Remembering the Kress lunch counter sit-in
Sixty-two years ago, on this very day, seven Southern University students sat down at a lunch counter in downtown Baton Rouge and sparked a series of incidents that remained frontpage news, with multiple stories in each issue, for a very long time.
Monday, March 28, 1960, at 2 p.m., Marvin E Robinson, 25, president of the student body at Southern University and an education major; Felton Valdry, 23; John W. Johnson, 25, junior in law; Donald T. Moss, 22, junior in law; Jo Ann Morris, 19, freshman; Jeannette Hoston, 20, psychology; and Kenneth Johnson, 22, junior in law; all sat down at the whites-only counter located in the Kress Department store on Third Street.
It didn’t take long before police arrived. The seven were arrested and booked into the city jail for allegedly violating Article 103, Section 7 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. It’s defined as the, “commission of any other act in such a manner as to unreasonably disturb or alarm the public.”
It should be noted that this statue had previously been contested before the Supreme Court for a case that happened in Ponchatoula. It was argued that the statue was “too vague,” but the court decided it was valid.
RELATED: Garner v. Louisiana
In the weeks prior to this incident, The Advocate noted that top officials from the Sheriff’s office, District Attorney’s office, Baton Rouge Police Department, Mayor’s office, and various council members, met to discuss whether or not current city ordinances were sufficient if there were any protests in Baton Rouge.
The first sit-in protest happened in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960. Over the next year, over 70,000 people, both Black and white, participated in sit-ins that happened in 20 states. Many businesses changed or eliminated their segregation practices directly because of the sit-ins.
The sit-in protest was not a new phenomenon. The first large-scale protest happened in 1937 among United Automobile Workers to strike against General Motors Corporation.
Although the sit-ins were all peaceful, there were fears things could become violent. For this reason, the demonstrators were punished to the fullest extent of the law.
The seven students who were arrested at the Kress Department Store were held on a $1,500 bond. This was the same amount every demonstrator faced in the days that followed. To give you some context, when you factor in inflation, that amount today is roughly $14,000.
The community did rally to help the students. The first seven were released the same night they were booked after enough donations were secured to pay the bond. Those who were arrested later were not so lucky. They spent days behind bars.
Sadly, the bond was the mild consequence. Many of the students were expelled or suspended. Eventually, many were convicted and served real jail time.
Over the first week, there were several rallies, including a march to the state capitol. Governor Earl K. Long weighed in.
“If they want to do any good,” Long declared, “they out to return to their native Africa where a colored man don’t have any more privileges than a good mule does in Louisiana.
“Those demonstrators aren’t anything but guinea pigs,” Long said. “Some radical outfit convinced them it was their duty to do what they done.”
Audible gasp when I read that. Seriously? He even offered to help pay for a boat to Africa for any of the participants who would like to leave the country.
This is not the image I had of Earl Long. I believed him to be a man of the people and against segregation. With the same breath he followed up his statements by saying, “There’s never been a governor of Louisiana who has done more for the colored and the poor whites than I have.”
Reporters continued to question him about the comments in the following days, to which he continued with similar rhetoric. I have not yet found if he recanted his statements. Whether he did or did not, his first statement is the accurate reflection of the sentiment of the time. Don’t like it? Then go back to Africa!
What exactly did they do to garner such attention as to have the sitting governor weigh in with such a controversial remark? I’ve transcribed the first story that was published. It’s located at the end of the article. But instead of recapping the full week of coverage, during which there were several shocking moments including a cross burning and an effigy hanging from the LSU flagpole, I’m going to point out a moment of news coverage that grabbed my attention.
For the first two days, the coverage in The Advocate was relatively standard for the time. The reporting was factually based and at least attempted to exclude bias. By Thursday, however, there was a front page decision that made my skin crawl.
On the front page, next to the story detailing the expulsions and suspensions that happened to the Southern University students, there’s an unnamed editorial.
“Let’s Keep Our Heads”
The good relationship between the races in Baton Rouge is threatened by the utterance of the ugly word ‘boycott,’ a development that we are sure most leaders of both races in the community regret. This is an unnecessary and unwise threat aimed at people who are powerless to change the present situation even if they wished to do so. Any effective action along the line of suggested by those who have uttered the word would be certain to work hardship on many innocent individuals of both races.
