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IN CRAWFORDVILLE
Dominican Priest
3Y REV. LEONARD F. X. MaYHEW
PHOTOS BY PETER LLCHL'K
(Father Joseph Cooney, O. P. t
who is stationed at the Dominican
House of Studies in Washing
ton, D. C., spent ten weeks
this summer in Crawfordville,
Georgia. Father Cooney was
a volunteer with S.C.O.P.E.
(Summer Community Organiza
tion and Political Education),
a voluntary summer program
sponsored by the Southern
Christian Leadership Con
ference. His work, which is
described in-part in the fol
lowing interview was mainly
directed toward educational
programs and a voter regis
tration drive among the Ne
groes of Taliaferro County.
Father Cooney worked in this
program with the apporval of
the Archbishop of Atlanta and
of his Provincial Superior in
the Dominican Order. The
remainder of this article is a
partial transcript of an inter
view of Father Cooney, conduct
ed by Father Richard McSor-
ley, S. J., a professor of Ca
tholic social doctrine at
Georgetown University. )
(Fr. McSorley: "Father Co
oney, you were in Crawford
ville, Ga. from June 23 until
August 29. Will you say, first
of all , what was the situa
tion in the county with regard
to civil rights when you ar
rived; and, secondly, what you
think was accomplished by your
presence there."
FR. COONEY: "Before I ar
rived with the S.C.O.P.E. team,
there had been previous acti
vity by the S.C.L.C. staff...
organizing the youth and the
community. They did integrate
the public swimming facilities
at the state park and the eat
ing facilities in town. They
also organized a protest picket
on the merchants of the town
to protest the firing of six
Negro teachers. Negroes who
wanted to register to vote were
hindered and actually threat
ened with the loss of jobs or
delay in relief checks, not to
mention the numerous treats
that there would be violence.
The white people who dis
tributed these nebulous threats
of violence, however, always
said that it would come
from some source other than
themselves. Another things:
anyone who participated in the
demonstrations or attempted to
register had all his credit cal
led in immediately. It was
because of this total social
pressure hindering the Negro
in his exercise of his consti
tutional rights that we thought
it necessary to band together
and protest publicly each Sun
day in our demonstrations and
by the daily picketing of the
Negro teenagers. No regis
trations actually took place dur
ing this time. The white power
structure insisted that they
were not discriminating against
the Negro because 80% of the
Negroes in the county had been
registered. The fact was that
these 80% were registered when
the white people thought they
could control the Negro vote.
When the Negroes tried to re
gister on their own, indicating
their independence, the white
community brought all these
harassing tactics to bear.
They actually closed the re
gistrar’s office for several
weeks. After insistent com
plaints on our part to Judges
Stevens and Thompson, the At
torney General of Georgia, the
federal authorities — and, fin
ally, due to passage of the voter
rights law, the registrar open
ed her office one day a week,
on Thursdays, for voter re
gistration."
McSORLEY: "Are you con
vinced that the progress that
was made by the Negroes in
Crawfordville would not have
been m ade, unless you had help
ed them to organize?"
COONEY: "The key thing is
that no one Negro or family of
Negroes can stand up alone
FR. COONEY, FR. MCSORLEY
against the kind of society that
is there. But, when we went
around the talked about organi
zing and encouraged and con
soled various people, they had
the courage to stand up. When
a person finds the courage to
stand up to be a man and he
finds other with him, this gives
him an awareness of his own
dignity. It strengthens him to
go on because he does have
allies. There is strength in
unity. These Negroes have
great faith in God. They be
come aware that God will pro
tect them and they really be
lieve that they would rather
be in their graves than live
a continual life of slavery. The
young Negroes in high school
have a new dignity that their
parents don’t have. They have
an awareness of their equality
and of the worth of each in
dividual. Part of this asare-
ness has come from their as
sociation with the S.C.L.C. staff
people and volunteers such as
myself; white people who come
and work with them and by our
actions indicate that we con
sider them equals and recog
nize the equality of all men 1
under God."
McSORLEY: "Now, Father
Cooney, we want to get some
of the story. What did you do
when you were here?”
COONEY: "Well I was
a volunteer for S.C.O.P.E.
