Fifty-Eight Lonely Men: Southern Federal Judges and School Desegregation

By J.W. Peltason

Book Overview

Originally published in 1961, this
still timely book illustrates the role of the judiciary in the solution of a
social and political problem. It is unequaled in its description of the plight
of federal judges who are charged with carrying out the decisions of the Supreme
Court against segregation but who are under constant pressure--social,
political, and personal -- to speak for the white South. Some have been
ostracized by their communities as traitors; others have joined their state
legislatures and local school boards in developing elaborate delay strategy
to circumvent the Supreme Court's decisions.
In his introduction to the first
edition former Senator Paul H. Douglas wrote: ". . . a clear and comprehensive
account of the legal struggles in the federal courts over segregation and desegregation
in the public schools of the nation. It gets behind the newspaper headlines
and gives a play-by-play account. . . . This book is indeed full proof of the
delays and difficulties of the law and the pressures of local public opinion."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0252001753
• ISBN13: 9780252001758
• Release Date: April 1971
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Courageous and Craven--the Men Who Had to Enforce Desegregat

The 58 men who sat as judges in the South when Brown v. Board of Education was decided in 1954 had the least enviable job in America. Almost without exception, they had been raised in a climate of racism, and were respected members of their communities. Once the strategy of massive resistance took hold in the South, they were caught between having to follow the Supreme Court's directive in Brown, or continuing to be respected leaders of their own communities.How they resolved this dichotomy makes for great reading, and is one of the most intense tests of character imaginable.