May 26: Florida A&M University students Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Paterson are charged with placing themselves in a position to incite a riot because they did not give up their seats to white passengers. Jakes and Patterson are released to the custody of Moses G. Miles, dean of students at FAMU.
May 27: Tallahassee NAACP leaders Robert Saunders and C.K. Steele visit Jakes and Patterson at their home and pledge their full support, but let them know that the NAACP considered Tallahassee a "weak civil rights town."
That night, a cross is burned in the front yard of the home of Jakes and Patterson. Fearing for their safety, the girls moved to FAMU's campus.
May 28: FAMU students met at Lee Hall and decided that the arrest of the two women constituted an affront to the entire university and that "they did not want to be humiliated any more." The students decided to boycott the city busses for the rest of the term.
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| This picture appeared on the front page of the May 29 Tallahassee Democrat with the caption: LIGHT BUS LOAD: A bus passing through the Florida A&M campus this morning had only one passenger after a boycott by Negro university students was announced yesterday. Charles L. Carter, manager of Cities Transit Co., said as far as he is concerned the bus operation was "normal today." |
At 8 p.m. that night, Steele held a meeting at Bethel attended by 500 blacks. The audience unanimously agreed to include all blacks in the boycott. Then, they decided to create an organization to represent the black community during the boycott. Steele and Saunders thought the NAACP should lead any organized boycott, but many felt that the organization's radical reputation among whites would hamper negotiations. So the Inter Civic Council was created, consisting mostly of self-employed businessmen and clergymen who were not economically dependent on whites.
May 30: A Tallahassee Democrat editorial called for the formation of a committee of leaders of both races "to sit down and talk out these problems and difficulties as they arise and head off incidents instead of letting them become inflamed."
Steele was charged with speeding and running a stop sign. He was fined $35.
May 31: An unofficial committee met, including Gilbert Porter (executive secretary of the segregated Florida State Teachers Association and a former principal of Lincoln High School), two ICC members, a white minister, the president of the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce and a white businessman. They agreed not to get involved because the bus boycott was a situation that had already "developed." The committee would never meet again.
June 1: Attorneys for the city and the bus company met with ICC lawyer Theries Lindsey and NAACP lawyer Francisco Rodriguez in an "exploratory conference" to clarify issues in dispute. Circuit court judge Ben C. Willis represented the city in the absence of James Messer. Charles Ausley represented the bus company. The sticking point of the meeting was the seating provision. Lindsey announced that written demands would be presented to the City Commission during its next special meeting.
Ausley called Malcolm Johnson and asked him to convene a delegation of black leaders to discuss the situation with attorneys for the bus company. Johnson called Gilbert Porter and asked him to bring three other people to the meeting. Porter arrived later that afternoon at Johnson's office with 13 black leaders
June 2: City commissioners met privately at the Capital City Bank with 15 blacks, only one of whom was a member of the ICC (Episcopal priest David Brooks).
June 3: The city's proposals for ending the boycott appeared in the Democrat. Their official statement said a strict policy of courtesy was already in place. Despite what Carter had said, employment of black bus drivers was a matter of bus management and did not involved the city franchise. Also, black applicants would be given consideration. Commissioners interpreted "first come first served" to mean that nobody had to give up his seat, but blacks and white could not sit together.
That evening, an ICC meeting at Bethel was attended by 1,000 blacks. Steele announced that he would no longer accept segregation of any kind on the buses. The crowd voted unanimously to reject the city's position. The ICC executive committee drafted a statement that called segregated seating " economically unsound, humiliating, arbitrary, inequitable, inconvenient and morally unjustifiable."
June 4: The ICC presents a resolution to the City Commission insisting on the right of all bus passengers to "sit wherever they choose on any bus or buses" and requested courteous treatment and employment of black drivers. It implored commissioners to make a "morally right decision" and add "new laurels to Tallahassee's illustrious name."
The Democrat editorialized that blacks have been "unreasonable and have used ill-advised procedures" and that perhaps a suspension of services would cool things off.
City Commissioners refused to alter the bus franchise. They rejected ICC's call for "full integration." They agreed to a petition filed by Cities Transit to discontinue two predominately black FAMU and Frenchtown routes.
