| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Please pardon our appearance and omissions while we are under construction The history of African Americans in American society is far reaching,
but at times difficult to decipher from available historical records and
documents.
Melvin Sylvester
| |||
|
|
|
Early seventeenth century America was expanding rapidly, and the need for workers became the paramount concern of the colonists in their quest to build and harness the resources of this new country. The colonists came to America seeking freedom from restrictive European rule. They also came as explorers seeking a way to start a new life. Some of the new settlers came as indentured servants, as a means of earning their transportation money, and to work as apprentices for wealthy land owners. America's soil was fertile and the land was plentiful, but the hands needed to cultivate lucrative products were insufficient. The need for more and cheaper laborers eventually developed into a system which condoned the importation of slave workers into America from Africa. At that moment in history the principles of a free America for everyone changed and white privilege became a powerful force which legally excluded those in bondage from this process. Slave Workers The West Coast of Africa became the most desirable place for slaves during the escalation of the slave trade. The Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch and English became the major participants in the black slave trade market. Slaves were so essential to American labor that they became known in the world community as "black gold". Slavery as an institution lasted for three centuries, beginning in the 1600s and ending in the mid 1800s. The importation of slaves into America was legally outlawed in the year of 1808. Slave labor was organized into divisions of work in order to maximize the productive output of those in bondage. The three major divisions of labor included those who were FIELD WORKERS, DOMESTIC WORKERS and the ARTISANS. In Southern America, the FIELD WORKERS were the wheels behind the growth and harvesting of the COTTON, RICE and TOBACCO for use in America and for exportation to European markets. In the West Indies SUGAR was the major resource produced by the slave workers. The DOMESTIC WORKERS took care of the BIG HOUSE. They were the cooks, cleaners, and nannies and servants. The ARTISANS were the skilled and semi-skilled workers. They included the brick layers, carpenters, metal/iron workers, shoemakers, dressmakers and stable hands. In Northern America and the far West, slaves were trained as fishermen, sail makers, construction workers, textile and factory workers, coal and gold miners, lumber jacks and land and waterway laborers and small farm helpers and house servants. America in Conflict White privilege only allowed the white gentry the order of making the rules and laws which set the pace for American governance up until the American Civil War (1861-1865). Money and power saw before us a major conflict between those who could be free and those not allowed to be free. White privilege defined what they wanted to become and what others in bondage could not become. The American colonists wanted to be free from the ties with Great Britain, yet they had to maintain what they were building in America with the help of slave labor. Slaves were deemed as property with limited rights. Slave codes defined what slaves could not do. The most serious offense in the slave community was to be taught to READ and WRITE. Some slave owners felt that their slaves should understand the basic rudiments of reading and language. These whites broke the law, and this beginning was what a few literate bondmen had needed to formally petition their states for collective freedom. The State of Vermont was the first state to completely abolish slavery in 1777. |
|
|
When the Revolutionary War started both free blacks and slaves wanted to become part of the efforts as soldiers for a free democratic America. The white patriot Continental Army wanted to keep the slave system separate in their war efforts for independence from Great Britain. This tactic suddenly changed when in 1775, the British Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore reached out as A HELPER offering freedom to all slaves who would fight the disobedient white colonists. This divisive and fearful tactic had to be resolved quickly by the colonists. George Washington, commander of the Continental Army was hesitant in arming blacks in this fight for freedom. He needed help; therefore, he became a HELPER by allowing a select group of blacks to fight off the advancing Red Coats. Historical accounts allowed us to know that indeed African Americans were part of the Revolutionary War. One well-known event was on Christmas night in 1776 as George Washington was crossing the Delaware River; by his side was PRINCE WHIPPLE as one of the boat's oarsmen. George Washington, although a slave owner, had to cross over and put his trust in the help of a select group of slaves. WILLIAM LEE, A BLACK SERVANT HAS BEEN MADE VISIBLE IN SEVERAL PORTRAITS of George Washington's life. He stands in as a "trusted and personal assistant" to George Washington and the Washington family. From 1700-1799, American history records the American gentry as having a needed relationship with African Americans, therefore they unintentionally became their HELPERS at a time when they were seeking to establish a government based upon Democratic principles for themselves. Crispus Attucks (1723-1770) The name of Crispus Attucks would have never been known, but thanks to the city of Boston Massachusetts, which surfaced as the first HELPER, and the four other white patriots who were killed, making them the second HELPERS. The names of SAMUEL GRAY, JAMES CALDWELLL, SAMUEL MAVERICK and PATRICK CARR, along with ATTUCKS were part of the news of March 12, 1770 in the Boston Gazette. Those brave souls were killed in the Boston Commons where they were, on March 5, 1770, shot down by the British Redcoats, who were trying to disperse a crowd of colonists. The colonists hated the Redcoats for marching about their city as military occupants with the intention of keeping them in check. This event became known as the BOSTON MASSACRE. Crispus Attucks, was a runaway slave and a seaman, but the people of BOSTON made him their hero and considered him a martyr and the "first to die for liberty". A large statue was erected in 1888 in the Boston Commons memorializing Attucks and the four other American patriots who died for freedom. The Boston Massacre may well have been the catalyst that encouraged the beginning of the colonists' war for independence. Phillis Wheatley (1753?-1784) The world got to know about the astounding life of Phillis Wheatley when the HELPERS and HEALERS in the family of the Wheatleys of Boston took her into their home. Phillis was described as thin and frail. When Phillis was eight years old, the Wheatleys bought her at a slave auction in Boston in 1761. John Wheatley was a wealthy tailor and merchant. His wife Susannah Wheatley took Phillis under "her wing". Phillis had shown a great aptitude for learning, therefore they taught her how to read and write. It is said that Phillis was able to learn Latin, Geography, History and Religion very quickly. Phillis went further and began writing poetry. Her first published work was called "On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield". This poem made her a celebrity among poets. In New England, Phillis was invited to many socials, whereby she, a slave girl, was able to read her creations. Before her death in 1773, she traveled to England where her first book of poetry was published entitled POEMS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, RELIGIOUS AND MORAL. This frail black woman from Senegal, Africa became an example of achievements when given the chance to learn in a country where it was against the law to teach slaves to READ AND WRITE. Phillis Wheatley did receive her freedom after the death of John Wheatley, whereby she married a free black man named John Peters, and they had three children together.
