By natchezdemocrat.com
#CivilRights
 |
Willie Carter of Natchez
stands in front of the two-story building that once served as the command post
for the Deacons of Defense and Justice in Natchez. Carter is the current owner
of the building which is now home to two small businesses. (Submitted photo) |
NATCHEZ — In the 1960s, a
crucial time for civil rights, the two-story wood-frame building at 319 North
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. became a key meeting place for the Deacons for
Defense and Justice in Natchez, according to local historians.
It is the site where the
Deacons worked with President James “Big Jack” Jackson, a barber in Donnan’s
Barber Shop housed on the first floor, Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-Clifford M. Boxley,
said in a recent interview.
Boxley described the
building as a command post — “the hotbed workplace” of Jackson, the founder of
the Natchez Deacons and “an observation point” for keeping an eye on the Ku
Klux Klan.
“The building played a
pivotal role where militants gathered to talk and plan actions in the Natchez
civil rights movement and observe the KKK located in a store directly across
the street,” he said.
The building is one of
several sites being reviewed by the Natchez Civil Rights Site Committee as a
possible location for a Mississippi Freedom Trail marker. The other sites
include the Dr. John Bowman Banks Museum and Adams County Courthouse.
Boxley, a recognized
authority on African American history, said the building holds an important
place in the civil rights movement. It was through the fearless commitment of
the Deacons, he said, that African Americans found courage and a practical way
to survive and succeed in the struggle.
The late Jessie B.
Bernard-Williams, then-secretary to Charles Evers of the Mississippi State
NAACP, reportedly told him that “we felt safe with the Deacons protecting us in
the streets.”
The Deacons for Defense
was an armed group of African Americans who provided protection for civil
rights workers. The organization was first organized in 1964 in Jonesboro, La.,
in response to the terror and violent acts of the Ku Klux Klans against civil
rights activists. The Deacons, many of whom were actual deacons in the church,
carried firearms for the protection of the activists, as well as for
themselves.
“The contributions of the
Deacons were second to none,” Boxley said, noting the workers used a
three-point model in their protests. “In addition to armed defense, they used
economic boycott of businesses owned by whites and enforcement of adherence to
the boycott in the black community,” he said.
The success of the
movement in Natchez has been noted by a number of scholars, including Lance
Hill, author of The Deacons for Defense (2004). He stated: “The Natchez
campaign was the single greatest community victory for the Civil Rights movement
in Mississippi.”
According to Jeremy
Houston, local historian, the Deacons in Natchez were believed to be bolder and
more radical than those in other places. The men were eager and always ready to
take action, he said.
Willie Carter, current
owner of the building, was young when he worked at the site in 1962 as a
shoe-shiner. At the time, the building was owned by Leon Donnan.
Carter said he would like
to see the building recognized for its role in the civil rights movement. In
addition to being a meeting place for the Deacons, it also was the site of the
first meeting held by the Council of Federated Organizations or COFO. The group
met in 319C, he recalled.
An upstairs room became
the office of Judge Willie Scott, “the first African American judge in modern
time,” said Boxley. The second floor also housed a library for the black
community.
Bobby Dennis, executive
director for the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture,
described Carter’s building as a safe haven for people who needed protection,
especially those who faced threats by white supremacists.
“I practically grew up in
that barber shop,” Dennis recalled. “My dad, R.L. Dennis, had the first
(barber) chair in there. From my personal observations of everything that went
on along St. Catherine Street, no one would ever come into that barber shop and
harass any individual. It was untouchable.”
Dennis said that as a
child, he didn’t really understand all that was happening, but he later learned
that the building was respected because of the Deacons’ armed protection.
Carter said the site needs
to be recognized, whether by Freedom Trail marker or other type of historical
designation.
Ser Seshsh Ab
Heter-Clifford M. Boxley and the Deacons for Defense and Justice in Natchez are
featured in PBS Frontline’s “American Reckoning,” Season 2022 Episode 1, which
aired Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. It can be viewed at pbs.org/video/american-reckoning-assg68/
#BlackHistory #VisitNatchez #DeaconsForDefense