June 5: A panel of three federal judges struck down Montgomery's segregation ordinances as unconstitutional.
June 6: Steele told the ICC that the new federal court ruling was a "long, long step toward victory in the war in which we are now engaged with a great giant."
June 4: the City Commission cancels bus service to Frenchtown and Florida A&M University. It also turned down the ICC request for full integration. Both City Commission votes were unanimous and debate lasted 10 minutes.
June 14: The ICC issued a statement saying that it planned to continue the boycott and that the compromise offered by the City Commission had been rejected.
June 15: Cities Transit and the City Commission take out a full-page advertisement to explain their respective positions.
June 17: NAACP member in Miami decided not to boycott the Miami Transit Co., but to file suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of Miami's bus segregation laws.
At a meeting of Fort Pierce Rotary Club, Florida Attorney General Richard Ervin recommended a four-point legislative program to help cope with the new racial problems brought on by "recent U.S. Supreme Court desegregation decision." The plan included:
June 20: The ICC takes out a full-page advertisement in the Tallahassee Democrat entitled "An Appeal to the People of Tallahassee for Moral Justice." The letter made a moral appeal, saying, "this is Tallahassee's hour to add new laurels to her illustrious name as the eyes of the nation and the world focus their attention on this great capital city of Florida.
June 25: City Commissioners met at City Hall with a coalition of 10 prominent whites and 10 handpicked "old Negro leaders." Stelle and Rollins were not invited to participate. The meeting ended with no solution.
July 1: All Cities Transit buses ceased operation indefinitely.
July 10: After a joint meeting, the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce and the City Commission announced that they would no longer negotiate under any circumstances with black leaders and that a new campaign inaugurated by white civic leaders to get the buses moving on revised routes was making "encouraging progress." The commission also denied the ICC a franchise to operate any kind of transportation system.
July 17: Police Chief Frank Stoutamire held a conference with city attorneys, then announced would launch a crackdown on Negro motor pool cars violating Florida's "for hire" laws governing public transportation.
July 19: Cities Transit announces that buses will start running on Aug. 2.
July 24: The City Commission introduced an ordinance outlawing car pools and then went into a closed-door meeting to discuss the possibility of lobbying for state legislation to do the same. Police Chief Stoutamire said he was still investigating the car pools and had not reached a point where arrests would be made.
July 31 to Sept. 2: An informant was hired by the Tallahassee Police to report on actions of the ICC.
Aug. 2: Cities Transit resumes bus service with smaller buses running new schedules on new routes. Blacks were welcomed to ride the bus only if they obeyed segregation ordinances. Shortly afterward, black drivers were hired for the routes between Florida A&M and Frenchtown.
Aug. 3: Mayor John Humprhess announced that the City Commission had decided not to pass the anti-carpool ordinance.
Aug. 22: Four ICC car pool drivers (one of them the vice president of the ICC) were arrested for operating a car pool in violation of the state's "for hire" laws regulating commercial transportation. The arrests came after Florida Attorney General Richard Ervin issued an opinion that automobiles operated primarily for transporting passengers during the bus boycott came within the classification of "for hire" vehicles.
Aug. 24: Three more ICC car pool drivers were arrested.
Aug. 27: ICC leaders C.K. Steel and Dan Speed were arrested.
Aug. 28: C.K. Steele was arrested again on charges of operating a carpool vehicle.
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| This picture appeared on the front page of the Sept. 2 Tallahassee Democrat with the caption: KLANSMEN MEET AND CHURCH GROUP PRAYS FOR THEM: Standing under a 20-foot fiery cross, Ku Klux Klansmen last night met near Tallahassee while at the same time local Negroes met to pray for the Klansmen. To the right, the Rev. L. Damon is shown leading an emotional chant at the prayer meeting. (Democrat photo) |
After a brief ceremonial by the hooded Klansmen, three speakers standing in front of a fiery cross spend almost two hours criticizing the Tallahassee Democrat and newspapers in general, the NAACP, the United States Supreme Court and Gov. LeRoy Collins. The Tallahassee bus boycott was not mentioned.
Sept. 20: FAMU President George W. Gore Jr. appealed to the faculty, staff and employees of Florida A&M University for Negroes to refrain from active participation in the bus boycott for the good of the institution.
