00:00:04.239 - 00:00:21.940

Uh, an issue at five o'clock, we'd like to be out on the, as folks like to say in the south is on the front porch, um, of the county library to lift up our voices. Um, so I'd like to see if we can go ahead and

00:00:21.950 - 00:00:39.349

get started here so that we might be able to do that. And since the library does not close until six, and I don't think that our singing will last more than about 15 minutes. Um, but it will be an important 15 minutes. Uh, we can then

00:00:39.360 - 00:00:59.465

come back to this location for many of you all who would like to have the opportunity to meet, uh, first and meet, uh, Reverend Moore and MS Virginia Williams. Uh, I would like if you all don't mind, uh, for us to ask Mr Bryant and MS

00:00:59.474 - 00:01:54.900

Williams and Reverend Moore to come to the platform here and it's about three. I'm still a, still a half back that one. But, and I got a bad knee that makes it even worse. Now, Adam is in trouble. No, it's good to see you too. Oh,

00:01:54.959 - 00:02:26.750

no. Mhm. Ok. No. Well, good afternoon to all of you all. And thank you all for having a wonderful interest uh in the whole idea of celebrating the 50th anniversary, the 50th anniversary of a very, very vital and important activity that took place just about two

00:02:26.759 - 00:02:51.899

blocks down the street. Uh right on North Roxboro Street at the Royal Ice Cream Parlor. It was on an afternoon of June the 23rd that this event took place and we thought that we did not want this anniversary to go by without having some way that

00:02:51.910 - 00:03:12.130

we could say thank you to the people who were involved in that activity. And perhaps a good way of beginning today's program is just to have a moment of silence in honor of all of the people, including the ones who are here on the platform. Uh

00:03:12.210 - 00:03:43.800

But particularly for those folks who have passed on but made courageous stands by sitting down uh on that day. So could we pause for just a moment? Thank you, amen. We have uh some exciting people to talk about things and I'll try not to be in

00:03:43.809 - 00:04:02.429

the way, by the, by the way, my name is Eddie Davis. Um Many of you may know that I taught for many years at Hillside High School and now work in Raleigh with the North Carolina Association of Educators. Um We have much more importantly beside me,

00:04:02.500 - 00:04:22.570

uh Mr R. Kelly Bryant, who is a historian of great renown, uh who knows lots about lots of things. Uh We often talk uh in the alum, the Association of Hampton University where he went to school when it was called Hampton Institute. Uh And my wife

00:04:22.579 - 00:04:46.519

also attended Hampton Institute and sometimes Mr Bryant will tell the story of how he held General Armstrong's horse back in the 18 hundreds when he alright. Uh a bit of an exaggeration. Uh but certainly Mr Bryant has been around quite a while and is about to

00:04:46.529 - 00:05:12.179

move into his, his ninth decade. That's my understanding. Ok. Crazy. Whenever there's any question about uh civil rights history, I always call Mr Bryant first and if he doesn't know, he certainly does know who might be the person to answer the question. Also, besides Mr Bryant

00:05:12.970 - 00:05:36.410

is a person whose face you see in this handout that you have someone who has tall long in the vineyard who journeyed from the small county of North Hampton and came to the county of Durham back in the future. Yeah, and did not just come and

00:05:36.420 - 00:05:53.130

soak up the big city, although I'm sure she absorbed lots of, of the life and other things along the along the way, but also wanted to do some meaningful work uh while she was here and she got involved in lots of different activities and we'll talk

00:05:53.140 - 00:06:17.709

about that in just a moment. And beside Virginia L Williams is the man that many of us have been wanting to have an opportunity to interact with here in Durham for a long time. Um Many of us know of the exploits of Reverend Douglas Elaine Moore.

00:06:21.269 - 00:06:46.209

Uh and we will start with um and he, of course, uh at that time, 50 years ago was the pastor of Asbury Temple United Methodist Church, which at that point uh was located on Lawson Street right there at the heart of macdougall Terrace. Uh Asbury Temple

00:06:46.220 - 00:07:10.760

is in another location now on the corner of Austin and Angier. Uh and by the way, um Reverend Moore is going to worship at that church on tomorrow. Uh We have had a wonderful uh invitation extended by Reverend Shane Benjamin, um who has uh gracefully um

00:07:11.239 - 00:07:33.510

wanted to have the former pastor there. We also have with us um Mr Howard Clement and uh Mr Thomas Stith, who's also a member of the City Council, but Mr Clement, I think has a special presentation and perhaps Mr Clements, this would be the appropriate time

