Victory Day in Port Gibson

The photos in this essay document an important civil rights victory in Port Gibson, Mississippi in 1982

During the 1960s, organizers in the civil rights movement saw a need to motivate, inspire, and protect people who, at great personal risk, were demanding their rights as U.S. citizens. Close at hand was a familiar institution that had nurtured the Black community through years of enslavement, war, reconstruction, and Jim Crow restrictions: the Black church. Many of the rituals that characterized the Black church are ancient and derive from older religious practices: rituals such as meeting, preaching, singing, and marching or parading in the service of their beliefs and aspirations, and eating together to express their union. Throughout the American south, civil rights leaders used mass meetings, often in churches, to inspire their fellow workers with preaching and singing; and marches to display their unity and determination. This photo essay seeks to show how one Black community used these familiar rituals not only to organize the fight but also to celebrate an important civil rights victory. But first, some history to set the scene.

Throughout the American south, civil rights leaders used mass meetings, often in churches, to inspire their fellow workers with preaching and singing; and marches to display their unity and determination.

Historical Context

The Black citizens of Claiborne County, Mississippi, after years of being denied their political and civil rights, found new hope for change in the 1960s amid the stirrings of the civil rights movement. White political leaders, bankers, and businessmen in Port Gibson, the county seat, found something else: a will to resist any change that threatened their control over the political and economic life of the town. Countywide, Black residents outnumbered white residents 80 percent to 20 percent. White citizens had money and the whole apparatus of Jim Crow repression on their side; on the other side, Black citizens had numbers, a rising tide of national outrage over racial attacks, and an embryonic federal push to help Blacks register to vote. The result was an entrenched battle that could have been avoided if white leaders were willing to begin reforms in good faith, but they were not. Attempts to meet and settle differences got nowhere, and Blacks, under the auspices of the NAACP, began holding mass meetings and marches in support of their grievances.

The board members of the local chapter of the NAACP sent letters in March, 1966 to white leaders and public officials listing their demands: jobs for Blacks as clerks and cashiers in local businesses; desegregation of all schools and public facilities; integration of city police and county sheriff’s deputies with Black officers given full police power to arrest whites; employment of Blacks in the welfare office and their addition to all boards and commissions; and (perhaps the most symbolically important of the demands) the extension of courtesy titles to all African American citizens. 1

...[M]ass meetings and marches had spread Black courage and confidence that they had economic power in a small town where white merchants depended on Black spending to keep their businesses profitable.

White leaders in Port Gibson resisted the demands, denying that the NAACP represented the true wishes of the local Black citizens and believing that they could outlast this wave of activism by doing nothing. They either did not know or did not appreciate two powerful weapons that the protestors had on their side. NAACP organizer Rudy Shields had been enlisting local activists to carry out a voter registration drive in the county, and, with federally appointed registrars, they had increased the number of Blacks registered to vote to a majority of all potential voters. Also mass meetings and marches had spread Black courage and confidence that they had economic power in a small town where white merchants depended on Black spending to keep their businesses profitable.

While the NAACP board did not specifically threaten the whites with election losses or with a boycott of businesses, they did suggest that whites could avoid these tactics only if their leaders negotiated in good faith and set up timelines for implementation of reforms. The white leaders again refused, and at the next mass meeting, the NAACP chapter called for a boycott of white-owned businesses, beginning at noon on Friday, April 1, 1966. At that time Charles Evers led over 450 protesters from First Baptist Church to the County Courthouse to announce the imposition of the boycott.

This boycott created a virtual wall that divided the town between warring factions. The conflict lasted, with greater and lesser intensity, for over a decade. Whites joined together to fight the boycott with manpower from local and state law enforcement, and strategy from the anti-movement organizations such as the white Citizens’ Council and the state Sovereignty Commission. Employers and landlords threatened activists with firing and eviction. Black activists picketed affected businesses at peak shopping days and times, recruited enforcers to confront Blacks who crossed the picket lines, and formed self-defense units to discourage white attacks on movement activists.

