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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JUNE 1961—PAGE 7
‘Freedom Riders’ Wait for Bus
4 group of whites and Negroes from Tennessee wait in the Birmingham
ilalion for a bus to carry them to Montgomery. The bus drivers had refused to
take them out.
in Montgomery; (2) A suit by Negroes,
including some of the “freedom rid
ers,” to restrain Alabama officials from
enforcing bus station segregation and
to dissolve Montgomery Circuit Judge
Walter B. Jones’ injunction of May 19
against “freedom rides” in the state.
Jones had issued an order for the
arrest of riders in Alabama after the
injunction was issued. But when the
11 were arrested May 25, Adjutant Gen
eral Graham, who was in the bus
station and sanctioned the arrests by
Sheriff Butler, said action was taken
under martial rule to prevent inflaming
a tense situation—and not for con
tempt.
Gov. Patterson and Deputy Attorney
General White met at a conference in
the governor’s office Sunday, May 21,
at which Patterson protested the pres
ence of marshals, threatened to arrest
them, and demanded that the Justice
Department prevail on “freedom riders”
to stop their movements. White ex
plained his mission to protect interstate
travel, and said that the government’s
intervention was legal and justified.
Community Action
Citizens Condemn
Both Agitation
Alabama
(Continued From Page 6)
iade. Other than Marshal Holt, no one,
apparently, was seriously injured.
Marshals, who had put themselves
under the direction of the National
Guard after the Sunday night procla
mation, later retired to Maxwell Air
force Base. Later in the week most
were ordered out, leaving only 100 on
call at Maxwell. During the week that
Mowed 800 National Guardsmen were
on duty at the bus stations and patroling
the streets and suburbs.
May 23, Claude V. Henley was ar
rested by city police for an assault on
®C cameramen during the May 20
violence at the bus station. It was al
leged that Henley was the cigar-smok
ing man whose attack triggered the
mob action that day.
May 24, 26 “freedom riders” left the
city in two buses under massive police,
National Guard and highway patrol
protection. Their buses were heavily
Warded by state patrolmen and guards
men all the way to the Mississippi line.
Here the Alabama convoy turned their
duties over to Mississippi authorities.
Ihe buses proceeded to Jackson, where
% police arrested the riders on ar
rival.
Before leaving Montgomery the two
groups ate at a white lunch counter at
he bus station, guarded by police and
Guardsmen.
0 , More Riders
Seven more “freedom riders” arrived
spent the night at the home of the
" ev - Ralph D. Abernathy. They were
i- Rested by Montgomery County Sheriff
er ' a e Butler the following day, May 25,
c j 4 they attempted to eat with four Ne
il ministers at the Trailways bus
counter.
s- Glided were: the Rev. F. L. Shut-
st 7 s 'v°rth, Birmingham Negro leader;
a jr. hiev, William S. Coffin Jr., Yale
•• J^ersity chaplain and a member of
ie res *dent Kennedy’s Peace Corps Ad-
No ^ Council; the Rev. Gaylord B.
e, yJ Ce > assistant professor of religion at
; | j® Divinity School; Dr. David E.
,e | tv ! h Professor of religion at Wesleyan
J Ver sity in Middletown, Conn.; Dr.
■ r . h*- Maguire, assistant professor of
i u ®° n at Wesleyan; the Rev. Ralph D.
'he rn ^ t k y ’ Montgomery Negro leader;
i Geo ^ GV ' Wyatt Walker, Atlanta;
j. lalp 1 ? 6 Smith, a Negro student at
, ; 0|) ’ Clyde L. Carter and Charles L.
„ rvh S ’ students at Johnson C. Smith
, ijj t ers *ty, Charlotte, N.C.; and Bem-
; Atlanta -
s I .i-jp spending a night in county
s ' SirijjT 0 ® 11 . Noyce, Maguire, Swift and
, I made bond and were released.
6
& Made Bond
I Sjjy U ^ es worth made bond Saturday,
ip j f*> and was released, leaving five
* Nr ^ eterm hied to stay there until
' ria N possibly in mid-June. Re-
make bond were: Abernathy,
I TL er 4, Car t er . Jones and Lee.
1 Nr i5 ev ' Solomon S. Seay Sr., an-
I Su., .j ° m S° mer y Negro leader, was
■ ! ^ slightly outside his home May
: Ni n en a carload of whites fired, in
1 ittti o’’ "’hat was described as a pellet
0f tb* teena S crs were later arrested
*" Ve Hii e footing, turned over to
' i ^ r ., e au thorities. Their names were
I Bcf^ased.
