Provided courtesy of Freedom Summer Digital Collection, Wisconsin Historical Society
Mimi Feingold:
First, could you give me your name and address?
Ellis Howard:
My name is Ellis D. Howard. Route 2, Box 43, Greensburg.
Mimi Feingold:
And now, could you tell about how the registering and voting first started among Negros in St. Helena Parish?
Ellis Howard:
Well, registering and voting first started in St. Helena Parish based on unfair treatments on the part of police forces and other white citizens, and unfair treatments on the part of the agriculture programs and different projects. We felt that if we could participate in the government by voting, we would be able to get better treatment. And we'd be able to get more respect from other persons who were participating in government. Then we launched out to get qualified for voting. So we went down and registered and —
Mimi Feingold:
What year was that?
Ellis Howard:
That was in 1954, '51 at first, when we registered first in '51. We never experienced any problem in regestering at first in '51. Went down and registered. Then we went back in '56 to start to vote. And we experienced in '50... in the latter part of '54 we went back to vote, and we experienced problems, going to vote. And we filed complaints in with the Department of Justice, and the Federal Marshalls came down and settled this problem. So then, we were able to go down vote without any interference. In 1956, we went down and we voted without any problems. But, even at that, for an example, at our voting precinct, there were two voting machines placed in the precinct, which, it was illegal according to the law, because the law holds that any voting precinct that has increased the number of voters, registered voters to exceed 600, two voting machines should be provided.But we did not have that many. It was 250 Negro voters, and they exceeded the whites. There was only about 170 whites. So we didn't have as many as 500, let alone 600. And of course, this was to practice discrimination against the Negro and the white in the voting precinct.
So, we filed complaints in with the Department of Justice relative to unfair treatments in the voting precinct. And we went in before the civil rights commissioners and testified against these problems. And after 1960, in 1961, then the books closed against those that were registered at that time and the registration period expired. So we had to go back in '51 and register again. We came back...it was 1960 rather, the books closed. We had four years period. We were operating on a periodic registration and system.
And in 1961, we had to go back and register again. So we went back in 1961 to start registering. And now we met up with a lot of strategy of having to read and interpret the constitution of the state of Louisiana or of the United States, which we did not have to go through with in the first place. This, we were faced with many problems and difficulties of satisfying the registrar with our interpretation.
So then, we had to file complaints according to these problems, based against these problems, we had to file complaints. And we were able to get consideration from the Department of Justice relative to problems that we were experiencing from having to read and interpret certain clauses of the Constitution of state and of the United States.
And in the process of the struggle of trying to get registered to vote, we felt that we needed assistance from other groups to join us and to help us to carry on. So Mr. Roy Moore, who is the field secretary of CORE organization, he came in. And he and I worked together for about several weeks in trying to encourage Negros to register and trying to help them to qualify under the system of qualification recommended by the State Legislature.
Mimi Feingold:
That was in 1962?
Ellis Howard:
In 1962. That's right. We had very little success in getting cooperation that we shouldn't ought to have in that period. We got quite a few and quite a few registered. And very few even went down to register in that movement. During that time, it was work time, and farming time, and we didn't get the co-operation that we should have gotten out of them. We set another registration campaign period. And I asked Mr. Moore to see if he could get the official staff of the CORE organization to send an integrated committee down to work with our program. I felt that there were those who would rather hear white citizens say come, and would be obedient and submitted to that kind of appeal rather than they would a Negro, because we had such experience in the past. Then we wanted Negros, because they're those that the Negro would hear.However, if they would hear a stranger rather than to hear a person that they had been around every day, we felt that this would change that progress in the program. And this was done. So we were fortunate enough to get many Negros down to the registrar's office, even though we didn't get many in. And we would be able to get as many as a 125 or 130 a day. But we were unfortunate to get as many as we could, we had go down to the office. We only could get about eight in some days. Some days three. Some days four. The legislation had added to the qualification clause, giving the applicant 40 minutes to qualify under the required statuses. The registrar would use a certain strategy to hold that member over that time. He would try to hold up a registrant applicant in there long enough to take up the time for several applicants.