That means Summer Commu
nity Organization and Political
Education. When I entered
the county, I became the head
of the unit there. In the be
ginning, my activities were
mostly organizational. Quite
a bit of organization with the
youth had been done before I
arrived. We worked quite a
bit to conduct a Headstart
Project. We got literacy clas
ses going because we had to
teach the people at least to be
able to write and, also, at these
classes we would teach the ne
cessity of trying to save money
and how to go about saving it
and something about consumer
values. We fixed up the old
schoolhouse in Crawfordville
for the Project Headstart. I
arranged to use the old,' aban
doned school in Sharon for our
literacy classes there on Tues
days and Thursdays and we al
so had a school going in Coffer-
ville and one out at New Hope.
We used these for the adult
literacy classes and also for
political education and as a
focal point for organizing the
smaller communities."
McSORLEY: "Tell a little
about the workings of your
Headstart Project,"
w
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iiiiMps
STUDENTS OF CRAWFORDVILLE
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MR. TURNER, MR. BATES, FR. COONEY
Cooney: "There were about
fifty-two children involved in
Headstart. There were four
full-time teachers, several aid
es, two cooks and six or seven
adults who drove the children
to school. The project fur
nished employment for these
people. The children had won
derful opportunities they would
not otherwise have had. They
had fruit juice in the morning
and a full hot mean and apples
or oranges in the afternoon
before they went home. We
took a group of adults and all
the children to the Atlanta Zoo.
I would say that about 90%
of the Negro adults of the coun
ty have never been to the zoo.
The parents were so thankful
for the federal government’s
interest in their children. The
trouble with, these rural coun
ties is that the white popu
lation has made the Negroes feel
that they are outside of society.
But, when we brought these
children and adults to Atlanta,
they -experienced for the first
time that metropolitan cities
accept Negroes into society and
this is the beginning of a re
conciliation in the community.
We had two volunteer psycho
logists, William Vogel and Jo
achim Wohlwill, who worked
with S.C.O.P.E. both are doc
tors in psychology. They ex
amined all the -children and
wrote reports on all of them.
The teachers who worked in
Headstart want to continue.
They would visit the parents
at home and try to educate the
parents to the necessity of the
children’s' studing and having
the proper attitude toward lear
ning. The whole idea is to
produce in the child some type
of awakening experience to lead
him to desire to learn."
McSORLEY: "You were thr
eatened many times. Were
there any intances of vio^
lence.”
COONEY: "During the me
eting in front of the court house
one Sunday in mid-August, an
incident developed. There Were
no policemen visible. They
stayed inside the courthouse.
Because of this, the white peo
ple were encouraged to come
up to us. Their taunts and their
statements were very nasty.
One of the men actually pushed
an old lady down. They were
threatening Mr. Turner
(the local Negro leader). The
young Negroes began to move
to that side of the line to
protect him. Turner and I
both saw this and we knew
that trouble could start. I
moved over there and told our
people ■— because they do lis
ten to me — to Stay loose
and to stay away and not to
respond. This is when this
white man jumped on me be
cause he realized that I was
calming them down and he didn’t
like this. And then he pro
ceeded to pull me and tore my
raincoat off. But, because
I didn’t respond to this man, the
Negroes didn’t respond. They
followed our leadership and we
walked-away singing."
McSORLEY: "Do you think
your activity has arty meaning
for the Church? Has it helped
the Church, especially in Geor
gia?
COONEY: "Onnumerous oc
casions they asked me things
about my religion and about my
self and about priests. They
distinguished the Church from
those Catholics they know who,
the Negroes say, are mean.
There is going to be quite, a
bit more receptivity to Catho
lics because of this. One of
the priests in Washington, Geo
rgia, said that the Negroes are
more willing to listen to him
because they knew of my seem
ingly unrewarding activities in
Taliaferro County. They see
that I arri there just to help
them and to help their chil
dren live a better life and
have a happier life and not
to take advantage of them. In
the beginning they were sus
picious of me but in the end
they really loved me and they
felt that I was sincerely in
terested in them as human
beings to help them live a di
gnified life. When I drove
through the county in the Volks-
wagon there would be a chant
the children would say my name
over and over, ’Father Cooney,
Father Cooney.’ When 'these
children grow up and meet an
other Father, he is going to
have a whole wealth and trea
sury of good will. They’re
going to listen to their parents
now. Their parents, you know,
walked with me and they have
told their children they walked
with me. The Negroes rea
lized that there’s a wealth in
Catholicism that permits peo
ple like me to come .down and
have this seemingly unproduc
tive work for the summer. It
really means that we have val
ues beyond the material, The
C.hurch has values, beyond the
m aterial and the priests live
a life that has value beyond the
material.