N ^. re arriving in Alabama the orig-
| J % l!e ° u P of “freedom riders” had en-
little serious trouble. The
*ft if/ s ®yen Negroes and six whites—
.Ncpj * ng t°n, D.C., May 4 with an-
Ns ; Pl an s to test segregation cus-
Virginia, North and South
k a : Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi
'ov 0r] IS * ana ' This ride was to end in
A eans May 17, seventh anniver
sary of the Supreme Court’s school de
cision.
The trip through Virginia was un
eventful; one member of the group was
arrested in Charlotte, N.C. for refusing
to leave a bus station barber shop May
8; there was violence in Rock Hill, S.C.,
but police quickly restored order; one
of the riders was arrested in Columbia,
S.C. for possessing untaxed liquor May
10; the Georgia trip was uneventful—
then came Alabama.
Leeal Action
Washington Moves
Swiftly; Marshals
Pour Into Alabama
"President John Kennedy and
■*- Attorney General Robert Ken
nedy, in contact with Alabama of
ficials during the week of May 15,
moved swiftly after the violence
in Montgomery May 20.
The President called on local law
enforcement officers to do their duty
but directed the Justice Department
to “take all necessary steps based on
their information and investigation” to
protect interstate travel. Marshals and
deputized assistants began pouring into
the state by plane and automobile that
night.
U.S. District Judge Frank M. John
son Jr. signed an order the same night
prohibiting interference with bus trav
el. The temporary injunction prohibited
two rival Klan leaders — Robert M.
Shelton and Rev. Alvin C. Horn—and
three KKK groups in the state from
any activity against interstate bus
travel.
Four men were arrested in Anniston
for burning the bus there.
Two Actions Scheduled
Scheduled to be heard in Montgom
ery the week of May 29 were two
actions: (1) an amended complaint
by the Justice Department to bring
under Johnson’s May 20 restraining
order police officials in Montgomery
and Birmingham as well as Henley,
the man charged with starting the riot
And Mob Action
JVflT ore than 100 of Montgom-
-L” ery’s leading citizens, repre
senting virtually every civic and
professional group in the city,
met in emergency session shortly
after the May 20 bloodshed and
signed a prepared statement
which said, in part:
“While we resent and condemn the
actions of these agitators . . . who pub
licly announced their intention of com
ing into our commuity for the avowed
purpose of violating our time-honored
and respected laws, thereby arousing
animosities between the races in Mont
gomery, we do not under any circum
stances approve or condone mob action
on the part of any faction and we do
hereby call upon the law enforcement
agencies of our city, county and state
to take all necessary action and pre
cautions to maintain order in our com
munity.”
Newspapers received heavy loads of
letters, many readers expressing shock
and shame.
But of all the statements, perhaps
‘Whatever Inspired You
To Do Such A Thing?’
Greensboro Daily News
Came to Scene of Montgomery Riots
State Public Safety Director Floyd Mann, right, stands with Major General
Henry Graham, National Guard adjutant general. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
is second from the left in the background.
the strongest was issued by the Ala
bama State Chamber of Commerce.
The state Chamber condemned mob
action, denounced the freedom riders,
but demanded law and order “at all
costs” and insisted on obedience to
judicial process.
In what the Montgomery Advertiser
called a “pioneering assertion for any
such commanding group,” the Chamber
said:
“Laws and court decisions, however
distasteful to any group, can and must
be enforced by lawfully constituted
agencies of government and groups of
all degrees of opinions who would take
enforcement into their own hands
should be equally restrained and dealt
with.”
In newspaper ads, the Chamber
underscored this paragraph. The Ad
vertiser commented May 28:
“Alabama was confronted with that
question by the John Brown bus raid
ers. Alabama will be confronted with
the question, and perhaps more elab
orately, when inevitably there is a
court order to integrate a school.
“That is something the state may as
well commence re-thinking against the
flare of our current tragedy.”
What They Say
Attorney General
States Position;
Governor Replies
A ttorney General Robert
J -~*-Kennedy wired Gov. Patter
son late Saturday, May 20, notify
ing the Alabama chief executive
of the instruction to federal mar
shals and the FBI, and of his
request for an injunction against
anti-demonstration groups. The
wire said in part:
“As you know, since early this last
week (the week of May 15-20) I have
been deeply concerned about the situa
tion in Alabama. From my conversation
with you on Monday and numerous
conversations that I and my associates
have had with your aides, you have
been aware of the concern with which
we have regarded this explosive situa-
tion. Since the destruction of the bus on
Sunday and interference of interstate
travel you have been made aware of
our clear responsibility in this area.
“The President himself, when he was
unable to reach you on Friday (May
19), made this clear to the lieutenant
governor (Albert Boutwell) and point
ed out the responsibility to guarantee
safe passage in interstate commerce
and that free travel had not been pos
sible for five days in Alabama. The
President hoped that the government
of Alabama would restore the situation
without the need of action by federal
authorities.
