History Book: In 1962, the Supreme Court issued a ruling regarding prayer in…

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, June 24. Good morning! This is The world and everything in it from listener-supported Radio WORLD. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Next up is the WORLD HISTORY BOOK. Today, NBC airs the series for the first time ever Western. Also the Supreme Court’s decision on the practice of prayer.

EICHER: But first, South Africa is doubling down on segregation efforts. Here’s WORLD Radio reporter Emma Perley:

EMMA PERLEY: On June 24, 1950, the South African government drew a line in the sand by introducing new legislation. Literally.

The Group Areas Act forces indigenous South Africans, Indians and other ethnic groups to move to poorer and smaller geographical regions. Audio from a 2021 SABC News interview with a woman who remembers how it uprooted her family.

AUDIO: I was probably about 7 or 8 years old when we were forced to move out of Simonstown. And for me it was very difficult because when we moved to Oceanview we had no freedom. You were forced to move into an apartment…

Decades earlier, the government had adopted policies targeting non-white South Africans. The Native Urban Areas Act of 1923 forced black South Africans to leave cities unless they worked for a white employer. And after the 1948 elections, apartheid – the Afrikaans word for “separateness” – became the official position of the white minority regime. Audio of a 1957 interview with South African Foreign Minister Eric Louw, courtesy of Getty Images:

INTERVIEWER: Will you intensify the current policy of racial segregation?

ERIC LOUW: We have implemented our policy, there are a number of measures in the statute… whether further steps will be taken, I cannot say at the moment.

The forcible displacement of millions of black South Africans is prompting armed resistance. The government suppressed multiple uprisings for over 40 years until apartheid finally ended in 1994 as the regime buckled under intense international pressure.

Then a group of parents sues school board president William Vitale in a lawsuit… against prayer.

SOUND: (CHILDREN RECITING the Pledge of Allegiance)

For decades, children often began the school day by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and praying for God’s blessings. In most cases, children could choose not to say prayers if they were not religious. But New York parent Steven Engel took issue with the practice itself. Here is an audio recording of the Supreme Court documentary For people in an interview with Daniel Roth, whose father Lawrence joined the lawsuit.

ROTH: I remember being terribly embarrassed that I didn’t say it. I felt terribly awkward.

A controversial lawsuit Engel v. Vitale, will ultimately go to the Supreme Court. On April 3, 1962, the Court heard the trial and announced a 6-1 decision on June 25. They rule that praying in public schools violates the First Amendment. Lawrence Roth remembers that day clearly.

ROTH: Well, that’s the end of it. But this was the beginning of, shall we say, widespread notoriety.

The ruling is sparking public outrage as many Americans see the decision as an attack on freedom to practice religion. Following this decision, several states continue to mandate prayer and Bible reading in public schools. And President John F. Kennedy is dealing with national frustration.

KENNEDY: If we are to maintain our constitutional principle, it is important for us to support the Supreme Court’s decisions, even if we disagree with them. Moreover, we have a very simple solution in this case, namely prayer.

The ruling becomes one of the most unpopular in Supreme Court history, but it highlights America’s shift toward secular values after World War II.

HOPALONG CASSIDY INTRODUCTION: “Here he comes, he comes, there are trumpets, there are drums, he comes. Hopalong Cassidy, here he comes! Ooh…

Finally, 75 years ago, on June 24, the film premiered on NBC Hopalong Cassidy TV series. Film actor William Boyd plays the suave Bill Cassidy, a cowboy gunslinger who rounds up troublemakers and rescues women in distress on his horse, Topper. Although Boyd shares a name with the literary, gritty hero written by Clarence E. Mulford, his on-screen portrayal is much more refined. Here’s the audio from PeacockTV.

MAN 1: So you’re Bill Cassidy.

CASSIDY: Yes.

MAN 1: You came just in time, didn’t you, Cassidy? Kasia, Kasia! That’s all I’ve heard since I joined Bar 20.

CASSIDY: It’s okay, son, you don’t have to thank me.

But Boyd had no plans to make a TV show. He first made 66 films as Bill Cassidy in the 1930s and early 1940s. He became so invested in the franchise that he sold many of his assets to acquire the film rights, even mortgaging his own house. And even though Hopalong Cassidy was ultimately canceled due to declining revenues, Boyd thought the cowboy hero still had a future. He approached NBC with the idea of broadcasting the films as a television series. So NBC edited them into hour-long episodes and re-released them in 1949.

CASSIDY: Oh, forget it, kid, forget it. I can jump with the best.

Hopalong Cassidy was a hit, stopping endorsement deals and trade deals. Together with NBC, Boyd produced new episodes prepared especially for television.

AUDIO PeacockTV: (Cowboys Singing)

The show ran from 1949 to 1952, and its success spurred the production of other Westerns such as Lone Ranger AND The Roy Rogers Show.

AUDIO PeacockTV: (Cassidy theme ending)

This is this week’s WORLD history book. I’m Emma Perley.

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