Greene County Democrat

Tag: National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA)

  • EDITORIAL

    Historical accuracy is important

    It has come to the attention of the publishers of the Greene County Democrat
    that the Greene County Historical Society of Alabama plans to give its Distinguished Service Award to Judge J. Dennis Herndon.

    Herndon is deceased and was a founder of the Greene County Historical Society, but there are some historical facts that suggest that his contributions to Greene County and adjoining counties were not worthy to be considered as “distinguished service” to a multi-racial democratic society, which most of us are trying to build.

    Judge Herndon was the official responsible for deliberately leaving the names of Black officials, running with the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) off the ballot in 1966 and again in 1968. The NDPA had to challenge him in court and take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court to secure a special election on July 29, 1969, which led to the election of a majority Black County Commission and School Board. The Supreme Court of the United States held Circuit Judge J. Dennis Herndon in contempt for his actions to prevent Black people, in a majority Black County, from exercising their democratic right to vote for candidates of their own choosing.

    Another example of Circuit Judge Herndon’s inequitable administration of justice was his treatment of the Panola Land Buying Association (PLBA), when he blocked their efforts to purchase 1,164 acres of land in Sumter County for three years from 1967 to 1970. The 40 members families of the PLBA were tenant farmers evicted from plantations in north Sumter County for engaging in civil rights activities. They just wanted some land to continue farming and build housing. The PLBA and their supporters, worked together with a white merchant in Gainesville, who had lost three tracts of land in a foreclosure, to exercise his redemption rights, under Alabama law to recover the land.

    Every time the PLBA went into Judge Herndon’s court for three years he postponed and blocked a decision in their case. The lawyers for PLBA had to remove the case to Federal Court in Birmingham to get a judgement that adjudicated the redemption in their favor and allowed them to purchase the land. The Federation of Southern Cooperatives assisted the PLBA in purchasing, financing and paying for the land, a portion of which is now the organization’s Rural Training and Research Center.

    We raise these concerns because we feel the Greene County Historical Society needs to appreciate the full evaluation of Judge Herndon and other white people’s past actions before giving them awards. We hope our raising these concerns will lead to a more open and truthful dialogue between Black and White people in Greene County on how to work together for a joint future with truth and justice for all.

    CORRECTION

    Letter to the Editor

    Dear Editors

    Having read your editorial regarding the late Dennis Herndon and your calling for historical accuracy please check your facts regarding who served at the 17th Circuit  Court Judge during the time frame of your Editorial content regarding PLBA. 

    It was in fact, Emmett Hildreth, who was appointed by Alabama Governor Chauncey Sparks in 1943 to serve as Circuit Court Judge for the 17th Judicial District comprising of the counties of Greene, Marengo, and Sumter. Hildreth was subsequently elected to the position and was re-elected such that he served in the position for thirty years until his death in 1973. 
    

    Dennis Herndon served as the Probate Judge of Greene County from 1959-1971. 

    Sharon S. Trammell
    Editor
    Greene County Independent

    Editors Note: We stand corrected. We regret our error; however we understand that both
    Judge Herndon and Judge Hildreth used the Alabama judicial system in a racist and exclusionary manner toward Black people, during the period prior to 1970.

  • Greene County celebrates 55th ‘Freedom Day’ to commemorate Special Election of July 29, 1969, when Black people took control of the County Commission and School Board

    Mrs. Ida Bonner awarded the Coretta Scott King Freedom Award by Elder Spiver Gordon; Spiver Gordon presents plaque to Bill Edwards; Spiver Gordon presents plaque to Mr. Tony Clayton District Attorney of Port Allen, LA; Mr. Morris Hardy awarded the Dr. MLK Jr. Freedom Award by Elder Spiver Gordon.

    On Sunday evening, in the William M. Branch Courthouse, about 100 people from Greene County celebrated the 55th anniversary of the Special Election in 1969, when Black people were elected to control the County Commission and School Board in the county. Greene County was the first county in Alabama where Black people were able to control the county government.

    The U. S. Supreme Court ordered the 1969 Special Election, because local white officials had deliberately left the mostly Black candidates of the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) off the November 1968 ballot. The decision was made in US Supreme Court case no. 647, Hadnott vs. Amos, 394 US 358 (1969).