McSORLEY: "Father Co
oney, you were, I believe, the
only priest fulltime in this work
this summer. Do you think it
important that a priest be i-
dentified with this work?"
COONEY: “This whole
movement is very, very im
portant for the political life
of the United States and its
success is important for the
presercation and continuation
of democracy in the United
States, because of this violence.
It’s important that the Church
participate in this element in
our society because Vindicates
that the Church is in this world.
Particularly, it is important to
the youth that we join them in
this because, if this movement'
can change society and can su
cceed without tlje Church, then
the Church Will have no re
levance to the modern day.
It will have no place in the
youth’s life because this '
movement is dedicated to jus
tice, it is dedicated to help
ing the poor and it’s dedicated
to making life worthwhile for
all people and it has very, very
religious values. Now, if this
movement is successful with
out the Church , what will be
the purpose of religion? Re
ligion will become meaningless,
it will become merely a Sun
day social activity. This is
the mind of those who think that
the movement is great and there
are many people who have this
attitude. There are many peo
ple in the civil rights move
ment today who have a certain
contempt for people who pre
tend they are religious, that
they are interested in their
brother man but don’t do any
thing about it. There is an
old saying that, if you do not
act the way you believe, soon
you will believe the way you
act. Many people who think they
are religious are in fact not
their brother’s keeper and they
do not treat all people as
brothers under God and this has
IC Card Party
Immaculate Conception Altar
Society will resume activities
with a Bridge Luncheon in the
Social Hall of the church, Sept
ember 28 from 10.30 a.m. to
3.30. p.m. Donation $1.25. Re
servations through Mrs. Mar
garet Walsh, MA 7-4870 or
Mrs. Gene Jentzen, PL 3-0043.
been a detriment to religion and
we must overcome this now by
indicating by our activities, by
proper participation in this at
tempt to make - to establish,
a just society, a tranquility
of order and a tranquility of
equality in the United States.
Unless religion is involved in
this, then religion is going to
lose out. The leaders of the
movement in Atlanta, Hosea
Williams, Andy Young and
Mr. Blackwell and Mr. Timer
out in the counties, ap
preciate the fact that I was
there and that I was there
because I was permitted to be
there by the Archbishop of At
lanta. They recognize that this
may be an embarrassing situs-
tion, that I have been criti
cized by the press, and they
watch this to see if the Arch
bishop would recall me when
it possibly became embar
rassing. This is crucial. When
they saw the Archbishop was
really interested in permitting
a priest to work there with
these poor Negroes, then they
realized that the Church is not
part of this social system that’s
taking advantage and has taken
advantage for hundreds of years
of the Negro. So, when this
change comes about, it won’t
be like it has happened in the
past, when there have been pi-
past, when there have been po
litical changes. The Church will
not be on the outside because
the Church is cooperating with
these people while they are on
the outside.
Louisiana Sets
Integration Date
ALEXANDRIA, La. (NC)—A
target date of September, 1966,
has been fixed by Bishop
Charles P. Greco for racial
desegregation of all Catholic
schools in the Alexandria di
ocese.
In a pastoral letter read in
all churches of the diocese,
the bishop reminded that he had
called for desegregation of the
first, second and 12th grades
in Catholic schools in four coun
ties this school term.
The duty of Catholic parents
to provice a Catholic education
for the children also was stres
sed by the bishop in the letter.
New Head
For Detroit
DETROIT (NC)—Father Walter
L. Farrell, S.J., has been named
provincial ofthe 500-man Det
roit province of the Society of
Jesus. He succeeds Father John
A, McGrail, S.J., who has held
the post since 1958.