00:07:33.519 - 00:08:06.239

for you to come forward and to read that proclamation or to uh offer the proclamation, whichever way you want to do it. Thank you so much. It's indeed a privilege and a pleasure for me to be a part of this very significant occasion. I wanna thank

00:08:07.540 - 00:08:29.630

Eddie Davis as being the primary catalyst in moving this program to where we are today. Thank you, Eddie. Thank you. Uh And there are other people to thank and uh I could get in trouble because I won't call all the names, but those of you who

00:08:29.640 - 00:08:57.080

need to be thanked uh personally, would you please stand and let me know? So I won't exclude anybody. I certainly want to again uh acknowledge the presence of my city council colleague uh Thomas stiff uh who helped authorize this resolution that uh I'm about to, to

00:08:57.090 - 00:09:27.440

read uh Rev Moore. Welcome back to Durham, I think uh before media became a big technological instrument. 1957 see if he had in 1957 what the folks in Greensboro had in 1960 it would have been a much bigger event and I blame you Rev Moore for

00:09:27.880 - 00:09:52.280

picking the wrong time. It was all a matter of time and Tim but you did what you had to do and we are grateful. Thank you that uh you seized the moment. And uh Miss Virginia Williams who accompanied me to the march on Washington, back on

00:09:52.289 - 00:10:13.614

August of 1963. And we went back to Washington CPS Silent March. Uh This was in connection with uh affirmative action if my memory serves me correctly. So it Williams, I'm just glad you're still here. Now, there are others who are, who, who, who are not here,

00:10:14.460 - 00:10:54.242

but we will remember them. And if I may read this proclamation, uh it's a proclamation recognizing the 50th anniversary of June 23rd, 1957 cities at Durham's Royal Ice Cream Parlor. Whereas communities across North Carolina acted to destroy segregation and to ensure inclusion and equal opportunity for

00:10:54.252 - 00:11:20.580

all cities during the civil rights movement. And whereas this year marks the 50th anniversary when Asbury Methodist Minister Douglas E Moore led a small group of African Americans young people to challenge segregation at Durham's Royal ice cream parlor located at 1000 North Roxboro Street on June

00:11:20.590 - 00:11:50.809

23rd, 1957. And whereas we must remember the participants of the sit in demonstration that made civil rights history and their role in removing the stain of discrimination and prejudice. Those individuals were Mary E, Cly Reverend Moore Claude E, Glenn. Ew Gray. Vivian E Jones, Melvin Willis

00:11:51.229 - 00:12:19.969

and of course, Virginia L Williams. And whereas the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws discrimination and desegregation in public places such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels, it also requires employers to provide equal employment opportunities regardless of race. In addition, it outlines that projects involving federal funds

00:12:20.409 - 00:12:43.130

are subject to being cut off if there's evidence of discrimination based on color, race or national origin. Now, therefore, I Howard Clement acting for William V Bill Bell. Mayor of the city of Durham, North Carolina do hereby recognize the 50th anniversary of the June 23rd, 19

00:12:43.309 - 00:13:04.770

57 sit in at Durham's Royal Ice Cream parlor and thereby urge all citizens to continue to work together to make the dream of equal opportunity a reality for you all. Witness his hand in the corporate seal. Of the city of Durham, North Carolina, this 15th day

00:13:04.780 - 00:13:33.080

of September 2007, William V Bill Bell, the mayor and the delighted Rev Moore to present this proclamation to you. I wanted to present it to the group but, but uh I, I think you hear me, thank you for your courageous leadership. It's easy now, you know,

00:13:33.090 - 00:14:01.859

to sit in, in 1957. It wasn't that easy and I'm just proud and glad to have this on present this proclamation to you. We have of the city of God bless me, but we need to get into the meat of the program. Thank you. Thank you

00:14:02.190 - 00:14:38.349

very much. Ok. Well, thank you so much. Uh to the Durham City Council also. Uh we have had some um uh not inquiries but uh um some, certainly some gratitude expressed by members of the Durham County Commission. So we're real pleased that in 2007, uh

00:14:38.359 - 00:14:59.500

there is a gracious welcoming and embrace of um the movement by these courageous young people. I'd like to if we can now to talk a little bit about how Reverend Moore got here and then to maybe use this as if it might be a television show

