Cecil A. Partee Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

Q: Be must have . . .
A: There was a lot: of resistance to it to begin with.
Q: What kind of resistance was given to it?
A: Well, people just refused to vote fortit or voted against it.
Q: Do you recall any of the reasons that . . -
A: Well, you know, there are always two kinds of reasons. Announced reasons
and real reasons. I don't remember specifically the reasons. Thexe would
be some who would say, "Well, there is not discrimination. That just
doesn't exist," simply, you know. And there were others who might favor
discrimination but they wouldn't say they favored discrimination, they
would have some other technical kinds of reasons that they might proffer
to avoid the effect of the bill. But it did take several years to get it
passed I remember.
Q: Do you remember any individuals who were most opposed to the Armstrong
Law?
A:) No, I really don't, I really don't. I suspect that Representative
Clabaugh probably was in the vanguard of the opposition at that time.
later years he came around a little bit.
In
Q: Where was he from, sir?
A: Champaign.
Q: Prom Champaign, yes.
A: He was the chairman of the Education Committee in the House den the
Republicans had the House.
Q: I see, yes. Another bill that was introduced by Representative Marks
in 1961 gave superintendents means to investigate discrimination in the
schools. Do you recall . . .
A: I don't recall the specific bill but it would be, certainly a very
necessary bill because one of the questfons that was always raised about the
legislature giving an additional duty to a school or to a school board without
giving them the money to do it with--that was, of course, an objection
that might be proffered by someone who would be opposed to the concept. But
they would say, "Well, you can't get this to our school board because they
don't have the money to do it .I' So his passing a bill which gave them the
money to make the investigations would answer those kinds of complaints
about it.
Q: And in that case, of course, it was approved. They were both approved