    In the election of November 1970, Judge William M. Branch was elected the first Black Probate Judge in Alabama and America. Thomas Gilmore was elected Sheriff and over the next few years, Blacks were elected to all political positions in the county.

    The program was sponsored by the Alabama Civil Rights Freedom Movement under the direction of Spiver W. Gordon, President. Gordon has been celebrating Freedom Day in Greene County for many years to remind people of the importance of using their voting rights to push for more justice, equity and progress in the county.

    The theme of the program was ‘Rejoicing about the Past – Causality in looking to the Future”. There were two main speakers: Bill Edwards, who now lives in Oregon, but was active with NDPA, Miles College, FOGCE Federal Credit Union and Community Service Programs of West Alabama in the 1965-1985; and Tony Clayton, District Attorney of West Baton Rouge, Iberville. and Pointe Coupee Parishes in Louisiana.

    After a spirited devotional, Mayor Latasha Johnson of Eutaw, Alabama, gave greetings and keys to the city to the two guest speakers. Lorenzo French, Chair of the Democratic Executive Committee, in his occasion for the meeting, lamented that most of the Black elected officials in Greene County were not present for Freedom Day. “Where are the Probate Judge, Circuit Clerk, Revenue Commissioner, Sheriff, Mayors and Council members of Union, Forkland and Boligee?” asked French.

    Several persons gave special commendations for Bill Edwards in his work as Director of Community Service Programs of West Alabama. District 1 Commissioner, Garria Spencer, who was chair of the CSP-WA Board lauded Bill’s work with the anti-poverty agency. Ms. Sandra Fair who worked with Bill thanked him. Judge John H. England thanked Bill for his work in building new houses and replacing the shotgun shacks in Belchers and Barr’s Quarters in Tuscaloosa.

    Rev. Wendell Paris spoke on the importance of voting in all elections, especially the election coming up on November 5, 2024. John Cashin, son of his namesake from Huntsville, Alabama, who headed the NDPA and was instrumental in the lawsuit that created the special election on July 29, 1969, spoke on the importance of the NDPA, as a grassroots response to the racist regular Democratic Party of Alabama, which was controlled by George Wallace.

    Three speakers commented on looking to the future, including Rev. Kenneth Popleon of Plaquemine, Louisiana; Arthur Crawford, Probate Judge of Hale County and Carol P. Zippert, former school board chair. Zippert asked, “Where are the youth leaders, people between 18 – 40 years old, today? We must reach out to them. Fifty-five years ago, Judge Branch, Gilmore and most of the other leaders were young people under 30. It is frightening that this whole generation is missing.”

    Spiver Gordon introduced Tony Clayton, the District Attorney of three parishes in Louisiana. Clayton said he owed his election to places like Greene County which rose up for Black people and electing Black people to office in the1960’s, when it wasn’t easy. He said Jesse Jackson, Obama and now Kamala Harris owe their political future to what Greene County people did fifty-five years ago.

    After the speaking, Spiver Gordon presented awards to many of the speakers, participants and ‘foot-soldiers’ of Greene County-who contributed their time, skills and money to the civil rights movement in the Alabama Black Belt.

  • Greene County celebrates 55th Freedom Day

    Spiver Gordon

    Greene County will hold its 55th Freedom Day Celebration on Sunday, July 28, 2024 at the Williams  M. Branch Courthouse  beginning at 4:00 p.m.  This event commemorates the 1969 special election ordered by the U.S Supreme Court when the State of Alabama refused to put the slate of candidates representing the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) on the state’s November 1968 ballot.

    The NDPA filed the lawsuit on behalf of Greene County’s Black voters which resulted in the July 29, 1969 Special Election. A copy of the symbol of the party that was on the corrected ballot is in the upper right corner of the story.

     The Keynote Speaker for the event is the honorable Tony Clayton, District Attorney Port Allen, LA and special honored guest the honorable Bill Edwards Humanitarian, Civil Rights Leader Political Leader of  Beverton, OR. Edwards was working with NDPA at the time of the 1969 Special Election.

     After passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, various civil rights organizations conducted successful voter education and registration campaigns throughout the county resulting in a high voter registration among the local 85% majority Black population.
    
