Anniston; Alabama; is a small industrial city between Birmingham and Atlanta. In 1961; the city's potential for race-related violence was graphically revealed when the KKK firebombed a Freedom Riders bus. In response to that incident a few black and white leaders in Anniston took a progressive view that desegregation was inevitable and that it was better to unite a community than to divide it. To that end; the city created a biracial Human Relations Commission which set about to quietly dismantle Jim Crow segregation laws and customs. This was such a novel notion in George Wallace's Alabama that President Kennedy called with congratulations. The Commission did not prevent all disorder in Anniston -- there was one death and the usual threats; crossburnings; and a widely publicized beating of two black ministers -- yet Anniston was spared much of the civil rights bitterness that raged in other places in the turbulent mid-sixties. Author Phil Noble's account is carefully researched but told from a personal viewpoint. It shows once again that the civil rights movement was not monolithic either for those who were in it or those who were opposed to it.
#1800150 in Books 2007-11-15 2007-11-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.75 x .80 x 5.25l; .62 #File Name: 158729608X248 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A Civil War OdysseyBy CustomerMuch has been written about the soldiers who fought in Virginia during the American Civil War; and deservedly so; but in the last twenty years increasing attention has been paid to the individuals who campaigned in the other areas caught up in that conflict. Fitting nicely into that category is William Henry Harrison Clayton; whose story is revealed in A Damned Iowa Greyhound; edited by Donald C. Elder III. A farm boy from Iowa; Clayton served in the Union Army from his enlistment in 1862 until his discharge in the summer of 1865. During his years of service; he saw action in six states ranging from Missouri to Florida. Captured in battle in 1863; he spent almost a year in the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi River. Released in 1864; Clayton rejoined his regiment in time to participate in the last major campaign of the war at Mobile. Wherever he served; Clayton faithfully wrote home to his family in Iowa; a correspondence that was kept in the family until it was donated to the Lincoln Shrine in Redlands; California. Elder's book includes all of these letters; and features maps; illustrations; and endnotes to further enhance the reader's understanding of what Clayton experienced in his days in uniform. An interesting glimpse into the eventful military career of a Union soldier who served in campaigns just now being fully appreciated; A Damned Iowa Greyhound is a valuable addition to the primary accounts that came out of the American Civil War.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Very interestingBy CustomerGift for hubbie who is a Civil War enthusiast. He ound it hard to put down.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Good Civil War readBy J. LorosInteresting historical perspectives. And I like Civil War history.
