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Jo Zanice Bond Race, Place, and Family: Narratives of the Civil Rights Movement in Brownsville, Tennessee, and the Nation By Copyright 2011 Jo Zanice Bond Submitted to the graduate degree program in American Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Chairperson, William M. Tuttle, Jr., Ph.D. ________________________________ Co-Chair, Sherrie J. Tucker, Ph.D. ________________________________ Randal M. Jelks, Ph.D. ________________________________ Kim Warren, Ph.D. ________________________________ Sharon O’Brien, Ph.D. Date Defended: December 5, 2011 The Dissertation Committee for Jo Zanice Bond certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Race, Place, and Family: Narratives of the Civil Rights Movement in Brownsville, Tennessee, and the Nation ________________________________ Chairperson, William M. Tuttle, Jr, Ph.D. ________________________________ Co-Chair, Sherrie J. Tucker, Ph.D. Date approved: December 5, 2011 ii Abstract This dissertation examines the Civil Rights Movement through the experiences of primarily two African American families with roots in Brownsville, Tennessee. This study, based on archival research and oral histories, chronicles three generations of citizens affiliated with the NAACP whose translocal civil rights struggles include both the South and urban North. It highlights various tactics individuals used to secure their rights and identifies African American entrepreneurship as a form of non-violent protest, focusing on the African American funeral home as a gateway enterprise which contributed to the establishment of other businesses or “staple institutions” that helped to sustain the Black community during segregation. Keywords: African American history, Civil Rights Movement, American studies, southern history, Black entrepreneurship, women’s studies, community studies iii Acknowledgments I feel privileged to live in a universe spoken into existence where daily reminders of creativity and imagination abound. Like sunflowers, prairie grass, and butterflies, the intellectual community at the University of Kansas (KU) is an extension of that creativity and imagination, and I am grateful for the words, ideas, and inquiry that have emerged along the way. The support of many generous people has made this academic journey possible. I offer thanks to my dissertation chair Professor William M. Tuttle, Jr., who, together with his wife Dr. Kathryn Nemeth Tuttle, opened their home to me during my first visit to Lawrence, setting the foundation for our friendship. He is the quintessential gentleman and scholar and has been an ideal mentor. He has been supportive, compassionate, patient, and kind. The depth of his knowledge as a historian and American Studies scholar is as impressive as his passion for new scholarship. This semester, in true public historian form, he traveled to Brownsville, Tennessee, to see firsthand the people and historic sites about which I write. He became a part of the local NAACP branch’s history which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Professor Tuttle has tempered this stressful time with calm aplomb. His keen insights, incredible memory, and meticulous attention to details have enriched both my research and my writing. I am indeed fortunate to have had such an exceptional scholar guide me through this process. I offer thanks to my co-chair Professor Sherrie J. Tucker whom I also met during my first visit to campus. She has brought her unassuming brilliance to this educational experience, reflected not only in her theoretical analysis but in the gentle way she encourages her students. She listens with enthusiasm, questions without intimidation, and inspires through her example. Professor Tucker’s work as an oral historian piqued my interest in oral history and helped me to transform family stories into interviews included in this dissertation. Her research interests are iv diverse and interdisciplinary, making her a well-rounded and fascinating academic. She is the kind of teacher and scholar I aspire to be. I thank Professor Randal M. Jelks who agreed to work with me soon after he arrived at KU a few years ago. He has introduced me to important academic works in the field of Black entrepreneurship which have complemented my life experiences in business. He has also brought his expertise in Urban history, Civil Rights history, and the African Diaspora to this committee as well, offering meaningful contributions to the analysis of my research. I thank committee member Professor Kim Warren whom I first met through the Shifting Borders of Race and Identity Project. Our association later grew through my work with her students at the KU Writing Center. She has assisted me with the details of dissertation writing. She patiently helped me map out writing and research schedules, then arranged meetings and follow-up calls that helped me accomplish weekly