 The results of the 1969 special election and the subsequent 1970 state election gave Greene County its sweeping victory of countywide Black elected officials including board of education members (who hired, Robert Brown, as the first Black school superintendent), county commissioners, sheriff, probate judge, tax collector, circuit clerk and coroner. The first Black tax collector was elected in 1978. Greene County is noted as the first county in the nation to elect all Black county officials.
    
The Freedom Day event, sponsored by the Alabama Civil Rights Museum Movement, Inc., will include food, music, and praise.  “The community is invited, including all local elected officials, to celebrate this important anniversary” said Spiver W. Gordon, President of the organization.

     The first Greene County Black elected officials roster is as follows: In 1966, Rev. Peter J. Kirksey – first Black school board member and Rev. W.D. Lewis, first Black elected to Greene County Democratic Executive Committee; in 1969 (special election) first Black Commissioners – Rev. Vassie Knott, Mr. Harry Means, Mr. Franchie Burton, and Mr. Levi Morrow, Sr., additional Black school board members, Mr. James Posey and Mr. Robert Hines.

    In 1970 Rev. William M. Branch, first Black Probate Judge, Rev. Thomas Gilmore, first Black Sheriff, Deacon John Head and Mr. Earsrie Chambers elected to the Board of Education; Mrs. Wadine Williams, first Black Circuit Clerk; Mr. Robert Cook, first Black Tax Collector; Rev. Harold Milton, first Black Coroner; in 1978, Rev. John Kennard elected as first Black Tax Assessor.

  • Greene County celebrates 54th Freedom Day

    Greene County will hold its 54th Freedom Day Celebration on Saturday, July 29, 2023 at the Christian Valley Baptist Church Tishabee Community, beginning at 4:00 p.m. This event commemorates the 1969 special election ordered by the U.S. Justice Department when the State of Alabama refused to put the slate of candidates representing the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) on the state’s 1968 ballot.
    In the 1960’s, various civil rights organizations had conducted successful voter education and registration campaigns throughout the county resulting in a high voter registration among the local 80% majority Black population.
    The results of the 1969 special election and the subsequent 1970 state election gave Greene County its sweeping victory of countywide Black elected officials including board of education members (who hired the first Black school superintendent), county commissioners, sheriff, probate judge, tax collector, circuit clerk and coroner. The first Black tax collector was elected in 1978. Greene County is noted as the first county in the nation to elect all Black county officials.
    A Freedom Civil Rights Monument will be erected to honor foot soldiers of Greene County who participated in the movement. The Freedom Day event, sponsored by the Alabama Civil Rights Museum Movement, Inc., will include food, music, and praise. The community is invited including all local elected officials.
    The first Greene County Black elected officials roster is as follows: In 1966, Rev. Peter J. Kirksey – first Black school board member and Rev. W.D. Lewis, first Black elected to Greene County Democratic Executive Committee; in 1969 (special election) first Black Commissioners – Rev. Vassie Knott, Mr. Harry Means, Mr. Franchie Burton, and Mr. Levi Morrow, Sr., additional Black school board members, Mr. James Posey and Mr. Robert Hines; in 1970 Rev. William M. Branch, first Black Probate Judge, Rev. Thomas Gilmore, first Black Sheriff, Deacon John Head and Mr. Earsrie Chambers elected to the Board of Education; Mrs. Wadine Williams, first Black Circuit Clerk; Mr. Robert Cook, first Black Tax Collector; Rev. Harold Milton, first Black Coroner; in 1978, Rev. John Kennard elected as first Black Tax Assessor.

  • First Black Women in Public Office in Greene County

    Mrs. Wadine Williams was elected the first Black Circuit Clerk in Greene County.

    Mrs. Amanda Burton was the first Black woman appointed to the Greene County Commission.
    Mrs. Lula Cook was the first Black woman appointed and subsequently elected as Greene County Tax Collector.
    Mrs. Edna Chambers was the first Black Woman elected to the Greene County Commission

    Editor’s Note: In March, as Women’s History Month, the Democrat will salute various Black women who held political office.

    Mrs. Wadine Williams was elected the first Black Circuit Clerk in Greene County in 1970 on the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) ticket. She ran for re-election in 1976, but was defeated by Mary McShan, who ran on the Democratic Party ticket.