00:14:59.510 - 00:15:15.090

or Oprah's show or something like that. Although I certainly do not profess to be anywhere near as confident at this as Oprah and all of the other people, but hopefully, I can play the role as a referee so that we can get as much meat flowing

00:15:15.260 - 00:15:32.799

um during this session that we have um and then to try to come back and have people to ask individual questions. So, Reverend Moore, it's my understanding from talking to you that you grew up in the city of Hickory and came to North Carolina Central. Somewhat

00:15:32.809 - 00:15:51.200

of a protest because so many other people in your family went to that school in Greensboro. Amen. A and T my daddy, my cousins, all of them went there. I decided to come to Central because I think didn't think anyone knew me, not professors indeed. Uh

00:15:51.210 - 00:16:08.580

Now you also told me the name of the college at that point, the university at that point was not North Carolina Central. What was the name of it? Carolina College for Negro? That and you got here and wanted to escape, but found that there was a

00:16:08.590 - 00:16:22.289

professor here who actually did know some of your folks. So could you relate that story with us a little bit? Well, I was busy with the N AC P and doing things like that on the campus. And I took this course under Doctor John Hope Franklin.

00:16:23.000 - 00:16:40.400

And I was sitting there with a very pretty young lady named Mildred Thornton and I was more interested in N AC P than doing history. So, Doctor Frank said one day that there's more I'm going to Greensboro, Saturday and I'm going to tell your father, I'm

00:16:40.409 - 00:16:57.130

going to flock you and I gotta be out of the course because I, I thought by not going to A and T where all my cousins and everybody went to A and T but I decided to go to Central that nobody would know me. Shock of

00:16:57.140 - 00:17:19.009

shocks. John Hope Franklin knew my dad and that was the end of my trifle this. And you did um matriculate through that university and went on up to an institution that was sort of a magnet for lots of people. Boston University. And it's my understanding that

00:17:19.019 - 00:17:39.750

you were there at the very same time and were friends with a gentleman who had come up from Atlanta. Can you tell us who that is Doctor Martin Luther King? And um he was in a group called a Dialectical Society. Uh He went into theology and

00:17:39.760 - 00:17:56.349

this sort of stuff, but I went to social ethics to figure out how to uh analyze society, et cetera, et cetera. And according to Taylor Brash, Doctor King avoided me and I just kept on doing what I was doing. But uh he was there and he

00:17:56.359 - 00:18:10.300

was a good student. Uh but I often relate to the fact that uh Malcolm X was at Charlestown Prison and Martin Luther King and I at Boston University who was in prison. I probably think we were in prison for a long time. But Doctor King was

00:18:10.310 - 00:18:28.704

a great man. Uh he was in theology and that's more philosophical and I I was in, in uh social ethics uh always analyzing data. And that's was the only difference. And then after I got out of seminary, Doctor King started Montgomery. Then we hooked up and

00:18:28.714 - 00:18:48.160

I became very active uh with many of his projects. In fact, uh when the sentence got started. And what was that, that 1960 as I said, the A nt students sat down and they never stood up again and they sat there for two weeks and there

00:18:48.170 - 00:19:05.810

was a white guy named Ralph Johns who had been pushing these young people to do something. But I had uh after we had done the, the city in Durham, uh I went to a conference in Athens, Ohio with college students and Duke students were there and

00:19:05.819 - 00:19:22.109

UN C students were there and Jim Lawson was there and Doctor King was there, but it was Jim Lawson that attracted the students, not Doctor King because he laid out a plan for nonviolent action. So uh as the things began to move in the city, I

00:19:22.119 - 00:19:39.280

decided after this courageous young lady and she is a great uh keeper of history. I'm glad, glad that God had you because I, I don't keep nothing but Virginia and other young people with us. Uh We really got the wrath of the, of the community and

00:19:39.290 - 00:19:57.589

we selected uh a royal ice cream because it was surrounded by uh black people. I said, well, sure we can win all this dead wrong. And I remember the Baptist preacher, his church right across. He had a, y'all don't know this, but uh he produced uh

00:19:58.349 - 00:20:11.060

a resolution henceforth. And for ever more, we will never talk about Royal Ice Cream. And I was at the meeting and you know, I was a nice guy. Then I said, well, I said, history, we'll see. Uh but that was the beginning. And so I said

00:20:11.069 - 00:20:26.650

to her next time, what we have to do, we have to create a group that's outside the control of the black church and the black community. What do you call it? That, that, that we had to do something. And so I began working with the kids

