Oral History Interviews Collection, 1974-1990

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Browse by Item:

[Item 1: Camp Depression - Paul Benson and Raymond Rund],
[Item 2: Camp Depression - John Holodick, Ray Ness, and Ken Gulmon],
[Item 3: Camp Depression - Algot Johnson],
[Item 4: Camp Depression - Mel Johnson],
[Item 5: Camp Depression Interview - Ralph Johnson, Lawrence Johnson, O.A. Hove, Walt Styer, and Franklin Vecon],
[Item 6: Agnes Geelan],
[Item 7: Leroy Goodwater and Hilda Goodwater],
[Item 8: Harold Groth and Grace Groth],
[Item 9: UND History Department Faculty - John Parker, Elwyn B. Robinson, Robert Wilkins, and Louis Geiger],
[Item 10: Elsie Brown],
[Item 11: Marian Meyers],
[Item 12: Frank Kelly],
[Item 13: Merle Kidder],
[Item 14: William Koenker],
[Item 15: William Koenker],
[Item 16: Soren Kolstoe],
[Item 17: Charles Libby and Margaret Libby Barr],
[Item 18: Henry Martinson],
[Item 19: Henry Martinson],
[Item 20: S.W. Melzer],
[Item 21: Ken Porter],
[Item 22: Benjamin Ring],
[Item 23: Elwyn and Eva Robinson],
[Item 24: Clarence Sande],
[Item 25: Gerald Skogley],
[Item 26: O.A. Stevens],
[Item 27: Robert Wilkins],
[Item 28: John R. Salter, Jr.],
[Item 29: John R. Salter, Jr.],
[All]

Item 28: John R. Salter, Jr.

Interviewed by John Jones, January 6, 1981

Part I - John Salter interviewed alone

Salter grew up in Arizona and attended university there. His first college teaching job was in Superior, Wisconsin. In 1961, he and his wife, Eldri, became interested in the political situation in the South, and moved from Wisconsin to Jackson, Mississippi, to teach at Tougaloo Southern Christian College.

Salter was the adult advisor for the North Jackson Youth Council, which included many high school students. This group launched a boycott of Jackson's white merchants. Salter said boycotting was really the only mode of protest available to them. Many could not vote and the group did not have the bail money for mass demonstrations. Nonviolence was best because the other side would have grabbed any opportunity for a real massacre. Also, they knew that violence would not settle any basic issues in a permanent, substantive way.

He worked with Medgar Evers, an NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) employee who was assassinated in June 1963. Salter said Evers was very effective and committed, but was often caught between the grass roots people, with whom he identified and who he wanted to help, and the national office of the NAACP. In the 1950s and early 1960s, there was an understanding between the NAACP and the federal government that no direct-action movements would occur in Mississippi until the other Southern states were addressed, and that problems would be settled through the courts. Evers knew that court action would not remove the barriers in Mississippi.

The collapse of the Jackson Movement in 1963 was demoralizing, and led to the collapse of the Youth Council, as well as other biracial committees that had been established in other cities. The Jackson Movement was successful in establishing the right to organize in Mississippi, in eliminating a lot of the fear there, and in shaking the power structure. It brought Mississippi out of isolation and was a major factor in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Salter left Tougaloo in 1963 and began full-time work as a civil rights organizer elsewhere.

Part II - Salter interviewed with the Reverend Edwin King (starting on page 79)

Much of this part of the interview centers on the NAACP's role in the Civil Rights Movement. In Spring 1963, the national office knew they had to get more involved in the situation in Mississippi, but they were used to defending blacks in trouble, not working with people who were fighting for themselves.

Another difficulty was pressure on the organization from the Kennedy administration to avoid direct action in Mississippi. The national NAACP office worked hard to prevent James Meredith from entering the university, because the Kennedy administration did not want a desegregation crisis in Mississippi.

President John Kennedy was not helpful in regards to civil rights. He appointed some of the worst federal judges in the South, and his administration committed some of the worst sins of omission. The impression given by his administration was that the federal government could not come down and protect everyone.

Salter also described the situation in eastern North Carolina, where the violence and injustice toward Native Americans and blacks were severe. The federal government was not willing to help there, either, so private attorneys had to be hired to handle a major voting rights case, and they won one of the most sweeping injunctions ever won in a Southern state.

Interview: None

Transcript: OGLMC 1213, Box 3, Folder 1 (124 pages and index)

Browse by Item:

[Item 1: Camp Depression - Paul Benson and Raymond Rund],
[Item 2: Camp Depression - John Holodick, Ray Ness, and Ken Gulmon],
[Item 3: Camp Depression - Algot Johnson],
[Item 4: Camp Depression - Mel Johnson],
[Item 5: Camp Depression Interview - Ralph Johnson, Lawrence Johnson, O.A. Hove, Walt Styer, and Franklin Vecon],
[Item 6: Agnes Geelan],
[Item 7: Leroy Goodwater and Hilda Goodwater],
[Item 8: Harold Groth and Grace Groth],
[Item 9: UND History Department Faculty - John Parker, Elwyn B. Robinson, Robert Wilkins, and Louis Geiger],
[Item 10: Elsie Brown],
[Item 11: Marian Meyers],
[Item 12: Frank Kelly],
[Item 13: Merle Kidder],
[Item 14: William Koenker],
[Item 15: William Koenker],
[Item 16: Soren Kolstoe],
[Item 17: Charles Libby and Margaret Libby Barr],
[Item 18: Henry Martinson],
[Item 19: Henry Martinson],
[Item 20: S.W. Melzer],
[Item 21: Ken Porter],
[Item 22: Benjamin Ring],
[Item 23: Elwyn and Eva Robinson],
[Item 24: Clarence Sande],
[Item 25: Gerald Skogley],
[Item 26: O.A. Stevens],
[Item 27: Robert Wilkins],
[Item 28: John R. Salter, Jr.],
[Item 29: John R. Salter, Jr.],
[All]