f"**0**
ICE OF THE OVEMENT
Volo I July 16, 1961 ^ No, 11 THE VOICE OF THE MOVEMENT is an official exoression of the Student Central Committee and of the Nashville Christian Leadership Council which together make up the Nashville Nonviolent Movement. "The Movement"- is composed of inter-racial,, inter-religious people striving to live democracy and to cooperatively improve the Nashville community. This letter is published to inform the entire community of the purpose and activities of "The Movement". James V. Bevel., Chairman, Central Committee^ Kellv Miller Smith, President, N.C.L.C,
?? WHAT WILL YOU DO ??
America has been a child much too long. II LET'S MAKE AMERICA AMERICA II A child that-dreams and brags of what it is going to be someday, but continues to As we all know America is known all crawl and nurse its immature and stubborn over the world as the bastion of democracy. fixations. I have heard it said that It is true that this democracy doesn't China thinks of the United States as a exist for all Americans, Other countries baby chick trying to show a mother hen throughout the world have become more and what to do. Though the vision of a frol more aware of this fact. An American icsome and daring child is "cute," the citizen who realized his moral obligation child in reality, must grow up. There to make America better by participating in is no guarantee that this growth process the Freedom Ride has been unduly punished will be easy or without very upsetting for it. His name is Allen Cason, a student moments. But, the growth process is in at A & I State University. Cason was re evitable. The sooner America (YOU and I) leased from Hinds County Jail in Jackson, wakes up to the fact that our fixations Mississippi and en route to his home in are sure to be our destruction, the Georgia he was arrested on the train for quicker we are on the way to maturity as being intoxicated. Whether or not Cason individuals, as a nation, and as a United was intoxicated we have no way of knowing, World. The time to act is now, and it is we the students in the movement who know our responsibility to be the "action him well, don't believe he was. He was makers". We must advance from the crawl convicted in tho land of "democracy" and ing sta'e and take direct steps to a^h- "justice for all" and given a sentence of eive what we brag aboutj what we profess, one year of manual labor. Had Cason been but fail to practice. Progress will not intoxicated on the train, let's extend it wait for us—we must adjust to it. The and say he was under the influence of ever advancing minds will pull us alongj alcohol and was acting in a disorderly whether or not we are ready. We must be manner, would a sentence of one year of willing to be ready. We must realize manual labor be a just one? This is that we have in our power the ability to Am rica, are we as American citizens, as make this world, for succeeding genera truth seeking human beings, as people who tions, an easier world or a further ex- want America to be America, going to sit tention of frustration and prejudice. We idly by and let this flagrant miscarriage must out-grow our hates and prejudices of justice go unprotested? As each day before we are brutally forced to do so, goes by Allen Cason, ulcerated stomach or worse, before wc destroy ourselves with and all, is probably subjected to insult, our daring foolishness. The world we brutality and back breaking work. Now live in is physically small, but it is you've read this article, you say it's our duty to allow the peonies of the too bad, you call the Geor-ia officials a earth to walk with pride in a beautifully few uncomplimentary names, you say some big world. And the beautiful, big world day it won't be like this. That DAY can is in the hearts and minds of human be be TODAY if YOU write to the President, ings. I want your children and mine to the Governor of Georgia, and the local prow up loving one another, never knowing officials in Donaldsonville, Georgia, and the ugly side—only the beautiful. It is let them know that America must become uo to you and me to realise this dream. America. Will YOU help me? ?? THE PROFIT AND LOSS OF DESEGREGATION ?? BATES TO REMEMBER by V.W. Henderson
The weekly Mass Meeting on July 17, -It-is at best •difficult to develop 1961, will be a tribute to Rev. C.T. reliable data on the operation of indi Vivian, It will be held at trie First vidual* eating and drinking places without Baptist Church on 8th Avenue at 7s30 pm. examining the books of the firm and the Sneakers are Dr. Matthew Walker and tax and revenue reports of the firm. I Rev. James Lawson. PLEASE ATTEND I Hi have not engaged in such examination rel ative to the firm in quest* on. With the above in context, the follow ing observations are submitted relative to the economic consequences of restau rant desegregation. 1„ The experience of local places during the past year with non-discriminatory policies indicates that ing. It will now reach down into its bis- no loss of oatrona££ resulted from oper bag of tricks for a new skinning km<'e. ating on a non-discriminatory basis.'There The so-called hunger strike, which appar are approximately 25 non-discT^rottvvfc'ory ently doesn't include soda-pop and crack eating places in Nashville today that " ers, is the latest maneuver"'to regain formerly did not accent Nero patronage ground lost by the half-hundred self- a few months ago. 2, Based upon reports labelled "F.R.'s" who apparently think coming from the desegregated eating places they are just as privileged in jail as it appears that an increase in sales they were in plotting to break the law. volume would be expected with the accep Second, Bob Kennedy, U.S. Atty. General, tance of Negro patronage. This would who has designated himself as the black approximated 6.5 percent. 3« Five years man's "Moses" can't abandon his charges no ago 1|^2 eating and drinking places in matter how many "golder calves" he casts Nashville had an average sales volume of along the march against Mississippi. The $37,188*00. It is estimated that today minute a rider squeals, "Mr. Kenned}'", I've the average volume would have increased been slugged," here comes the F.B.I. to approximately $51,250.00 anually. Ii. A May Cotton An example of untruths foist major factor in desegregating eating ed by the "riders" was one of their number facilities in the Vanderbilt-Peabody- reporting that he had been forced to pick Scarrett area is that substantial income cotton in 95 degree weather, during the in sales would result from the conveni short stay at the county farm. If this be ence of accessibility of non-segregated true, then the farm official who managed to eating facilities for the large number of get cotton ready for picking in flay should Interracial grouos that convene and util be, in my opinion, secretary of Agricult ize the facilities of the academic com ure. Perhaps then, with sufficient gov munity in that area. At present the ernment grantsj he could figure out a way Methodist Board of Education (19th.and to air-condition cotton fields so prison Grand Avenue) and the facilities at pickers could pick in comfort comparable Vanderbilt absorb such groups.: Without to Kennedy's office. But despite his lies question, substantial increase in sales like this, the only people I've heard to volume and patronage would flow to a be given the slightest hard time were our restaurant operating on,a non-discrim own, who were doing the best job they knew inatory basis in that area, Ti us I would how. Our top officers should know that estimate at lea st a 10 percent increase Mlssissippians are backing them to the in the patronage to non-discriminatory hilt, believe and trust them. There is no eating places in the Vandcrbilt-Pea- reason to hit the panic button when feder bodv-Scarrett area. al officers come into our local jails and penal farms for "-Investigations."' Tu. TENNESSEE COUNCIL ON HUMAN RELATIONS 2011 Grand Avenue Nashville 12, Tennessee KNOXVILLE (Here is the follow-up on Board Meeting reports, omitted from last Newsletter because of limited space) A workshop on "New Economic Opportunities: Role of Minority Leadership" was opened on Friday evening, March 9, 1962. Dr. Vivian Henderson spoke on, "Employ ment Opportunities" to an enthusiastic, crowd of 75 people. He stressed the im portance of systematized action, specifically on employment opportunities. There should be an individual or group of individuals appointed to be responsible for fact-finding, compiling and interpreting the data on job opportunities. The workshop continued Saturday morning, March 10, with a panel discussion. The participants included: Mr. Arthur A. Chapin, Department of Labor; Dr. Ralph Martin, Director of Vocational Guidance, Knoxville College; Dr. J. Herman Daves, Tennessee Valley Authority Employment Policy Officer and Dr. Vivian Henderson. Some of the major points brought out.by the discussions were: 1. Complaints of discrimination on hiring and upgrading Negroes on jobs should be filed immediately With both local and national committees. 2. Negroes with qualifications should apply for jobs of higher caliber. 3. Educators should alert students to the great future possibilities in the field of technical skills. k. Follow-up committee should be formed in the community to systematize action in the areas of employment. Sub-committees should be formed within the overall committee to work in specific areas. A City-Wide Committee for Equal Services was formed to open church-related hospitals to Negroes. To perpetuate this effort, an open meeting was held to which board members of all hospitals were invited. Hospitals operated by the Bap tists, Catholics and Presbyterians did not send representatives, but more than ^00 persons attended. To date, Negroes are not admitted as patients and Negro physi cians are not allowed to practice in the church-related hospitals and that Negroes are not admitted on the same basis as whites to the University of Tennessee Hospital, a tax supported institution. Three Student Centers are spearheading the desegregation of resturants around the University of Tennessee. Five out of seven resturants have opened to all citizens. There is a summer project at UT with integrated housing in the dormitories. Next fall all dormitory facilities will be integrated. Although two suburban theatres have opened to all, the downtown area still has the matter under consideration0 The city auditorium is desegregated as is the city golf course. City bus administrators promised the next driver will be Negro* - 2 - CHATTANOOGA Little progress has been made in employment opportunities for Negroes in Chattanooga. One young lady has been placed in City Hall and several food stores have hired cashiers and carry boys, as well as stock boys. While this is considered a slow proce«?s there is still much hope for more merit employment. +++++++++++ The Board of Directors of the Tennessee Council on Human Relations is pleased to have the opportunity to welcome the Chattanooga Community Relations Council as an associate member* We hope that this association is for our mutual benefit. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ STATE PARKS On recommendation of a workshop session at the Annual Meeting, the Board of Directors adopted a resolution urging use of the State parks. Council representatives have since discussed this matter with appropriate State authorities. The"Council is Still i?) position to encourage the use of State parks by individuals and groups of citizens. For further information, please write or telephone the Council office. - • • • .. ... y- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ .NASHVILLE On Hay Ik•« 1962, the Nashville Community Relations Council held a series of meetings on !ig'-- Ch&hging City". These meetings were held to give participants an opportunity to g-. . :.v. exchange information and express views and.opinions concerning the im ports:: i: lasues of housing and urban renewal and their effects on the people of the comera::.* iy* < • • •• The wording clinic, "The Changing City and the Neighborhood and Community Agencies", brougii'S Together people from the neighborhood and community organizations and ageuode'6 which, have the greatest responsibility and opportunity to help residents deal with the changes in their areas brought about through natural urban processes, or accelerated through highways and urban renewal. Dr. Gideon W. Fryer, President of the Nashville Community Relations Council, presided. .-'.•'•'•" ••,... The afternoon clinic, "The Changing City and Home Building and Finance", explored problems related to the construction and financing of housing and their effect on coaaauuity relations* Mr. T. Scott Fillebrown, Jr., Vice President, First American National Bark, presided. .... ' .'.,g The everting forum, "The Changing City and Wider Opportunities for Housing", afforded all citizens the opportunity to learn of and ask about the results of the two clinisss ohe housing problems of the present, and the possibility of change in the future? Speakers were: Mr. Irving Hand, Director of Advance Planning and Research, NashvaiA«~Davidson County Planning Commission and Dr. Herman Long, Director of Race Relai.l.a,;, United Church Board for Homeland Ministries. •*'•••• - 3 - INTERNES IN COMMUNITY SERVICE The American Friends Service Committee is sponsoring a project in Nashville, the first of its kind to be held in a southern city. There is a definite climate of change in Nashville and concern about remaining segregation. Most social agencies have taken some steps to desegregate at board, staff, and/or clientele levels and continue to work toward this goal. Internes will have first-hand opportunities through their work to learn about and deal with individual family, and community problems. Through their integrated living experience and assignments in social agencies sympathetic to the project's objectives, internes may both observe and participate in the community's gradual processes of social change. The project consists of 12 young people of college age from different religious, racial and national backgrounds, with a leadership couple. During the day the internes work on assignments at settlement houses and other social agencies in the city. In the evenings, they plan their own program of activities, both educational and recreational. The group invites outstanding resource persons from the community to discuss particular concerns that may grow out of the internes' interests or work experience. The project started June 15 and will continue through August 2k. Council members are welcome to visit this project: 190? Belmont Boulevard. ************************************* JACKSON VOTER REGISTRATION PROJECT Eight college.students and an adult couple are living at Lane College this summer, and participating in a voter registration drive. The project, under sponsorship of the American Friends Service Committee, is designed for the mutual benefit of students and the Jackson community. Local college students have been drawn into the group's activities, bi-racial teams are visiting homes asking if the occupants are registered, and explaining registration procedures and voting rights. An ad visory group of Jackson citizens is meeting with the students, and providing trans portation to the registration office where needed. The student group devotes the morning to group discussions, and visits potential voters in the afternoon and evening. Tennessee Council members are welcome to visit, and will find the experience rewarding. ********************************** Introducing Mrs. Webster Mrs. Dorothy V/ebster joined the Council's staff on May 16, as administrative assistant. She is in charge of the general management of the office, including processing of the Newsletter and keeping membership record files current. She will work with the Nashville Community Relations Council in carrying out its pro gram, and assist other Councils as time is available. Mrs. Webster is a graduate of The Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina. She has held positions at Tuskegee Institute, Alabama; Flanner House of Indianapolis, Indiana (an adult education project); Morris College and Voorhees Junior College, South Carolina and Tennessee A&I State University, Nashville. Her husband is Dr. Sherman N. Webster, professor of Sociology at Tennessee A&I State University. - if - THE CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION Memphis - June 25-26 • '•''.' For two days the Federal court room was packed to standing room only capacity. During lunch hour eager listeners remained in the court room to be assured of seats when the hearings resumed. Despite amplification equipment placed about the court room, it was difficult to hear all the testimony, yet there was no restlessness. As Mr. Willis concluded his testimony on housing discrimination, there was spontaneous applause and Chairman Story rapped for order and cautioned against demonstrations. The Commission heard testimony on public handling of sit-in demonstrations, voca tional education, employment by public utilities, construction firms, manufacturing plants, and labor unions. The public schools received praise and criticism. There was somber testimony by Dr. Ish and Dr. Vasco Smith confirming the decrease in Negro physicians in Memphis and the racial limitations imposed on physicians, dentists and hospital patients. Fragments of testimony follow: HOUSING A. W. Willis: "There is something approaching a scheme among Memphis Housing Authority, Memphis FHA office, the Memphis & Shelby County Planning Commission, local lending agencies, and real estate developers to control the housing market. They think that by controlling housing they can maintain segregation, including in the school system." J. E. Kerwin, FHA official: "Can a Negro get an FHA loan? Yes, he most certainly can... I don't think he could buy any house he might want." Walter Simmons, Memphis Housing Authority: When asked if the Federal Government through grants was not supporting segregation, "I don't think the Federal Government would like to have it said quite that way." He agreed that no public housing pro jects were desegregated. EMPLOYMENT Rev. J. A. McDaniel, Urban League, estimated there were 30,000 unemployed Negroes in Memphis, "Many of them never have worked. Therefore, they are not eligible for unemployment benefits." Vocational courses are both separate and unequal - apprenticeship training course enrollment is 1 per cent Negro, Bruce Tomlin, U. S. Labor Department, said ^70 workers are now in training programs in Memphis. Did not know how many were Negroes. "We have a tremendous need for skilled workers. Now we are organized to meet only 15 per cent of our needs." Paul Ladd, Southern Bell, noted there were 1300 employees in Memphis; 5k are Negro, "We do not employ Negroes in all job classifications... We must consider the com patibility between our workers and that our service must not be impaired." When asked if Southern Bell had Negro customers, Mr. Ladd replied, "Yes", followed by laughter in the court room. Thomas Bell, DuPont Plant: 58l employees, 27 are Negro. "We have difficulty in obtaining qualified applicants." High school education required, and 70 per cent of Negro applicants have 8th grade or less education. Prentiss Lewis, United Rubber Workers local: "Gives all its members benefits with out discrimination, segregation or separation. Our local hall is completely de segregated, including drinking fountains and rest rooms. There are Negro employees in nearly all classifications in the Firestone plant". - 5 - Joseph Cowan, local 1986 Carpenters' Local: Twenty years ago this all-Negro local had 250 members; now down to 60 members - "Since 195^, not a single Negro has been accepted on a school job." No Negro carpenter placed on E. H. Crump Hospital con struction. Cannot merge union with white counterpart. Other Memphis segregated local unions are in electrical, iron, sheet metal and plumbing. EDUCATION William Galbreath, Memphis Board of Education, confirmed different standards for hiring Negro and white teachers. "But if we applied equal standards, 83 per cent of our Negro teachers would be eliminated." Jesse Turner, NAACP President: "There are too many Negro teachers in Memphis, but for many, it is the only job they can get." They do not have motivation of white teachers and lack chance of promotion. Toward the close of the hearings a listener remarked, "The important thing is not the content of these statements; they are known, but it is the fact that it is said here in a court room for everyone to hear. This in itself will work toward change." mitiiimmmiHittiittiiMiuiitttiHitnitiiiiutm The Memphis Chapter and the Tennessee Council held a reception on Monday night at the King Cotton Hotel, Memphis, for the United States Commissioners and their staff. Despite a last minute change in time, a hundred Memphis citizens came out to greet the Civil Rights Commission. All apologies to the members whom we could not reach to alert them to the change in time. ECUMENICAL INSTITUTE The seventh Ecumenical Institute, sponsored by the Southern Office of the National Council of Churches, will be held at the Blue Ridge Assembly, Black Mountain, North Carolina, July 22-27, 1962. This is an opportunity for family groups to participate in an inclusive experience. Cabins and hotel accommodations are avail able at very modest prices. A series of workshops, morning and afternoon, are geared to southern needs. "Assignment Race" - theme of United Church Women, will receive major attention in one workshop. For further information, write to Mrs. John T. McCall, 3728 West End Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee. During Brotherhood Week, the Ministerial Association in Ottawa, Kansas, with the approval of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce, asked businessmen in town to display in their offices and store windows or on the doors of their places of business this sign. Read it carefully lest you think it is one with which you are already familiar: WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SERVE AND EMPLOY ANYONE. WE ARE SORRY This is the last Newsletter for members who have not paid their 1962 dues. We want very much to keep you on board, but half of the membership cannot support the other half. - 6 - .'.'..'" .',.•'.• • HAVE YOU READ? Seeds of Southern Change: The life of Will Alexander, by Wilma Dykeman and James Stokely. "Dr. Will", Vanderbilt alumnus, Methodist minister, author, humanitarian, organizer, government administrator, expert in agriculture and race relations. Long time director of the Commission on Inter-racial Cooperation which became the Southern Regional Council, his leadership has a special significance for us. The authors are both members of the Tennessee Council on Human Relations, living in Newport, Tennessee. "Some of My Best Friends": By Benjamin R. Epstein and Arnold Foster; describes the'subtle ways in which anti-semitism manifests itself in hundreds of ways in daily life. There are insights on how it might be made to disappear from the American scene. Diary of A Sjt-In: By Merrill Proudfoot. The excitement and uneasiness, drama and pathos, of the early sit-in movement is recaptured in this day by day account of the Knoxville experience. Dr. Proudfoot is on the Knoxville College faculty, board member of the Knoxville Human Relations Council, and Tennessee Council member» VISITOR FROM SOUTHERN RHODESIA Mrs. Eileen Haddon, Assistant Editor of the Central African Examiner, visited with the Council on May 23. Mrs. Haddon is an executive member of the New Africa Party which is pledged to establishing a joint African-European government, broadening the franchise and abolishing the color bar. A variation of sit-in strategy has been effective in opening hotel dining rooms, Tennessee Council on Human Relations }' Non-Prof it Org, 2011 Grand Avenue . | U.S. Postage Nashville 12, Tennessee I RAID .?.'.. Permit No. 1221 j j Nashville, Tenn. f November and December 1962 <•/ $u TENNESSEE COUNCIL ON HUMAN' RELATIONS 2011 Grand Avenue Nashville 12, Tennessee SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND - NASHVILLE State supported education for blind children is provided at the Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville. The school for white children is located in Donelson, a Nashville suburb, in a modern plant constructed about ten years ago. The school serving Negro blind children is located on Hermitage Avenue in the buildings formerly used by the white school. This property is now in an urban renewal area, is heavily industrialized and is adjacent to the new inter-state highway,- and other main traffic arteries. In August 1962, the State Fire Marshall reported that the girls' dormitory was unsafe, and the gasoline storage tanks located on the adjoining lot increased the hazard, especially for blind children. Therefore, the school was not reopened in September 1962, although the teachers remain under contract. School was scheduled to reopen on October 1st. It is still closed. At the instigation of the Tennessee Council on Human Relations, a group of Nashville citizens representing the American Association of Uni versity Women, the National Council of Negro Women, United Church Women, National Council of Jewish Women, and TCHR met with Governor Ellington to inquire about education for Negro blind children. They were told that temporary repairs are under way on the present school buildings, and the school will reopen in January 1963- It was recognized that the present location is entirely unsuitable for a boarding school, especially for 2+8 visually handicapped children. The only reasonable solution is additional dormitory facilities on the Donalson campus, and integration of faculties and students there. A Legislative appropriation will be required for the necessary additional buildings, as the Donalson school is operating at near capacity. If you wish to see the state assume its responsibility for the education of this especially handicapped group, get in touch immediately with your legislators and advise them of the need for_ additional dormitories at" the school jLocated °~i PS'^:I~^d^?^-^'~?JrKej.-. PP"5.?-.S0jLlPasftjgj-JJLIk.»_.?eiSig^eJLL: Also write to Governor-Elect Clement" advising*him of your concern. ~ We're Cooperating with the Post Office which asked that . no third class mail be posted from December 1, until after Christmas. This Newsletter is being written in mid-December. . . 2 - BRISTOL The Bristol Council on Human Relations is underway with a program geared to broadened employment opportunities, and support and encouragement of school integration. While Bristol schools are technically desegregated, subtle pressures and redisricting have resulted in no actual desegregation of the schools. The Bristol Council has voted to become a chapter of the Tennessee Council in January 1963. We extend a warm welcome to this newest member of the family! The Bristol Council's address is P. 0. Box 5l> Bristol, Tennes see; Sidney A. Berman is Chairman; Rev. Dogan Williams is vice chairman. Katherine Jones will be going to Bristol to meet with the Council on January 21; if you have missions for her in East Tennessee following the Bristol meeting, let her know. JACKSON Preceded by newspaper advertisements and a news story in the local press, the Jackson Community Relations Council held an open meeting on December 6 in the auditorium of the Jackson City Hall. Paul Rilling spoke on "The Changing South" to more than 100 persons who attended despite of two contending and concurrent political meetings. Mr. Rilling'.s address was taped for broadcast the following evening over a Jackson radio station. Tracing the reactions in the South since 19%h, Mr. Rilling reviewed the early years of massive resistence and the silence of the moderates. This was followed (1959-62) by "token adjustment and creeping realism." He asked, "Are we changing from open and frank segregation to one of subtle and gentle segregation but of equal strength?" .'Avoidance of violence does not neces sarily mean that progress is taking place; "court decisions do not of them selves eliminate discrimination, but they make it possible." Business leader ship which has accepted some change to avoid violence is. likely to resist further change for fear of breaking the calm. The Jackson Council is especially grateful to Mr. Rilling for filling this engagement on the eve of his departure for a new position. On December 10 he-became Director, Commissioner's Council on Human Relations, government of the District of Columbia. NASHVILLE The Nashville Community Relations Council held its annual membership meeting on December it with a dinner at the Albert Pick Motel. Mr. Donald Gunn, practicing attorney and past president of the St. Louis Board of Alder men, addressed the meeting, describing the St. Louis Public Accommodations Ordinance which became effective on July 1, 1.962.- Mr. Gunn, an effective and persuasive speaker, stated that "our basic freedoms did not come from govern ment, but from God." He said that the St. Louis law has been artfully drafted to stress efforts at obtaining compliance rather than punishment for noncompliance. Enforcement makes use of the Council on Human Relations, an official body of the city which was also created by city ordinance. Compliance begins with (continued on page 3) - 3 - an informal conference between the alleged violator and a council staff mem ber; if this is unsuccessful, a hearing by the council takes place, followed by a cease and desist order. Next step is a formal court charge with maxi mum penalty of $f?00 fine. Of the 90 complaints filed, all but f> per cent have been fully resolved through the conference procedure. The Nashville Council's meeting was attended by 135 persons including six city councilmen-elect; the vice-mayor-elect who will head Nashville's new metropolitan city government introduced Mr. Gunn. MmmmmmmmrnHmsmmmm POST-SCRIPTS FROM THE STATE MEETING In our October NEWSLETTER, we promised you a digest of the three brief workshop sessions, omitted then because of space limitations. Here they are: HOUSING - Segregated housing contributes to segregated education, and social and"cultural activities. Minority groups are usually restricted to less de sirable areas and are limited in choice of housing and choice of location. Builders and property owners are beset by fears of loss of property values, loss of social status and violence if Negroes buy in predominantly white neighborhoods. Solution- lies in federal housing order, neighborhood organi zations to overcome fears and prejudices, and local church leadership in 3,ine with already stated national pronouncements. Community action is required to prevent urban renewal projects from increasing segregated housing patterns. HEALTH AND HOSPITALS - Many Tennessee hospitals have been erected, enlarged and remodeled" by the use of Kill-Burton funds from the Federal Government. Federal administrators have, until the present, accepted "separate but equal terms"; a court suit is now pending. However, many hospitals have not pro vided even separate facilities. In seeking hospital inclusiveness, do so in name of serving all of our citizens rather than a special request to accept Negroes. Hospitals in Cleveland, Oak Ridge, Bristol arid Jefferson City are totally desegregated. Church related hospitals,, although requesting funds from voluntary and government sources seem the most reluctant to provide integrated service. Pediatrics frequently first department integrated. Knoxville has worked toward full service in local hospitals since 1957, and Knoxville Council members are especially knowledgeable about problems in volved and can give sound advice. This workshop recommended that the State Council accept as part of its state program the desegregation of hospital facilities - staff, patients, services, and the recruitment of Negro medical students for the state university. EDUCATION - Local school board is major key to intelligent and constructive desegregation. Board should be responsive to educational and cultural needs of all children and should have Negro representation on it. School curriculum should be re-examined in terms of meeting minority group needs. Culturally deprived children, regardless of race, require special attention if education is to be effective for them. Remedial reading is essential ingredient of edu cational program. Vocational courses and enrichment programs frequently not offered to Negro students. When desegregation is attempted, include review of school administrative procedures and rezoning. Chattanooga's present transfer provision for students thwarts integration. Recommended that all local councils examine their school programs and propose revisions and solu tions to school board. - u - TENNESSEE COUNCIL ON HUMAN RELATIONS BOARD OF DIRECTORS 1962 -63 George E. Barrett, Nashville Vice-Presidents President Lewis S. Sinclair, Knoxville Mrs. Bernard Schweid, Nashville Mrs. G. Stanley Ish, Memphis Secretary William R. Willis, Nashville Dr. G. J. Tarleton, Nashville President Elect Treasurer BOARD MEMBERS TERM ENDING 1963 TERM ENDING 1964 Washington Butler, Jr.3 Oak Ridge Mrs. Ray Allen, Jackson Rev. Will D. Campbell, Nashville Dwight L. Freshley. Nashville Mrs. La;vrence Coe, Memphis LeRoy Graf, Knoxville Maclin P. Davis, Nashville Ernest Hooper, Murfreesboro Rev,. William A. Dennis, Chattanooga Mrs. Robert Harwell, Franklin Mrs. John Gregory, Chattanooga Matt Lynch, Nashville M. D. Hawkins, Jr., Nashville Joseph L. May, Nashville Mrs, W. B. Hembree, Knoxville Mrs. Robert M. Metcalfe, Crossville Rev. Blair T. Hunt, Memphis Rev. John Charles Mickle, Memphis Herman H. Long, Nashville Mrs, Robert W. Peelle, Oak Ridge Mrs. John T. McCall, Nashville Albert Porter, Jackson Rev. S. A. Owen, Memphis Hollis F. Price, Memphis Horace W. Raper, Cookeville Mrs. Tom Ragland, Nashville Rev. John Rustin, Kingsport Clifford Seeber, Knoxville Rev. Kelly Miller Smith, Nashville Mrs. Ernest Silver, Oak Ridge Neal B. Spahr, Knoxville Rabbi James Wax, Memphis Roscoe L. Strickland, Jr., Murfreesboro ' Mrs. James M. Todd, Nashville TERM ENDING 1965 Carl Carson, Memphis Mrs. Hugh Morgan, Nashville John J. Compton, Nashville Mrs. Fred Muhleman, Chattanooga David Crane, Jackson William Go Pollard, Oak Ridge Rev. W. T. Crutcher, Knoxville Ewell Reag'in, Knoxville Mrs. Bernard Fensterwald, Nashville Mrs. Earl L. Sasser, Nashville Mrs. John C. Hull, Nashville Dr. Vasco Smith, Memphis Rev. Major J. Jones, Chattanooga Miss Martelle Triggs Memphis Hunter Lane, Jr., Memphis Miss Louise Young, Nashville M. D. Merriwether,•Jackson• NOMINATING COMMITTEE Mrs. W. R. Donigan, Memphis Miss Elizabeth Edwards, Chattanooga Mrs.. James Todd, Nashville Rev, W, T.. Crutcher M. D.; Merriwether - 5 - On the facing page, is current listing of Board members and officers. In accordance with the requirements of our by-laws, the Nominating Committee consists of three members elected by the membership at the annual meeting (they are the ones listed on the.facing sheet) and two appointed by the president. The appointed members are Rev. W. T. Crutcher of.Knoxville, and Mr. M. D. Merriwether of Jackson. Will you add them to this list? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ . If you have made it this far through the NEWSLETTER, you know that Paul Rilling, our very able consultant from Southern Regional Council is now coping with problems in the District of Columbia. We are pleased to let you know that Paul Anthony is the new director of Field Activities for SRC, and we are looking forward to his visits to Tennessee. Mr. Anthony is an old hand with SRC, having served as Executive Assistant. He has met with the Oak Ridge Council, and was a panel participant at a teachers' meeting in Nashville two years ago. In our best royalist (though unfamiliar) manner we say, "The King is dead; long live the King." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TIME TO RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP FOR 1963 The fiscal year of the Council follows the calendar year, so your annual dues are due and payable as of now. The exception is for members who joined for the first time in September, October, November or December 1962, and are thereby considered fully paid members for the following calendar year. The Southern Regional Council is again offering us partial support. We will receive from them $3800 as a basic grant, in four quarterly install ments. SRC will, in addition, match funds raised locally by our council after we reach $2300; for the next $2000 they will match dollar for dollar until we reach $4800. We have until June 1, 1963 to meet this matching quota of $ij.800. This is such a cheerful prospect, we know that members will want to meet this challenge and opportunity right away. This will also save us considerable money in time and postage if you use this blank for your renewal: -6-- THE PROBLEM OF SEGREGATED RESTAURANTS There is a problem on both sides. Traveling Negroes are hard-pressed to find convenient and suitable places to sleep and eat. Private businesses fear the loss of white patronage and hesitate to knock down established practices. It is not, however, a problem the businesses are going to solve by lock ing their doors in the hope that it will go away. This seems a time for calm, undramatic transition to a policy of equal treatment of all patrons who conduct themselves in an orderly manner. We are convinced there would be far fewer problems involved than these businesses seem to fear. from an Editorial in The Charlotte Observer Tennessee Council on Human Relations 2011 Grand Avenue . !• Non-Prof it Org. j Nashville 12, Tennessee j U.S. Postage . j PAID ! Permit No, 1221 ! January and February, 1963 • Vol. $t Number 1 and 2 / (J is ^M -v^-' i«W 'ix H K3& "-> A "--' <~" TENNESSEE COUNCIL ON HUMAN RELATIONS 2011 Grand Avenue Nashville 12, Tennessee TENNESSEE LEGISLATURE CONSIDERS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Although the Eoard of Directors of our Council has taken no stand with regard to the death penalty, we believe that this matter is so closely related to our basic concerns we are calling it to your attention. The Legislature is currently consider ing repeal of our capital punishment law. Governor Clement, on leaving the Governor's office in January 1959, asked the Legislature to abolish capital punishment. This year, he has asked the Legislature to act on the question without pressure from his office. The issue will probably be fully debated, and settled within the next 10 days. Fred Graham, former Nashville attorney, in a published review of a'book, "And May God Have Mercy'' by Eugene Block, ends his article as follows: "The situation In Tennessee aptly illustrates the arguments put forth in the book for'the abolition of the death penalty: "It unfairly discriminates against the poor and the unpopular. The four men in Tennessee's Death Row are all penniless, all uneducated, and all Negroes. This reviewer cannot remember a case in which a de fendant who could afford to pay his counsel was executed in Tennessee. "There is always a chance of killing an innocent men. During the last two years, while all Tennessee executions were being held up by court action, the sentences of five condemned men were commuted because of developments which occurred after their intended execution dates. Also, our archaic laws make it possible for insane persons to be executed, and even prevent a condemned man from volun tarily taking a lie detector test, prior to his death, . ''The death penalty does not deter crime <• After Tennessee abolished the death penalty in 1915, its. crime rate rose along with that of the entire nation during the World War I years. But after the penalty was re-enacted in 1919» the crime rate continued to climb at an increased rate. "Today, our homicide rate is three times that of the average for states which have abolished the death penalty." +++++++++ TO BOARD MEMBERS We need to know immediately if you plan to attend the Board meeting in Oak Ridge on March 30. If this date is not possible for most of the Board, we will set another tirae0 - 2 - CHATTANOOGA The Chattanooga Community Relations Council is sponsoring a workshop on Employment Opportunity on March 22 and 23 with Dr. V. W, Henderson as leader. All three sessions will be held in the auditorium of the Interstate Life and Accident Insurance Company, and are open to all interested persons without charge. The Chattanooga Community Relations Council extends a warm invitation to persons in Cleveland, Athens and other nearby areas. Reservations and inquiries should be sent to: Chattanooga Community Relations Council, 871 McCallie Avenue, Chattanooga* The Chattanooga workshop will be the fourth one led by Dr. Henderson under auspicies of the Tennessee Council on Human Relations. Since March 1962, similar workshops have been held in Johnson City, Jackson and Memphis directed toward in creasing employment openings on a non-discriminatory basis, and developing appropri ate training for current and future jobs. The TCHR's participation has been made possible by a grant from the Field Foundation for which we are indeed grateful. ' ' STATE PARKS In June 1962, the state parks were open to all citizens for full use, except for waterfront activities. This change in policy came about through negotiations initiated by a committee of the Council. In February 1963, the Council instituted discussions with the new Commissioner of Conservation, Don McSween, asking for full use of the parks, removal of racial designation from maps, brochures, signs and place mats used in state park dining rooms, etc. The Council representatives were warmly received and we are hopful of further progress. We urge Council members to make use of the parks and notify the park superintendent of your approval of the inclusive service offered. SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND In December 1963, three six-year old Negro girls enrolled as boarding students in the School for the Blind on the Donelson campus. The School for the Blind (Colored Division) reopened in January 1963 following building repairs and installation of safety equipment. These 5° Negro students were without schooling from September until January, as reported in our last NEWSLETTER. The solution lies in full integration of the schools - faculty and students - which is anticipated when additional dormitory space becomes available. Other state facilities can operate more efficiently by integrating their services. We need volunteers to visit the institutions and schools in their area, and propose appropriate steps for inclusive use. Any takers? IN MEMORY OF MRS. BERNARD FENSTERWALD The Council has received contributions from five Council members in memory of Mrs, Fensterwald who died February 20. Mrs. Fensterwald was a board member of the Tennessee Council and a former vice president, a trustee of Fisk University, an active participant in civic causes. She gave generously of herself and her substance. We will miss her. - 3 - EAST TENNESSEE Bristol - Was welcomed as our newest local council chapter at a meeting on February 18.Employment opportunity, with special attention directed toward Federal contract firms in the area, is receiving special attention. Conversations are under way with movie houses, bowling alleys, etc. Job specifications indicate that segregated schools offer inadequate.'preparation for qualifying applicants. Johnson City - Repeated attempts to obtain skilled employment for Negro applicants in Federal contract firms have been unsuccessful. Complaints have now been filed with the President's Committee on Equal Job Opportunity. Negro appli cants for technical training courses have been rejected on the basis that classes are full. . Greeneville - Rotary Club sponsored a "Round Robin" competition among schools, on the order of the GE College Bowl with a $100 prize. All schools participated. Technical training course in electronics is open to all high school applicants, but requires 2 years' basic algebra; not previously offered at Negro school. Magnavox, now employing 6 Negro women, plans plant expansion which will provide 2000 additional jobs, Rose's variety store lunch counter now integrated. Athens - Has Negro policemen with full responsibility; Negro police auxiliary is uniformed. Mayor's Human Relations Committee has 2 Negro members. Negroes are members of Citizens' Urban Renewal Committee, City Recreation Committee, United Charities Fund. Three Negro students from Cook High School spend half day at the McMinn High School in electronics course. Cleveland - Has integrated nursing course at Bradley Memorial Hospital, which has no racial barriers to patient hospital service. Despite several large Federal contract firms, Negroes are totally excluded from employment or limited to janitorial service. A CHURCH EODY SPEAKS The Cumberland Presbyterian Synod of West Tennessee adopted a report at its annual synod meeting urging ministers to "preach their true convictions concerning these social problems of our day, especially the recognition and acceptance of all races as the children of God. We are told that some elders have instructed their ministers to refrain from preaching or mentioning race relations, under threat of losing their pulpits. "We join in prayer for those of such mind-sets that they may be led to give to others the same freedom that they demand for themselves, and that the love of God be given a chance to soften their hearts that they may be obedient to God's Word rather than possess a faithfulness to a tradition of the past... "Men everywhere are being denied freedom, and in so many areas the church has joined with the world in denying freedom to men»" « k - WHEN A SCHOOL BURNS In early January, Darwin School in Cookeville was completely destroyed by fire. This six teacher, 12 grade school enrolled Negro students in Putnam County and high school students from Clay, Overton and White Counties. The Darwin sup porters, the Putnam County B oard of Education and the County Court have been con sidering whether to rebuild the school for a Negro student body, build a new schoox for a broader geographic area encompassing Negro and white residents, or integrate the Putnam County students into already existing schools. What is the future of the Negro teachers? Four former Darwin High School freshmen have entered Central High School (Cookeville) and Allgood High School in Putnam County. Other Darwin students are attending school in three churches in Cookeville for the remainder of this school year. While differences of opinion abound about, the wisest plan, they are not divided along racial lines. The destruction of Darwin School means that the adjacent counties who have transported their Negro high school students to Cookeville must now face the responsibility of educating their students at home, or transporting them to another county. How frankly will citizens meet this challenge? ifiitiMttstmm&MmMmmmiffl&mm > Rice University of Houston, Texas has asked court authority to lift racial bars against qualified students. The University was created in 1900 by a bequest specifying "instruction and improvement of white inhabitants." Trustees propose that the word "white" not be construed as creating an inflexible barrier to the admission of qualified students without regard to race or color. In the petition, the trustees said, "Rice stands alone as the last nonsectarian pri vate university in the South and in the nation.which has not admitted or does not stand ready to admit, qualified applicants without regard to race or color." WHY NEGROES DON'T GET JOBS In addition to outright discrimination on racial lines, there are additional reasons for inadequate employment of Negroes, according to Dr. Irvin Sobel, Pro fessor of Economics at University of St. Louis, Missouri. These are the reasons * Failure to provide appropriate investment in young Negro men and women. * Inadequacies in our school systems. * Patterns of counseling, * Lack of family stability. * Trade schools that reflect the needs of another generation. NOTES FROM GREENWOOD, MISSISSIPPI The Voter Education Project, a south-wide drive to register southern Negroes (see NEW SOUTH, October i960) has recently experienced renewed violence. On February 28 in LeFlore County (Greenwood is county seat) three Negro registration workers, driving out of Greenwood were attacked from a moving car which pulled along side and opened rifle fire. James Travis, a field secretary for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, was seriously wounded0 The attackers' car was unlicensed and occupied by white men who had been seen earlier observing the building in Green wood where the registration workers were meeting,, On March 62 shots were fired at a car cutside the registration office which was occupied by k registration workers| the glass was shattered, but there were no serious injuries? The Voter Education Project has accepted the challenge, and is now concentrating its major effort in Greenwood and LsFlore CountyB LeFlore County in the Mississippi Delta has a population of 30v000; 54 per cent is Negro. Persons attempting to register have been dispossessed* Surplus Federal foods, formerly made available through county-state cooperation, have been terminatedo It is estimated that 10}000 persons are eligible and would benefit from surplus food distribution^ Tennesseans, recalling our successful efforts in obtaining Federal foods for Fayette and Haywood Counties, may wish to assist the embattled and impoverished- residents of LeFlore County* Here are things you can do: 1) Write to President Kennedy urging that he approve the distribution of Federal s^^rplus foods as he did in West Tennessee, without recourse to local and state approvals 2) Send letters of encouragement to registration workers. James Travis (the man who was shot). 