these problems of transportation had been solved, the Negro leaders were greatly concerned. They knew nothing about the meeting. Later it was revealed that three Negro ministers had been called up to the chamber of commerce office to discuss "another issue about some type of insurance" and that they had been "hoodwinked into it." Negro ministers mobilized their forces to spread the news that the protest was not over. By the next morning the news had been circulated and almost everyone was aware of the commissioners' act. Even the newspaperboys who delivered the morning's paper rapped on the doors to warn the readers, "Don't believe that stuff about the boycott on the front page."

Such an attack on the city commissioners which virtually called them a lie could not be stomached. The commissioners instituted their "get-tough policy" by declaring that it was time to be frank and that the vast majority of the whites in Montgomery "do not care whether a Negro ever rides a bus again if it means that the fabric of our community is to be destroyed, and that the commission would stop pussy-footing around with the boycott." The statement was carried by WSFA-TV on January 24, 1956; Mr. Crawford Rice, the news announcer read the statement. According to the telecast, it read as follows:

"The city commissioners have announced a new get-tough policy in relation to the 7-week-old boycott of the city buses by a large part of the colored population. Mayor W. A. Gayle has called on all white Montgomerians to quit giving rides to their maids and other Negro employees who refuse to ride the buses. Gayle says, and these are his words, "These cooks and maids in boycotting the buses are fighting to destroy our social fabric just as much as the Negro radicals who are leading them.' The mayor says 'the commissioners are through pussyfooting around with the leaders of the boycott.' Yes, and again we quote: "The Negroes are laughing at the white people behind their backs, the white people who continue to give rides to their maids and cooks to and from work. These Negroes think it is very funny and the white people who are opposed to the boycott will act as chauffeurs for their maids.' "The Negroes have made their own beds, says Mayor Gayle and the white people should allow them to sleep in it.' "To the mayor's statement, Montgomery Police Commissioner Clyde Sellers adds this: 'I feel that the people of Montgomery and Alabama should know definitely the real reason behind this boycott or so-called boycott. I think the Reverend King, who is the leader of the Montgomery Improvement Association, has made one statement that everyone believes. He is for complete integration, in the schools and everywhere else, and this boycott is only a means to an end. I agree wholeheartedly with the mayor's statement with reference to the leaders of this boycott and the people who are involved in it. I think we have, as the mayor says, "pussy-footed" long enough with the leaders. We have made our position very clear as to our stand and they have gone back and misrepresented or failed to tell their people what we have actually presented to them. There are a number of ways in which we could, by enforcing law, force some of these people to stop riding these automobiles, or from the pick-up points to several places in the city. We are planning, beginning tomorrow, to call the taxis in for a periodic safety inspection, and call the other automobiles that are hauling these passengers in for a periodic safety inspection, check the drivers of these automobiles for chauffeur's license and to see whether or not they are qualified, and have a proper insurance to haul passengers. I think the people of Montgomery should get behind the city commissioners and see that we can in some way resolve this matter and end this boycott.'

"It has also been announced that all three members of the Montgomery city commissioners are members of the Central Alabama White Citizens Council. Commissioner Sellers publicly joined the prosegregation group at a recent meeting in Montgomery and both Mayor W. A. Gayle and Commissioner Frank Parks are also members."

By now it seemed, to the Negroes, that this action of the city commission was a part of an organized conspiracy to harass and intimidate them with the police department leading the attack. In this atmosphere, Rev. M. L. King was arrested and put in jail for speeding. Negroes gathered at the scene of the arrest; they were upset over the uncustomary procedure of frisking a person being arrested for speeding.

As a part of this get-tough policy there was a crack down on the car pool. Negro drivers of private automobiles and Negro taxi drivers were given an excessive amount of traffic tickets; and in most cases, instead of being given a ticket, they were taken to jail, charged with minor traffic violations and required to make bond before they were released. During the protest, approximately $2,500 was paid for fines by drivers in the car pool.

27714 O-58-53

In January of 1956, a Negro group applied for a franchise to operate a jitney bus service. This was denied by the city; they (the city commission) stated in reply to the application that "adequate transportation was being furnished by the local bus company."

On January 30, 1956, while Reverend King was attending a mass meeting at the First Baptist Church, his home was bombed. A picture of a portion of the damage done is attached hereto, marked "exhibit 2" and made a part hereof. To date, we have no report that any arrests have been made in connection with this bombing.