Personal Representative
You then requested that the Presi
dent send a personal representative to
discuss the matter with you. As you
know, Mr. Seigenthaler of this office
met with you last evening and in your
presence talked to me on the telephone.
He told me that you wanted to assure
the President and the federal govern
ment that you had the “will, the force,
the men and the equipment to protect
everyone in Alabama.”
Attorney General Kennedy went on
to relate the government’s offer of
marshals to enforce the law, which Pat
terson declined. Based on Patterson’s
assurance of safe conduct, Kennedy
said, the students boarded the bus in
Birmingham, only to meet the mob in
Montgomery.
Enforcing The Law
Patterson said:
“The state is enforcing the law and
will continue to do so. We need no help
from the federal government and we
have not requested their help. The fed
eral government has no constitutional
right to intervene unless we ask their
assistance.
“No one regrets more than I what
happened today in the city of Mont
gomery. But the fact remains that state
highway patrolmen responded in force
seconds after they were called. Within
five minutes we had 65 patrolmen on
the scene. Officers restored order quick
ly and we had the situation under firm
control.
“If the federal government really
wants to help in this unfortunate situa
tion, they will encourage these outside
agitators to go home. We have the
means and the ability to keep the peace
in Alabama without any outside help.”
# # #
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Alabama Violence Brings
Talk Of New Rights Laws
WASHINGTON, D.C.
ruption of racial violence in
Alabama revived chances
that some sort of civil rights leg
islation may be enacted by Con
gress this year. Talk of a civil
rights bill—all but dead before
mobs attacked Negro and white
“freedom riders” in Anniston,
Birmingham and Montgomery—
was heard again in earnest on
Capitol Hill.
Attorney General Robert F. Ken
nedy’s decision to dispatch 400 Fed
eral marshals to Alabama on May 20
and 200 more on May 22 won general
support from Congressional leaders.
Sen. Paul H. Douglas (D-Ill) said the
incidents would “strengthen the case
for civil rights legislation.”
Senate Minority Leader Everett M.
Dirksen (R-IU) also said he would not
be surprised at a demand for new civil
rights bills. But Majority Leader Mike
Mansfield (D-Mont) said it remained
to be seen whether the Alabama out
breaks would lead to new legislation.
One Southerner, Sen. Sam J. Ervin
Jr. (D-NC), said dispatch of the mar
shals was in accord with the law,
which authorizes federal intervention
when local law enforcement officials
cannot keep the peace.
‘Hurt The Cause’
Ervin said Southerners who “com
mit wrongs against Negroes” hurt the
cause of Southern lawmakers like
himself who want to see an orderly
test of constitutional issues involved in
desegregation.
But Sen. Herman E. Talmadge (D-
Ga) said the “freedom riders,” spon
sored by the Congress of Racial Equal
ity, went to the South “hunting trou
ble.”
Sen. J. William Fulbright (D-Ark)
called the violence “a sad and dis
tressing development,” and added:
“It would seem to me that sending
these buses in like that would be de
signed to be provocative. On the other
hand, local authorities have the re
sponsibility to maintain law and order,
even if they are provoked.”
D. C. Highlights
Eruption of racial violence in
Alabama revived talk of civil rights
legislation in this session of Con
gress. Earlier in the month, a six-
point legislative program calling for
desegregation plans in all commun
ities was introduced without appar
ent administration support.
The Senate on May 25, by a vote
of 49 to 34, passed the administra
tion’s $2.55 billion public school aid
bill. Earlier pro- and anti-segregation
riders were defeated.
The Supreme Court held up en-
| forcement of two Louisiana laws
requiring disclosure of NAACP
membership lists.
Earlier in the month, a six-point
civil rights program conspicuously
lacking expressed administration sup
port was introduced by Sen. Joseph
S. Clark (D-Pa) and Rep. Emanuel
Celler (D-NY). President Kennedy ap
pointed Clark and Celler as a commit
tee of two last September, during the
presidential campaign, to follow
through on civil rights pledges in the
Democratic platform and put them in
legislative form.
“This we have done,” Clark told the
Senate May 8, “and today we have
introduced in the Senate and House of
Representatives six bills designed to
implement the pledges.”
One of the bills, intended to speed
the racial desegregation of all public
schools, would require every school
board operating segregated schools to
adopt a desegregation plan and file it
with the secretary of health, educa
tion and welfare within six months
after enactment of the law.
The five other bills would:
• Make the Civil Rights Commis
sion, which now is due to expire Sept.
9, a permanent agency with strength
ened fact-finding powers.
(See D. C., Page 11)