2147 Powers Avenue, Jackson, Mississippi; Robert Moses9 903$ Nelson Street8 Greenville, Mississippi; Samuel Block, 13-5 McLaurin Street, Greenville, Mississippi^ Letters will be posted in registration headquarters^ 3) Contribute funds to equip the registration office and purchase essential supplies and equipmento mmymwmwmmm MEMBERSHIP AND FUNDS GOAL $4980O DEADLINE: June 1, 1903 I963 membership & dues received - $lj2l4c50 - from 73 members If you have not renewed your membership, please clip this page and return it with your dues: TENNESSEE COUNCIL ON HUMAN RELATIONS, 2011 GRAND AVENUE, NASHVILLE Annual Membership ($5*00) ^ Contributing Membership ($10„00) Joint Membership ($7o00) _ Sustaining Membership ($25 and up) $2o00 of your membership goes for your subscription to the magazine "New South." If you are not getting "New South" check here . NAME ADDRESS (To union yoa wisn axi mail seii'i;) CITY ZONE . 6 - . NASHVILLE The Nashville Community Relations' Council is sponsoring a community-wide meeting on "Six Years of School Desegregation", Thursday evening, May 2. The meet ing, designed to evaluate the progress already made, and future objectives as the grade-a-year program moves into junior high, will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church, A series of council sponsored luncheons, open to the public, is in progress directed toward the problems encountered in initial employment of Negroes in formerly racially limited positions. On .March 7, the film, "New Girl", was used as a basis for discussion. The next meeting, Thursday, March -28, will be held at the Methodist Board of Education, Grand Avenue at 19th Avenue, South. For further information, telephone CY 1-7544, Eight Negro college students were convicted of. conspiring to violate trade and commerce at B&W Cafeteria in Nashville' and sentenced to 90 days in the work house and $50 fine each. Motion for a new trial was filed by their attorneys.' The all-white, all-male jury deliberated more than 2)4 hours before returning a verdict of guilty.. The trial, lasting three days was concluded on March 9, with sentence pronounced by Judge John L. Draper on March 13. Attorneys for the students gave notice of their intention of appealing the case on constitutional issues to the State Supreme Court and on to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary. Non-Profit Org. Tennessee Council on Human Relations 2011 Grand Avenue U.S. Postaja e Nashville 12, Tennessee PAID Permit No. 1221 Nashville, Tenn. 58 Mary Hamilton '.18 Cleveland k\ Lebanon, Tenaei Southern Conference Educational Fund, Inc. - " PUBLISHERS OF The Southern PATRIOT FOUNDED IN 1942 822 PERDIDO STREET, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 70112 • Area 504 522-7326 Dear Friend of Civil Rights: The Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF), as the oldest civil rights organization in the South, with a program directed especially to white Southerners, has been a prime target of the segregationists for 25 years. In October 1963, police seized all of SCEF's records and files. Two SCEF officials were arrested under Louisiana's Subversive Activities Act, and face criminal prosecution. We have launched a vigorous counter-offensive. SCEF's attack upon the constitutionality of the statutes was argued before the Supreme Court on January 25th. A ruling is expected in the Spring. Damage suits have been filed against all offi cials involved, including Senator Eastland of Mississippi. Symbolic of our determination to remain in business better than ever are two new projects: The Appalachain Project, and the project in Eastern North Carolina (see enclosures). The central issue in the SCEF case is whether a state can destroy the civil rights movement under the guise of fighting subversion. Louisiana made it clear before the Supreme Court it considered all civil rights agen cies subversive; that after SCEF will come Highlander, SCLC, SNCC, etc. We ask you, in this present crisis, to send us a generous contribution. If you can, please make your check for at least $12.00 (one dollar per month). All contributors will receive The Southern Patriot, reporting and interpreting each month the Southern integration struggle. Fred L. Shuttlesworth / Jimes A. Dombrowski President / Executive Director P.S. We sometimes make use of listVwhich a limited clerical staff precludes checking with our files, thus if you have al ready made a contribution to SCEF recently, please overlook this appeal, or better yet pass it on to a friend. SOUTH CAROLINA CHURCH ACCEPTS NEGRO JylEMBER/ ALLENDALE, S. CI — (ANP) —The Holy Communion Protestant Episcopal Church here has accepted its first Negro member, who presented a letter of transfer from a Philadelphia church. The Rev. Philip G. Clarke, rector, said church law re quires admission under such circumstances. This is believed to be the first time a Negro has become a member of a white congre gation in the Diocese of South Carolina. —urea. Greenville, S. C, Schools to Mix GREENVILLE, S.C., (AP) - The Greenville County School Board, to avoid certain federal court complusion later, has agreed to desegregate South Carolina's largest school district in September. U.S. District Judge J. Robert Martin Jr. has filed a consent judgment, accepting the school board's voluntary desegregation plan as "reasonable and legal." The ruling affects 55,000 school children in Greenville County, 20 per cent of them Negro. The pupil assignment and transfer plan, adopted by the board April 14, was kept secret until Judge Martin's order was filed. It was adopted unanimously by the board after pre-trial con ferences with Judge Martin. It specifies that five Negro chil dren listed as plaintiffs in a pending desegregation suit will be transferred to white schools in September. Also adopted was a new policy eliminating race, creed or color as factors in the en rollment, assignment and trans fer of pupils. The five-point formula for as signment of pupils is identical with the plan adopted for Charleston city schools, also effective in September. CORE - Congress of Racial Equality 306 Ivey Street Plaquemine, Louisiana 657-913-1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: New Orleans, La,, Fay 27* 1964' In Louisiana as in other southern states, Negroes have been denied the right to vote on the basis of race. Out of a voting potential of little over JOO.OCC. we nave less than 170,000 Negroes registered. Less than three months ago, there were parishes in Loui siana which did not permit its black citizens to register. At present, neither Negroes nor whites are allowed to register in West end East Feliciana Parishes because registrars Fletcher Kerrey and Ksnry Earl Palmer have vowed to rale registration 'Indefinitely rather than obey Federal court order-e* Negroes in many parishes of the Sixth Con gee ssional District and in every parish of North Louisi ana are herrassed, intimidated, and brutalized merely for attempting tc register to vote. The Justice Department has filed numerous suits to end the Louisiana legal and political conspiracy to restrict Negro suffrage* r£he state appoints prejudiced registrars and passes laws which demand of applicants that they com plete technically graded application forms and exhibit know ledge of constitutional government by passing a six ouestion test selected at random from a sixty Question card system. The Jestice Department, however, has not kept up with the more •• more - more -2- impatient desire of the Negro people in this state to have full access to the ballot* Since these problems on voting exist in Louisiana and other southern states, CORE plans to initiate in early June a massive non-violent campaign aimed at focusing national attention on the denial of the right to vote to Negroes in * / * 4 4 Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, northern Florida, and other southern states. Ve plan to start the campaign in Louisiana on June 11, 1964 by training a staff of 60 workers in Iberville Parish at Plaquemine, which remains the headcuarters for CORE'S voter education program in Louisiana. Richard Haley, As sociate National Director of CORE and Southern Regional Director, and Ronnie Moore, CORE's Field Secretary for Loui siana will conduct the training session and coordinate the campaign. The objective of the summer project will be to awake the nation to the fact that Negroes want to vote. They want to vote now without being forced to suffer the humiliation of going before the registrar time and time again, without being afraid of getting fired from their jobs, run out of their home towns and molested by their white brothers who are protected by state political coalitions and traditions from criminal prosecution. He plan to dramatize our cause by setting up our voter registration campaign in the Fifth and Sixth Congressional Districts, concentrating in seven parishes of the Fifth t 4 4 ,4 •more - more - rzore -3- District; namely, Jackson, Ouachita, Richland, Franklin, Madison, Union, and Morehouse parishes, and in the twelve parishes of the Sixth District - East Feliciana, Vest Fell- / 4 1*4 ciana, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, - » 4 Iberville, Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Test Baton Rouge, Livingston, and St. Tammany. These parishes were chosen be cause of their Negro voting potential and because of strong established community backing for our organisation. The highlights of the Louisiana Summer Freedom Campaign will be as follows: Freedom Candidates, Freedom Registra tion, Freedom Days, and Actual Registration. There will also be a Freedom Delegation challenge at the National Democratic Party convention. (1) Negroes will make strong bids for public office. Names of candidates will be announced later. (2) Negroes will protest disfranchisement through mock registration. In such registration all potential voters who are over 21 years old, residents of the state as required by Louisiana laws, and who can supply the Freedom Registrars with information asked for on the Louisiana application form, verbally or in writing, will be registered. No test will be used in Freedom Registration. Freedom Registration Will 4 4 be conducted specifically in East Feliciana, West Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, Ouachita, Jackson, Madison, Richland, Franklin, Morehouse, and Union parishes. Application forms of freedom registrants will be collected by Freedom Registrars who will be appointed by more - more - more -4- a State Board of Freedom Registration (which will be an nounced later) and such forms will be presented to parish registrars and if rejected additional steps will be taken to involve the Federal judiciary and the National Democratic Party, (3) Freedom Days - On certain days when the registra tion offices will be open this summer, we plan to hold non violent direct action protests at the registrars1 offices. (4) Actual Registration - On as many days as possible when the registration books will be oeen, we plan to flood the registrar's offices with applicants. (5) A challenge of the Louisiana delegation recently selected by the Louisiana State Democratic Central Committee to the National Democratic convention will be staged by a Freedom Delegation, The delegation will be selected at a Leadership Conference for the Fifth and Sixth Congressional Districts, to be held in early June. verbal notice of such a challenge was served on the Chairman of the State Cgntral Committee on Friday, May 22, 1964 by Dr. Berttrand Tvson of Iberville Parish, Henry Washington of Ascension Parishj and Ronnie M. Moore of East Baton Rouge Parish, who repre sented various civic groups in the Fifth and Sixth Districts, The Chairman ignored the notice. The Freedom Delegation from Louisiana will join similar groups from Mississippi and other sotithern states in Atlantic City. Tne black constituency of Louisiana and other southern more - more - more -5- states plans to be represented before both state and national structures which direct the public affairs of Amer ica. Many conservative and blind Americans will claim that such a constituency does not exist. However, the day of 4 the non-existant Negro is past. This very campaign year, the people who have long accepted dual citizenship mean to be heard and represented. We cannot sit back while the White Citizens Council, the State Sovereignty Commissions, and KKK members and sympathizers run our state governments and make deals with the Federal government and major political parties. XXX C/*&Y, Juu,-. CORE - Congress of Racial Equality 38 Park Row, New York, N.Y. IOO38 co 7-6270 FOR B#JEDIATE RELEASE Attn: Jim Peck or Marvin Rich TRAINING SESSIONS FOR FREEDOM SUMMER Oxford, Ohio, June l8--Plaquemine, Louisiana and Quincy, Florida training sessions are underway in Oxford, Ohio for the CORE Freedom Summer program, a massive voter registration drive in the deep south climaxing with attempts to seat Freedom candidates at the Democratic national convention. The largest number of trainees, over 200 from all parts of the country, are in Oxford at the Western College for Women.' They will go into Mississippi where the Council of Federated Organizations, a joint group including CORE, is heading the campaign. The instruetors.for CORE a® the Mississippi field staff. In Plaquemine, Louisiana, CORE Organization Director, James McCain "and CORE Field Secretary, Ronnie Moore, are instructing some 50 students who will concentrate on 19 parishes in the fifth and sixth congressional districts. "These parishes were chosen because of their Negro voting potential and because of strong established community hacking for our organization," explained Moore, who has been working on voter registration in this area since 1962. In Quincy,' Florida, seat of Gadsden county, where CORE has been engaged in voter registration for the past few months, plans are underway to extend the drive to seven additional northwestern Florida counties. Ten students have started training for work in this area, under CORE Associate Director Richard Haley and CORE Field Secretary Patricia Stephens Due. For Release Plaquemine, Louisiana June 18, 1964 The Congress of Racial Equality terminated its training program which has been underway in Plaquemine since June 11, 1964, by sending out 34 voter registration workers to conduct voter regis tration drives in five parishes in Southeastern and North Louisiana. The parishes where groups have been assigned are Tangipahoa, Iberville, St. Helena, Ouachita, and Jackson. The primary objective is to flood the registration offices with applicants by June 24, 1964. The emphasis of the project will be on North Louisiana and workers will be stationed mainly in Manroe, Louisiana, Ronnie M. Mao re a national organization with affiliated local groups working „o*GRES* ft For Release Plaquemine, Louisiana June 18, 1964 to abolish racial discrimination by direct, nonviolent methods 38 PARK ROW NEW YORK 38, NEW YORK COrtlandt 7-6270 James Farmer national director Richard Haley The Congress of Racial Equality terminated assistant to the director Carl Rachlin, Esq. its training program which has been underway in general counsel ADVISORY COMMITTEE Plaquemine since June 11, 1964, by sending out 34 Ralph Abernathy voter registration workers to conduct voter regis James Baldwin Roger N. Baldwin tration drives in five parishes in Southeastern and Katrina M. Barnes Algernon D. Black North Louisiana. James B. Carey Allan Knight Chalmers Grenville Clark John Cogley The parishes where groups have been assigned Earl B. Dickerson Eugene E. Frazier are Tangipahoa, Iberville, St. Helena, Ouachita, Harold Gibbons Roland B. Gittelsohn and Jackson. The primary objective is to flood Sidney Hollander George M. Houser the registration offices with applicants by June E. Stanley Jones Bishop F. D. Jordan 24, 1964. Martin Luther King Douglas Levin David Livingston Will Maslow The emphasis of the project will be on A. J. Muste Dorothy Norman North Louisiana and workers will be stationed A. Philip Randolph Ira DeA. Reid mainly in Monroe, Louisiana. Walter P. Reuther Hobson R. Reynolds Jackie Robinson Arnold M. Rose Fred M. Shuttlesworth Lillian Smith Ronnie M. Moore C. K. Steele Gardner Taylor Howard Thurman Bishop W. J. Walls Goodwin Watson Joseph Willen Jerry Wurf Charles S. Zimmerman OFFICERS Floyd B. McKissick chairman Rudolph Lombard 1st vice chairman Wilfred Ussery 2nd vice chairman , Ralph Rosenfeld secretary Alan Gartner treasurer James Peck CORElator editor Gordon Carey program director James T. McCain director of organization Marvin Rich community relations director Crtotf; J^h2-3^ 7/64 CORE - Congress of Raciajl Equality 38 Park Row, New York 38, New York COrtlandt 7-6270 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ATTN: Marvin Rich CORE MEETS RESISTANCE TESTING CIVIL RIGHTS ACT IN LOUISIANA ' New Orleans, La,, July 23: Immediately after passage of the Civil Rights Bill, CORE began an intensive testing of all public facilities in Louisiana. Ronnie Moore, CORE Field Secretary, stated that testing would be carried out in 22 cities. In initial testing, seven Negro youths were arrested when attempting to use the facilities of the public library in Monroe. A week later, 15 more were arrested at the library. No arrests have been made in other areas, but Negroes have been refused service in 40 percent of facili-' ties tested, from an approximate total of 25, In one incident, D.J. McDuffie, member of the Plaquemine City Council and mayor pro ten, is being sued by CORE workers Tolbert Harris and Spiver Gordon. The civil damage suit for $500,000, the first under the Civil Rights Act, charged McDuffie with violating the 1957 Civil Rights Act, a sec tion of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, simple, assault, disturbing the peace and defamation by use of profanity. According to the petition, Harris and Gordon went to the City Cafe in Plaquemine to eat a meal, but their way was blocked by McDuffie, who held his hand on an empty soft drink bottle and said: "The first black that steps in here, 1*11 knock his brains out." Since the way was blocked, the men left. In another incident, Leola Hood, a Negro, was served a hamburger at the Tiger Drive-in in New Roads, for which she had to pay $20.00. She obtained a receipt, wM.ch was turned over to CORE Field Secretary Ronnie Moore. More-More-More - 2 - In other areas, crowds have gathered, to harass and threaten CORE workers attempting to use facilities covered under the Civil Rights Act. Moore stated that he would not release the schedule for testing until the test is in progress in any given community. #### •' t CORE - Congress Of Racial Equality 38 Park Ro-w, New Yrf>rk, N.Y. IOO38 co 7-6270 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE REFER; Jim Peck or Marvin Rich CORE STARTS CTIIVET O UTILIZE PLACES OPENED BY LAW New York City, July °A2one minute after the President had signed the civil rights bill, Gene Young, a 13-year-old CORE convention delegate from Mississippi, entered the Hotel Muehlebacb barbershop in Kansas City for a haircut. When he -was refused, other convection delegates sat-in, forcing the shop to close. Next day, Young got his haircut as did several other Negro delegates. This was the first test of the law and the start of CORE'S nationwide action program to utilize the hotels, restaurants, theatres and other public accomodations opened under the law's provisions. "We cannot allow resistance to build up as occurred in the Ijjryk school cases," said a testing form sent to all affiliates. "CORE groups can and should begin immediate attempts to utilize the facilities newly opeusd by lav." CORE National Director James Farmer wired 120 national operators of public facilities urging compliance and announcing the testing program. Testing got underway as the CORE convention delegates left Kansas City for their homes. CORE National Chairman Floyd McKissick, on bis way back to Durham, North Carolina, was refused admittance at two motels in Clarksdale, Mississippi and tiled complaints under the law» A national NAACP deputation touring the state refrained from testing in Clarksdale, but its members were accomodated without incident in Jackson and Meridian. Public facilities were tested and found to be generally complying in Birmingham, Alabama; Danville, Virginia; St. Augustine, Florida and other cities which have been the sites of major civil rights demonstrations. In many smaller communities such as Americus, Georgia and Quincy, Florida, from - 2 - which CORE has received reports, testers were served but then attacked by gangs of white youths. In Quincy, after three young Negroes were served at Luden's drive-in, some whites reached into the car and dumped the contents of the Negroes' trays into their laps. On the eve of a city-wide testing program in Monroe, Louisiana, CORE Field Secretary Ronnie Moore's car was forced off the road by several carloads of whites and he took refuge in a Negro home. He had written to 21 mayors announcing that the public facilities in their communities would be tested by CORE workers engaged in the Louisiana summer voter registration program. In New Roads, tests showed that the library and all public buildings had desegregated. In New Orleans, the theatres, a target of recent CORE demonstrations, now admit everybody regardless of color, New Orleans CORE tests have shown. In Hammond, Faith Hope and Charity Hall, the CORE registration head quarters was bombed. In McComb, Mississippi, a home occupied by civil rights workers was bombed and two of the workers, Curtis Hayes and Dennis Sweeney were injured. Pat Walker, CORE Task Force worker was unhurt, CORE Vice- Chairman,Rudy Lombard., is presently in Mississippi assisting Dave Dennis, CORE'S representative on COFO, CORE has launched a program to recruit Task Force workers for Mississippi for the period following the end of the summer project. ### CONGRESS OF RACIAL EQUALITY 306 Ivey St., Plaquemine. La. 687-9131 4 For immediate release.,.,«.....<...July 1, 1964 Due to the fact that over 400,000 Negroes have been disfrancised in Louisiana by the discriminatory application of rigid and unconstitutional voter registration laws, Negro leaders in several La. parishes have found it essential to demand equal representation through mock registration. Within the past two years over 10,000 Negroes have applied for registration in the 5th and 6th Congressional Districts alone and of that number a little over 2,000 have been successfully registered by biased registrars. To bring an immediate end to this un-American conspiracy by Louisiana politicians to restrict Negro suffragej the Negro leaders of the 5th and 6th Congressional Districts have met and decided to dramatize to the world the Negro struggle to get full access to the ballot by commencing as of this date a freedom registration campaign. As a part of freedom registration a petition in the form of a registered letter has been sent to Gov. John McKeithen. Freedom registration consists of getting every unregistered Negro voter to fill out a simplified version of the state application form in the'presence of a freedom registrar. To achieve this end, the following freedom registrars have been appointed to serve the following parishes: 1. St. Helena — David Howard 2. Tangipahoa — Loria Davis 3. East Feliciana -- Christine Wright 4. West Feliciana — Robert Gilmore 5. Pointe Coupee — Sargent Caulfield 6. Ouachita — Roscoe Young 7. Jackson — W. C. Flannigan 8. Madison — Velma Wylche 9. Iberville — Spiver Gordon The campaign shall be in effect for at least 30 days and after which the freedom registrars will attempt to have their freedom applications filed with the local parish registrars for actual registration. Ronnie M. Moore- Field Secretary, CORE *t ,*•* *"«».« FOR IMMSDIATS RSIftAflg B-._2C3 2211 Dryades Sf ' July 21, 1961* lewCrleans, la. 70113 IbMi (50U) $23-720a 15 ARRESTED M OQRB LIBRARY TEST HI MOKROE. Uu Fifteen Negroes were arrested on Monday for attempting to use three branches of the •white* public library in Monroe, La# Tn each case * group of Negroes, all residents of the Monroe area, requested library cards* When they were refused they took seats and Toned to remain until they received some satisfaction to the request for library cards. library officials called the pdlice and requested the arrest of the students* Within half an hour they were arrested on charges of disturbing the peace or Mr trespassing. The action was conducted under the leadership of OORE. Arrested at the West Monroe Branch were Robert Saulsberry, 17* David Tribble, 19, Joe Tribble, 17, Willie Mellion, 17* They are being held oadar $£00 bands. Arrested at the Anna Meyer Bpanoh were William Thomas, 19, Bessie Dill, 20, Diane Gordon, 17, Vera Stawart, 15, and Larry Inwards, 16. Arrested at the main library were Charles Presley, 26, Alloa Smith, 36, Jacqueline Smith, 14, Tommie Robinson, 16, Mar j oris Smith, 22, and Belva Stawart, 13* Those in the last two groups are being held under H50 bonds. Richard Haley, Associate National Director of OORE* said In Monroe, "This is a complete illegality* The students were model in their behavior and gave no reason whatever for police action* It is another glaring example - aad there are many • that the city government of Monroe is committed to maintain racist domination regardless of the Constitution, regardless of the civil rights act, and regardless of the basic rights of the Monroe Negre population** Earlier, on July 9, seven Negroes were arrested for attempting to use the libraries in Monroe. On that day 88 citisens of Monroe participated in a CORE testing program at restaurants, lunch counters, service stations and movie theaters. They were served at about half the places they tested* Tha tasting project is a part of the OCRE summer program In Louisiana. # # # # mm 9. <*t& NEWS- RELEASE Congress of Racial Equality 103 North 10th Street Monroe, Louisiana Monroe, La.,July 9,1964 Eight-eight (88) local residents of Monroe, La., participated in a civil rights testing program sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) under the laede*ship CORE field Secretary Ronnie M. Moore and CORE Task Force Workers Mike Lesser, Ruthie, and Dave Kramer. After meeting at a.local church, test teams varying in numbers from 3-16 tried and in serval instances succeeded in desegregating various public accommodations. Kegroes were served at P. W. Wool- worths, both Walgreen stores Kress, Toddle House, Picadilly Rest aurant, Paramont Theater, Holiday Esso Service Station. Testers were threaten, intimidated, and harrassed as they unsuccessfully sought service at Capitol Steakhouse, Bodan's? Rexall Drug Store, Helmp's Cafeteria, Kopper Kettle, Holiday Inn Restaurant to avoid desegregation efforts , Jim Theater was closed* Seventeen (17) Negro youngsters ranging in age from 14 to 22 went to the library 10 left when requested and 7 were arrested for distrubing the peace, ordinance 10-27, criminal trespass ordinance 10-59. Dave Kramer was taken into custddy for taking illegal photographs (a picture of a policeman Sixteen (16) negroes in groups of eight (8) bordered two public service bus lines and members of the Ouachita Chapter of CORE will resume testing on" Monday and Will later move to the town of West Monroe, Louisiana. FOR PRESS RELEASE ATTENTION:RICHARD HALEY FORMAT OF CONCLUDING ACTIVITIES OF SUMMER PROJECT July 27, 23, 29, 1964: Voter registration beaks opened; voter registration books will remain ©pen until October 4, 1964, in East and West Feliciana, Pointe Coupee and other parishes where there is no 2nd Democratic primary, in case of the second Democratic primary, books will be closed after July 29 until August 29, 1964. July 31, 1964: Farmer appears in August 1, 1964: Farmer appears in August 3, 1964: Presentation ©f freedom applications to parish registrars. A. Presentation will be made by at least 10 freedom registrars. B. Time: 10 AM C. Procedure: Make presentation; if accepted, will leave after getting registrar t© sign a receipt ©f applicants indicating names, addresses; receipt t© be prepared in advance. If rejected, will leave without protest. August 5, 1964: Protest at U.S. AttorneyTs office. A. Chartered buses will leave Baton Rouge at 4 AM and will arrive in New Orleans at 6 AM for protest briefing. B. Breakfast willii be served in New Orleans at 7 AM. C Chartered buses will take participants to U.S. Attorney's ©ffice for 8:45 AM to be set for audience at 9AM. 1. Name of church and address of church to be provided later. D. If everything should go well, buses will leave f©r ©riginal point at 2 PM. E. Dinner will be served at 12:30 PM. August 6, 1964: Final Staff Meeting: Time: 8 AM Place: Plaquemine, Louisiana Topics: Evaluation of Summer Project; Perspectives and Objectives of Louisiana aaiwiimm program. Other Items: Final wards, return h@me money distribution. August 7, 1964: Meeting ©f Permanent Staff Time: 8 AM Place: Plaquemine, Louisiana August 8, 1964: August 9, 1964: Permanent Program in Louisiana begins. Tuesday, August 18, 1964 JAILED IN QUINCY 2 Rights Workers' Release Is Ordered TALLAHASSEE (UPI) — Fed Blackburn had convicted the civ eral District Judge Harrold il rights workers Saturday, as Carswell yesterday ordered the sessing a penalty of a $50 fine release of two Negro civil rights or 60 days in jail. They were workers, jailed in Quincy during charged with trespassing after a voter registration drive. going onto a tobacco farm in Judge Carswell said Walter defiance of the owner who for Scott McVoy and Stuart Wechs- bade them to talk to workers ler were illegally tried and con during hours they were on the victed in Justice of the Peace job. court while a petition for trans Judge Carswell did not re fer of jurisdiction was pending move jurisdiction from Black in Federal Court. burn and attorneys said they Justice of the Peace A. B. may appeal. St. Petersburg Times, Saturday, August 8, 1964 • 7 ? 'I fc, Negro Registration Said Stalle MADISON — Negroes' efforts to cooperate in the registration day the law requires." long to register the ones they HE SAID HE didn't hi to register to vote in this small drive. The registrar said the Madi are bringing in than the regu lone deputy register Negro! North Florida county were son County Commission had de lar ones. You can't find out cause he had been ill rece He said procedures in Ragan's where they live, you can't get stalled by the clock and the law office are so slow that it takes cided his office should be open He said his office will bd yesterday. only Friday and a half-day Sat their precinct number, you full time for 30 days begi| as long as 20 minutes for one can't get their ages and it takes A group fo Negroes standing person to register. urday until Sept. 1. Sept. 1. in line to register — estimated He said his job was a part- them three times as long to sign "If they had planned it! variously at 35 to 70 — were WITH ONLY ONE deputy time position, paying only $200 their names." could not have found a b| ; turned away at noon when Su working and Ragans sitting by a month. Ragan said there would be date," countered Geison. pervisor of Registration Arthur doing nothing, Geison said, only Geison, a "task force work "plenty of time" to register student volunteers must 14 jEi Ragans closed the office for 27 of the 100-or-so Negroes who er" for the Congress for Racial people before the November the county then, he said. the day. showed up at the courthouse Equality (CORE), said his election "if they did not all Geison, a University of come at one time." j He doesn't plan to open it yesterday were able to register. group would take the issue to ida student, has filed suit^ again until next Friday. "I'm giving him all the co the Madison Commission next Supervisop'-fef 'Registration in Federal Court charging Ma Wednesday. Madison County' for 28 years, son sheriff's deputies with Civil rights worker Mike Geis- operation I can- give him," re Ragan said there had been Ne- false arrest during the drive. on charged Ragans with refusal plied Ragans. ''I'm open every IF THE SUPERVISOR'S of gores registered in the county He said he has not been bo fice isn't open more the civil since 1946; ered since the suit was filed. rights group might begin picket ing, he said. Geison said he wasn't charg ing Ragans with being deliber-- ately slow in registering the Ne groes, but(said Ragans was pro-' viding "very little cooperation." "I'm sure lie doesn't have to take a two-hour 'lunch break every Friday," Geison said. Ragan countered that the law under which his office operates provides for registration be tween 9 a.m. and noon and 2 to 5 p.m. "and no other time." But Geison replied, "Our law yers feel they have a misunder standing of the law." MADISON COUNTY - where Negroes comprise about 47 per cent of the population — is one •' of eight north Florida counties selected by CORE for an in tensive Negro registration drive this summer. So far only 80 Negroes have been registered, Geison said. He blamed the limited registration hours — totaling only nine hours a week—for the drive's limited success. "We've never refused any body who was eligible," said Ragan. He said Madison County regis tration now stands at about 6,200 —including 4,600 white persons and 1,600 Negroes. CONCERNING the slow reg istration procedures, Ragan said: WlmWmt 350 Negroes Sign™ To Vote In Gadsden QUINCY W - The Congress some 75 Negroes waiting in line of Racial Equality said 350 to register. She said the office Gadsden County Negroes reg would remain closed until Mon istered yesterday in its mas day. sive drive to qualify more Ne Hutchinson, who keeps the groes as voters. voter registration books in the Included in the group, CORE office of his newspaper, the said, was a 108-year-old Negro Gadsden, was unavailable for wWian. comment. Earlier he said he ra- rhe CORE spokesman, Judy garded the registrar joFas part Bejiniger of Gainesville, said time. Supervisor of Registration J. L. He said he opened the office Hutchinson closed his office once a week because of the doors at 5 p.m. in the face of lack of business. CORE Claims 2IM Negroe Registered QUINCY (iP) — A voter regis^ tration drive pushed by the Con gress of Racial Equality wai credited today with getting 20' more Negroes qualified to vot( in-. Gadsden County, i The 204 registered yesterdav bringing the number of Negri registrants in the county to at estimated 1,900. Thre are abou' ,000 white registrants in the North Florida county when Negro residents slightly out number whites. The registration office is oper each Monday. The Congress of Racial Equal ity began the voter registratior drive a week ago and claimec that over 300 were registered th( first Monday. Registration su pervisor J. L. Hutchinson re ported however that the firs day's registration was 164. E?p © of Continues Arrested At Restaurant By ANN WALDRON Jtosenberger^ is one of several are Dorothy Jinks, 17; Willie found active, enthusiastic Na Times Bureau lawyers who are spending their Jinks, 18; Carolyn Hatchett, 18; tional Association for 'the Ad summer vacations assisting the Jesse McCall, 19; James Lott, vancement of Colored People, MADISON — Madison County civil rights movement in the 17, and David Dukes, 18. All are (NAACP) groups already organ Juvenile Court Judge Curtis South. from Greenville, except Dukes, ized in Madison and Greenville Earp yesterday continued the "The arrests were clearly a who lives in Madison. when they arrived. trial of three Negro 14-year-olds violation of the Civil Rights The arrest of the teen-agers is Voter registration has who were arrested Sunday after Act," said Rosenberger. but one symptom of racial fer boomed. During the last two noon when they waited for serv ment in this small north Florida weeks, 119 Negroes have regis ice in the Chuck Wagon restau The three 14-year-olds were tobacco-raising county. tered to vote in Madison County. rant here. Madison is about 50 with six older teen-agers on Sun day at the Chuck Wagon. The Huston and Geison say that 80 miles east of Tallahassee. TWO .YOUNG white men, Negroes were turned away from The youngsters — Alfonsa older young people, all old Bruce Huston of Tampa and enough to be outside the juris the registration office Saturday. Washington, Patricia Mickens, Mke Geison ot Gainesyjile, diction of the juvenile court, Madison County Registrar and Lavonne Jinks who are all have_cor"p '" *n W.0rk nn vntpr came before the City Court A. E. Ragans keeps his office from nearby Greenville — were registration for Negroes. ..They Judge Randell Rowe of Madison open presently from 9 to 12 and charged with trespass. on Monday afternoon. Their are" part of the North Florida from 2 to 5 on Friday and from THE PROCEEDINGS yester case also was continued until citizenship Education Protect 9 to 12 on Saturday. day were closed to the public, they could get a lawyer. which is financed by a grant The Rev. D. H. Jamison, pas but Judge Earp said the chil from t h e Eleanor Roosevelt tor of the Mount Zion AME dren's parents requested time to THE ADULTS are out on $100 Fojjji^ation~to the Congress of Church in Madison, is scheduled get a lawyer. bond each. Children are free in Racial Equality (COKE)"" for to appear before the Madison "They were represented by a the custody of their parents. voter registration work. County commissioners today to civil rights lawyer from New The older Negroes' case is Project workers are active ask the board to require the York," said the judge, "but he's scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, in not only in Madison County but registrar to extend the hours his not a member, of the Florida City CourtJ the children's case in Gadsden County and expect office is open. Bar, and they certainly have a at 1:30 p.m. in the Ju to move into Suwannee County "We also want them to send right to have a lawyer." venile Court! soon. a deputy registrar to Green The New York lawyer, Ernst The older teen-agers arrested Huston and Geison, however, ville" said Jamison. Want Cases In Federal Court v Mike Geison of Miami, one of the two young white men who have been in Madison for some time getting- negro people to register, has asked the federal court in Jack sonville to take charge of a case against him, claiming that he could not get a fair trial here, and has also asked $100,000 damages from the City of Madison and Madison County on the ground of false ar rest. Geison was arrested last Friday night by Deputy Sheriff Porter on a reckless driving charge, but Judge Earp said Wednesday that no case had been made against him and there fcvas nothing in the matter to be transferred to the federal court. Geisorl claimed a number of harass- mentsjby officers in bis activities here and claimed that a courthouse door was slammed in his face when he took some prospective negro registrants to register. A case was made in County Court here against two negro men, Witiie Eugene Pinkney of Tallahassee and Franklin Shildon Anderson of Ja maica, N Y, as a result of an incident happening on U S highway 27 in the southwestern part of the county week before last. They were charged with open profanity by a white man from Georgia as a re sult of a controversy at that time. Versions of the affair of course differ. This case has been sent to federal court for determination whether it should be tried here. The defendants have, been repre sented by a white lawyer and a negro lawyer. Representatives of I the state attorney-general's office i have been in consultation with county officials here. One of the allegations of the defendants that they could not ^at^gfair trial here | is that therlt" are no names of (negroes in the jury box. QtDdhaqsL A NEGRO MOTHER DEPICTS PRESSURE Carthage Whites Visited Her Day Before Enrollment By JOHN HERBERS the child with the necessary clothing and lunch money. Special to The New York Times "I think that's nice because we CARTHAGE, Miss., Sept. 2 — SdfwoL QnistqhaJtimL"The y told me, 'If you don't want to, need it," she said. you don't have to send your child to Asked about the civil rights move the white school,' and I told them, 'I ment she said, "We honestly want to know how to stay in my place.' " [participate], but we can't because we are scared. I want my children to The speaker was Mrs. Minnie Pearl have a learning." Boyd, one of several Negro parents who were visited by white men the Mrs. Boyd said she was picking day before they were to have sent cotton Monday when two business their children to the Carthage white men from Carthage, whom she knew, school under Federal Court order. drove up. Only one of nine eligible Negro "I took through the field to find out children showed up for registration why they were here," she said. "They yesterday and the NAACP Legal De asked me if I had a first grade child WtAAJAAippL fense and Educational Fund said the who was going to the white school." visits by Carthage businessmen were She said she replied: the reason. " 'I'm going to tell you the truth— Mrs. Boyd, her husband and six no, sir.'" children live in the middle of a cot Raised in the County ton field on the banks of the Yocka- nookany River. They occupy one of Mrs. Boyd said she then explained dtiloxL a dozen houses in the Ofahoma com that she had grown up in Leake \ munity 10 miles east of Carthage, the County and had never tried to break county seat. racial barriers. She said the men then told her she did not have to send her Seeks End of Poverty child to the white school. MISSISSIPPI PUPILS INTEGRATE CALMLY The small intense woman paused She showed no disappointment that from her cotton picking today to tell the integration attempt had fallen reporters of the subtle relationship 16 Negroes Join First Grade at Biloxi - through. between whites and Negroes in which State Is Last to Yield to Ruling of '54 little is said but much is understood. "I'm just worried about getting She also said that what she was seek enough for my children to eat and By JOHN HERBERS But the streets were empty and the ing was not integration but relief wear," she said. from the poverty that has ruled her Special to The New York Times city of 60,000 seemed languid and In Carthage, the Negro girl who life. unconcerned in the late August heat. registered in the white school attend BILOXI, Miss., Aug. 31—On the lawn of the Gorenflo Elementary 16 Negroes in Classes The Boyds live in a three-room, ed classes today without incident, School, a first-grade class of boys and This is how school integration be tin-roofed house on the farm of a Ne Debora Lewis was brought to the girls held hands around a pecan tree low the college level came to Missis gro who has grown too old to work school by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. today for a game of drop the hand sippi after 10 years of angry, re the land himself. They have 10 acres J. A. Lewis, who live in a small bun- kerchief. sourceful resistance. Sixteen Negro in cotton and five in corn, which they galow one mile from town. first-graders