00:20:26.660 - 00:20:43.989

at MacDougall Terrace and also with students at A and TNCCU. I mean, not a and T you mean I had a job central? And what happened was is that uh when I went to uh a Ohio to a method student move, I met Jim Lawson. He

00:20:44.000 - 00:20:56.969

said he had a group in Nashville. I said, well, I have a group in uh uh Durham that we're working on trying to prepare them for the discipline of what was to come at the next trial. And uh uh what happened? The Greensboro students set out

00:20:56.979 - 00:21:06.829

for two weeks because I say about them, I can say this, they set out and never stood up for anything else for the rest of their lives. Uh In other words, you're not a military before, you're 12 years old, you ain't gonna do it. So, I've

00:21:06.839 - 00:21:17.449

been doing it since I was 12. I'm not gonna tell you all that. You had to read that in the book one of these days. But I knew that Jim Lawson had a disciplined group and when the A nt students sat down there for all these

00:21:17.459 - 00:21:36.290

days, I said, well, I said, either we move. Now I talk with the young people here and I talked with Jim Lawson. Uh He said, well, meet me in Greensboro. And I will tell you if the uh students are going to move. Now, what happened? I'm

00:21:36.300 - 00:21:51.609

a little ahead of disturb might go this way. What happened is that uh when Greensboro started moving, I told Lacy Street and the kids at North Carolina said, I said, I know we were waiting for, for March. But if we let the momentum go down when

00:21:51.619 - 00:22:09.130

we do it in March, it's a whole hump. But what most people don't know that from central, the students organized. They said people over to Raleigh and Raleigh took Saint Ogg and Saint Ogg took Elizabeth City and Elizabeth City went down to Federal State and they

00:22:09.140 - 00:22:27.199

went from Greensboro over to TC was the same teacher's college from there up to uh Livington College to Barva Scotia to what's the Presbyterian school? Johnson C Smith. And the final person to contact was in a Reverend Ivory and he was a cripple man in South

00:22:27.209 - 00:22:40.910

Carolina. Now this is the head of the store, but that's the sequences and what happened. So Jim told me at the Raleigh at the Winston Airport. He said, look, I will tell you because I have to speak at women's college because they love what he said

00:22:40.920 - 00:23:00.270

at Athens O House. So he spoke and he told me that tomorrow morning at uh 10 o'clock, Nashville will move. Now, I told everybody, uh black folks are very spontaneous except Methodists. Uh They like to pray and jump up and everybody uh accepted that. So I

00:23:00.280 - 00:23:18.930

did not uh dispel that myth. But when Jim Lawson moved in Nashville, then that was on news and it hit the whole country now until now, I haven't told anybody except resemblance some of the people here, but that's how the momentum got. And if we had

00:23:18.939 - 00:23:36.660

not moved the second time around, then we may have gone back to, oh, well, just another panic. R I did more than you because I think that, that you're talking about the movement that that continued. Even after Greensboro, there were still things that were some picketing

00:23:36.670 - 00:23:53.280

and other things that were going on at the Royal Ice Cream Company at Woolworths here in Durham. Um In addition to other places, uh some people may even remember the big Howard Johnson's uh rally that was held. Um But going back to 1957 which was that

00:23:53.290 - 00:24:12.959

impetus. Um let's bring us back to how you got to Durham. You the second time around because you left here, went to Boston and then you got on the Methodist pastorate. And as many people know, Methodists are assigned to churches by a bishop. So tell us

00:24:12.969 - 00:24:27.920

the stops that you had before you got back to Durham. But first, I, I'm gonna say that when I came back from Boston, I had refused to obey segregated seating on buses. So I put myself at risk uh even started at that point. But my first

00:24:27.930 - 00:24:41.680

church was a little place called Ram North Carolina in the middle of nowhere. But it was a wonderful church. So they kept me there a year and then they moved me to a little church up in Leesville. It had um uh more changes than a dog

00:24:41.689 - 00:24:57.550

changes, please. It was called Lee. Then it was called Spray and Draper and it is called uh Tri City. And uh there I worked and I worked and trying to organize uh laundry workers and I would go and drink water out of white fountain. You know,

00:24:57.560 - 00:25:15.229

our police were there. It was kind of silly. But I said, oh, this is good white water. And then I was sent to a temple and I lived in the public housing project. And today I went to a bookstore and I was amazed at the number

00:25:15.239 - 00:25:35.959

of young people who came out of that place where I was a pastor. And what it, KK, what's the guy? No, Bruce Bridges. Now, what's the guy who, the, the guy from up in Mr Salem who has a gallery? Q, oh, KQ who is here? Here