And this belonged the time and used up all of the time where we couldn't get many Negros in at the time. So we were able to get a summary of their experiences in the office. Through that, we were able to get complaints, build our complaints upon their experience. And through the process, we were able to get actions from the Department of Justice wherein all of this [inaudible 00:08:37] was declared unconstitutional.
Mimi Feingold:
Um hmm. (affirmative).
Ellis Howard:
Then we were able to get recommendations made to the President and to the federal court for a decision that was eventually rendered. That declared the state laws, even null and void, and unconstitutional, which was against the...Is that the 15th amendment of the United States Constitution, which said the rights for citizens to register to vote should not be denied on account of race, color of previous servitude. I think the Department of Justice put forth a very fine effort to protect the citizen and their rights when they declared that all of the strategies of state, based on their qualification clause, is null and void and unconstitutional, and ordered them to cease to use these policies and to register Negros.And if not, they would have federal registrars sent here under the Civil Rights bill, passed in the Civil Rights clause to register Negros. And we haven't been bothered with this kind of strategy. But we come up with the strategy, after the registrar, seeing that he had to do it, or either he would be substituted. The position would be substituted with the federal registrar. Then he used the strategy to deprive the Negro applicant from registering within their party which the state has, which the state approved. He almost practically chooses the party. And more specifically, this is dealing with the illiterate person, who is not able to make his own choice. When it is left up to the registrar, he was able to suggest that he accept a state right, or a Republican party.
Through this strategy, I think we have around 150 or 250 Negros registered in a state right or a Republican party. So, these registered voters did not realize that they were registering wrong until they came out to vote in the election Saturday in the first primary election, Saturday. When they came out to vote, their name was not found by the commissioners on the voting list. And then this situation became questionable. Then they began to question us and ask us why we are not on the list. The commissioners directed them and advised them to go back to the registrar and consult with him, because he's responsible for placing the list, the names of all the registered voters on a list that he is going to turn over the commissioner so that they could make sure that these persons be checked if they come down and vote.
And there was, approximately 150 or better, names left off. And these people went down to vote. That was an evidence that they did not know what they were doing when they made choice or got the assistance of the registrar to make that choice of what party to affiliate with. When they went back to the registrar's office to inquire of him why their name was not on the list, then was the time, and only the time that he informed them that for them to vote in these elections, which is the local, the state and local election, they must affiliate with the democratic party because only the voters that are affiliated with the democratic party would be able to vote in state and local elections. Then, these people were convinced that they have need of going back and filing an application for a change in their party affiliation.
And I'm quite sure this is going to be done. Perhaps we could have maneuvered the parish and found these persons and tried to talk with them about this. Perhaps nothing would have sufficed better than meeting up with this experience of going down to vote and were deprived of their rights and opportunity to vote. And this would encourage them, then, to do the next best thing, which was to have that party affiliation changed. So far, we gained up very nicely. I think the Department of Justice is doing a very good job in helping us to exercise our rights as American citizens.
Mimi Feingold:
Um hmm. (affirmative).
Ellis Howard:
But they still need help. They still need to be informed of our problem. As long as we keep it to ourselves they were not be informed. But it's our duty to keep pressing on and to keep doing our best to work toward liberty and freedom, and first class citizenship. And any problem that we experience, it's our responsibility to make these problems known, so that federal government would take action and do their part to help us to become first class citizens and respected the citizens in a world like this.
Mimi Feingold:
Um hmm. (affirmative) Could you tell me now about how you got started on the school integration?
Ellis Howard:
The way we got started on the school integration was, we had all of our schools, where those school buildings, that were not donated by Negros, were built by Negros. Most of our school sites were churches, where Negro communities get together and they build churches. These churches had a board of trustees and a board of stewards. The school board of Saint Helena parish would make contact with these board of trustees and ask for permission to assign a teacher to that church, to teach these children. Now, they did not pay the church for the building, but they were getting the building site free. They would assign teachers to these church communities at the consent of the trustees and pastors of the church. And this was to the expenses of the poor Negro community.