attended classes in four farm on shares. A dozen city police and sherrifFs The teacher, a pretty blonde, chose previously all-white schools in Biloxi The cotton grows right up to the deputies stood guard in front of the a Negro girl in pigtails and a prim today without incident. front porch. Children, dogs and chick new brick building as the three drove white dress to go first. The girl R. D. Brown, superintendent of ens scamper around a small yard that up in a 1952 Chevrolet. The 8:15 bell skipped several times around the schools, said attendance of white pu contains, among other things, a 1953 had just rung and all the other stu circle, as if she were trying to decide pils was normal and he expected no Chevrolet, and an iron kettle and a dents were in their rooms. The streets if it would be proper to be chased by trouble. water pump. were empty except for the officers and one of the 25 white children. a few reporters. Mississippi was the last state to Mrs. Boyd said she had agreed to Finally, she dropped the handker yield to the Supreme Court's decision send her 6-year-old daughter to the An officer stopped Mrs. Lewis at chief behind a grinning Negro boy 10 years ago that segregation in the white school because she understood the gate and a school official came in black pants and a white shirt, one public schools is unconstitutional. .. . other Negro first graders in the com out and escorted the child into the of the three other Negroes in the Derrick Bell of New York, a lawyer munity were going "and they need to building. class, and scooted around the circle be together." to his place before he could catch her. with the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense Three hours later, Mr. and Mrs. The children's laughter rang out and Education Fund, Inc., said Ne Civil rights workers who have been Lewis drove back to the school and through the white residential neigh groes were "very heartened" by the active in Leake County this summer picked up Debora just before the bell borhood. compliance. . . . visited her and promised to supply rang. There was no trouble. Reprinted from the New York Times of Sept. 1 and Sept. 3,1964 cmye ^AJ THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND The Legal Arm of the Civil Rights Movement Lawyers of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund have been responsible for 95% of civil rights legal action in the South. The Fund represents every individual who requests help on the basis of denial of constitutional rights. It serves all of the civil rights groups and represents cases arising out of activities of NAACP, SCLC, CORE and SNCC. Among those being defended by the Fund at present are Martin Luther King, Jr. and James Farmer. During the summer of 1964 staff lawyers coordinated legal work in behalf of participants in the Mississippi Summer Project through emergency offices in Jackson and in Memphis, Tennessee, organizing the ivork of volunteer lawyers and taking financial and legal responsibility for scores of cases in which the rights of civil rights workers were violated. Since 1939, the Fund has been the legal conscience of America, seeking through the orderly process of the courts to end the shame of racial segregation and discrimination in education, housing, voting, transportation, recreation and employment. With 17 staff lawyers and 120 local cooperating attorneys throughout the South, the Legal Defense Fund is handling 181 separate groups of cases now in the courts. Altogether, more than 12,000 individuals are presently being defended. School Desegregation: NAACP Defense Fund lawyers represent Negro parents in the four Mississippi communities where federal courts ordered school desegregation this year. They have represented students and parents in hundreds of suits which have led to at least token desegregation of schools and colleges in every state of the South. In 84 suits Defense Fund lawyers seek through court action to secure equal educational opportunity for the more than two and a half million Negro children still in segregated schools in the South. We Need Your Help Southern states use taxpayers' money to oppose Funds are urgently needed to cover growing the struggle in the courts for equality and needs for court action this year. It is estimated justice; the Fund depends entirely on the that a total of $1,400,000 will be required for voluntary contributions of concerned citizens. essential legal expenses in 1964. Please send your tax deductible gift to: The N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. Suite 2030 • 10 Columbus Circle • New York, N. Y. 10019 CORE - Congress of Racial Equality 38 Park Row, New York, NY IOC38 CO 7-6270 FOR BMSDIATE RELEASE ATTN: Marvin Rich or Jim Peck RECORD MONTH IN LOUISIANA VOTER CAMPAIGN Baton Rouge, La., Oct. 8/-"We registered a total of 1,082 persons in September—the highest number for any single month since CORE started its Louisiana voter registration campaign two years ago,"report CORE Field Secretary Ronnie Moore, who has led the drive over the two-year period. The figure covers a total of 13 parishes in the fourth and fifth congressional districts. Pointing out that "the existence of biased registrars and the limitation of federal action still constitute a major obstacle," Moore says in his report: "The only factor which made it possible for us to make such a gain was the sudden and enormous concern of the Negro people motivated by their desire to defeat or at least put the strongest voting protest possible against Barry Goldwater.'5 Asserting that discrimination is just one of the problems, he stateszpfY^ "Negro voter applicants and civil rights workers constantly are harassed, arrested, prosecuted and subjected to economic, political and physical reprisals by private citizens, public officials and sometimes businesses.'' TRIPLE REGISTRATION IN FLORIDA COUNTY Quincy, Fla., Oct. 8—The number of Negroes registered in Gadsden county more than tripled during a three-month concentrated registration campaign conducted by CORE. This was reported by CORE Task Force Workers David McVoy and Stuart Wechsler, both of whom were arrested on phony charges during the campaign. The total number of Negroes registered rose from 1,^25 on July 7 to J+,755 on October 3 when the report was issued. Substantial increases in Negro registration also were made in three other northwestern Florida counties involved in the CORE drive. "Not only have 5^,-00 Negroes been registered in the four counties, but there has arisen a realization among members of the community theat change is possible. Task Force Workers, both Negro and white, have been accepted readily by the community and in general there has been community support for the project." ET'S / NATIONAL LABOR SERVICE / INSTITUTE OF HUMAN RELATIONS 165 EAST 56 STREET by HARRY FLEISCHMAN NEW YORK 22, N. Y. • PLAZA 1-4000 / OCTOBER 196ij. THE SAME THE WIDE WORLD OYER It is remarkable how often the same proverb appears among people of different nations, religions and races. For instance, in RACIAL PROVERBS, a book by S„ G, Champion (Barnes & Noble, $12.£0), appear the following variations of "in unity there is strength." In Iceland, it is "Two are an army against one." The Swedes say, "When the blind man carries the lame man, both go forward," A Jewish proverb reads., "If all men were to pull on one side, the world would be overturned," The Chinese say, "When brothers work together, moun tains are turned into gold," Incidentally, RACIAL PROVERBS is a misnomer for this interesting book. It should be called ETHNIC PROVERBS, since it includes some 26,000 ethnic, rather than racial, proverbs taken from nearly 200 languages. GREAT WORDS There is no real wealth but the labor of man. Were the mountains of gold and the valleys of silver, the world would not be one grain of corn the richer; no one comfort would be added to the human race, — Percy Bysshe Shelley, l8l3<» BATTLING CENSORSHIP "When schools are timorous because of the public's attitude or because they're not sure of public backing, the natural inclination is to play it safe. Take the book off the shelf and put it in the closet." That's the explanation for the creation of a new Intellectual Freedom Committee in my home territory on Long Island, We've had lots of censorship squabbles in my neck of the woods. Last year the Levittown School Board banned a history textbook by Prof, Emil Lengyel because of alleged Communist-front affiliations many years earlier, (The voters took care of that situation by voting in anti-censorship trustees.) In 1962, a psychological test designed to examine children's reactions to family situations evoked a new attempt at censorship when John Bruno, a pro-Birch Hicksville School Board trustee, claimed that the cartoons involved in the test were "sheer smut," Even J.D. Salinger's modern classic, "Catcher in the Rye," was banned by Bethpage High School's library in 1962, A school li brarian who surveyed high-school libraries in Nassau County that year reported that virtually every school librarian on Long Island has felt pressure to remove books considered by some parents or school board members to be subversive or indecent, and that 82 per cent of the county's librarians practice preventive censorship. One and two column mats available upon request. The column may be used with or without a credit line -more- "•2» Now the reasonable citizens are fighting back. The Long Island Intellectual Freedom Committee, a watchdog group of 350 school li brarians, will work to counter efforts by "vocal minorities" to in timidate school officials into removing books from library shelves and classrooms, BLACK AND READ "He who knows books," says an old Bulgarian proverb, "has four eyes." Considering the recent spate of books I've read about race relations, I should have more eyes than a centipede has feet, CRISIS IN BLACK AND WHITE, by Charles E, Silberman (Random House, $5.95)* warns that racial tension will increase until we realize that we are dealing with an American, and not a Negro, problem, Silberman urges Negroes to gain sufficient political and economic power to se cure equality, and points out that doing things for instead of with people who are supposed to be helped, destroys their dignity and arouses their hostility instead,, THE NEW EQUALITY, by Nat Hentoff (Viking, $i|..95)» is a fascinating probe of the racial stresses and strains in our society. "Having gone beyond morality to power in order to achieve its aims," con cludes Hentoff, the civil-rights movement "may have begun to create a society in which morality will be the normative principle in action." THE ECONOMICS OF EQUALITY, by Tom Kahn (League for Industrial Democ racy, 75^)$ focuses on the economic and social underpinnings of dis crimination, Kahn insists that full employment is essential to suc cessful integration — otherwise, black and white workers at the bottom of the economic heap will fight one another for scarce jobs. He calls for a coalition of the civil-rights movement, unions, lib erals and the churches to solve the problems of racism by expanding the public sector of the economy, creating new jobs for all and fill ing the unmet needs of the nation for decent housing, schools, hospi tals and transportation systems, NIGGER, by Dick Gregory (Dutton, $ij.,95)» is a poignant autobiography of one of the nation's leading comedians, Gregory's story of life in the Negro ghetto will do more to make white Americans understand the way a Negro feels than any number of well-meant solemn tomes. Early in life Gregory learned to fight back with jokes rather than fists. His humor makes it evident that he's a colored funny man, not a funny colored man. "They asked me to buy a lifetime membership in the NAACP," he told one nightclub audience, "but I told them I'd pay a week at a time. Hell of a thing to buy a lifetime membership, wake up one morning and find the country's been integrated." And as a closing gag, he told that same group: "Wouldn't it be a hell of a thing if all this was burnt cork and you people were being tolerant for nothing?" -more- -> HISTORICAL NOTES Recently in a distinguished Eastern college, reports Rev, Robert F, Drinan, dean of Boston College's Law School, one of the professors asked each of the II4.I freshmen in his class on American civilization to give him an unsigned slip indicating how many of the student's grandparents had been born in America, The next day the professor announced to his class that only one member of the class had all four grandparents born in America, The professor asked the one student to stand. He was the only Negro in the class, UGH "At least the Beatles have proved one thing," announces the Knoxville^ Term. News-Sentine1, "The younger generation does appreciate long hair music.1' ALONG FREEDOM ROAD -» When 25 Negro families moved into a Houston, Tex. suburb over the past two years, blockbusters tried to panic white residents into selling at a loss-, The whites refused to be stampeded, As a re sult, reports Jet magazine, property values in the area have in creased by almost $2,000, according to Federal Housing Administra tion appraisals, -«- Actors' Equity Association is holding a conference on "The Creative Use of Minorities in the Theatre" at New York's Hotel Astor Novem ber 19, Performers, playwrights, producers, directors and chore ographers will be among those represented, # The American Newspaper Guild's new human-rights pamphlet, "Careers for Negroes on Newspapers," is being used this fall in vocational- guidance programs conducted by Cleveland's Freedom Schools Coordina ting Committee, The pamphlet examines in some detail the jobs of reporter, advertising salesman and circulation district manager and suggests ways in which Negroes can prepare for newspaper careers, *- When a foreman at Republic Aviation in Farmingdale, N.Y, persisted in calling a Negro electrician "boy," l|2-year-old Francois Frazier objected heatedly and was fired. His union, the International Association of Machinists Lodge 1987* took the case to arbitration and Frazier was reinstated with $1,128 pay for his lost time. LIR, LPK, LNP, CCD, MMCCD, ILG, LPKE, LBH Ctfoy?, ^O '''••''--i-mmWrnm llI a 1m: . l Fire Started In Quincy CORE Office QUINCY (UPI) — A fire was Gordon said newspapers and started in the office of the Con records were placed on the floor Gadsden CORE gress of Racial Equality and doused with kerosene to (CORE) early yesterday, doing start the blaze. Gordon sent a fiiinor damage to the building telegram to the U.S. Justice De Site Is Burned and its contents. partment asking for an investi Assistant Safety Director gation. QUINCY-The CORE head Woodrow McPherson said the He also asked for an investi quarters building here was set fire was put out 25 minutes after gation of the arrest of CORE afire about 3 a.m. today, ac in anonymous telephone call re worker Richard Williams, 19, cording to Woodrow McPher- ported the office was afire. New York, for failure to have son, assistant Safety Director. , CORE field secretary Spiver a Florida driver's license. The building on South Adams Street was reported by annony- mous telephone call to be burn ing at 3:20 a.m. The Safety Department put out the fire within 25 minutes after getting the call. Minor damage was done to the floor and furnish ings. Smoke damage was unde Fire Slightly Damages termined. CORE Quincy Office Kerosene and paper were used to start the fire, McPher- By Statt V/rtUr son said the Safety Department QUINCY, Dec. 8-The heart closed the building until Assist garters building of CORE Si" ant Chief Fire Marshall Mal earTvg hlSlightIy by *« *£ colm McNeill Sr. arrived to in eany thit s mornin1 g vestigate. JHr,? *™' ***** The building is owned by safety director, said the deDarf Mrs. Annie Stevens. reC eiVed a caU Eh K * 3:20 am smmATimv,a*mi**-Ke Registration Times-Miami Herald Service fear and claims it was easy to get 100 for today's push. 1 TALLAHASSEE - L1 b e r ty He also claims that the first County is scheduled today to wit time he called Mrs. Reese, three ness a massive assault on one of weeks ago, she told him Satur Its most cherished traditions — days were open. She says the1 the all-white voter registration. conversation did not take place. About 100 Negroes — and for Liberty County that's "massive" T USED *0 go down there —! have vowed to knock on the on Saturdays," she explained. jseigstrar's door at 9:15 a.m. "Used to go down there all by myself. But people don't work But the last word from Mrs. on Saturdays. J Bessie Reese, the registrar, was that she would not be there to "Anyway, this Isn't discrimuh ating. They say they have to answer. work on Wednesdays. Weli, so 4o As of late yesterday, all indi white folks." cation) were that the whites of Several groups—including rep* Liberty County had once again resentatives of the Florida Ad — at'fefstVtenborarily - out visory Committee, on Clxi I maneuvered the Negroes. Rights — had planned to gp MRS. REESE used to register along to watch the Negroes oa Saturdays. But three weeks make history; This secretary of ago, just when the Negro voter state's office, which oversees registration drive began, the election activities in Florida, county commissioners changed also promised to haw "a friend it to Wednesday. in the building across the street" watching. 'Spiver W. Gordon, field secre What was scheduled for today tary for the Congress of Racial mar#t teppen pntfl Wednes .Equality, who has been aiming day, *utf^aipe«i Certain Ifiat everything at this Saturday, said ' one** mm** toughestrapa l n*v***i made secret^ and rampart* k» about to be toppled. - "Hcaiise Negroes can't .'gftt •way $am Work, on Wednesdays to THERE HASN'T been a Ne gro on Liberty's registration list yesterday, Gordon was for «jbout eight years. The last to reach LeRoy Col- tun* *ay signed up ~ a dozen •FJorijIa's former governor trie* ft then rr whites to-the-. w&#«r heads th* Community cominanlty made it so>i$i|gh on) Rations Agency sat *p by ,tbe them feat they o^eJUy went imCW Rights Act, to see « back to.^* IM******* Coi&eycan't persuade the com-' to be unregistered. mfisoonere to order Mrs. Reese, just for today aad so-100 Ne- Same of their grses won't be disappointed, to fir*#j«*f?fetea*: open up. . There was reportedly **$ • Jfegroe*? First Name 7 Court Use Ruled Out WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court reversed today a contempt conviction in an Alabama court of a Negro woman who refused to answer questions unless she was ad dressed as "Miss Hamilton," instead of just "Mary." The woman, a field secre tary for the Congress of Racial Equality, had been called into court with a large number of Negroes who faced charges growing out of racial demon strations in Etowah County in June, 1963. The National Association for the Advancement of Col ored People appealed to the Supreme Court on behalf of the woman. It asked the high tribunal to strike down the practice in some Southern courts of addressing Negroes by their first names in court proceedings. CORE Regional Office Opened The Congress on Racial Equal ity opened a Southern regional office at 2211 Dryades Wednes day. Heading the new CORE office is Richard Haley, New York City, associate national direc tor. He said the local office is designed to serve as a base headquarters for CORE opera tions throughout the South. Haley said the regional office will also function as "a means of support for the New Orleans CORE group." Also working out of the new regional office are Edward Hol lander of Baltimore, Md., a member of CORE's national staff press bureau, and Miss Mary Hamilton, CORE field sec retary for South Louisiana. FEBRUARY 14, 19M S T A T E S - I T E M | Scuffle Erupts As Judge Raps Rights Bill A St. Francisville district judge assailed the civil rights bill as a "dastardly act" dur ing a New Orleans Citizens' Council meeting marked by a scuffle. Addressing the group at Mu nicipal Auditorium, Judge John R. Rarick termed the civil rights measure a "blueprint for destruction." He said the only purpose of the bill is to bring about "fed eral intervention and control." TWO PERSONS in the audi ence were struck during a scuf fle that broke out during the meeting. They were jeered by the audience and escorted out of the auditorium by police. Police said they did not know the reason for the outbreak. Police refused a request by one of the men for an escort to his car, parked about 75 feet away. He was not fol lowed to the car by the crowd, Jiowever. Two Negro pickets who pa raded outside the Auditorium said they were demonstrating '"against judicial participation in /^partisan speeches. They re ceived Jeers fr°m persons leav ing the Auditorium after the meeting. JUDGE RARICK told the au dience the civil rights bill re quires teachers "to teach inte gration." He said teachers would be refused the right to teach racial, religious or na tional pride. The judge urged council mem bers to start a "war of letters" against the bill. He urged them to write to their senators in Washington and especially to "people up North." The civil rights measure al ready has passed the House. White Student Says 4 Whites Beat Him By ANN WALDRON Taylor is one of three white Times Bureau college students helping Negroes in a voter registration drive in MADISON - A white New Madison County. Their work is York law student helping with a being sponsored by the Eleanor Negro voter registration drive Roosevelt Foundation through a here, claimed yesterday that he grant to the Congress on Racial was beaten by four white men Equality. Besides Taylor, white Thursday night while city police students are Mike Geisen of looked on. Gainesville and Bruce Huston of Ned Taylor, 22, a student at Tampa. New York University, had a GEISEN CLAIMED yesterday bruised lip and a sore nose. that a fire bomb made from Madison Police Chief Herman gasoline and a glass bottle was Cherry said the incident was not thrown under his car, but that reported to city police. it rolled harmlessly away. Sheriff Simeon Moore said there was "a demonstration of some kind" near the Chuck Man Who Fed Wagon Restaurant Thursday night. Negroes Reports "I was following Taylor home for his own protection," said the Whites Beat Him sheriff. "I left him with the city MADISON ID — The owner of police watching and turned a Madison restaurant reported around and went back to get my to the Florida Highway Patrol car. When I caught up with Thursday night that a group of Taylor, something had hap white segregationists ran his pened. I don't know what." car into a ditch and beat him CHIEF CHERRY then said because he served Negroes. that he had followed Taylor part M. B. Kent, Marianna, owner of the time and "some other po of the Chuck Wagon at Madi liceman" followed him part of son, said a group of more than the time. He said he saw no one 100 whites gathered at the attack Taylor. "If I had, I Chuck Wagon Thursday night would have arrested them," he before a caravan of cars fol said. lowed him toward Live Oak Cherry maintained the Inci and forced him off the road. dent had not been reported to He said one of the group him. "They report things to the slugged him, but he was able FBI and the governor's office, to draw a pistol and hold the not to us," he said. angry group away from him. CORE OPENS (OONTINUED FROM PAGE 1) nounced plans to challenenge the seating of delegates of that state from bom the Democra tic and Republican National Conventions. They noted that the State of Mississippi has one million Negroes, not one of whom may be said repre sented by the all white Miss issippi convention dele gation." Dave Dennis, who will work out of this office arid formerly of Shreveport, La., is the CORE Field Secretary in charge of CORE'S activity in this campaign. "Serious consideration is being given at this very mo ment to a similar move in at least one of the Congress ional Districts in the State of Louisiana," Mr. Haley stated. CORE To Open First Another worker that will probably be in charge of this operation is Ronnie Moore. Southern Office Here Mr. Moore, a native of New Oleans, is now CORE'S Field The National Office of the will take a sharp look of L Secretary inchargeof CORE'S Congress of Racial Equality state of race relations in this Voters' Education Project in announced earlier this week city." Continuing he said, Louisiana. the opening of their first sou "In this regard we expect Continuing, Mr. Haley said, \ thern office to be located in to be able to lend the support "Locally it has been noted New Orleans, at 2211 Dryades and weight of the National that the potential Negro regis Street, Room 203. Office to the work of New tration is more than suffi The office will serve as a Orleans CORE, particularly, cient to achieve some political central CORE agency which and also to civil rights or representation of NewOrleans will service the southern ganizations in the city gen Negoes on both the local and states. In the first months, erally." state level. concern will be in Louisiana The purpose for opening the "With the prospect of such and Mississippi, because of office will include a number intensive work as these prob personnel concentration there of activities. Mr. Haley lems indicate, the National and of the southern states pointed out "a group of civil Office of CORE sees me open these are the ones CORE has rights organizations in Miss ing of the Southern Office as been most active. issippi, who are working to an immediate necessity." Richard Haley, the new gether and are called CAFOI director of the office and (Council of FederatedOrgani- Mr. Haley has been a mem Associate National Director zations) has already an- ber of CORE'S staff since of CORE, said in a press 1960. During this time he has release, "Since New Orleans (See CORE OPENS devoted much of his activity is .CORE'S southern pffice ye - Page 10) to various sections of the 3 south. As is typical of civil A?A&t rights workers these days the new director has achieved close personal qcquaintahce with the jail houses ofFlorida, Georgia, Alabama and Miss issippi. Mr. Haley was for* merly a music instructor at Florida A & M University at Tallahassee, Fla. It was be cause of his work in CORE, during that time, he was dis charged from the university. Associated with Mr. Haley, besides Mr. Dennis and Mr. Moore, at the office will be Edward Hollander, in charge of press relations for the sou thern area, and Miss Mary Hamilton. Miss Hamilton will use the office as headquar ters for her work at CORE'S Field Secretary in Southern Louisiana. The office will also serve as a communications point for CORE OPENS (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1) nounced plans to challenenge the seating of delegates of mat state from both the Democra tic and Republican National Conventions. They noted that the State of Mississippi has one million Negroes, not one of whom may be said repre sented by the all white Miss issippi convention dele gation." Dave Dennis, who will work out of this office arid formerly of Shreveport, La., is the CORE Field Secretary in charge of CORE'S activity in this campaign. "Serious consideration is being given at this very mo ment to a similar move in at least one of the Congress ional Districts in the State of Louisiana," Mr. Haley stated. Another worker that will probably be in charge of this operation is Ronnie Moore. Mr. Moore, a native of New CORE To Open First Oleans, is now CORE'S Field Secretary inchargeof CORE'S Voters' Education Project in Southern Office Here Louisiana. Continuing, Mr. Haley said, The National Office of the Congress of Racial Equality will take a sharp look of t "Locally it has been noted announced earlier this week state of race relations in this that the potential Negro regis the opening of their first sou city." Continuing he said, tration is more than suffi thern office to be located in "In this regard we expect cient to achieve some political New Orleans, at 2211 Dryades to be able to lend the support representation of NewOrleans Street, Room 203. and weight of the National Negoes on both the local and Office to the work of New state level. The office will serve as a "With the prospect of such central CORE agency which Orleans CORE, particularly, will service the southern and also to civil rights or intensive work as these prob states. In the first months, ganizations in the city gen lems indicate, the National concern will be in Louisiana erally." Office of CORE sees me open ing of the Southern Office as and Mississippi, because of The purpose for opening the personnel concentration there office will include a number an immediate necessity," and of the southern states of activities. Mr. Haley Mr. Haley has been a mem these are the ones CORE has pointed out "a group of civij ber of CORE'S staff since been most active. rights organizations in Miss 1960. During this time he has Richard Haley, the new issippi, who are working to devoted much of his activity director of the office and gether and are called CAFOI j to various sections of the Associate National Director (Council of Federated Organi- j south. As is typical of civil of CORE, said in a press zations) has already an- rights workers these days the release, "Since NewOrleans new director has achieved is CORE'S southern office we (See CORE OPENS close personal qcquaintahce - Page 10) with the jail houses ofFlorida, Georgia, Alabama and Miss issippi. Mr. Haley was for* merly a music instructor at Florida A & M University at Tallahassee, Fla. It was be cause of his work in CORE, during that time, he was dis charged from the university. Associated with Mr. Haley, besides Mr. Dennis and Mr. Moore, at the office will be Edward Hollander, in charge of press relations for the sou thern area, and Miss Mary Hamilton. Miss Hamilton will use the office as headquar ters for her work at CORE'S Field Secretary in Southern Louisiana. , The office will also serve as a communications point for the New Orleans chapter. „ grandchildren. i. if CORERegional i Is Jo Office Opened 35 IV The Congress on Racial Equal d. ity opened a Southern regional Ml office at 2211 Dryades Wednes id day. le Heading the new CORE office x- is Richard Haley, New York g- City, associate national direc Id tor. He said the local office is al designed to serve as a base llo headquarters for CORE opera Ji- tions throughout the South. er Haley said the regional office cy in will also function as "a means se of support for the New Orleans sa w, bs CORE group." us u- Also working out of the new W id regional office are Edward Hol ar h- lander of Baltimore, Md., a it s, member of CORE'S national i- staff press bureau, and Miss !V n Mary Hamilton, CORE field sec tl retary fo rSouth Louisiana. g h a t LMfll CORE,- Congress of Racial Equality 1501-1 East Blvd. Baton Rouge, La, 1504) 342-8388 ATTN: Ronnie Moore Judy Rollins FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CORE PILES SUIT IN PLAQUEMINE /pj\ Today, CORE lawyers filed a suit against Mayor Schnebelen and the Board of Selectmen of Plaquemine, Louisiana, to bring the matter of annexation of DuPont Annex la predominately Negro area) into litigation. rn^ The purpose of the suit is to force Plaquemine officials to call an election to determine whether DuPont will be in w corporated into the city of Plaquemine. It is a class action naming Nathan Georgetown as the complainant, filed on behalf D of other Negroes In Plaquemine. The fight for annexation of DuPont Annex has been a long and hard one for Negroes of Iberville Parish. Repeatedly, petitions have been presented to the Mayor and ignored. GORE Is attempting to avoid a repitition of the September 1963 demonstration by now approaching the problem from a legal standpoint. - 30 - C/^-y?J Northern The Christ tan Century California churches with strong regional ties and some of the "cults" which refrain com Racial Equality (CORE) set itsdf up as #r pletely from any political involvement, a negotiating group, and when negotia H.SMI T. CULVXK churches of all persuasions are speaking tion failed resorted to picketing. How out with more conviction than they have ever, some persons, both Negroes and No Minority Problem f shown over any issue in many years. In whites, who approve of CORE'S objec a poll conducted by die Northern Cali tives and welcome more direct action A decade ago most people in northern than has been forthcoming from the California would have said in all good fornia-Nevada Methodist annual confer ence's board of Christian social concerns, N.A.A.CJP. agree with the Bank of faith, "We have no race problem here." America (which was picketed in various True, there bad been prejudice earlier *i8 ministers in that conference an swered Yes, * No, to the question: "Do parts of the state) that as a self-consti in the century —against the Japanese, tuted group CORE has exceeded its but that bad practically disappeared in you favor continuance of the Rumford Fair Housing Act?" authority in demanding to see business the years following World War II. The records which the bank officials said they Chinese, since early days, have prided It is probable that most of the region would show only to a government agen themselves on their ability to hold their al denominational meetings held be cy. The Black Muslims made capital of own and care for their own — and have tween now and November will take a the situation, and several Negro Baptist always been respected for it. American firm stand against the amendment. For churches, especially in San Francisco, Indians and Motions might not be ex instance, at a meeting May 14-17 the came out firmly on the side of CORE actly accepted, but they were appreciated United Church of Christ pointed out demonstrators. Some white ministers as part of the area's cosmopolitan heri joined the picket lines, and three Presby tage. As for Negroes, there were not Uiat "the Christian faith has continuous ly upheld the supremacy of human terian and three Episcopal clergymen enough to constitute a problem. Many were arrested. Negroes and many whites had tome in rights over property rights, because peo with the war industries, but California ple are more important in the eyes of From discovery of the frequent lack of had digested influxes of population be God than things" and called on the de trained personnel for jobs that mere fore. Few Californians, few California nominational conference to "encourage open came the next question: de facto churches, were concerned and support its individual churches to segregation in schools and the resulting work actively for the defeat of this inequality in levels of education re When pressure groups first began call Initiative Constitutional Amendment," ceived. In Berkeley a carefully docu ing attention to the fact that in Califor Most regional denominational units mented report on this situation led the nia radal minorities, including the Ne have taken steps to remind rank-and- board of education to redraw the gro, wet* being subjected % personal in file members that the radal stands taken boundary lines at the junior high school dignities, job discrimination, inferior by their national bodies should be im level to assure a mixture of education educational opportunities and ghetto plemented by opposition to the pro ally privileged and underprivileged in housing, no one quite believed it. The posed measure. each school. Formed to oppose the plan, complaining groups were accused of At the close of the western regional a citizens' committee which calls itself borrowing trouble. In local churches conference of Catholic Interracial Coun Parents' Association for Neighborhood one heard considerable talk about the cils, held in Menlo Park, a group known Schools is busy assembling signatures for church preaching tht gospel and letting as Catholics Against Proposition 14 came recall of four members of the erstwhile the layman make his own application. into being. It promises "to reach every very popular board of education. Many Some of the larger councils of churches Catholic household in California before persons who champion integrated took the lead in circulating open-hous November" to urge persons to vote schools do not think the board found ing covenants among church members, agafnsr TRe^nTfiative measure. , . . the proper solution, and many persons but the percentage of signatures was dis Meanwhile a number of religious lead anxious to maintain the neighborhood appointing. ers—from Roman Catholic bishops to character of the schools have little sym Jewish rabbis to representatives of the pathy with the parents' association's tac ffousittf Legislation National Association of Evangelicals — tics. Meanwhile, Roy. Nichols, Negro are working with spokesmen for busi Methodist minister who has been presi Iu Berkeley, which prides itself on its dent of die board, has been named arge number of churches and its pro- ness, finance, labor, the professions (and even a dissenting past president of the minister of 4,500member Salem Meth rressive attitudes, a proposed fair hous- odist Church in New York dty. ng ordinance created a furor and was California real estate association) on a iefcated at the polls. Soon thereafter statewide committee — Californians for he state legislature passed the Rumford Fair Housing — appointed by Gov. Pat Straw* In the Wind «air Housing act, which forbids discrim- Brown to direct the campaign against Councils of churches in Sacramento, nation in sales and rentals, even in pri- the amendment. San Francisco, the east bay region, the «ate housing if two or snore units are Through its commission on racial and peninsula area and Marin county are nvolved; it sew up procedures, provides cultural relations, the Northern Cal participating fn the permanent con lenalties. Since its passage, however, a ifornia council of churches took its ferences on religion and race (most of iampaign backed by the real estate place in the front lines early in the con them interfaith) established ir, their wards has collected enough signatures . troversy. It assigned a staff member, Rod communities. . . . Many churches are m an initiative petition to force a pop- ney Larson, to full-time work on the showing the film Property Values and tlar vote in the November general eke- problem, sent out thousands of leaflets Race produced by the San Francisco ion. The initiative proposal takes the and supplied speakers to all parts of council for civic unity (457 Market St.) orm of an amendment to the state ron- northern California, Larson, who is now to sort out fact and fiction about what titution, guaranteeing owners the right doing the same kind of work fosr the really happens when a community k in o discriminate in sale or rental of prop- committee appointed by Gov. Brown, tegrated. ... In Oakland a mass rally gfty. It would nullify the present state points out that denominational execu addressed by Martin Luther King, Jr., tives and the council leadership have drew 17,000 participants. . . . The nd local fair housing laws and prevent - jrcy others from being passed. -strongly supported the staff wort tfiat Northern California, San Francisco and Legal experts point out that aaide from has been done on die issue. Day-to-day East Bay church councils have installed he questions of housing, the amend- participation has come from Paul Shel- paid staff with secretarial service to in oent would cause serious problems in ford, executive director of the council; form people about the proposed hous ases where the disposal of estates, the from Richard C. Norberg, president of ing amendment and extend the educa ale of property to satisfy damage claims, the council as well as of the regional tional process to related fields in the, ir auction procedures demand that prop- United Church of Christ conference; racial ptctUTe. The regional council has ity be sold to the highest bidder. More- and from leaders in the various denom been sponsoring a pertinent Tv* pro ,vcr, it would jeopardise availability of inations. gram and a weekly radio forum, with ederal funds for urban renewal and interfaith participants. . . . >tber projects whic* require nondis- Job* and School* rimiijation. In their enthusiasm the In addition to all this, Californians ral estste boards sponsoring the amend- have been forced to face up to certain jem may very well have overstepped otber racial issues they formerly did not nemselves. think of as "problems." Most firms ex Legal problems aside, most of the cept smaU ones emp!oy some Negroes, hurches cf northern California now but not nearly as many as their propor ealize that a question of ethic* a«d con- tion of the population warrants. More riencc is involved, and they are raising over, employment of minority people at oices of protest. Except for a very few the administrative or executive level has been ali too often only a token gesture. April 9-11 In The Washington, D.C. Peacemaker On Friday, April 9, from 1-5 p.m., Peacemakers will hold a demonstra tion in front of Internal Revenue head Vok March 27, 1965 Number 5 quarters (1201 E St. NW., Washington, D. C). Signs will emphasize refusal to finance the war in Vietnam. Headquarters for the Peacemaker The Way It Was In Selma Continuation Committee will be the Washington Fellowship House, 945 By Ernest Bromley volved; that they had been beaten, arrested, and jailed many times. L St. NW. Come at 12 noon on Friday; Entering Selma, Alabama, on the then join the demonstration. night of Tuesday, March 16, Maurice Someone on the steps would call Dinner will be at 6:30, with a dis McCrackin and I saw beside the road out, "What ya want?" And the crowd cussion on Operation Freedom. The a National Bank sign which read, "Wel would yell "Freedom!" Then he would evening session will be 8:15, with a come to Selma, the City of 100 go Hu call out louder, "I don't think Jim discussion on Nonpayment of Taxes— man Interest." For the past two weeks Clark heard that. What ya want?" And Why? How?, and Nonpayment and the the eyes of the nation and the world the crowd, now grown perhaps to 500, War in Vietnam. Washington pacifists have been riveted on this town of would yell loud enough to be heard have been invited. nearly 30,000 people, scene of extreme across town, "Freedom!" Then would Arrangements are being handled police brutality against citizens seek come the question "When?" and the by Miriam K. Cornelius, 14-V-l Ridge ing the right to vote. response "Now!" Road, Greenbelt, Md. Let her know in Arriving at Brown Chapel, center I walked over to where three boys advance when you will arrive. Cots of activity being carried on by the about age 10 were sitting on bikes. can be provioed. People should bring Student Nonviolent Coordinating Com All of them had the large lapel button sleeping bags". mittee and the Southern Christian with words "We Shall Overcome." I Leadership Conference, we were as asked if the police say anything to signed a place for the night—in the them about these buttons. The police home of a family not far from the do not like these buttons, they said. Fast In Penitence "When we was in jail," one of them church in an apartment of a federal said, "they told us to throw these but For Vietnam housing unit. tons in the garbage cans." He said Early next morning we were in Two pacifists have begun a "fast in that all went over and threw them in. front of Brown Chapel where singing Then he added as sort of an aside, penitence" for Vietnam which may had already commenced. "Everybody "But when they wasn't lookin' I went last "unto death." wants freedom," "Ain't gonna let Jim over and got mine out again." They are Lee Stern of Nyack, N. Y. Clark turn me 'round," " 'Gonna walk and Horace Champney of Yellow when the spirit says walk," etc. Sing I asked these boys if the police Springs, Ohio. ing is an important part of the activi chase them, as some of the older peo They invite others to join, for "one ty, we came to learn. It is spontaneous. ple had intimated. "Oh yes," one boy meal, one day, one week . . ." People with no appointed leader clap said, with a grin. "But they can't catch Each day, they are sending to Presi continually in rhythm until a person me, 'cause I go like this." To demon dent Johnson the money they have over here or one over there breaks strate he made a quick snake-like mo tion with one hand, and with the oth saved through fasting, asking that it into another song. It may be a song be used "exclusively for the purpose er gave a couple of jerks on his handle with newly-improvised words about bar. of trying to help in some small way Sheriff Clark and his posse, or Mr. . . . those whose lives we have iirre- Baker, or perhaps Al Lingo of the Large contingents were arriving versibly disrupted." state troopers. from distant places. One set of busses Stern started his fast on February Mr. Baker and Mr. Clark were al brought 90 from Boston. These were 10, but made no public announcement most always sitting in squad cars just mostly theological students attending of it until this week. He originally in a few feet away on the other side of Boston University, Andover Newton, tended to fast "if necessary unto the street. It would seem that this Harvard, and Episcopal. From Cali death," but he said Monday that if the group of teenagers, some of them fornia more than 100 arrived by plane. time comes to make this decision, he scarcely more than children, perhaps As we walked around talking we found will leave it up to his family. did not know about the police bru some had been there for two days, Champney started fasting on March tality, had not felt the clubs and whips some for five. Others had just arrived. 