He Calls Me by Lightning
Page 43
I am blessed beyond measure for the love and laughter of my three children: Kathleen, Caroline, and Nathaniel. Lastly, I am humbled by the grace extended to me by my wife Jennifer Bass. Thank you for your love and your unfailing support on our journey together.
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
x
Muscoda Iron Ore miners in the early 1940s. Courtesy of S. Jonathan Bass
xviii
Seventeen-year-old Private Caliph Washington escaped Bessemer in 1955 and served a tour of duty in the U.S. Army. Courtesy of Christine Washington
14
A Bessemer street scene in the early twentieth century where Old Joe whiskey was a popular choice at local saloons. Birmingham, Ala. Public Library Archives
28
The Bessemer Klavern of the Ku Klux Klan was one of the largest in the South—so powerful that they erected this sign at the Bessemer city limits in 1959. The Birmingham News, Alabama Media Group/AL.com © 2016
50
Caliph Washington arriving at the Jefferson County jail in Bessemer—escorted by deputy sheriff Clyde Morris (left) and police chief George Barron (right). The Birmingham News, Alabama Media Group/AL.com © 2016
70
For years, David Hood served as Bessemer’s only black attorney, and he played a pivotal role in each of Caliph Washington’s trials. Courtesy of the Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries
90
Bessemer’s notorious lawman Lawton “Stud” Grimes talks with Caliph Washington after his arrest. Grimes later claimed that Washington confessed to him about murdering Cowboy Clark. The Birmingham News, Alabama Media Group/AL.com © 2016
106
A Birmingham News photographer captures a heart-tugging image of Florence Clark the day following her husband’s death. The Birmingham News, Alabama Media Group/AL.com © 2016
120
Asbury Howard (third from left) with leaders of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers in 1954. Ira Gay Sealy/The Denver Post via Getty Images
136
In the second trial, Caliph Washington claimed that Mississippi state troopers tried to hang and shoot him. The Birmingham News, Alabama Media Group/AL.com © 2016
148
Alabama’s Kilby Prison in Montgomery, where Caliph Washington waited on death row. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama
162
Alabama’s electric chair, dubbed “Big Yellow Mama.” AL.com Archive/Advance Media
182
Federal judge Frank M. Johnson ordered Caliph Washington released from Kilby Prison in July 1965. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama
200
While charming and charismatic, district attorney James D. Hammonds had a dark side that included quid pro quo schemes and violence against political and personal opponents. Courtesy of Jeanette Creighton
216
In a bitter irony, ACLU attorney Charles “Chuck” Morgan used Caliph Washington to integrate Alabama’s prisons, but he did little to help Washington gain his release. Library of Congress
234
This Birmingham News editorial cartoon depicts the state of Alabama making another stand against integration—this time in the prison system. Birmingham, Ala. Public Library Archives
252
Civil rights demonstrators sing during a protest at the Jefferson County Jail in Bessemer in 1967. Standing on the first step are Fred Shuttlesworth (left) and Asbury Howard (right). Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama
268
Bessemer native Edward L. Ball served as the judge in the Clark insurance trial, heard Caliph Washington’s habeas corpus proceedings, and served as trial judge in Caliph Washington’s third trial. Courtesy of Marilyn Ball Armbrester
