Get on the Bus

Today has been the first lengthy travel that the group has experienced. We left Atlanta early this morning for points west, not far from the Alabama/Georgia border. Our first stop was the small town of Tuskegee, with a dual focus--a tour of the university that bears the town's name and a conversation with lawyer/activist Fred Gray at the newly opened Tuskegee Multicultural Center.

In many ways, Julian Bond had set the tone for this portion of the day with a lecture on the significance of the town (founded in the 1830s) and the Institute (founded under the leadership of Booker T. Washington in 1881). Bond carried us through the familiar themes of Washington's life and work (citing most often Robert J. Norrell's landmark book Reaping the Whirlwind)--emphasis on self-help and economic uplift through industrial education, Tuskegee as a "civilizing agent," and an insistence on high moral character in every aspect of life. He challenged us, however, to recall the world of Tuskegee after Washington's death in the 1910s--introducing many to Charles Gomillion's work and emphasis on voter registration, reminding us of the Tuskegee Airmen and significance of the black-run VA hospital, and active NAACP branch organized in 1945.

Upon arriving at the campus of Tuskegee, the group gathered for a talk by Dr. Charles Thompson at the George Washington Carver Museum. Thompson is the current Chamber president in Tuskegee, PhD in history from Louisiana State University, and former basketball coach at Tuskegee. He graciously oriented us to the campus and its history--reminding the group that some 42 buildings currently on the campus were constructed by the students of the Institute. This feat included the fabrication of the bricks from raw materials. We were led to the Booker T. Washington monument in the center of campus whose text puts his significance in perspective: "He lifted the veil of ignorance from his people and pointed the way to progress through education and industry."

Possibly the most significant treat for me during our time on campus was the opportunity to chat with a member of our tour--Emmett Bassett of Grahamsville, New York. Dr. Bassett (a PhD from Ohio State University) spent time on the campus of Tuskegee during the 1930s and worked as an intern with George Washington Carver on a grant from the New Deal's National Youth Administration. Living history. . . . Doesn't get much better than that.

From there we took the short trip to the Tuskegee Multicultural Center. The Center, under the leadership of T.C. Coley, is making a concerted effort to highlight the contributions of Native, African, and European Americans to the city. Arrangements had been made for us to listen to attorney Fred Gray provide his insight on the Civil Rights Movement. Gray, who still practices law locally at 77 years old, provided pivotal legal support during the heart of the modern Movement. His work includes, but is not limited to: defending Rosa Parks, and supporting the legal justification for the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the efforts to desegregate the city's busing system; Gomillion v. Lightfoot; Williams v. Wallace; and the inquiry into the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. He told the group that while he never intended as a young man to become a lawyer, when he saw the injustices done to Blacks in Montgomery, he vowed to "destroy everything segregated that I could."

After noon, we continued on to Montgomery. There, we took in two very different, yet both compelling art exhibits. The first, at Marcia Weber's Art Objects--which focuses on Folk and Outsider Art--included the works of Mose Tolliver, Anne Tolliver, Mary Whitfield, Howard Finster, Bennie Morrison, and many others. Then, we toured the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture at Alabama State University. Their most recent exhibition, "Coming By Force, Overcoming By Choice," is a moving collection of works that "presents a visual history of the progress and contributions of African Americans from the time that they were African slaves to the present." Most moving to me were: "Door of No Return," by Baton Rouge artist Ronald Kennedy, "Reconstruction: Jim Crow," by Robert Carter of Dix Hills, New York, "Middle Passage," by Hasaan Kirkland of Charlotte, North Carolina, and John Riddle and Jim Alexander's "The Ballot."

When the group felt we could do no more, we were ushered to the Montgomery restaurant O'dessa's Blessing. The food was fantastic--another soul food feast. No one left hungry--physically or spiritually. Calvin and his staff not only catered to our every culinary needs, but also provided a dinner theater of sorts with an interpretive dance troupe, spirituals, and historical recitations.

All of this was topped by a discussion with Lutheran minister Robert Graetz and his wife. Rev. Graetz was the only White minister who openly supported the Montgomery Bus Boycott during 1955-56. He had only moved to town in June 1955. He had promised his church leaders that he would not go South and "cause trouble." When the boycott began in earnest following Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat, Graetz was quick to join. He argued that his conscience was clear because he had no part in starting the business. Graetz made it clear to the audience that the Montgomery Women's Political Council deserved all the credit for making the boycott work from day one. Moreover, he recognized the tireless efforts of the late Johnnie "Mama" Carr who continued her work with the Montgomery Improvement Association even until her recent death.