Gaining freedom from British rule was on the minds of most American colonists, but it was George Washington who became the organizer and commander of America's Continental Army during the years of The Revolutionary War. The patriots of George Washington's Continental Army had several allies who assisted in the defeat of the British army which ended at Yorktown in 1781. France joined in 1778, Spain in 1779, and Holland in 1780, all as helpers of the colonists to establish a country seeking a free democratic society. George Washington was elected twice as America's first chief executive. The first was from 1789-1793 and the second term was from 1793-1797, he was given the name, "Father of our Country". Washington grew up and helped to manage his father's plantation called Little Huntington Creek Plantation in Fairfax County, Virginia. That plantation was later renamed Mount Vernon in 1743. Mount Vernon was made up of five farms. The farms produced tobacco, but the farms were also producers of wheat, fruit, flour, salted fish and vegetables. During this time George Washington owned 277 slaves, among them were carpenters, bricklayers, blacksmiths and cloth weavers. George Washington exemplified a living paradox for America's future, as a nation based upon freedom. He was a wealthy businessman of his day, therefore he knew his slaves well, and many of them were trusted servants and fighters during the Revolutionary War. George Washington manumitted all of his slaves upon his death in 1779 according to his will. Although a slave owner - TRUST made him a HELPER to those who could not help themselves in early America. |
One or more slaves, possibly William Lee, were always included by artists portraying the death of George Washington. |
||
|
|
|
|
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) This astute Virginian was a lover of knowledge. At an early age he learned Latin, Greek and French. In 1760 he attended William and Mary College at Williamsburg, Virginia, and became a lawyer in 1767. In 1772, he married Martha Skelton. They had six children, only two lived to adulthood. They were daughters, Martha (1772-1836) and Mary (1778-1804). Mrs. Jefferson died in the 10th year of their marriage in 1782. Jefferson became a single parent who never remarried. Thomas Jefferson's credits to America as a developing nation are enormous. He was a governor, diplomat, philosophical and political thinker. His philosophies as a lover of knowledge made him read and study the works of others, including John Locke and Henri Rousseau. Thomas Jefferson had his ideas of what government should be for America. His "Jeffersonian democracy" centered on his belief in self government. He espoused basic freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of religion. His ideas later helped in the development of the U.S. Constitution. Jefferson's power of words is evident in THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. Thomas Jefferson was a descendent of a Virginia slave owning family. He inherited his father's slaves and land at age 10 when his father died. Thomas Jefferson knew first hand what the life of slavery entailed. He desperately wanted to be a HELPER, but time, place and society prevented him from a positive action. When the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was submitted by Thomas Jefferson, as Chairman of the Writers Committee in the Spring of 1776, he included a paragraph condemning human bondage. Thomas Jefferson had once said that "To Love God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself" The Fear of the Almighty later became the moral stance that all slave owners had to grapple with as they looked inward at their newly earned freedom from British rule. The Declaration of Rights written into the Declaration of Independence put it out there in plain words: Thomas Jefferson's profound and strong words became a major
HELPER in the future abolitionist's movement in America.
Slavery was too profitable as a business in 1776; therefore the Southern
Delegation did not accept Jefferson's first draft which included inclusive
words dealing with the slavery issue. They were scratched out of the first
draft. A final draft was adopted on July 4, 1776 which dodged the slavery
issue completely.
Thomas Jefferson was known for his liberal ideas. He served as
Secretary of State under George Washington's presidency in 1789. In 1796,
Thomas Jefferson served as Vice President under President John Adams. In
1801 he was elected in a close race with Aaron Burr (1756-1836) and
became the third President of the United States. He served two terms: 1801-1805 and in
1805-1809. Jefferson was
responsible for the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 which doubled the size of
America's land mass. The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 was also under Jefferson's
command, and he established the University of Virginia in 1819.
As a man, he also took on a clandestine relationship with his slave
named Sally Hemings.
This complex man understood the humanity of mankind, but the early
history of America and the idea of a racial connective could not be talked
about. Thomas Jefferson died at his Monticello estate in July of 1826, at age
83. His slaves were manumitted upon his death. Jefferson's written words
later served as HELPERS to those African Americans seeking their
rightful place in this republic.
Unlike George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who were
Southerners, Franklin was a Northerner, born in Boston, Massachusetts. He
came from a family of seventeen siblings. At age 10, his father Josiah, a
candle and soap maker, decided that Benjamin would do better if he worked
in the family store. From that day on Benjamin Franklin decided he could
learn on his own. He read all kinds of books, literature, fiction and science.
He taught himself French, German, Italian, Spanish and Latin. He later
learned the skill of print-making in his older brother James' shop. Franklin
ran off to live on his own in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1723. By 1728 at
age 22 he owned his own printing shop. In his own printing shop he
published his own paper, The Pennsylvania Gazette from
1729-1766. He later published a yearly almanac called Poor Richard's
Almanac.
The greatest claim for Franklin's life centered on his world
view of compromise and diplomacy. He went back and forth to Britain
where he stayed for 15 years, trying to make the English Parliament
understand the American colonies and their dealing with "taxation
without representation" and the Stamp Act imposed on commodities
and tea.
He was involved in all four major documents in American history. He
signed The Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Alliance
with France, The Treaty of Peace with Great Britain and The
Constitution of United States.
The British government had huge investments in the Sugar Islands of
the West Indies, and slavery was a part of this industry. In America, slaves
came into port and were sold as workers on American soil at the same time
the American colonists were seeking their independence from Britain.
Benjamin Franklin had many debates with the British. Franklin had to
face those Americans who also profited from slave labor without ever
questioning the natural rights of their slaves.
This fact became a part of a moral debate in Franklin's America.
Franklin also enjoyed the comfort of several house slaves.
Benjamin Franklin went to France seeking their help in an alliance to
defeat the British during the Revolutionary War. While in
France, he discovered that the French were dissatisfied with King Louis
XVI's monarchy. Franklin's dress and simple manner reminded the French of
the Quakers in America. The new French leadership also discussed with Franklin the issue of
"slavery as a world corruption". Dr. Samuel Johnson
(1709-1784), the
English writer and respectable moralist of 18th century England,
also told Franklin that "slavery corrupts".
Franklin was then convinced of America's hypocrisy.
In 1787, Benjamin Franklin was elected President of the first
Antislavery society. Franklin was a complex man, and he too enjoyed the
usefulness of slaves in his earlier years in America.
He died on April 17, 1790 at age 84 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It is interesting to note that the American Revolutionary War
became a direct influence on the French Revolution (1789-1799)
which later toppled the monarchy of King Louis XVI.
|
|
|
During the 1800s when slavery in the American colonies was becoming a stronghold in both the North and South, many of the white citizens spoke out and committed themselves to rid their country of this "evil" practice. In no other time in the history of America was the debate and actions of a large number of white citizens so evident. These HELPERS and HUMANISTS took a closer look at the plight of the African American descendents, and decided to unite to eliminate the entire system of slavery. The First HELPERS - The Quakers The importance of their work in helping the slaves in early stages of abolitionism cannot be equaled. The members were called The Religious Society of Friends. The early Quakers started their work in England, but later their organization of Quakerism spread to other places around the world. The Quakers advocated peace, education and humanity. It is therefore no surprise to see many of the early Quakers entering the shores of America with freedom on their minds and later reaching out as HELPERS of African Americans. William Penn (1644-1718) founded a colony in 1682 of Friends in Pennsylvania when they left England seeking religious freedom. The Quaker meetings centered on peace and silence. Burdens and suffering could be addressed, and any cause with a moral and humane purpose would be vocalized in the groups. History has preserved many records of those white Quakers who became HELPERS and HEALERS of slavery's pain. Among them are:
The Abolitionists used freedom messages written in poetry and musical hymns. Their meetings were very up beat, like the old-fashioned church revivals. As HUMANISTS, these religious appeals displayed by the early Abolitionists gave African Americans the necessary strength to survive in spite of their struggles. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) John Q. Adams was the son of the second president of the United States, John Adams (1735-1826). Both Adams were graduates of Harvard College in Massachusetts. Like his father, John Q. Adams entered the world of politics by first serving as minister to the Dutch Netherlands in 1794. He later was appointed minister to Portugal while George Washington was president. In 1802 he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate and in 1803 he became a U.S. Senator. Before he became the 6th president of the United States, John Q. Adams was commissioned by President James Madison (1809-1817) to serve as minister to Russia. He also served as Secretary of State under the presidency of James Monroe (1817-1825). John Q. Adams was elected president of the United States in 1825 serving only one term from 1825-1829. John Q. Adams believed in fairness and, when necessary, those in high places should make it useful. In 1836 many petitions dealing with the issue of slavery were being presented to Congress by the voices of the abolitionists. The Gag Rule was put into force to keep theses partitions from being read on the floor of the House. President Adams felt that this Gag Rule was against the constitutional exercise of free speech and the right to petition the Government. He fought to have the rule abolished, and by 1844, when John Q. Adams was elected to the House after leaving the Presidency, the rule was abolished. John Q. Adams understood and listened to the unfolding of the debates dealing with American slavery; he knew when something was wrong in American government. The Amistad Insurrection in June of 1839 sparked a test of his judicial fairness. It involved the captured slaves of the Mende Village of West Africa. On board The Amistad, the Spanish ship, was Cinque and forty-eight men and four children taken aboard the Amistad ship. These people were going to be sold as slaves in Cuba. Cinque and the others were able to free themselves on board the ship, whereby they killed the captain and cook. The saga went further when the Mendes took over and demanded that the other white slavers on the ship head back to Africa. This sailing was prevented by an American naval vessel, and they were imprisoned and charged with murder and mutiny. The movie "Amistad" presents a detailed story of this historic event. John Quincy Adams, at age 73, entered the legal battle which lasted for eighteen months and eventually ended up in the U. S. Supreme Court. In February of 1841, John Quincy Adams brought the case alive with his fairness and astute legal mind. His defense was that these were not slaves; they were illegal captives. The verdict gave the other surviving thirty-five Mendes their freedom. As a man of the law, John Quincy Adams became the African's HELPER and their HUMANIST at a time when this kind of help was rare. This HELPER proved that justice and the law could work for everyone in America. A coalition of abolitionists learned of this case and came to see that the Africans got back to Africa. They therefore raised the money for their travel home. They too became the HELPERS and HEALERS to those lost captives.