A boycott is a two-edged sword, a knife that cuts both ways. It can bring in retaliation in a number of ways. I’ll-feeling can be built up rapidly. The peace of the community can be endangered. Loss of business can mean lay-offs for employees, members of both races. It can mean lasting harm to the economic life of the entire community. It can mean the cutting off of one’s nose to spite one’s face. We hope that the responsible leaders of both races are all equally anxious to avoid any action that might create lasting bitterness and division in the community in which we all live, to the harm of all of us. We hope that all others will adopt the same far-sighted attitude.
It is unfortunate that the excellent relationships which have prevailed should be interrupted even slightly, as they have been by a spread to this city of the “sit-in” demonstrations conducted by Negro college students with much excitement but little lasting effect in a number of other communities. But perhaps it should not be surprising. Perhaps there are those in other parts of the country who have reasons of their own for being unhappy to see such relationships in existence anywhere, to see cooperation and progress without agitation, an example that might spread.
The demonstrations and parades are in themselves no cause for worry. All those concerned, including the demonstrators, have been on their good behavior. The police have been correct in their actions. The spectators have reacted calmly. But there is always concern, in such a situation, lest some unfortunate incident, some loss of temper or judgment by some individual, or the planned actions of some one or some few unwise persons, change the atmosphere for the worse.
These are times that require understanding, good will and patience, regardless of how hard these things sometimes may come to some among us. The recognition and acceptance that really count cannot be hastened or ever won by any action that creates alarm, destroys good will or alienates the different groups in the community. Anyone on either side of such a controversy who threatens or hints at mob action automatically destroys the very thing for which he claims to be struggling. Civilized people of all races are revolted and offended by the thought of violence and disorder.
Radicals on one side must realize that no changes can be brought about by immature demonstrations and disorders. Radicals on the other side must realize that changes cannot be prevented by threat or intimidation. The great majority of the people, who want none of all this, will condemn both. Our society may have its imperfections, as do all things of human design. But this is not the way improvements will be brought about. Time and orderly evolution can bring progress. Force can bring none.
I don’t think I need to explain to you why I have an issue with this. But if you see no harm, I ask you to consider that there’s a reason editorial content is kept to certain sections of the paper.
I bring this up not to condemn the choices made by a staff of employees 62 years ago. Rather, I mention it because we’re currently experiencing a wave of transition in the way news is delivered.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the significance of “the media.” During my own career, I questioned myself, the authority above me, and the entire industry. Now that I am technical on the outside of the mainstream, I continue to look at how our current media structure is impacting society as a whole. What are the decisions we’re making today that will impact the entire fabric of our social structure?
Okay, I realize that’s probably more deep than you were hoping to go on a Monday morning, but if you’ve made it this far, then chances are you’re up for the conversation, so join me on LinkedIn. And of course, you can always come join me on the Downtown East Social ride, every Monday at 6 p.m. We meet at the Electric Depot. Tell your friends!
Monday, March 28, 1960
Negro Students Arrested here after Sit-Down
Group of 7 jailed, later bonded; Southern Rally Threatens Boycott
By Jim Crain
Seven students from Southern University, all-Negro state institution here, were released on bond of $1,500 apiece Monday night about 5:30 hours after they were arrested for staging a sit-down protest against lunch counter segregation at the Kress Department Store on Third Street.
Almost moments before their release, a giant rally was staged on the Southern University campus, with students threatening to boycott classes if the group of seven was expelled.
The demonstration, which lasted only moments with city police moving in quickly to whisk the seven off to jail, marked the first lunch counter sit-down in Louisiana.
About an hour before the group was released from the East Baton Rouge Parish Jail about 7:30, more than 3,500 students assembled on the Southern University Campus with student leaders calling for boycott of classes if the arrested students are expelled. The students also vowed to raise most of the $10,500 for the bond money.
Felton C. Clark, president of the college, was in Washington, D.C. attending the White House Conference on Youth.
Other officials of the state-supported university said earlier Monday afternoon that some “disciplinary action” would have to be taken against the students for their actions.
Recently the State Board of Education warned all presidents of state-supported colleges they were expected to take disciplinary action against any students involved in acts that would bring discredit to the state educational system.
Passive Protest
The demonstration Monday afternoon, which marked the first of its kind in the state was termed a “passive protest” against segregation.