Mimi Feingold:
Um hmm. (affirmative).
Ellis Howard:
They had to build a church and then they had to make room for the school board to assign a teacher there, to teach his child. And when it came time for a high school, then they know that they couldn't use churches sufficiently for a high school. A Negro, by the name of Norton Tops, gave a portion of land to build a high school in the parish. The school board then, told this Negro group that if they would put up labor and put up money and help pay the carpenters, they would put up a certain amount of lumber and a certain grade of lumber, which would assist them in getting this school built. This was done.The Negro worked daily, and they toiled and labored daily, wherein the white had never worked on a white school. When they get ready to build a white school, they were [inaudible 00:16:48] and the Negro tax valuation would pay just as much on the [inaudible 00:16:53] as the white. So, then this was not so in the Negro community. He had to paddle his own canoe. He had to put up the money. He had to put labor. He had to do everything it took, that he could, to help get his child an education.
Mimi Feingold:
Um hmm. (affirmative).
Ellis Howard:
So after this school was built, the school burned down. And then the Negros got together and they put up money and they put up service and rebuilt the school back with the cooperation of the school board. The Negro population increased to the extent that it wasn't enough room. It wasn't enough seating capacity for the children. So then we had, approximately, about 500 children were being taught under trees. These children's life was exposed to rain and bad inclement weather and what have you? And with these problems developing in our community, we met in PTAs, and we discussed this problem to a large extent, and then we decided we would do something about this. So a committee was sent to the school board, asking the school board to take action, to provide a house, a building, and pews and so forth for these children and desks for these children, school facilities for the children and the school board told the committee to tell us that they were not able. But if we could hire a carpenter and pay the carpenter, they would find some side lumber to put up a building.And they had just built a brick building for the white community. But if would pay the carpenter and furnish labor to assist the carpenter in constructing this building, they would put up the lumber to build a building. So we agreed to do this sort of thing. And we went to work and put up lumber. We went out and we give labor, and we done everything we could. But, we were still experiencing this problem. And we felt that something could be done about it.
So we called in the leaders in the educational fields and getting to question them about this problem. They advised us that it is the school board's responsibility to build schools. And it's our responsibility to see to it, that they do it.
They recommended the NAACP activities and what progress it was making in various communities and in various parishes and how we can profit by the progress if we would join hands with the NAACP organization and become a part of the NAACP activities, and we could work towards the end of getting better education for our children. This could only be done by filing a petition for integrating the school. And the school board would do the best they can to help make provision for the Negro children in the Negro community, rather than an integrated school, even though in the filing allowances they would have to integrate the school. So then, a petition was filed for integration. And the school board sent out and made a survey in the Negro community, asking what they want. Well, they would not go around to the people who were responsible for filing the petition for integration. They went around to the old settlers that they had been harassing around for years who had this Ya Sir spirit, and never injected the No spirit, to the thing that they know was wrong and unfair.
So these men told them all we want is facilities and schools. But every now and then they would have an opportunity to question the right man. And he would say for my child to get equal facilities and for my child to get equal rights, for my child to get the proper education and proper attention, he must be in the white school. And this is what I've said every time that they've asked me that. The only way that he's going to get justice, he's going to have to be in the white school. And that's my fight in the first place. That's the standard I've taken in the first place. And that will be my stand when I'll be called into judgment. I'll still say, that's where he belongs. There is where the money is, isn't it? There is where the knowledge is. There is where the facilities is.
There is where he belongs. He belongs where these things...When you separate him from these things, then you deprive from him his right to having equal education and first class, that he might be able to qualify to be a first class citizen. It marched on until this case was carried into the federal courts by virtue of petition filed against the school board for integration. The school board taken action to build better building and better school, but it wouldn't suffice. They put up a brick building out there to house the children. They built other buildings to house the children, but it wasn't suffice. We still pressed our claims in court for integration. And the school board went to work, to call for an election, a special election, to call for a special [inaudible 00:22:42] or parish-wide [inaudible 00:22:44] to build a brick school then. And they felt that the Negro will fall for the brick school rather than to accept integration or to be integrated in the white school.