Charles Sumner, a Boston, Massachusetts native, came to power in the United States Senate after being elected to that seat in 1851. Sumner was very outspoken in the Senate Chamber. He despised with a passion, the idea of slavery in America. When the Western territories of Kansas and Nebraska were opened to new settlers, many Northerners saw the rush of many Southerners trying to unbalance the Union of States in favor of slavery. "The Kansas-Nebraska Bill" was proposed so that the people could decide on the type of states to come out of this issue called "Popular Sovereignty". Slavery was at the center of this Bill. In May of 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Bill became law.
Immediately a group of Northern and Northwestern Free-Soil Democrats and Whigs saw what was coming. They met in Ripon, Wisconsin on February 28, 1854 and passed a resolution declaring the organization of a new party called The Republican Party. There were fifty-three men, including Charles Sumner, who, on July 6, 1854, took the formal name of Republican. The violence spilled over and Kansas became the center for antislavery and proslavery populations seeking to control the direction of Slave states vs. Free states into the Union. The Kansas territory became so violent it became known as "Bleeding Kansas". The town of Lawrence, Kansas was literally destroyed and burned down. Open arms and the coming together of Northern abolitionists and Southern slave owners became an issue for federal marshals. Charles Sumner made it known by his open expressions in Congress that he wanted all slaves to be free and to be given the right to vote. He often attacked his Southern colleagues in the Senate. In an attempt to be a forthright HELPER in the cause for African Americans rights, Sumner almost lost his life. On May 19, 1856 Charles Sumner took the floor in the U.S. Senate and gave a sizzling account of the "CRIME AGAINST KANSAS". In his speech, Sumner accused the elder Andrew Pickens Butler of South Carolina of being the leading villain - along with Steven A. Douglas (1813-1861), the sponsor of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill - for all the violence and illegal forces which helped spread the slavery issue into that open territory. Three days later, on May 22, while sitting at his desk, Charles Sumner was brutally attacked by South Carolina Congressman Preston S. Brooks, a relative of Andrew Pickens. The beating was delivered with his cane onto Sumner's head. Sumner stayed out of public life for three years, but he later came back and was elected to a seat in Congress. Charles Sumner remained steadfast after the Civil War (1861-1865) and into the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877). He was later a part of the "Radical Republicans" in Congress. He once said that "If all whites must vote, then must all blacks". He and Theddeus Stevens (1792-1868) from Pennsylvania became dominate figures in the U.S. government as HELPERS for rights for African Americans. They stood up and faced being harmed. On January 29, 1861, Kansas entered the Union as Free State, and Nebraska, on March 1, 1867, was free also. John Brown (1800-1859) John Brown, was a radical white abolitionist, who hated the institution of slavery; therefore he devised a plan which called for a violent retribution against all white slaveholders. History called this John Brown's Raid. John Brown had experienced the violence of proslavery advocates in spreading slavery westward and into the town of Osawatomie, Kansas. Slavery was a "burning issue" in the mind of John Brown. He wanted it stopped and completely eliminated. The Raid became the answer, and on the night of October 16, 1859 he and a band of twenty-one men which included his two sons, raided the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. The plot was to take the arms and go about killing all the slave holders throughout the South. Col. Robert E. Lee and his soldiers killed and arrested the other raiders. The ones arrested were tried and hanged for treason, including John Brown. John Brown became a HELPER for his cause in attempting to free the slaves. His approach was wrong, but it posed many questions, among then: Violence vs. Freedom for the slaves? The Union army used Brown as a martyr for the approaching American Civil War (1861-1865). Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) Abraham Lincoln came from humble beginnings. He was born in Hardin (now Larue) County, Kentucky. Abraham Lincoln's family history can be traced back to Samuel Lincoln, a weaver who came from England and settled in the town of Hingham, Massachusetts in the year 1637. Abraham Lincoln's great-great grandfather named one son Abraham, whereby this became the family name that Abraham Lincoln was given by his father, Thomas Lincoln. Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln had three children, Sarah, (b.1807), Abraham (b.1809) and Thomas (died as an infant, 1812). They lived in a log cabin built by his father, Thomas Sr., a Kentucky farmer. The family moved to Indiana in 1816, and Abraham Lincoln helped his father build the family's second log cabin home. Nancy Lincoln died shortly after that in 1818. Thomas Lincoln remarried a widow with three children named Sarah Bush Johnston from Kentucky, who moved to Indiana to live with Thomas, Abraham and sister Sarah Lincoln in the family's log cabin. Abraham Lincoln grew to an adult helping his father in the fields and teaching himself with "every book that he had heard of within a circuit of fifty miles". The only book it was said that the Lincoln family owned was THE BIBLE. Abraham Lincoln, all throughout his life, kept a copy of THE BIBLE nearby. He referred to the good book as a tool of "comfort and guidance". Lincoln grew tall, up to 6 ft., 4 inches, and could always express himself well as a storyteller and public speaker. At age 21, Abraham Lincoln was hired to take a flatboat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. Abraham Lincoln saw, for the first time, black slaves being sold on the open auction block. It is said that Mr. Lincoln was "touched and never forgot" what he had seen. Abraham Lincoln decided in 1831 to settle down in the Town of New Salem, Illinois where he worked as part owner of a store that failed within a year. The following year, he decided to run for public office as an Illinois legislator but did not win. In 1834, he ran again as part of the Whig Party and won a seat and served four successive two-year terms in the Illinois Assembly. In the Illinois State Assembly, young Abraham Lincoln decided to take a risky stand, and he became a HELPER, when he and another Legislator, Daniel L. Stone, spoke out against "the Illinois legislature passing resolutions condemning Abolition Societies". He felt that the State of Illinois should not interfere with Congress since slavery in his region did not exist. Both Lincoln and Stone said that "the Institution of Slavery is founded on injustice and bad policy." These incidents made Lincoln feel that he needed to know more about law. In 1834, with the encouragement of Attorney John T. Stuart of Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln decided to study hard to become a lawyer. On September 9, 1836, Abraham Lincoln received his license to practice law. On April 15, 1837 he joined the law firm as a partner with John Stuart and moved to Springfield. He later partnered in law with Stephen T. Logan from 1841 to 1844 and with William H. Herndon from 1844-1860. Abraham Lincoln went on to get elected to Congress, serving from December 6, 1847 to March 4, 1849. His biggest rival was Senator Steven A. Douglas (1813-1861), a Democrat who served in both the U.S. House of Representatives in 1843 and the U.S. Senate in 1847. Both Douglas and Lincoln became well known for their many debates concerning slavery and its expansion into the newly developing states entering the Union. The Douglas/Lincoln Debates created for both men an historic place in the annals of American politics. "Popular Sovereignty" and the "Kansas Nebraska Bill of 1854 became national issues which allowed free will and government to come together as democratic presentations for all to hear. Douglas said "that the people must have the right to control slavery". By 1856, Abraham Lincoln left the Whig Party and joined a new party, espousing antislavery as part of its platform. The new party was called the REPUBLICAN PARTY. Abraham Lincoln was, at first, a hard sell for his Republican Party as their nominee at the National Convention for the Election of 1860. He won over Senator