- Collection:
- WSFA Collection
- Title:
- WSFA audiovisual item D004.0006
- Publisher:
- Montgomery, Ala. : Alabama Department of Archives and History
- Date of Original:
- 1958/1966
- Subject:
- African Americans--Civil rights
Civil rights demonstrations
Civil rights workers
Clergy
Bands
Government officials--Alabama
Governors--Alabama
Inaugurations
Journalists
Police
Legislation--Alabama
Legislators--Alabama
Mayors--Alabama--Ozark
Parades
Photographers
Political campaigns
Political science
Race relations--Alabama
Segregation--Alabama
Smoking
Birmingham (Ala.)
Jefferson County (Ala.)
Greenville (Ala.)
Butler County (Ala.)
Montgomery (Ala.)
Montgomery County (Ala.) - People:
- Abernathy, Ralph, 1926-1990
Adams, Charles Crayton, 1912-
Albea, Woodrow
Bevel, James L. (James Luther), 1936-2008
Boutwell, Albert Burton, 1904-1978
Brown, Douglas
Douglas, Jesse L., Sr.
Dumas, Lawrence, 1908-
Folsom, James Elisha, 1908-1987
Forman, James, 1928-2005
Givhan, Walter Coats, 1902-
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968
Kuromiya, Kiyoshi, 1943-2000
Melton, Oakley W., Jr.
Patterson, John, 1921-2021
Patterson, Mary Jo McGowin
Robison, Vaughan Hill, 1918-1977
Speight, Jesse Earl, 1889-1963
Swann, William H.
Wallace, George C. (George Corley), 1919-1998
Wallace, Lurleen, 1926-1968 - Location:
- United States, Alabama, 32.75041, -86.75026
- Medium:
- color films (visual works)
- Type:
- MovingImage
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- The following segments are included: 0:00:01: Silent footage of several civil rights demonstrations in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, the week before the Selma to Montgomery March, most likely March 15 through 18, 1965. The clips appear to be out of sequence, but much of the footage depicts college students demonstrating through marches and sit-downs at the Capitol (where counter-protesters are also present) and in a nearby residential neighborhood. Also included are extended scenes of a march led by Martin Luther King to the Montgomery County courthouse on March 17 (the day after mounted law enforcement officers violently dispersed about 600 SNCC demonstrators), as well as the rally that filled Washington Street when the group arrived. King then met with local officials for several hours to discuss the previous day's events, and when he returned to the crowd outside, he shared the news that Judge Frank M. Johnson had ruled that the Selma to Montgomery march could proceed. Among the civil rights leaders visible in this footage are Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Jesse Douglas, James Forman, James Bevel, and Kiyoshi Kuromiya. 0:06:31 Inauguration of Governor John Patterson Wallace in Montgomery, Alabama, on January 19, 1959. The footage includes the parade down Dexter Avenue and a portion of Patterson's inaugural address (audio at 0:06:48). 0:07:27: Judge George Wallace at the Federal Building in Montgomery on January 26, 1959, for his contempt hearing. Wallace had been cited for his initial refusal to turn over voting records from Barbour and Bullock Counties to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, but he was found not guilty because he later complied by indirect means. Judge Frank M. Johnson expressed suspicion and disapproval of Wallace's motives in the resulting court order, the text of which was published in the Montgomery Advertiser on January 27: ". . . This court further finds that, even though it was accomplished through means of subterfuge, George C. Wallace did comply with the order of this court concerning the production of the records in question. As to why the devious methods were used, this court will not now judicially determine. In this connection this court feels it sufficient to observe that if these devious means were in good faith considered by Wallace to be essential to the proper exercise of his state judicial functions, then this court will not and should no comment upon these methods. However, if these devious means were for political purposes, then this court refuses to allow its authority and dignity to be bent or swayed by such politically generated whirlwinds. The defendant, George C. Wallace, is ordered to be and he is hereby found not guilty of contempt of this court and stands discharged." (The affidavit submitted to the court by Wallace on January 26 is available at https://digital.archives.alabama.gov/digital/collection/voices/id/3214.) 0:07:58: Silent footage of a meeting of the biracial Alabama Advisory Committee on Civil Rights at the Federal Building in Montgomery, Alabama, on September 9, 1959. The meeting was held to discuss the recent report issued by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, with which the committee ultimately agreed. Seated, left to right: Dr. Robert A. Lambert of Fairhope; Louis Eckl, editor of the Florence Times and the Tri-Cities Daily newspapers; Dr. E. B. Goode of Mobile; William H. Swann, assistant to state advisory committees, who presented the report; Douglas Brown, mayor of Ozark (chairman); A. G. Gaston of Birmingham; Mrs. Fletcher McLeod, church and civic leader in Montgomery; and Mrs. L. H. Foster, wife of the president of Tuskegee Institute. 0:08:20: Governor John Patterson making a statement about the first report of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which was issued in early September 1959. (For the full text of the report, see https://www2.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/usccr/documents/cr11959.pdf.) 0:08:52: Various scenes in the House and Senate chambers and different committee rooms at the Capitol in Montgomery during the 1959 legislative sessions. Much of the footage is silent, but the common theme throughout the audio segments appears to be education funding. Included here is a portion of Governor John Patterson's first address to a joint session of the Legislature on January 13; debates and public comments about a proposed cigarette tax increase (accompanied by numerous clips of people smoking); and message from Governor Patterson on the status of the "school relief bill." Among the other individuals shown here are former governor Jim Folsom (the segment begins with a silent clip of his farewell address to the Legislature on January 13); Lieutenant Governor Albert Boutwell; House clerk Oakley W. Melton Jr.; Senate secretary Earl Speight; Representatives McDowell Lee, Charles Adams (new speaker of the House), and Woodrow Albea; and Senators Vaughan Hill Robison, Walter C. Givhan, Roland Cooper, and Larry Dumas. 0:15:08: Party at John Patterson's gubernatorial campaign headquarters on an election night in 1958. It is unclear whether this was shot during after the Democratic primary on June 3, or during the general election on November 5. The footage is mostly silent. 0:15:38: John Patterson speaking at a rally in Greenville, Alabama, during the 1966 gubernatorial campaign.
- Metadata URL:
- http://digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm/ref/collection/wsfa/id/1329
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Copyright, Alabama Department of Archives and History. Donated by WSFA, https://www.wsfa.com.
- Original Collection:
- WSFA-TV (Television station : Montgomery, Ala.)
WSFA collection
Box D004, Item 0006 - Contributing Institution:
- Alabama. Department of Archives and History
- Rights:
-