00:25:36.040 - 00:25:51.979

is where is? Yeah, it's got a cute, but what, from, what, from the freedom? But what happened is that I worked with the young people in the church and I started getting the Martin Luther King group and then I got hooked up with, with Vivian and

00:25:51.989 - 00:26:11.209

her group. You got those books too? Uh mm mm. It's comic books. No. OK. You got other things. But anyway, uh so that's how I got to Asbury and I had picked out the Royal Ice Cream because it was right in the heart of a black

00:26:11.219 - 00:26:26.410

community. And I couldn't figure out here's the easiest thing than picking berries off of a tree. And yet it was just the DNC said we were terrible. And Reverend CRE y'all don't know this, but I was active in the admin of line and he set up

00:26:26.420 - 00:26:41.459

and said, I hope his fourth is Forevermore that no one will ever speak about Rawal ice cream plant. And that's how final they were and they wiped us off. But I said, OK, I said next time I come back, I'm gonna have students and you can't

00:26:41.469 - 00:26:57.260

control them and it wasn't a matter about the what the black establishment thought and all this kind of stuff. So that's how I as a chaplain at Central, I began working with the students on Central and then they flawed mckissick uh was instrumental. Mr H was

00:26:57.270 - 00:27:15.000

instrumental for once the kids started off, uh mutual, came up called Lacy Stri. Lacy Streeter, uh closed down Durham. And I asked him, was it 7 to 5 minutes? He said five minutes. He said 1000 students from Central Boom. And there were kids from Duke. I

00:27:15.010 - 00:27:26.915

would have nothing to do with it. They just met the kids at the church and they were all together and there were kids from the University of North Carolina and all those kids had been together on a trip to a though Howard and heard Jim Lawson,

00:27:27.135 - 00:27:45.635

you haven't heard this before? They were coherent and in fact, the Howard Johnson place, it was owned by Governor Hodges. Did you know that Hodges own? The, the Howard Johnsons that was here in the room, that one over there, you know, on, on here. Yeah, I

00:27:45.645 - 00:28:00.699

do my research. That's what I was taught at Boston University. So I found out who the owner was, but to make a long story short is that, that was the basis of all of the activity that started. And then Martin said, uh I'd like to come

00:28:00.709 - 00:28:19.599

to Durham to see her sit in now. Carter, what's his name? Who? Carter Q? Where is Carter Q? Man? I can't see you up. I, you're a great guy but also, uh what we found out was that uh there were people who just didn't want to

00:28:19.609 - 00:28:35.339

do that. And Martin was hesitant because he was afraid he did not have the resources to get all these kids that I was gonna be sitting off to jail. So he was rather hesitant, but he did come to Durham and the picture you see all around

00:28:35.349 - 00:28:50.839

the country now of four people is one guy, we don't know who he was, he was, he was a student. But it's Ralph Martin. That's the historic picture. And a guy from the Washington, from the Pope from the observer named Thornton was the whatever it was.

00:28:51.109 - 00:29:06.560

Thornton, his name was Thornton and he took the picture and they tried to catch him. That's the fastest other yard dash first I've ever seen in my life. Here's the photograph, this is the photo. Now, the reason that photo, Doctor King called me and said, look,

00:29:06.569 - 00:29:19.319

we don't have any pictures of the Senate. I said, oh, I said I can arrange that. So that's how Doctor King got there. And uh then the rest is history because then we had the, what was the Raleigh conference later on? That came in. That's right.

00:29:19.329 - 00:29:39.380

That, that, that uh organized the student non valid coordinating committee. Now, before we go further, let's let's go down to, to stay um 1957. And the day that you all went in and let's hear some of the thoughts and remembrances from Virginia Williams. Uh What was

00:29:39.390 - 00:30:01.579

it like? What did you feel? Did you feel that you were making history? Tell us about that day where Eddie, you talking about the actual Sunday? We went, well, the month before we went was the first time I had heard of this group. The three of

00:30:01.589 - 00:30:15.920

us, the three females, two of us lived at the Y and they were meeting at the Y so we were on our way out, I guess nowhere in particular because if we had, we would have kept going. But they invited us to come to this meeting.