    Ms. Amanda Burton was appointed the first Black Woman on the Greene County Commission, to complete the term of her husband, Franchie Burton, when he passed.
    Burton attended school at the Bibb County Training School and Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, where she met her husband, Franchie Burton. After marriage and a move to Greene County, Burton completed her BA degree at Alabama State University in Montgomery and become a certified librarian.
    In 1935, Mrs. Burton began teaching at Burton Hill School in Greene County. It was consolidated with Eatman School in 1962 and she continued to teach there and also began its library. She retired in 1972.
    She was an active member of the Johnson Hill United Methodist Church in Union. She organized the Johnson Hill Summer Youth Program, which became the Johnson Hill Learning Center.
    She was the first Black woman in Greene County to register to vote and the first Black Notary Public in Greene County. She helped incorporate the town of Union and organized a nutrition site for senior citizens in 1981.
    Gov. George Wallace appointed her to fill her late husband’s unexpired term as county commissioner, thus making her the first woman commissioner in Greene County.
    Mrs. Lula Cook was the first Black Woman appointed to the office of Tax Collector, when her husband, Robert Cook, passed in 1986. She was subsequently elected to that office.
    Lula Virginia Davis Cook , (Honey Bae, Honey Baby) was born June 14, 1922 in Boligee, Alabama. After the early demise of her mother, Rebecca Dunlap, she was reared and nurtured in the Christian home by her loving grandparents, George and Lula Davis. She was educated in the Greene County School System. After graduating from Greene County Training School, she attended A & M University, Normal, AL and Miles College in Birmingham, AL, majoring in Early Childhood Education. Because of her love for children, she worked for several years with the Greene County Board of Education.
    On December 24, 1948 she married the love of her life, Robert Henry Cook, Sr., who was elected the first Black Tax Collector of Greene County beginning October 1, 1973. In 1986, Lula succeeded her husband after he had served twelve consecutive years by becoming the first Black woman to serve as Greene County’s Tax Collector. Lula loved the Lord and was a loyal member of Macedonia CME Church where she served faithfully until her health prevented her from doing so. She served as Sunday School Teacher, President of the Missionary Society, Secretary of the Sunday School, a Laymen and a Trustee.

    Mrs. Edna Chambers was the first Black Woman elected to the Greene County Commission.
    Mrs. Edna Chambers, of Knoxville, AL, celebrated her 92nd birthday on January 8, 2023.  Mrs. Chambers has been a community activist all her adult life and continues to share her life experiences and wisdom, receiving many accolades for her outstanding community work.  She is noted as a trailblazer, civil rights activists and humanitarian in Greene County and throughout the state of Alabama.
      Chambers, representing District 1,  served two terms on the Greene County Commission between 1998- 2004.  Prior to running for office, Mrs. Chambers had just retired from the Greene County Health Department as a  home health care employee.  She and her husband for many years operated a small community grocery store. She was also a licensed agent with Primerica Insurance Company. 
      In  her capacity as a community leader,  Mrs. Chambers helped and assisted with the following: Camp Montgomery, Knoxville Volunteer Fire Department, Montgomery Recreation Center and the USDA Commodity Distribution. She is also an active member of the Greene County Chapter of Alabama New South Coalition.
    Mrs. Chambers attends Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Knoxville. Her pastor is Rev. Robert Ellis.  

     

  • Greene County commemorates 52nd Annual Freedom Day at Courthouse Square; Mayor Johnny Ford of Tuskegee keynotes; vaccinations offered

    Staff of the Greene County Health System administering Johnson and Johnson one shot COVID-19 vaccine as part of the program
    L to R: John Zippert , Anita Lewis , Greene County Housing Authority Director, Lewis Leonard, who was the first person vaccinate and received a $100 gift certificate, and Spiver W.Gordon
    L t o R: Spiver W. Gordon presents certificate to keynote speaker, Johnny Ford , Mayor Latasha Johnson, Lorenzo French and John Zippert

    The Alabama Civil Rights Museum Movement Museum sponsored the 52nd Annual Freedom Day Program at the Old Courthouse Square on Saturday, July 31, 2021.

