The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003 Page: 434
675 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Although too little too late, Curry made an April 8 statement in defense of
Wilkerson, insisting that he became the "scapegoat" for a "prejudiced
press ... deliberately set out ... to destroy a small church-related college."
At Wiley College, once the dust had settled by summer, President T. W.
Cole summarily fired the entire faculty and issued new contracts to "those
who had cooperated with the administration." It remains unclear exactly
how many failed to regain employment.44
Minimal repercussions for students and faculty at their respective
institutions did not translate into a lack of consequences all together.
Harrison County and Marshall corporation courts hastily scheduled the
demonstrators' trials in an effort to evade adverse publicity and to end
the ordeal as quickly as possible. The district attorney charged fifty-seven
students with unlawful assembly, six with unlawful picketing, and sixteen
under the city ordinance for failing to vacate the premises when request-
ed by the owner. Some of the protesters incurred dual charges of unlaw-
ful assembly and failure to leave the premises. By Thursday, April 7, the
trials in both city and county courts began. Attorneys for the movement,
which now included Ken Holbert, L. A. Bedford, and W. J. Durham in
addition to C. B. Bunkley, filed six motions for dismissal of the city cases.
Three "attacked the use of state powers to carry out the personal preju-
dice of store owners and the other three attacked the validity of the ordi-
nance on which the cases [were] to be tried." The movement's legal
counsel filed seven motions to quash charges in the county complaints
(under the state law). Three of the motions assailed the state statute as
excessively vague and insisted that the alleged violations remained
unclear. The other four attacked the enforcement of the law, which the
attorneys believed had been administered to enforce local segregation
customs. Expectantly, the judges in both courts rendered all demonstra-
tors guilty after a series of speedy trials over the next two months, levying
fines of $50 to $2oo, depending on the gravity of the offense. Appeals in
most of the cases continued until a tragic car-train accident on August
17, 196o, in which local black assistant attorney Romeo Williams, along
with protester Mattie Mae Etta Johnson of Bishop College, died. In the
wake of this accident, District Judge Sam B. Hall apparently postponed
all other appeals until the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin
ruled on the test cases.45
During the remainder of the spring and summer, both students and
their attorneys realized they needed a financial wellspring if the appeals
were to be continued. Attorney Bunkley contacted his colleague and
4" Special Report on Sitdowns, May 1960, reel 2 2, NAACP Papers; Dallas Mornng News, Apr. 8,
1960.
"4 Marshall News Messenger, Apr. 7, 196o, to Aug. 17, 196o.January
434
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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/m1/502/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.