Claude C. Shotts
Regional Chairman
James Mattocks
Treasurer
B. Tartt Bell
Executive Secretary
AMERICA!
FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE, INC.
Southeastern Regional Office
1818 South Main Street, High Point, North Carolina
P.O. Box 1307 88 2-0109
January 23, 1964
Harry Boyte
SCLC
334 Auburn Avenue, N. E.
Atlanta, Ga.
Dear Harry Boyte:
I heard you were in jail recently in Atlanta. Let me commend you for witnessing again
to your convictions in this sincere and personal way. Not much has happened here in Greensboro recently, however, we are planning an anniversary rally for the sitins which started
here February 1, 1960. I am sure it will kick off a renewed campaign in Greensboro which
will require some massive demonstrations by the spring. It seems to me that Atlanta and
Greensboro are very similar in that they try to establish a good "reputation" and then
rest on their laurels without seriously working to finish the job of integration.
I spent a day in Chapel Hill recently. The situation there is quite interesting. Governor Sanford made a big mistake in verbally attacking the group for putting pressure on
the city aldermen. It is not just the demonstrating group but 2,000 people including
most of the leading citizens in Chapel Hill signed a petition requesting that the alderman pass an open accomodations ordinance. The group in Chapel Hill has been the brunt
of some serious acts of physical violence but the newspapers have not published much.
One girl has been sitting in the town hall for seven straight days now without eating,
ever since the aldermen met and failed to pass the ordinance. I suppose that not much of
this is news to you, however. I am impressed with the strong personal committment and
willingness to suffer on the part of the demonstrators in Chapel Hill. This is a spirit
we must work towards in Greensboro so the next big push can be more effective.
I will be in Atlanta next week for the NSA Southern Project Advisory Committee meeting.
If I find time and if you are in the city, I would like to talk some. I will call the
SCLC office on Monday.
Sincerely,
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Richard Ramsay, Director
COLLEGE PROGRAM
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Harold Evans, Chairman
AT NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
HENRY J. CADBURY, Honorary Chairman • CLARENCE E. PICKETT, Executive Secretary Emeritus
COLIN W. Bell, Executive Secretary
