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Letters to the Editor: ‘Keep Your Mouth Shut’ She Advises

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.

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Letter to the Editor: For Love Worketh No Ill to His Neighbor

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May says that all segregation laws should be repealed and replaced by the law of love.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.”

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Letters to the Editor: Says Negro Problem Does Not Exist

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.

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Race Violence Erupts Anew in Montgomery: New Cross Burnings at University / Bomb Tossed in Yard of Negro Leader

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.

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Negro Nightspot Operator Claims $25 Fee Asked For By Police Commissioner

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.

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School Tax Topic At Trenholm Meeting

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.

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Florence Negro Swimming Pool to Open Tuesday

July 9, 1955

Describes that the segregated swimming pool for Black residents in the Florence community was opening in Handy Heights.

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Dixie Studies Integration Problem: Segregation Picture, State By State

June 12, 1955

Describes how different states were approaching the Supreme Court’s decision to integrate public schools.

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Segregation Has No Place In U.S. Public Schools

May 18, 1954

Provides Chief Justice Earl Warren’s statements regarding the Supreme Court segregation decision verbatim.

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Alabama Stunned By Segregation Rule: Most Dixie Officials Take Blow Calmly

May 18, 1954

Describes multiple southern governors’ reactions to the Supreme Court segregation decision and includes that many would attempt to maintain segregation, others planned to wait to see if it would be legally enforced, and only one state, Kentucky, agreed to comply.

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Alabama Stunned By Segregation Rule: Reaction At Shoals Is Mixed

May 18, 1954

Describes the reactions of local school superintendents and commissioners after the Supreme Court ruled segregation unconstitutional. Also, includes statements from Dr. E.B. Norton, president of Florence State Teachers College, who believed the college faced serious problems from the decision but that they could find a solution over time.

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Supreme Court Bans School Segregation: ‘No Place in Education,’ Warren Says

May 17, 1954

Describes that the Supreme Court found segregation within public schools to be unconstitutional and provides statements made by Chief Justice Earl Warren.

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