22, the day he first heard of Stern's of the sheriff's posse. But I soon found Others were leaving. fast. He has not announced how long they knew all about these things, that Brown Chapel and four or five other he will continue. these were the very people most in- (Continued on page 4) Both men are taking water and orange juice, but no solid foods. In a mimeographed statement, Stern Area in front of says he can "no longer ... eat and sleep Brown Chapel at securely . . . isolated from the tragedy Selma, Ala. Next of villages burned down with our na door is parson palm bombs, of poisons sprayed from the air over vast areas by our planes age, office head ... of Buddhist monks and girls burn quarters of move ing themselves as living sacrifices to ment. In distance protest our attempts to press upon is the First Bap them one unpopular regime after an tist Church. Fed other. . . . eral housing unit "In the name of anti-Communism is at left. (Continued on page 2) Frances Troy, Mrs. Margaret von ber of Peacemakers Coordinating Committee and editor of The Brown- THE PEACEMAKER Is the organ of tha Selle, Albert Uhrie, Ingegard Uppman, Peacemaker Movement, published every three Mrs. Everett Wallace, William G. stone, will share the coordinating weeks or more frequently as activity or duties of these sessions with me. amount of news demands. Inquiries about the Webb, Jeff Whittier, Will Wittkamper, organ or the movement and material for pub Wilmer & Mildred Young. This two-week program will be held lication, as well as subscriptions to the paper or financial contributions to the movement, People who still wish to sign should at the Catholic Worker Farm in Tivoli, should be addressed to 10208 Sylvan Avenue notify the No Tax For War In Viet N. Y. There will be discussion, oppor (Gano), Cincinnati Ohio, 45241. tunities for reading and meditation, EDITORIAL BOARD: Ernest R. Bromley nam Committee, 932 Dayton St., Cin (managing editor), Lloyd Danzeisen, Arthur cinnati, Ohio. Names will be released recreation, and a work program. There Harvey, Ralph T. Templin, Horace Champney. to the press on tax deadline—April 15. will also be direct action projects. EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS: Ross Ander son, Marion Bromley, Wendal Bull, Holley Cost will be shared. It might be Cantine, Dave Dellinger, Seymour Eichel, helpful for those who need a definite Walter Gormly, Maurice McCrackin, Jack McKart, Wallace Nelson, Eleanor Ostroff, Orientation Program figure to aid them in planning, to sug Victor Richman, Max Sandin, Al Uhrie. gest a minimum of $2.50 per day. The MAILING CREW: Peacemakers in the Cin lack of such should not deter any in cinnati area. In Nonviolence Not eopywrighted. News and comment are terested person from applying. This welcome. Individual writers are responsible Please take note of the enclosed is a sharing venture. Some will be for opinions expressed and accuracy of facts given. folder entitled "Peacemaker Orienta able to pay more, while some can con tion Program in Nonviolence." This tribute less. Preference will be given will tell you all about the coming ses to those who are new to this type of sion at Tivoli, N. Y., of what has here experience, i.e., to pacifism or to think tofore been termed the Nonviolent ing of nonviolence as a way of life 95 Now On Training Program of Peacemakers, a rather than just a technique. Second program which has not been held for preference will be for those who plan No-Tax Statement the past two years. to stay the entire period. The statement asserting nonpayment In keeping with the philosophy of Requests for a folder, or inquiries of taxes because of the Vietnam war Peacemakers, an attempt will be made and applications, should be sent to now has 95 signatures. Following is the during this session, Aug. 22 to Sept. Victor Richman, 601 W. 115th St. New statement and signers, some of whom 7, to present nonviolence as a way of York City, or to me. are refusers, others of whom have in life. Practically every area of life will Wally Nelson comes below taxable level. be touched upon. To us the way one 3810 Hamilton St. earns his livelihood, or one's concept Philadelphia, Penna. "Because so much of the tax paid of politics and government, one's atti the federal government goes for kill tude toward sex, all have direct rela ing and torture, as in Vietnam, and tion to a nonviolent pattern of be for the development of even more hor havior. Fast In Penitence rible war methods to use in the fu (Continued from page 1) ture, I am not going to pay taxes on Of course the subjects of war and and freedom we have committed every 1964 income." peace, internationally as well as in evil act of which we have accused the Meldon Acheson, Michael Ames, Al the nation, will be explored. Among the topics will be sharing and brother Communists. . . . While we deny any fred Andersen, Daniel Anderson, Ross relevance of the Sermon on the Mount Anderson, John & Phyllis Baker, Rich hood in its universal aspect. Here we will specifically consider the color to all of this, Buddhists in South Viet- ard Baker, Ernie Barry, Bruce & Pam nam express their conviction that 'giv Beck, Ernest & Marion Bromley, Dale problem in this country, and explore Brothington, Wendal Bull, Daniel its connection, if any, with activity in en a reasonable period of time, they Burns, Lindley Burton, Robert & Susan Vietnam and other unbrotherly activi could win over the South Vietnamese Callagy, William Cecil, Samuel & Cla ties of the government of this country. through "kindness and love" . . .' rissa Cooper, Marty Corbin, Ruth Cum Among staff and resource people "We cannot be responsible for mins, Martin A. Davidow, Dave Dellin who have been invited and have ac Ihe sins of our enemies, but we ger, Barbara Deming, Arthur Evans, cepted are: Ralph Templin, professor are responsible before God for Jonathan Evans, Pearl Ewald, Mildred at Central State College in Ohio and our own. Falk, Rice A. Felder, Don & Ann For- author of Democracy and Nonviolence; "Our voices have been raised tenberry, Michael Francis, Marion Maurice McCrackin, minister, active again and again . . . but they have Frenyear, Lawrence Geller, Charles J. civil rights worker, tax refuser; Carl not been heard. Now we will ' Gibadlo, Peter T. Giffen, Elsie Gil- and Anne Braden of the Southern Con speak with our lives. patrick, Walter Gormly, Thomas Gra- ference Educational Fund. Anne is 'We have started a fast of penitence bell, Stephen Groff, Robin Harper, Neil editor of The Southern Patriot and which we intend to continue until the Haworth, Arthur C. Johnson, Glen author of The Wall Between. One re government . . . declares its readiness Johnson, Ashton Jones, Charles M. source person for Vietnam will be to enter into immediate negotiation Keil, Joel C. Kent, K. C. Kern, Wilfred Russell Stetler, a junior at Haverford without any prior conditions except Lang, Kirby Leong, Bradford Lyttle, College, one of the founders of the May that both sides observe a cease-fire. Maurice McCrackin, Janet McMillan, 2 Movement and co-author with Ber- "We will spend our mealtimes in Milton Mayer, Karl Meyer, Ed & Pat trand Russell of the pamphlet "War prayer for those in Washington who Morin, Mark Morris, Jay Allen Moss, and Atrocity in Vietnam." Arthur Har guide our policies in Southeast Asia A. J. Muste, Wally & Juanita Nelson, vey, editor of The Greenleaf and for and for those . . . who are victims of Miriam Nicholas, Raymond S. Olds, years active in the peace movement, these policies . . . Mrs. Eleanor Ostroff, Dean Plagow- will be present. Tim and Grace Le- "We see this as our highest patri ski, Buford W. Posey, Harry Purvis, fever, organic farmers of near York, otic and religious duty to bring our Jean Putnam, Bill Rawlinson, Deborah Penna., will be resource leaders in the beloved country out of the path of Rib, Victor Richman, Myron T. Roach, area of foods. Gordon Christiansen, folly and ultimate catastrophe that Eric Robinson, Eroseanna Robinson, chemistry professor at Connecticut can be the sole result of persistent Kate Rozeboom, Max Sandin, David College for Women and co-publisher M. Saunders, Joe Shaver, Linda Smith, with his wife of the Grindstone Press, violation of the ultimate laws of the Charles Spraut, Mrs. Marjorie Swann, will participate. Victor Richman, mem universe: mercy, compassion, truth and love." Page 2 The Peacemaker terpreters; (2) Americans are not al operate with the draft whose purpose, Anti-Draft Activity lowed (U. S. State Dept. regulations) which is being actively practiced By Fred Moore to travel to North Vietnam and China; now, is the slaughter and destruction (3) we don't know what is really going of men. I left San Francisco Wednesday on, nor why, because in a search for I have sent my registration card night, March 3, after giving a report the truth we need to hear more than and classification card to President on the three-week Central California one side. I presented a superficial his Johnson, and I must refuse to carry Anti-Draft Caravan to the CNVA work tory of Vietnam to point up the fact them as long as we continue to esca ing committee meeting. After three that "democracy cannot be defended late the Vietnam war. I realize that days of hitchhiking I 'was in Spring where democracy does not exist." My this is in violation of the draft law. field, Mo. I located Joan and Julia main emphasis was on the complete However, I am prepared to accept the Goddard and Sunday morning we went immorality of the present U. S. in penalties. The draft law has violated to the MCFP to see Russ. I was sur volvement. The weapons, bullets, and the law of God in my heart, and I am prised at how pleasant the visiting bombs we are pouring into Vietnam afraid that it has become a case of have only the potential of killing and room -was. Visitors sit on a couch. Each saving my soul at the expense of my destroying. We are exporting suffer body. I have the utmost respect for inmate, dressed in white, sits in a ing and death. reed arm chair facing a couch. A small most of the laws of this country, but coffee table is in between. Two guards Later in the day, Wally and I pick when one violates my conscience, I chatted at a table at one end of the eted the Kensington Local Board. must refuse to obey it and, out of re room. A calm, relaxed atmosphere That evening I went to a planning spect for the other laws, accept its prevailed. Russ came in, kissed Joan, meeting at George Lakey's. An ex penalties. and sat down. Julia climbed into his tended project to protest the U. S. I would like to thank you for your lap with a story book. He read to her Marines in Vietnam culminating in a past respect shown to my beliefs when while listening to the bits of news we direct nonviolent, open violation of a you saw fit to make me eligible for had. We talked about two hours. Russ trespass law, was discussed. Saturday, 1-0. has been in eight months, and if he a group of five of us picketed the Lo Enclosed is a copy of the letter I gets parole he'll be out in a year. cal Board in Bryn Mawr, and later sent to President Johnson. the one in Media. Sunday I spoke to a Yours in Christ, I hitched as far as Columbus, Ohio, Meldon Acheson and took the bus from there to Phila combined meeting of Young Friends delphia, arriving Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Abington School. The group of Wally Nelson and Dave Brown were about 46 young people divided into preparing to leave for a dinner meet five groups after the talk for discus Progress In Ending ing at Swarthmore College when I sion purposes. The talk had sparked got there. Dave was to speak in my some new thinking evidenced by the Death Sentence seriousness with which each group place, if I didn't make it. They waited Iowa became the 10th state to abol discussed the draft issue. The Young while I took a quick bath and put on ish capital punishment when its gen Friends in one group readily agreed my suit. About 20 students attended eral assembly took what Gov. Harold the draft was immoral and should be the meeting which was held in the new E. Hughes called "a great step toward abolished; and they spent the time de cafeteria. a more humane and wholesome so bating whether to register and apply ciety" by abolishing the death penalty Wednesday, Wally and I picketed for the 1-0 or whether to non-cooper- on Feb. 24. Philly's downtown Selective Service ate. Board in the morning, gave out leaf The Iowa action was quickly fol lets at Penn U. in the afternoon, spoke lowed in West Virginia, which be to a group of about 30 Haverford stu came the 11th abolition state by vote dents at dinner, and went to see the Breaks With Draft of its legislature on March 13. Vietnam film that evening. Thursday Tennessee's Gov. Frank G. Clement morning, Mike Yarrow took me to Local Board No. 13-54 commuted to life imprisonment the speak to a class studying "the indi Keokuk County. death sentences of five men after the vidual and the State" at Germantown 112 Washington St. state House of Representatives de Friends School. After that we went Sigourney, Iowa feated by one vote an abolition bill to Friends Central School and I spoke Dear Sirs: which had passed the Senate 25 to 7. to a Quakerism class. I would start The increased efforts of destruction In Indiana after both houses of the off by giving the history of conscrip and killing in the Vietnam war have legislature passed an abolition bill by tion in the U. S., then reasons; for end prompted me to modify my relation ing the draft, then a bit on why I huge majorities, Gov. Roger D. Brani- would not cooperate, and close by tell ship with Selective Service. The kill gin vetoed the measure. It was re ing about friends of mine who are in ing is being done in my name—I can ported he was under great pressure prison. The lively response in ques not escape that:—but I must protest. from police groups in the state, and tions always indicated the concern Christ has called me to love my ene that as governor-elect Branigin had young people have regarding the mies, and escalating the Vietnam war expressed his opposition to capital draft. is not loving them. A plan to unite punishment. the Southeast Asian countries on a In New York State a bi-partisan Friday, Wally and I leafleted stu project to develop the Lower Mekong commission recommended abolition in dents at Temple University. I was al river basin for flood control, irriga a strongly worded report signed by lowed to speak at the noon "End the tion, and hydroelectric power has eight members of a 12-man panel. The War in Vietnam" rally of about sixty been proposed, and since 1957 it has four minority members, a state parole students, hecklers included. The anti been shown that those countries, with board member, a county judge, a dis war and pacifist position was given the help of over 20 others (including trict attorney and an assemblyman of more respect than the socialist apolo the U. S. and Russia), can work to Depew near Buffalo, in a long dissent, gist line. I brought out the fact that gether on this project. In the light of predicted abolition of capital punish (1) in order to cover the war, AP and this already-begun example of a lov ment would encourage crime. Gov. UPI reporters are almost totally de ing alternative to the war, I do not Nelson Rockefeller continued his poli pendent on the U. S. military which feel that the government's policy is cy of refusing to take a position on supplies the food, helicopters, and in justified. Thus I can no longer co the issue. March 27, 7965 Page 3 James Bevel addressing mass meeting in Brown Chapel two Part of a large group on steps of Brown Chapel singing free days before the March to Montgomery. dom songs. eight or ten blocks to the center of ing one. The prayer of one of these The Way It Was town. The 700 people not only made ministers, who happened to be Negro, (Continued from page 1) a long and impressive line, but also was quite deliberate. He took con churches in the immediate area served made a considerable crowd when siderable time to tell the Lord all about meals. These were free; all you had to bunched in front of the court house. Sheriff Clark, Safety Commissioner do was to go and stand in line at one During the prayers that were offered, Baker, Mayor Smitherman and others. of these. Sometimes the plates served the heavens opened and let down These men were all within hearing great sheets of water and hail. That were sparse. Sometimes it would be distance. night at the mass meeting a good deal only coffee and doughnuts, sometimes of fun was made about the form of Visits to White Neighborhood much more. Where the finance came baptism forced on everyone. And Rev. After clasping crossed hands and for this food was not immediately ap Frederick Reese, president of the Dal swaying to "We Shall Overcome," the parent, but one had to assume it came las County Voters' League (the local group walked back to the chapel frm the enormous offerings taken each organization), told the overflowing where directions were immediately night at the mass meeting. At these house that "Mr. Clark said that if we given for a visitation in the white com times people would stand and an walked down to the court house it munity. Although no one knew ex nounce contributions—perhaps $1,000 would be over his dead body. Well he actly what he was supposed to do, from this church group in New York must be dead, because we walked more were ready to go than there were State, or that group in California. Then down there this afternoon." He also cars to carry them. Each driver was the plate would be passed. said "We love Mr. Clark. We really told the intersection at which he At another large church two blocks love him. But we just don't like some should discharge his passengers, but up the street, the First Baptist, orienta of his ways." given no instructions other than to re tion sessions were held morning and During the afternoon some thirty turn exactly one hour later and pick afternoon. All newcomers were ex white ministers had gone together over up his passengers. As each car was pected to attend one of these. Here into the white neighborhood in an at loaded, it left Brown Chapel. Car were outlined the general cautions: tempt to picket the mayor's house. number one was back before car num don't go into the downtown section at They were all arrested immediately, ber eight had left. all. Don't walk about the area alone taken to jail and asked to sign a recog When the five in our car alighted at any time. Don't give any informa nizance bond. Half of them did, leaving and began to walk in the direction our tion over the telephone as to when the jail. The other half did not, and driver had indicated, we saw two oth you are leaving. remained in jail overnight. On the er groups already on that street. Soon third day two remained in jail, but our groups joined, and more were Tear gas attacks were mentioned, also signed and left. One businessman and participants in marches advised coming from other directions. We came in to visit a rabbi in the group. could see others alighting from cars. how best to act in the face of such. He said his store is losing $4,000 daily Also what protection can be given to All were walking by twos. We learned in the boycott. afterward that it was intended for us parts of the body when being struck The next day everybody, in small to reach Mayor Smitherman's house. by clubs; what one can do to protect However, we evidently got no closer another being beaten, etc. Emphasis groups, spread out over the entire area where Negroes live in the city, knock than one block before Safety Commis was given to the importance of non sioner Baker and his men stopped the violent action. ing on doors. This provided what we line and started it back the other way. were sure was the first opportunity March on the Court House It wasn't long before someone stopped many of these people ever had to in the progress of the line backward, so In the early afternoon of our first vite white people into their homes. A we all went forward again, but only day, a meeting was held at which it few, but very few, were scared and briefly. "Everybody is under arrest," was announced that a court order had would not even come to the door. said an officer walking down the line come down granting a walk to the The following day a march of 500, which stretched several blocks, two- court house and that we would go with three abreast, proceeded from deep. right away. Everyone inside the the chapel to the city hall. Here a few church and in the immediate vicinity songs were sung, and prayers offered While standing there someone began then walked three abreast down the by ministers, Maurice McCrackin be to sing "We Shall Overcome." It Page 4 The Peacemaker out of the room. After about ten had gone and returned, an officer came and announced that everyone should go back outside. Marchers approach Pettis Free To Go Bridge where two previous We all filed back out, joining the marches were beaten back larger number still waiting there. Af by Alabama state troop ter another period of time, Mr. Baker came and said to follow him. He led ers. the front line over to a building we —Photos by M. McCrackin learned later is a city building for Negro recreation. After everyone had entered, the circumstance was some thing like a sardine can, with little wasn't long before everyone's voice |the obscene remarks, and the memo- room to move about. Mr. Baker left raised the song to tremendous propor- *Ties of what had happened to> one of immediately, but in 15 minutes was tions. So great was the singing that $ their number in Selma just a few days back. Using a loud speaker system, Mr. Baker became quite angry and * before. he said: "I arrested you for protective very hoarse before he could get it • The busses wound through the city custody. You are now free to go. We stopped. "You people shut up," he Jstreets and pulled into the side yard will give you safe conduct back to the said, "And I mean it! Don't you have ;of the court house. When ours drew church now, but you must promise any compassion for a person that's in, there were already lined up, side to stay there and not leave that vi sick? There is a person in this neigh by side in long rows, over 100 people. cinity. Will you agree to this?" He was borhood that's very sick!" greeted by the loudest, booming NO When the last bus was emptied, the I think I ever heard—just as if it came This took everyone by surprise. And group, facing dozens of helmeted and from one throat. He left. except for a few murmurs I heard in armed state troopers with their con which the name of Mayor Smitherman federate flags, began once more in A few minutes later, he returned was mentioned, as the sick man, I tremendous chorus "We shall over to give the group a last chance. He heard nothing but silence. come." This time it was stopped by a said the building would be open all Soon, however, the line was directed .viciously irate officer who lunged for night, that no one would be there ward. guarding it, that this was the last around the corner, up a road, and into chance to have safe conduct back to a schoolyard. Again I heard Mr. Ba- | The line in front of mine had sev- the church. He left. ker's rantings as I passed him and his *eral children, perhaps not over 10 The press was waiting outside. The repeatedly derogatory remarks aboufcr years 0f age. They seemed no more ones in charge let them in. We counted niggers." I looked the other way# disturbed than anyone else. Troopers off—from 1 to 352. There were male feeling that I would certainly sa; immediately in front stood swinging and female, black and white, old and something, but not knowing wha' their clubs, one bouncing his smartly young. A good deal of singing was good it could do. on the cement, catching it deftly and done, in which that downtown area Once bunched together, the group grimacingly as it bounced back up rocked with this tremendous chorus again sang "We shall overcome, near his hand. It made one feel glad singing "We are not afraid," "Ain't "Black and white together," and "We he was in Selma, and not in Cincin gonna let Mr. Baker turn me 'round," are not afraid." And once again Mr. nati or someplace else. "Gonna rock when the spirit says Baker, sorely troubled about what to After ten minutes, during which rock," "Which side are you on?" etc. do with this vast group which had *' time Al Lingo (in charge of Alabama Two fellows climbed up on the taken him by surprise and which he i state police) had arrived, and Mr. Ba- stairs leading to one of the Johns, one had placed under arrest, bellowed at - ker had made many trips from the of them saying: "This morning I made the crowd. He said we were still dis little building in front of us to the the announcement in the chapel that turbing that sick person. court house, an officer leaped forward there would be a service at 6:30 p.m., There were feelings of remorse ex .and ordered two fellows back into it being the beginning of the Jewish pressed in low tones by some. Then iline. Two of the fellows had worked sabbath. Events have transpired since. someone suggested that the crowd pray itheir way up through the crowd and This service cannot be held in Brown for this sick person. Almost instan »«were standing together directly in Chapel; but it will be held here." taneously the group dropped to its ffront. I presumed these to be two of The other rabbi began with a prayer, knees. At some command of Mr. Ba jhe SNCC workers who had this proj and the first followed with an equally ker, which I don't now remember, the ect in charge. One of them said very beautiful one in song. One of them crowd rose and began to board nu ^calmly "We would like to know why said: "And now all those who wish merous school busses which had been /e are here, with what we are being to participate in this service, please commandeered. jharged." The officer reached for his stand." People rose, until I saw no :lub and snarled, "You two get back one left seated. The readings and the To Jail that there line." And after a slight hymns in both song and verse were There were few police on the scene, bause, "And don't you come out here very appropriate, very beautiful, very probably because of the surprise na ilgain." They quietly made their way quieting. At the end, one of them ture of the event. A crowd of white •fewckfx taught the entire group a Hebrew onlookers was gathering in the yard It got very chilly. An hour or more ong which I think said, Peace be with and around the busses. I think no one went by. Then Mr. Baker came and ou. cared that police were absent; they started the front lines moving into the After a time, a clergyman stood on had caused nearly all the violence court house, up the stairs and into a |he same steps and announced he had which had been occurring in Selma small courtroom. It soon filled up. .something to say which everyone during the past weeks. But as the After a time, someone came and said would probably want to hear. He be- ruffian-type fellows drew near, folks each person should get out his driver's * an to read: ". . . When daylight came, closed windows in the busses, prefer license and social security card. One he magistrates sent their officers ring to shut away as much as possible by one people in the front were taken ith instructions to release the men. **s**t**,*m*ntm**p ^mwmi-^m.^ March 27, 7965 Page 5 I ' The jailer reported the message to Service was conducted from the steps! Innumerable people were in town Paul: 'The magistrates have sent word of Brown Chapel, the crowd filling1 for Mardi Gras last week—from Jack that you are to be released. So now the street and extending back be son, Atlanta, Selma, Waveland, Can you may go free, and blessings on tween buildings of the federal hous ton—every place but McComb (the your journey.' But Paul said to the ing unit. It was with great difficulty entire McComb staff was thrown in officers: 'They gave us a public flog that this service proceeded, for just jail the night before they were going ging, though we are Roman citizens above were numerous air force planes to leave for here. . .). I guess we were and have not been found guilty; they and helicopters circling tightly over too flagrantly integrated—the police threw us into prison, and are they now the area, the noisy helicopters hover watched our house all weekend. Mon to smuggle us out privately? No in ing sometimes deafeningly just above day night, they grabbed Bob Fletcher, deed! Let them come in person and the people supposedly gathered for a SNCC photographer, as he was com escort us out.' The officers reported worship. ing into the building. They knocked his words. The magistrates were It was sometime after 1 p.m. thatl him down and threw him into the po alarmed to hear that they were Roman the group walked out of that area] lice car, for "investigation." They citizens, and came and apologized to eight-abreast and about 5,000 strongj held guns on the three of us who were them." past city hall, where Jim Clark anc standing on the sidewalk and ordered Several then commented that this Mayor Smitherman viewed froi us back into the building. We didn't seemed to be an apt description of our the window, and out across the Pet go. They then got into their car and circumstances; and I heard several tis bridge, farthest point previously ran down Lon Hill, who was standing say they now had their scripture read reached by the marchers. Some whc on the sidewalk. They just aimed the ing for the following Sunday. But Mr. were not able to walk further, re] car and ran him down. It was night Baker was also busy; I learned late turned after covering the first mile| marish. Thank god he fell across the that night from my pocket transistor Others walked the ten miles, all stoj hood rather than under the wheels— that Mr. Baker was successful in get ping at the point where the 300 werj they didn't stop for a good many ting a federal judge to place an injunc to begin the following morning. yards after hitting him. He fell to the tion against all picketing in the white So prevalent were the nationc ground, and when he couldn't get up section of Selma. guard and army regulars on foot, il they arrested him for resisting arrest, jeeps, and in trucks, to say nothinl and dragged him across the ground and We found that the upstairs to the of the dozen or so aircraft constantli into the car. building was also unlocked; so when above, that one felt the walkers it came time to sleep, all the women It's very hard to keep from wanting times to be almost outnumbered bl went up there. That floor was wood, to beat people and break things. Just "protectors." It was a signal victoi so probably slept slightly better than when one gets to feeling that well, for this large a march to be held on al the cement one we men occupied. something's being accomplished, some route where two smaller ones were) When one of the SNCC leaders an thing happens (like the Rainy case so recently and so savagely beaten nounced the sleeping arrangements, eing dismissed or policemen running back by Alabama troopers—supposed a little protest was raised by some of own people in the streets) that makes ly upholders of the law. the people in the group who are ne think no, nothing's been accom- about his age. They favored no arti But whether a march conducted lished at all. We're back at the begin- ficial arrangements because they did under the guardianship of the U. S. ing again. And then one wonders if not want to feel that the group is be army and air force can in any mean we ever will "overcome." I don't ing "intimidated" by outside pres ingful way be considered a march for know. sures and by what some people are say freedom, or toward freedom, is ai But somehow we keep trying, and ing about the civil rights movement question of considerable importance,] we keep believing that it's right to and might say about this occasion. and one must certainly wonder wheth-l try er for nonviolence this is a victory or] But the fellow up front said very Debbie Bernstein a defeat. Many looked up and were simply that he didn't know of any 2209 Dryades St. glad to be protected from above by body who feels intimidated, that in New Orleans, La. the military might of the whole United ] this regard the civil rights movement States. One man in front of me looked j does not necessarily stand for what up at a copter and said aloud, prayer-j many of its critics insist that it does, fully, "Stay right there." Treasurer's Report that the situation here tonight is one which could cause trouble and mis James Bevel, in charge of the SelJ Balance on Hand 10-1-64 $106.18 understanding not only in the Selma ma project, however, had two day! Receipts 10-1-64 to 3-20-65 3067.65 movement but in the civil rights move before told an overflowing crowd i| Disbursements For Period 2946.36 ment throughout the south. When he Brown Chapel: "I have not asked fq finished, there was no audible objec armed protection of this march and| Balance on Hand 3-20-65 $227.47 tion. do not want it. What would you thir of Christ if he had sent word to Pilatl Disbursements Itemized At 9 in the morning, the 352 lined that he wanted safe conduct on thl Sharing 525.00 up three-abreast and walked back to way to Calvary? There was a resui Printing 1006.52 Brown Chapel. Not a police officer rection, brothers of the clergy; the/ Postage 868.50 was in sight. The usual number of was a resurrection. But don't forgj Telephone 71.83 cars and pedestrians were, however, that the crucifixion came first." Folding 90.00 on hand. Mailing procedures 135.00 The big march — from Selma to Trips from Yellow Springs .... 40.00 Montgomery — was to proceed thj Office supplies & folder repair 190.25 following day. Extensive plans for th, Louisiana Subscription to N. Y. Times .. 16.50 were nearing completion. More th, Things here are depressing, to say Bank charge 2.76 the usual number were already the least. Another death in Mississippi town. —a boy who had the misfortune of $2946.36 The following morning, Sunday, driving a car that looked like the ter much singing, much delay of t CORE staff car in Rankin County was (Printing bill due April 21, 1965, in arrival of Martin Luther King, thin, found strangled across the railroad cluding current issue: $293.00) got under way about three hours la tracks last Wednesday. —Miriam Nicholas, Treasurer Page 6 The Peacemaker # l vi4o j- i^AMA OUJO\ a* fu\M frs\ MAIL 3 c£ Family in which mother lost job because of civil rights activi Man whose life was threatened when he opened voter drive. ties. She has not yet been able to find other employ Lost job. Can find no other work. Interviewing him is E. ment. Bromley. registration. She had held this job called upon our friends to join with Operation Freedom for thirteen years. us in two demonstrations against the We investigated these and fourteen war and later took part in a vigil ask Helps In Selma other cases quite similar in fact and ing for the end to the war." By Maurice McCrackin in need. Several were living in places She tried to hold her now quaver where gas had already been turned ing upper lip stiff as she blurted out, When Ernest Bromley and I went off. Others were on the point of being "Mommy you did all this and he to Selma, we went mainly for the pur evicted because of overdue rent, which didn't pay any attention? Maybe more pose of trying to find out if activities averagd $20 per month. Money was people should write him? Doesn't he of local residents in the civil rights made available to these persons im know we have war because some peo struggle has caused loss of income and mediately. ple want more money?" She was sob other economic hardship; and if so to It was heartening to us and to the bing now and I took her in my lap, extend a helping hand through Opera brave people of Selma that Operation as big as she is, to comfort her. I was tion Freedom, the organization set up Freedom could be of assistance. There silent as she went on, "Maybe if some specifically for this purpose. is no other organization focusing on one told him he would have to go to Besides participating fully in ac the important activity of aiding the war himself and he wouldn't like it tivities while we were there, we were victims, the "casualties" of these many either, and then maybe the war could also able to talk with several people efforts to further freedom and defeat in the forefront of the local move racism. ment who put us in contact with the Funds to help this work continue most needy cases. may be sent to Operation Freedom, THE PEACEMAKER One man, a construction worker, 932 Dayton St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45214. 10208 Sylvan Avenue (Gano) was fired from his job three weeks Cincinnati, Ohio 45241 ago when he attempted to open a voter registration drive in a county 7-Year-Old We want everyone interested adjoining Selma. White men came to in the Peacemaker Movement to receive THE PEACEMAKER re the church in that county where he Writes President gardless of whether or not he can is pastor and told some church offi Our family was sitting around the pay the basic annual subscription cers they had better have their pastor table after supper tonight. My hus rate of $3. Amounts sent in above out of the county by nightfall or he band and I were talking about the $3 are "contributions," which wouldn't be alive. This was the end U. S. war on Vietnam. Seven-year-old help support the program of of his work for that church. He has Jenise spoke up and said, "But moth Peacemakers. two small children; his wife is in a er I thought you voted for President hospital. He can get no job; has rent Johnson so we wouldn't have any • I want THE PEACEMAKER due, and must pay $20 a month for wars! Daddy, who did you vote for?" regularly. care of wife in hospital. Daddy said he didn't vote. Then Je • Enclosed $ A young woman who got into the nise said "Daddy, you did the right D I cannot send any money now voter registration movement in Janu thing, because now you don't have to G Please send me a leaflet de ary was recently arrested and spent take part of the blame for voting for scribing Peacemaker Move time in jail. Her employer saw her a president who did the wrong thing." ment and membership. picture in television news, fired her, Trying to ease my guilt, I said, "but and caused her husband to be fired Daddy and I both wrote the President from his job. They have five children; many times giving our opposition to rent was due, lights were to be turned the war and stating some possible so off in two days. lutions to it, such as having the U. S. Another lady with five children military leave Vietnam and having was fired from her job with the coun the U. N. Peace Force come in to try club after participating in voter supervise free elections. We also March 27, 1965 Page 7 be stopped." ing to pay that 60% of your federal I felt very humble as I realized taxes that goes for war." And: "This Reason Given for how irresponsibly we (so-called adults) money is as phony as the 'security' our act, allowing ourselves to war when 'defense' dollar buys." Order from Turncoat's Many Woes our children expect and deserve so CNVA, 325 Lafayette St., New York much more of us. The only thing I City. Akron, O. (AP) — Lowell Skinner, turncoat in Korea, shot and wounded could say with any honesty and in * * * tegrity to comfort her was, "Darling, two American soldiers during the Ko Foreign correspondents in South rean war when his commanding offi no matter what happens we still have Vietnam report that official restric each other." After a few minutes of cer panicked and ordered him to do so, tions by U. S. military authorities are a psychiatric report says. quiet she got up and asked for some making the war there more difficult writing paper and went into the other to cover than at any other time since Most of the troubles of the ex-GI, room to write. After she asked us to major U. S. involvement began in who spent 10 years in Communist spell a few words we discovered she 1961. One newsman said: "This is the China, can be traced to that incident, was writing a letter to the President first war in American history in the report said. which she showed us and I present which newsmen are being barred from The shooting incident was one of the below. the battle area — in this case air findings in a report filed last week strikes, air bases and the fleet — to with Judge L. A. Lombardi by Dr. Dear Mr. President: talk freely to the men involved." Martin J. Gunter. I do not like the idea of having a Skinner is in Summit County jail * * * war. My father didn't either, he sent awaiting a decision on whether he will a letter to you. After the story was leaked that the be sent to prison for violating a two- Why do we have a war? U. S. had been using poison gas on year probation. He has been arrested So some people can make money. people in Vietnam, the State Dept. several times. That is not a very good reason why said these gases were "similar in types Dr. Gunter said Skinner shot the we could have a war. to tear gas employed in riot control soldiers on orders of his commanding How would you like it if the Presi all over the world." However, the officer, who, Skinner said, panicked dent had you go to war? Administration did not reveal the and thought the Americans were Com Peoples lives are worth more than chemical characteristics of the gases. munist troops. anything. One spokesman differed by saying The experience has caused Skinner these gases were different in that they to suffer guilt and anxiety and most of As her Daddy was helping her ad caused vomiting. And reports from his troubles can be traced to it, accord dress the envelope she said, "It prob Vietnam said that one of the gases had ing to Dr. Gunter. ably won't do any good, but maybe if caused extreme nausea and that an The Kansas City Times the President gets enough letters he other had acted as a cathartic. Sen. 1-4-65 will get tired of reading them and Wayne Morse said: "It is interesting stop the war." And her Daddy said, to see how easy it is, once we depart "Don't worry, honey, even if it doesn't from the principles of international do any good, because at least you have law, to violate more and more of Letters done your part." them." To the Editor: Mrs. Lois Doty I am a nonregistrant and have been 3305 Girard Ave. So. ordered to report for induction. While Minneapolis, Minn. speaking with a friend recently about Berlrand Russell in a recent this he mentioned your paper. I am article appearing in Africa and only sorry I did not find you sooner. Briefs the World, makes these points: Christopher Hodgkin Nearly 50 per cent of the entire St. John's College As an encouragement to people to economic activity in the U. S. Annapolis, Md. consider nonpayment of all or part of is now related to war; More than their income taxes, CNVA has de eight million Americans depend vised and made available some "Tho- for their jobs on the military es reau Money." On the front is a picture tablishment; The U. S. Defense Next Issue of the sage and the words "War Tax Department is the world's biggest News and comment intended for Protest" in large type. In small type economic organization. next publication should arrive not is: "Use this phony money in refus later than Tuesday, April 13. THE PEACEMAKER 10208 Sylvan Ave. (Gano) Cincinnati, Ohio 45241 Volume 19, Number 5 S* March 27, 1965 ^ First Class Mail ,<°:x OJM N ational C itizens C ommittee X BULLETIN U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE / Community Relations Service Washington, March 9, 1965 NCC on the move ... a top story out of CRS: Results are impressive. The recent record reveals the hand—or voice —of NCC members in the entire range of civil rights activities, from speeches to human relations committees. Message from Chairman Arthur Dean: "Some members of this committee have wondered whether their NCC role would—or could—match the vital, sub stantive part each of you has played throughout your private business or professional lives. I know you deeply hope that it will. I believe each of you will insist that it will. "For you as a member of the NCC were selected precisely because of your proven insistence upon the achievement of goals. The architect's soaring dreams cannot lie trapped forever in a blueprint—and live. They must take shape in wood, steel, glass and cement. "I think you will discover in the reports about what other members have done on their own initiative drama tic testimony to the catalytic influence of one individual Arthur H. Dean who acts to bring about better relations in his own community." For some, a single activity wasn't enough: In Huntsville, Ala., Milton K. Cum- mings called an evening community leadership conference attended by 75. Out of this came "A preliminary Report and Request for Action in Huntsville-Madison County" — a report on discrimination in education, housing, employment and public facilities —for distribution among Huntsville officials. A year ago, Cummings organized the Association of Huntsville Area Contractors. Purpose: to secure increased employment of skilled Negroes at the vast space complex. AHAC's thirty-two major companies also plunged into the areas of education, housing and public facilities. In Tampa, Fla., attorney Cody Fowler and other Tampa leaders successfully transformed the nine-year-old Tampa Bi-Racial Committee which he headed from private to official status. The new Community Relations Commission operates with full authority under a new, model ordinance complete with budget and staff. The new com mission visited CRS headquarters last month. Hotelman Julius Manger says of the new Civil Rights Law: "The law is a good one, but there are many ways to evade the law. The law says 'You have to.' I would like people to say, 'I want to.'" Manger's work in the area of compliance was featured in major articles in the "New York World-Telegram and Sun" (from which the above quote was taken) and "Presbyterian Life." Manger jumped into the civil rights arena four years ago in Charlotte, N.C. A Negro dentist received and accepted an invitation to the opening of a new Manger motor inn. Refused service, he wrote "Presbyterian Life" to protest. He noted it clashed with his church's position on discrimination, and urged the magazine to drop Manger advertising. With three southern hotels in his chain, Manger faced his choice: integrate and operate, or abandon his southern investments—a clear coup for segregationists and a possible death blow to the Manger chain. But integrating on his own spelled economic disaster for the Charlotte motel. So Manger initiated the long series of meetings with other hotel owners which brought complete voluntary desegregation to all Charlotte hotels and motels. Five months later, Manger brought down the color barrier in Savannah, Ga. hotels. At the late President Kennedy's request, Manger and NCC member Robert Knight toured southern cities to promote voluntary desegregation of public accommodations to pave the way toward compliance with the future Civil Rights Law. Of 200 businessmen he interviewed in his travels, Manger found none "who denied the Negro's right to stay at a good hotel or eat in a good restaurant." What they needed to be convinced of was that desegregation was "practicable," he told "Presbyterian Life." Hotelman Manger said he never considered involvement