List of segregationists during the American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
Encyclopedia
This is a list of segregationists during the American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968). Many public figures, particularly in the South
, defended compulsory racial segregation
as an institution during the Civil Rights Movement, and many others did not condemn it. This list comprises those people who publicly supported segregation at the time, although many later modified or recanted their position as public sentiment shifted (and the number of African American
voters in their areas increased).
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, defended compulsory racial segregation
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
as an institution during the Civil Rights Movement, and many others did not condemn it. This list comprises those people who publicly supported segregation at the time, although many later modified or recanted their position as public sentiment shifted (and the number of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
voters in their areas increased).
- Dale AlfordDale AlfordThomas Dale Alford, Sr. was an ophthalmologist and politician from the U.S. state of Arkansas who served as a conservative Democrat in the United States House of Representatives from Little Rock from 1959 to 1963....
, United States Represenatative from Arkansas (Democrat) - Clarence C. AycockClarence C. AycockClarence C. "Taddy" Aycock , a conservative Democrat from Franklin in St. Mary Parish, was the only three-term lieutenant governor in modern Louisiana history. He served from 1960 to 1972. Aycock failed in his only bid for governor in the 1971 Democratic primary...
, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana (Democrat). - Ross BarnettRoss BarnettRoss Robert Barnett was the governor of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. He was a States' Rights Democrat.- Early life :...
, Governor of Mississippi (Democrat). - Bill BeenyBill BeenyBill Beeny is a Baptist minister and self-declared segregationist who led right-wing organizations in St. Louis, Missouri, during the 1960s...
- Albert BoutwellAlbert BoutwellAlbert Burton Boutwell was the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama. A Democrat, Boutwell served Governor John Malcolm Patterson of the same political party, from 1959-1963....
, Lieutenant Governor of Alabama (Democrat). - Bryant BowlesBryant BowlesBryant William Bowles Jr. was a white supremacist bitterly opposed to racial integration of public schools in the United States....
, white supremacist organizer in Florida - Parey BrantonParey BrantonParey Pershing Branton, Sr. , was a businessman from Shongaloo, Louisiana, who was from 1960 to 1972 a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from what is now District 10 in Webster Parish...
, Louisiana state legislator (Democrat). - Overton BrooksOverton BrooksThomas Overton Brooks was a Democratic U.S. representative from the Shreveport-based Fourth Congressional District of northwest Louisiana, having served for a quarter century beginning on January 3, 1937. Brooks was a nephew of U.S. Senator John Holmes Overton as well as a great-grandson of Walter...
, U.S. representative from northwestern Louisiana - C. Farris BryantC. Farris BryantCecil Farris Bryant was the 34th Governor of Florida. He also served on the United States National Security Council and in the Office of Emergency Planning during the administration of President Lyndon B...
, Governor of Florida (Democrat). - Harry F. ByrdHarry F. ByrdHarry Flood Byrd, Sr. of Berryville in Clarke County, Virginia, was an American newspaper publisher, farmer and politician. He was a descendant of one of the First Families of Virginia...
, Governor of Virginia (Democrat). - Robert ByrdRobert ByrdRobert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...
, United States Senator, West Virginia (Democrat). - Howard "Bo" Callaway, United States Representative, Georgia (Republican).
- Francis CherryFrancis CherryFrancis Adams Cherry was the 35th Governor of Arkansas, elected as a Democrat for a single two-year term from 1953 to 1955. He was only the second governor in Arkansas history to have been denied a second term—the first was Tom Jefferson Terral, who was defeated in 1926. After the...
, Governor of Arkansas (Democrat). - Kent CourtneyKent CourtneyKent Harbinson Courtney was a leading figure in the "Radical Right" of American politics from the 1950s to the 1970s. Courtney was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, but his family moved to New Orleans, when he was a young child...
- Jimmie DavisJimmie DavisJames Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
, Governor of Louisiana (Democrat). - Vail M. DelonyVail M. DelonyVail Montgomery Delony was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, having served from 1940 until his death in office...