William H. Steward of New York on the third ballot. The split votes of the other parties between Southern Democrats and Northern Democrats gave Abraham Lincoln the victory to win the Office of the President of the United States from 1861-1865, and he became the 16th President of the United States on March 4, 1861. From 1861-1865, America as a country was in turmoil and very divided about its future as a free Nation. SLAVERY was at the CORE. The American Civil War, (1861-1865) and The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 presented new issues before the Nation. Over 600,000 Americans died in a fight to unify a nation in conflict during the American Civil War. On April 9, 1865 - the American Civil War ended, but on April 14, 1865, ABRAHAM LINCOLN was assassinated while attending a play, Our American Cousin, at Ford Theatre in our nation's capital. The American HELPER was put to sleep, but his memory was etched in our minds forever. A renewal of spirits was needed, and countless whites came forth as HELPERS and HUMANISTS to assist the newly freed bondsmen in their new life and freedom in this land called America. St. Catherine's Island St. Catherine's Island, in Georgia, was an early experiment in independent living and self-governance for African Americans. In January of 1865, Special Field Order 15 was issued by General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) which decreed that the islands off the coast of Georgia and neighboring regions - that had been abandoned by the fleeing white slaveowners during the Civil War - would now become the property of the freed slaves and be placed under the supervision of the black abolitionist, Tunis Gulic Campbell (1812-1891) from New Jersey. Campbell wrote to his wife, "Bring the sons down. We're going to establish the schools. We're on an island of our own. There are no white people here and we're going to lift up the children." He set up a miniature version of the United States government with a President (himself), House of Representatives, Senate, Supreme Court, and army, all derived from the 369 black settlers. Unfortunately, in June, St. Catherine's former owner, Jacob Waldberg, returned and demanded his land back. Campbell, backed up by his army, refused. Waldberg appealed to the government, but the Freedmen's Bureau's assistant commissioner in Georgia sided with the islanders. As a result, Lincoln's successor, President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), who opposed reparations and "Radical Reconstruction", fired him. General Oliver Otis Howard (1830-1909), who was in charge of the Freedmen's Bureau in Washington, tried to stand up against the president for as long as possible, but, inevitably, Johnson (and Waldberg) won. Howard was forced to tell the islanders that they had to either leave or sign up as laborers for their former masters. When they refused, the government sent a regiment of African American soldiers to drive them off. Campbell and his army had been ready to kill whites to defend their land, but they were unwilling to kill fellow blacks. After less than one year, all of the lands that the government had given to the freed slaves had been taken away from them and returned to the slaveowners. Campbell would later become a Georgia state senator. (PBS website with more information) Other Abolitionists and Nineteenth Century Helpers
|
|
|
Women were, at first, in the background of the abolitionists' cause. Women's rights had not yet been addressed in America, but they wanted to be counted in the cause to eliminate the evils of slavery in their country. By 1851, Pennsylvania's Anti-Slavery Society included a host of women as part of its Executive Committee. White men were not happy to see women, at first, as part of the abolitionist movement. These women were progressive thinkers and wanted reform, therefore they became openly vocal of human rights and freedom for slaves. They were abolitionists and also advocates of Women's Suffrage. Names like:
...to name a few. They made a huge difference as HELPERS and HUMANISTS in the cause to eliminate slavery at this time in American history. Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) Harriet Beecher Stowe is the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin which was serialized first in the National Era newspaper in 1851. The book did wonders for letting the world know about the institution of American slavery. Mrs. Stowe humanized the plight of the escaped slave named Josiah Henson according to his own words. Mrs. Stowe later published her book and became a HELPER by creating a believable reason and cause why slavery in America was cruel and should be eliminated. Uncle Tom's Cabin was translated in many languages and circulated around the world in publishing markets. Mrs. Stowe made over $10,000 in royalties selling over 300,000 copies in 1852. |
|
|
It would not be until the 1960's that whites and blacks would again get together in a united front to fight an American cause for freedom and justice as they did in the earlier fight against slavery in America. Among the prominent African American Abolitionists included in this bi-racial coalition were:
|
|
|
|
|
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) Franklin D. Roosevelt came from a family of privilege and wealth. He was born on January 30, 1882 on his family's estate called "Springwood" in Hyde Park, New York. Franklin was the only child of James and Sara Roosevelt. James was a vice President with the Delaware and Hudson Railroad. Sara Roosevelt inherited her wealth from the Delano family's side who were long time residents of Hyde Park also. For Franklin, the Roosevelt's taught him early on that wealth "brought with it the responsibility of helping persons who were not so fortunate". Franklin Roosevelt was given the best education and schooling his strict parents wanted him to receive. He had Governesses, private tutors and trips abroad to heighten his awareness of other people and languages in other lands. He graduated from the prestigious Groton School in Massachusetts in 1900. He later graduated from Harvard College in 1903. He went on to Columbia Law School and passed his bar exam in New York in 1907. Franklin Roosevelt, being an only child, wanted to raise a larger family of his own. His choice of a future wife was (Anna) Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) of New York City. The future Mrs. Roosevelt was a distant cousin and the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919). On March 17, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt gave Eleanor's hand in marriage to Franklin Roosevelt. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt had six children, five boys and one girl. Franklin Roosevelt served this nation well. He became a New York State Senator in 1910 and Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1913 under President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924). In 1914 ,he won a seat in the United State Senate. In 1920 he joined the Democratic ticket as Vice President of the United States, with Ohio governor, James M. Cox (1870-1957) running for President. The victory went to Senator Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) from Ohio and Governor Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) from Massachusetts. Tragedy struck the life of Franklin Roosevelt on August 9, 1921 while vacationing at the family home at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada. While sailing, Franklin accidentally fell into the cold water and on the next day after a routine swim he contracted what was diagnosed as "infantile paralysis, polio" which damaged his leg muscles and left him unable to walk. Franklin Roosevelt did not give up, and his fortitude kept him strong for the next years of his life and future quest for political office. By 1924, he made many trips to Warm Springs, Georgia to swim in the warm mineral natural spring water. His empathy for other polio victims there who were not able to pay the cost of additional treatments at Warm Springs moved Franklin Roosevelt to purchase the locale of the Springs. In 1927, Franklin created The Georgia Warm Springs Foundation and opened it up to other polio victims at an affordable rate to all. With the support of Governor Alfred (Al) Smith of New York, who was now running for the Presidency of United States, Franklin Roosevelt ran for the New York Governor's office and won it in 1928. In 1929, America was hit by The Great Depression (1929-1934). Franklin's rating as Governor of New York made him a highly desirable candidate for the 1932 election for the office of the United State Presidency. He therefore sought and won four consecutive four year terms for the office of the United States Presidency. He served twelve years in office and only eighty three days of his last term. He died on March 29, 1945 while preparing his usual radio talk show called the "Fireside Chats" to the American people at his Warm Springs, Georgia residence. Franklin Roosevelt legacy as the example of the free world leader was far reaching. In 1933, his New Deal was designed to salvage America from the Great Depression. America needed financial help from local, city and state municipalities. He used the office of the Presidency to get America back on its feet. He saw that billions of dollars were made available for relief and public works, whereby the average working family in America was helped. While still in office in his third term, the War years (1939-1945) began, starting with Adolf Hitler's' reign of terror in 1933. The Axis of Powers - Germany, Italy and Japan - became a far away threat to America but not enough to force the American people into the war efforts. Congress kept us out of war with the Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1939. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the United States fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. America was forced to enter World War II. The outcome of many battles and an alliance called the "Big Three" - Roosevelt (U.S.A), Joseph Stalin (Russia) and Winston Churchill (Great Britain) - lead to a better world for freedom. Franklin D. Roosevelt was a man of many works. He undertook many projects which could help America as a whole nation, but he also saw the plights of Native Americans, Mexican Americans and African Americans. The Great Depression increased the unemployment rate for African Americans. Even those menial jobs were not given to African Americans who were looking for work. Southern landowners dismissed many of their farm workers due to slow markets and not enough cash was available. Franklin Roosevelt did become a HELPER to the huge numbers of struggling African Americans. Discrimination and segregation was still a part of American society, but Roosevelt provided some relief efforts in his youth CCC program. The Farm Security Administration helped the rural black farmers, and some of the first African Americans in federal level positions were appointed in the New Deal Era of Franklin Roosevelt. The Works Project Administration (WPA) and many sub-projects appointed blacks as advisers to the President. Many African American voters became part of the Democratic Party, and some called Franklin Roosevelt "The Great White Father". This was "big stuff" coming from the federal government in 1938. Franklin Roosevelt showed everyone he could indeed become a HELPER to African Americans even if it was not popular in the 1930's. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) Anna Eleanor Roosevelt did not use her birth name of Anna. She used Eleanor as her most familiar name. Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City, in 1884. Most of her education came from private schools. At age 21, she married Franklin Delano Roosevelt who was the future 32nd President of the United States. During their marriage she was able to raise five children; one of them died as an infant. As first lady of the United States, during the four terms of her husband, Franklin D., she never just sat back and entertained the White House visitors and dignitaries. Eleanor Roosevelt became a tremendous HELPER of minorities and underprivileged youth and was a crusader for Human Rights. From 1945-1951, Mrs. Roosevelt worked as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. In 1946, she became the elected chairperson of the United Nations' Human Rights Commission. She was directly involved in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That Declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. The Declaration states the following: "All persons are born free and equal in dignity and rights". These words are to be applied to all people and all nations under this charter. Eleanor Roosevelt's place in history as a HELPER AND HUMANIST became evident on many occasions. Her association with Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) - the dedicated founder of Bethune-Cookman College for African Americans in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1923 - made her a believer in true concerns for black/white relationships. Eleanor Roosevelt became a loyal and lifelong friend to Mrs. Bethune who served from 1935-1944 as Special Advisor on Minority Affairs during Franklin Roosevelt's years as President. She was later in the White House with the National Youth Administration, Division of Negro Affairs. Mrs. Bethune became the first African American Woman to head a Federal agency. Eleanor Roosevelt stood up for justice as a HELPER, when Marian Anderson (1897-1993), the internationally known African American concert and opera singer, was denied the right to sing at Constitution Hall in 1939. Race was the determinant factor with a clause written into the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution forbidding the acceptance of all black folk. Eleanor Roosevelt was outraged and stood up and cancelled her membership openly with the Daughters of the American Revolution organization. Many, many HELPERS came forth and Marian Anderson gave her concert in front of the LINCOLN MEMORIAL to over 75,000 people in 1939. Eleanor Roosevelt became a HELPER again during the war years. African Americans had for years applied to flight training schools, but the Army Air Corps would not accept black applicants. It was said that they could not physically or mentally meet the standards to be proficient for flying aircrafts. By 1939, something began to change due to pressure from the press and other "Negro" organizations, such as the Urban League. By 1941 a new school was developed at Tuskegee Institute (Tuskegee University) in Alabama. Out of this school came the flying fighters of 302nd squadron and later the all-black 332nd Fighter Group of the Tuskegee Airmen. Before this group ended their war efforts, they had flown over 1,500 missions and helped to establish the victory and peace in World War II. Eleanor Roosevelt wanted America to know about these all-black African American flyers. She, therefore, went up on board for 230 minute flight around Tuskegee with a Tuskegee black pilot. Eleanor Roosevelt became an ally and hero to many for her work as a first lady. She left behind in her legacy a role which other first ladies of America took notice of as they took on their place next to their husbands, the presidents of the United States. Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) Social Philanthropist, President and Chief Executive for Sears & Roebuck Stores Julius Rosenwald was an American success story in the early days of merchandizing and selling clothing with the family in mind. Retail chain stores and mail orders were what the American public wanted and Sears & Roebuck became a leader in the distribution and marketing of clothing apparel. Julius joined Sears & Roebuck in 1895 and worked his way to the top of the company as president and holder of 1/3 of Sear's Stock dividends. In 1924, he gave up his position as president and became chairman of the board of Sears & Roebuck and remained in that position until his death in 1932. Julius Rosenwald stepped forward as a HELPER to many, but his lifelong work as a major HELPER and HUMANIST for African American causes cannot be equaled. Julius Rosenwald made a tremendous impact in the lives of African Americans when he decided to focus his gift-giving in the area of education. In 1917, the Julius Rosenwald Fund was established. The monies in the Fund were specifically earmarked to create grade schools and upper level schools which also later supported higher education for African Americans. Research revealed that in 1917 "there was not a single standard public eighth grade or high school in the South for black children". Julius Rosenwald, from "1913-1932, helped to establish 5,357 public schools in fifteen Southern states". Rosenwald's philanthropy went further, and he supported and endowed grants and fellowships for black teachers and black hospitals. He also worked and directed his energy for better black/white interactions and social endeavors. By 1919, The Rosenwald Fund helped with the establishment of the Commission of Interracial Cooperation (CIA). The Fund also worked closely with