in civil rights until the dentist's complaint four years ago. He had always passively opposed discrimination because of color, but, he said of his new involvement, "the problem had simply never crossed my path." And the thought of leaving that path to meet it head-on elsewhere hadn't occurred to him. Skeptical businessmen view with respect the calculated risk Manger took, particu larly when they learn he supports a family of seven children. To the frequent question, "What does the Negro really want?," Manger replies, "to be treated like an individual, with no reference to color . . . When we meet a white man ... we think of his person ality, pleasant or unpleasant; of his qualifications, or lack of them ... of his whole worth as a person, and the color of his skin never enters into it." And, he asks, is that any more than a white person wants? NCC members active elsewhere: In Durham, N.C, Watts Hill reports progress in desegregating the local YMCA and is active in promoting equal employment opportun ities. In New York City, the University of Pittsburgh's Professor David Stahl was chairman of a three-day forum on "The Community and Racial Crisis," held under the auspices of the Practicing Law Institute. Elmer Winter, president of Manpower, Inc., writes of his new thrust into the public accommodations area. He presented his Milwaukee Plan, dealing with employment problems, before Plans for Progress meeting here last month. Now he has proposed a leadership role to the board of directors of the International Franchise Association. Its 75 members control thousands of licensees, including restaurants, drive-ins and re tail stores throughout the South. Winter stressed the association's potential role in implementing the Civil R ights Law, and its responsibility of making clear to licensees its non-discrimination policy. - 2 - More NCC news: John Wheeler on a conciliation mission for CRS. And NCC has been talking: — Chairman Dean, to the Governor's Conference on Human Rights, December 10 in Minneapolis. (Condensed text is enclosed.) —Amos T. Hall of Tulsa, Okla., to the M. W. Stringer Grand Lodge of Negro Masons, December, in Jackson, Miss. —Robert Knight of New York before the New York Bar Association in January, on New York State civil rights laws and their relationship to Federal laws. —Buford Ellington, of Nashville, Tenn., before a statewide civil rights infor mational meeting, November, in Nashville. The former Tennessee governor recently was named Director of the Office of Emergency Planning by President Johnson. Newly named Executive Director of NCC is Jay Janis, who also serves as Special Assistant to the Director. A former Florida land developer, with broad experience in community relations work, Janis, 32, joined the CRS task force last July following the signing of the Civil Rights Act. An expanding role for NCC members may mean assistance to other Federal agen cies seeking compliance with the law, says Janis. To this end CRS has met with rep resentatives of the Office of Education to hasten public school desegregation. But that's not all. NCC will be asked to aid the President's Committee on Equal Opportunity in Housing in convening area-wide conferences on housing with intensive follow-up com mittee work. Employment also will come under NCC scrutiny: NCC members to gather infor mation on significant employment programs in cooperation with Plans for Progress and the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (PCEEO). P for P soon to publish a pamphlet on this. What about new ideas in employment field? Are present employment programs meeting the need fast enough? CRS intends to find out. A consulting firm will be hired to work with the NCC subcommittee chairman on employment to review PCEEO pro grams and assess new ideas. New programs tailored to NCC thrusts are the goal. For example: a pledge program similar to Plans', but for the hundreds of little em ployers not included among Plans for Progress companies. A message from the Director: "Our conciliation ef forts meet continuing compliance, more widespread than anyone predicted. But, as expected, fires are flaring in community after community as civil rights leaders press harder for equal opportunity everywhere. "Never before has the role of the responsible citi zen, Negro and white alike, been more in demand. Never has it been clearer that the time to act is before, not after, the fire. The cooling effects of conciliation may snuff out a flame, but what is to prevent its rekin dling if the dry tinder of racial injustice remains intact, begging for a second spark? "Surely by now it is clear to all Americans that the Negro has no intention of leaving to others, including Federal agencies, the timetable for his freedom. The word "wait" must ring with hollow mockery in his ear. LeRoy Collins - 3 - But just as surely, determined Americans of every race and color, now backed with a civil rights law, must know how urgent it is that they move quickly into community ac- action territories beyond mere conciliation. "I urge you not to wait. I urge you to press for the effective human relations com mittees and other tools which can open up dialogues between the warring factions of a community. "Peaceful, constructive change will not root in the soil of a segregated society without intergroup communication, or where sterile monologues strangle or dull the very ideas and ideals which foster change. Above all else I urge you to initiate this dialogue wherever you find it lacking; for this is usually the first clear crack of light to pierce the dark curtain of a closed community." Governor Collins and CRS staff met with six civil rights leaders, during December and January: Whitney M. Young, Jr., Executive Director of the National Urban League; A. Philip Randolph, President of the Negro American Labor Council; James Farmer, National Director of CORE; Roy Wilkins, Executive Director of NAACP; and James Forman, Executive Director of SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee). Also held in December was an orientation session of day-long workshops for con sultant field conciliators. CRS has hired two consultant conciliators to assess Mexi can-American tensions in California. And, in this connection, CRS will propose the establishment of an ethnic minorities subcommittee at the next NCC Executive Com mittee meeting. And besides six major speeches in the last two months, Governor Collins appeared December 20 on "Face the Nation." President Johnson's appointment of NCC member John T. Connor as Secretary of Commerce came as big news here. Former President of Merck &-Co., the new cabinet officer singled out CRS for comment in his first news press conference: "In my learning process ... I have found a particular interest in the constructive, if unheralded, work of the Community Relations Service under the direction of Governor LeRoy Collins. The thought is impressed upon me that the work of this unit . . . offers a fine opportunity for businessmen across the Nation to lend their support to a program that will bene fit their communities and the country as a whole." CR S staff appointments announced by Governor Collins and released to the press last month: Deputy Director Calvin Kytle is a former vice president of the John T. Connor Nationwide Insurance Companies, Columbus, O. He was the recipient of a Julius Rosenwald grant in 1947 and has behind him 18 years in public relations, advertising, personnel and general management. Top troubleshooter is Dr. John A. Griffin, named Associate Director for Concilia tion. He is on loan from his post as Executive Director of the Southern Education Foundation, Atlanta, Ga. Prior to that he was Professor of Sociology and Director of University Relations at Florida State University. He is a veteran of 20 years service on the Southern Regional Council and a Julius Rosenwald Fellow. Named Assistant Director for Community Action is Roger W. Wilkins. A 32-year- old lawyer, Wilkins left a post as Special Assistant to AID Administrator David Bell. - 4 - Heading the third division is David Pearson, Assistant Director for Media Relations. Pearson, 32, previously served as Deputy Director of Information for the Peace Corps. Legal Counsel Samuel W. Allen formerly was USIA General Counsel. Essayist and poet, Allen has contributed to numerous anthologies of Afro-American literature. He also frequently lectured on African literature for the State Department. As Negro senior staff members, Allen and Wilkins not only reflect in its staffing the agency's goals, but bring to its efforts the acute sense of urgency behind the pres ent civil rights movement. Statewide civil rights meetings continue: In Hopkinsville, Ky., Hal Thurmond last month arranged a meeting sponsored by the Hopkinsville Human Relations Commission. And Barry Bingham called all Kentucky members together this month in Louisville to plan an informational meeting scheduled for the spring. This will be a joint effort, co- sponsored by NCC and the National Conference of Christians and Jews and other state organizations. Alabama members considering a meeting of state organizations con cerned with civil rights—a timely project in view of Dr. Martin Luther King's voter registration drive in Selma. Two more statewide informational conferences planned by U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: enormously popular in the past, these CCR - initiated meetings are held with the Commission's state advisory committees to explain the new law. CRS, in cooperation with CCR, urges NCC members to attend: April 2 in Birmingham, Ala., and March 20, in Miami, Fla. You may write or telephone the following state advisory chairmen: for Alabama, Moreland G. Smith, Sr., 3236 Bank Head Ave., Montgomery 36106, Area Code 205-263-6472; Florida, Paul S. Walker, 1 N.E. First Street, Miami, Area Code 305-FR 9-4311. Two new pamphlets: an NCC brochure explaining NCC role, structure and pro gram ... in the planning stage. Suggestions welcomed . . . Pamphlet on "The New Civil Rights Law and Your Business" being distributed to NCC businessmen . . . Busi ness members also will receive kits containing articles on Equal Employment Oppor tunity success stories and programs . . . Speaker's kit nearing completion. Subcommittee chairmen changes: Julius Manger appointed by Governor Collins and Chairman Dean as Acting Chairman of Employment Subcommittee to replace Stanley Marcus, who resigned due to business pressures . . . Mayor Herman Goldner of St. Petersburg, Fla., appointed to the Executive Committee and will serve as Chairman of the Public Facilities Subcommittee; Mayor Ray Tucker of St. Louis, Mo.,unable to ac cept chairmanship . . . Chairman to be appointed soon to Public Accommodations post vacated by Julius Manger. Conciliation figures as of February 1, 1965: TOTAL CASES TO DATE... 85 TOTAL CASES CLOSED 28 TOTAL CASES ACTIVE 57 STATES REPRESENTED*.... 23 CATEGORIES REPRESENTED** ACTION TAKEN ON CASES** Public Accommodations 24 Background Investigations 54 School Desegregation 15 Consultant Used Alone 5 Public Facilities 4 Consultant Used with Staff 8 Housing and Real Estate 9 Government Agency Referral 15 General Community Tension 20 Staff Conciliator Used 18 Law Enforcement 5 State or Local Agency Referral.. 6 Employment and Labor Practices .. 8 NCC Members Used 16 Miscellaneous 9 •Plus two Federal agencies. **More than one action and/or more than one category in some cases. Question: Can CRS reimburse NCC members for bulk purchases of civil rights materials (pamphlets, etc.) needed in their work? Yes ... on a selected basis CRS will order such materials upon receiving a request for them from the NCC member. CRS is not authorized to reimburse members who order them on their own. Please make requests to NCC Executive Director Jay Janis, noting to whom they will be dis tributed, and for what purpose. 62156-U.S.Dept.of Comm-DC-1965 LET'S NATIONAL LABOR SERVICE INSTITUTE OF HUMAN RELATIONS 165 EAST 56 STREET by HARRY FLEISCHMAN NEW YORK 22, N. Y. PLAZA 1-4000 HmBHPr MARCH 1965 REAL LIFE For generations, children have been given first-grade readers featur ing white, middle-class Dick-and-his-dog in country or suburban sur roundings. Not only were there no Negroes, Puerto Ricans or other minorities in the pages of these books; there was seldom even any indication that urban life, white or Negro, existed,, Nov; we have, finally, a new series of elementary-school readers, pre pared by the Bank Street College of Education, which mirrors the real life of the modern American city and its rich diversity of social, economic and ethnic groups. I've just seen the first two readers in the series, "In the City" and "People Read," (Macmillan) and I am delighted by the imagination, color and literary skill they display. Children of all urban economic, social and cultural backgrounds can identify themselves, their families and their neighborhoods with these pictures and stories. "In most school readers," explains Bank Street's president, John H. Niemeyer, "it is a big event when a mitten gets lost under a couch. If any event is charged with any real feeling it is turned into make- believe by the device of talking animals. Our stories and illustra tions are about real people. They impact a series of child-sized^ shocks of recognition. One day a child is glad. Another day he is sad. One home has two children and low noise level. Another has five children and a constant hum of activity. That's life, and in a constructive way our stories come to grips with it." HoorayI ALABAMA TV's That Was The Week That Was gave a devastating comment to happen ings in Alabama by running film showing Gov. Wallace's state troopers beating up marchers, then quickly switched to a shot of Wallace tell ing a TV audience that peace, tranquillity, law and order will pre vail in Alabama, Happily, some people in Alabama are moving in the right direction. First, a group of white clergy and laymen joined the Selma Negroes on the line. Next, Alabama's biggest daily paper, the Birmingham News, has called for quick state action to guarantee "a vote already con stitutionally theirs" to qualified Negroes. The editorial condemned the violent dispersal of Negro marchers by state troopers at Selma, and suggested new voter laws and full-time, five-day-a-week registra tion. -more- One and two column mafs available upon request. The column may be used with or without a credit line mmC-mm OUT OF THE ARCHIVES What role should rabbis, priests and ministers play in social dis putes? Today, with clergy of all faiths working arm in arm to pro mote civil rights and to war on poverty, the answer seems obvious. It was less obvious in 1890, when 800 immigrant Jewish cloakmakers in Philadelphia poured out on strike against low wages and sweatshop conditions. When Rabbi Sabato Morais spoke out in support of the strikers, he was cautioned that he risked his pulpit. "May the day never dawn," he replied, "when the disciples of prophets and sages, to whose keeping practical religion has been entrusted, shall be muz zled that they may not denounce social inequities." Rabbi Morais, notes Maxwell Whiteraan in the Jewish Exponent, chastis ed from his pulpit the wealthy Jewish manufacturers whom he had visited to discuss a settlement, the "rich individuals who still be grudged the scanty loaf ate by men and women and childred herded to gether in rooms unfit to live in." He castigated them for their cold indifference to the "slow death from impoverishment" among their immigrant brethren. So persuasive was Rabbi Morais that, when the strike ended, the Anarchists then active in the Jewish Cloakmakers Union, in an unprecedented good-will gesture to the religious Jewish community, called off their pork-eating Yom Kippur ball, OUCH I hope my Indian friends will forgive me for repeating this query from Bill Gold's Washington Post column, "If a Government worker from the Punjab region of India takes time off from work to observe a religious holiday, can this be counted as Sikh leave?" Then there are these items, taken from Saturday Review's "Trade Winds": -::- From the UCLA Daily Bruin: "A special benefit dress rehearsal of Pirandello's Naked will be presented." • A road sign at a cemetery near Fayetteville, Ark.: "Inter Here." •«• A movie listing in the Philadelphia Bulletin: "If you are old enough to be married, you must see it. If you are not old enough to be married, you cannot see it. Children under 12 free." NOVeL YOUTH MOVEMENT Histadrut, Israel's labor movement, is the parent of a NOVeL group that American unions would love to emulate, NOVeL is the initials of the Hebrew name, Noar Oved VeLomed, or in English, Working and Student Youth. It is a coeducational movement with 100,000 members, Arab and Jewish, more than the combined membership of all other Israeli youth movements. Besides promoting hiking, sports, scouting and social functions, NOVeL trains its 10 tea 18 year-old members for a life of pioneering labor and cooperation. -more- -3- SIMPLE SOLUTION Paced with the hue and cry over easy availability of guns following President Kennedy's assassination, extremist groups in many parts of the country propose a simple, kooky solution. Bumper-stickers on their cars read, "Register Communists— Not Firearms," A PEACE OFFICE? In recent years there has been considerable support for the creation of a new cabinet post — Secretary of Peace. As a slight gesture in that direction, the Government created an office to study disarma ment proposals. Its annual operating budget is less than would tee spent in one hour of global war. The ideal of a Peace Department is almost as old as the United States, reveals an article in "Voices of Dissent," edited by Arthur A. Erkich, Jr. (Citadel, $6.50). In 1792, Benjamin Rush, a famous doctor who advocated public education, the abolition of slavery, and women's rights, wrote: "To subdue that passion for war, which education, added to human depravity, have made universal, a familiarity with the instruments of death, as well as all military shows, should be carefully avoided. For which reason, militia laws should everywhere be repealed, and military dresses and military titles should be laid aside; reviews tend to lessen the horrors of a battle by connecting them with the charms of order; militia laws generate idleness and vice, and thereby produce the wars they are said to prevent; military dresses fascinate the minds of young men, and lead them from serious and useful pro fessions; were there no uniforms, there would probably be no armies; lastly, military titles feed vanity, and keep up ideas in the mind which lessen a sense of the folly and miseries of war," SPOTLIGHT ON BIGOTS When cartoonist Bill Sanders came to the Kansas City Star a year ago, he immediately aroused the ire of the Birchites with his sharp car toons against bigotry and extremism. Telephone callers harassed Sanders and his wife, Joyce, with vituperation and abuse. He was called a "Nigger-lover," a "Communist and pinko," and told he had a warped mind. During and after last November's election, letters came from as far away as Florida, California, Ohio, Indiana and Missis sippi and attempts were made to put the squeeze on his boss through affluent advertisers who tried to bring economic pressure. The Star, says James E, Fixx in the Saturday Review, ignored the letters, but it did not ignore the extremist movement. "As soon as the letters started," said Star editor Richard B. Fowler, "we wrote editorials on the Birchers. We thought we'd really catch hell, but we didn't. The response was favorable by two to one. A paper can't assume these people will go away without being identified, diagrammed, and diagnosed," LIR, LPK, LNP, CCD, MMCCD, ILG, LPKE, LBH Over 1,000 Attend Civil Rights Conference. In ^ Bertie Counto RALEIGH — Over T thousand New York Cfty a special consul Negroes and some whites, from the tant to SCEP and the advisor to northeastern quarter of North Car the Student Nonviolent Coordina olina, attended a large civil rights ting Committee (SNCC), delivered workshop conference on March 6, the keynote address. Calling for near Windsor, in Bertie Co. "militant^ organized grass-roots ac- John JR. Salter^ Raleigh, field tion." she said that "nothing is secretary,, for the Southern Con- more important than the people. ference Educational Fund (SCEF), And, as the people, we are pow which_sPonsorefi the affair, said er." that registration records indicated "We shall begin," said she, "by that "about 1,050 peoplefrom changing the relationships that, we fourteen black-belt counties at tended the meeting" have with government, particular ly in these poverty-stricken areas "This is the first time that any whereNegroes are a majority and thing of this kind has ever been all elected and appointed public held in eastern North Carolina," officials are white? said Salter, "and we consider the response to have been tremendous- Other speakers, and their re ly positive -particularly view spective subjects, included: C. R. of_Jhe_£aaJv^e3ther^jnd^the long Appleton, Professor of Music, distances over poor roadswhich Shaw University, Raleigh—"Songs many families traveled.'' of the Freedom Movement;" Dr. The workshop conference, which Stephen J. Cornett, Charlottesville, lasted all day Saturday and well Va., regional economic opportu into the night, had been widely nity coordinator of the U. S. De advertised as being designed to partment of Health, Education and strengthen local civil rights move Welfare— "Federal Anti-Poverty ments in the area and to stimulate Programs;" Nigel Hampton, Ak the growth of new movements. ron, Ohio, public relations director Salter, who has worked for the of AFL-CIO International Chemical past year in the Halifax Co. sec Workers Union — "Labor Unions, tion of the black-belt, said that Jobs, Wages, and Civil Rights;" J. V. Henry, Washington, D. C., C he viewed the March 6 gathering SO as beng "simply the prelude to field secretary for the Student concerted and intensive civil rights Nonviolent Coordinating Commit > activity throughout the entire tee—"Organizing Youth for Ac S NprjliJCarolna blaekbelt." He s'aid, tion;" Brian Paddock, George 2 "The spiritof this conference. town University Law Center, which was extremely vigorous and Washington ,D. C. — "Putting the n Civil Rghts laws into action;" M. enthusiastic, will definitely be car in ried forward" intolang'ibTe""actTon.'' A. Riddick, Jr., Suffolk, Va., chair > man, Virginia Freedom Demo Eight speakers led various ses H crats—"Political Action;" SCEF C sions at the workshop. Salter said secretary Salter—"Organizing the SO that 14.O0Q_ pieces of literature, D Community for Action." mostly on labor and civil rights > subjects, were distributed to those The workshop conference also in attendance. paid_silent tribute to recently de Miss Ella J. Baker, Atlanta and ceased ~Aubrey W. Williams, Mont- > —m - so gomery, Alabama. Williams was n president emeritus of SCEF, form- X er publisher of The Southnern Farmer, and administrator of the National Youth Authority during the New Deal. I at (Continued From Page 1) Two Arrested James A. Dombrowski, execu tive director of the SCEF, was arrested in 1963, along witl Benjamin Smith, the Func treasurer, and Bruce Waltzer an attorney for the Fund. Their offices were raided anc records seized by agents of th( Louisiana Joint Legislativ< Committee on Un-American Ac tivities, headed by James H Pfister. The three were released, bu Pfister demanded criminal en forcement of the anti-subver sive law. Subsequently, thi SCEF was charged with bein; a Communist front organiza Hon. Dombrowski was indictei for failure to register as ; member and for participate as executive director. Smith was indicted for mem bership in SCEF and also ii the National Lawyers Guild, ai organization declared subver —U.S. Supreme Court— H/u^/f^, sive under the state law. Walt zer was indicted for member ship in the Guild only. A three-judge federal cour Anti-Subversive^*^ ban prosecution until a fina disposition of the case by th< state courts was made. Law Knocked Down Supreme Court Justice W i 1 liam Brennan, however, statec By SAM HANNA in his majority decision todaj State-Times Washington Bureau that the lower court erred. WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Supreme Court today Statute 'Vague' knocked down key provisions of the Louisiana anti- aid that the Louisiana subversive law as unconstitutional. ------Am The court, in a 5-2 decision, also ordered a federal statute was excessively vague district court in New Orleans to halt a pending attack in defining subversive organi under the state law against the Southern Conference zations and, therefore, uncon Educational Fund. <~ stitutional. Brennan cited similar vague Three members of the Fund ness in a Washington state law organization, a group active in declared unconstitutional t w c the civil rights field in Louisi years ago, requiring "loyaltj ana and other southern states, oaths" by state employed teach were indicted in 1963 for fail ers. ure to register as members of The provisions for confisca a subversive organization. tion of subversive propaganda The Louisiana Subversive Ac he said, failed to follow the re tivities and Communist Control strictions imposed on the fed statute was enacted in 1962 to eral government and congress provide criminal sanetions for in determing subversive organ membership in "any organiza izations. tion which in any manner advo In view of these unconstitu cates or acts to further the tionalities, Brennan said, the success of the program of world federal district court must aci domination of the International promptly to prevent protractec Communist conspiracy." legal proceedings in the state The law required registration courts. by members of organizations de "The allegations in this com clared, under the act, to be sub plaint depict a situation in versive. A companion law au which defense of the state of its thorizes seizure of propaganda criminal prosecutions will no! material published by such or assure adequate vindication oi ganizations which may tend to constitutional rights," Brennar undermine patriotism or foment said. violence as part of a social Waiting until final disposition movement. he said, could cause "irrepar Continued on Page 8-A, Col. 2) able injury." Justices John M. Harlan anc Tom Clarke dissented on grounc that state intervention in the case was premature. Harlan said that the practi cal effect of the decision will be to prevent state prosecutions oi any statute challengable foi vagueness without prior ap proval of the federal courts. Justices Hugo Black Black anc Potter Stewart did not partici pate in the decision. Trade School Mixing Order Will Be Sought U.S. attorneys have served notice they will ask for a pre liminary injunction here May 7 in a Justice Department suit which seeks to desegregate all trade and vocational schools operated by the State Board of Education. The government attorneys Friday filed a notice of the motion they will ask U.S. Dis trict Judge E. Gordon West to rule on at 10 a.m. May 7. The Justice Department suit was filed in New Orleans Thurs day but falls within the juris diction of the Baton Rouge di vision of the court. Named as defendants are the State Board of ..Education, its president, W. E. Whetstone, and State Supt. of Education Wil liam J. Dodd. The government will ask the court to enjoin the defendants from: -—Refusing to accept appli cations for admission to any state trade or vocational - tech nical school on the basis of race or color. —Refusing to enroll Negro ap plicants in state trade or voca tional - technical schools be cause of their race. —Denying Negroes the equal use of facilities provided for white persons attending such schools. —Adopting and applying at any such schools standards, procedures, tests, application form requirements or other prerequisites for admission which had not been applied to white persons prior to the first application for a Negro for ad mission at the school, except insofar as the defendants may justify such standards and pro cedures on the basis of over subscription for particular courses at particular schools. La. Anti-Subversive Law I§ Str^kDown WASHINGTON (AP)—The Supreme Courtdeclared unconstitu tional Monday key sections of a Louisiana law requiring the registration of subversive and Communist-front organizations. The effect of the court's 5-2 decision is to clear the way for Southern Conference Educa a civil rights group to resume tional Fund under the state its campaign of registering Ne law. gro voters in the state. The Three members of the groui group claimed the laws were were indicted in 1963 for fail used to harass people advo ure to register as members oi cating civil rights for Negroes. a subversive organization. The decision ordered a fed James A. Dombrowski, exec eral court in New Orleans to utive director of SCEF, Ben halt a pending attack on the (Continued on Page 8-A, Col. 7: . vuwuuwu 1'ium rage i> Sampite, Baton Rouge, will not be on the new list. Bogalusa Situation The governor, who said he had worked ail day on the Bogalusa racial situation, confirmed 385 state troopers, headed by Pub lic Safety Director Tom Bur- bank, had been dispatched to Bogalusa to be on hand if dem onstrations got out of hand. The governor read a long, pre pared statement on the distri overnor Reports bution of indecent lieterature in the state and called on the pub lic to stamp out this traffic in He's Reorganizing pornography by protesting to newstand operators. He said the problem had been called Anti-Poverty Staff to his attention by the Louisiana Moral and Civic Foundation and MLy&aS&z By F. E. SHEPHERD V33/6"VwteC5 commended this organization for Gov. McKeithen yesterday confirmed he will make its alertness. new appointments to the state anti-poverty office in an McKeithen said he had no effort to secure approval of the Louisiana program by plans for a special legislative the federal government. session later this year. Sen. Harold Montgomery of Doyline, The governor declined to say whether the new list trying to kill the governor's would include former Education Superintendent Shelby bond issue proposals at the 30- Jackson, reportedly the chief reason for refusal of the day fiscal session opening May federal government to release some $131,000 in U.S. 10, said he hoped the governor funds for administrative use. would call such a meeting of All but Director Champ Baker le pornography by protesting to and a secretary have been cutis cent sales tax boost. off the anti-poverty office pay McKeithen said, "We don't roll pending a federal govern propose to call a special session ment decision on the investiga- { after the fiscal session unless tion of at least four members of i there is some emergency. I the staff. i don't foresee any such emer gency." McKeithen said Baker was i McKeithen said he h o p e d to preparing the list of new ap keep the 30-day session "as fis pointees to the state program, cal as we can." He noted Sen. but refused several times at his E. W. Gravolet, Senate pres weekly press conference to di ident pro tern, said the constitu vulge the names. He also de tion permits introduction of con clined to ask ejne of his assist stitutional proposals at any ses ants to call Baker for the list, sion, but pointed out he has not explaining, "This is something met with the senator. However, Mr. Baker and I should dis Gravolet arrived at the Capitol cuss." about 4 p.m. Wednesday, saying McKeithen said, "I hope we he was going in to see the gov can come up with some people ernor. they will approve. You know, La. Levee Boards they won't say which indivi The governor refused to be duals on the staff are unsatis drawn into a controversy about factory. They just sit and look stripping levee boards of their at us." authority and transferring The governor said members them to the jurisdiction of the of the Louisiana Congressional Department of Public Works. delegation, and particularly Sen. He said this is something that Russell B. Long, are aiding in addresses itself to the legisla "working out the anti-poverty ture and he would leave a de program for us." McKeithen cision to the lawmakers. said the delegation is "trying When it was pointed out he to find out what to do to get had expressed himself strongly those federal funds," in favor of some move against The governor said in reply to the boards some time ago, the a question, "I don't know if governor explained, "There is Mr. Jackson or Mr. Harding are some feeling that taking care of on the list." He referred to the levees should be under the John Harding, former Alexan Department of Public Works. dria radio announcer, who was Others feel this should be left public relations representative to those who live behind those of the anti-poverty office prior levees." to April 1. But, he said, perhaps the pro Unofficial reports are that posal by Rep. Taylor O'Hearn Jackson, Harding and Grundy of Caddo to draft new voter (Continued on Page 8-A, Col. 1) registration laws in the face of congressional action on a new federal voter registration law should be considered in the May 10 session whether it is fiscal or not. McKeithen said nothing new 150li East Blvd. Baton Rouge, La. * April 26, 1965 Southern Conference Educational fund 312 PerddUlo St., Room 408 New Orleans, La. 70112 Dear Friends, Would you please put Louisiana CORE on your mailing list} the address is t^iven above. Ws would especially like to receive the Southern Patriot and any announce ment of conferences or other activities in Louisiana. We are very interested in seeing your recently published or soon to be published manual on community organisation. Please send us a copy (or several, if that is possible) as soon as it is available. Thank you. Best regards • !%g Brown (for La. CORE) CORE Rally Slated At V New Zion The local chapter of Con gress of Racial Equality an nounced this week that a mass rally will be held Wednesday, April 29, 7:30 p.m., at the New Zion Baptist Church, 2319 Third Street. In making the announcement Miss Oretha Castle, local CORE chapter president, said that the rally will began with the showing of "The Louisiana Diary," a film record of the activities of CORE in Plaque mine, Louisiana last summer. s The film was shown last month over Channel 8, New Orleans Educational program. Miss Castle emphasized that this film is not the same one that was telecasted over ABC network last year. Richard Haley, director of CORE's southern office here in New Orleans and associate national director, will be the speaker. Mr. Haley has been a member of CORE'S staff since" I960. During this time he has devoted much of his activity to the southern section of the country. Prior to his joining CORE'S staff, he was formerly a music instructor at Florida A & M University at Tallahassee, Fla. In conjunction with the rally announcement, Miss Castle said that CORE has been joined by white Orleanians in circulating petitions to deseg regate the movie houses in the city. Miss Castle stated that let ters had been written to both national and local managers of the various local theatres ask ing for a negoitation to deseg regate their facilities. At this date CORE is still waiting for a reply. April 2, 1965 CORE SUTHERN REGIONAL OFFICE 2209 Dryades Street FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New Orleans, Louisiana 70113 Phone (504) 523-7204 CORE "SHOWS CAUSE" TO GOVERNOR McKEITHEN; URGES ACTIONS In a sharply worded letter Richard Haley, Southern Director of the Congress of Racial Equality, reacted to Governor John J. McKeithen's statement that he could not conceive of any conditions that would cause Negroes in Louisiana to demonstrate. Haley told McKeithen, "You are just not informed." The letter listed 15 specific incidents and conditions covering police brutality, public accommodations and voting. Haley called the list "a bare sketch" of the difficulties faced by Negroes in Louisiana. The letter did not include events already known to the Governor, such as the murder of Frank Morris in Ferriday, the burning of two Negro churches near Jonesboro, and the beating of CORE worker William Yates in Bogalusa. Haley told the Governor that the "rapidly worsening" situation in Louisiana called for "the strongest possible statements and actions from you, of which perhaps your trip to Jonesboro was a beginning." CORE called for McKeithen to take five immediate steps including a meeting with mayors, sheriffs and registrars, a statewide advisory role for a cross-section of Louisiana Negroes, desegregation of all state facilities, equal employment practices at all levels of state government, and compliance with federal regulations for school desegregation. The specific grievances listed in the letter included refusal of service to Negroes at seven named places of public accommodation in Bogalusa, and at four named places in Jonesboro, where, on March 24, four Negroes were arrested for seeking service at the Blue Grill Restaurant. Haley also reported to the Governor MORE... MORE... CORE "SHOWS CAUSE" cont'd —2— 4-2-65 that in Jonesboro on March 11, Mr. Ernest Thomas, a Negro resident, was hit in the face, while handcuffed, by one police officer while two others poked him with a nightstick and a shotgun. The letter also reported that on March 20, Mr. Royan Burris, a Negro resident of Bogalusa, was kicked and beaten by city and parish law enforcement officers. Also in Bogalusa, on March 29, a tear gas grenade was thrown at a Negro Union meeting hall when a session of the Bogalusa Civic Voters League was letting out, the letter said. CORE'S letter to the Governor also cited voter registration statistics showing that in the sixteen parishes with 35$ or greater Negro population, the Negro share of registered voters is less than &% END ######### ,, / NEGRO REGISTRATION SAID GOOD Martin Luther King Advised Not Ta Visit Tallahassee TALLAHASSEE (UPI) — A an interest in registering every local Negro leader told Martin day. He said 1,820 additional Ne Luther King yesterday Negroes groes had been registered last had no. trouble registering to year. vote here and his time would be better spent elsewhere in the He said if King and his South state and nation. ern Christian Leadership Con ference (SCLC) can make any Samuel A. Hunter, head of vot contribution here, it would be to er education for the Community help shake Negroes out of their Awakening Crusado, issued the apathy. statement following King's re cent announcement the State "IT WOULD BE my hope," Capitol would be a target for a Hunter said, "that SCLC and voter registration drive thisj'othe r groups would employ as- ' sistance where it is needed most "THOLGH WE appreciate and I —in some of the smaller coun will accept any help, it appears'tie s in Florida and other states obvious that there are other sec which are in need of stimula tions of our country and state tion much more than Tallahas TO-WEEK PROGRAM PLANNED where assistance is more ur see." gently needed," Hunter, a local Florida's voting laws are so| school principal, said. 'non-restrictive, Hunter said, thatj Hunter said apathy among "virtually anyone can register Tallahassee Summer Negro voters is the chief prob in Tallahassee with ease and! lem facing the Community registration clerks will assist Awakening Crusade, and more the registrant in filling in the and more Negroes are taking required information." ( Negro Vote Target ATLANTA W) — The capital Negroes of voting age. He said of Florida will be a major tar more than 7,000 Negroes are get of Negro voter registration registered there. efforts in the South this sum Martin said there were no le mer, a spokesman for the South gal problems connected with ern Christian Leadership Confer getting Negroes registered in ence (SCLC), announced yester Tallahassee, but problems did day. exist in creating interest in reg Fred Martin, director of istration. SCLC's Summer Community Or "I'd like to say we will regis ganization and Political Educa ter 5,000," Martin said. "How tion project (SCOPE), said an ever, it would be more realistic estimated 40 students will work to say we hope to register 3,500 in Tallahassee and Leon County, of the remaining 5,000. The last Fla., during a 10-week program, 10 or 15 per cent really gets beginning June 20 and contin tough." uing through Aug. 28. Martin said Lee, Liberty and Leon County, according to Gadsden counties will be worked Martin, has around 28,000 whites by the Congress of Racial Equal of voting age and about 12,300 ity. * • * -I P\ /w\ CITIZENS OP MONTGOMERY, WE HAVE UNDERGONE IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS A- DYNAMIC STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM. THE NATION IL\S MARCHED IN PROTEST OF INHUMAN CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE CITIZENS OF ALABAMA ARE FORCED TO LIVE. DON'T BE SHOCKED TO HEAR THAT ALL OF THE PROBLEMS THAT STEM FROM RACISM HAVE NOT 3EEN SOLVED. STUDENTS AT ALABAMA STATE COLLEGE HAVE BEEN SUFFERING AND IT IS SHAMEFUL TO SAY THAT THIS COMMUNITY OF RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS RIVE ATTEMPTED TO TOTALLY IGNORE THEIR STRUGGLE. EAST NIGHT TWELVE FREEDOM FIGHTERS WERE ARRESTED AND CARRIED OF TO JAIL LIKE COMMON CRIMINALS. THIS TIME THE HERO OF SEGREGATION IS NOT "GEffRGE WALLACE", BUT OUR OWN "DR. LEVI WATKINS" . THE QUESTION IS HOW LONG WILL WE CLOSE OUR EYES TO THE DISGRACEFUG AND WANTON IGNORANCE OF THE FACT ^T ANY AND ALL CITIZENS HAVE CERTAIN •>- TTFTT.'.T.T E RIGHTS NO '.WRANT SHOULD BE IMMUNE REGARD! OF THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE ...'. ..'1 -•>-'• i . • .. .. 'J . :NG JUSTICE. SHAMS] SHAME J 3E WE SHALL OVET-.CCr %. a n h~ n / Alabama State College Freedom Campaign (A.S.C.F.C.) Montgomery, Alabama April 10, 1965 We, the students of the Alabama State College would like to express the following greivances to the president of the Alabama State College, Dr» Levi Watkins, 'The Board of Eduaation, and Governor George C# Wallace! 1, The immediate dismissal of Dr. Lewi Watkins as president of this College because of bis stand on the Civil Rights Act 4 of 19&I|, and his denial of civil rights activities to the students without reprisal, 2. Adequate facilities In each department and greater improvement In the physical plants » 3i A Student Medical Center with bor-v-fcir (2)4) hour service to student?c Lj.-> Newer and ncre up»to<'r"ate becks an the library on all fields of ecuc?.t:lon0 5a Full one1 q^.tcwte curriculum in 6» Adequately drained arid experienced f '--otu tyv 7o Permanent; academic dsps r-?nv. nt a 1 officials^, 6o RespCit>2l3.icA.qualified tno G;:Trlc-rced rdicinlstrative officialso [(i/h ^* ^n i^^e^iate accrediaNation effort* 10* A Democratic Student Gcvccnmerto 11, Integrated stud-,nt body and i acuity,, 12* An attractive o.-mpus including' a. proper landscaping b. paved sidewalks c . a deque to light ing -2- 13.. Properly trained security personnel. li|» Proner maintenance: a. replacement of outdated furniture b. elimination of having to move chairs from one classroom to another. 15» The improvement of student-teacher relationship. 16. Student and faculty participation in long and short- range academic planning. 17• Tenure faculty. 18. A faculty that writes professional articles and publishes books. 19. Academic freedom for both students and faculty? 20., A cultural exchange pr^r-ci.., 210 Adequate equipment aed ^tudy apparatus for dormitory r students, such as d : -:. ., i amp.-- „ and :^'J)^ vpresontj.r j ncn-exip t' i f ' 22f. Immediate reins tatrmeat of drblctru: sehol.uv.'hips i;ako:,i away from stucHntf pa "'iriciuv ling ir. Civil Rights Movements 23c Recognition of Legitimate student rrganiE'T-ticrs withotvt administrative control- 21).. Greater concern by the Board ef Education as to what is going on at the college^ 25• Freedom of tho press, 26. The establishment cf a chapter of American Association of University Professors on cnmx-USo A 27. Better salaries for student workers, (present 25 cents -3- hourly rate has not been changed for thirty years, although tuition has been increased 10CK.) * 20» The right to invite speakers on the national platform • • , ' to our campus. (Dr. Martin L. King, Ralph Bunche, Governor George C* Wallace, Member of the State and National Government. 29. Recognition of faculty's scholarship and accomplishments* 30, Re-establishment of Art as a major. 31. An agreement not to destroy or reduce available courses in a department because the administration does not got along with tho department head*, 32, Establishment of communications with students and loaders at other state supported colleges in lla'Dama* 33* Appearance on campus e\ regular intervals by members of the Alabama State Vsrd of Education;, S'J on Indication- of interest and concern for the ?tuf1er,ts welfare» 3U« Use of ante-bellum tactic.'- and procedure.-- by the adminls-* tration In the operation of the college after 3 00 years of progress* 35« More sanitary dining hall facilities with better prepared food-~that is, a well balanced diet.. 360 Establishment of administrative board composed of notable educators and individuals* established in areas of progress with an unreproachrole stand of Civil Rights to when the President of Alabama State College would be responsible. 37. Rodedication end organising of Alabama St-ato Laboratory High School to establish it as a full segment in a con gruent capacity with regards to its function as a part of Alabama State College. 30o Positive stand by Alabama State Colloge in protest to recent action concerning conditions for tho ton percent (10^) teacher's salary Increase* 39» Immediate action with regards to loyalty oath that Is mandatory for students to sign before receiving federal loans at Alabama State College. ix0» Explanation of the fact that male dormitories are locked at a designated administrative hour. i|l« Immediate report with regards to present state on stand taken by the accrediation committee. Ii2» Dismissal of work students stimulating from their participation in Civil Rights Icti^ities. I4.3# We also ask that A*3.e0F3C (Alabama State College Freedom Campaign) become a oh^etod organisation on camp'.is » l|lj., Face lifting of social arc: recreational pregnane Ii5» Explanation to discontinuance of normal faculty meetings and the subs tit lit ion of (loyal ones) type meetings that are presently In effect? 1460 Dr.. Levi Watkins, why was Sam Cooke dismissed fron his position at Alabama State College? 