November 2, 1961
This article describes Charlie Brown, a ‘Negro’ man, sitting down in a downtown drugstore in Florence, Alabama. Police were called after Brown made no effort to leave despite being asked to do so by store owners and he was taken into custody. The police assumed he would be charged with breach of the peace.
August 29, 1956
Describes the unoffical results of Lauderdale County ballots regarding amendments 2 and 3. Both were soundly rejected by the populace.
August 28, 1956
Describes Alabamians’ reactions to amendments being voted on that would force them to “sacrifice control over the racial segregation of public school, public parks, and housing. Amendments number 2 and 3 are of particular interest. Number 2 is also named the “Freedom of Choice” amendment, which sought to remove the constitutional obligation for state-supported education as well as the requirement for segregated schools.
April 8, 1956
Describes the arrest of 4 teenagers in the “dousing” of ‘Negroes’. They were charged with disorderly conduct and ordered to appear in municipal court on April 14.
April 5, 1956
Describes Florence and Sheffield teenagers driving by ‘negro’ citizens and “dousing” and dousing them with water balloons as they walk down the street. The article also states that local police are working with the ‘negro’ citizens to identify the culprits as quickly as possible.
March 10, 1965
The author shows his desire to be a proud American rather than just a proud ‘Negro.’ He acknowledges that no race is above another and he longs for the day where he can recite the allegiance to the flag in a truthful manner. When that day comes, he will no longer be a proud ‘Negro’ but a proud American.
February 18, 1965
The writer says that whites should not resent the peaceful demands that ‘negroes’ make in relation to their civil rights.
May 11, 1963
Describes a Decatur resident vouching to keep desegregation in place. He also says that ‘negroes’ are less developed and meant to be separate from whites.
May 8, 1963
Compares the NAACP to the Communist Party and says that ‘Negroes’ should go back to Africa. Writer is from Tuscaloosa.
May 6, 1963
The writers ask why people are wanting whites and blacks to live together at all. In short, the writer is advocating strongly for segregation. The writer is from Birmingham.
March 7, 1963
Writer calls for those who believe in desegregation who have not spoken out to do so in the midst of the events that have transpired across Alabama and in the South. Writer is from Florence, Alabama.
March 9, 1956
Describes a minstrel show put on by the Florence Lions Club in the Coffee High School auditorium. Participants are shown in a photo wearing blackface.
March 6, 1956
May says that all segregation laws should be repealed and replaced by the law of love. He also says that whites do not need segregation in order to “get along with Negroes.”
February 26, 1956
Burgess, a Sheffield resident, urges other white southerners to break down their own racial barriers. Says that he does not believe it to be a quick or easy process, but a necessary one.
February 23, 1956
Describes the bus boycotts taking place in Montgomery, arrests being made, and petitions of prayers on behalf of those participating in the bus boycotts.
February 21, 1956
Describes Rev. Abernathy and a group of around 4,000 refusing to stop the bus boycott in the face of possible Grand Jury indictment.
February 10, 1956
James S. Williams, the writer of the article, is disagreeing with the comment that Mrs. John Gilbert made about there being a negro problem. He says the problem is not the African Americans seeking equal rights, but those that oppose their desire to seek those rights.
February 7, 1956
Describes Mrs. Gilbert’s position that ‘Negroes’ should be content to go as they have in the past in relation to race relations in public spaces.
February 2, 1956
Two articles that identify cross burnings at the University of Alabama and a bomb landing in the yard of E.D. Nixon, former president of the NAACP.
December 16, 1955
Describes that Willie B. Smith, a Black man from Florence, was attacked and that his car was set on fire. Also, includes that he was sent to Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital and that the police were investigating the incident.
November 10, 1955
Describes that Ozzie Newsome, a Black man who owned a restaurant in Muscle Shoals, was told by Police Commissioner Thomas F. Terry that he would have to pay a $25 fee each week to operate, a fee that Newsome could not afford. The article continues to describe the trial that was still being deliberated by the jury at the time the article was written.
November 1, 1955
Describes that Trenholm High School planned to have a program to discuss the Goodwyn Amendment, which was intended to increase taxes in order to support public education and the recreational facilities provided for Black children in the area.
September 18, 1955
Describes the murder of Emmitt Till and notes that a trial with an all-white jury was beginning. Also, notes that police officers had not found evidence necessary for conviction.