American Council on Race Relations and the CIC successor, the Southern Regional Council. Also, many of the recreational pools and gymnasiums which African Americans used for sports activities and basketball were financially supported by the Julius Rosenwald Fund. Julius Rosenwald saw the importance of the YMCA and YWCA in American youth life and his FUND made many donations toward their works. Julius Rosenwald was a giant among HELPERS and he made others see what changes in the world could be made when they opened their minds and hearts to worthy American causes. Rosamond Gilder (1891-1986) Theatre Critic, Author, Administrator In the world of theatre, the critical review of a play or theatrical production could determine the success or failure of that work. The need for objectivity and insightful interpretation are paramount ingredients in an analysis when dealing with the visual arts and, especially, in the area of theatre. Rosamond Gilder was a giant as a theatre critic. She came prepared to do the rightful justice to those seeking a respectable place in the world of theatre. As a HELPER of African Americans working in theater during the 1930's she became that needed hand when so few critics understood the place of blacks as artists and dramatists in American theatre. Rosamond's parents planted the seeds for her future work. Her father, Richard Watson Gilder, was a writer and editor for the old CENTURY MAGAZINE (1881-1930) and his mother, Helena DeKay Gilder, was an established painter. The Gilders knew many luminaries, and they had an association with Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) and supported Washington's programs at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) when higher education for blacks was still very marginal. Rosamond Gilder worked for many years as a writer and book reviewer for the periodical Theatre Arts. Rosamond Gilder's association with its editor, Edith J. R. Isaacs (1878-1956), at Theatre Arts magazine opened the doors for the acceptance of many African Americans whose artistic talents as thespians were interpreted and reviewed fairly in their magazine. Gilder and Isaacs sat and viewed the African Americans in their stage productions before they wrote the reviews. Rosamond Gilders position as editorial secretary for the NATIONAL THEATRE CONFERENCE in 1932 opened the doors further for African Americans when she was recruited to work for the FEDERAL THEATRE PROJECT (FTP), a division of the WORKS PROJECT ADMINISTRATION (WPA). She was appointed Head of the FTP's BUREAU OF RESEARCH AND PUBLICAITONS. In this position Rosamond was able to study and site-visit the work of African Americans in other all-black theatre productions. By 1940 Rosamond Gilder was back at THEATRE ARTS MONTHLY as a writer and critic. Her keen observations lead her to write these words: "The potential riches of the Negro's contributions to the American scene have as yet scarcely been tapped. As performers, and interpreters, artists, singers, actors, dancers, they have long made their mark; but in the realm of playwriting, in the dramatic interpretations of their own race, they have yet had very little to say or, perhaps more correctly, very little opportunity to say it" (From Theatre Arts Monthly, December, 1940). Rosamond Gilder's unbiased critical reviews and her respectability as a well-known reviewer served as HELPERS to countless black actors seeking a chance at a career that could lead to future roles on BROADWAY and in movie productions. The luminaries coming out during this period due to Rosamond's favorable reviews were able to diversify their roles in not just black comedy and drama, but also other roles in Shakespearean dramas and the crossover to other roles in the world of cinema. Wesley Branch Rickey (1881-1965) A Man with an Experiment The 1940s in America was a place where separation of the races in every walk of life was ruled by Jim Crow Laws. Schools, public transportation, restaurants, hotels, neighborhoods, public facilities, etc. were all segregated according to White and Black accommodations for services. To break from this custom could be asking for trouble. You could be humiliated and marked as a person to be harmed or arrested. Legal segregation made it doubly hard for African Americans who felt these Jim Crow Laws were wrong and should be changed due to their birth rights as American citizens. Those Whites who wanted to step up as HELPERS had to take on the abuse of being unfaithful to the might and exclusivity of being white. Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League had an "eye" for talent, but he also wanted to bring about a change in America's favorite pastime, Major League BASEBALL. Would the all-White teams and teammates accept a black player on their playing fields? What about the crowds in the stands? Branch Rickey did his homework, and he found the right man who could integrate his major league Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team. He searched for the talent in the Negro League, and he found the best man in Jack Roosevelt Robinson (1919-1972), a man with an impressive background on and off the field, who could endure the torment and rigor of being the first of his race to successfully enter baseball's major league. Mr. Rickey told Robinson he "must be willing to take abuse and hold his tongue" and "I want a player with guts enough not to fight back" On April 15, 1947 Jack (Jackie) Robinson did make that crossover and, with that ground breaking day at Ebbetts Field in a Brooklyn Dodger uniform, he opened the door for countless others who longed for a chance to play in organized sports. In his autobiography, Jackie Robinson: I Never Had It Made, Jackie Robinson talks about the hidden counseling and strategies that Branch Rickey gave him. Mr. Rickey said to Jackie Robinson, on his first day of tryouts with the Dodgers camp, after Robinson left the minor league spring training with the Montreal Royals - "I want you to be a whirling demon against the Dodgers". I want you to concentrate, to hit that ball, to get on base by any means necessary. I want you to run wild, to steal the pants off them, to be the most conspicuous, only because of the kind of baseball you're playing". Branch Rickey opened the door for Jackie Robinson as his HELPER, but he never let it close for the man who broke the color line. He kept his experiment alive, and history was made in the world of sports. More Early Twentieth Century Helpers
|
|
|
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Louise Parks (1913-2005), a Montgomery, Alabama seamstress, was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus while heading home from work. Mrs. Parks was well-respected by many white residents in Montgomery, and the young president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) had the same sentiments. That person was Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968). After a year long struggle and the use of a community-wide boycott protesting the segregated seating on the Montgomery buses, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "law requiring bus segregation was unconstitutional" and public buses were not intended to have separate seating. The old law was ruled illegal on December 20, 1956, and all buses had unrestricted seating. On February 14, 1957, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was formed, and Dr. King was elected president. The dynamics of his leadership during the KING YEARS set the pace for the most radical changes in race relations that America had not seen since the end of the American Civil War. All across the South, JIM CROW LAWS were in place and strictly enforced. Segregation separated blacks and whites on almost every conceivable level. Schools, restaurants, churches, libraries, theaters, housing, hotels, even public drinking water fountains were racially divided. Any defiance of the laws which kept "whites only" and "colored only" legally separated meant trouble for those who wanted a change. This could mean open or clandestine threats, cross burnings, midnight anonymous phone call intimidations, lynchings, physical bodily beatings, and even jail time. Stepping up to the plate was Martin Luther King, Jr. as the leader of a new non-violent movement. Other black leaders in the forefront of a new era for change included
Integration was considered a "bad" thing in the 1950's and 1960's, therefore these black leaders needed HELPERS on all fronts. Many HELPERS did come forward (and joined the Movement). Many were whites, who believed in the righteousness of this Movement.