1|7* Dr, Levi Watkins, why you die. not offer £?r© Ralph JV Buncho, Undersecretary of United Na short visit to your office with Sam Cooke? hies CORE Southern Regional Office/2209 Dryades Street/lev; Orleans, La. 70113 PARTIAL LIST OF RACIAL MURDERS I II THE SOUTH IB THE LAST 2 YEARS April, I963 - William Moore, White, 30's January, 1964 - Lev/is Allen, Negro, 40's Gadston, Alabama Liberty, Hi n n 11,1 iiri tfisr is Sip/?/' CORE worker, shot to death on Freedom Shot to death at his home; had wit- '' Walk nessed a white state representative Assailant arrested, IIP CONVICTION kill a Negro in I96I; murder followed 2 years of constant harrassment; vic tim had asked for federal protection, June, 1963 - Medgar Evers, Negro, 30's but was refused. Jacfcson, Mississippi No arrests, NO CONVICTI033S NAACP Field Secretary, shot to death at his home for civil rights activities February. 1964 - 1 woman, 2 men, Negro Assailant, Byron De La Beckv/ith, member 20's or 30fs of White Citizens Council, arrested, Woodville, Mississippi 2 trials, hung juries, HO COlWICTlbH Shot to death in parked car No arrest, NO CONVICTION September. 1963 - Carol Robertson, Negro, 14 Cynthia Wesley, Negro, 14 March, 1?64 - Man, Negro, 40's Addie Mae Collins, Negro, 14 Natchez, Mississippi Denise McNaif^ Negro, 11 Shot to death at night in car Killed in church bombing No arrest, NO CONVICTION NO arrests, NO CONVICTION June, 1964 - Michael Schwerner, white, 24 September, 1963 - Virgil Ware, Negro, 13 James Chaney, Negro, 21 Birmingham, Alabama Andrew Goodman, white, 20 Shot to death by two teenage boys, Philadelphia, Mississippi white, while riding his bicycle Beaten and shot to death for civil Assailants arrested, Suspended sentence rights activities; Several arrests, including law-enforcement officials; NO CONVICTIONS September, I963 - James Robinson, Negro, 16 Birmingham, Alabama Shot to death in the back by police July, 1964 - 2 men, Negroes, 19, 20 officer in "self-defense" Southwest Mississippi No arrest, NO CONVICTION Half-bodies found in river during search for missing three (above) Arrests, NO CONVICTIONS September, I963 - John Coley, Negro, 20 Birmingham, Alabama ••^veteran, shot to death by police July, 1964 - Lemuel Penn, Negro, 33 No arrest, NO CONVICTION Athens, Georgia Official in school system of Washington, D.C. Shot to death in his car from ,. September. 1963 - young man, Negro passing car when returning to Washington New Orleans, Louisiana from training for army reserve in Georgia. Shot to death by police officer No arrest, NO CONVICTION Klansmen arrested, NO CONVICTIONS ( C 0 N i T ) Summer, 1964 - man, $egro meetings New Orleans, Louisiana NO arrests, NO CONVICTIONS Shot to death at bus stop from passing car No arrest, NO CONVICTION February, 1965 - Donald Rasberry, Negro, 19 .-•:" . Okolona, Mississippi Shot to death by his plantation boss. September, 1964 - Herbert Orsby, Negro, 14 NO CONVICTION Canton, Mississippi Found drowned wearing CORE tee-shirt; last seen in pick-up truck with white March, 1965 - Rev. James.Reeb, white, 37 men. Selma, Alabama No arrest, NO CONVICTION Beaten to death after participating in in March for voting rights Four arrests, PENDIEG December, 1964 - Frank Morris, Negro, 52 Ferriday, Louisiana Burned to death in his shop—covered March, 1965 - Viola Gregg Liuzzo, white, 38 with gasoline by white men, set afire, Lowndesboro, Alabama and forced to remain inside. Shot to death from passing car while No arrest, NO CONVICTIONS transporting demonstrators from march for voting rights. Four whites arrested, PEKDIKG December, 1964 - Man and woman, Negro New Orleans, Louisiana Shot to death in motel No arrest, NO CONVICTION January. 1965 - Ollie B. Shelby, Negro, 18 Jackson, Mississippi Badly beaten and shot to death by police officers in Hinds County Jail. No arrests, NO CONVICTION January. 1965- Marshall Scott, Jr., Negro, 43 New Orleans, Louisiana Put into solitary confinement in New Orleans jail with pneumonia; died without medical attention. No arrests, NO CONVICTIONS February, 1965 - Jimmy Lee Jackson, Negro Marion, Alabama Shot to death by state troopers during demonstration for voting rights. No arrests, NO CONVICTIONS February. 1965 - John Lee, Negro, 31 Goshen Springs, Mississippi Found dead on country road v/ith signs of beating—had attended civil rights Q&kJ^J^l FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CORE SOUTHERN REGIONAL OFFICE 2209 Dryades Street March 16, I965 New Orleans, Louisiana 7OH3 Phone (504) 523-7204 Summary of Events in Jonesboro, Louisiana, March 8 through March 16 Monday—March 8. 1965 Fifty students at Jackson High School in Jonesboro, Louisiana, spontaneously demonstrated for three hours over the rumored dismissal of football coach, physical education instructor, Rev. Kirkpatrick. Rev. Kirkpatrick has been active in civil rights in Jonesboro. The students marched through the corridors for three hours until 3^ when the school closed for the day. Jackson Eight is the only Negro high school in Jonesboro and has an enrollment of 500 students. Tuesday—March 9f 1965 Students asked to present their grievances to the school borad but their request was refused.(The school board wanted to talk to only six students. The students wanted the greivances presented to the entire student body). 150 students picketed from 9 AM to 3PM. They demanded th6 return of Rev. Kirkpatrick, the expansion of the academic program, including more teachers, a new gym to replace the old one burned in September, 1964, and the addition of new classrooms. ,'ifrf*nBrif'/1Y M^ITT*-^ 1965 150 students began picketing the school early Wednesday. City and county police arrived at 9AM and stationed themselves around the Negro community, known as the "Quarters." On their arrival the student picket line swelled to 400, The students were joined by several teachers. Soon after this a city fire truck arrived and firemen began unloading its hoses. After some conversation with members of the Negro community the fire officers rolled up the'hoses and the truck left the "Quarters." However, the police rtept the community blockaded. From 9AM to 3IM all access to the area was cut off though several cars were permitted to leave. An pgent of the United States Justice Department, Alexander Ross, was refused en trance through the blockade. The police arrested four men, all Negroes. One of those arrested, Mr. Ernest Thomsa, was charged with resisting arrest and threatening a ploice officer. He was placed under $2500 bond. Mr. Olin Satcher, a teacher at Jackson High, was also arrested. He claimed he was struck by a member of the school board, a Mr, Spiller. He was treated by a doctor and had two stiches taken in his head. He was held in $2000 bond. Both Mr. Satcher and Mr. Thomas complained of maltreat ment by the Jonesboro police. Another Negro, a Mr. Spenser, was threatened by a group of deputized white citizens and arrested for running a road block. He claimed one of the white men had fired a shot, either directly at him or over his head, he was not sure which. Dave Dennis, COBJ Southern Program Director and an observer on the scene, described the situation as "uncalled for, illegal, and terroristic in the worst tradition of Southern racial oppression," The students terminated their demonstration at 3PM and met that evening with a parents' group to plan future joint action. 350 students demonstrated on the high school grounds today without incident. There were neither police nor fire trucks on the scene. A 100$ effective boy cott was declared and the principal officially closed the school at 2:30, Friday—March 12. 1965 150 students and parents met, at 8:30 AM, at a skating rink approximately two blocks from Jackson High School. They marched from the rink to the school campus where they held a demonstration for two hours. The group was led by Rev, Kirkpatrick whom the school board denied having fired as physical education in structor. Saturday and Sunday, March 13 and 14 Students and parents met together and agreed to continue the boycott at Jackson High until the school board agreed to meet with them, Monday—March 15. 1965 Approximately 250 students continued the demonstration at Jackson High School. Teachers wer in attendance at the school but no classes were held since only a handful of students were present. A sympathy boycott, 75$ effective, was held at Hawk Elementary School for Negroes. Jim Draper,-representative of the federal Community Relations Service, was at the high school. The police contained the demonstration within the Negro area and left the sherriff and three deputized Negroes in charge. A Negro man identified as Cosetta Jackson was,arrested for possession of a concealed weapon and for owning a citizen band radion not registered with the federal government. He was released on Tuesday in $750 bond. Tuesday—March 16, 1965 This morning 150 students picketed the school after a mile march through the Negro community. The school board called a special meeting for 4FM to which Negroes were invited. The students and parents, however, refused to attend the meeting because the meeting space, they charged, was too small to hold all those interested in attending the meeting. \ SUMMARY OF INCIDENTS IN BOGALUSA, LOUISIANA, APRIL 7-9 £j^kS>_3 CORE Southern Regional Office 2209 Dryades Street New Orleans, Louisiana Wednesday morning, 7th Bill Yates, CORE staff worker, was leaving the Hicks' residence walking to his parked car, when a blue pick-up truck appeared, containing three whites, and began photographing; him with a movie camera. He reached his car, got. in, and a dark green truck pulled, up and blocked him. The green truck had been circling the neighborhood for some time, also containing three whites. The man closest to the door of the truck got out, took out a blackjack, and came towards Bill. Bill rolled up the window and started the ignition, re cognizing the man as the one who had broken his hand in an earlier inci dent. The man tried to bash in the window, but it held fast, and Bill was able to put the car in reverse and get away. - The green truck tried to catch up with him, but he managed to circle around : and make it back to the Hicks house, where Mrs. Hicks threatened: ths.:.Mhi;tes with a pistol. They left. Wednesday afternoon .•<•-' A test was made of the Virginia Inn, the local Klan hang-out, without In cident (the testers weren't even allowed in the door). A test was also done at the Big R, a local drive-in, and the testers'were served. Wednesday evening : - - h :„•' "'.,•• At 6:00, Bill Yates called from a booth outside the local Negro union hall, where a voters clinic.gwas in progress. He reported that Klansmen had been arriving in the area in 2's and 3's for quite a while,, and were'now arri ving in carloads. Mrs. Hicks called a few minutes later and informed us tliat the Klansmen were holding a meeting two blocks from the hall, and it looked very bad. The Klansmen numbered, varying, between 60-70. We called the FBI, Justice Department, local and national hews media, and tried to get in touch with the governor. McKeithan stated that he would look into the matter personally, though there was no real pressure, pnhim to do so at that point. , Speedy action was taken, we are glad to say, by state and federal agencies and soon the Negro community and civil rights workers were so well protec ted that the Klan couldn't move. This, however, did not stop the burning of a 10-foot cross later that night, or the setting of two black coffins in front of the union hall, with floodlights on them, one of which bore Bill Yates' name. Thursday morning, 8th In the wee hours, three carloads of Klansmen passed the Hicks residence, where the CORE staff was staying, shooting at the house. The cars returned, but by this time members of the community were on the scene to protect the Hicks' from further intimidation. BOGALUSA INCIDENT SUMMARY/ 2 All downtown stores and the Crown-Zellerbach plant were closed down. Can vassers,, primarily voulunteers from Kansas University, went into the nor thern section of town, followed by 4 carloads of Klansmen. Bill and some others tried to get police protection for them, but could not; they final ly managed to rescue the canvassers themselves, and return to the union hall. Meanwhile, the KLan was holding a lengthy rally, of about 200 per sons, in their location two blocks from the hall. Students from the Negro schools in the area walked out of classes, planning to march on the downtown section; the police barricaded the town, and local residents were afraid that violence would ensue if Klansmen waved guns at the students. The march began at 12:30, but was halted by police. The marchers returned to the union hall to reorganize for a later march on City Hall. Thursday night Mr. James Farmer, National Director of CORE, addressed a crowd of about 500 at the Central High School gymnasium. More than 100 city and state po licemen were on the scene, at one point having to turn back 32 carloads- of Klansmen who attempted to approach the school. A.Z. Young and Mr. Wash ington had acid poured on the cars during the rally, but.other than that there was no incident. Friday morning, 9th Jim Farmer and Ronnie Moore led a march of about 480 people to City Hall. The marchers returned to the union hall, as there was inadequate police protection: a group of whites tried to attack the photographers, and a Negro landed in the hospital after being hit by a 2-by-4. Many CORE chapters and projects all over the country sent telegrams to the Justice Department and President Johnson asking for the heaviest protection possible, in hopes of avoiding another Selma. Friday afternoon The marchers returned, and completed the march without incident. They were met at the City Hall steps by the mayor and a number of State Troopers; the mayor stated that he felt the grievances presented by the Negro community could easily be settled over the conference table. MEMO TO: CORE CHAPTERS AND ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS FROM: CORE SOUTHERN REGIONAL OFFICE 2209 Dryades Street, New Orleans, Louisiana RE: SOUTHERN RACIAL MURDERS April, 1965 Attached you will find a partial list of racial murders that have occurred in the South in the last two years. Though they are only a small sample of the violence that is traditional in the South towards Negroes and their white supporters, they are a shocking example of the lack of justice in the region. In not a single case has a defendant received punishment for one of these crimes, and in all but one case there has been no conviction. In all of these cases the identity of the killer was known, at least unof ficially. Some of these murders received little or no publicity on a national level. Most fade out of the minds of the public just as quickly as they fade from the front page of the papers and from the television screens. We feel that very little has been done to attack the Southern system of leniency towards those who commit violent acts against Negroes and civil rights workers. Perhaps one of the causes is a lack of awareness the public has of the reality of the situation. The murders are too short lived in the minds and hearts of the American people. Therefore, CORE in the South is beginning a program to remind Americans of the deplorable state of Southern justice and to stir their consciences so that they will demand legislation to correct the situation. In view of re cent developments in Alabama and Louisiana, we are demanding the following additions be made to the voting bill now pending in Congress to deal with violence in connection with racial and civil rights matters: 1. Legislation requiring enforcement of and protection for the exercise of all Constitutionally guaranteed rights by federal marshalls, FBI ..^.- agents or other appropriate federal agents; 2. Legislation requiring the Justice Department to make on-the-spot arrests of violators of Title 18, Section 24-1-242 of the U.S. Code; 3. Legislation making crimes of violence, especially murders,in connection with civil rights and race, a major federal offense; Because of the intimidation in many areas of the South of Negroes who at tempt to register to vote, use certain public accommodations, and exercise their Constitutional rights, we believe the 1965 Civil Rights Act and the proposed voting bill, as presented, will have little effect without the above provisions. To begin this program, we hope you will circulate the attached list as widely as possible in your area. We hope you will make copies of the list and submit it, along with your own demands for improved legislation, to all of your local newspapers, radio and TV stations, local officials, Senators and Congressmen. Demand that your Senators and Congressmen work for the inclusion of the above in new legislation. C o E • P. ~I?RlL 15 196'5 c S 6r F*<9r T^^r cilcLy ;: i wi;LI, go.$0 the ,polls Tuesday to de- terBSfli^*7liS" \/$il^ **r * Wty.of.Quir.cy.w.Do:rw thcu CHATTAHOOCHEE PROTEST STAGED NEWSPAPER MANNERS Saturday , April 3, 1965, 23 As believers in democracy and Negro students attempted to buy- the necessity for a free uncon tickets to the downstairs section trolled press we are firmly opno- of the Gibson Movie Theater in ssed to censorship by any source Chattahoochee , Florida. They governmental or private. But we were refused entry to the theat also believe that all media have er and the box office was closed a responsibility to the public to soon after their arrival. Mem discharge their services in good ? bers of the group decided to pro taste and conduct themselves in a test the movie's discriminatory manner that fits within the frame policy and staged an hour long work of morality. This respon- stand-in outside the movie. As sibiltiyentails the avoidance of they were waiting quiotly in the the use of terms that tend to in bright sunlight, small groups of flame, enrage or abuse people or whites began to cluster about, -groups* —- shouting obscenities and threat Mr. J. Love Hutchinson ( or ening remarks. One group of hec whoever sets policy for advertis klers led by Jimmy- Thompson, sta ing on the Times) has not lived tioned themselves behind CORE up to this responsibility. On Field Secretarjr, Spiver-Gordon page sixteen of this weeks Gads and Task Force Worker Stu Wechs- den Qounty Times is an advertise-4- ler.• For the bettor part of an ment' that refers to "niggers, hour, the white boys muttered jews, catholics, (and) Cubans." taunts and challenges at the two The first term is clearly offens CORE workers. At one point, a ive. The usage of small letters.. middleaged white man deliberate in the others shows a lack of re» ly shoved Mr. Gordon off the sid spect for these people also. In ewalk into the road. When Gordon this period of stress and tension appealed to King to make an ars» Hutchinson has allowed his paper rest, the Chief answered with an to be used as a sounding board obscenity and walked off. The for the name-calling bigots of police didn't take any action the worst stripe. His printing when a carload of whites stopped of such an offensive advertise with chains wrapped around their ment on page sixteen makes us won hands, nor a little later on when der what kind of man Sam McMillan a group drove up with a shot gun is, who Hutchinson urges people to on the front seat of their car. vote for on page seaen. During this time a youth named Jerry, who works at the gas stat ion by the bus station walked up to Wechsler and began threaten ing him. Jerry stated " if any thing has happened to my smster I'll get you if its the last thing I do." Wechsler tried to calm him down explaining that the only violence done to anybody would come from the white bystan ders and that unless they had done his sister harm she was pro bably all right. Jerry stood a round waving his arms and making threats for several more minutes Ar TLL pefarTr»e-"T- (con't p.2 col'm. 1) p Uc affT)/ °ri \A iUj ^ TO Y> igaiijj i'-iu. £ IN . r. u. JJJ. t MRlk. JQL J,?b5 CHATTAHOOCHEE PROTEST con't) THE-CLUBS, the guns, the mobs and before some of the onlookers told the burning crosses of those who him they had seen his sister lea would keep the blackman from at ve the movie. taining his rightful place *' i n At approximately 4i00 p.m. , this society. He has gone out ev the demonstration was ended. As en as Christ went out and faced the people began, to head back to the swords and spears of those the Center , the white' youths who would deny the coming of Chr rushed to cars and began follow* istianity. The Movement is com ing them. Only one car was avai* posed of people who have deci lable to the-demonstrators and it ded that the injustices that exi was.followed continuously by sev st in this country have Ondured en car loads of white youths. Se too long. Thoy are no longer veral times the white youths tri fainthearted and their backbones ed to force the car off the road. heve been fused with the steel of It was reported that the man faith. Those that die will live ager of the Gibson Theater has on through their triumphs and th closed it down for good: At a ose that suffer will be encourage meeting Wednesday evening, an or ed by tho nearness reed inovitabi ganization composed of Chattahoo lity of victory. They • will not chee students was formed. Members hide behind the Cross and cry but have pledged to take measures to "Waut, it is not yet time." Nor bijing about the complete integra will thoy assume the hypocritical tion of all public facilities in attitude of using the Bible to Chattahoochee. memtsih an immoral situation. * # * * •* # # When you talk about walls Rev. Bywater thiols about the walls of AN OPEN LETTER TO REV. BWATER segregation that people have bui-*~ It up and that you are helping In the April irst edition of Epi- maintain and think about the liv sicopal Church Notes Rev, Bywater es that have been lost. And also spoke out against the evils of wheji you stop to think about it the Civil Rights Movement as led Reverend think about Rev. Martin by Rev. Martin Luthor King. He Luther King. Rev.- King is a 0hr- spoke out against Rev. King's pro istian, Rev. King is a moral man, posed boycott against Alabama as Rev. King is a man who is inter being unchristian and an incite ested in the wellbeing of all men ment to violence. We are glad regardless of color and he is wi that Rev. Bywater's Christian con lling to speak out without fear science has finally been touched in defense of the rights of all by the Fight for Freedom. He has men. Perhaps it would be fitting finally taken a stand on the gre that the next time when men who atest issue of out times. Unfor do not fit all or any of the cat tunately he %gk©6 hie stand along egories, in speaking of Rev. ICev side Wallace, Bamett, the Klan address him with respect and put and an assorted crew ofmmurderers his proper title in front of nl/r with the blood of men, women and name. After all, in the graOi <>U3 children staining their hands. old south children are taught fr As Rev. Bywater says a boycott om the craddle upwards to respect might be unchristian but why did their superiors. he not take this stand when Klan -::- -;s- -::- # * -::- -;:- -:;- tk * -* # -:Hf # •${• # *- -J;- # # -;<• -;:• # -M- 4 * -::- -x- -* -::- # •;:- smen wv.re driving Negroes from Alabama, Mississippi and even Fl The North Florida Citizenship orida through the use of the sass Project is project sponsored by me weapon he now so violently at the Congress of Racial Equality tacks? Why has he not spoken out and Partially supported by the against the violence done to inno local citizens of the areas in cent people by the white protect which the organization have proj ors of the- "Great Southern Tradi ects in. So the North Florida Ci tion"? R v Bywater, did you not tizenship Project is open for all fool the ne d to use your pulpit contributions and support that can or column as a platform when the be given. You Maji send or bring walls of God's church were splat- your contributions to Rt. 3 Box tterod lvith tho inr.ocont blood of 428-F; Quincy, Florida. The phone four little girls bring taugh number is 527-8458. God's messege of Love?. Where -;:- # -«• -::- -;:- -s:- -;:- # * -::- # -::- -;:- # -:c- # -::- # -:;- # -J:- •;:- x -sf # # # -::- # -::- -x- # # were you. Rev. Bywater, when Rev. Roeb called to Selma by the cuff-? ering of its inhabitants and the Buy THEFJ/VbST dictates of his conscience had his life beaten out of him by cl- ubwielding whites? It is inter AUTOMOBILE esting to note the didderence be tween Rev- Reeb and you Rev By- water. Both of you : re men of PRLIES HtJD *iie cloth. Rev. Reeb's Christian ity however gave him the courage and dedication to go out and face D,ST COUWteouS (con'.t on the left on column 2).' FREEDON NOW!! ! FREEDON NOW'.' SW'VE ,+ GUI's PU^E OIL "oMTfoiv; oio SbH-vw %s\*As (Pt NATIONALIST SENTIMENT IN URBAN AREAS A VOICE THROUGH THE WALL By MALCOLM BOYD "I don't think 1 know any middleclass Negroes in my world. I don't trust whites. I think the motives of all present life," a militant young Negro leader said. His whites in the movement are sick, man. I'm tried of work has based him in both Chicago and Mississippi. paternalism, especially when it acts humble and Christian. "The poor Negroes I know are Black Nationalists." But guns won't win the war. Only dollars will, and that In Rochester, New York, a middle-aged Black Na means education." tionalist leader told me the existing civil rights organiza "Before Nationalism there wasn't anything for Negroes tions are out-of-touch with the mass of Negroes there. to do," a Nationalist in New York explained. "In a slum "Whites can't hear us at all," he said. "They aren't area there's either a lot of religion or none at all. The listening except to what they want to hear. The way young don't want to hear this white Jesus. Instead of things are going on now another riot in Rochester is having a religion they want to put a group together. We're inevitable. The whites will look hurt and misunderstood black and we have to stay together." after it is over and they still won't know anymore than "My religion is black," another Nationalist said. The they do now." mother of a young Negro secretary employed by a white "We're experiencing a nightmare of frustration," a man, cautioned her daughter about the corruption of freedom movement leader, who has been arrested for his white values and then rebuked her: "You're even starting activities, told me in Los Angeles. "When you wake to laugh white." up from this nightmare you're not even screaming. You What is Black Nationalism? just have the shakes." "I don't look at it as a militant group," one young Nationalist said. "I see different phases of it . . . Afro- In Washington, D. C, a Black Nationalist spokesman American or Muslim, African or anti-Establishment. It said: "For America it's clearly either the Fourth Reich doesn't mean 'down with whites' but unity among Negroes. or democracy. It will be concentration camps or gas It is trying to develop Negro leadership." Whether in chambers for Negroes if it's the Fourth Reich. If it's Mississippi or Washington, this development at grass democracy, it will be freedom. I can see no middle- roots levels on an indigenous basis is the key factor in ground. Present civil rights organizations are neither Black Nationalism. leading nor functioning on a rational basis." Most Black Nationalists are not Black Muslims. Most In Harlem, I was told by a Nationalist: "I see the identified in many respects with the late Malcolm X but possibility of extermination of Negroes by whites in Amer reserved the right to disagree with him, too. "He was in a ica within a few years. The Negro masses aren't being stage of transition," one Nationalist commented about heard at all. Middle-class Negroes, speaking with whites, him. "That's what is so tragic about his murder. He reflect white and not Negro values or feelings. Communi wasn't locked in a position. He was fluid and he was cation scarcely exists at all but white people believe it moving toward a new position." does. They think the Civil Rights Act helped and even Police malpractice, or brutality, is a commonly heard that Negroes are pushing too fast. But the Negro masses charge by Black Nationalists in almost all urban centers. have not been affected at all." In a major city it is charged that a white police official A Negro intellectual, a Black Nationalist in Detroit, stated that Negro criminality stems from a tendency in commented: "I am not a separatist. Some whites are genes. It is alleged this statement by an important official obviously more Negro than many Negroes in understand led men below him in the police force to persecute ing of dynamics and commitment to the movement. Some Negroes. Negroes are white men who are colored. Yet the enemy Police malpractice, it is charged by Nationalists, takes remains basically the white Establishment. While it in the form of harassment. . . seldom reported in mass media cludes some Negroes on the make, it is a white structure. ... or else a legal run-around if someone tries to lodge It must be destroyed, for the freedom revolution is a a complaint. social and economic movement which cannot fit into Nationalists in Los Angeles claim Muslim influence existing categories." is on the wane. "The internal structure within temples "The black bourgeoisie has sold out the whole free is shaky. There's a $12-a-week fee and members are dom movement," a Chicago militant said. "Don't mention kicked out if they're not able to pay. Rigid discipline bourgeois to me. And we don't need any white man to has led to excessive defections in the past year. You help us or tell us what to do, or how to do it. All a just can't get an extreme reaction out here. The weather white man can say now is 'let me listen, let me hear, tell isn't even extreme." the facts, let me experience it as it is.' I don't want to be Yet the segregrated pattern of housing in Los Angeles a part of any white world. It's rotten and it stinks. Why has become worse in the past ten years, Nationalists should / be corrupted by if! I want a new and decent assert. "Although a large number of Negroes have free- dom to live in new housing areas, the racial pattern has "We don't want conference table talk," one of them generally intensified. Los Angeles is one of the most told me. "We don't want groups meeting opposing groups, tightly segregated of all non-southern cities. But the peo everybody protected by protocol and their friends. What ple who live in substandard housing don't have the con we need is for a Negro guy to sit down and talk with a centration or the horror to be found in Harlem or the white guy, with time to spill it all out, to tell it as it is. south side of Chicago. There is always, in LA., the Time enough for answering. Then time enough for talk backyard and the grass, and a large number of single ing back. But no grandstanding. Time and honesty. family residents. However, seventy-five per cent of Negro There hasn't been any honest talk yet." students go to segregated schools. While things on the In Los Angeles, Chicago and Harlem I found Black surface seem to present no potentially violent problem, Nationalist anger directed toward white ignorance of things are mighty explosive beneath that surface." actual conditions as they are within Negro ghetto life. I Why is it claimed the middle-class Negro has lost found Nationalist cynicism about "accommodating Negro contact with the Negro masses in Los Angeles, Chicago, papers" and "white papers which don't print news about Detroit, Washington, Rochester and Harlem? niggers." I found Nationalist despair about "whites not "Because the Negro middle-class doesn't want to be knowing what is happening, or why." associated with anything he doesn't really understand It is said "scratch a Negro and you'll find a Muslim." fully," a young Nationalist asserted. "He doesn't under Not so. Negroes were Americans before waves of later stand why Negroes are being nationalists. But Black immigrants reached U. S. shores, Christians as soon as Nationalism is a way the poor people have to identify plantation owners decided they had souls. But most Ne themselves with something. The Negro middle-class does groes are sympathetic toward Black Nationalist feelings the same thing, with its churches, lodges and various if not tactics, aims if not ways of expressing themselves. associations. Yet these are closed to the Negro masses." I have found no consensus about the question of Again and again, from Black Nationalists in all parts violence during this coming summer in major urban areas. of the country . . . from Mississippi to Iowa, Minnesota "Har'em would have blown up this winter if it had been to Georgia ... I have heard reiterated the same declara summer," said one Nationalist. "I feel Chicago will come tions of anger and expressions of hopelessness. close to violence," commented another, "but life for "There is a need of understanding," said one Na Negro masses in Chicago is always violent." tionalist. "If whites could listen. Nobody's listening and Travelling in various urban centers, I have recently that's why Negro people are doing things to say some found a new Negro bitterness and despair . . . whether thing and draw attention." labeled Black Nationalist or not, whether on college I recall one night in my apartment in Detroit when campus or family livingroom . . . matched by white lack I had invited nearly one hundred people to meet for of understanding, in almost all cases, of what is taking informal conversation. I asked a Black Nationalist spokes place. This vast gulf between races, growing wider, deeply man to make introductory remarks. Minister Wilfred X, worries me. head of the Black Muslims in Detroit, had then been asked "I don't want to hate whites," a Negro college girl to speak. People sat tightly crowded together on the said. "I try not to. But when I'm with them, I can't floor of my apartment as he outlined the goals and help it." A Negro on a picket line told a white man: mechanics of the Black Muslim organization. "I don't want to eat with you. Not at all. All I want Afterwards the discussion broadened as middle-class is freedom to eat anywhere I want . . . alone or with my Negroes, white liberals, black separatists, white radicals, own friends." A white schoolteacher was discovered Black Nationalists and white moderates began to engage teaching Negro children "black is the color of sin and in a depth discussion. The conversation extended past death, white is the color of goodness and purity." A young seven hours. At the outset the most outspoken group Black Nationalist said: "I don't know what to say about comprised members of Uhuru, an organization of militant the future. I don't know what to tell whites they should young Negroes. But then whites started talking, asking do. I'm not sure it can make any difference anymore." questions, making counter-charges to earlier statements. But he concluded: "I wish whites would listen. I It became "a dialogue." And God knows nothing is wish whites could hear." more badly needed. People talking to themselves, asking rhetorical questions of their own consciences or peer- Malcolm Boyd is national field representative groups, cannot match the creativity of meeting exact of the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial opposites, in background and ideology, in an environment Unity and a member of an interracial team ministry of free expression. at the Church of the Atonement in Washington, D. C. In a Rochester bar, on a Saturday night just before Chaplain-at-large to universities throughout the midnight, I met a hopelessness in Black Nationalist U. S., he has authored five plays (Boy, Study in spokesmen who felt denied such an opportunity of free Color, The Community) and six books, the most expression with whites. recent being The Hunger, The Thirst. Reprinted from the April, 1965, issue of RENEWAL MAGAZINE. Copies of the reprint may be ordered at 5<£ each or $3.00 for 100. A Production Kit for Fr. Boyd's plays may be obtained at $1.50 eachj THE HUNGER, THE THIRST at $1.50 per copy* Write - E.S.C.R.U., 5 Forsyth St.,N.W., Atlanta. 3, Ga. Southern Studeni Organizing Committee I Mil III III IWI'I I—IIIH Vol. II, No. 3 April, 196? ,**i J9g* , , __.„ ^>prt no C oo'*£ 'r<£ ft C- *#• £:/ecTs" CAff-'C&rs The spring conference ci the Southern Stutjfnt Organizing Cousmittee (SSQCJ was held Merch\l9-PI at the Old Gasmen Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Leslie Dunbar, Executive Director of the Southern Regional 2ounc.il, delivered che keynote address to tve conference on Friday evening. Mr. Stokeley Carmichael, Field Secretary of the Student lion Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) addressed the conference body oa Saturday evening. Other conference speakers included Stav* Wedssaaa of the Tree Speech Movement, TJnivsrrity a+: California, Mr. Ed Richer, faculty triviscr to the Freedom Party at the University of iloriia, and Mr. Richard Ramsey, College Director of the American Frit-nda Service Committee in High Point, Forth Carelira. ssoc SPONSORS FSM TOUR Following the sypote address oa Friday evening, there «;• a session devoted c^ Ste ve nfei ssmaii. • » A- a f .' memb e.r of che J ta- lpca] campus programming. Dr. Matthew den ts for a Democrat!? Socle by CSDS) and tFones talked about the development of rec >nt 3-y of the Free Soeech a vement ii the campus political party (Freedom Ber .el -y« will .our a number of southern Party) oh. the University of Florida; col leg ap under the rpoj'.sors n :p oi the Joseph Smith, President of Georgia Stu- tiou th err. ot" ident Organ .zing aommitteei lents for humar Rights, and tfilliam 01 e ve, S na ti.ve of Tern pa', Fl orida, and a Roberts cf the Sotth Carolina Student gra 'hia Lfe of the Univers iJt'y -.' x Tampa, r? - Council on tiuman Relatidn«i discussed the eon tly le ft his job ES a graduate acsit - organizing of student groups on a state tant at the University of California, wide level. Phil Smith, Knoxville Edu Berkele j, to work for SDS on i.t~ Univor- cation Project, and Keith Burchett, sity Reform Project. '18 imnec4- - «t. res University of Kentucky, disbursed the ponsibility is explaining the purposes comaiittee structure in carrying cut and goals of the Free Speech Movement irca'! programs. wTJicTS have been largely hiatortec' by the wf s preas. Saturday aftsrnoon ' spent in six work shops; Implementation cf the Civil Rights The route will begin the weekend of .iprii dill, Poverty, Peace, nniversity Reform, 2-4 with Steve speaking at the- Virginis Labor Unions, and Tutorials, fc'orkrthop Student Civil Sights Conference at the leaders were Norman Hill of the AFL-Clo, University of Virginia in Charlottesville Jesse Morris, Director of Federa3 Programs A two week interlude will follow during ?or the Council of Pederated Organisations which time Steve will Le working on the iOCPO), William Jeffries, American Friends March on Washington to Fnd the War in Serviee Committer, Paul Booth, V^sr.a Re Viet Nam-, The Main part of the tour will search Education Project oi Students for a begin on or around the weekend of Apr! •lj,Ufmocratic Society, Mr. Jerry Lovine, The following- places keVe already been Chemical Workers Union, and Michael Lawler, tentatively scheduled! Durham-Shapei Kill, TTb National Student Association. Other Greensboro, North Carolina, Fjioxville-Mary resource persons included Richard Bftfflsey, Maryville, Tennessee, Bust College (Holly Amei-ioon Friends Service Committee, Conrad Springs, Miss.) Baton kouge, Louisiana, Browne, Highlander Center'^ Steve Weissman New Orleans, fr'ayetteville,Arkansas , and free Speech Movement, '..'alter Tillow, Stu several places in Texas. Three other dent Son Violent Coordinating Committee, probable atops are Atlanta, Tuskegee, and Al Ulmer, Southern Regional Council, and Memphis. Jamas hay.vs, National Sharecroppers Fund. Kedy West, popular folk singer who haa an The Coordinating Committee composed of album out on the Vanguard label may tour one oelegate tram each campus group met with Steve. The Southern Student Organi throughout the afternoon on .Saturday to sing Committee will also Le arranging draw up the official conference document separate engagements for Miss West. (Continued on page 2) SPRING CONFERENCE, coat. Ihimmoraill Announces Plans for Selma Plant which was read and passed by the con ference body on Sunday morning. The In the .midst of the .Selma Voter Regis- - statement said in part, "As students tration Campaign.and-Alabama*a savage living in this generation and believing response to it, Hammermill paper company a in the dignity of all mankind, wo affirm of Erie,'Pennsylvania, announced that.it our belief in a new South that will bring would locate.a 135 million paper mill in democracy and justice to all its people. Selma, The decision to locate in Selma, The goals that we would work for are: according to the Hammermill president Donald S. Leslie Feb, k, was based on the 1. Accomplishment of a completely "fine reports" the company had received integrated society, and the rise about "the character of the community of full and equal opportunity for and its people." all. Hammermill's decision may have been 2. An end to personal poverty and based on Governor George Wallace's agree deprivation. ment to use the credit of the state of 3. An end to "public poverty" which Alabama to help finance construction leaves us without decent housing, not only of the plant but also of access schools, parks, medical care, roads, inland decks and a new bridge and communities. under a program which would employ partly federal as well as state funds. k. A democratic society where politics poses a meaningful dialogue, and The Student Non Violent Coordinating Com where each man has a voice in the mittee (SNCC) has called for a nation wide decisions that affect men's boycott of the Hammermill Company. John lives. Lewis, Chairman of SNCC, stated in a let ter to a Hammermill Executive: 5. A world working toward the easing of the tensions of the Cold War "We are convinced that a boycott of your with positive emphasis on peace products is necessary, in view of the fact and world wide understanding. that you have received public protests of your decision to build in Selma and 6. An end to man's inhumanity to have not, so far as we know, responded man. to them as we believe you should. Other business included adoption of by "We call on you to reverse what we regard laws and the election of officers for as your tacit support of racist policies 1965-66, The newly elected officers are; of the officials of Alabama and Selma. Chairman, Howard Romaine, University of Your refusal to do so may well be inter Virginia; Vice-Chairman, Howard Spencer, preted by the public as a blatant dis Rust College; Secretary, Herman Carter, regard not only for your own interests Southern University, and Treasurer, but for the interests of freedom, jus Roy Money, Vanderbilt University. The tice and democracy in this country." conference body voted to endorse the March on Washington to End the War in Vietnam, April 17. SPRING CONFERENCE, cont. A newly elected Executive Committee consis ting of two persons from each state met 2, A newsletter to act as the central immediately following™ttnr last conference-- channel of communication among the session on Sunday morning to discuss the student groups. It will publish plans for specific programs for the summer reports on the various types of acti and fall. The program adopted is as fol vities of local action groups on lows : Southern campuses. In addition, the newsletter will try to encourage 1, A campus traveler program to en discussion of issues relevant to the courage local student groups to building of a new and just order in work on issues relevant to their the South. campuses as well as to become a part of the broader movement for 3. Initiate programs and help local freedom in the South. It is hoped campus groups and advise SSOC con that we can eventually have one tacts of opportunities to participate traveller for each state. The in projects in areas of poverty, duties of the traveler are: desegregation, university reform, a. Inform college students about capital punishment, peace, labor activities on other Southern unions, academic freedom, and unem campuses. ployment. b. Assist students in evaluation Conferences—state, regional, and of their local situations. h. southwide, to kindle interest and c. Encourage student involvement participation in the issues which in issues relevant to the confront the South, the nation, and local situation. the world. d. Assist students in the imple mentation of their own local programs. Statewide Group Formed in West Virginia j ThThee Appalachia n Conference Students Now for Action and Progress "Because of the te .hnological revolution (SNAP) has been formed by students from occuring in our nation and the increasing West Virginia State, Concord, Bluefield j inequality of the distribution of the State College and Marshall University. benefits from that technology, there is SNAP is a statewide coalition of student great need for people to organize and organizations to bring about meaningful control their own destinies." (Statement changes in the existing political, social, 'o f Organization, Appalachian Economic and economic conditions. The major concerns & Political Action Conference) The Appa of the group shall be in the areas of civil lachian Conference is a bringing together rights, education, poverty, and peace. The io f twelve organisations to begin organ methods to be used shall be those of re izing of poor in Appalachia. search, negotiation, and direct action, A Appalachia covers nine states where 15 basic outline of the program is: million people live. Of these, one and A. Civil Rights a half million are unemployed. There are four main reasons for working in Appala 1. State civil rights legislation chia: with the establishment of a Fair Employment Practices Commission. 1. The federal government has taken a 2. Desegregation of the state stand against unemployment and school system. poverty. 