Frederick Douglas Lewis:
My name is Frederick Douglass Lewis. I was born in Claiborne Parish Louisiana in Lisbon, Louisiana, which is my present address. Holsey Stop. H-O-L-S-E-Y S- T-O-P, L-I-S-B-O-N. L-O-U-I-S-I-A-N-A. Of course now that's my business about what year I was born.When I was a boy about 12 years of age, a white man was talking to my father. Excuse me.
As I was about to say. At the age of about 12 years, my father was talking to a white man in his yard, and he related to my father that he had to go to Lisbon to vote. He reminded my father that he couldn't vote. And I thought my father could do anything in the world anybody else could do, so that was the only thing that attracted my attention.
When the man left, I asked my dad. I said, "Papa, what do you mean by a man said you couldn't do it?" He said, "Well, son, what he meant that I can't vote. Just before the turn of the century in the state Constitutional Convention, they passed a law. What they call... Other words, they put out a ticket for us to vote our grandfather clause. Other words, that was a sense of vote. Our grandfather clause. So Negros voted like that. Well, they didn't knew anything. They'd vote themselves out politics."
[Referring to Louisiana's infamous "Grandfather Clause" which was added to the state constitution after the end of Reconstruction. The clause limited the right to vote to those men whose grandfathers had been eligible to vote — a requirement that the descendants of slaves could not meet. ]And so it impressed me. And at that age, it never did leave me. And I vowed right then at the age of 12 that if I ever got a chance I was going to hit this thing and blow. Well, they had what you call a poll tax law. And I remember me going to the courthouse trying to sign the poll tax book. Paid a dollar to get a chance to register. I was 21 years old. I was informed that they was out of blanks.
And then at any rate, in 1915 the United States Supreme Court declared our grandfather clause unconstitutional. In 1920 or '21 in a Constitutional Convention, which I guess that came in the line of general election that year, they replaced the grandfather clause with a constitutional test [a so-called "literacy" test]. Which I deemed it then something yet to disenfranchise the Negro or continue to disenfranchise. So but still our grandfather clause has served its purpose.
Well, I will have to skip up to 1934. Under the administration of Governor O. K. Allen and Huey P. Long, they abolished the poll tax law in September of that year, and it went into effect about November that same year. In the winter or spring of 1935, Huey Long, they served notice that everybody go and sign the 1934 and '35 poll tax books and get your certificates free. So we did.
I went down to the sheriff's office. I went to the sheriff's office. He let us sign the poll tax books. Then when we got through, he asked us. After he presented us our certificates. Which I have now. I can prove it. He asked what election you people expect to vote in. I said, "All of the elections." He said... He asked me did I know that this was a Democratic Primary. I said, "Well, if I register, I intend to register as a Democrat, and I'll be able to vote in all the elections." And he said, "Well, I'll tell you. Anybody coming to trying to vote in the white primary going to get the hell knocked out of him." But in the meantime, I never give up. Never did give anything up.
In the 1950s... I believe it was a 1954 Supreme Court decision on this school desegregation. Something like that. Well, some states... Other words the NAACP was inactive. Well, I mean it was active in the state. And some judge, I believe Gordon Lindsay, knocked out the activity of the NAACP. So we went in other names. We had United Christian Movement and so forth and so on like that, and the Civic League and so on like that. We still operating now, okay?
Mimi Feingold:
When did you start the Civic League?
Lewis:
I think the Civic League was started in the early 1950s. But the people that were sponsoring it, they held indoors. I think Mr. Grill might remember that. Sessions. They never did venture out.So I think the first scare, first something that the white people attempted to do, the first harsh saying they had about the Civic League, it blew up. So in January. No, in November 1964, three or four of these people had a meeting. Had a caucus. We decided we would revive this organization because the objective meant so much. We couldn't find any other means to better that objective. So then we decided that we would revive it. In January 1965, we did. About January 10 they elected me their president, although I rejected that idea of me being president of an organization. Lord of this parish. I said that I would rather be a good follower, yet still I was drafted. So from that day, January 10, I've had constant conferences in Washington with the Justice Department and the Office of Economic Opportunity and so on like that.
And last year, I guess. I don't know. This year I was the soul responsible for getting Head Start here. So we...
Feingold:
How did the Head Start program go?
Lewis:
It went fine. I mean to say, not so good either. But now remember this autumn, I mean to say they passed that bill in fall of 1964. And in January I was in Washington seeking ways and means to get the program in here. So we started to work, and by April 28 we had... Well, I'll say this. Prior to that time, we went to the school board, asked the superintendent for help. He failed to give it to us. Said he wasn't going to integrate. We asked our professional people in the parish for help. I knew I didn't have the ability to. In other words, to file applications and make out the budgets and everything like that. I knew that.But what really happened was this. When they failed to do so, we called in CORE. CORE came. We had opposition, that's true. But we debated the thing until we put the pressure on them so heavily they voted unanimously that CORE would come. So we started with CORE. I don't know whether other people may say it, but we give CORE credit. Because the first lady that worked with us through this was Julie Rawlings from Massachusetts. And finally Willie Ellis came. Now he was the mastermind. So we got that started.
Now we got CORE in here, although we got some consumer to sponsor. We didn't have a sponsor in our organization. Now we have a charter there, which after the police [inaudible 00:12:03] in this parish, Claiborne Parish Public School Board chartered their organization. We had our charter. We challenged them, and we started a fight on Labor Day, September 1965.
Feingold:
What is the name of the organization? Do you have the charter?
