An original petition was filed in this court by the people, on the relation of Scott Bibb, for a writ of mandamus against the mayor and members of the common council (naming them) of the city of Alton, to compel them to admit the children of the relator, viz. Minnie Bibb and Ambross Bibb, to the Washington school, or the most convenient of the public schools of said city to which they have the right to be admitted, without excluding them, or either of them, on account of their color or descent. The petition is substantially as follows: ‘Your petitioner, the people of the state of Illinois, on the relation of Scott Bibb, who is a citizen of the United States and of the state of Illinois, and a resident and taxpayer of the city and school district of the city of Alton, would respectfully represent and show to your honors that by virtue of the provisions of an act entitled ‘An act of the general assembly of the state of Illinois entitled ‘An act to amend the twelfth section of the charter of the city of Alton, establishing and regulating the public schools in said city,’ approved February 13, 1865,' it was, among other things, provided: ‘The city of Alton is hereby enacted into a school disctrict. * * * The common council shall have and possess all the rights, power and authority necessary for the proper management of the school lands and funds belonging to said school district, and shall have power to prescribe the branches to be taught in the different schools; to grade and regulate the same; to erect, hire or purchase buildings suitable for school houses, and to keep the same in repair; to buy or lease sites for school houses, with the necessary grounds; to furnish schools with the necessary fixtures, furniture and apparatus, and to fix the amount of compensation to be allowed to teachers and for all these purposes, and to support and maintain schools and supply the inadequacy of the school funds, and to enact such ordinances as may be necessary to carry these powers and duties into effect,’-which said act still remains in full force, and under and by virtue of its provisions the said common council of the city of Alton have heretofore and do now, by means of a board of education and other agencies created by ordinances of said city, prescribe the branches to be taught in said different public schools, and grade and regulate the same, and do erect school houses, and keep the same in repair, and by the agencies aforesaid govern, manage, and control the public schools of said city and district in all respects whatever. And your petitioner would further represent to your honors: That soon after the passage of the act before mentioned the said city council of the city of Alton in due form adopted certain ordinances by which the said common council divided the city into five school districts, suited to the wishes and conveniences of the majority of the people of the said city and school district, and to the children who have a right of admission and in struction in the said schools, without the exclusion of any child on account of his or her color, one of which was called the ‘Irving School District,’ another the ‘Lincoln School District,’ a third the ‘Garfield School District,’ a fourth the ‘Washington School District,’ and the fifth the ‘Humboldt School District,’ and in all these school districts there had been before that time, or there were afterwards, erected or secured by said common council school houses that were convenient to the children and to the inhabitants of said district, into which schools all children of suitable age and advancement were admitted for instruction, without regard to color. That afterwards, to wit, on the 20th day of September, 1897, and before that time, the said common council of the city of Alton had erected, or caused to be erected, at the points hereinafter named, two additional school houses, one called the ‘Douglas School’ and the other called the ‘Lovejoy School,’ which houses were erected at the following points in said city: One on the corner of Market and East Tenth streets, and the other on the corner of Union and Silver streets; and are remote from, and inconvenient to, many of the colored children of the city of Alton. That there are in the city of Alton, and in the school district before mentioned, at least one thousand persons commonly called ‘colored persons.’ That they reside in all parts of said city, and at least two hundred of such persons are between the ages of six and twenty-one years, and are entitled to admission to the most convenient of the common public schools of the said city and school district, without exclusion, directly or indirectly, on account of the color of such child or children, on any pretense whatever. And your petitioner would further represent to your honors: That on the 8th day of September, 1896, the said city council passed an ordinance, which was approved by the mayor on the 9th day of September, 1896, entitled ‘An ordinance repealing section 8 of an ordinance entitled an ordinance for the reorganization and continuance of the public schools of the city of Alton,’ and in order to discriminate against all the children of color within the said city and school district, and to exclude such children, on account of their color alone, from the most convenient common public schools established in said city, it was ordained by the city council of the city of Alton that ‘section 8 of an ordinance for the reorganization and continuance of the public schools of the city of Alton,’ said last-mentioned ordinance being a part of the Revised Ordinances of 1875, and heing found on page 171 of the Revised Ordinances of the year, ‘be, and the same is hereby, repealed, and the city of Alton, as a school district, from the passage and approval of this ordinance, be considered, and is hereby declared to be, one entire and complete school disctrict, and that all school districts be, and the same are hereby, abrogated and abolished: provided, however, that the repeal of this section (eight) shall in no wise affect or in any wise impair the legality and validity of the present board of education, or any of its members: and provided, further, that hereafter the members of the school board shall and may be selected without any reference to their residence in former school districts: and provided, also, that hereafter the board of education, or the superintendent of schools, if the said board shall see fit to delegate to said superintendent the right and authority of so doing, shall have the power to indicate and determine what school or schools the pupils of the public schools shall attend, without reference to the residence of such pupils: provided, further, that such rules and regulations regarding the place of attendance shall be as near as possible uniform and general in their application.’ And your petitioner would further represent to your honors: that the purpose for which such ordinance was passed by the common council of the city of Alton was to give to the board of education of said city and district the right, power, and authority to discriminate against the colored children in said city between the ages of six and twenty-one years who were qualified and had the right to enter the public schools of said city, and exclude said children from the most convenient of such schools. That on, to wit, the 14th day of September, 1897, in order to carry into enect the purpose of the common council of said city, and to discriminate against the colored children aforesaid on account of their color, and exclude them from the most convenient public schools, the said board of education of the city of Alton and the aforesaid school district passed and adopted the following preamble and resolutions: ‘Whereas, the crowded condition of our schools renders it necessary to transfer pupils from the different school houses to other places or school houses: be it resolved, that the superintendent of our schools be, and is hereby, instructed to send school children to such school houses as the committee on teachers may direct him,’-which said resolution was, under the authority of the common council of the city of Alton, adopted by the board of education of said city as a mere deceitful, fraudulent evasion of the duty of the said common council not be exclude any child in said city or district from the public schools between the ages of six and twenty-one years, on account of his or her color. That there are now, and were, seven public school houses in the said city and district owned by, and under the control of, the common council. That said public school houses are ample for the admission, instruction, grading, and classification of all the children in said city and district, and that all of the said children in said city and district between the ages of six and twenty-one years are entitled and of right ought to be admitted into and instructed in such of said public school houses as is reasonably most convenient to them, without any discrimination, or the exclusion of any such child or children between the ages of six and twenty-one years, directly or indirectly, on account of the color of such child. That the said board of education of the said city and school district of the said city of...