, Louisiana state legislator from Lake ProvidenceLake Providence, LouisianaLake Providence is a town in and the parish seat of East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2000 census.-Civil War:... - Wickliffe DraperWickliffe DraperWickliffe Preston Draper was an American multimillionaire and an ardent eugenicist and lifelong advocate of strict racial segregation...
- James EastlandJames EastlandJames Oliver Eastland was an American politician from Mississippi who briefly served in the United States Senate as a Democrat in 1941; and again from 1943 until his resignation December 27, 1978. From 1947 to 1978, he served alongside John Stennis, also a Democrat...
, United States Senator, Mississippi (Democrat). - Allen J. EllenderAllen J. EllenderAllen Joseph Ellender was a popular U.S. senator from Houma, Louisiana , who served from 1937 until his death. He was a Democrat who was originally allied with the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr.. As Senator he compiled a generally conservative record, voting 77% of the time with the Conservative...
, United States Senator, Louisiana (Democrat). - Orval FaubusOrval FaubusOrval Eugene Faubus was the 36th Governor of Arkansas, serving from 1955 to 1967. He is best known for his 1957 stand against the desegregation of Little Rock public schools during the Little Rock Crisis, in which he defied a unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court by ordering the...
, Governor of Arkansas (Democrat). - Murphy J. FosterMurphy J. FosterMurphy James Foster, Sr. , was a Louisiana politician who served two terms as the 31st Governor of Louisiana from 1892 to 1900.Early and personal life...
, Governor of Louisiana (Democrat). - William Fulbright, United States Senator, Arkansas (Democrat).
- John Sidney GarrettJohn Sidney GarrettJohn Sidney Garrett was a conservative Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who served from 1948 to 1972 under four gubernatorial administrations. Garrett was a successful businessman in the small town of Haynesville in Claiborne Parish south of the Arkansas state line...
, State Representative, Louisiana (Democrat). - Jack P.F. GremillionJack P.F. GremillionJack Paul Faustin Gremillion, Sr. , was the Democratic attorney general of Louisiana from 1956-1972. He was a member of the Earl Kemp Long political faction. Though he opposed school desegregation, he was a party loyalist and was an elector for the John F. Kennedy--Lyndon B. Johnson presidential...
, Attorney General of Louisiana (Democrat). - F. Edward Hebert, U.S. representative from Louisiana (Democrat).
- Jesse HelmsJesse HelmsJesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...
, United States Senator, North Carolina (Democrat 1942-1970, Republican 1970-2008). - Lister Hill, United States Senator, Alabama (Democrat).
- Fritz Hollings, United States Governor and Senator, South Carolina (Democrat)
- Orville L. HubbardOrville L. HubbardOrville Liscum Hubbard was the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan for 36 years from 1942-1978. Sometimes referred to as the "Dictator of Dearborn", Hubbard was the most outspoken segregationist north of the Mason-Dixon line...
, Mayor, Dearborn, Michigan. - Shelby M. JacksonShelby M. JacksonShelby M. Jackson was a Democratic superintendent of public education in Louisiana who served from 1948-1964. In the early 1960s, he tried in vain to block federally-authorized school desegregation. Jackson was posthumously honored in 1994, by the naming of the "Shelby M...
, Superintendent of Public Education, Louisiana (Democrat). - James D. JohnsonJames D. JohnsonJames Douglas Johnson, known as Justice Jim Johnson , was a former associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, a two-time candidate for governor of Arkansas in 1956 and 1966, and in 1968 an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S...
, Arkansas Supreme Court justice (Democrat). - Paul B. Johnson, Jr.Paul B. Johnson, Jr.Paul Burney Johnson, Jr. was a United States Democratic Mississippi politician and son of former Mississippi Governor Paul B. Johnson, Sr.....
, Governor of Mississippi (Democrat). - J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., United States Senator, Louisiana (Democrat).
- Bob Jones, Sr.Bob Jones, Sr.Robert Reynolds Jones, Sr. was an American evangelist, pioneer religious broadcaster and the founder and first president of Bob Jones University.-Early years:...