    About one hundred people attended the outside meeting, in blistering

    heat, to commemorate the Special Election on July 29, 1969, when Black people were elected to control the County Commission and School Board in Greene County. 

    The Special Election of July 1969 was ordered by the U. S. Supreme Court, after local white officials left the Black candidates, running in the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) off the ballot in the November 1968 General Election. The meeting was to commemorate over half a century of Black political progress in Greene County.

    The Greene County Health System was on hand to give Johnson and Johnson one-shot coronavirus vaccinations at the event to persons who needed a vaccination. Seven persons were vaccinated and many others received information on the importance of vaccination to protect their health and the health of their families, friends and community. The Museum and other sponsors provided gift certificates to those who were vaccinated.

    Spiver Gordon, President of the Museum spoke on the occasion for the program. “Many things have changed for the better since 1969. Electing Black officials allowed us to change many of the insulting racist practices n Greene County but we still need to keep working and keep moving forward.

    Everything that happened, happened because ordinary people stood up to help make the needed changes.”

    Lorenzo French, Chair of the Greene County Democratic Executive Committee, lamented, “Too many of our candidates are ‘bought and paid for’ before they run for office and when they get into office, they don’t do what we need them to do. We must recruit and train better candidates that will serve the people.”

    Johnny Ford, eight term Mayor of Tuskegee and currently a City Council member gave the keynote address. Ford has served as head of the Alabama Conference of Black Mayors, National Conference of Black Mayors and World Conference of Black Mayors. He recently tried to saw the base of the Confederate Soldiers Memorial in Tuskegee to topple the statue.

    Ford thanked Greene County for its work over the years since 1969 to pave the way for Black elected officials in Alabama and across the nation. “Today we have 50 Black mayors in Alabama, 200 across the South and more than 700 Mayors and Council-people across The United States, all inspired by what happened in Greene County,” said Ford.

    Ford urged people to get vaccinated for the coronavirus and save their lives and the lives of the people around them. “Some people have hesitancy because of what happened in Tuskegee years ago in the syphilis study, where 600 Black men were denied medicine, to study the effects on them. In this case we are being offered a safe vaccine that was developed with the participation of Black doctors. Everyone should take the vaccine,” declared Ford in his remarks.

    Ford said, “We have some more rivers to cross. We must Expand Medicaid for poor and working people in Alabama. We must end voter suppression and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. We must end police brutality and pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.”

    Eutaw Mayor Latasha Johnson also addressed the crowd and urged everyone to participate in government by voting and attending meetings. She also urged everyone to get vaccinated to protect themselves from the coronavirus, especially the new delta strain, which is more powerful and contagious.

    Spiver Gordon concluded the meeting by giving a plaque to speaker Mayor Johnny Ford, gift certificates to those who took coronavirus shots at the event and some door prizes to those in attendance. Refreshments were provided at the end of the meeting.

  • New Civil Rights monuments unveiled as part of 50th anniversary of ‘Freedom Day’ in Greene County

    Special to the Democrat by: John Zippert,
    Co-Publisher

    Members of the Class of 1965 pose behind the new
    monument at former Carver School
    Spiver W. Gordon points out information on monument at the home of Annie Thomas and Rosie Carpenter

    During this weekend’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Greene County’s Freedom Day – July 29, 1969 –the Alabama Civil Rights Movement Museum unveiled two new monuments in Eutaw to the grassroots leaders and footsoldiers of the movement.
    This weekend’s activities celebrated a Special Election held in Greene County, fifty years ago, which elected four African-American County Commissioners – Harry Means, Vassie Knott, Franchie Burton and Levi Morrow Sr. – two school board members – Robert Hines and James Posey. The two school board members joined two elected earlier – Rev. Peter J. Kirksey and John Head, which gave Black people majority control of county government. Greene County, Alabama was the first county in the South, where Black people took political control since passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