3. Open neighborhoods in regard to 2. There is the opportunity for a housing. strong alliance between Negroes k. Complete integration of all hos and whites to solve their common pital facilities and staffs. problems. B, Education 3. The union movement has been a 1. Academic freedom for both ;tu- strong tradition for change in dents and professors. that area. 2. The up-grading of teachers' k. The people of Appalachia have salaries on the college level. acute poverty and intimidation 3. Establishment of a statewide thus offering a real potential tutorial service. for organizing. Establishment of a statewide system of free adult education. The coordinator for the Appalachian Con ference is Buford Posey, a native of C. Poverty Philadelphia, Mississippi. In June of 1. Organizing self-help programs this past year Mr. Posey was forced to with the people in poverty- leave his home to avoid being killed by stricken areas. the Ku Klux Klan after he learned the 2, Assisting the appropriate private names of seven of the slayers of Chaney, and public officials in combating Goodman, and Schwerner, and gave this youth problems. information to the FBI. D, Peace This week SSOC received a letter from Mr. Posey which read in part: 1. Realizing that war cannot win "The total finances of the Appalachian peace, but only annihilate man Conference now are exactly $72.03. kind, we strongly advocate the Unless we receive additional funds from settlement of national and inter-! our sponsors immediately, we shall be national problems through non forced to suspend operations." violence, and peaceful negotia If you wish to help or would like further tions. information write! Acting chairman is Pat Austin, 16^3 Ninth Appalachian Economic & Political Action Avenue, Huntington, West Virginia, 125701 Conference 1900 McCalla Avenue Knoxville, Tennessee 37915 QUOTED WITHOUT COMMENT "What then of the man of freedom? He is the man who aspires to stand his ground in the world, who values the necessary deed more highly than a clear conscience or the duties of his calling, who is ready to sacrifice a barren principle for a fruitful compromise or a barren mediocrity for a fruitful radicalism. What then of him? He must beware lest his freedom should become his own undoing. For in choosing the lesser of two evils he may fail to see that the greater evil he seeks to avoid may prove the lesser. Here we have the raw material of tragedy." —Dietrich Bonhoeffer QUESTION OF THE MONTH: What is purple and will never be???? (See page 3 for the answer) "Advocates of the Beginning'' Volunteers In Service To America Organized at Marshall University Campus political parties are springing up I VISTA spells war on poverty. It means an on southern campuses in an amazing number.! active corps of full-time volunteers who A recent party formed at Marshall Univer- \ have launched an all-out effort to combat sity in Huntingdon, Virginia was known as j the forces of despair which threaten the Advocates of the Beginning. The advocates heart of America, stated in their platform: "We offer a plan incorporating revision and expansion of Called Volunteers in Service to America, present programs with initiation of new VISTA is one of the major anti-poverty phases of student government activity. programs established by the Economic With active participation by students, Opportunity Act of 1964, It involves these proposals will constitute the Begin full commitment in the most civilized ning of Marshall's Finest Hour." effort of our time and provides a volun teer with the knowledge that he had ser- The Advocates' platform had three sections red both his"nation and his fellow man. Revision, Expansion, and Initiation. Their platform included Revision: elimination of Volunteers are people who have agreed to dormitory curfew for junior and senior work v/ith persons in disadvantaged areas women, quiet enforced in library, commen to improve their living standards« Their surate pay for men and women dormitory goal is to break the vicious cycle of pov counselors, availability of single meal erty and they are especially trained by cafeteria tickets, dormitory lobbies open VISTA to accomplish this. until 1:00 on weekends and on Sunday VISTA offers a dual challenge to two age mornings. Expansion: increased research groups. For a recent high school or col grants, physical improvements on campus, lege graduate- it offers an exciting ex syllabus cf student courses by section perience which could possibly pave the way instructors under advisory system, special for a future career. For the older vol activity fee arrangement for married stu unteer, many of whom may come out of re dents, and evaluation of campus courses, tirement to serve, it provides the know textbooks, and faculty interests. Tahia- ledge they are using their wisdom and tion: student government white papers on talents to greatly affect the nation*"s can pas deficiences, special monthly economy and its people. senate meetings designed for audience reaction, presidential press conferences, Boot camp for VISTA'e soldiers involves student government sponsorship of foreign four to six weeks of solid education in films, a free speech podium available to the effects of poverty and how to combat all students at all times, and a study of it. The volunteer is urged to adapt the off campus housing for safely and price skills they have to the job and conditions reasonability. they will find in the fisld. This train ing is provided by professionals who have Danie Stewart, presidential candidate of done identical work themselves and who Advocates of the Beginning, and active can soundly evaluate it. in civil rights activities published a small leaflet with this statement: Eligibility is open for anyone who is over 18 and is willing to commit one year of "What if Danie makes it and he demon service to VISTA's domestic peace corps. strates? Well, what of it? Perhaps you've thought of demonstration for human rights Additional information may be obtained by yourself. Perhaps you haven't. But whether writing VISTA, Office of Economic you would or you wouldn't you can't say Opportunity, Washington, D.C5 that Danie just talks and doesn't act.You see, Danie is some kind of nut or some thing. He believes that if you believe in something, you should act on it and not a new campus political party has been just sit around and cry in your beer organized at the University of about it. Danie doesn't get a kick out of Tennessee, The "Free Party" proposes demonstrating. ... he only believes in changes in policy on UT housing, demonstrations as a last resort but it is student organizations, ROTC and other necessary sometimes — there's no getting matters. around that fact. And so, the question on everyone's mind is, 'Will he or won't he?' Well, he might — not as the presi Answer, to the-quest-ioh of the month: dent of Marshall University student body, ' but as an individual of action and princi THE GRAPE SOCIETY!I!II pie. Sorry, but he can't sacrifice pri- nsiple for anyone or anything"! Our thanks to Cornie Curry for the Question of the Month. Connie says The Advocates of the Beginning didn't win "I made it up all by myself." the election at Marshall University. Cain- pus political parties that advocate such programs seldom do. But another student The SSOC Nev.'sletter needs articles, body has been challenged. It's happened Send campus news to P.O. Box 64-03, at Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, Western Nashville, Tennessee, 37212 Kentucky State, and the University of Arkansas. South Carolina Stulents Meet Travelling through Mississippi Jane Stembridge composed "The Peoples Cn the weekend of April 2-k the South Wants Freedom." She would like to Carolina Student Council of Human Relations share with you her thoughts as Jane met under moss covered trees at the Penn relates them about the poor people Conference Center at Frogrr.ore, South she met and photographed, Carolina. Students from 15 South Carolina campuses were present ior the meeting I a About no jobs, which was entitled "Students In Action 6H percent of all the peoples In Com-unity Ana On Campus." in America On Friday night a man from the Office cf who could work Economic Opportunity spoke on the War on can't Poverty and its various aspects. Re was Because there isn't any jobs informed and articulate and discussed some for them of the weaknesses of the program when questioned. Some questioning cantered the reason that there isn't any jobs around the "radical" dimension of the for them poverty program - the participation of che' is because other peoples runs poor themselves on local community action everything committees. He dodged rather than answered questions concerning guarantees of particl they pation by tne poor, like Saturday morning began with a panel dis to cussion of poverty. In the afternoon they can't let the peoples run the: e was a panel discussion of "Issues in themrelves Higher Education". Both panel discussions because then they wouldn't have were followed by small discussion groups. nothing to run On Saturday night there was a panel dis no peoples to run cussion of summer opportunities followed no Cadillac car by singing. The conference ended with They would just, have to run thomselve election of officers and a service of they don't like that worship* because they don't like All in all, there were many-good i£eas themselves raised aad certainly many students who which takes money have been or who will be active on their Ah Ea campuses. So they gets all the money they can Gene Guerrero — which means some people don't get an;, And also they use the newspapers they own and the T.V. and other devices to stir up the peoples for war And meanwhile they stir up the senate. And house and generals and various whits western imperialistic and paranoid groups And we go to Vietnam and the money for jobs goes to guns which are made by the peoples with cadi.Ilac cars Which means they can now buy another cadillac car with the money they make from the war the same money that could have made jobs Almost two million dollars a day -$*##** in Vietnam not to mention dead children Copies of this po^m and others from the collection "The Peoples Want Freedom" &GST mtHPS A*6,, are available from the SSGC office, Box ^'?03, Nashville, Tennessee, SSOC Begins "Full-Scale" Civil Rights Who is Lillian Smith? Movement at University of Alabama !? , j — by Paula Snelling On February 25, the Crimson White, the stu-j "She's the woman who shook the mag dent aaper at the University of alabama, i nolias off the tree," said one writer had a front page article which began: in 19^. "Although it had seemed that the 'civil j "She's that terrible woman who told rights' question was dead on the Univer all our secrets," wailed ten thousand sity campus, there are indications that a i voices (not all with southern accents.) fullscale movement may be launched here i "She's Miss Lil, our camp director," soon." This was as a result of a visit to ! said hundreds of girls who had attended the University campus by a SSOC traveller | Laurel Falls Camp, famed for its modern -.who, according to the paper," said that dance and children's theater, and sculp the group (SSOC) was going to work under- i ture classes, painting, and conversation'' "cover and did not want any publicity." about life, death, the human condition, As the SSOC culprit in this picture painted! as well as for that mythic creature, by the Crimson White, I cannot but stand 1 "Buss Eye", and more and more..., back in wonderment and awe when I discover i "She's the first Southerner who my own powers to sneak onto a college cam ever wrote an editorial against segre pus in the dead of night and begin a "full- gation, the first writer in the 20th scale" civil rights movement. century to write about the multi- I did not write Gov. Wallace to announce leveled evils of segregation, its harm my visit to Tuscaloosa nor did I walk to whites as well as to Negroes; the around campus with a sign on my back. In first to see it as symbol and symptom this sense my two day visit was under of dehumanization; the first to break cover. What I did do at the University the old taboo of silence about the was talk with a number of students and .' twisted, ambivalent sex life of souther faculty I thought would be interested in ners in her novel, Strange Fruit." beginning activity directed towards change "South Today, the magazine begun in Alabama. I found many who are concerned by her and Paula Snelling was the first about Alabama and anxious to begin some effort made (said Harry Golden) to look effort. Recent events in Selma, Marion, at the Negro as a writer and to include Camden, Montgomery, and Birmingham point Negroes as contributors to its pages." out the urgent necessity of Alabamians getting to work. Three people have died There were many "firsts." Perhaps recently in Alabama because they protested j this is why some of you do not know her discrimination in voting in that state. today, although she is well known in Europe, Asia, etc. Although Strange The South is what it is today primarily Fruit sold millions and her name was because "good" white southerners have re in the journalists' column (the book fused to open their eyes or have refused was the most controversial every pub to act once their eyes were opened. Good lished in this country) every day for words are insufficient now in alabama. months, and she was the center of What is needed is for white and Negro cocktail party talk for years, she has Alabamians to actively work together for i been finally almost buried until she is change. There are students at the Univ- j little known by the present generation. ersity of Alabama who have open eyes and who want to begin working. They can and j At first, her fame shot into space I believe they will start, j like a rocket; there was no way to stop her, the more she was blamed and criti Gene Guerrero, Jr. — cized the more she was read, especially by the young; but finally, her enemies, ARLO TATUM HOLDS PEACE SEMINAR IN North and South, learned how to do it, NASHVILLE ignore her, talk about southern writers but leave her out, talk about writers Arlo Tatum of the Central Committee for on race relations but leave her out, Conscientious Objectors met with students talk about women writers but leave her from the Joint University Council on out. So, although she is in "Who's Human Relations, Students for a Demo Who" and the streets in Bombay filled cratic Society at Vanderbilt and the to see her on her visit there, and she International Club at Fisk University is in the Celebrity Book, and her books for a series of discussions concerning on the South have sold more than those Vietnam, the draft, and disarmament. He of any other writer, southerners your was accompanied by Mr. Dick Ramsey, age have read her very little. College Secretary for the Southeastern Region of the American Friends Service Let me end on a brighter note: let me Committee (AFSC). say how much fun she and I had the ten years we published South Today. We finally had 10,000 subscribers and we •ENCAMPMENT FOR CITIZENSHIP: Among the did it with no angle or foundation to many summer opportunities available for help us; we had nothing but our small students is the Encampment for Citizen depression salaries. But it was fun ship , held each year in New York and licking stamps, addressing envelopes, Puerto Rico, "a study program to identify then writing what we felt was really gooc and understand problems of democracy that stuff. We were revolutionary (so challenge youth and society today." Any people said) but we felt we were just person between the ages of 18 and 23 may civ j li zed. apply to Encampment for Citizenship, 2 West 6^th Street, New York, New York. Continued on Page 7 HJ ru H, O S s: p. p.- >o H->d 01 0 0 a- a >0 o pi s s o •- o 0" H- P ST P CD a CD c+ P3 0 O 0 CD O 03 o c+ o >0 p 4 o a H- M (M 4 < t* O 01 CO »0 C+- >0 H- 0 4 03 P D- t) 4 p- 4 4 ci 0 H- CD CD CD (0 •v-i c+-'0 O 0 0 c+ rt- cn 0 o ts' 1 1 M> H- 2 O 3 03 cr PL r- f- •0 O H. tf TO c+ 01 H H- 0- CD O tr *i o O O P * ID O 3 ro CD H, 0 0 0 4 O. 0 4 te K- 0* 0 cr CO •n M- O 01 c+ H- < o M P TO O P CD "0 PI ^ 0 0 o 'r? ^ o H s: •O '0 w H ! =<: y H- ,< p £^ 01 p. CD SB H P^ CT 03 03 03 •'3 Cl P- > 0 < CD 4 0q CD H o te 3) pi w oi CD 0 cr d> CD =< ~ c+ O c+ 0 p. TO a CD c+ H- 0 a* co o ii cr H- 4 - o Cn 1-3 M CD O P H- o TO The SOUTHERN STUDENT ORGANISING COMMITTEE is a group of southern students who have united to work for a democratic South. When students work together instead of in isolation, effective change can be brought about. The SSOC believes in the Neve South, V/e believe that the South has a unique opportunity to prove that men can live together free from hate, want, and fear. If you wish to subscribe to the SSOC Newsletter, please return this form. NAME SCHOOL MAILING ADDRESS _ PHONE I am enclosing $ ccntribution-for the Newsletter. Please return to: Southern Student Organizing Committee Box 6403 Nashville, Tennessee 37212 Richard Haley COHE Southern Office 2209 Dryades Street New urleans, /2//JSr£R_ May 3, 19$5 , CONGRESS OP \ rtCTAL EQUALITY Southern Regional Office FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2209 Dryades Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70113 Phone (504) 523-7625 ST. TAMMANY SCHOOL DESEGREGATION PLAN ORDERED; BOND ISSUE FREED On Wednesday, April 28, Federal Judge Frank B. Ellis ordered the St. Tammany Parish School .Board to present a desegregation plan for the parish's public schools on May 14. The action resulted from a suit filed by CORE challenging the constitutionality of a $1,995,000 bond issue offered by the parish school board. The Judge ordered the plan in a pre-trial conference, two days before a hearing was to have been held on the suit. The action removed legal barriers to completion of the sale of the bonds. The CORE suit was filed on April 5 and CORE attorneys said that they believe the suit brought the fastest court-ordered desegregation of any school district in the South. On filing the suit CORE officials said such suits could be the single most powerful tool in integrating Southern schools. CORE southern director Richard Haley said he was pleased with the effectiveness of the St. Tammany suit and that the organization was planning to file similar suits elsewhere in Louisiana„ The suit claimed that the school board did not have the right to issue bonds for an unconstitutional purpose -- the maintaining of segregated schools. The board accepted a bid on the bonds and was obligated to deliver them to the buyer by May 10, which the^ could not do until the president of the board signed a statement that there is no pending litigation affecting the bonds. Because of the desegregation order by Judge Ellis, the CORE attorneys withdrew their challenge of the bond issue, permitting completion of the sale. Judge Ellis has set May Ik as the date of a full hearing on the merits of the suit. ########## The Southern Student Organizing Committee vol. II NO, gay, I?o5 STEVE WEISSMAN, KEDY WEST TOUR SOUTHERN COLLEGE CAMPUSES Steve rfeissrsan, a staff rcsmber ox the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS, -•eentiy of the Free Speech Movement in Berkeley and Hedy West, folk singer. have been tourinsr numb* r o. southern campuses under the sponsorship of the Southern Studeafc Organising Committee (SSOC). Steve, a native of Tampa, Florida and a graduate of the University of Tampa, recently left his job as a graduate assistant at the Unive sity of Ca3 ;ornu Berkeley, to work for SDS on University Reform Project. resporsibi-ity has been to explain the purposes and"goals of the Free Speech Movement and discuss the issue of university reform with southern students. Hedy West is a graduate of Western Carolina College in North Carolina and has her M.A. degree in music from Columbia University. She is currently living in Los argeles and has appeared at t' e Ash Grove . Kedy has given her time to SSOC in order to help us secure Schools covered in tljfc tour indlude Unive rsity of Vfrgi ni« Mary Washington College, Virginia State College, University of North Carolina, Duke University, A & T at Greensboro, Emory University, Atlanta Unive/ sity Center, University of Tennessee Knoxville College, Berea College, university of Kentucky, Vsnderbi.lt University, MarsrTall University^ Huntingdon West Virginia, Memphis State University, Philnn lor Smith in Little Rock; Ark., University of Arkansas at FayetteVdlle Other stops are scbe'hlled for Tulane University in New Orleans, Southern Univerjaity in Baton Rouge, and trie University of Texas. Steve bus ad dressed audiences totaling approximate 2U00. at 27 colleges in ten southern stater. Concerts, fun" raising parti* and other appearances by Fiedy West ha resu in encigh morev to "or t Sped oA ^?PWcn«t\V tour as well as a small replenishment to our sagging bank account. "People ask ne what I am going to t when the civil riahts cause runs o? I tell than it is not just a cause we arbitrarily niched Just to do something. It is a feeling about humanity—any color, anywhere, Anc q~ \*V that won't change, 9 The aaministraticn*sivntervr*gr-. lative Reapportionment. Wherever stration bill has the potential of there is the determination that bringing many thousands of Negroes the value of votes in different in the hard core areas of the South districts is unbalanced and unequal, onto the voting rolls. The Missi whether by gerrymandering or popu ssippi Freedom Democratic Party feels lation shifts, the Supreme Court that certain provisions must be made has ruled that new elections must to ensure that the Bill does work, be held following a more equable most important is the provision for and democratic reapportionment of holding new and democratic elections Districts. This appears to us to within six to nine months after be both reasonable and just. federal registration begins. The following is testimony given by Mrs. Similarly, in cases where there has Victoria Gray Before the House been a systematic practice of dis Committee, enfranchising huge numbers of the population illegally, thereby Mr. Chairman, Members of the Com keeping them from any participation mittee: at all, in previous elections this same principle must be true to a I wish to express the appreciation greater degree. of the Mississippi Freedom Demo cratic Party, and my own, to the The Negroes in Mississippi and much Committee for granting us this of the deep south suffer at this opportunity to make our views moment under the jurisdiction of known to you, AS you are well elected officials in whose elections aware this proposed legislation we had no part. Can such officials is long-awaited, long-needed, and be responsible or responsive to the crucial to our efforts to realize needs and rights of the Negro people? true democracy for all people in The sad trhth is that these officials the South. It is legislation in have not been, and as long as they which Negro people in Mississippi are not the basis for oppression and and the South have a vital in injustice will remain and it will terest, and .it is in the inter be the voteless Negro citizens of est of some of those people from the South who Hill be the victims. the State of Mississippi that I appear here this evening, For we in Mississippi the injustice ,-'U will be particularly prolonged. In I have been instructed by the May or June of this year municipal Executive Committee of the Missi elections will be held throughout ssippi Freedom Democratic Party the state. This will mean that to say that we fully appreciate Mayors, local law enforcement offi the speed and urgency with which cers, and other officials who have the administration has acted in been the visible symbol of brutality this matter. We further appre and intimidation will be elected for ciate the seriousness of purpose four more years before Negro regis with which leaders of both par tration under this new law will be ties in the Congress have united large enough to have any effect on behind this legislation. However, these elections. How effective will we do feel that there are four this bill be in Neshoba County, particulars in which this bill can Mississippi, if local law enforce and must be strengthened if it is ment remains in the hanc £ Sheriff to effectively do the job for Rainey and Deputy Sheril e for which it was intended, four more years? How ei /e will 1, The first recommendation that it be in Selma if Negroes ,'oute to we make is related to new elections: the Courthouse must pass b$ Sheriff Jim Clark and his posse? As we are all aware, this is the process followed in cases of legis It is for these reasons that we are FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY, cont, "Peace Co ^5 A S\ AnciUe^Js College asking for speedy relief. We urge The St, Andrew's "peace corps" is a that a provision be included that voluntary organization on the campus will require the holding of open of St, Andrew's Presbyterian College and democratic elections within six which is located in Laurinburg, North to nine months of the coming of Carolina, The organization is part federal registrars to any given area. of the student Christian Council, an elected group which is in charge of Such action is precedented, consti Christian activities on the campus. tutional and just and will give The "peace corps" was organized three opportunity to all politically de years ago at the request of a Laurin prived people to begin real parti burg civic group. It is presently cipation in the processes by which composed of St. Andrew's students they are governed. We urge that along with several students from the you take this under serious ad Laurinburg Institute, a Negro prep visement. school in Laurinburg. There are ap The MFDP also requested that the proximately fifty active students in voting bill completely eliminate the the organization. As of this year poll tax, remove all requirements there are four projects being run by that would place prospective voters the group. One project is a recreation at the mercy cf local officials, and project for underpriveleged Negro broaden the reach of the legislation children in the small community of in such a manner as to give local Rowland, North Carolina which is about people some initiative in petitioning twenty miles from Laurinburg. Students for assistance in registering to vote. go to Rowland on Saturday afternoons, and about thirty children attend the recreation center which is a donated four room house on the outskirts of Rowland. Two North Carolina volunteers are going to tun the center during the summer. Another project is that of tutoring Negro students at the I. Ellis Johnson school, the only public Negro school in Laurinburg. This project is carried on twice a week after school hours. About fifty Negro students receive the benefit of this service. A third project is a construction project performed in collaboration with the Laurinburg welfare office. Students, on Saturday afternoons, do construction work for elderly and disabled people on welfare that can't do these jobs them«~ selves. Anything from small repair jobs to construction of rooms is undertaken by the students taking part in this project. The fourth project is that of visiting the aged at three local nursing homes, two white and one Negro. This is done on Sunday afternoons. The philosophy of the "peace corps" is that of implementing individual concern and service which is not available through the local welfare office because of the immensity of poverty in this area and the lack of welfare workers and funds to contend with the problem. The area surrounding the school is one of the poorest in the state if not the poorest, and much more than is presently being done needs to be done. The tri-county office which is part of the North Carolina fund, is just beginning to function in the area, and the "peace corps" keeps in constant contact with this prganization. In the near future many tri-county projects will be implemented and student volunteers on a part-time basis will be needed. Before the school was built in Laurinburg (just four years ago) there was no in dividual endeavor of any significance made in the behalf of the impoverished citizens in the area. The "peace corps" receives some co-operation in the form of funds from several local civic groups made at the organization's request, al though most of the money still comes from the student Christian Council. Plans fof"expansion "include la newurecreation project-, fof ^next-ye^re*:'. For further information write: Dr. David Hawk, Liberal Arts Building, St, Andrew's Presbyterian College, Laurinburg, North Carolina Lament of a Southern White Man by J.V. Henry the finance company, ftnd the union aint Editor's Note: J.V. Henry got no contract and all the big union is now studying law at people come here and make speeches Howard University, He is about the poor mill worker and they get a former student at the in they big shiny car and drive off. University of North Carolina. They aint nobody that cares about the I been reading the papers and watching poor Whites. On teevee I seen the the teevee down at the store and President talking about a war on Poverty hearing how all those Colored people in Appulacha (thats what the Northerns demonstrating and litigating and nego call the hills) but it dont look like tiating for they rights. It is more so much to me. But Mr. Adams says its than I can figure out. Not that I'm good. Hes going to build another mill prejudiced. Somebody cant help it if he says and theyll be more work. But they born Colored. But if God had Seth dont want to work in no mill. He meant us to mix hed have made us all wants to go to the University and be a the same color. And besides White ' doctor and help people he says. But I people segregate theyself too. Mr, ant got enough money to send him and he Adams who owns the mill where I work says it takes about ten years to get to sent his kids off to school up North, be a doctor. So hes goint to Chicago He said that Ridge County School wasnt to get a job he says. fit for dogs, I went there seven years I seen on the teevee the other night and if it was good enough for me it where the Colored was fighting the ought to be good enough for anybody. police up in New York. I dont like the My boy Seth is supposed to graduate police either espeshialy those revenue this year. Be the first Jenkins ever agents. They interfere with free en to finish 12 years school. We all terprise like when they busted up my proud of Seth. Hes a smart boy. He cousin Ezra Jenkins still which he made took Mr. Adams girl Betty out a couple when he got laid off. But Ezra got of times last summer. But Mr. Adams away and sneaked around up and busted said she couldnt go out with Seth no they gas tank and burned up they car. more when he heard about it. Said he But anyhow the police shouldnt ought didnt want his daughter marrying no to be so mean to the Colored people and linthead, Thats what he said. I got not to the White people neither. And real ashamed and mad all at the same if those police is interfering with time. Because even if I work in the free enterprise up in Harlem (thats mill I aint no linthead. Im just as Colored Town in New York) then I dont good as anybody. blame the Colored for being mad. And And all the big shots in Washington do those police oughtnt to be so mean. I is to try to do something for the know about that because a couple of Colored. Except they really aint years ago when we was On Strike at the doing too much. They just making a mill one of those National Guards come lot of noise to fool the Colored and up side my head with a stick and shot the dumb Northerns like Governor a couple of boys and whipped a lot more Rockerfeller and the dumb Southerns but somebody blowed up the mill power like Governor Barnett and those. And house and that made it even I guess. everybody hollers about responsibility But the Colored people has got the right and civil rights and states rights and idea on some things like more work and federal rights. Aint hardly too much better pay and better schools for every said about peoples rights which is the body except they ought to be separate. main thing to me. But the Whites aint got no strength ex cept down in the Cotton Country and the I been working at that mill for 22 poor Whites aint got nothing there. But years now and I worked my way up to they all so worried about keeping the making $1.60 a hour now. But I got colored down that seems like cant no laid off three months last year, I body get up except the rich Whites, I almost had to let the car go back to wisht we had some civil rights leaders for the White people but nobody cares about the White people. -5 Florida Conferences A Different Trial The'USNSA Southern'Project sponsored;.., On Monday May 3 a student at Auburn two conferences recently with local University stood trial in the recorders campus groups in Florida. The first court of Opelika, Alabama. He was was held.in Gainesville, Florida with charged with trespassing after prior the joint sponsorship of the Freedom warning, trespassing on school pro Party at the University, of Florida, . .. perty, and disturbing a lawful assem About forty students from four schools' bly. Negroes in the courtroom were in North Florida came together to dis made to sit on one side by city police cuss university reform, capital puni men while most whites sat on the other. shment, the civil rights bill and its About ten policemen watched the trial. effect on public accomodations, and Downstairs on the police bulletin board migratory labor. After these work was posted a copy of one of the recent shops, discussion centered around the • Lifelines. most effective way to increase and co ordinate student activity in North The student, Tom Millican, had gone to Florida, Those present decided to one of the local Negro high schools in begin intensive efforts at intercom Opelika to talk to the students about munication among the schools in North organizing a Freedom League as he had Florida. done in Auburn. The Auburn Freedom League has worked on voter registration, The second meeting was held in Miami tested public accomodations, and helped May 1 with the joint sponsorship, of in a memorial march for Rev. James Reeb, the University of Miami Chapter of the the Unitarian minister who was killed Florida Council of Human Relations. in Selma. The students in Opelika About 200 students attended, the ,meeting were interested. However, the principal which was broken into several panels of the Negro high school found out that including Peace, poverty, and univer Tom was at the high school and asked sity reform. This conference was' one" . him to come to his office. In the of of the best student conferences I have fice the principal or "professor" in ever attended. What made it so was formed the white superintendent of the diversity of students and panel schools that Tom was there. In court members. The range was complete— the "professor" told with pride of how liberal, moderate, and radical views he had talked with Tom and seemed to on all of the issues discussed. For be interested in order to detain Tom example on the panel discussing uni until the superintendent arrived. Sev versity reform were two professors from eral days the students had a meeting the very active Freedom Party at the of their own at the high school foot University of Florida and one of the ball stadium and Tom came. The "pro Deans from the University of Miami. fessor" called the superintendent who Towards the end of the conference called the officers of the law who then several students in a discussion arrested Tom. (There are no Negro period pointed out that they disagreed policemen, in Opelika). with some of the views expressed by some at the conference but that they Tom was found guilty on the two charges had really enjoyed the conference. of trespassing. There was no testimony Students at this conference decided to show that Tom had been doing any to keep in touch with one another. thing other than standing at the sta dium so he was- judged not guilty on the In the fall the Southern Project will third charge. Fine was $150. Tom plan® sponsor a statewide conference to dis to appeal the decisions. cuss the establishment of a statewide student group in Florida. When Gov. Wallace was scheduled to speak on the Auburn campus, Tom organi Gene Guerrero zed a peaceful demonstration to voice it' opposition to the Governor's actions. o c u on Vuh'nam Editor's Note: Throughout the year, FORUM has served as the SSOC Newsletter "soap box" and has featured articles of varying topics and varying opinions. In the last edition, Wendy Hamilton, a student at Siena College, gives her views on Moral Re armament as it relates to the war in Viet Nam. Comments are welcome! Recently Kathy Barett, representa who will "hitch his wagon to a star" tive from Southern Student Organizing and strive for absolute moral standards. Committee, visited Siena College. Her He always has his guiding light before purpose was to stimulate student con him, even if he can't reach that star. cern, and with the help of those of us Too many youth are making noise without who accepted her initial challenge, taking responsibility. I am definitely provocative students will replace com an integrationist, but the person who placent pupils. The way she stimulated has division in his own family and tries student concern was by telling us that to tell others what to do needs to get she would like to see the United States straight with his family first. We need out of Vietnam. My purpose in writing to show the world how a mighty, discip this article will be to tell about an lined youth can change the social, ideology which I believe is superior to economic, political, racial, military Communism and Americanism as we know it conditions in our country. today. It may be called moral re armament. I don't see how we can "shack up" If I were a Vietnamese living in a with a boy or girl one night and the little dirty hut with a thatched roof, next day be a creative world-changer, and daily saw my village and my family or get mad when one of the fellows from Washington sells secret information to a being destroyed, I would probably yell, 1- "Stop:" to the force of people I under subversive party, just because he doesn ' stood less. In other words, the Commu want his wife and his country to know he nists are disciplined people who can defeated with impurity he really is. I very persuasively tell the peasants that don't see how we can steal junk from a big money and equality awaits anyone who dime store, and then scream the next will accept their way of life. morning when we read in the paper that Bobby Baker has a few things that don't Actually I would be disillusioned by belong to him. I don't see how we can- either side: Communism and Americanism. hate Mother and Dad and expect Johnson To my right I would see a spoiled, and Breshnov to love each other. I selfish people who live in an unfamiliar don't see how we can get mad at Breshnov luxury; to my left I would see a ruth when he wants to be the "big man" when less, disciplined people who believe at home or with friends we try to always that human nature is basically selfish, be the center of attention. and therefore must need to be ruled by a mighty intellectual force, the Commu I am trying to spell out that "as nist Party. we live, so does our nation." If our entire nation lived as some of us do, we Looking at a wider picture, I would would "go to Hell" in no time; but the say we should stay in Vietnam, for thing is that we have people like Kathy otherwise the Communists will take over and others v/ho are nobly searching for and kill more people in the long run. truth and who, I believe, are ready now We must continue to fight in Vietnam, to take responsibilities and cure the but we must swiftly build a new type of world's ills. That is the most daring American that their soldiers will and difficult challenge: to be a clean gladly welcome. individual who will radiate these powerful rays of sunlight to every corne: I believe the most daring of the world. This will mean opposition and effective man is the one on all sides, especially from the people who rationalize absolute moral standards for the sake of comfort. SUMMER PROJECTS . . . SUMMER PROJECTS . . SUMMER PROJECTS . .SUMMER PROJECTS The following pages are devoted to a listing of projects available for stu dent participation during the summer of 1965. The list is, of cburse, not complete, but does list a range of opportunities available. Other groups which may be contacted for additional information are the American Friends Service Committee, 160 N. 15th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Young Women's Christian Association, 600 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York; and the National Student Christian Federation, *+75 Riverside Drive, N.J., New York. METHODIST STUDENT MOVEMENT: Morris County, New Jersey. Students will be working with the guidance of the Northern Student Movement and Students for a Democratic Society, both of which have worked in this part of the state. The attempt will be to see the problems of the community, then participate according to the particular requirements of the community. Possible shape of the project: tutoring, classes in political education, community organization. June 21- August 21. For further information write: William Corzine, P.O. Box 8?1, Nashville, Tennessee. ENCAMPMENT FOR CITIZENSHIP: You will live — and study ~ discuss — argue — work — and just sit around — make decisions — eat — learn — make friends — and question with one hundred young people and a staff composed of older young people who are students of economics, government, law, history, the Arts, and people from the front lines of the civil rights movement. Resource people include Michael Harrington, Norman Thomas, Bayard Rustin, Paul Goodman, and William Fitts Ryan. Scholarships available. Write Encampment for Citizenship, 2 West 6^+th Street, New York, New York 10023. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE: The NAACP will be sponsoring voter registration projects in Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina. A ten day to two week orientation session will be held in early July. Contact Thomas Allen, 20 West **0th Street, New York, New York. CONGRESS OF RACIAL EQUALITY: CORE will operate projects in three southern states. The Louisiana project will concentrate on voter registration. Sixty students are needed for voter canvassing, research and record keeping, teaching in freedom schools, and conducting political education workshops. The project in North Florida will be aimed at the expansion of freedom schools, community centers, and strong local organizations. Approximately 30~*+0 students are needed. Thirty five volunteers are needed in South Carolina to develop a political force to oppose Senator Strom Thurmond. Students will canvass, accompany voters to their county courthouse, teach in voter clinics, registra tion clinics, political education classes, and citizenship classes. Contact: Richard Haley, CORE, 2209 Dryades Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. LAW STUDENTS CIVIL RIGHTS RESEARCH COUNCIL: Approximately 120 law students are needed to participate in Northern and Southern internship programs aimed at providing assistance to civil rights lawyers. The students will conduct legal research, write briefs, and gather facts for cases. Contact: Steven Antler, Director, LSCRRC, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, 10010. COMMITTEE FOR MINERS: CIM plans for a summer project in West Virginia; would prefer student help from colleges in this area. The project is designed to develop local movements among the poor and unemployed in Appalachia so that these people may participate in state and'local politics. Contact: Hamish 'Sinclair, Project Director, 1165 Broadway, New York, New York, 10001. 8 / . "P/% n £ u m no c a fii oj a c 7 The Virginia Student Civil Rights Committee (VSCRC) will sponsor a community organizing project in Amelia and Nottoway Counties. Volunteer workers will be working in voter registration, freedom schools, and community centers along the lines of the 1964 Mississippi simmer project. Students from Virginia college will begin moving into the various communities within the two counties beginning June 1. They will be joined in mid-June by out of state volunteers, for the summer. Some students have committed themselves to working in the community for one full year. Orientation for the project will be held June 1*4—21 at Virginia State College in Petersburg, Students from Virginia State are in charge of planning the orientation. The VSCRC has been raising funds during the last semester to finance the summer pro gram. A folk concert at Lynchbury College in late May is being planned to secure more funds. Amelia and Nottoway Counties lie in the Fourth Congressional District of Virginia. Of Virginia's ten congressional districts, only the 4th could be classified as a Black Belt district. There are eighteen counties and four independent cities, Franklin, Hopewell, Petersburg, and Suffolk. Of the sixteen counties in Virginia in which 50 percent or more of the population is nonwhite, ten are in the 4th district. The total percent of the nonwhite population of the 4th is 47.9 percent, Negroes make up 42,8 percent of the voting age population. The state figure is 18.9 The Virginia Students Civil Rights Committee is an embryonic organization born at the termination of a conference about "'The Upper South" held at Hampton Institute on December 3-5? 