284
In April 1970, Caliph Washington leaves prison for the first time in thirteen years. He is greeted by Orzell Billingsley. Birmingham, Ala. Public Library Archives
306
Attorneys David Hood (left) and Orzell Billingsley (center) consult with Caliph Washington at the beginning of the 1970 trial. Birmingham, Ala. Public Library Archives
328
Caliph Washington and Christine Luna in 1972. Courtesy of Christine Washington
344
Reverend Caliph Washington returned to Atmore Prison to minister to the inmates. Courtesy of Christine Washington
INSERT
[1]
James B. “Cowboy” Clark and stepdaughter June Orr. Courtesy of June Reese
[2]
Two Alabama state troopers and a Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy examine Cowboy Clark’s blood on Exeter Alley. The Birmingham News, Alabama Media Group/AL.com © 2016
[3]
Lipscomb mayor Bill Olvey (left), police chief Thurman Avery (behind car door), and an unidentified policeman at the scene of Cowboy Clark’s death. The Birmingham News, Alabama Media Group/AL.com © 2016
[4]
Caliph Washington surrounded by white lawmen in Mississippi. The Birmingham News, Alabama Media Group/AL.com © 2016
[5]
Bessemer police officer Lawton “Stud” Grimes talking with Bessemer Commissioner of Public Safety, Herman Thompson, and Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies Arvel Doss and Charlie Stamps. The Birmingham News, Alabama Media Group/AL.com © 2016
[6]
Kermit Charles Edwards was the attorney of record for the Caliph Washington trials in 1957 and 1959. Courtesy of J. M. Edwards
[7]
With the courage of a lion, Orzell Billingsley, Jr., was one of Alabama’s most fearless black attorneys. Birmingham, Ala. Public Library Archives
[8]
The Alabama Supreme Court in 1958. Front row, left to right: Thomas S. Lawson, J. Ed Livingston, Robert T. Simpson. Back row, left to right: Pelham J. Merrill, Davis F. Stakely, John L. Goodwyn, and James S. Coleman. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama
[9]
Asbury Howard hoped to display Jack Hamm’s cartoon in Bessemer, but instead he found himself arrested, tried, and beaten. Jack Hamm / Dawna Hamm Walsh
[10]
Alabama governor George C. Wallace granted Caliph Washington thirteen stays of execution in 1963. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama
[11]
The power of prayer sustained Caliph Washington during years of prison isolation and, once he was a free man, throughout his ministry. Here Washington offers a prayer at a wedding during the 1990s. Courtesy of Christine Washington
[12]
Caliph and Christine Washington and their six children. Courtesy of Christine Washington
INDEX
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.
Aaron, Drewey, 170, 172, 178, 202
Acts 25:16, 192
Adams, John, 141, 314
Clark’s confrontation with Washington witnessed by, 40–41
1957 testimony of, 87–88
Adamsville, Ala., 46, 47
police rampage in, 59–60, 65, 316–17
Addison, Cornelia, 315
Adger, Ala., 36
Alabama:
Asian flu outbreak in, 99
Black Belt in, 5, 112, 173, 185
in defiance of Supreme Court rulings on black jury exclusion, 296
49th District in, 346–47
1982 redistricting in, 347–48
resistance to federal authority in, 265
Scots-Irish immigrants in, 17–18, 19, 24
vigilantism in, 2, 11, 26–27, 38, 46, 123, 125; see also Ku Klux Klan
Alabama, University of, 266
desegregatio
n of, 111, 243
Alabama Association for the Advancement of Human Rights, 130
Alabama Attorney General’s Office, 187
Alabama Bar Association, 175
Alabama Board of Corrections, 244, 256, 265–66
Alabama Board of Medical Examiners, 85
Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), 221–22
Alabama Code of 1940, Title 45 of, 240–41, 246, 250
Alabama Constitution, 192, 277
miscegenation prohibition in, 334
Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals:
Washington appeal assigned to, 282
Washington case in, 327, 329
Washington’s 1970 conviction overturned by, 330–31
Washington’s habeas petition denied by, 283
Alabama Great Southern Railway, 46
Alabama Insane Hospital, Tuscaloosa, 21
Alabama Legislative Commission to Preserve the Peace, 100
Alabama legislature:
blacks in, 346
reapportionment fought by, 345–46
Alabama National Guard, 123
Alabama Pardon and Parole Board, 324
Alabama People’s Education Association, 126
Alabama prison system:
convict lease programs of, 152–53
segregation in, 219, 226, 233, 234, 237
whippings in, 154
Alabama State Bar, 214
Alabama State Beverage Control Board, 58
Alabama Supreme Court, 102, 170, 172, 330
anachronistic processes of, 115
appeal of Ball’s habeas ruling to, 280
appeals case load of, 112–13
Blanton’s error coram nobis petition to, 186
civil rights rulings of, 112
four-member divisions in, 113
makeup of, 112
Manning decision of, 103–4
oral arguments and, 115–16
overturning of Washington’s 1970 conviction sustained by, 331
Parker decision of, 117–18
Phillips decision of, 195
Seals case and, 297–98
Washington’s appeals to, 192–93
Albuquerque, N.Mex., 46
Aliceville, Ala., 3
Allen, James S., 122
Allen, Willie, 238, 240
Allen Temple AME Church, bombing of, 130–31
Allgood, Clarence, 294, 336
Almon, Reneau P., 329
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 26, 134, 219, 237, 267, 275
Amory, Harcourt, 48
Amory, Miss., 48, 61–62, 68, 88, 143
anti-Semitism, 27
Army, U.S., blacks in, 13
Ashley, Tom, 337
Asian flu, 99
Atmore, Ala., 201
Atmore Prison, 250, 344
corruption in, 152, 155–56
head counts at, 154
Kilby compared to, 161
sexual subculture at, 155
subpar pay of guards at, 155
violence in, 153–54
Washington in, 151–52, 155
whippings at, 154
Austin, Robert, 239, 244, 249, 259, 260, 261, 263
Avery, Thurman P., 33, 35, 36, 335
in moonshine runner stakeout, 32–33, 36–37
1957 testimony of, 93
1970 testimony of, 309
Bailey, Mel, 208–9, 210, 239, 244, 250, 335
in Washington v. Lee, 249
Bains, Lee, 10
Ball, Edward Lee, 109, 268, 293, 302
in Clark accidental death lawsuit, 108, 110–12, 277, 292–93
Clark shooting grand jury convened by, 335
fourth Washington trial postponed by, 336–37
as legally prohibited from granting bail after 1970 verdict, 324–25
motion to quash indictment denied by, 289–90, 330
1968 habeas hearing and, 277–79
Washington allowed bond by, 290
Ball, Louis Napoleon, 21
Ball, W. Frank, 124
Bankhead, William, 212
Bank Pawn Shop, 35
Bank Saloon, 21
Banner Mine, 153
Baptist Sunday School Board, 126
Barbour County, Ala., 83, 176
Barron, George, 50, 59, 65, 84–85, 86, 131, 132, 179, 208, 292, 307, 335, 337–38, 339, 342–43
and City Hall bombing investigation, 340–41
death of, 343
Howard beating and, 133–34
praise for character and leadership of, 55–56
as segregationist, 56
Williams’s firing of, 341
Barron, Rondle and Myrtle, 55
Barton, Marlin C., 170–71
Bass, Clara Faye, xiv–xv
Bass, Sam, Jr., xiv
Bass, Samuel J., Sr., xiv
Batson, Alton, 208
Beecher, Johnnie Daniel, 202
Bell, Griffin, 300
Berkowitz, Lefkovits, Vann, Patrick & Smith, 219
Bessemer, Ala., 14, 71
author’s family in, xiv–xv
black majority in, xiii, 2, 5, 53, 56, 57, 79, 304, 345, 348, 349
blood sports in, 22
CIO-IUMMSW gun battle in, 127–28
civil rights protests in, 121–22, 125, 128–29, 252
