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TO GIVE RACISM THE FACE OF THE IGNORANT: RACE, CLASS, AND WHITE MANHOOD IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, 1937-1970 By HEATHER BRYSON A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2011 1 © 2011Heather Bryson 2 To Sam and Eloise 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is difficult to adequately acknowledge the many people to whom I have become indebted since I began working on Birmingham, Alabama. First and foremost, I would like thank my advisor, Dr. William Link, for guiding me through my research and writing. Without his encouragement and persistence, I would not have completed this project. He has been a model advisor to me and my most constant friend in Gainesville. I would also like to thank my other committee members. Dr. Louise Newman, who first introduced me to the study of gender, taught me to find and appreciate the contributions in each piece of scholarship before searching for its shortcomings. Her sincere openness toward different approaches and ideas has encouraged me to remain curious about the work and methodology of different scholars. I have learned more because of this. Dr. Jeffrey Adler, a careful and conscientious scholar, who has given freely of his time and expertise to help me create a more polished work of history. His interest in culture and violence has fostered in me an abiding curiosity about the unwritten but understood codes of classed cultures in America. Dr. Ben Wise, a recent addition to my committee, encouraged me in a critical juncture in my writing process and his positive comments and suggestions have propelled me forward. Finally, Dr. Sevan Terzian, who agreed to join my committee in a glitch, has provided me with reading suggestions, which have helped me to better understand the time period under study. By their scholarly insights and professionalism, Dr. Link, Dr. Newman, Dr. Adler, Dr. Wise, and Dr. Terzian have taught me more than I could ever repay or acknowledge. My graduate cohort at the University of Florida is serious, interested, honest, and kind. It was the perfect culture in which to write a dissertation. Because of the Milbauer 4 Seminar organized by Dr. William Link, my project benefitted from the thoughtful comments and suggestions of my fellow graduate students for three consecutive years. I have also received travel grants from the History Department at the University of Florida, the Richard J. Milbauer Fund, and the Women‘s Studies Department, which have enabled me to travel to Alabama numerous times over the course of this project. In Birmingham, many people donated their time to my project in order to help me better understand their city and its people. Archivists Jim Baggett and Laura Anderson of the Birmingham Public Library Archives and the Civil Rights Institute were always ready with answers and ideas. Dr. Robert Corley, Reverend Lawton Higgs, Reverend Kevin Higgs, Doug Carpenter, Liz Reed, and Sheila and Ira Chaffin each forfeited time from their busy schedules to answer my questions and offer their experiences and knowledge to my project. I am grateful for their generosity. In the case of the Reverends Higgs who run the Church of the Reconciler, a ministry that caters to Birmingham‘s impoverished men, women and children, I am not only grateful for their shared understanding of the way that Birmingham ―works‖ but also humbled by their mission and devotion to those in need. The love and patience of my family members have supported and sustained me through the writing of my dissertation. I am the first family member to attempt to earn a doctorate and the longevity of the process has been something for which we were all ill- prepared. Still, they remained confident that I could accomplish what I set out to do and their confidence has, in turn, made it so. It was my mother, Georgia Kim Richarde Bryson, who first spoke seriously to me about history and her wisdom has warned me away from being overly critical of times and people gone by, although I still have far to 5 go. My mother raised my sister, my brother, and I on stories of her old Florida family members who were wild and vengeful, as well as literary and proud. In her accounts, my grandfather‘s family all seem to move through their lives with a sense of history somehow, and I get the same sense about my mother. My father, Dennis James Bryson, has been a constant role model to me and my memories of how hard he worked as I grew up have kept me grounded. On late nights with my books and in early mornings with my laptop, I remain cognizant of the fact that most everyone else in the world is working hard, too. This is because of my father. My sister, Bridget, and my brother, Henry, have also supported me in the writing of my dissertation by their love, humor, and their unflagging optimism about all things Heather. They are my very best friends. I would also like to acknowledge my grandparents: Henry Osceola Richarde, Mary Elizabeth Walker Richarde, Mary Caroline Sessi Bryson, and James John Bryson for their goodness, love, and faith in education. Finally, I would like to thank my son and my daughter. Although they know little about the civil rights movement and less about Birmingham, Alabama, this project has directed their lives in important ways. Sam and Eloise have given me perspective, love, and tremendous joy. No words can adequately express my gratitude to all who have helped me and supported me throughout this project. In every possible way, my cup runneth over. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... 4 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 10 2 ―PEOPLE IN TORMENT CAN‘T ACT LIKE PEOPLE IN HEAVEN‖ ........................ 24 ―A Melting Pot of Raw Men and Raw Materials‖ ..................................................... 28 ―A Movement of Poor People‖ ................................................................................. 33 ―We Never Really Knew that there was a Depression‖ ........................................... 38 ―A Bid for Potential Tyranny‖ ................................................................................... 43 Fighting Labor in the 1940s .................................................................................... 47 Christianity and the Company ................................................................................. 52 Dixiecrats in Birmingham: ―Christian Principles and the White Man‘s Brains‖ ......... 57 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 65 3 ―THE MOST EXALTED IMPULSE OF MAN‖ .......................................................... 68 Birmingham after Brown ......................................................................................... 71 Imperiled Patriarchy ................................................................................................ 81 ―It was in their Blood‖: From Biological Inferiority to Cultural Inferiority ................... 87 Physical Space and Physical Bodies ...................................................................... 91 A ―Soul Quaking Blow as the Utter Beast is Brought to the Surface‖: Anxiety over White, Cultural Degeneracy ......................................................................... 96 Bombingham ......................................................................................................... 100 Cultural Cleanliness: Highlands United Methodist Men ........................................ 103 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 105 4 ―WHO SPEAKS FOR BIRMINGHAM‖ ................................................................... 107 ―We Can‘t Take this Anymore‖: Freedom Riders and Business Moderation ......... 112 ―Keep Birmingham White‖ ..................................................................................... 117 ―How Not to Have Anything‖: Closed Parks and Working-Class Moderation ........ 120 ―We are Learning to be Men‖: Getting Rid of Bull Connor ..................................... 127 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 138 7 5 ―STANDING IN IMAGINED RECTITUDE‖ ............................................................ 139 The Children‘s Crusade ........................................................................................ 143 ―It‘s a Dollar and Cents Thing‖: The Business Community Negotiates ................. 152 The Changing Image of Birmingham‘s White Businessmen ................................. 157 The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing and the Blame .............................. 161 Pagan Savages, Young Beatniks, and White Mothers ......................................... 170 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 173 6 ―THE DIGNITY OF OUR PEOPLE‖ ...................................................................... 175 Operation New Birmingham .................................................................................. 177 Suburbia‘s Fight to Stay White .............................................................................

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