1968 Tallahassee riots

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1968 Tallahassee riots
Part of King assassination riots
DateApril 4–7, 1968
Location
Caused byAssassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Parties to the civil conflict
Protestors, rioters
Lead figures
Gene Berkowitz
Casualties
Death(s)1
Injuries14

The 1968 Tallahassee riots were one of many riots that broke out after Martin Luther King was assassinated in Tallahassee, Florida lasting from April 5–7, 1968. It was originally a student protest but later became a riot as a result of the rage and anger of participants. The riot would happened at Florida A & M University but unrest would be seen to a lesser extent in the Frenchtown neighborhood.[1]

Background[]

City overview[]

Tallahassee was described as having a population of about 68,000 with 25% of the population being African-American in 1968. It was also Florida's capital of the state as well.

There were two state universities in the city: Florida State University (FSU) and the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU). FAMU was a historically black university while FSU was an all white university until 1962.[1] The hospital at FAMU's campus would start to loose federal funding in 1965 because the university's hospital was not admitting white patients despite most of the staff being white. Tallahassee Memorial Hospital would eventually start to admit black patients to try and not loose federal funding which led to drawing away middle-class African American patients who could pay and had the right insurance coverage to choose TMH over FAMU's hospital. The hospital would begin to fall into bad financial grounds as it could not attract patients who were either white or African American. In 1967 the county and municipal government would take over control of the hospital. The hospital itself became a point of contention for students, alumni and faculty at FAMU who felt that the University's President William Gore, Jr. did not fight hard enough in there eyes to protect the hospital. Also in 1967, there would be talks of merging the university with FSU. By February 1968 students had created several black power groups and created a student newspaper named UHURU as they felt the university needed to be protected.[2]

Civil Rights Movement[]

Tallahassee would see action in it during the Civil Rights Movement. The 1956 Tallahassee bus boycott would eventually be eventually successful in desegregating the bus system in the city.[1][3] What caused the boycott was when 2 African-American students from FAMU, Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrier Patterson sat in the whites only section where there was the only 2 vacant seats left at and were asked to either move to back of the bus and stand in the back or leave the bus without getting there fares back. Starting on May 28 the boycott would run until December 22.[4]

A chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality would be created at FAMU after two students from there went to the University of Miami during the summer of 1959 and entered a chapter at a CORE workshop at the University of Miami and would end up bringing it back to FAMU. After the CORE chapter was created, a series of events like picketing and sit-ins would be done by them with mixed results. The events did not receive that much publicity and there is little known about them.[3]

Sit-ins[]

There would be a series of sit-ins protests in the city between 1960 and 1961.[1] The sit-ins began on February 13, 1960 when a combination of 8 high school and FAMU students held a sit-ins at a local Woolworth store's counter for 2.5 hours that day. No arrests were reported in the sit-in that day. Another sit-in would be held on February 20. This time 11 students would participate and a police squad that was lead my the mayor would request they leave. The protesters would reject it and got arrested. Reverend Daniel B. Speed would end up bailing the students out and the protestors were arrested under the charge of disturbing the peace by riotous conduct along with unlawful assembly. They were all found guilty in court and were offered the option of paying a $300 fine or doing 60 service days. All but three of the students would chose 3 service.[3]

A sit-in protest at a Woolworth's counter on March 13, 1960

The sit-in protests would continue to grow in size and the resistance they faced as well. During March 5 and 12 protests, students who were white from FSU would join in with the black students from FAMU. 240 students would end being arrested in the two protests. During March 12 a thousand students from FAMU going in groups of 75 each would go to the downtown area with posters and wanted the students who were arrested to be released. A "Local Citizen Council" would prevent them from entering a store as a group of white men who were armed in one instance. In response to the large amount of arrests that were made students would gather in response to it. The mayor would announce that the group had 3 minutes to disperse but before the time was up, the police would use tear gas with several females being hospitalized after receiving burns. State government officials thought that the protests would weaken the Florida Interracial Committee and that they would end making the Democratic gubernatorial primaries more favorable for a segregationist candidate, Farris Bryant. The sit-ins themselves would not effective towards accompolishing there goals in the end.[3]

