George Raymond Jr.
George Raymond Jr. | |
---|---|
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | |
Occupation | activist |
Spouse | Myrtis Evans (m. 1965) |
Children | Two |
George Raymond Jr. (January 1, 1943 – March 8, 1973) was an African-American civil rights activist, a member of the
Early life and family
George Raymond Jr. was born on January 1, 1943, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Friends and family describe George as courageous, action-oriented and vocal. He attended Tommy Lafon Elementary and Samuel J. Green Junior Elementary School, and graduated from Cohen High School in 1960. In 1965, George married Myrtis Evans, whose mother, Laura Evans, was influenced by George to become a Freedom Rider. George and Myrtis had two children.
Civil rights movement
Freedom Rides
At the age of eighteen, George Raymond, Jr. was living in
Activism
Woolworth sit-in
On May 28, 1963, in coordination with Medgar Evers, George Raymond, Anne Moody, Pearlina Lewis, Prof. John R. Salter, and Walter Williams sat down at the downtown Jackson's Woolworth "whites only" lunch counter in an attempt to integrate it. For two hours the demonstrators were beaten, sworn at, kicked, splattered with ketchup, and called communists and nigger-lovers. Only when the white mob began to empty shelves and hurl whatever they could touch at the demonstrators did the owner close the store down. Police Deputy Chief J. R. Ray watched and violence erupted. The Jackson sit-in was one in a series of nonviolent protests which led to the Woolworth's department store chain reversing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States. In her autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi, Annie Moody wrote a vivid account of this sit-in.
George appears in the only photograph of the lunch counter scene that day. In it, the camera's flash and his deep black skin provide a double shadow against Pearlena's bright summer suit. He sits stone-faced, staring straight ahead while a pint bottle of silky white cream is poured down the back of his muscular neck and onto his white T-shirt and crisp bib overalls – clothing that would become his trademark in the Mississippi movement.[3]
Mississippi burning trial
The Mississippi burning trial involved the 1964
A widespread belief exists that George Raymond was the target that day. Mississippi burning trial testimonies state that[4] the station wagon that Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney were murdered in belonged to Raymond. It was planned that Raymond drive that day but last minute changes occurred. Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney may have been casualties.[5]
Meredith Mississippi march
George Raymond Jr. participated in the Meredith Mississippi march near the town of Canton in June 1966. The march began with civil rights campaigner James Meredith setting out to walk from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, in order to encourage African Americans along the way to register and vote. After Meredith was shot and wounded, other civil rights campaigners continued the march in his name.
Mississippi blues
The Club Desire, founded by Clarence Chinn (1906–1995), was one of Mississippi's premier blues and rhythm & blues nightclubs from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. Owner Clarence Chinn presented the top national acts, including
After Chinn decided to focus his energy on real estate and housing, George Raymond was one of New Club Desire operators. Raymond and C. O. Chinn (brother to Clarence Chinn) were Canton's leading civil rights activists in the 1960s. In addition to spreading the popularity of the Blues music, New Club Desire was used for meetings of civic, social, and civil rights organizations. The club closed in the 1970s.[6]
Raymond died in 1973 from a heart attack, at the age of thirty. It is thought that the subject's health was impacted by the dangers and trauma of his earlier activism.[7]
Sources
- ^ Wright, Robert (1968). Ralph J. Bunche Oral History Collection. DC28.371. Transcript (39 pp.): Howard University.
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- ^ Lewis, Edmund W. (May 9, 2005). "Remembrance". Louisiana Weekly.
- ^ "Mississippi Blues Trail". Mississippi Blues Commission. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ^ MDAHVideo. (7 July 2021). "History Is Lunch: Will Kelly and Christopher Windfield, "George Raymond: A Thirst for Freedom". (documentary film presentation at The Two Museums, Mississippi Department of Archives and History). YouTube website Retrieved 8 July 2021.