“We’re Going Too!” The Children of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Gisell Jeter-Bennett, M.A. Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2016 Dissertation Committee: Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Advisor Lilia Fernández Judy Wu Copyright by Gisell Jeter-Bennett 2016 Abstract In 1963, the Birmingham, Alabama civil rights movement brought both national and international attention to the plight of southern African Americans. The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), in partnership with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), utilized nonviolent direct action – marches, sit- ins, jail-ins, and boycotts- to challenge Birmingham’s discriminatory laws and practices. The success of the Birmingham campaign was due in large part to the participation and personal sacrifice of black schoolchildren. This dissertation examines the local Birmingham movement from the perspective of its most indispensible participants, black youth. It explores what it meant to be a black child coming of age under Jim Crow. It analyzes the recruitment, participation, and impact of Birmingham black youth in the Children’s March, a weeklong protest from May 2 to May 7, 1963, during which over 2,000 children between ages six and eighteen marched through Birmingham’s streets in nonviolent protest against racial inequality. It also looks anew at the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church on September 15, 1963, which led to the deaths of four black school-aged girls, and the subsequent killing of two black boys. Studying these events offers fresh insight into the lived experiences of black youth under Jim Crow, and the national and international media attention that these ii events garnered, which helped compel the federal government to support new civil rights legislation. Despite the children’s invaluable contributions to the Birmingham movement, their personal stories and contributions remain largely overlooked. The marginalization of black youth is attributable in part to the usual approach to studying the civil rights movement. Over the past four decades, the conventional narrative of the civil rights movement has expanded as it relates to gender, class, space, and time, but much less in terms of age. To more fully incorporate age as a prism through which to better understand the civil rights movement, this project draws on primary and secondary sources related to black children growing up in the era of Jim Crow, as well as oral histories chronicling the experiences of African Americans leading up to and during the height of the civil rights movement. “We’re Going Too!” The Children of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement” asks: what did it mean to come of age as an African American child in Birmingham, Alabama at the height of the civil rights movement? In order to answer this question effectively, this dissertation investigates the lived conditions, family dynamics, and the long lasting socio-economic impact of Jim Crow on black children in the American South. Set against a backdrop of Cold War domestic race politics, this dissertation examines the history of black childhood during the Jim Crow era as a way to better understand how black boys and girls came to be active participants in the most important social movement of the twentieth century. It draws heavily on oral histories of men and women who grew up in Birmingham in the civil rights era, which shines much needed light on how black people experienced racial discrimination, including racial violence, iii and social protest. The narratives of their experiences and observations provide a unique perspective on black childhood as it relates to the civil rights movement, both locally and nationally. This research will contribute significantly to an already rich collection of scholarship on the modern civil rights movement by creating a fuller, more complete picture of black life during the Jim Crow era and the struggle for freedom during the civil rights era. iv Dedication This work is dedicated to the African American children of Birmingham 1963. Thank you for your courage, sacrifice, and perseverance. To my son, Amari Lumumba Ade Bennett, who is the love and light of my life. For Susie Mae Daniels and Aurea Nieves this dissertation and my Ph.D. belongs just as much to the two of you as it does to me. I love you always. v Acknowledgments Since reading Anne Moody’s memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi, in college I have developed a strong interest in the history of black American childhood in the era of Jim Crow. Moody’s story chronicles her life as a black girl growing up in mid twentieth century rural Mississippi. In reading her narrative I learned that like black adults, black youths were also subjected to discriminatory Jim Crow laws and racial violence. Through her narrative I also became interested in learning more about black childhood during the era of Jim Crow particularly during the height of the modern civil rights movement. More than ten years have passed since my first introduction to Coming of Age in Mississippi, and in that time Moody’s childhood memories led me to write an undergraduate thesis on the presence of black youth in the national civil rights movement; to pursue a master’s degree in History, and now, a Ph.D. Reading Moody’s memoir has done more for me than I could have ever imagined while sitting in my introductory course to modern American history. Her narrative changed the trajectory of my life. For all what Moody’s story has done for me, a stranger who is a first generation college student and is soon to earn her Ph.D., I am indebted to her. While I thank Anne Moody for introducing me to the history of African American childhood, I must show my gratitude to those who helped me along my journey to becoming Mrs. Gisell Jeter- Bennett Ph.D. vi A very special thank you to my advisor, Hasan Kwame Jeffries. When I came to your office and told you all the reasons why I wanted to leave the program you listened, and then kindly told me quitting was not an option. You could have easily let me walk away, but you didn’t. Instead you encouraged me and for that I thank you. In the time we’ve known each other you taught me what it means to be a scholar, an activist, and a member of the community. I also want to thank you, Rashida, and “the girls” for treating Robert and me like family. These past few months have not been easy. You read draft after draft after draft, and with little down time in between. You have helped make what seemed impossible, possible. Thank you for your being my advisor. To my committee members, Judy Wu and Lilia Fernández, thank you for agreeing to take part in my academic journey. It’s been a long one, and proud I can finally say it is coming to an end! I admire both of you for your academic work, but more importantly, I appreciate the time you dedicate to students. Thank you for supporting me through my time at Ohio State. Your academic support and genuine care for students are not easy to come by in the academy. I’m glad I can say I had the pleasure of getting to know each of you. Gratitude must be given to the Student Life Multicultural Center staff. There are two people in particular I would like to thank: Terah James Stewart for both his support and friendship, and also, to Dr. Javaune Adams-Gaston, affectionately known as ‘Dr. J,’ for supporting my academic and professional endeavors. Without the two of you I may not have received the support and space I needed to finish writing the dissertation. vii There are numerous professors and scholars who have contributed to my growth in some fashion. They are: Steven Lawson, Donna Murch, Deborah Grey White, Kevin Boyle, Leslie Alexander, Stephanie Shaw, James L. Moore III, Samuel R. Hodge, and Valerie B. Lee, Horace Huntley, John W. McKerley, Stephen Berrey, Rebecca de Schweinitz, Wilma King, Glen T. Eskew, David Garrow, and Aldon Morris,. A special thank you to Ann Jimmerson, the creator of Kids In Birmingham 1963. How I came across this website is still a mystery to me. Your decision to create a webpage for the children of Birmingham 1963 to share personal stories and memories from their childhood made it possible for me to locate people for interviews. Thank you to Dale Long, Mary Bush, Deborah J. Walker, Diane Smith Grych, and Freeman Hrabowski for providing me insight into the lives of black youth in Jim Crow Birmingham. You all are the heart of my research and it is my hope that I’ve done justice in telling your stories. Much of the primary source material for this work was due to the contributions of several people. They include: Horace Huntley and John W. McKerley with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Oral History Project, Laura Anderson and the staff at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Birmingham Public Library and Barnett Wright with The Birmingham News. There have also been many others who have provided support throughout my academic career: the Department of History at OSU, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Frank W. Hale Jr., Black Cultural Center, Lawrence Williamson, Ronald Parker, Dan and Chila Thomas, Nancy Hill-McClary, Richard Selfe, and The Center for viii the Study and Teaching of Writing, Shantelle and Andre Hill, Kimberly and William Wolfe, Davida, KJ, and Kole, Rashida, Asha, Aliyana, and A’laila Jeffries, Mama Rachedi and the Barton family, Maurice, Ashley and Jayden Clarett.