Father Farrell is a former
university teacher of history
and psychology. From 1958 to
1964 he was rector of West Ba
den Qollege in Indiana.
Catholic U. Post
WASHINGTON (NC)—Father
Faymond F.Fowerbaugh has
been named assistant to the
rector for university develop
ment at the Catholic Univer
sity of America,
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1965 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 7
ODOM SPARKLES
St. Joseph Stops
Pius Tenth Bells
BY BOB DANIELS
To many, Saturday night was
just another September evening.
But to the 450 students and the
200 alumni of St. Joseph High
School, Saturday was beyond the
ordinary.
Coach William Dapamo led
his group of improved Hawks
against the St. Pius Golden
Lions, the latter being a three
touchdown favorite.
BUT THE Hawks stopped John
Griffin & Co. and ended four
years of grid dominance by the
Lions, 12-7.
"Stop those bells" was the
victory theme and goal for the
Hawks. Junior quarterback Dan
Odom all but destroyed the bell
tower, as he personally silenced
Pi-Hi’s victory bells with
touchdown runs of 43 and 65
yards.
Loose ball handling by the
Lions set the stage for Odom
early in the game. Sophomore
Bob Rasnick recovered a fumble
on the Lions 43.
ODOM BROKE through the
line behind fine blocking and
literally outraced the secon
dary, > giving the Hawks a 6-0
lead with 6:55 remaining in the
first period.
In the second quarter Odom
once again stunned the Lions.
Starting from his own 35, he
raced around right end. He ap-
pearek to be trapped at mid-
field when he suddenly sprinted
doWn the sideline, outrunning
three rattled defenders.
This 65 yard scoring jaunt
gave the Hawks a 12-0 half
time lead.
In the third stanza, a sus
tained drive of 67 yards gave a
spark of hope to the Lions.
Junior Jack Brandt capped
the drive, scoring frorii four
yards out on the first play of
the final period. Blake’s PAT
narrowed the gap to 12-7.
Later in the quarter, St. Pius
was again goalward bound. But
Junior Mike 'Kelley recovered a
second Lion fumble, stopping
the drive on the Hawks 19.
Saint Joseph hung on for a
hard-fought 12-7 victory.
Hawk fans swarmed around a
tearful Bill Daprano, screaming
delight. Lion fans ambled mo
rosely from Joe Bean Field, in
credulous of the proceedings.
Of course Dan Odom was the
offensive gun for the Hawks.
Seniors Arthur Mathews and
Bill Long were all over the
field defensively. Senior Mike
Boyle, Junior Tommy Waidner
and Sophomore Bob Rasnick al
so had moments of brilliance.
For his victory, Coach Da
prano is the Atlanta Journal-
Constitution’s coach of the
week.
It has taken four years; but
St. Joseph has a grid victory
over St. Pius.
St. Gerard Guild Discussion
MRS, BETTY Messner, Mrs.
Jolaine Kingery and Mrs. Mary
Heneghan were the members of
a panel discussion at the recent
monthly meeting St. Gerard
Guild of the Immacualte Heart
of Mary Parish. The subject
of the discussion was "Prob
lems with pre-school children.
Also discussed was whether
young children should be taken
to Mass on Sunday. Although
some mothers believed that this
was an unnecessary distraction
to the adults expecially
the mothers, the majority ag
reed that "goirig to Mass is
a family affair."
Father Jerry Hardy, Spirit
ual director of the guild, com
mented, from the Mass merely
by being present," He further
said that the dignity of woman
hood and of motherhood is
emerging with greater promin
ence in the Catholic Chruch
and in the world.
Rummage Sale
In Gainesville
The Ladies of the St. Mi
chael’s Altar Society in Gains-
Ville recently sponsored a suc
cessful rummage sale in that
city. Chairm an for the sale was
Mrs. Gene Lawrence assisted
by Mrs. L. E. Jirikovec. The
sale was of the major fund
raising projects for the year.
CLASSIFIEDS
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Desires to receive all USABLE furniture, clothing, appliances,
books, vacuum packed food etc., for the poor and needv. Tele
phone 525-0178. y
ULTREYA
ATLANTA’S FIRST
Sunday, Sept. 19, 1965
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