But this wouldn't suffice. They could build a gold mansion out there. They could build it out of marble stone. This would not suffice, because the child must be entered where knowledge is. They must be entered where the proper facilities is. He must be entered where every opportunity is available for a first class education. And to build this marble stone, just to look at the marble wouldn't suffice. And so, the time come in 1964, when the school was finally integrated. I was fortunate enough to have one son to integrate in that group, and we had 16 applicants at that time. We had five that was accepted. The application was based on the investigation of the school board, and they could reject it on certain grounds or accept it on certain ground. And they had about 16 or 18 applicants applied through applications.
And all of these were rejected on the grounds of technical errors, and what have you. And only five of these applications was accepted. Even though these five were accepted, the harassment took place by school board members and superintendents of the school boards and white citizens of the community and police officers of the community, until two of these parents were forced to go down and withdraw their application and carry the child down and have the child withdraw their application. So then it only left us three. It was only three. And I believe that this was a representation of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Ghost which would place a seal on integration, integrated procedures to help pave the way and open up an avenue for all of the Negro children to follow in to where they can be able to get a first class education. This was done. And in the next year, the teachers were advised to send out applications to the students and to request that this application be back in within eight days.
So the children was given the application and told they could throw it away, or they could burn it up or they could hide it. Whatever they wanted to do. But if they were them, they would not try to make provisions to fill it out and go to the school. Some of the children burned up the application. Some of the children tore them up. Some of the children kept them home and hid them. But when we were aware of the fact, that these children, these applications had been issued, then I began to call parents and question about it. And they began to question their children about it and found out that they were issued. Eight parents encouraged their children to file an application. Among those parents, one that had two, or several children. So we got nine applications filed in. And the school board, having the privilege to determine whether the application was accepted or rejected, they rejected all nine of these applications.
After the rejection of the applications, I filed a complaint in with the Department of Justice on the grounds that these applications were rejected on the grounds of technical errors. I held that the decision of courts held, that no application would be rejected on the ground of technical areas. And if these were not technical areas, I wonder what they were, because one application was rejected because both of the parents did not sign. The wife signed. The husband did not sign. Another one was rejected because the husband did not sign. The wife did not sign. And the husband signed. The others of them were rejected because the school board held at that this parent and child lived more nearer to the Negro school than they did the white school. And it was in a different district and that they couldn't pass out another one district into another district to enter a child in the school.
He would have to enter that child in the school, in his district. And the decision of court was based on no districts was accepted in this integration. But, this is the action that the school board had taken, the strategy that they used to reject these nine applications. So then the justice department had taken action. They came down and they filed a suit against the school board. And they filed a complaint with the federal judge and asked for him to render a decision in behalf of the integration, the Negro integration. And asking him to add to that decision, the first graders instead of the ninth and 10th grade, because 11th and 12th grade had already been integrated. And this was supposed to have been based on... In fact, they were not for total integration. It was based on gradual integration. So then there was based on two grades a year. Two grades, the first, the 11th and 12th, first year, the ninth and the 10th next year.
So instead of this being the ninth and 10th to being integrated this year, they were penalized by a recommendation asking the jurors to order that they put on the first grade. So then, they had to discard all the old original applications that had been rejected. Even the form of the application. Yeah, even the form of the application. That was recommended by the Department of Justice, a new form or a pattern for a new form. And this form, the original form, gave the school board the opportunity to determine which application is accepted and which application is rejected. But the new form recommended by the Department of Justice did not give the school board any opportunity to determine who is to be rejected, who is to be accepted. And then too, it did not compel both parents to sign this last form. But in the original form, both parents were compelled to sign it.
