Well, first of all, I think it's important to understand that the Supreme
Court decision came as a great shock, not only in North Carolina, but
throughout the South. The different governers in different states
reacted in different ways. Mr. Umstead was shocked by the first
bulletin, and the first information I gave him. Of course, we were
overwhelmed with calls from the media for comment from the governor. His
first reaction, and just within minutes, he said, "I will not have any
immediate comment until I see the opinion and have a chance to read it
and understand the ramifications." This in itself was rather unusual
because other governors were expressing outrage
and, you know, all kinds of color statement. Anyway, he did just that.
He immediately began work. He called up the chief justice. He began to
call lawyers around the state whose judgment he trusted. Of course, he
talked with the attorney general. He got copies of the opinion. I mean
in a matter of hours or soon as possible. I've forgotten when his
statement was released, but it's in his letter book. It's, of course,
mentioned in this Pearsall document. He set down with a pencil and wrote
out that statement himself. It was not drafted by anybody else.
In effect, he said that he thought that the Supreme Court had made a
mistake. The Court did not realize the serious complications they were
causing the South and its states but that after all was said and done,
North Carolina will abide by the law of the land. It would work toward
that end. Unlike some other governors, he did not make all kinds of wild
allegations or promises or threats. He expressed his dismay at the
problems raised by the decision but said North Carolina would do the
best it could to deal with the problems. Again, he had resorted to the
same procedure of talking to his many close friends and to those he
thought had expertise in these areas. He was good at this. He'd get on
the phone at the mansion, and he'd have them come in one by one.
I won't ever forget, Donnie Sorrell, who was an old buddy of his… This
was back when the Governor was confined to the mansion. He told me to
call Donnie. Said, "I want to talk to Donnie. Tell him to come over to
the mansion at eight o'clock." He said, "Tell him to come directly to
the mansion. Don't go to the S&W for
supper. I don't want him to see or talk to anyone. Come directly to the
mansion." I called Donnie and he said, "I'll do it." So I was at the
mansion when he came in at 8 P.M. He walked in and said, "William, I did
exactly what you said. I drove from my home in Durham directly here to
the mansion. So nobody would know who I was or where I was going. I
didn't even turn on my headlights." [laughter]
"I hope this was okay." Mr. Umstead did a lot of his conferences
one on one. Instead of getting a group together, he did a great deal of
this kind of intensive, personal talking. What do you think and what
about so and so?
He did a great deal of hard work before he came up with the idea that
there had to be some sort of citizens' group. Of course, the legislature
was not in session, and this was something the governor could do. I
can't tell you why he selected Thomas J. Pearsall. It was an act of
great fortune for North Carolina. I do think that Mr. Umstead realized
that it had to be someone who understood the significance of this great,
far reaching opinion. Such a person had to be able to look down the road
and see where North Carolina eventually had to end. At the same time he
or she had to fully understand the implications, political, emotional,
everything else, impact that it was going to have on the people of North
Carolina, especially from eastern North Carolina. I think Tom was an
ideal choice because he was a former Speaker of the House, a respected
person, lawyer, businessman, well known and well liked throughout the
state. He was a sensitive person, a person who knew how to work with
people in all walks of life. But why Umstead
selected Tom Pearsall, I'll never know. In any event, Governor Umstead
did name that first committee, and they went to work.
Meanwhile, of course, this was all happening during that same period in
1954, when the governor was trying to follow the work of the Advisory
Budget Commission. You know, Mr. Umstead was really up to his eyeballs.
So this was all going on at the same time. Tom's account in the
manuscript tells about this early period. The truth of the matter, as
far as I could tell, Jay, no one knew what the answer was. I mean, above
all, there was no crystal ball you could look into. But the one thing
that North Carolina did, and I think Tom Pearsall and his initial group
and William Umstead understood, was, we've got to have time. We don't
know how fast the court will move, or the federal court system will move
on this thing, but we've got to have time. People have to adjust to
this, and, above all, we've got to save our public schools. That was
foremost in William Umstead's mind from the very beginning. How they
were going to do it, he and the Pearsall Committee didn't know. But
we're going to save our public school system, and we're going to get
through this some way. So in that period from May until his death in
November, he was involved in these early deliberations. Perhaps it was
more the assurance that he understood what they were strugging with. It
was a very difficult time.