To keep their eyes on the prize during that tumultuous time, Black protesters held mass meetings in churches to hear exhortations from preachers and orators, to sing together, to march, still singing and chanting, from their churches to important civic venues such as courthouses, banks, and mercantile establishments—all this to make known their determination to resist injustice.

In 1969, a group of white merchants sued the NAACP and local boycotters, seeking an injunction and damages for lost business. The Mississippi Chancery Court ruled in 1976 that the boycott was illegal and ordered the defendants to pay the merchants $1.2 million in damages. To appeal the ruling, the NAACP had to raise a $1.2 million bond to cover the damages if they ultimately lost, and the defendants faced liens against their property. Finally, in 1982 after years of judicial wrangling, the US Supreme Court reversed the judgment, and in a precedent-setting decision, upheld the right to boycott for political reasons, and ordered the plaintiffs to pay the defendants’ legal fees.

The NAACP proclaimed a day of jubilee on July 29, 1982. National and state leaders joined local people to meet, to sing, chant, and parade to the Courthouse, many of them carrying signs like picketers.

It is not then surprising that when Blacks in Port Gibson won a significant civil rights victory for themselves and for the nation, they expressed their joy with some of the same rituals. The NAACP proclaimed a day of jubilee on July 29, 1982. National and state leaders joined local people to meet, to sing, chant, and parade to the Courthouse, many of them carrying signs like picketers. They applauded and cheered for the speakers, and they arranged a picnic on the grounds. Finally they met together at the church to give thanks.

Photo Essay

On that hot, steamy, typical July day, my wife, Patty was privileged to witness and photograph the celebrations. Here are a few of the images that her camera caught that historic day. Patty and I are grateful to our daughter, Emilye Crosby, for being with her then and for reading drafts of this manuscript to help us get right the historical facts surrounding the boycott. Also to our daughter, Sarah Campbell, for reaching out to her many contacts among the people of the Claiborne County community, and to James and Carolyn Miller and Geraldine Nash for helping to identify many of the persons present that day. If we did manage to get things wrong, they are not to blame.

The Victory Day celebration began before noon as African American citizens gathered around the First Baptist Church on Farmer Street. Rev. James Dorsey, the pastor, was also president of the local NAACP during the time of the mass meetings and the boycott. He, like some other local leaders, was a veteran who had seen more of the world outside the Jim Crow South and had come to believe he should offer his service for reform and change for the people who really need it; (Crosby 103). — The Victory Day celebration began before noon as African American citizens gathered around the First Baptist Church on Farmer Street. Rev. James Dorsey, the pastor, was also president of the local NAACP during the time of the mass meetings and the boycott. He, like some other local leaders, was a veteran who had seen more of the world outside the Jim Crow South and had come to believe he should offer his service “for reform and change for the people who really need it” (Crosby 103).

Churches seemed like a natural choice for mass meetings, which were structured in a traditional way, almost like a church service, but there was freedom, the word freedom instead of a religious reference (Crosby 106). The celebrators greeted one another, picked up signs and banners as they had done during the movement days, and began a march through town. — Churches seemed like a natural choice for mass meetings, which were “structured in a traditional way, almost like a church service, but there was freedom, the word ‘freedom’ instead of a religious reference” (Crosby 106). The celebrators greeted one another, picked up signs and banners as they had done during the movement days, and began a march through town.

Among those gathering before the march were several notable local leaders. Nate Jones and his wife, Julia, were early members of the NAACP at a time when it was physically dangerous to have your membership known. Mr. Nate was a dedicated worker for voter registration and a strong voice supporting the boycott. Mrs. Jones became politically active and won a race in 1971 for Circuit Clerk, becoming the first Black person to hold that office in Mississippi since Reconstruction. Behind Mrs. Jones is Marjorie Brandon, who fiercely protected her six children as they were among the first group to integrate the white public schools and who also helped found and lead the local Head Start program. All three of these were named as defendants in the suit against boycotters.