And it had to be brought down to the office, not sent, by one of the parents. This is to harass this parent, to prevent this parent from being willing to send their child down there. So, these new applications had to be sent out for all Negro students that was of that grade level based on the ninth, the first grade ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. So after they had to do this thing over again, in order to get this information around to these parents, to inform them that they were permitted to send this child to the white school, if they wish to do so, because, it was based on freedom of choice. And if they choose to send this child to the white school, file the application in a accordance, and then we had 18 students instead of nine that filed the application in to enter the white school.
Two of those students, for some unknown reason, went down and had their applications canceled. But 16 of these students still held their applications there. And they went through the school period. Only one student, out of the first students that entered the white school last year, only one of the three students graduated this year. And the other students, some lacking one point and some lacking two. And my boy, of course, he was... The school closed and was lacking one point of finishing high school. I don't know whether it was a fault or his, or fault on the teaching faculties, or whether they deprived him of some of his points of his work, or whether he failed. But I believe that if it was anything that they could do to vet every of these, either one of these children from getting the sufficient points that they should get to graduate out of a white school. They aint going to do that sort of thing.
So then we are now working on getting more students integrated in the white schools next year. And this year, we are informed that we have approximately 40 students. And these students, first we heard we had 30. But right recently I'm informed that we have about 40. And these students would be integrating in several schools, white schools in the parish. One, I think we had six students that were informed to enter in Pine Grove School. I haven't went down and checked on that, but it's supposed to have six children in Pine Grove School. And the other of the forty would be entering into Woodland school and Greensburg High School.
And these parents, I'm quite sure will be harassed quite a deal, but I'm trying to keep in close touch with the parents encourage them to send their children. Because the darkest hour is just before day.
Anytime that you receive harassments or difficulty, or encounter problems as a result of sending your child to the white school, they do mean that child is just getting in a position to get an equal education. First class education. He's just getting in a position to make himself a first class citizen in the United States of America. He's just getting in position to prepare himself to qualify for a first class job and to qualify for job opportunity, to qualify for any technical job that is available for any white citizen. It would be available for him. He just getting qualified for opportunity, job opportunities to seek him and not him so much as trying to seek the job opportunities, because job opportunities always seek qualification rather than to seek the end qualification. But the person that's not qualified will always have to run the job opportunities down. And often times he fails to find where he fits in because he's not qualified to fit in.
And I'm trying to keep in touch with the parents, even though I have talked with some parents who are experiencing difficulty with the superintendent of the schools. But I'm trying to keep in touch with them to keep them in heart, to send their children down there and to not have anything to fear. And I believe that by continuously working with the parent and helping them to encourage that child to study and learn, and then not be afraid, but go. We will be able to do an effective job in the integrating school situation.
It is based on results of registering and voting, because if we become a power, we would be powerless if we don't register. And of course we couldn't vote. This has a great bearing on the political officials who are participating in the political affairs. This has a great bearing on electing school board members and what have you, and police jurors that has to do with the governing the parish. And once we're qualified to vote and we are experiencing these problems, we can be able to move, and put in, and be able to tear down, and build up. And through the process, we will be able to get people in the position that would take under consideration our problems and help us to help ourselves to develop a better form of government.
Mimi Feingold:
Okay. The last question I have is how the NAACP got started in this parish?
Ellis Howard:
Well, the NAACP got started in the parish through these problems that we were experiencing. These representatives that come in the parish to assist us in getting information on how to go about to solve these problems recommended the NAACP organization and suggested that we organize a chapter, and get connected with the national association. And we will be informed directly from the national association what action to take. And we will be defended in our efforts for school integration by or through the national office. And I think it was in 1955 when a small group of Negros gathered together and discussed this matter. Each made himself a commitment to go out into the community to invite other Negros to come to a special meeting that was set up, whereby we would be able to get enough Negros together, which it necessitated about 50 members to purchase a charter.And we wanted to get maybe 500. So we worked to the end of getting as many members, many persons that we possibly could to attend this meeting and encouraged them to become member of the NAACP. And we did so. I think we got a approximately around 60 or 70 persons to attend the meeting, and they were willing to take out a membership. In that, we were able to get the amount, the approximate amount, which was 50 to over all, to purchase a charter. And this group organized that day, and we wrote into the national office for a charter.