Negros at Dillard University in New Orleans, a private institution, staged an anti-segregation sidewalk demonstration about two weeks ago. There were no arrests there.
The group of well-dressed Southern University students, five men and two women, sat down at Kress white lunch counter promptly at 2 p.m. Monday
“We’re from Southern,” they told reporters. The sit-downers said they were staging a “passive protest.” The seven students said they had been shopping in the store and “had gotten hungry.”
The students sat down at the counter and ordered hamburgers, tea, and other items but waitresses refused to serve them and told them they would have to go to the colored counter on the other side of the store.
The students were jailed for disturbing the peace, in violation of Act 103 of the state criminal code. They were sitting quietly at the lunch counter when reporters and photographers arrived. A short time later, Chief of Police Shirley Arrighi and Capt. Robert Weiner of the juvenile division, arrived. Arrighi called in four patrolmen who had been waiting outside in a patrol car and a paddy wagon and placed the students under arrest.
File Out Quietly
The sit-downers stood up at Arrighi’s order and filed quietly out to the paddy wagon with police officers escorting them. Police searched them for weapons and the negro men helped the two women up the steps into the paddy wagon.
Marvin E Robinson, 25, president of the student body at Southern, was among those arrested. Others jailed were: Felton Valdry, 23; John W. Johnson, 25, junior in law; Donald T. Moss, 22, junior in law; Robinson an education major; Jo Ann Morris, 19, freshman; Jeannette Hoston, 20, psychology; and Kenneth Johnson, 22, junior in law.
Spontaneous
The students said the sit-down demonstration Monday afternoon was spontaneous and that officials at Southern knew nothing of it.
A group of local Negro leaders including the Rev. T. J. Jemison and Atty. Johnny Jones, reportedly raised money to hire a professional bonding company to make bond for the seven students. The Rev. Jemison was a leader in the local National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People before it was outlawed here. Sources also reported that the NAACP gave some assistance in getting the students free on bond.
The Students said they were aware that they would probably be arrested before they staged the sit-down strike, but “the consequences weren’t important at the time.”
“I purchased a product and was hungry,” said the Hoston girl.
Dist. Atty. J St. Clari Favrot said Monday that in the meeting with other officials “we determined that the actual violence in other Southern cities would not happen here. We don’t intend to put up with it from either black or white,” he said.
Awakening
Asked if Southern students were planning further demonstrations, Moss said: “We don’t know. This was an individual thing but we hope it will awaken seven million more colored students.”
Mayor-President Jack Christian said after the incident Monday afternoon: “Based on a meeting 30 days ago with the district attorney, the parish attorney, the police chief and sheriff, we feel that there are now adequate statutory provisions to cope with the situation. Unless I am advised otherwise, we will not initiate any new ordinances.”
Article 103, Section 7 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes refers to “Commission of any other act in such a manner as to unreasonably disturb or alarm the public.” IN a Ponchatoula case, the state statute was contested before the Supreme Court on the ground that it was too vague but the court held that it was a valid act and in upholding the decision of the lower court, define a disturbance of the peace as constituting: “Any act which molested the inhabitants in the enjoyment of peace and quiet or which excited disquietude or fear among normal persons.”
Asked if the seven were members of the NAACP, Moss replied: “No, but we’re members of the human race. And being members of the human race gave us the right to do what we did.”
There was no light at the meeting on the southern campus Monday night. The crowd was hushed as they strained to hear the speakers. One leader told the group: “If the university sends those seven home, we’re asking that all of you boycott classes if they are expelled.”
Students at the rally were asked to contribute $2 each for a fund for paying the bond for the arrested students. Collection for the fund was to start Tuesday.
Southern students ended the rally with a prayer asking “help to do this in a non-violent way” and sang the chorus of the National Anthem.
R.R. Matthews, manager of Kress, told reporters who were questioning him about the Negros sitting at the counter: “I’m not going to make a statement, so lay off.”
Unaware
Dean of men S. U. Jones of Southern said officials at the institution were “completely unaware” of the incident or anything leading to it.
“I hope it doesn’t reflect in any way to bring discredit on the university,” he said. Jones said the students involved in the incident were among the better ones at the school.
“This was something we certainly weren’t expecting,” he said. “I hope something can be worked out that will be satisfactory to both sides.”