    The July 29, 1969 special election was ordered by the U. S. Supreme Court after the names of the Black candidates, running under the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) were deliberately left off the November 1968 General Election ballot. In the November 1970 election, Judge William McKinley Branch was elected Probate Judge, Thomas Gilmore, Sheriff and Wadine Williams, Circuit Clerk, Robert Cook, Tax Collector.
    The success in the elections of 1969 and 1970 had their roots in a student protest and boycott that began in January 1965 at Carver High School in Eutaw and lasted the rest of the semester.
    At 9:00 AM on Saturday, July 27, 2019, Spiver W. Gordon, President of the Alabama Civil Rights Museum, convened the program to unveil a monument to the students and supporting parents and community leaders who were involved in the 1965 school boycott. The monument which is in front of the former Carver School, now a City of Eutaw Community Center, lists the names of over 120 grassroots people who took part in this boycott, which paved the way for other civil rights and voting rights victories that followed in the 1960’s.
    Joyce Crawford Mitchell, a tenth grade student in 1965 said the boycott came about because of the “blatantly unbelievable inequities in the educational system at that time.
    “We had hand-me-down textbooks; sometimes we had to bind the books together they were so old. We could not go to the public library in Eutaw and there weren’t many books in the school. We shut down the school, chained the doors and left the principal inside.”
    Jacqueline Bloxton Allen, of the 1965 graduating class described the boycott and ensuing months of marches and protests. “First we met in the First Baptist Church but they were pressured and put us out, so we started meeting in the cemetery across the street from the church. Black students from Eatman Jr. High and Greene County Training School joined us across the county. The parents and groups from around the county sent food for us to eat – mostly bologna sandwiches. We marched into downtown Eutaw. We were fearful and excited. Many parents were evicted from farms when the power structure found out their children were involved in the boycott and protests.”
    Allen continued, “We found out that we would not have a graduation because of the boycott. At this point, SCLC scheduled a graduation for us on May 30, 1965 in Selma at Brown’s Chapel Church. We went to the graduation, boys wearing overalls and girls in denim skirts and white blouses.
    “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was our graduation speaker and we all received Freedom Diplomas, signed by Dr. King, Rev. Ralph Abernathy and James Orange. Dr. King told us we would have a bright future because we had taken part in the boycott. He said we had shown that young people are powerful when they make up their minds to change the world.”
    The group moved on to unveil a second monument, on Alabama Highway 14, at the home of two Black sisters – Annie Thomas and Rosie Carpenter – who were grassroots leaders of the movement and allowed their home to be used for strategy meetings and as a resting place for civil rights leaders.
    Ms. Rosie Carpenter was a schoolteacher, who was instrumental in actively supporting the civil rights and voting rights struggle in Greene County, when many other educators were afraid to stand-up and speak out against injustice. Mrs. Annie Thomas was a businesswoman who supported the movement. Ms. Carpenter, who is 97 years old, living with her daughter in Maryland, attended the program and made some remarks recalling the difficulties of standing up for justice in the 1960’s.
    Others spoke to the role of the two sisters in supporting the civil rights movement. Some recalled that Dr. King, James Orange, Hosea Williams and other SCLC workers stayed at their home as a place of rest during the movement. Renatta Gail Brown, daughter of Robert Brown, first Black School Superintendent, recalled that SNCC workers, Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown, played with her, as a child during the 1960’s at Ms. Carpenter’s house.
    As the monument was unveiled, the group recited a dedication which concluded, We dedicate this monument to stand for years as a symbol that grassroots and ordinary people can do extraordinary and exemplary things, despite insurmountable obstacles, to advance their destiny and quality of life, as part of a movement for social change in their home community, the state, the nation and the world.
    Gordon postponed, until a later date, the unveiling of a third monument, to be placed at the Robert Brown Middle School to honor Black students who integrated the schools of Greene County in the late 1960’s.
    The Democrat will have additional reports and photographs of the 50th anniversary commemoration in next weeks and future editions of this newspaper.

  • Two-day celebration planned for 50th anniversary of ‘Greene Co. Freedom Day’, July 29, 1969, when Black people were elected to take control of county government

    NDPA Political Planning Session
    L to R: Rev. Peter Kirskey, School Board Member, Rev. William M. Branch Probate Judge candidate, Malcom Branch, Judge Branch’s son, Greene County Commissioner Franchie Burton, Dr. John Cashin, NDPA President, Rev. Thomas Gilmore, Sheriff Candidate, County Commissioner Levi Morrow, Sr., and County Commissioner Harry Means. The group shown here is meeting in a planning session for the special election for Greene County in 1968. (The Afro-American Newspaper in Baltimore MD.)
    Packed courtroom on hand for the oath taking ceremony for Greene County Commissioners and school board members listened intently as Circuit Court Judge Emmett Hildreth read a six page speech in which he lists achievements of past administrations and county bank balance. Newly elected Black officials were joined by fifth commissioner, Dennis Herndon, Probate Judge and other school board members in 1969. ( AFRO Staff Photos  By Irving H. Phillips of The Afro- American Newspaper in Baltimore MD.)