goals. Together with her knowledge of women’s history and American history, she has brought a practical approach to organizing, writing, and ultimately completing the dissertation. She is an excellent example of a scholar and mentor, and her support has been invaluable. And lastly, I thank Professor Sharon O’Brien, who kindly agreed to serve as my outside reader and committee member. I had the pleasure of meeting her while I worked at the KU Writing Center. While assisting her students, I witnessed the deep concern she has for her students and the extra mile she is willing to go to help them. She is truly a committed professor. Her observations as a political scientist and the unique insights from her life experiences in the American South add important layers to the examination of my work. v Leaving my job in Tennessee and moving to Kansas was a big decision, but it was a first step toward my doctoral studies at the University of Kansas. Thanks to Dr. Rhonda Collier whom I met while she was a Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt University. Rhonda’s exhilaration for her academic program was contagious. Her dissertation defense was the first I had attended. Rhonda was poised throughout, even when a committee member asked his question in Portuguese. Thanks to Anessa Magras, also a friend in Nashville, who supported me in both word and deed. She helped me tremendously by going through stacks of master’s theses at Tennessee State University to locate mine so that I could submit it as a writing sample for my graduate school admission package. Thanks to my cousin Dr. Patricia Bond Hutto who brainstormed with me, listened to my ideas, and in a shared “ah-ha moment” led me to American Studies. I am indebted to my parents Maltimore and Cynthia Rawls Bond who have always provided emotional, spiritual, psychological, and financial support. They have listened, encouraged, indulged, and prayed for me in my every endeavor, and they have been indispensable as I worked to complete this project. They have shared their memories and life experiences, not all of which were pleasant to remember or discuss. My mother became more than my “research assistant,” but a “walking archive” complete with decades of newspaper clippings, photographs, books, ledgers, personal contacts, and memoirs. I share this accomplishment with my mother and my father as I could not have completed this dissertation without them. I am grateful for my brother Alan Rawls Bond and my sisters Andrea Bond Johnson and Maude Y. Bond. I am privileged to have them as both blood relatives and best friends. They have grounded me, accepted me, and provided me with safe retreats throughout my life. I am thankful for Raleigh W. Robinson, Jr. whom I first met as he sat on an airplane reading vi a biography of W.E.B. Du Bois. I knew by the way he clutched the colossal book and the inexplicable sense of familiarity I felt when we met that I had found a kindred spirit. A gifted writer and thinker, Raleigh has always challenged, encouraged, and inspired me. He urged me to begin my doctoral studies then insisted, “Enjoy the fate your talent invites.” Thanks to my uncle Dr. Andrew B. Bond, the first Ph.D. I knew, who despite the “split” school system in rural west Tennessee and the limited resources of the segregated schools he attended, earned his doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Minnesota in 1965. I thank him for planting doctoral seeds in the Garnett and Jo Bond family and for the contributions he has made not only to our family but to his former students as well. I offer thanks to the memory of my cousin (Dr.) Betty Rawls, who, at age twenty-seven, was completing her doctorate in clinical psychology at City College New York (CCNY) before being killed in a plane crash in August 1970, weeks before graduation. Betty had participated in CCNY student protests during the 1960s and had already established herself as an outspoken advocate for poor and oppressed people. To all of my aunts and uncles, who have been my friends and confidantes, throughout my life, I thank them for their prayers and encouragement. I extend a special thank you to my aunt Garnetta Bond Lovett who transitioned before I completed this degree. During my childhood, she sent my siblings and me books and gift subscriptions to National Geographic, and during my graduate studies, she knew when important tests and papers were due. She never failed to send notes of encouragement or make calls inquiring about my progress. I also thank my uncle W.D. Rawls, Sr., whose favorite passages from the Bible “This too shall pass” and “Joy cometh in the morning” have comforted me during the difficult times of this journey. I know they, together with other relatives no longer on “the time side of life,” are celebrating with me “in spirit.” vii Thanks to my cousin Dr. Michael E. Fant, who while a busy Ph.D./ M.D.
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