00:30:15.930 - 00:30:32.949

And I said, what kind of meeting is that political meeting? So we went in and listened to the meeting and it was clear as soon as the uh meeting open, David Stith was the president of that organization. Uh Thomas's father and it was clear from Jump

00:30:32.959 - 00:30:47.000

Street that they had organized for the purpose of testing one of the establishments. Isn't that, is that right? Yeah. So for everything that was saying, sound good to us, we said that and I know I didn't say anything. I don't think any of us, the females

00:30:47.010 - 00:31:01.589

said anything, but we said that taking it in and I'm thinking if they're going, I'm going with them, that was the month before that would have been May of 57. So we decided that we will meet again in June of 57. And this time, we will

00:31:01.599 - 00:31:15.270

pick a place where you could pick any place, all of them were segregated. So when we went back to the meeting, it was decided that we would pick the Royal ice cream. Probably because as he said, it was located in the heart of what was then

00:31:15.280 - 00:31:32.380

the colored community. And uh when we got there, we decided we were going, I was excited. I was not afraid. I just wanted to see just what would happen because we would have made history either way. If he'd served us, we still would have made history.

00:31:32.630 - 00:31:46.105

But he decided not to serve us and got caught up in the middle of history anyhow. So we went there and as I recall, we knew the set up, we knew we were gonna have to go in the back door. We knew all of that, but

00:31:46.115 - 00:32:02.151

we also knew there was a partition a little bit higher than this. And it was a swinging door that the waiter and the waitress went through to serve the white folks. So we knew that once we got in there, somebody was gonna push the door. And

00:32:02.161 - 00:32:15.812

I don't know whether Reverend Moore pushed that door or not. I don't know. But I know one thing I don't remember. I don't remember. I don't either, but I know the idea was whoever pushed that door open, we were gonna all go through there and take

00:32:15.822 - 00:32:28.239

seats and that is exactly what we did. We we took the booth over which was right beside the window. I don't remember whether they had mono customers in there or not. But if they did, they weren't sitting in the booth club. We had the booth club

00:32:28.939 - 00:32:46.244

and the waiter came out and start asking them to leave and they refused to leave. In the manage. He went back to the, the manager must, Colada, I think that was his name. Must Colada came out and looked, but he didn't come over there and they

00:32:46.255 - 00:33:01.979

kept asking him to leave. And finally they worked their way down to our booth and we were talking and he asked us to leave and I ordered ice cream and he asked me to leave. I ordered more ice cream. And finally, he said, well, we're not

00:33:01.989 - 00:33:21.844

getting nowhere. Finally, they decided to call the police. There were, there were eight of us. You remember the one left? There were eight of us. At that time. You had two officers riding together, four claws came, you had eight officers and eight of us for. So

00:33:21.854 - 00:33:36.145

each one had an officer a piece, one of them left that left seven of us. So the police officers came and they worked the booth and uh one said to me, if you leave now, there will be no charge. The manager won't press charges, there won't

00:33:36.155 - 00:33:50.770

be anything, you can just go home and, but we want ice cream. So the police, so they weren't getting anywhere. It was finally decided that they were going to have to take us to jail. And when they said go to jail, that is what we, we

00:33:50.780 - 00:34:05.660

kind of went peacefully. They did ask that the three females, Vivian and Mary and I be allowed to ride in the car for police. Oh, no problem. Yeah, they can do that. So we went on down to the courthouse as I remember there's a bailsman down

00:34:05.670 - 00:34:22.579

there and after they did the paperwork, he bailed us out, there was a man. Um uh at that time, as I say, I'm using colored because that's what we were. He was standing there out there mumbling to himself and I didn't know who he was and

00:34:22.589 - 00:34:34.850

I asked somebody said, who is that? They said that's Mr Louis Austin, all of the crowd must. Austin had rushed down there hoping he would be able to bail us out. But when he got there, somebody had already done it and that's what he was moaning

00:34:34.860 - 00:34:50.260

about. I wish I could have been here. I wish I could have been the one to bail on that and for the, for the audience, um Louis Austin was the editor and publisher of the Carolina Times. Yeah. So after I guess we were in and out

00:34:50.270 - 00:35:11.879

in a few, a few hours maybe, and David Stitz owned Southeastern Business College. It was located upstairs over one of the buildings on Pitre Street. So we went there. And he, huh? Is that where it was? Ok. I know it was upstairs somewhere. He, uh, he

00:35:11.889 - 00:35:29.270

opened the drink machine and that machine and that was Sunday's dinner. So we stayed there until we heard from the attorneys. Uh, you want a, anything you doing? Good? I'm learning. See, we were told that we would hear from the attorneys. So we stayed there to