Lewis:
That one right there. Would you mind reading it? Give it to me. Hand me that charter there. I'll read it to you. Please, ma'am.The name of our charter is Claiborne Economic and Social Opportunity in Cooperating. So they applied for a grant of $22,000 to start a survey, and they ran into our challenge. We had a battle from that time to now, although we won. And today I, Fredrick Douglass Lewis, am Associate Director of the Community Action Program Claiborne Parish.
Feingold:
Do you have a Head Start now?
Lewis:
No. On account of all the challenges we had from the white people, well, we don't have one. But we hope to have one by October 31.Now, if you want to go back to some of our integration success that we had in 1965. We successfully integrated the Claiborne Parish Civic League. I mean library.
Feingold:
Can you tell me about that?
Lewis:
Well, I don't know the date, but we started testing in May last year. 1965. We were successful in integrating about four places. Cafeterias such as the Majestic, Purple Cow, Steak House. One or two, I think. I don't know. I can't recall the name right now, but I know them when I see them. But since then, they've given us a little trouble.
Feingold:
Oh, what's happened?
Lewis:
Well, they failed to serve us. Three of us, my two brothers and myself, went to the Majestic last fall. They went in there, and they failed to serve to us. Wanted to serve us in the back. Day or two earlier they had to hire a lady because she knew us. When she returned to work the next morning, she was released from her job. Therefore, the successful thing that we have done for integration was the public library.
Feingold:
Did that involve any picketing?
Lewis:
No. We only picketed one place and that was the school board. In April 1965, we presented our grievances to the school board and the city officials. Parish officials. We asked for colored policemen and administrative work. Failed to get that part, but we got policemen.
Feingold:
Are you satisfied with them?
Lewis:
No, we're not satisfied with them. So Monday morning, that'll be July. That'd be August 15, 1966. We intend to hit this thing a terrible blow. We don't know what's going to happen, but we intend to hit a blow.
Feingold:
[inaudible 00:16:42].
Lewis:
So we could have accomplished many things probably along the integration line, but we... For almost a year, we have been in a battle with those people up there on this anti-poverty program, see? That's why the slack is in the integration department. Now in the schools, they have more curriculum wise in the schools than they ever had in Claiborne Parish. Then we have token integration. We have about, I don't know, 4, 5, 6. We integrated Haynesville High, Homer High, and just about [inaudible 00:17:31] up the whole thing. In other words, I think we made great strides here in the parish after having to stop to fight this. Fight those people on this program business. Anti-poverty.So I spent several days in January 1966 in Washington on this anti-poverty business. And I spent... Otherwise, I was a delegate to the CCAP in Washington in April. So we still have lots to do, and we're going about that now. So this is just about the size of it now. Best that I can give it to you.
Feingold:
Have you had any trouble from the white people?
Lewis:
Not recently. When I was in Washington, they recommended me as the director. To be the director of this program. But they knew I was going to object to being that. Which I didn't want it, and I didn't want the assistant director. While I was there, they recommended me to be the assistant director. Always came up with [inaudible 00:18:53] how about it, but our organization stood for him. They wouldn't do anything until the President came back to the state, and I think I was elected 100% by the board. See, we had an interim board set up. They elected me.
And I think now that more and more white people are beginning to realize that this organization has opened up the eyes of people. Even the white people were blind to the fact that they had been misinformed and everything like that, and so actually they seem to agree with me. With the organization, I'll say. Because I always said we... I never use myself. In other words, never be personal about anything. If it wasn't for the organization and the federal government, we wouldn't be advanced to where we are now. So I'm grateful to say that we have a wonderful organization, and now we are going to go further than we have been. After all, we won a battle. That's right. That is the... I call it the glorified thing about it.
Feingold:
Oh yeah. Do you want to say anything about the Deacons?
Lewis:
Deacons for Defense and Justice? Oh yes, we have that. Our charter up there. Do you mind? Other words... That's it. Now the Deacons of Defense and Justice here, this is a chart. In other words, it's a chapter. Chapter of Deacons for Defense in Jonesboro, which is our headquarters down there.Now we stayed in March on the school board last year in August. About August 20, I believe it was. When the police... We had police escort, and they asked us for five deacons ahead. And so as you know it's a non-violent organization, but we can get violent. What we're trying to do now is to see the other man get justice. Now we have some cases. We have some that we've got to see after next week. Also, that one boy tried in the [inaudible 00:21:48] down there, put him on the parish road, you see? A kind of road, you might say. So we're going to see about that Monday morning. We also have a judge. We have everything stirred up. And all those people, they're in a tense situation now. They don't know what we're going to do. So we don't tell them what we're going to do. [inaudible 00:22:09] thing we doing. So we have the Deacons of Defense on the alert.
Feingold:
When you picketed the school board last year, was that successful?
Lewis:
Well, yes. It was successful. We protested against one of the principals. Principal of Mayfield High.
Feingold:
A Negro?
Lewis:
That's right. And they had let him go. That's right. We picketed the place. We had the students to do that. And then later we stayed to march on the school board. Three or four or five of us made speeches there. Oh, yeah. We were successful, actually.
Feingold:
And is the new principal better?
Lewis:
Well, in some ways. But we have all the rest of the principals. Excuse me, one. We had one. He was a man. The principal of Hillcrest High in Athens, Louisiana. He's a real man. But all the rest of us, we have five more principals. We intend to pressure them out of office. We'd like very much for them to start on the second... On the new. This term. Next term. And then we start picketing, demonstrating, and push them out of office. Then we intend to press the superintendent out. We could have had him out a long time ago. We decided we'd let him steep in his own stool.Any more questions?
Feingold:
I don't think so. Thank you very much.
Lewis:
You like that? Wow.
Copyright © Mimi Feingold Real & Frederick Douglas Lewis. 1967
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