In this day and age, newspapers rarely print fiction. Of course, there is the occasional magical story written by a third grade class that appears every once a week in the Arts and Entertainment section of the paper, but for the most part, fictional stories of real substance are not published in newspapers anymore. This was not the case in the 1800's. Appearing in The Valley Star each week was...
The article, “Robert Kennedy Seen Undecided,” published in the New York Times on April 26, 1964 showcased both the tremendous interest and lack of information on the intentions of both Kennedy and Johnson. New York Times reporter Wallace Turner wrote, “The other surviving brother in the family, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts has told his friends that he doubts seriously if Robert...
In 1963, the Detroit City Plan Commission prepared an informational bulletin to provide the public with “a ready reference to Detroit’s program of redevelopment”, and an explanation of their large aims to remove blighted areas from the city and replace them with “sound [and] logical development”. It first started with a brief history of urban renewal in Detroit, classifying urban renewal...
The story of Detroit’s "food desert" and urban abandonment is a common one in todays media, but as the story of the construction of the Union Produce Terminal in 1963 shows these are by no means new problems. In 1963 a city planning and urban renewal company called Parkins, Rogers, & Associates issued a feasibility survey for a wholesale food distribution center located in what was then referred...
The Voice of Orlando Negro Chamber of Commerce: Business Directory 1957 includes a long list of African-American establishments, from Beauty Salons to Churches, in the Orlando area. One entry, “The New Jones High School”, contains information on Jones High School after its recent renovation in May 1952[1]. The entry on Jones High School grants a valuable insight into the funding, resources,...
In January 1964 300 citizens protested at the Forest County Courthouse to demand the right to vote in Hattiesburg Mississippi[1]. They wanted to force the Country Registrar to register Black Americans. The protestors were joined by 51 minsters from out of state, united under the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO). The article explains that it was the first time in Mississippi where the police...
Mississippi Burning
Murder is what it all boiled down to. In the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, three civil rights workers were viciously slaughtered in Neshoba County, Mississippi. Mississippi Burning is a 1988 crime drama film depicting the events of the heinous crime.
In order to fully understand the weight...
“I mean what law can you pass to do anything about police power in the community of Birmingham? There is nothing we can do. The fact of the matter is that Birmingham is in worse shape than any other city in the United States and it’s been that way for a year and a half.” John F. Kennedy gave this statement on May 4, 1963 to twenty members of the organization, Americans...
On August 06, 1964, The New York Times reported an expression of “grief and hope” by Andrew Goodman’s family to the public at a news conference. Andrew Goodman, the dead civil rights worker killed near Philadelphia, Mississippi, had been working on a voter registration drive in Meridan, Mississippi. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Goodman, ensured the public their pain, although...
On January 6, 1964, the Supreme Court ruled that public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia must integrate. This decision came in the case Griffin V. School Board of Prince Edward County where Reverend L. Francis Griffin sued the school board for closing all public schools in the area so they would not have to integrate. Instead, white students attended private school or school...