00:35:29.280 - 00:35:48.873

stay there and attorney Marsh Will ma Marsh Junior uh, was contacting somebody. I don't know who he was. Conrad Pearson. Now Conrad was out of, out of town. So that and, and attorney Marsh was gonna try to have the case put off until con we got

00:35:48.883 - 00:36:05.673

back and he thought he was successful and said, go to work, you're going to work and we'll have it put off, we'll notify you. So we went home. Um I went to work, I was working at Duke. Remember I just gotten here about a year. So

00:36:05.683 - 00:36:18.416

I had a job at Duke and it came out in the paper that Monday morning I went to work. I didn't say a thing to nobody, but I know that they had read it about 930. They came and told me said, the attorney Mars said you

00:36:18.426 - 00:36:33.095

got to come, the judge won't put it off. The judge said, I'm calling this case today. So I, I went to the man to my supervisor and told her something has happened and I got to leave that's all I said to. She says, ok, well, if

00:36:33.105 - 00:36:51.199

you can't come tomorrow, call us and I'm thinking won't be no need, but I'll call you. So I rushed home and got dressed and we went to the courthouse, we got there. It was a packed courthouse. You remember standing room on it and in front was

00:36:51.209 - 00:37:09.469

the whole line of white police officers, no seats for us at all. So, Attorney Marsh walked in there and he looked and he said, I was hoping that some of our courteous officers would at least give me my clients a seat. Man. You're talking about an

00:37:09.479 - 00:37:29.610

attitude. They got up with an attitude. Now, they just filed out and we sat there. So the judge called the case. Attorney Marsh pleaded for us not guilty. The judge found us guilty $25 cost of the court. Attorney Marsh appeal. About a year later, we were

00:37:29.620 - 00:37:52.379

in superior court trial by jury. All white jury found us guilty $25 in the costs appealed. By this time, the uh Attorney Conrad Pearson had come in M Hugh Thompson was there. WG Pearson was there. And mckissick though, uh they lawyered us up as you hear

00:37:52.389 - 00:38:11.899

the expression lawyered up, they might not have done nothing else but they lawyered us up and, and they worked hard keeping us keeping our feet on the, on the floor. So we went to Raleigh North Carolina State Supreme Court guilty. And as I recall they sent

00:38:11.909 - 00:38:26.959

it to the United States Supreme Court and they refused to hear the case because they said our rights had not been violated, I guess to them, we didn't have any in house so we couldn't violate them. Now, this is after the 1954 Supreme. Yeah, because it

00:38:26.969 - 00:38:43.300

is the 1957. So, uh, it came back to the lower court and of course, the decision was upheld And the fine steward, I think if I recall that Hern and William A Marsh Junior paid the fine, I think the N A AC P paid the fine

00:38:43.500 - 00:39:01.659

uh before the deadline. So that's the story of us being out of jail and me not having to make low rocks out of big rocks. But uh that is about what I can remember. Attorney William A Marsh junior's son is here and his son, that's the

00:39:01.669 - 00:39:18.149

judge. He's the new judge in town, Drew Drew Stander and his son. That's, that's Billy Marsh's son and grandson. He's now one of our judges. So he's now making decisions. If he had been a judge, then we wouldn't have had to go through all that stuff.

00:39:19.090 - 00:39:41.919

Don't you forget? Now, Mr Bryant here has a copy of the, I guess the HL or the so I know this is from June the 25th, 1957. It had the record court's decision to find each one separately, uh $10 in cost and a bond and when

00:39:41.929 - 00:40:05.814

it was appealed, the bond was set at $200 that's what they, they get. And this is the copy here of the uh, case at the superior court and it was the State versus Claiborne. She was, she was the first one named and the defendants were convicted

00:40:05.824 - 00:40:27.834

under the statute imposing criminal penalties for infer with the possessions or rights or possessions of really, uh, really realty privacy. The Superior Court of Durham County, Clinton F Moore Junior in a judgment and the defendant's appeal, the Supreme Court, Rodney J judge, I guess this judge

00:40:28.034 - 00:40:45.629

held the refusal of the properties of the ice cream company and sandwich. Where did I stop the sandwich shop to serve Negroes in a portion of the shop reserved for whites, clientele impaired no rights of the Negroes under the fourth amendment of the federal constitution, no

00:40:45.639 - 00:41:10.000

rights at all. And those named in this were Claon Williams Moore Jones, uh Gay, Gray Glenn and Willis. And incidentally, Melvin H Willis died in the last six months and he lived on, uh, on Cecil Street and I have a program somewhere at home. I couldn't

00:41:10.010 - 00:41:26.479

find it today. And, and Mr Bryant, that was with the, that was at s Superior Court and it was appealed. And those of you who get a chance there is an exhibit up on the second floor of the library that actually has the actual Supreme Court

00:41:27.879 - 00:41:51.350

decision that was there that basically said that the rights uh had not been abridged and that uh there was no obligation uh for these black people to be served in a segregated situation. And I found it real appealing and, and the language is really, really blunt.

