the library and library facilities is that they did not have library cards.

The Montgomery Museum, operated...