Sanctuaries of Segregation by Carter Dalton Lyon

Author:Carter Dalton Lyon [Lyon, Carter Dalton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781496816962
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Published: 2017-06-09T00:00:00+00:00

[11]

“Jackson Has Become a Symbol of Our Common Sin”

WINTER 1964

By late 1963 and early 1964, Tougaloo students had various methods for combatting the persistence of racial discrimination in Mississippi’s capital city. Many helped spread the word about another boycott of downtown businesses during the Christmas shopping season. They instead celebrated a “Black Christmas” on the Tougaloo campus to shift attention to the murders of Medgar Evers and President Kennedy. Some made repeated trips to the downtown public library, site of the city’s first organized sit-in in 1961, or attended public events, such as the presentation of Handel’s Messiah, in integrated groups on the campus of Millsaps. Others helped student Austin Moore convincing entertainers, like a few actors from Bonanza and Al Hirt, to cancel their performances in Jackson because of the city’s segregation policies.1 Yet the activity that many gravitated to was something they were accustomed to doing before they became involved in the movement. The church as an institution was a familiar space for them, but the exclusion policies of most of Jackson’s churches illuminated the reality of racial discrimination and made that institution seem unrecognizable. The impulse to restore relevancy to the Christian faith drove these students and the dozens of ministers who vowed to join them in their weekly missions to Jackson’s white churches.

Following a three-week-long hiatus during the Christmas and New Year holidays, the Jackson church visit campaign resumed on January 12, 1964. The day before, four chaplains from the State University of Iowa in Iowa City arrived in Jackson. All four were white, but for the first time in the campaign, the delegation of clergy included two women, as well as ministers of three denominations that had not yet participated in the witness: a Disciples of Christ minister, a Presbyterian, and an Episcopalian. Rev. Sally Smith was an associate minister at First Christian Church, while Rev. Joan Bott was on staff at the Westminster Foundation at the university. Rev. John Kress served as an associate rector at Trinity Episcopal Church, and Rev. Bill Friday was on staff with the Wesley Foundation on campus. In keeping with the routine of previous weekends, the group sought to speak with as many local clergy as they could, securing meetings with a Presbyterian and an Episcopalian minister.2

On Sunday morning, January 12, integrated groups of ministers and students set out for St. Andrew’s Episcopal, Central Presbyterian, and First Christian Church. Rev. Kress, Rev. Bill Friday, and two students entered St. Andrew’s for the 9:30 a.m. Eucharist and sat down on their own, a change from other visits when an usher directed visitors to one of the rear pews. Though the church was open, the routine of seating black visitors in the rear fed the perception that church ushers were trying to segregate the seating. Rev. Friday informed Trumpauer that “there was no trouble,” and that the integrated group was “well received.” At Central Presbyterian, which students had not tried to attend since the second week of visits back in June, Rev.

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