1964. The organization isinepre- .: - sentative of nine colleges and universities at present. _VSCRC : • v;* aims for the establishment and increase of communication among college students about the civil rights movement in Virginia by monthly meetings of the participating colleges and universities. Since its organization in the fall, the VSCRC has held a spring conference as well as conduct re search and formulate plans for the summer project. Additional information and application forms may be obtained by writing: Howard Romaine, Route #3, Port-a-Ferry,Farm, Charlottesville, Virginia. STUDENTS PRESENT PETITION TO ADMINISTRATION AT VIRGINIA STATE COLLEGE On the evening of March 22, 1965» a mass meeting of the student body at Virginia State College was held in the Virginia Hall auditorium to present a petition to the president of the college. The areas of grei- vances were: l) social regulations, 2) student workers, 3) definition of the powers of the personnel deans, 4) communication from administration to the student body, 5) evaluation of efficiency and courtesy of adminis tration agencies, 6) rules of the Blue Book, 7) 'religious freedom, and - 8) academic freedom. Proposals Proposals for solutions in each area were stated as well as stipulations for response from the administration. Nearly ninty percent of the student body was in attendance along with graduate students and several members of the faculty and staff. SRGC"SUMMER PROGRAM <* The Student Nonviolent Sonrdinating Committeo program for the summer of 1965 is^generally one of expansion idaathe rural South, SNCC will continue political work in the black belt counties of Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia with the emphasis on building organizations so local leadership can emerge. The organizing efforts will include voter regis tration, testing of the 1965 voting bill, political education, freedom schools, and a special "Washington lobby" in support of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party challenge and free elections in the South. SNCC believes that local people should be able to make decisions about their own lives. Thus, a series of People's Conferences will be held in'Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas and Mississippi, These meetings will bring together people from across each state to share meovment experiences and hold workshops on their problems. The meetings are also designed to provide local people with a forum where they can shape and direct programs for the movement. SNCC then stands ready to provide field organizers, volunteers and other materials so that their expressed needs may be met. WASHINGTON LOBBY Recognizing the importance and validity of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party challenge to unseat the five Congress*- men from Mississippi, SNCC feels that a concentrated three week "action" program in Washington, D.C. is essential to the success of the challenge. It is also important that lobby activity be planned which forces national recognition of the need for new and free elections in the South. SNCC believes that the I965 voting bill will not be meaningful unless it contains a provision requiring each state and its political sub divisions to hold new elections six to nine months after a federal registrar is appointed to alleviate discrimination in voter registration. 1,000 students are now being recruited to work in Washington, D.C, from June 13 to June 23 and from June 24 to July 4, During each of these ten day sessions, students will lobby Congressmen after receiving instructions on lobbying techniques and information on the MFDP challenge. Volunteers will evaluate their efforts each day and will attempt to determine the Congressman's position, whether further lobby ing is needed and whether people should return home to mobilize additional support in the home district. As work continues on the challenge, students will also be Undergoing orientation.for work in the South, This will include- Negro history, .freedom"school workshops, .discussions of community organizing, sessions on the political, social -Jig 10 page 2 SNCC SUMMER PROGRAM and economic structures in the South, and on nonviolence and Southern law enforcement procedures. Some students will be assigned to work in the South if local people request volunteers. ARKANSAS The Arkansas SNCC staff is planning a summer program under local leadership supplemented by 50 to 100 volunteers. Political organizing will be done in 31 Arkansas counties. A Freedom Center program will be implemented in four cities: Pine Bluff, Little Rock, Helena and Forrest City. Classes will be held for young people and adults on voter registration, political issues, Negro history, literacy and various skills. Community meetings will shape the growth of independent political organizations. The project will run from June 1 to September 1. MISSISSIPPI SNCC will work with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party's summer program. Some 300 volunteers and 500 SNCC, MFDP, and COFC staff members will do intensive political organizing. The program will include holding workshops on political questions, building block clubs and strengthening FDP county organizations. The most important task will be to create an atmosphere where local people can develop leader ship skills. ALABAMA Expansion will also occur in the Alabama black belt, 35 SNCC staff workers are presently organizing in ten counties and by the end of the summer local movements should be active in triple that number. The emphasis will be on opening up areas for further work, on the People's Conference, and as well on building organizations which are run by local people. SOUTHWEST GEORGIA Organizing efforts will continue in this, SNCC's oldest project area and new ground v/ill be broken in adjoining counties, Economic, as well as political, organizing will take place. Programs similar to the development of a maid's union in Americus last summer will continue. A People's Conference will be held in May. MARYLAND - EASTERN SHORE The SNCC staff on the Eastern Shore, in conjunction with the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee, will intensify organizing efforts on the Maryland Eastern Shore. 15-20 volunteers are being recruited for work on federal programs, employment opportunities and political organizing. Further information on all these programs may be obtained by writing: SNCC, 6 Raymond St., NW, Atlanta 14, Georgia. THE SUMMER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION AND POLITICAL EDUCATION PROJECT OF THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE The SCOPE project of SCLC is an attack on the three basic problems of the South, and in particular, on the problems of the "Southern Negro./' dis franchisement, educational deprivation, and poverty. Hopefully it v/ill be a starting point for projects which will continue working on the eradication of these problems in the years ahead. Organizationally the SCOPE project will emphasize the establishment of autonomous college groups which will "adopt" and work in selected counties throughout the South. At least six hundred volunteers from the academic com munity will participate in the project, three hundred in six major urban counties it will be possible to more than quadruple the Negro vote. In the urban counties the Negro vote can be doubled. Coupled with voter registration work will be political education and adult education programs and efforts to initiate "war on Poverty" projects. Colleges willing to participate in the SCOPE project will form three major categories; (l) those who are able to establish "permanent" campus SCOPE groups, to "adopt" a county, to send a SCOPE project unit into their county for the summer, and to continue working with their county in the future, (2) those who will form a SCOPE project group to work in a selected Southern county for the summer; and (3) those who will be able to send two or three volunteers to participate in some phase of the project. SCOPE project workers will report for orientation session on Sunday, June 14. Regional orientations will be held from June 15-18; the locations for training are being selected.Those sessions will consist of intensive classes conducted by SCLC staff and other recognized civil rights authorities. On June 19, workers will travel to their field assignments. On June 20 and 21st workers will meet local leaders, get offices organized, and get the feel of their communities. Top priority in the SCOPE project will be given to voter registration. The SCOPE unit will work hand-in-hand with the local organization (SCLC affiliate, voter league, Improvement Association, etc.) on this phase of the project. Canvassing will be done by teams of two: one SCOPE worker and one local volunteer, or two local volunteers. Canvassing kits will be supplied by the Atlanta SCLC office. The political education program will include teaching precinc t level politics, techniques of voter registration, methods of getting out a vote, maximal use of political power for community benefit, how to run good candi dates, etc. Materials and curriculum will be supplied by the Atlanta SCLC office. At the orientation session SCOPE workers will be given the basic training needed to organize and teach these classes. SCOPE workers" with teaching ability will be asked to volunteer as citizenship school teachers. Materials and curriculum will be supplied by the Citizenship Education Department of SCLC, and workers wishing to volun teer as teachers will receive training at the orientation session. Each teacher will hold two classes a week in local homes. The standard curriculum covers basic skills in arithmetic, reading and writing, the American system of government, and fundamentals of economics such as writing checks, banking and budgeting. Although emphasis is placed on the autonomy of local SCOPE units, trained SCLC field staff v/ill help the units get functioning in their communities. SCLC field supervisors will be stationed in each four county area through out the summer. They will assist SCOPE unite, act as trouble shooters if problems arise, SCOPE units will be expected to submit v/eekly reports to head quarters in Atlanta so that individual programs can be assessed, and help can be sent to needy areas. For additional information write: SCOPE SCLC, 334 Auburn Avenue, N.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 12 ECONOMIC RESEARCH AND ACTION PROJECT The Economic Research and Action Project (ERAP) was formed by Students for a Democratic Society * in the fall of 1963. Supported by labor unions, church groups, foundations and hundreds of adults and young people in every part of the country, it has grown in a short time to be the largest inde pendent community organizing program in the North. Last summer, ERAP sup ported 150 people as community organizers in 10 cities. This summer 250 people v/ill join the 60 member year-round staff. ERAP aims to stimulate a broadly-based interracial movement among those Americans who are now denied the opportunity to participate fully in the country's economic and political life. ERAP organizers work with poor people who are struggling to create their own organizations capable of protesting economic and social injustices. Work is among the white and Negro unemployed, among mothers on welfare, public housing residents, displaced Southern miners, the young and old who face a future cf economic insecurity, and the neighborhood groups with common goals for social change. Central to Economic Research and Action Froject is the assumption that poor people Negro and white—can be organized around economic and poli tical grievances, and that there is a natural alliance among all poor in their common need for jobs, income, and control of their lives. This pro gram is motivated by a belief that fundamental rearrangement of American priorities are needed if the problems of poverty are to be solved. Community organizing is talking to people in the streets, homes, restaurants, bars or places where people stand in line for food stamps or jobs. It is learning what people in a community think and feel by getting to know them and their families and their problems. The organizer works to break down barriers of communication and to cut through isolation. They work together for fundamental change. It brings people into open conflict > with systems of ideas and people that manipulate or repress, THE PROJECTS This summer dozens of full-time community organizers will be needed in each of the following areas: Baltimore, Maryland Organizers are needed to work with groups in South Baltimore called U-JOIN (Union for Jobs or Income Now). U-Join is demanding that poor people run the local war on poverty and that the federal money sent to Baltimore's poverty program not to go into professional salaries and expen sive offices. U-JOIN has organizing offices in both Negro and poor white sections of the city. Cairo, Illinois An incredibly depressed community in Southern, rural Illinois is be ginning to organize for a real war on poverty, for democratic trade unions, for housing, jobs and political power. Organizers are needed to assist the poor majority of Cairo's population organize for political control of their lives. Cambridge, Maryland Citizens of Cambridge, Maryland's Negro ghetto have asked to be iden tified with SDS-ERAP. Veterans of a long and bitter civil rights fight, they v/ant their movement to be extended to encompass the full range of human needs civil rights, jobs, housing, democratic decision-making. Organizers are needed to work with Cambridge residents to build such a movement. Chester, Pennsylvania SDS supports the program of the New Independent Committee for Jobs, Homes, and Schools with summer and year-round organizers. A fight for civil 13 rights and economic change was temporarily beaten back by city and state police. Efforts are being made to rebuild morale and the movement. Spanish speaking people are particularly needed to organize in the Puerto Rican neighborhoods, Chicago, Illinois Organizers are needed to expand the oldest ERAP project to a city-wide network of opposition to Daley's political machine and to support a pre dominately poor white Uptown movement called JOIN, JOIN is currently fighting Mayor Daley's war on poverty for excluding poor people from its decision-making. JOIN is also beginning rent strikes in slum tenements. This summer, students are needed to help JOIN create a community theatre project, a political education program, day care centers and youth action programs. Spanish speaking people are critically needed to develop wider support among the 25 per cent Mexican and Puerto Rican population in the Uptown area. Cleveland, Ohio SDS will continue support to a city-wide Negro and white welfare mothers organization, Citizens United For Adequate Welfare (CUFAW). The welfare organization has made substantial gains in challenging and refor ming Cleveland's v/elfare system. In a poor white community on the near West side (where the project has been based for the past year), SDS is or ganizing a community union around economic problems. This summer, the work will be extended to Negro neighborhoods on the near West side where organi zers will assist CUFAW members who are building a local community uniom around v/elfare and other community issues. As new community unions are formed, every effort will be made to create working coalitions among them. New Jersey In Newark, SDS has helped build a locally-controlled Newark Community Union Project in a Newark neighborhood, where the Negro ghetto is half the city. Efforts are now being planned to create similar organizations in nearby neighborhoods, looking toward the 1966 election to demonstrate the power and demands of poor Newarkers. The central organizing issues have been housing, and in particular the urban renewal project aimed at demoli tion of the neighborhood. In New Brunswick, ERAP cooperates with the Community Action Project, (an organization run and organized by people from the ghetto and. the state university), in organizing around issues of housing, a day nursery and a tutorial project. In Hudson County, an area cf severely deteriorating cities like Jersey City and Hoboken, large concentrations of poverty and low-income groups are found in predominately white and racially mixed neighborhoods. Research and groundwork are being done in the spring, and an action program v/ill begin as soon as fulltime (as well as summer) staff is recruited. In Trenton and rural Southern Jersey there is a pc. sibility that summer staffs will be needed. We hope that it will be possible to link up existing and planned groups of poor people throughout the state into a coalition. Roxbury, Massachusetts Organizers are needed to work in the Dudley Street Action Center, building block clubs and tenants' associations in a racially mixed poor neighborhood. The community is organizing against urban renewal, a city program in which the poor v/ill not determine the outcome, and the community will be destroyed by the "planners." Many residents are also active in a welfare mothers movement which student volunteers will help expand. San Francisco, California Organizers are needed to support and enlarge the program of Freedom House primarily a citizen's fight against undemocratic urban renewal and for re habilitation of crowded, rundown housing. 14 ORIENTATION SESSIONS The summer program will formally begin with an eight day training ses sion the 2nd week of June. The training week will provide an intensive • orientation to the work of the project, the politics and history of each city, and the goals of the summer period. The first week will also define jobs for summer volunteers which complement the organizing program of the year-round staffs and community people. Precautions will be taken to mini mize a possible let-doen feeling at the end of the summer by emphasizing work which can be completed in a summer period, or which contributes specialized skills, such as research, writing, tutorial or survey work. Summer activity will be found which can either be discontinued with a minimum of disruption or which community people can maintain after the stammer. New staff members will go directly from the orientation sessions to the project area. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS Some volunteers will live in homes with community people. Most, how ever, will be housed in large buildings where meals and responsibilities for house upkeep are shared. Volunteers are expected to live at the level of the community in which they work. The general standard is the county's ADC budget. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, WRITE TO: ERAP 4402 N, Racine Chicago 40, Illinois Students for a Democratic Society is an association of young people on the left who seek alternatives to poverty, racism, corporate or military rule in public affairs and governments which people no longer control. Its mem bers work for a democracy which involves students in the setting up of courses in universities; the poor in directing a public war on poverty; and all members of society in charting the directions of American foreign policy. SDS as it is now constituted, was organized in I960. It has chapters on over 50 campuses. SSOC Nonprofit Org. Box 6403 U.S. Postage Nashville, Tenn. PAID Nashville, Tenn. Permit No. 1633 - —. hichrd Kaiey GOES Southern Office 2209 Sryadee Street Tjouleiaae 70123 'i-^>C> How CORE Welfare Service Help A half-year report on the alcoholics," Miss Fobair j Patricia Fobair, won the cally "only handles imme CORE Help Program re said. right of a 25 year old diate problems — family veals that the new aggres Miss Branche said CORE j mother of five to continue crises that involve housing, : on Aid to Families With employment or medical sive casework w e 1 f a r e Help clients are "usually ineligible for welfare pur Dependent Children after a needs." service is having a signifi poses because they tell lies social worker discontinued She said social workers cant impact on the Western and avoid answering ques the mother's S150 a month maintain a list of public Addition and some State tions." grant. and private agencies to prisons. The board found that "THESE PEOPLE are which clients are referred The Congress of Racial ". . . the preponderance of afraid of the City's social since CORE'S service is pri Equality (CORE) started evidence indicates that . . . marily informational. the Help Project last Octo workers and often regard Mr. ... is not living with ber as a neighborhood re them as enemies, but at . . . (the mother! in the The program was estab ferral service and investi CORE headquarters they role -of spouse within the lished by Betty Cleckley, a gative agency for welfare expect to find someone meaning of the (Welfare social worker and member clients, enlisting the aid who'll listen to their prob and Institutions) Code." of CORE, so that a profes of 15 professional social lems," Miss Branche said. sional worker is on duty 24 workers. CORE's role in defense of SHE WAS GRANTED hours a day at 1686 O'Far- -rell St. Some 100 people were welfare clients at Appeal $150 a month, dating from given assistance with medi Board hearings radically April 1, 1964, the date aid During the working day, cal, legal, employment, alters the traditional hear was stopped, to April 12, weekends and after 9 p. m., housing and financial prob ing where clients are usual 1965, the effective date of clients who call HEmlock lems, and Soledad and City ly unrepresented by profes the board's decision. 1-6077 w]ll find a worker Prisons sought their aid in sional social workers. But, Miss Branche said, available to help, Miss Fo placing discharged inmates Recently CORE advocate, CORE Help Agency typi bair said. in jobs. -w~- '^-'- IN ADDITION, CORE "advocates" represent ed welfare recipients at State Welfare Appeal Board hearings when disputes arose over the eligibility of clients to yieceive welfare aid. Jean Branche and Patri cia Eobair, both National Association of Social Work ers members, said profes sional help was necessary for people-who had diffi culty dealing with the Pub lic Welfare'Department. "They're not always the most desirable welfare can didates; they're often filled with moral guilt, they're Press Release: UPI, AP, July 13, 1965 Bogalusa, Louisiana The Medical Committee tor Human Rights During racial demonstrations today In Bogalusa, two men were Injured In a cave-In while laying pipe lines at the Intersection of Third Avenue and Easf 8 Street* The site of the cave-In Is directly across the stree from the Unloe HallJ a hall In which the Medical ^omm] Htz for Human Rights has set up an emergency first aid center to care for anyone requiring medical aid during the racial demonstrations. There were two physicians present In the Union Hall at the time of the cave In who Immediately went ib the acctdent scene. Dr. Juste* Simon of New York City, and Dr. Lionel Rudolph of Syracuse, New York administered first aid to the Injured menafter they were dug out from beneath mounds of earth. The Injured ment ware •aken to the Bogalusa Medleal Center for further treatment. Ht Ida '. Braverman GORE-Congress of Racial Equality lboli Sfctst Blvd. Baton Rouge, La. ATTN; Murphy bell 7-22-65 ft) FOR IMiiJDl a^ SOBS attorney, Liu rphy i:©ll, filod suit with the Federal District Court in aaton Rouge,asking for the de-segregation of ~~\ all schools :Jid all .grades In West Feliciana Parish by 1967. The suit was filed on behalf of the Kegro residents and children of UJ West Feliciana. 30 - CSdH) $4±Jr$** PRESS RELEASE $&> ' fy mI ^^c *r4u Yours sincerely, Ronnie Moore 'fiA U — 30 — '? CONGRESS OF RACIAL EQUALITY Louisiana State Office I50l| East Boulevard Baton Rouge, Louisiana Phone (504) 342-6,3S8 July 11, 1965 JONESBORO— More than 75 Negro citizens marched this after noon to the City Hall and Court House to protest the city's police brutality and its refusal to provide public services for Negro residential areas. No police protection was provided for the marchers, who carried signs attacking police brutality, the absence of closed sewerage facilites in the Negro areas of the city, and the absence of mail delivery to these areas. No incidents of violence took place during the march , al though white spectators driving along the two-mile route har» assed the demonstrators by attempting to drive into them. The march was led by Reverends Sanders Thomas and Frederick Douglas Kirk atrick, both of Jonesboro. Reverend Thomas led the marchers in prayer at the °ity Hall and at the Court-nouse. Citizens of Jonesboro and officials of CORE have complained to national postal authorities and to local officials abo t the absence of mail delivery, but no improvements have been made, formal complaints were first made during the early spring. PRESS RELEASE 7-19-65 Ronnie- Moore: Murphy Bell: Ronnie Moore, director of La. GORE and Murphy bell, president of E. Baton Rouge NAACP, feel bhat their meeting today was a "frank and amicable discussion of the racial situation in Baton Rouge. fni "Mayor Dumas agreed that our grievances were legitimate and asked that he be allowed to submit the letter we had. written to him for consideration to the bi-racial committee in order that the effectiveness of that committee not be destroyed* 2 We agreed to defer the announced demonstration for an indefinite peocdj of time in order to allow the bi-racial f^\ comaiittee a fair amount of time to correct tho inequalities complained ox'. \& D) PRESS RELEASE ston Rouge, Louisiana July 16, 1965 Representatives of the Congress of Racial Equality and th© fcional Association for the Advancement of Colored People sent letters today to !!ayor VJ. w*. Dumas of Baton Rouge and Louisiana Governor John McKeithen asking them to "put their heuses in order.? ^ The letter to Mayor Dumas, signed by CORE Field Secretary Ronnie K, ifoore and NAASP Baton Rouge chapter President lurphy W* Bell, requested action on their demands within seven days. The letter noted that the two organizations "stand ready to utilise the methods of both non-violent direct action and liti gation" to bring about the changes requested. ^ The letter made five demands of the city-parish government: 1. Improvement in the effectiveness of the bi-racial commit tee . 2. Changes in the structure of the community action group, Community Advancement, Inc., so that the group beaded by '/alter Travis includes representatives of the poor and representatives of the city's minority groups. 3. Appointment of Negroes to the twenty city-parish boards and commissions that conduct a large portion of the government's business. There are no Negro .ten or women now serving on these boards* k. The convening of a meeting of thirty-nine presidents of Baton Ro Between S:30 and 10:30 this morning, fifteen peaceful Negro picketers were arrested outside of McKinney's Grocery Store in Jonesboro, La. About 30 police drove up to the picketers, armed with black jacks and RIFLES: THEY, had a fire truck and a city garbage truck. The police pushed and shoved Negro picketers; two girls were hit in the stomach. At first, five were arrested and put into the garbage truckj later jnkfjtfen more were arrested. The charges against them are disturbing the peace, resisiting arrest, threatening an officerj thetotal bond for all 15 arrested is 43ft &tftpddsftx $13,500. AP u. July 4, 1965 8:30 pm PRESS RELEASE Yesterday, in Ferriday, Louisiana, two CORE workers were beaten while canvassing for voter registration, (there is reason to believe the men who did the beating were re quested to do so by local authorities.) The two CORE workers are James Brown, a Negro from Bogalusa, Louisiana, and Mike Clurman, Caucasian from New York State. Ronnie Moore, Louisiana director of CORE, has sent a telegram to Gov. John McKeithen, with copies to the Justice Dept. and to Sheriff Noah Cross of Concordia Parish criti cizing all three for their lack of action in this case and in the case of Frank Morris, the Negro who was burned to death in Ferriday last Fall. Title I of the 1964 Civil Rights Law gives the FBI the right to arrest those inter fering with voter registration activities. Released to: VPI AP • 971 South 13th Street Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1 ,?• • • July 28, 1965 i 1 1 • ' Hon. W. W. Dumas Municiple Bldg. Baton Rouge, Louisiana i Dear Mr, Mayort We have taken into careful consideration the content of the meeting which we had with you several days ago. We feel that there is some possibility that positive progress can be made pursuant to your suggestions. It is in this light that we bring the following matter to your attention. , We are certain that you are aware of the conditions prevailing at the Baton Rouge General Hospital. These conditions are both unnecessary and unlawful. But the most dismaying aspect of the situation is Its persistence in a period of alleged enlightenment and liberality. The conditions of which I speak are simple to remedy in that no prolonged administrative negotiation or significant change in business policy or economic organization is required. We therefore feel that it is fair, just and necessary that we insist that a positive written plan be submitted within the next two weeks outlining and implementing methods to achieve the following results: (1) The elimination of separate eating facilities for ~ Negroes and whites; (2) Equal pay for Negroes and whites performing similar work l (3) Creation of a system of Job promotion for Negro employees similar to that existing for white employees; (4) The prohibition of formal or informal harassment of employees asserting their constitutional rights; (5) The assignment of hospital personnel within the hospital without regard to the race of the patient or the personnel; (6) The assignment of patients to hospital facilities without regard to race in order to eliminate the following conditions J £>-.!< (a) The existence of a Negro ward known as "4 South" •J. Page 2 Hon. W. W. Dumas July 28, 1965 (b) The practice of placing Negro patients in the hallway of n4 South" when that section is filled in spite of the fact that proper faoilities may be available in other parts of the hospital; (o) The lack of an infant isolation ward for Negroes; (d) Failure to isolate contagious diseases) (e) Failure to separate Negro disease patients from Negro surgery patients; (f) Lack of specialized nursing care. In summary, we feel that these conditions demand in»m©diate^ attention* However, we are considering your request that we communicate with you prior to taking any other action that we feel might be necessary. We are certain that you will see the merit of our complaint and take all necessary step* to rectify the conditions herein enumerated. Respectfully, MURPHY W. BELL, President Baton Rouge Chapter, NAACP REV. RONNIE M. MOORE, State Director, CORE cc: Gov. John 0*. McKeithen Mr. John A» Hannah State Capital Bldg. V» S. Commission of Civil Baton Rouge, La. Rights Washington D. C. 20425 Mr. Anthony Celebrezze Department of Health, Education and Welfare ,-'.i! Washington, D. C. Mr* H. H. Huckabee Mr, Robert Wechler Baton Rouge General Hospital 21 West 75th Street Baton Rouge, La» New York City, N. Y, Hon. Adam Clayton Powell Senate Office Bldg. Washington, D* C» Hon* John Conyers House of Representative Washington D. C. 20505 . .• 'i a l.'i , •.. ' , • i ' y < a cms',^ Press Release by the United Christian Freed em Movement ef Webster Parish Mayer Frank n©rman has failfed te act as requested te give the Negre people ef Minden a written repsrt ef hew and when the Freed em Move ment's demands were te be met by the city and ether involved agencies. xhe spokesman fO r the mavement then asked fer a permit te march Saturday. The Mayer responded by telling the spokesman te see the Chief ef Splice. The Pelice issued a permit and premised te provide ade quate pelice protection. CORE Natienal chairman will address a rally Friday nighty which will take place at the 14 District uilding in Minden, beginning at 8:00 p.m. The March will take place Saturday 10:00 a.m., frem the District Building te the Ctty Hall. The purpose ef the march is te pretest the failure ©f ithe Mayer te act as requested, and alsc te give the Mayer and the City Ceuncil an eppertunity t© effer a different answer. If fy the answer is again a refusal te act. further action will be taken by the United Christian Freed em Mevement, and will further action, te be anneunced Saturday, will be taken. CORE - Congress of Racial Equality 38 Park Row, New York, N.Y. 10038 (212> CO 7-6270 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ATTN: Alan Gartner or Val Coleman CORE BRINGS SUIT TO STOP SEGREGATED SCHOOL BONDS Shreveport, Louisiana, August 9, 1965 The Congress of Racial Equality brought suit in Shreveport, La» this week to restrain the sale of $6,000,000 worth of school bonds for the city of Monroe, Louisiana on the grounds that the money will be use to sustain a segregated and unconsti tutional school system,, This is the third suit of its kind brought by CORE, The first two, in St. Tammany's Parish and Jackson Parish, Louisiana. resulted in sweeping CORE victories in which parish officials were forced to submit desegregation plans to the court before being allowed to sell their bonds« The tactic, which has caused serious rumblings on Wall Street, will be used by CORE, according to General Counsel Carl Rachlin, "Every time a southern school district attempts to raise bond money without desegre gating their schools." The Monroe Case was filed with Justice Benjamin C. Dawkins in the Federal Court in Shreveport. The bonds are scheduled for sale in New York on Tuesday, August 10th. s CORE - Congress of Racial Equality 38 Park Row, New York, N.Y. 10038 (212 CO 7-6270 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ATTN: Alan Gartner or Val Coleman CORE ACCELERATES NORTHERN LOUISIANA DRIVE Minden, La., Monday, August 9, 1965 —— The Congress of Racial Equality has this week accelerated its drive for "full citizenship1 for Northern Louisiana Negroes. James Farmer, National Director of CORE came to this city on Friday to speak and lead a mass march on Minden*s City Hall Saturday, The march, which went without indident, was the culmination of a drive by CORE workers and the local civic and Voters League for an across-the-board redress of grievances in the Negro community* To date, the city administration has refused to reply to a long series of demands effecting all areas in the life of Minden Negro citizens. Key demands include enclosed sewage systems, massive registration of voters, and an end to public school segregation and equal employment demands. The Saturday march was Farmer's first appearance in the Klan-infested area of northwest Louisiana In some time, CORE workers have been working in some fifteen parishes In the area, and plans for a continued acceleration in northern Louisiana are being implemented immediately. CORE - Congress of Racial Equality 38 Park Row, iNew York, N.Y. 10038 (212; CO 7-(^fo ?; FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ATTN; Alan Gartner or Val Coleman CORE POINTS OUT SERIOUS WEAKNESSES IN VOTING RIGHTS BILL f " T~"""* New Orleans,, La., August 9, 1965 — The Research Department of the CORE Southern Regional Office here has issued an emergency analysis of counties and parishes in two southern states that are not granted the protection of federal registrars under the new Voting Rights Law. Pointing out that many parishes and counties may seek to circumvent full registration of Negroes by meeting the minimal demands of the bill and then refusing to register any further Negro citizens, the report names 23 parishes in Louisiana and 9 counties in South Carolina granted exemption from federal registrars. Special efforts will be made and pressure brought to bear on these areas by CORE workers to insure that county and civic officials live up to both the spirit and the letter of the new law. A list of the so-called "exempt" counties and parishes follows: Louisiana South Carolina Acadia Sabine Anderson Allen St. Bernard Berkeley Ascension St, Charles Chester Assumption St„ James Darlington Calcasieu St0 John Georgetown Cameron St. Landry Laurens Evangeline 3to Martin Lexington Iberia St. Tammany Oconees Jefferson Vermilion Pickens Jefferson Davis. Lafayette Vernon LaFourche Livingston »###### October 5, 19® \ CGRt SODTHBOI OPTIC** 2209 DRY*ffiS RUB F(K REUSJSE NEW ORLEANS, LA. 70113 CCRE HELP PROJECT TO CONTHKIB •fz/ey 4//NC As ttntr-TB ever since Hurricane Betsy struck, CORE (the congress of Racial Equality) members worked again Last week to aid stricken families in New Orleans* Under the direction of CORE field secretary David Dennis approximately 20 volunteers frost Dlllard University and Cohen High School helped storm victims clean up their houses and yards, mop floors and repair homes* The organisation announced that it will continue its "CORE HELP PROJECT" as long as the need exists* Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact Mr. Dennis at 523-7625* te Saturday the GORE workers conducted a survey of the Negro communities which were hard hit by the flood waters* The survey found many people who stated that they were not warned to leave their area before the storm hit* Residents in the old Gentilly area on Darby and McCoy streets stated that they received no help from the civil defense and other workers during the flood* In that area homes were almost completely submerged* They were able to escape only through the efforts of neighbors in the area* Some victims floated out of that section on doors or other makeshift rafts. Some people testified that on two occasions they attempted to get CD trucks to stop on the Chef Henteum Highway but said the trucks continued on to the white neighborhood to the north* Two men stated that they saw the drainage ditch dm—d up, causing the flood water to back up into the Negro area* Da this survey the workers also found other complaints* In some communities, as on Darby and McCoy streets, open sewers were found with water running directly from homes into open ditches in front of the it >•»•» houses* Having no place to drain, the water just stands, causing a tremendous health hazard in that community* Similar conditions were found in other areas of the city, especially in the ninth ward* As a result of these findings CORE has decided to expand its community organization program by increasing its full-time staff and the number of volunteer workers* Beoause of the conditions found in the survey, CCRE said it is taking a "long, hard look" at both mayorality candidates and their programs* # # # # # THE CHURCH SAYS NO r#jj PROPOSITION ISSUED BY THE COUNCILS OF CHURCHES IN NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 10 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON PROPOSITION 14 1. WHY HAVE MAJOR RELIGIOUS BODIES AND MOST RELIGIOUS LEADERS JOINED TOGETHER TO DEFEAT PROPOSITION 14? ANSWER: Because, having explored the issue care fully they have concluded that: a) The right of every person to acquire, rent and sell property is basic to human dignity and freedom as con ceived in the Bible, and is a moral issue which religious people cannot dodge. b) The nearest approximation of Chris tian Love in society is equal justice for all under law, supported by the Constitution. "Let us not love in words only, but in deed and in truth." (I John 3:18) 2. SHOULD THE DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES IN DENYING EQUAL AC CESS TO HOUSING BE WRITTEN INTO OUR STATE CONSTITUTION? ANSWER: NO! Article I of the California Constitution makes clear the right of all persons to acquire as well as rent or sell property. Proposition 14 would limit this right to acquire. If Proposition 14 passes, California would be the only state in the Western world giving legal sanction to discrimination. Not even Mississippi or Alabama have such a provision in their Constitution. South Africa does! The legislative and city and county gov ernment bodies will be forbidden by the State Constitution from acting responsibly to cope with a major American problem — religious and racial discrimination in housing practices. 3. IS THE PRESENT RUMFORD FAIR HOUSING ACT A STEP IN THE DIRECTION OF GRANTING EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN THE PURCHASE OR RENTAL OF A HOME? ANSWER: YES. It is a sound attempt to right an age-old wrong—the denial of equal access to housing solely on the basis of race, religion or national origin. The act covers multiple dwellings which are in any degree tax-supported and which should therefore be available to all on an equal basis. It covers the action of all realtors. IT DOES NOT COVER OWNER-OCCUPIED, PRIVATELY FINANCED SINGLE FAMILY HOMES OR DUPLEXES. A multiple dwelling owner or renter may set any occupancy standards he wishes, so long as these standards apply to all people, regardless of race, religion or national origin. "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is fulfilling of the law." (Romans 13:10) 4. IS LAW A PROPER INSTRUMENT FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN HUMAN SOCIETY? ANSWER: YES. It is the only way individual rights can be secured and protected in a free society. "Christian grace operates at the point where free men freely adopt and abide by laws which implement just human relations under God." In a pluralistic society (uniting many groups of varying national, racial, religious and class traditions) equal opportunity for all can result only if based on law, rather than on the whims of those who happen to be in power at any particular time. 5. DOES CALIFORNIA'S FAIR HOUSING ACT TAKE RIGHTS FROM SOME AND GIVE THEM TO OTHERS AS CHARGED BY THE SUPPORTERS OF THIS AMEND MENT. ANSWER: NO. It does limit certain unfair privileges as distinct from rights. The only "right" involved is the "right" to harm another person. No rights are absolute in a just and order ed society. All rights of individuals must be limited at those points where they conflict with the equal rights of others. All laws (i.e., traffic laws, zoning ordi nances, etc.) limit out right to do as we please in our own absolute discretion for the protec tion of others with equal rights in society, 6. WILL THE PRESENT FAIR HOUSING ACT BASICALLY CHANGE RACIAL HOUSING PATTERNS? ANSWER: NO. Similar laws in nine other states have shown that the right of all people to acquire property does not result in widespread use of that right. Economic inequalities over our long his tory of discrimination make it impossible for most minority citizens to buy homes of their own. For example: Negroes make up only 6% of the population of California. Probably not more than 1 % or 2% of the Negro popu lation can afford to buy houses in all-white areas. Of those who can afford to do so, ex perience shows only a small percentage choose to do so, even though they should have this right. The same situation exists for persons of other racial, national and religious groups. 7. DOES CALIFORNIA'S FAIR HOUSING ACT CAUSE FINANCIAL LOSS TO HOMEOWNERS? ANSWER: NO. Studies conducted in all parts of the United States indicate that the entrance of minority families into previously all-white communities does not affect property values either up or down. Even the California Real Estate Association, supporting the Amend ment, admits property values are not affected. 8. ARE ANY RIGHTS OF HOME-OWNERS IN JEOPARDY THROUGH THE ADMIN ISTRATION OF THE FAIR HOUSING ACT, AS CHARGED BY THE SUPPORT ERS OF THIS AMENDMENT? ANSWER: NO. Every possihle legal right of all individuals is written into the law. The Fair Employment Practices Commission, charged with adminis tration of the law, cannot even enforce its directives. Only an independent court action can make a final decision if voluntary com pliance does not result from conciliation by the FEP Commission. Proof rests with the claimant, not the property owner. 9. WHY, THEN, DO SOME GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS OPPOSE EQUAL RIGHTS IN HOUSING? ANSWER: — Fear of loss of property values is one rea son, although realtors admit this fear is un founded. — Misinformation to the effect that the op ponents of Proposition 14 want to take away the ownership and control of all private prop erty and usher in a socialistic state. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE. — Because realtors have so long abused the right of free access to property, any change in their practices fills them with anxiety. — Because those who have never been de nied the right to acquire property assume all people already enjoy the same right, which is untrue. 10. WHAT CAN I DO AS AN INDIVIDUAL TO HELP DEFEAT PROPOSITION 14? ANSWER: a) Know the facts. Misinformation and misrepresentation confuse the issue. b) Talk to neighbors and friends urging them to VOTE NO on 14. c) Invite neighbors and friends to a des sert or coffee-klatch in your home and provide a speaker to present the facts. d) Urge every group in your church to have a speaker to present the facts against Proposition 14. YOUR COUNCIL OF CHURCHES office will provide speakers. RELIGIOUS BODIES AND LEADERS ON RECORD AGAINST PROPOSITION 14: (partial list) Episcopal Dioceses of California, San Joaquin, No. California and Los Angeles United Presbyterian Church, Synod of California (No. Coastal Area and So. Area); Presbyteries of San Jose, San Francisco, The Redwoods, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara Methodist Church, No. California-Nevada Conference, So. California-Arizona Conference Lutheran Church of America, Pacific Southwest Synod Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, So. California District United Church of Christ (Congregational and Evangelical & Reformed), No. and So. California Conferences Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) of Northern and Southern California Half-Yearly Meeting of Friends Council of Churches in Northern California Council of Churches in Southern California Dr. Howard Stone Anderson, Minister-Supt., United Church of Christ, So. California Conference Dr. Ben Bobbitt, Exec. Sec, Disciples of Christ Bishop Francis Eric Bloy, Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles Bishop Clarence Rupert Haden, Jr., Episcopal Diocese of No. California The Rev. Grant Hanson, Exec. Sec, No. California Baptist Convention Dr. G. L. Hays, Dist. Supt., Christian Methodist Episcopal Church Dr. Thomas Holden, Presbyter, Synod of California Bishop Gerald H. Kennedy, Methodist Church, Los Angeles Area The Rev. Paul Miller, Conference Supt., No. California District, Evangelical United Brethren Dr. Richard C. Norberg, Supt., United Church of Christ, No. California Conference Dr. James H. Parrott, Exec. Sec, Disciples of Christ, So. California Bishop James A. Pike, Episcopal Diocese of California Bishop Howard Thomas Primm, California Conference of African Methodist Episcopal Church Dr. Alfred K. Quinn, Dist. Supt., African Methodist Episcopal Church The Rev. H. L. Ruthrauff, Int. Exec, Church of the Brethren, Pacific Coast Region Dr. Carl W. Segerhammar, Pres., Lutheran Church in America, Pacific Southwest Synod Dr. Carroll L. Shuster, Exec Sec, Presbyterian Synod of California, So. Area Bishop Donald H. Tippett, Methodist Church, San Francisco Area The Rev. Albert Van Dyk, Exec, Reformed Church in America, West Coast Region BishoCalifornianp Sumner Francis Againss Dudlet yPropositio Walters, n 14 need money Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin for billboards, radio and TV, etc. WRITE A CHECK TO CAP 14 and mail it to one of the offices below. We will forward it to the State-wide Committee. Council of Churches 83 McAllister Street - San Francisco, California 94102 1631 Beverly Boulevard - Los Angeles, California 90026