, Evangelist. - B. Everett JordanB. Everett JordanBenjamin Everett Jordan was a Democratic U.S. Senator from the state of North Carolina from 1958 until 1973. He lived most of his life in Alamance County, North Carolina....
, United States Senator, North Carolina (Democrat). - Robert F. KennonRobert F. KennonRobert Floyd Kennon, Sr., known as Bob Kennon , was the 48th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1952-1956. He failed to win a second non-consecutive term in the 1963 Democratic primary....
, Governor of Louisiana (Democrat). - James J. KilpatrickJames J. KilpatrickJames Jackson Kilpatrick was an American editorial columnist and grammarian. He was a legal abstractionist, a social conservative, and an economic libertarian according to Harvard ....
, Columnist. - Russell B. LongRussell B. LongRussell Billiu Long was an American Democratic politician and United States Senator from Louisiana from 1948 until 1987.-Early life:...
, United States Senator, Louisiana (Democrat). - Speedy O. LongSpeedy O. LongSpeedy Oteria Long was a Jena lawyer who was a Democratic U.S. Representative from central Louisiana between 1965 and 1973. Prior to his tenure in the since disbanded Eighth Congressional District, Speedy Long had been a member of the Louisiana state Senate...
, United States Representative, Louisiana (Democrat). - Charlton LyonsCharlton LyonsCharlton Havard Lyons, Sr., also known as Big Papa Lyons , was a Shreveport oilman who in 1964 waged the first determined Republican bid for the Louisiana governorship since Reconstruction. Lyons also made a strong but losing bid for the United States House of Representatives in a special election...
, State Chairman, Louisiana Republican Party. - Lester MaddoxLester MaddoxLester Garfield Maddox was an American politician who was the 75th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1967 to 1971....
, Governor of Georgia (Democrat, American Independent). - James D. MartinJames D. MartinJames Douglas Martin is a retired Republican politician from the US state of Alabama. His 1962 campaign for the United States Senate was the first serious showing by a member of his party since Reconstruction....
, United States Representative, Alabama (Republican). - John McClellanJohn McClellanJohn McClellan may refer to:*John McClellan , chemist and industrialist in Widnes, England*John Little McClellan, politician from Arkansas, USA...
, United States Senator, Arkansas (Democrat). - John McKeithenJohn McKeithenJohn Julian McKeithen was the 49th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1964 to 1972. A Democrat from the town of Columbia, he was the first governor of his state in the twentieth century to serve two consecutive terms...
, Governor of Louisiana (Democrat). - Harold MontgomeryHarold MontgomeryA. Harold Montgomery, Sr. , was an agricultural businessman and a Louisiana state senator, who is remembered as an outspoken conservative within his state's dominant Democratic Party...
, Louisiana state senator (Democrat) - Danny Roy MooreDanny Roy MooreDanny Roy Moore is a civil engineer and land surveyor in Arcadia, Louisiana, who served as a conservative Democrat in the Louisiana State Senate from 1964 until 1968...
, Louisiana state senator (Democrat) - deLesseps Story Morrison (Democrat)
- John H. OvertonJohn H. OvertonJohn Holmes Overton was an attorney and Democratic United States representative and U.S. senator from Louisiana...
, U.S. senator from Louisiana (Democrat) - Otto PassmanOtto PassmanOtto Ernest Passman was a conservative Democratic congressman from Monroe in northeastern Louisiana, who served from 1947 to 1977. He is primarily remembered for his detailed knowledge and mostly opposition to foreign aid...
, U.S. representative from northeastern Louisiana (Democrat) - Dave L. PearceDave L. PearceDavid L. "Dave" Pearce was a Democrat who served as the Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry from 1952–1956 and again from 1960-1976...
, Louisiana Agricultural Commissioner (Democrat) - Leander PerezLeander PerezLeander Henry Perez, Sr. , was the Democratic political boss of Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes in southeastern Louisiana during the middle third of the 20th century. Officially, he served as a district judge, later as district attorney, and as president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission...
, Louisiana judge (Democrat) - William M. RainachWilliam M. RainachWilliam Monroe Rainach, Sr., known as Willie Rainach , was a state legislator from rural Summerfield in Claiborne Parish who led Louisiana's "Massive Resistance" to desegregation during the last half of the 1950s...