    Special to the
    Democrat by: John Zippert, Co-Publisher

    “We will be holding a two day celebration of the 50th anniversary of Greene County Freedom Day – July 29, 1969 – when a Special Election was held in the county that elected the first four Black County Commissioners and two additional Black school board members, which gave Black people control of the major agencies of government,” said Spiver W. Gordon, President of the Alabama Civil Rights Museum Movement in Eutaw, Alabama.
    This special election in the summer of 1969 was ordered by the United States Supreme Court when the names of Black candidates, running on the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA), were deliberately left off the November 1968 General Election ballot by the ruling white political officials of the time. The special election of July 29, 1969 allowed Black voters, many newly registered under the 1965 Voting Rights Act, who were the majority in Greene County to have their say in a free and democratic election.
    This was a historic event, which heralded a change in political power across the Alabama Black Belt and began a generational shift in the political power in Greene County that has continued for fifty years.
    “As part of our commemorative celebration on the weekend of July 27 and 28, 2019, we will be unveiling and dedicating three monuments with the names of the ordinary people who made extraordinary contributions to changing the history of Greene County, the Alabama Black Belt, the South and the nation,” said Gordon.
    The three monuments will be dedicated on Saturday morning, July 27, 2019 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon.
    The first monument will be for the Carver High School Class of 1965 and other Greene County school students, who boycotted classes and closed the schools to demonstrate against segregated schools and unacceptable civil rights conditions in Greene County at that time. The Class of 1965 closed the schools for the remainder of the spring 1965 semester and there was no formal graduation that year. Many of the students received a “Freedom Diploma” signed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph D. Abernathy and James Orange, at Brown’s Chapel Church in Selma, Alabama later in the summer.
    The monument at the former Carver High School, now the Robert H. Cook Community Center, features the names of over 120 young people that took part in the school boycott and demonstrations of 1965, which led to the voting rights and election struggles later in that decade.
    The second monument will be placed in front of ‘The Freedom House’, home of the late Annie Thomas and Rosie Carpenter on Highway 14 in Eutaw. These two courageous sisters, one a businesswoman and the other a school teacher, allowed their home to be used, starting in the 1960’s and continuing into the 1990’s for strategy sessions and political action planning meetings related to the civil and voting rights struggles of Greene County.
    The third monument to be placed in front of the current Robert Brown Middle School and former Greene County High School site, to honor the young African-American students who first integrated the schools of Greene County in the 1960’s. The names of 45 or more persons are on this marker.
    On Saturday, July 27, 2019 at 6:00 PM there will be a banquet honoring the foot soldiers who participated in the civil rights and voting rights movement of the 1960’s in Greene County. Among the living leaders who participated in the struggle, who have agreed to attend are: Rosie Carpenter (who now lives in Bowie, Maryland), Bill Edwards (Portland, OR), Atty. Sheryl Cashin (daughter of John Cashin from Washington, D. C.) Fred Taylor, Tyrone Brooks, and Dexter Wimbush (Georgia), Wendell H. Paris (Jackson, MS), Judge John England, Hank Sanders, Sen. Bobby Singleton and many other dignitaries.
    On Sunday July 28, 2019, at 4:00 PM there will be a Freedom Rally, honoring the fallen Black political leaders of Greene County, at the William M. Branch Courthouse in Eutaw.
    The rally will be followed by a fish-fry and watermelon eating fellowship meeting on the grounds of the old Courthouse in Eutaw.
    For more information and to support the Freedom Day 50th anniversary celebration, contact: Spiver Gordon, Alabama Civil Rights Museum Movement, Inc., P. O. Box 385, Eutaw, Alabama 35462; phone 205-372-3446;
    email:
    spiverwgordon@
    hotmail.com