On February 1, 1956, five Montgomery Negro women filed suit in the United States district court against the bus company and the city commissioners asking the court to declare Alabama and Montgomery's transportation laws requiring segregation unconstitutional.

This bill of complaint charged that Negroes have been deprived of their rights, privileges, and immunities under the 14th amendment in seeking "to compel the plaintiffs and other Negro citizens to use the bus facilities" under threats and harrassment. It alleged that the defendants had entered into a conspiracy to interfere with the civil and constitutional rights of the Negro citizens.

Shortly after Attorney Fred D. Gray filed the case in Federal court, he was reclassified by his draft board and put in classification 1-A (making him eligible for immediate induction into the Armed Forces). Since 1948 he had been exempt from military service because he was a minister.

In February 1956, Attorney Gray was indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury for allegedly representing a lady without her consent. He was arrested on February 18, 1956. The story was carried by the Alabama Journal on February 18, 1956, a copy of which is attached, marked "Exhibit 3" and made a part hereof. The case was subsequently nol prossed, as indicated by the Alabama Journal, March 2, 1956, a copy of which is attached, marked "Exhibit 4" and made a part hereof. If Attorney Gray had been convicted, he would have been automatically disbarred.

The Montgomery County grand jury indicted all persons it could connect with the protest, and on February 22, 1956, deputies began to make arrests. They were charged with unlawfully boycotting the bus company. A total of 93 persons were arrested; 24 were ministers. For almost 2 days the courthouse was crowded with Negroes going in and out. The indicted were given a number, fingerprinted and photographed. The whole procedure seemed to have everyone confused because surely there had been nothing like it in Montgomery's whole history. There seemed to have been some supernatural force that gave them strength. Many Negroes after hearing that their names were on the list went straight to the courthouse. Others went to inquire if they were on the list. One Negro leader, after being told he was not listed, became angry and insisted on knowing why he was not. It was indeed a day of honor to be arrested.

The trial of 93 Negroes, charged with illegally boycotting the Montgomery City Lines, began on March 19, 1956. About 500 Negroes waited in the halls and outside the small courthouse which was to be the scene of the trial. The Reverend M. L. King, case No. 7399, pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and recognized spokesman of the boycott, was the first to be tried.

Reverend King was convicted on March 22, 1956, on a charge of violating the State's antiboycott law and was fined $500 and costs in court by Judge Eugene Carter, the equivalent of 386 days at hard labor in the county of Montgomery. Carter ordered a continuance in 89 other cases of Negroes charged with the same violation until a final appeal action was completed in the King case.

On May 11, 1956, a three-judge Federal court panel aired the antisegregation suit filed by Attorney Fred Gray. The three-judge Federal court panel studied and deliberated on the case for a few weeks and on June 4, 1956, declared the city's bus segregation laws of Alabama unconstitutional.

On June 1, 1956, the Honorable Walter B. Jones, Judge, granted a temporary injunction enjoining the NAACP from operating in the State of Alabama at the request of Attorney General John Patterson. The petition filed by Attorney General Patterson alleged, among other things, that the NAACP was responsible for the Montgomery bus protest. The NAACP is still barred from the State and is under a $100,000 fine.

Rev. Robert S. Graetz's home was bombed on August 25, 1956, while he and his family were away on vacation. Reverend Gratez is the white pastor of an all-Negro church in Montgomery, Ala., and he has been one of the leaders in the protest movement. A picture of his damaged home is attached, marked

“Exhibit 5" and made a part hereof. We have no report stating that any arrest has been made for this bombing.

On August 4, 1956, policemen paved the way for a truck and station wagon which drove down Dexter Avenue to the square in downtown Montgomery, stopping traffic so that a group of white men could hang in effigy the NAACP and prointegrationists, according to the Alabama Journal of August 4, 1956-a copy of which is attached, marked "Exhibit 6" and made a part hereof. The story was also carried by the Montgomery Advertiser on August 5, 1956-a copy of which is attached, marked "Exhibit 7" and made a part hereof.

Effigies of Negroes were hanged from flagpoles of two white high schools in Montgomery, Ala., on September 6, 1956, according to the Alabama Journal of September 6, 1956-a copy of which is attached, marked "Exhibit 8" and made a part hereof.

On November 13, 1956, the Honorable Eugene Carter issued an injunction at the request of the city of Montgomery enjoining the MIA, about 13 Negro churches, and many individuals from operating the car pool. The story was carried by the Alabama Journal, November 14, 1956. A copy is attached, marked "Exhibit 9," and made a part hereof.

