34
In
many
cases
the
preexisting organizations actually formed these um-
brella committees,
and
a significant
number
of
churches
became
di-
rectly involved
in
the movement to acquire
the
vote.
During 1958
and
1959 civic organizations
and
churches
reported
that
organized
operations
were
in
place
to
register voters.
For
example,
in
Shreveport Dr. Simpkins,
president
of the local SCLC affiliate, re-
ported:
There
are some 15-20
churches that
now
have special
registration
committees which
are
available
each Sunday to
give instructions
to
prospective voters after services. The United
Christian
Movement,
Inc.,
is holding voting clinics every
Monday night;
has
secured the use
of
a
voting machine
for
instruction
and
is publishing
a
monthly mi-
meographed
news letter.35
In
Baton Rouge Reverend Jemison reported, "Eighteen
(18)
social
and
civic clubs have
accepted
the responsibility
of
providing the
manpower
to do
the
house-to-house canvassing
....
the
registration lists
are
being
checked
weekly
and
weekly
classes
are
being
held
in
several
churches."36 Similar
coordinating
committees
were
organized
in
Mont-
gomery, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Memphis, Atlanta,
and
Columbia.
Cross-fertilization
of
ideas
and
resources
occurred
between
South-
ern
communities involved
in
the
voting
movement
and
the SCLC's cen-
tral office. Speaking
of
the
City-wide Registration Committee
of
)
Birmingham, Ella Baker
wrote
that
the
SCLC
had
"supplied
several
thousand
pieces
of
mimeographed
material from
our
office.
"37
Baker
and
Tilley shuttled
between
communities
conducting direct action
workshops
and
compiling
complaints
of
repression against potential
voters,
which
they sent to
the
Justice Department. Reverend Tilley spoke
to
numerous
church
groups
and
rallies, assuring
them
that
God
was
interested
in
civil rights. Pointing to
the
importance
of
these meetings
Rufus Lewis,
Chairman
of
the
Montgomery
Committee, wrote:
The SCLC's
Crusade
for
Citizenship
111
[TJhese
meetings have
been
helpful in showing first, what
things are
being done
in other
states; and
how
successful
they are
in solving their
problems;
second,
in developing
good
working relationships with
other
groups;
third in helping each
other
to see the
vast
extent
of
the
whole
problem.
36
The
Crusade
played
an
important
role
in
acquainting the masses all
over
the
South
with
the
SCLC's
"direct
action"
approach,
introduced
earlier
in
Baton Rouge, Montgomery,
and
other
cities. Whenever local
churches
or
organizations affiliated
with
the
SCLC, members
of
the
community
were
exposed to
an
organized group identified with the
new
approach.
That
community
was
now
under
the
wing
of
an
iden-
tifiable organization,
which
conducted
nonviolent direct action work-
shops;
disseminated
Dr. King's
Stride Toward
Freedom, a
book
describing the
dynamics
of the Montgomery bus boycott;
and
urged
blacks to
change
their
status
in
American
society by building mass
movements.
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- Spring '14
- ErikR.Love
- The Bible, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King, Jr., Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Social movement