Mimi Feingold:
This was in about what year?
Ellis Howard:
It's in about '55, in 1955. And we were in for charter and we were chartered under the north association for the advancement of colored people, and we began to receive pamphlets of instruction. We began to receive copies of the bylaws and letters of instruction and recommendations, suggestions on how to manage our programs and information based on the procedures that was taking place to fight the school integration in the court.And we were kept up with all the news about what action was being taken, what was the progress and what was going to be done next. Then we come to be connected with the leadership conference and the state counsel branches, I meant to say, and the southwest regional activities. And by visiting these meetings, we were informed of all of the procedures. We were given instructions and advice on how to go about to fight against these problems that was affecting the community. First, the school situation, second, registration and voting. And we begin to go back to our various communities and putting these instructions and advice into action. By so doing, we were successful to solve many of our problems and solve many of our discord that we would have, in getting the job done based on registration and voting and what have you.
The NAACP has played a very important part in helping us to get school integration, to get the rights to register and vote, and to gain any problem we have developing in the voting procedure settled. And in connection with NAACP, CORE has played a very important part in helping us to get the job done. Because the NAACP stayed so far from us. They stayed far from us through national official-wise and state official-wise. It stayed a very good distance. So it only had to do with the local officials or parish officials who were connected with NAACP. The information was very limited. However, this necessitated the CORE activities to join in, and it played a very important part in helping to keep us abreast on what changes should be made in helping to advance our program and helping to develop our program, or we can have a more effective program.
And through this coordinated effort, we have been able to get the health unit challenged. We have been able to get the courthouse facilities challenged. We have been able to get their malt shops and what have we to serve us in this community, in our little town challenge. We have been able to get school sites challenged. We have able to get the recreation centers challenged. We have been able to get many things done, through by the coordinating efforts of CORE and NAACP than we could have gotten done, I think, through the single organization, by the national officials being so far from the local officials. And this necessitated coordinated efforts of the NAACP and CORE in order to be able to get the job done.
Mimi Feingold:
Uh Huh. (affirmative) Now, back in the beginning of the days of the NAACP, you had some trouble, didn't you, and the chapter nearly dissolved?
Ellis Howard:
Well, it was. We had trouble. And the Attorney General felt that this was going to help to increase the Negro voters to the extent that they might become a balance of power. And to fight this issue, he filed a suit, a charge against individuals. And these individuals played a very important part in the leadership of the NAACP and then the Masonic organization. And so what happened here was the grand master was charged. And the NAACP, the Louisiana state council NAACP that represented the Louisiana state council branches, he was charged. And the president of the LEA was charged, which represent the Louisiana education association, was charged. And these charges, this man was under the impression that if he were to stop these individuals, this would have a message to stop the NAACP activities, but it was not so, and that was clearly pointed out by the jury, the Supreme Judge of the State Supreme Judge.To stop these individuals wouldn't mean that it would block the operation of NAACP. It has nothing to do with stopping an organized group. You can stop the individual and still, the organization can still function. So then they left this charge and placed the charge against the organization. And this served the purpose of getting a ban against the organization, operational organization. So what we had to do then, to fight this issue, we had to break this ban by violation in order to get this case into the federal court, through their State Supreme Court, into the federal court, where we would be able to get a fair decision. In that, we had held a conference in New Orleans, a state conference. It was recommended that we hold the next conference in the Shreveport.
So the day was set for the conference, and met over in Shreveport for the conference. The decision was rendered, which made it permissible to operate the NAACP organization, providing they file a membership list with the Secretary of State. And this means that the membership list could identify any state employed person or any parish employed person. Which, if this identity is discoverd, then harassment could take place on the part of that individual. And they could either fire him or tantalize him otherwise, see. And, with this in mind, we felt that it was very important to take under consideration the fact that we should violate this decision so that we could be able to get a charge against us, and we could go into courts and defend ourselves and get this case appealed to the federal court, United States Supreme Court, and get some decision where we could be able to get a fair decision.