Clifford's and Virginia's life's work warrants them the highest in rank as the ideal representatives linked to the theme and message of this exhibit. Their focus and direction allowed them to reach out to countless others as HELPERS, HEALERS, and HUMANISTS at a time in our history when so few individuals understood the far-reaching need and scope of humankind. Clifford Durr was allowed to enjoy many privileges by being born and raised in a well-established family in Montgomery, Alabama. He attended the Starke School for Boys, the city's leading private school. He went on to the University of Alabama and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1919. He furthered his career by attending Oxford in England on a Rhodes Scholarship in 1920. He received his JD degree in 1922. By 1926, he married Virginia Foster, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister from Birmingham, Alabama. Together they had five children. Clifford Durr's connection to government and the law started when he moved to Washington, D.C. due to the encouragement of another legal mind, his brother-in-law, the future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black. His first major job was with Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Durr's forthrightness at the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) office helped in the advancement of the Defense Plant Corporation during the early years of America's war preparation. President Roosevelt later appointed Clifford Durr to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It was at the FCC that the personal beliefs of Clifford Durr became evident. Mr. Durr campaigned as an advocate for more open airtime for educational programs and different views coming from public radio. Clifford Durr became an instant target of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and the FBI, under J. Edgar Hoover. By 1948, Clifford Durr was asked to adopt a "loyalty oath" to the American government under Harry S. Truman's Administration (1945-1953). He said, "No", even though he had nothing to hide. Clifford Durr stood firm, and his passion as a public defender of peoples' rights and civil liberties became his fight also. His unpopular stand made him resign and leave government to work as a lawyer in the private sector of Washington, D.C. During the "Cold War" era in America, many Americans with different or liberal views were accused of being Communists. Clifford Durr became the legal defender for many Americans who were innocent but lost their jobs due to false accusations of their associations with others who had refused to take a forced "loyalty oath" to the United States government. Clifford Durr became widely known for his legal representation of Robert Oppenheimer, who was known as "the father of the atomic bomb", and many other American scientists who were then being investigated by HUAC. Virginia Foster Durr was married to Clifford Durr for 50 years but, like her husband, was born in a segregated social setting in the city of Birmingham, Alabama. The world of black folks was not a part of her social consciousness. While at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, during the 1920s, she objected, due to her southern upbringing, to eating at the same table with African American students. As she broadened her horizons, Virginia began to choose and reevaluate those not raised in her southern inner circle. When Clifford Durr, her husband, worked in Washington with the New Deal Administration of FDR, Virginia developed a close relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt. Her association with Mrs. Roosevelt brought the two together in a long fight to abolish the POLL TAX. Virginia Durr became a founding member of the INTERRACIAL CONFERENCE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS in 1938. By 1941, Virginia Durr was part of a large group of labor and civil rights organizers who, as a coalition, established the NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO ABOLISH THE POLL TAX. Their work as a coalition lead to the eventual Federal Voting Rights Act and the protection of the civil rights of African Americans who, throughout the South, had been denied the right to vote. By 1950, Clifford Durr and his wife, Virginia, returned to their hometown of Montgomery, Alabama where he opened his private law office. The Civil Rights Movement was about to take off full speed, and the African Americans needed an insider's view and approach to gain their rightful civil liberties. Clifford Durr provided behind-the-scenes advice and direction to prove to the southern politicians and the nation that the African Americans' rights were being violated and that these unjust laws were unconstitutional. This was Montgomery, Alabama, and the Bus Boycott (1955-1956) took place in that city. Virginia Durr and her husband became active in the civil rights struggles when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was part of the Montgomery Alabama Bus Boycott Movement. Without the wise and free consultation of the DURRS the movement might have fizzled down to just another protest by angry black folk. The association of the Durrs with the African American attorneys, Fred Gray and E.D. Nixon of Montgomery, helped to establish the strategy for the BOYCOTT. Virginia Durr had developed a very close friendship with Rosa Parks long before Rosa's arrest on that segregated Montgomery Bus (Virginia Durr had secured a scholarship for Rosa Parks to attend the Highlander Folk School in their Summer Institute in 1955). Therefore she had a tight and binding relationship with the Montgomery residents for their eventual right to end bus segregation. It is not known to many that Virginia and Clifford Durr were the ones who went down to post the bail for Rosa Parks' release from jail because attorney E.D. Nixon felt that the police would not accept his money as a black seeking the release of Mrs. Parks. Virginia Durr wrote many of legal briefs when the case was filed at the Montgomery Court House. Clifford and Virginia Durr were HELPERS with courage. Many whites stayed away from the Durrs. They were not popular among the town's whites at this time in American history. They were ostracized, but they remained faithful to the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans. All of this became history, but the modesty of these HELPERS, who became HEALERS, exemplified a genuine example of HUMANISTS who can never be forgotten. Thanks to the DURRS we are a better America today. HELPERS IN DEED! The Freedom Riders The Freedom Riders saw what Dr. King's SCLC movement had done in Montgomery, Alabama and wanted to test the extent of transportation from one state going into another state. Segregation on interstate travel on public buses had already been outlawed with the BOYNTON vs. VIRGINIA court case of December, 1960. Could it truly work, was the question? CORE (The Congress of Racial Equality), under James Farmer, undertook this awesome and dangerous task of leading a group of White and Black HELPERS as the test riders. Mr. James Peck, a white journalist and CORE leader, and Norman Ritter, a TIME-LIFE writer, and James Zerg, a Freedom Rider, were whites who endured the brutal beatings by mobs at the Montgomery Alabama and Birmingham, Alabama bus station in May 1961. On May 4, 1961, thirteen Freedom Riders took the bus in Washington, DC. On route to the city of New Orleans, when outside of Anniston, Alabama, they were attached, stoned and beaten. The Greyhound bus was bombed and burned. The Interstate Commerce Commission stepped in and ruled that all terminals should accept any passenger on an "integrated basis" on September, 1961. The Nation became aware of the violence, and this increased the number of White HELPERS who could not believe the scope of racial injustice in America. Jack Greenberg (1924- ) Civil Rights Lawyer When you look at the ranks of those persons who gave so much to change and defend the civil liberties of African Americans, one cannot forget the untiring efforts of Attorney Jack Greenberg. Jack Greenberg was born on December 22, 1924 to parents, Max and Bertha Greenberg of New York City. Jack grew up in Brooklyn, New York and earned his B.A. from Columbia University in 1945 and Law degrees from Columbia Law School in 1948. As a young lawyer, he was very much aware of the scarcity of white lawyers who would openly fight cases dealing with the rights of African Americans during the racial climate of the 1950s and 1960s. Jack Greenberg wanted to make a difference in the area of civil liberties. He did just that when he met attorney Thurgood Marshall. Marshall was working as the Director of the (LFD) Legal Defense Fund Office of the NAACP at that time, and he and Greenberg became friends. Jack Greenberg therefore joined the LDF (Legal Defense Fund) and quickly learned the reality of racial discrimination when he traveled to places in Southern America. His African American lawyer friends and associates could not enter nor stay or eat at those hotels and restaurants available to him as a white American. Greenberg's eyes were opened, and his charge became clear. He became a HELPER and fought the barriers to end segregation by ridding the legal system of SEPARATE-BUT-EQUAL DOCTRINE in American jurisprudence, which had ties to the historical 1896 Supreme Court Case of PLESSY vs. FERGUSON. All of the important cases dealing with African Americans being admitted to state-funded colleges and universities were part of the Greenberg team of lawyers' legal briefs. Jack Greenberg appeared before the Supreme Court with multiple cases over forty times. One of the most famous cases in the annals of legal history was the 1954 Supreme Court decision of BROWN vs. BOARD OF EDUCATION which Greenberg and Thurgood Marshall's team won. The case attacked the segregation of American public education based upon race which was ruled unconstitutional. Jack Greenberg continued his work for 35 years as a legal counsel for the NAACP. In 1961 he served as Director of the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) until he resigned in 1984, whereby he took on a professorship at Columbia Law School. Greenberg has written several books, among them Crusaders in the Courts: How a Dedicated Band of Lawyers Fought for the Civil Rights Revolution, published in 1994. The American Bar Association, in 1996, presented him the prestigious Thurgood Marshall Award. In January 2001, President Bill Clinton presented Jack Greenberg with THE PRESIDENTIAL CITIZENS MEDAL. Many American and foreign colleges have honored Jack Greenberg with honorary law degrees and other accolades for his great work in Civil Rights. After 52 years, the question of increasing segregation in America schools is resurfacing. Jack Greenberg, at age 82, is still rendering his judicial knowledge as "a friend of the courts" in 2006. J. (James) Skelly Wright (1911-1988) U.S. Federal Judge The name of Judge J. Skelly Wright became the one new hope for rightful justice due to changes he made in the laws of the Louisiana courts. His tenure on the bench was at a time when the treatment of African Americans in the South was locked into an unfair system of segregation. Judge Wright saw the unfairness of traditional southern laws and became the needed HELPER to change those laws. In Louisiana, he angered many Southerners, but he prevailed against those who hated him. J. Skelly Wright was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1911. He graduated from Loyola University of New Orleans in 1931 and received his law degree from Loyola Law School in 1934. He practiced law as an attorney in both New Orleans and Washington D. C. President Harry S. Truman appointed him U.S. attorney in New Orleans and later to the Federal District Court in New Orleans in 1948. When the U. S. Supreme Court outlawed the segregation of the state supported public schools in the BROWN vs. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA, KANSAS CASE in 1954, Judge Wright moved forward to let the courts hear cases to desegregate the New Orleans Public Schools. For 13 years, Judge Wright opened the "flood gates" and issued 41 rulings and injunctions which took in the governor, the attorney general, the superintendent of schools, the state police, the National Guard, and all major officials of the cities including the mayors, police chiefs, etc. His forthright approach as a judge angered many in Louisiana. When President John F. Kennedy wanted to appoint Judge Wright to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th District in New Orleans, the appointment was stopped by the Southern Senators. Judge Wright therefore was appointed to the U.S. Courts of Appeals in the District of Columbia. This move did not stop Judge Wright, for he saw what was happening in the D.C. schools and ordered changes in its educational "tracking" system. The system was found to be racially discriminatory and was eventually eliminated in the Hobson vs. Hansen case in 1967. Judge Wright became known for his fairness in the courts. He established another first when he issued rulings which helped the poor and disadvantaged in many CONSUMER PROTECTION cases. In the black community, this was one white judge who became their HELPER at a time when the legal system was full of racists and fearful viewpoints. Judge Wright died in 1988 in Washington, D.C. The Sit-In Movement College students all across the South in predominately all-black and mostly-white Universities knew about the segregation laws. They were being educated in a free America, which ostracized them along racial lines from citizens of African descent. On February 1, 1960, the SIT-IN MOVEMENT was started by four black freshmen students at North Carolina A and T College in Greensboro, North Carolina. They decided to eat up front at the all-white lunch counter in the Woolworth Department store downtown. The spontaneous move to break the law was met with police force. As soon as they were removed from the lunch counters, four other students came in and sat at the same counters. It became unnerving, and white patrons decided they could not eat there any longer. Business began to sag, and the television news showed these students not being served at the local stores in their own hometown. They were also non-violent and very neatly dressed for their lunch counter service. The power of this Movement soon caught on, and college students from white colleges joined in as HELPERS and HUMANISTS in an alliance to help the black students in their nonviolent social action. This alliance angered the segregationists, and they began to go up to the sit-in protesters and dump ketchup, hot coffee, and food on the protesters. They began to violate them by beating and physically harming and spitting on them. This did not stop the sit-in protesters but brought more activists and protesters to their camp. By April 5, 1960, a separate group was organized called The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to train and coordinate their state-wide nonviolent efforts. Workshops and conferences on NONVIOLENCE began, and thousand of blacks and whites on the local level had to face a changing social event taking place in their mist. The sit-in movement brought to the attention of the World Community that racial discrimination was a part of America's practice. Soon the sit-in movement began to test the whole area of segregated public facilities all across the South. Those sit-ins became READ-INS at the segregated PUBLIC LIBRARIES, WADE-INS at the public SWIMMING POOLS, KNEEL-INS at the segregated all white congregations of all American Church denominations, STAND-INS at American MOTION PICTURE theaters (remember the side entrance to the upper balcony for "colored patrons" only), and DRINK-INS at the separate public drinking fountains. The Presidents President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) the 35th President of the United States from 1961-1963, who was later assassinated in Dallas, Texas, had to deal with the race issue in America. Before him was 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) who served the country from 1953-1961 and sent federal troops into Little Rock, Arkansas to protect nine black students from violence as they integrated Little Rock Central High School, in September 1957. Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) the 36th President of the United States inherited the task of bringing more equality and participation of African Americans in his GREAT SOCIETY for all Americans while he was President from 1963-1969. He appointed two of the first for African Americans to public office. They were:
More Helpers in the Civil Rights Era
|
|
|
The Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney Case The State of Mississippi had a reputation for being a stubborn place where white supremacy was practiced without regard to its large population of African Americans living in that state. The summer of 1964 was going to be a time when American democracy was going to work for all citizens of Mississippi. Voting Rights was going to be another phase of the nonviolent Civil Rights movement. Students from Northern communities, other colleges, and local young people were going to be the HELPERS by going out into the Southern communities and helping the disenfranchised blacks in the process of registering to vote. Black and white students were part of an integrated coalition of strong-willed Americans working on voter registration during what was called "Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964". The Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee, (SNCC) took on this effort. These sincere SNCC workers had to chance what was to come in the land of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The picture was not good. Thousands of black and white SNCC workers were arrested; some were wounded by gunfire; many were never found or murdered; and some were lynched. The police and white officials turned away as though nothing happened. The Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney Case was the turning point for national exposure. James Chaney was a black male from Meridian, Mississippi, but Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were white and Jewish and from New York. Suddenly they became missing when their burned out station wagon was found after forty-four days of searching for them. The gripping case of the local clandestine deeds of the police, KKK and the Neshoba County Sheriffs brought an indictment. They were found guilty and convicted in 1967 under the Federal Civil Rights Law. The ruling in this case was a landmark sentence. Seven of the nineteen men, including the imperial wizard of the KKK, received up to ten years of prison time. Seth Cagin and Philip Dray's book, We Are Not Afraid (2006), also marks them as HELPERS for bringing their research together in this sometimes forgotten era in American History. Viola Liuzzo (1925-1965) A dedicated life and believer of justice for all people Viola Liuzzo's life was taken from her while doing what she believed was a rightful cause for African Americans seeking justice during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's. She was a HELPER among HELPERS! Her dedication and commitment took her away from her family, and she even put her college education at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan on hold to join and assist as a volunteer HELPER during the voting rights marches in the state of Alabama. Mrs. Liuzzo was born in Pennsylvania, but her parents later moved to Tennessee and Georgia. These early years were very impressionable to Viola when she noticed how blacks in the South were being treated differently from other whites. From 1943-1949, Viola was married to George Argyris, and she gave birth to two daughters, Penny and Mary. Viola had to go to work after her divorce from George Argyris. It was a trying time for Viola, but she established a trusting relationship with Sarah Evans, an African American lady who kept her daughters when she had to leave home for work. By 1951, Viola met and married James Liuzzo, a union leader for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Together they had three children, Tommy, Anthony, Jr. and Sally. James Liuzzo adopted Viola's other two children, and Sarah Evans followed the family as their full time housekeeper and caregiver for the young Liuzzo children. Besides giving time to her family, Viola Liuzzo wanted fulfillment in her spiritual life. Although she was a Roman Catholic convert by marriage to Mr. Liuzzo, she was drawn to the work being done by the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Detroit. She felt she could "make a difference in the world", by working with the church's members. Many of the members of First Unitarian had joined the struggle for African Americans during the Freedom Riders Movement in the South. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. decided to organize a Voter Rights campaign, he decided that a demonstration march should start in Selma, Alabama and end at the state capitol steps of Montgomery, Alabama. Viola Liuzzo wanted to be part of that event. Many Universalist ministers came to Selma to be a part of this peaceful demonstration. Non-violent protest was part of the Movement's theme. Suddenly on March 9, 1965, The Rev. James Reeb, a white Univeralist minister was attacked by a |