corruption in, xii–xiii, xvi, 2, 15–16, 23, 108–9, 206–15, 338–39, 341
county jail in, see Jefferson County Jail, Bessemer
culture of violence in, xii–xiii, xvi, 2, 15–16, 19–27, 52, 57, 71, 125, 338–39, 341–42, 349
Democratic Party in, 126
Farris’s mummified corpse exhibited in, xi–xii, xiv, xvi, 350, 351–52
fear of black activism in, 130
founding of, 16–19
heavy industry in, 15–16
Hood’s lawsuit against, 81–82
illegal gambling in, 22, 109, 206–7, 208, 209–10
KKK in, 28, 31, 38, 56–57, 123
labor violence in, 123, 124
lack of civic self-esteem in, 22–23
lunch counter sit-in in, 178–79
miners’ strikes in, 123, 124–25
Mitchell as first black mayor of, 349
moonshiners in, 25, 206–7
murder rate in, 20
Muscoda Iron Ore Mines at, xiv
1963 tornado in, 175
organized crime in, 206–7
poverty in, 5, 349
powerlessness of black community in, 119, 135
prohibition laws in, 20, 21, 25, 26
prostitution in, xii, 19, 20, 21, 23–24, 206–7
reform movement in, 109–10
saloons in, 21, 24
school desegregation in, 11, 204
segregation in, 7, 81–82
shotgun houses in, 7
unionism in, 122–23
urban renewal in, 303–4
vigilantism in, 2, 11, 26–27, 38, 46, 123, 125
voter registration drives in, 129–30, 131
Washington brothers’ excessive-force suit against, 11
white power structure in, 304, 345, 347, 348
white supremacy in, 78
Bessemer, Henry, 18
Bessemer Citizens’ Council, 82–83
Bessemer City Code, 131
Bessemer City Hall bombing:
arrest and trials of Fullman in, 341
conspiracy theories and, 342–43
Hill’s murder in, 339, 341
loss of evidence from, 342
police investigation of, 340–41
Williams as target of, 339–40, 342–43
Bessemer City Jail, 60
Bessemer Cutoff, 23, 57, 212
Board of Registrars of, 129–30
jury commission in, 303
jury selection in, 73–74, 102–3, 117, 302
Bessemer Cutoff police forces:
all-white makeup of, xiii
corruption in, xii, 20–21
in
hunt for Washington, 51, 57–62, 65
KKK members in, 38, 56–57, 82
Washington’s relations and associates harassed by, 58–60
see also Bessemer Police Department; Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office; Lipscomb Police Department
Bessemer General Hospital, xv, 42–43, 134
Bessemer High School, 83
Bessemer Ministerial Association, 31
Bessemer Police Department, 84, 337–38
all-white makeup of, 53
blacks’ civil rights routinely violated by, 56
civil liberties ignored by, 54–55
corruption in, 53, 55, 109, 338
culture of violence and, 52, 53, 56
grand jury investigation of, 53–55
Howard beating and, 133–34
in hunt for Washington, 59–60
job requirements of, 53
killings of Adamsville blacks by, 60, 65
KKK members in, 56–57
poor pay and training of, 51–52
racism of, 53–54
radio equipment of, 53
Bessemer Public Library, xi
Bessemer Super Highway, 31, 33, 206, 207
Bessemer Voters’ League, 129, 130, 131, 132, 345
Bessemer Weekly, 20, 25, 26
Bessemer Workman, 23
Bickart brothers, 21
Billboard, 351
Billingsley, Orzell, Jr., 79, 102, 224, 225, 270, 271, 279, 283, 284, 306, 336
Ball’s habeas ruling appealed by, 280
in Billingsley case, 299–302
as civil rights specialist, 77
Coleman case and, 270
and denial of bail application, 226
drinking by, 286–87
Morgan’s friendship with, 218–19
NAACP legal assistance sought by, 220–21
NAACP surreptitiously added to appeal documents by, 221
in 1968 habeas hearing, 277–79
in 1970 motion for bond, 290–91
in 1970 motion to quash indictment, 289–90
in 1970 trial, see State of Alabama v. Caliph Washington (1970 trial)
1971 habeas writs filed by, 331–32
police tailing of, 80–81, 313
prison desegregation lawsuit filed by, 237, 239–40, 250