The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003 Page: 428
675 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
their streams' reach, forcing them to move their vehicles. One white
teenager who helped control one of the hoses explained that at first
"they were using a small pumping unit ... to simply spray the blacks. But
that when this did not seem to disperse them, a larger pumping unit was
wheeled into position and an extra-strong stream of water turned upon
them."" Although most students avoided direct hits by the stream, oth-
ers endured painful blows. Cleveland Heard, a local furniture store
owner and youthful member of the city commission, stood at the fore-
front of the wall of firefighters and angrily instructed the men to "wet
them down, wet them all down," including many of his black customers,
who thereafter refused to patronize his store.28
Meanwhile, inside the courtroom, the atmosphere grew extremely tense
as the detained students rushed to the windows to observe the chaos out-
side. As a nervous second assistant district attorney recalled, "[i] t was kind
of testy because nobody knew exactly what was about to happen."
Nonetheless, the students returned to their seats at the behest of the offi-
cials.29 Ultimately, upon the release of the detainees on their own recog-
nizance, the crowd dispersed and students, confidence soaring, marched
back to their campuses to the tune of "The Star Spangled Banner."
Fortunately, weary Marshall law enforcement agencies had sent for
backup once the first crowds began assembling by 4 P.M. Ninety-two
additional law enforcement officers, including four Texas Rangers,
thirty-five highway patrolmen, and fifty-three police officers from
neighboring towns, arrived by Wednesday night. Highway patrolman
Glen Elliot and others likely preempted a race riot when they inter-
cepted a group of twenty-five to fifty white men making their way
across the courthouse lawn to the demonstrators. Marshall policeman
Joe Stanfield, like all other Marshall officers that night, patrolled the
streets with two officers from nearby towns for twenty-four hours
straight. At least eight officers stationed themselves on the roof of the
Hotel Marshall throughout the night, while others routinely stopped
cars whose drivers' ethnicities did not match the neighborhood
through which they traveled. Twenty-one white youths were caught van-
dalizing anti-discrimination signs at the two black colleges, for which
they received a stern admonition from District Attorney Allen the next
day. Otherwise, no major incidents occurred.0
"7Ann Adams (ed.), The Publhc and Pnvate Letters of Franklin Jones, Sr., z98z-z984 The Fzrestarter
Files (Oak Harbor, Washington: Packrat Press, 1985), 304.
2"Dr. Isadore Lamothe to Donald Seals Jr., 17, 2oo1, interview; Lawrence A. Moon to Donald
Seals Jr, Aug. 15, 2oox, interview.
2'Rives to Seals, Aug. 10, 2001, interview
sO Glen Elhot to Donald Seals Jr., Aug. 2, 2001, interview, Joe Stanfield to Donald Seals Jr,
Aug. 13, 2001, interview; Texas Observer, Apr. 1, 1960.428
January
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003, periodical, 2003; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101223/m1/496/?rotate=270: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.