The city buses in Montgomery, Ala., became integrated by court orders on December 20, 1956, when the mandate from the United States Supreme Court reached local officials. Immediately after it arrived, the Montgomery Improvement Association informed the city commissioners that Negroes would immediately begin riding the buses on a nonsegregated basis and requested additional police protection. At that time no additional police protection was granted. Within a few days after the buses began operating on a nonsegregated basis several buses were shot into and one Negro woman, Mrs. Rosa Jordan, was wounded. On January 10, 1957, violence reached its peak in Montgomery. Early in the morning of that day, 4 Negro churches and 2 homes were bombed. The churches were: Bell Street Baptist Church, exhibit 10, Hutchinson Street Baptist Church, exhibits 11 and 12, First Baptist Church, exhibit 13, Mount Olive Baptist Church, exhibits 14 and 15; and the homes were those of Rev. Ralph Abernethy, exhibit 16, and Rev. Robert Graetz, exhibit 17. This was the second time Reverend Gretz' home was bombed.

Another bomb was tossed in Reverend Graetz' yard but did not go off on that same morning contained about eight sticks of dynamite. A picture of said bomb is attached and marked "Exhibit 18." According to newspaper reports, this bomb was subsequently thrown into the river and it was believed to have still been alive when discovered.

The last bombing occurred on January 27, 1957, at a Peoples Cab & Service Station in the same block where Reverend King lives. A picture of the damage done is attached and marked "Exhibit 19." On the same day, an unexploded bomb was found on the porch of Rev. M. L. King. A picture of which is attached and marked "Exhibit 20."

In conclusion we would like particularly to emphasize the importance of those provisions in the bill designed to protect the right to vote. Section 1 of article 14 of our Constitution provides that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States as well as of the States wherein they reside. But we respectfully submit that citizenship deprived of the right to participate in the operations of Government, whether State or Federal, is not true citizenship. Certain rights of citizenship, it is true, are guaranteed by our Federal Constitution but the enforcement of these rights depends in the final analysis upon fair and objective courts and law-enforcement officials. Without in any way intending to condemn or disparage the courts of the law-enforcement officials of my State and community, they are, after all, human beings who are subject to the pressures and for the most part, share in the traditional ways and beliefs of the dominant element in their community.

As an illustration, we attach as exhibit 21, a recent newspaper article written by the presiding judge of the circuit court of Montgomery County, Ala. The judges and the chief law-enforcement officials are, for the most part, elected officials. As such, it is inevitable that they are likely to be responsive to the sentiments of those who put them into office and keep them there, and to overlook the sentiment and rights of those who have little or no voice in their election. We firmly believe that if the Negroes of Montgomery have the right to vote commensurate with their numbers and qualifications, the situation which has been described above would not have occurred.

Voting in Alabama, and particularly in Montgomery, presents no problem provided one is able to get registered. However, registration presents almost

unsurmountable obstacles. The county board of registrars determines who is qualified to vote. There are three members of this board. They are appointed by the Governor, auditor and commissioner of agriculture. The board has the power to determine the qualification of the applicant for registration and by law are made judicial officers. Negroes and whites (applicants) must fill out a questionnaire as one means of determining fitness of the applicants for the ballot. A copy of the questionnaire is attached and marked "Exhibit 22." A detailed study of the voting situation in Alabama as it relates to Negroes was made by Prof. J. E. Pierce. A copy of this study is attached, marked "Exhibit 23." We respectfully urge this committee to carefully consider this report.

Although this report was made in 1954, the voting situation as it relates to Negroes has not substantially changed. There are still no Negro voters in Lowndes and Wilcox Counties, even though the population of the Negroes over 21 years is more than twice the white population.

In Macon County, the county seat of which is Tuskegee, the home of the famed Negro institute, the board of registrars has not functioned there for over a year. This means that not a single person, white or colored, has been able to get registered for over a year. In this county Negroes outnumber whites by 4 to 1.

In Bullock County there are twice as many Negroes over 21 years of age than white. However, there are only six Negro voters. No Negro has been registered in that county since 1952.

From our records, experience and investigation, we have reached the following conclusions, showing how difficult it is for Negroes to become voters:

1. There is a quota system in use. At times most persons appearing before the board qualify. Later, it is almost impossible to get anyone registered. Many of the persons applying are highly trained and have had experience in filling out blanks which are more difficult than the ones required to be filled by the board of registrars.