Behind this hand-painted banner, marchers formed up to follow the path of the marches of the 1960s. This re-enactment was joyous and carefree, but marches back then were dangerous. Marchers walked carefully in pairs and had to pass through a gauntlet of hostile and sometimes gun-carrying whites to publicly declare their support for the NAACP demands and their dissatisfaction with the status quo. It was their determination to claim the streets and sidewalks of the town that paved the way for the freedom of access to public places they enjoy today. The children carrying the banner are Angela Weathers, Tawn King, and Winston Moore. Standing left front (in cap and white shirt) is Roderick Devoual; next to him in rear is Percy Thornton, later to be elected a County Supervisor; standing center facing front and carrying a sign is Rev. Eddie Walls, a defendant in the lawsuit, later to be elected a Port Gibson City Alderman; facing him is probably Aaron Henry, president of the state NAACP.

It was their determination to claim the streets and sidewalks of the town that paved the way for the freedom of access to public places
they enjoy today.

Nate Jones was a World War II veteran, serving in the Navy as a ship’s cook in the Pacific. In an era when sharecropping was the norm for Black folks, he owned and farmed his own land and was a deacon in his local church. He and his wife, Julia, had two children of their own, and they became mentors to many more, dispensing encouragement, love, and discipline among a generation or two of local children, including the kids who rode the school bus he drove for years between the Alcorn College area and the Port Gibson schools.

Marguerite Thompson, whose family owned the Thompson Funeral Home, had the financial security that most African Americans lacked in the community. She and her husband Carl supported the movement behind the scenes by putting up bonds for people arrested for racial activism. These actions made the Thompsons targets for inclusion in the list of defendants named in the lawsuit. Until the ruling by the Supreme Court many of their assets had been tied up by liens placed against their property.

Women like Charity Flowers were often the heart of the civil rights movement, even those who were not named in the boycott lawsuit. They came out to mass meetings, marched in demonstrations, and participated in boycott picketing more often than their male counterparts. Of the first 1,500 African Americans in Claiborne County who registered to vote, four out of five were women (Crosby 136).

Troy Williams and his brother Jason watched the victory proceedings with interest while Larry Walker flashed the peace sign in the background. The movement in Port Gibson was concerned for the community’s youth. Whites controlled access to schools, playgrounds, and pools, and they fought to keep Blacks from sharing them, eventually closing or abandoning public ones and creating separate private facilities. Young people were organized in the movement by mentors like George Henry Walker, a defendant in the lawsuit. They assisted in voter registration drives and were deployed as picketers during daylight hours in the boycott.

The celebrators greeted one another, picked up signs and banners as they had done during the movement days, and began a march through town.

During the celebration, the marchers passed by Our Mart, Inc., a landmark cooperative grocery store founded to give Blacks an alternative place to shop for food. Black leaders and activists established the store to avoid the mistreatment and disrespect they experienced in white-owned stores, to create jobs, and to develop economic autonomy. The boycott finally waned when reluctant merchants, bankers, and public officials began to hire Black workers in responsible positions, and to address them with the same courtesy they offered to their white counterparts. Our Mart is no longer a store but the building stands as testimony to the efforts of African Americans to address commercial discrimination.

The march ended on the steps of the Claiborne County Courthouse, site of many protests in the 1960s. Singing, praying, and hearing bold speeches there encouraged the marchers. By 1982, when the ruling vindicated the boycotters, most elected officials and their staff were African Americans and their presence at the courthouse was no longer a novelty. Thelma Crowder Wells, singing here at the front, was a movement stalwart and defendant in the lawsuit. When she first tried to sing “Amazing Grace” at a rally, she was afraid. “Oh, I was trembling, scared and crying. But I led the hymn, and the people sang it. And on and on my fear went away" (Crosby 111). Benjamin Hooks, executive director of the NAAACP stood behind Mrs. Wells, Rev. Eddie Walls held the sign, next in front were A.C. Garner, then president of the local NAACP, and Percy Thornton.