Riots[]

Students at the FAMU would first react to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. with sadness later followed by anger. Student protests would become violent within a few hours with bottles and rocks being through at cars that were driving by along with gunfire. A white youth would get a bleeding ear after his car was attacked and was the first person to be injured. The Southern Mobile Homes Brokers located at 1804 South Monroe Street would be firebombed at 9 PM and 2 trailers were burned down. The police would finish the process of cordoning off all of FAMU's campus in four different directions. At around that same time one of the city commissioners, John A. Rudd would be injured by shattered glass when the car he was in with Mayor Gene Berkowitz was hit by bricks and bottles on Railroad Avenue close to Gamble Street. Another event that would happen would as well at 10 PM would be when a group of blacks would go into a different entrance to the university. The police would be fired upon by rioters. As a result, police forces would hide behind there patrol cars and the patty wagon that was at the scene.[1]

During April 15, violence would continue to happen. At 2:30 AM 19-year-old Travis E. Crow III who was an upstairs resident of Crow's Grocery located at 1902 Lake Bradford Road would die from asphyxiation after it was firebombed. In the Frenchtown neighborhood that day, two furniture stores: Home Furniture Store located at 622 North Macomb Street and Waldo's Furniture Company located at 624 West Fourth Avenue would be firebombed. At the Home Furniture Store, there was an automatic sprinkler system which extinguished the fire that resulted after it was firebombed. Closer to the FAMU campus, Econowash Launderette at 316 West Pershing Street would be broken into and destroyed.[1]

As a result of the rioting, the president of FAMU would close down the university on April 6 and would be closed until April 15 as the Board of Regent chancellor, Robert B. Mautz ordered him to do so. Dormitories would be evacuated at 7 PM on April 5 at FAMU as well. Sporting goods and ammunition stores would exercise more caution or refuse to sell ammunition at all.[1]

Aftermath/results/legacy[]

Chancelll Mautz would say that university authorities along with the local police would punish those who led the riots. A student at FAMU, Thomas Watts would be arrested in May 1968 for possessing a firebombing and inciting a riot. 12 arrest warrants would issued for suspects who had connections to the riot with all being black. A $2,700 reward was posted for any information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the person who had thrown the firebomb that killed Crow. Sheriff Joyce would say on April 9 that there was not much evidence surrounding the case. On May 5, two black teenagers would be arrested and charged for Crow's death: 17-year-old James Colbert and 18-year-old Billy Ray Oliver. The county judge would rule that Crow's death was homicide by arson and the two were convicted of first degree murder and got life sentences. The Florida cabinet would authorize a $100,000 purchase of mace, tear gas, helmets and shotguns among other equipment for the state police in response to the riots. The security force at FAMU would be increased from 11 to 18.[1]

A memorial service and march would be organized by Reverend Raleigh Gooden on April 9 for Crow and the march would go for 15 blocks.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "THE 1968 TALLAHASSEE RIOTS FOLLOWING THE ASSASSINATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR". Apalachee. Tallahassee Historical Society. 11. 1984.
  2. ^ FAMU WAY HISTORICAL SURVEY (PDF). pp. 24, 29–30.
  3. ^ a b c d "Tallahassee, Florida, students sit-in for U.S. Civil Rights, 1960". Global Nonviolent Action Database. September 12, 2010. Retrieved 2021-08-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Uhl, Sadie; Evans, Hope (February 6, 2021). "Black History Month: The Story of the Tallahassee Bus Boycott". Florida State University Department of History. Retrieved September 1, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Hare, Julianne (2002). "Civil Rights and Viet Nam: 1956-1975". Tallahassee: A Capital City History. Arcadia Publishing. p. 134.
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