, Louisiana state senator (Democrat) - John RarickJohn RarickJohn Richard Rarick was a lawyer who served as a Louisiana state district court judge from 1961 to 1966 in St. Francisville, Louisiana, the seat of West Feliciana Parish, and as a Democratic U.S. representative from the Sixth Congressional District from 1967 to 1975...
, U.S. representative from Louisiana (Democrat, Independent, American Independent) - A. Willis Robertson, U.S. senator from Virginia (Democrat)
- Richard B. Russell, U.S. senator from Georgia (Democrat)
- Victor Schiro, mayor of New Orleans (Democrat)
- George W. ShannonGeorge W. ShannonGeorge Washington Shannon was a conservative Louisiana journalist.Shannon was born in El Dorado, the seat of Union County, in southern Arkansas. He began his career as a reporter and sports editor at the El Dorado News-Times, one of the Clyde E. Palmer newspapers...
, Louisiana journalist - Gerald L.K. Smith, evangelist from Louisiana and Arkansas (Demorat)
- Howard W. SmithHoward W. SmithHoward Worth Smith , Democratic U.S. Representative from Virginia, was a leader of the conservative coalition who supported both racial segregation and women's rights.-Early life and education:...
, United States Representative from Virginia (Democrat). - John SparkmanJohn SparkmanJohn Jackson Sparkman was an American politician from the state of Alabama. A conservative Southern Democrat, Sparkman served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate from 1937 until 1979. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President as Adlai Stevenson's running mate in...
, U.S. senator from Alabama (Democrat) - John C. StennisJohn C. StennisJohn Cornelius Stennis was a U.S. Senator from the state of Mississippi. He was a Democrat who served in the Senate for over 41 years, becoming its most senior member by his retirement.- Early life :...
, United States Senator from Mississippi (Democrat). - Ford E. StinsonFord E. StinsonFord Edwards Stinson, Sr. , was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1940–1944 and again from 1952-1972. In his last legislative term from 1968–1972, he served in a two-member district covering Bossier Parish with fellow Democrat Walter O. Bigby...
, Louisiana state representative (Democrat). - J. B. StonerJ. B. StonerJesse Benjamin "J.B." Stoner was an American segregationist who was convicted in 1980 of the bombing in 1958 of the Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.J. B...
, Georgia political candidate (Democrat) - A. Roswell Thompson, Louisiana political candidate (Democrat)
- Strom ThurmondStrom ThurmondJames Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...
, Governor and U.S. senator from South Carolina (Democrat, States' Rights Democrat, Republican) - Ned TouchstoneNed TouchstoneNed O'Neal Touchstone was a newspaper publisher who was a leader of the [Conservative Right-Wing Movement]] in Louisiana politics during the 1960s...
, Louisiana journalist and printer (Democrat) - Joe WaggonnerJoe WaggonnerJoseph David Waggonner, Jr. , better known as Joe D. Waggonner, was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Bossier Parish who represented the old 4th Congressional District of northwest Louisiana from December 1961 until January 1979. He was also a confidant of Republican U.S...
, U.S. representative from Louisiana (Democrat) - George C. Wallace (Democrat, American Independent)
- Albert Watson (Democrat, Republican)
- John Bell WilliamsJohn Bell WilliamsJohn Bell Williams was an American Democratic politician who was governor of Mississippi from 1968 to 1972.-Biography:...
, Governor of Mississippi (Democrat) - Edwin E. WillisEdwin E. WillisEdwin Edward Willis was an American politician and attorney from the U.S. state of Louisiana who was affiliated with the Long political faction. A Democrat, he served in the Louisiana State Senate during 1948 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1969.-Early life:Willis...
, U.S. representative from Louisiana (Democrat) - Fielding L. WrightFielding L. WrightFielding Lewis Wright was a Democratic politician who served as Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from 1944 to 1946, then as Governor after the incumbent, Thomas L. Bailey, died in office in 1946. Wright was elected Governor in his own right in 1947 and served a full four year term...
, Governor of Mississippi (Democrat)