These marchers found an elevated position in front of the courthouse to watch and hear the proceedings. Ironically, the position they chose was the pedestal supporting a statue of a confederate soldier. Claiborne County’s Confederate Monument was erected on the courthouse lawn and dedicated in 1906 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy of Claiborne County (Rozier). As a vestige of continuing white supremacy after the Civil War, it seemed to hold little significance for those celebrating their own victory in 1982. The three women seated across the front of the pedestal, left to right, are Mary “Pig” Curry, Carolyn Brown Buck, and Stella Neal. The others are unidentified.

Thelma Crowder Wells...was a movement stalwart and defendant in the lawsuit. When she first tried to sing “Amazing Grace” at a rally, she was afraid. “Oh, I was trembling, scared and crying. But I led the hymn, and the people sang it. And on and on my fear went away"

A free fish fry followed the march and ceremonies, on a city lot owned by the Thompson family. The NAACP used the Supreme Court victory to launch a voter registration campaign to help consolidate electoral gains made possible in the 1960s.

On duty sheriff’s deputies Freddie Yarbrough and Shirley Hall mingled with the celebrating community on the day of victory. One of the movement’s major goals was Black representation in law enforcement. It was intensified when a white man shot and killed an unarmed man, Roosevelt “Dusty” Jackson in April 1969, leading to a rejuvenation of the boycott. Earlier Black officers were appointed by white leaders and had no authority to arrest whites, but the situation had changed when a Black sheriff had been elected. On this day, the police were not afraid of a Black crowd and the crowd was comfortable with the deputies.

Old folks and young gathered at the counter for their fish sandwiches and others sat in chairs to enjoy the music being provided.

Nate Jones and William “Fox” Camphor, two prominent members of the local NAACP, beamed at the celebration they had helped to create. The African American community in Port Gibson now had the freedom to express their joy and celebrate political equality.

That night a large crowd came together inside First Baptist Church for a mass meeting, no longer to bolster their demands for representation and equality but to give thanks for a victory over oppression, and to pledge to one another that this would not be the last victory they would seek.

Carolyn Turnipseed (now Miller) was one of the high school activists who worked on voter registration and carried picket signs, reminding customers not to break the boycott. She and her generation helped lead Claiborne County into the new era. Here she introduced NAACP Executive Director Benjamin Hooks at the closing meeting of the celebration as Rev. James Dorsey looks on from behind.

As the meeting ended, an intergenerational group of local, state, and national leaders applauded themselves and their fellow workers. Left to right: Benjamin Hicks,; Joanne Collins Smith, whose parents, Alexander and Geneva Collins were important movement leaders; Margaret Bush Wilson, board chair of the NAACP; Aaron Henry, long-time state president of the NAACP, who had been elected to the state legislature in 1979; and Rev. James Dorsey.

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Resources

Print

Crosby, Emilye. A Little Taste of Freedom: The Black Freedom Struggle in Claiborne County, Mississippi. University of North Carolina Press, 2005.

Links

Rozier, Alex. “Why a Confederate monument endures in majority-black Port Gibson, Claiborne County.” Mississippi Today, October 3, 2018, https://mississippitoday.org/2018/10/03/why-a-confederate-monument-endures-in-majority-black-port-gibson-claiborne-county/, Accessed May 10, 2021.

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Footnotes

^ Emilye Crosby, A Little Taste of Freedom: The Black Freedom Struggle in Claiborne County, Mississippi (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2005), 112.

Dave and Patty Crosby

Patricia Crosby is a photographer and founder of Mississippi Cultural Crossroads in Port Gibson, serving 30 years as its executive director. Raised in Milford, OH, she attended Catholic schools and graduated from Marquette University. She studied photography with Barbara Van Cleve at Mundelein College Chicago, folklore at the Smithsonian, and ethnic heritage at Alcorn State University. She served as a presenter at the Festival of American Folklife (1996).

David Crosby, emeritus professor, taught English and communications at Alcorn State University for 26 years. He has delivered papers at scholarly forums in London, Paris, Rome, and Port Gibson and published articles in journals on literature, theater, folklore, oral history, and quilting. He has directed the renowned Peanut Butter & Jelly Theater, acted at the Vicksburg Theater Guild, and sung in the chorus of the Mississippi Opera.