2. Some Negroes are not allowed an opportunity to take the examination but once during a season. If one has been before the board and later inquires of his registration certificate, he is told that he did not pass the test. If he asks for an application form to take it over, he is told to return some 3 months or so later. Sometimes he will have to wait 6 months before he is permitted to make a second try.

3. Many person have filled out applications as many as five times before being certified. Many have testified that they filled out the form each time the same way they did at the time they received their certificate.

4. The Negro will always be told that his certificate will be mailed. The whites will get theirs at the time of registration unless a Negro is present and then the white applicant will be told that his certificate will be mailed. 5. Many people have testified to the fact that members of the board have helped white applicants while no Negro has received this service. There have been complaints that the Negro uses the same answer. For instance the Negroes will invariably put as a duty of a citizen "to defend your country, to obey the laws." The board members complain that there should be some originality in these answers.

6. In some counties the members of the board serving Negroes are not congenial. They greet applicants in a way that often discourage them, causing many of them to walk out without taking the test.

7. The person failing to receive his certificate is invariably told that he did not pass, but this is done only upon inquiry. However, nothing is revealed or made known as to the nature or on what the applicant failed to answer correctly. It has been reliably reported that some applicants have filled out the questionnaire correctly but that the board did not mail the certificate.

We respectfully submit, based upon the foregoing facts, that this type of legislation is drastically needed for the protection of many American citizens who are now being denied basic constitutional rights.

If this bill is approved by this committee and ultimately passed by Congress, it will mean the second emancipation for the American Negro.

We urge its passage.

STATE OF ALABAMA,

FRED D. GRAY,

Counsel for the Montgomery Improvement Association.

Montgomery County:

Before me Bernice Hill, notary public, in the said county, personally ap

peared Fred D. Gray, to me known, who being by me first duly sworn on oath, deposes and says:

That he is counsel for the Montgomery Improvement Association and is familiar with the facts contained in the foregoing document; that said facts are true and correct to the best of his knowledge, information and belief.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 6th day of March 1957. [SEAL]

FRED D. GRAY.

BERNICE HILL, Notary Public.

EXHIBIT No. 1

[Advertiser-Journal, December 25, 1955]

To the Montgomery public:

We, the Negro citizens of Montgomery, feel that the public has a right to know our complaints and grievances which have resulted in the protest against the Montgomery City Lines and our refusal to ride city buses. We, therefore, set forth here some of the many bitter experiences of our people, who have at various times been pushed around, embarrassed, threatened, intimidated, and abused in a manner that has caused the meekest to rise in resentment.

1. Courtesy

COMPLAINTS

The use of abusive language, name calling, and threats have been the common practices among many of the bus operators. We are ordered to move from seats to standing space under the threat of arrest or other serious consequences. No regard for sex or age is considered in exercising this authority by the bus operator.

2. Seating

The bus operators have not been fair in this respect. Negroes, old, young, men and women, mothers with babies in their arms, sick, afflicted, pregnant women, must relinquish their seats, even to schoolchildren, if the bus is crowded. On lines serving predominantly Negro sections, the 10 front seats must remain vacant, even though no white passenger boards the bus. At all times the Negro is asked to give up his seat, though there is not standing room in the back. One white person, desiring a seat, will cause nine Negroes to relinquish their seats for the accommodation of this one person.

3. Arrests

Numerous arrests have been made even though the person arrested is observing the policy as given us. This year the following persons have been arrested and convicted, although they were seated according to the policy given us by the bus company. They are Claudette Colvin, Alberta "Coote" Smith, and Mrs. Rosa Parks. Among others arrested at other times are Mrs. Viola White, Miss Mary Wingfield, two children from New Jersey, and a Mr. Brooks, who was killed by the policeman.

4. Two fares

Many house servants are required to pay an additional fare if the bus is late getting to town, causing them to miss a bus going to Cloverdale or other distant points. Some of these have complained that on returning from work similar incidents have occurred, necessitating the payment of double fares.

5. Making change

We understand that correct change should be given the operator, but there are times that such is not possible. Several bus operators have refused to make change for passengers and threatened to put them off for not having the exact amount. On one occasion a fellow passenger paid the fare of one such passenger to prevent her from being put off.

6. Passing up passengers

In many instances the bus operators have passed up passengers standing at the stop to board the bus. They have also collected fares at the front door and, after commanding Negro passengers to enter from the back door, they have driven off, leaving them standing.