And we met over there, and Attorney Gremillion,the state's Attorney General Gremillion, he joined the branch, the association, from operating then, being in action that day. And so we had to cease to having a meeting that day and go back into court. And in a process of time, the court, eventually the Supreme Court eventually rendered the decision stating that the action was stayed on a part of banning the NAACP was null and void, unconstitutional, and the NAACP was a clean organization. And that it meant right. And it stood for right principles. And it had a right, because it was defending people instead of destroying them. And it was defending them. It had a right to operate. It was in a court and it had the approval of the United States Supreme Court. It was appealed by the Attorney General of the state. But, I think decision was rendered before he got up and stated his bill against the operation of the NAACP.
Mimi Feingold:
Was there also a law passed that school teachers couldn't be members of the NAACP?
Ellis Howard:
Yes, ma'am. It was a law enacted by the state legislation that any school teacher or bus driver be found contributing to the NAACP or an organization that contributes to the NAACP shall be fired.
Mimi Feingold:
Uh huh. (affirmative) And that discouraged the teachers —
Ellis Howard:
That's right.
Mimi Feingold:
— from joining the NAACP.
Ellis Howard:
That discouraged the teachers and discouraged the bus drivers. This law was appealed. It was a appealed, and it was struck down by the federal courts.
Mimi Feingold:
Uh huh. (affirmative).
Ellis Howard:
But still, it left the teachers there a little reluctant —
Mimi Feingold:
Yeah.
Ellis Howard:
— to cooperate. And also the bus drivers, which in the first place, they were the chief engineers of the program. And we had secretary teaching secretaries, and they done the secretary work, and they done the planning. They done the advising, and they done the activity work, and they carried out the programs and everything. They made the announcements and everything. But when this band come on, then they went in exile, and —
Mimi Feingold:
Um hmm. (affirmative).
Ellis Howard:
— they did not come out and participate openly.
Mimi Feingold:
You were telling me before about a leadership conference that was held at Southern University in Baton Rouge. Was that when you first started to organize the NAACP?
Ellis Howard:
Well, a leadership conference, it started shortly after the NAACP was organized. I think the sponsors of the leadership conference felt that —
Mimi Feingold:
Who were the sponsors?
Ellis Howard:
— even though... The sponsors of the leadership conference were Mr. J K Haynes and —
Mimi Feingold:
Of the Louisiana education —
Ellis Howard:
Of the Louisiana education association and the grand master John G. Lewis. He's a grand master of the...
Mimi Feingold:
Masons?
Ellis Howard:
The Masonic organization. And also others who participate in taking a part and working up this type of program so that local grassroots leaders could be informed. Now that we've lost the teachers, we felt that it was necessary to train these persons who were not in the teaching profession, so that we wouldn't lose a point and wouldn't lose ground in the march to first class citizenship. They held that it was very important and necessary to set up what we call a leadership conference. In this leadership conference, they were trained, they were taught the legal aspects of these things, such as schools and community wise, and many [crosstalk 00:51:43] other things.And many other things respecting the local problems that could develop and how to solve local problem that could develop in the community and how to go about, to be well informed on what to do and how to do it. It was recommended that we write over to the Secretary of State and get pamphlets on the constitution and study these pamphlets. Study these constitutional principles, so that we can be legally informed of what action to take. So we'll know when we're being treated unfair and what to do about it. So, we'll put this advice and instruction into action, and we have been able to be very successful by so doing.
Mimi Feingold:
Okay. Thank you very much. I just want to add that further information about voting in St. Helena Parish can be found in the hearings before the United States Commission on Civil Rights held in new Orleans, Louisiana, September 27th and 28th, 1960 and May 5th and sixth, 1961. And Mr. Howard was one of the witnesses who testified before the...
Copyright © Ellis Howard & Mimi Real, 1967
Copyright ©
Copyright to this web page, as a web page, belongs to this web site. Copyright
to the information and stories above belong to the authors or speakers.
Webspinner:
webmaster@crmvet.org
(Labor donated)