Pages past — July 1

On this date …

1971: A lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in Portales public schools was filed in U.S. District Court by five students and the Chicano Youth Association.

The lawsuit claimed school officials tried to “instill a feeling of insecurity and worthlessness” by punishing Mexican-American students who spoke Spanish on school property.

In 1974, an appeals court found “undisputed evidence that Spanish surnamed students do not reach the achievement levels attained by their Anglo counterparts.”

“Portales, New Mexico: The First 100 Years” reported: The court ordered the Portales schools to design an educational plan that addressed the needs of minority students, to implement a bilingual and bicultural curriculum, review testing procedures to assess achievement in that curriculum and recruit and hire bilingual personnel.

1951: Farwell had recorded 2.13 inches of rain in a 24-hour period, while parts of Roosevelt County had seen 1.98 inches.

Heavy rain, lightning and water over highways was reported throughout the region.

The storms began on June 30 and continued through the morning of July 1.

1946: Clovis Army Air Field officials were planning for military personnel to be “greatly reduced” because of personnel shortages across the country.

Officials stressed the Clovis base was not closing, but that other bases had “higher training priority,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.

“Only enough men will be retained to maintain the (Clovis) base,” CN-J reported.

Pages Past is compiled by Editor David Stevens. For more regional history, check out his weblog at:

www.highplainsyesterdays.com