Oct. 20: City Judge John A. Rudd found the Inter-Civic Council and 21 others guilty of operating an illegal transportation system. He fined each $500 or 60 days, and an additional mandatory jail sentence of 60 days with a provision that they not "engage in any illegal activity" for a year.
Oct. 22: C.K. Steel announced that the Inter-Civic Council would end its sponsorship of the bus boycott. He said that although the council no longer will direct car pool operations, "the war is not over. We are still walking."
Nov. 13: The Supreme Court declared that segregation on Montgomery busses was unconstitutional.
Dec. 22: The Democrat reported: "The Tallahassee Inter Civic Council has told the City Commission its seventh-month old bus boycott has ended and Negroes will return to the buses in an 'unsegregated fashion.' The letter said 'we seek your unqualified assistance in maintaining order and preventing violence of any sort as our people return to the buses in unsegregated fashion. The fact that there are violent factions in both races dictates that we be ever mindful.' The letter was signed 'The Executive Committee' by M.C. Williams, executive secretary."
Later that day, Tallahassee Mayor John Humpress held a closed-door session of the City Commission in which commissioners decided to maintain segregation on all city buses.
Dec. 23: The Democrat reported: "The Tallahassee Inter Civil Council announced it will hold a public meeting tonight at AME Church in Bond Subdivision to decide 'whether to return to the buses on an unsegregated basis' or continue boycotting the bus company. Rev. C.K. Steele, president of the council, said yesterday's statement that the Negroes will return to the buses in an unsegregated fashion was 'premature.' Steele said the Inter Civil Council never takes final action without a vote of the people at a mass meeting."
Dec. 24: After a seven-hour meeting, the City Commission instructed City Manager Arvah Hopkins to order the bus company to maintain segregation on city buses. The bus company then announced it intention to test Tallahassee's segregation laws in a lawsuit in light of the decision by the Supreme Court outlawing segregation in Montgomery. That day, teams of ministers and members of the Inter Civic Council rode buses sitting near the front. Steele was joined by The Rev. A.C. Redd, pastor of the St. James CME Church and the Rev. H. McNeal Harris, pastor of the Bethel AME Church.
Dec. 26: The City Commission sent written instructions to Cities Transit to maintain segregation on the buses. Despite the order, blacks continued to sit at the front the bus.
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| This picture appeared on the front page of the Dec. 27 Tallahassee Democrat with the caption: ASSEMBLY LINE ARRESTS: Police Chief Frank Stoutamire (in the bus doorway) and Lt. Johnny Coggins are shown arresting one of nine bus drivers early this morning. The arrests were made in assembly-line fashion as the buses pulled out onto Meridian Street shortly after 7 a.m. Bus Company Manager Charles L. Carter also was arrested, and put up $100 cash bonds for himself and the nine drivers. Seven of the nine are white. This driver is Edgar Richardson who handles the Florida A&M-Frenchtown run. (Democrat photo) |
Dec. 28: The planned demonstration was cancelled. According to the Democrat, when demonstrators arrived at Monroe Steet and Park Avenue to about 200 "white teenagers" who "exchanged bantering remarks and big talk about resistance." Meanwhile, Federal judge Dozier A. DeVane issued an order temporarily restraining the city of Tallahassee from interfering with the Cities Transit's franchised operation, but left the door open on the question of whether final local judgement on bus seating will be made in his court or the state court.
Dec. 31: The White Citizens Council passed a resolution asking Gov. LeRoy Collins to use his new emergency powers to take control of the buses. Leaders of the ICC are shot at and physically threatened.
Jan. 1: Gov. Collins uses his new emergency powers to suspend all bus services in Tallahassee, blaming both "irresponsible Negro leadership" and "rabid pro-segregationists" for creating the disorder.
Jan 2: A cross was burned in front of Steel's home while he was attending an ICC meeting.
Jan 3: Federal Judge Emmett Choate ruled that Miami's bus segregation laws and those of the entire state were unconstitutional.
Jan. 7: The City Commission announced the repeal of the segregation clause of the transit firm's franchise because of its "doubtful legality." In its place, it adopts a bus seating assignment plan under which all seats on the bus would be reserved and the drivers would assign seats to provide "maximum health and safety" for passengers.