00:41:51.659 - 00:42:06.300

Um And if you get a chance to read that up and not that display case, it would be good. Um Reverend Moore. Um Well, first of all, Mr Bryant, let's go back and all of you can chime in on this. Uh what was the reaction of

00:42:06.310 - 00:42:20.729

the ha we know what maybe the white community. And when we say the white community, we want to real really be assured that every white person in Durham did not necessarily feel that way or else the students from Duke wouldn't have been involved and, and other

00:42:20.739 - 00:42:36.820

uh good thinking people no matter what their skin colors uh had different kinds of attitudes about it, but may have felt just as helpless as the black people did. Uh But what about within the African American community at that time, Mr Bryant was there um ambiguity

00:42:36.830 - 00:42:59.545

about whether this was the thing to do these 78 brash young people who were following this um charismatic leader. Uh Was this something that was uh accepted generally by most people? Well, from my view, it appeared that this was something that uh was just out stacious

00:42:59.555 - 00:43:13.701

as far as we were concerned. Now, there may have been some in the community felt that we had no business there to start with. But the most of us felt like Louis Austin felt that this was a violation of our rights and that, uh, something, this

00:43:13.711 - 00:43:41.989

was a grand thing to be to have been done. And, uh, the news went across the state ve very rapidly. And, uh, here's an item from a newspaper in Canna, Canna Polis, North Carolina. These, I got these, uh, I got these Walmart teeth here. Uh But

00:43:42.000 - 00:43:56.679

anyway, this is a, this is a from the Daily Independent in Cannas, North Carolina Durham City and helped change racial patterns. And it tells a complete story as it, I have the original copy. This happened to be a copy of it. But uh this was uh

00:43:56.729 - 00:44:11.909

really interesting to see how it was effective across the state that people were really interested in what was happening here in Durham. And, and Durham has always had a reputation of being different. And this was a situation that uh uh strengthened that feeling that Durham had

00:44:11.919 - 00:44:26.610

something that some other places did not have. And I was really surprised when I learned three years later that uh the same thing was happening in, in uh in Greensboro, but to see it happen here, not only that we had sit ins here in Greensboro and

00:44:26.620 - 00:44:41.300

we had marches, we had all sorts of things including later on the Black Solidarity Committee for Commu Community Improvement and uh which are several persons in here. They were participants in that including Howard Clement who was the chairman of it. And of course, you all know

00:44:41.310 - 00:45:01.090

Ben Ruffin, who was the executive director. I was a secretary treasurer and here is, uh, uh, Ss Sylvia, uh, and, uh, ju yeah. And by the way, there were other people too that were involved in this city and that are not listed in these, uh, man.

00:45:01.649 - 00:45:19.479

Now there is, uh, Ben Taylor there who was an active member, Ben, he stand up so he can see you. Ben was a member in it. Uh Charles Dunham, who owned the building afterwards, who sold the building in recent months was an active person in it.

00:45:19.489 - 00:45:38.959

But he was called to the uh to the military in service and he was not able to participate in the city. Then there was another person uh uh Levi Johnson who was active in it and a Liston Pearson that I know of. Now I have a

00:45:38.969 - 00:45:54.229

list of names, what you say. Yeah, Bill Thor and I have a list of names. I'd like to check with these uh persons here who were there to find out whether or not they were active participants in this. But it was really something different and it

00:45:54.239 - 00:46:12.485

was, it was important to us to the extent that we supported their efforts to do this uh thing. Now, when, when so obviously the, the, the protest in front of the Road Royal Ice cream company continued while the court cases were winding their way up through

00:46:12.495 - 00:46:32.909

the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Uh So, so these are some of the people that kept that momentum going. And what year, what's the date on that Canna Polis story that you have? Let's see, what is the, this was later, this was December the 16th, 1979.

00:46:32.919 - 00:46:34.020

Ok. So that's going.