From Memphis to Selma: The Legacies of Civil Rights Foot Soldiers (1960 - 1965)

Local & National News | March 19, 2026 | 3:45 p.m. CDT

Edited: March 21, 2026 | 12:20 p.m. CDT

Written by: Gilbert Barnes Carter III

I have read and viewed much material about Selma, Alabama since I have been an adult. I still had not traveled to the small seat of Dallas County even after the release of major motion pictures such as Selma (2014), in which a polished Mr. David Oyelowo is featured as a very memorable lead, and Selma, Lord, Selma (1999).

I finally made my way there - twice - during the week of Sunday, March 1. Mr. Stanley Campbell was gracious enough to provide me with exclusive access to interview and spend time with two Civil Rights Foot Soldiers and icons - Mr. Kirk Carrington and Ms. Annie Pearl Avery - on Wednesday, March 4 ahead of Jubilee festivities in observance of the 61st anniversary of what is commonly known as "Bloody Sunday." The heroic feats of Mr. Carrington and Ms. Avery alone can and should be contextualized in all forms of media. What I did not know is that I would ultimately sit with six more: Mr. Charles Mauldin, Mr. George James, Mr. Ronald Peoples, Sr., Esq., Mr. Roosevelt Goldsby, Mr. Tommie Smith, and Ms. Ruth Anthony Brown. I am eternally grateful and thankful for sharing space with Black Elders who laid down their lives for us. I would be remiss if I do not recall how other Black Elders laid down their lives for us almost five years prior here in Memphis.

Today, March 19, is the 66th anniversary date of students from the LeMoyne & Owen Junior College, now The LeMoyne-Owen College, staging their sit-in demonstrations at the Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, now the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, and the Cossitt Branch Library.

Black Power and Resistance in Memphis - March 19, 1960

Memphis and Selma will forever be fixed points for lovers of righteousness to convene and train to overcome iniquity at every turn. Memphis in particular was developed as a burgeoning location for free Black people after the Civil War. There are hundreds of byproducts of Black empowerment and upward mobility here, from the establishment of legacy Black communities such as New Chicago, Orange Mound, and Smokey City, to the formation of Black self-defense and social justice organizations such as the first and second iterations of the Memphis Invaders. It was inevitable for Civil Rights flashpoints to occur in Memphis at the height of the Movement.

LeMoyne & Owen Junior College Students' Sit-ins

* "NEW SIT-INS: 23 ARRESTS AT COSSITT AND BROOKS"

* "There were two more sit-in demonstrations by Negroes in Memphis today. Police arrested 23. There have now been five sit-in demonstrations since Memphis was added to the national sit-in movement last Friday. Police have arrested a total of 64 Negroes. Four cases have been dismissed; 37 received fines. As of today, 23 are all still in jail."

* "The new incidents:"

* "9:50 a.m. at Cossitt Library"

* "At Front and Monroe, where the reference room is integrated and the circulating library is segregated, five young men and five girls entered the circulating library. Some selected books, seated themselves, and begun to read when police arrived and suggested that they leave. They stood or sat mute and were taken to jail."

* "10:00 a.m. at Brooks Memorial Art Gallery"

* "Overton Park, where Thursday is Negro Day and usually, according to the directors, 'very few' take advantage of it. Four boys and three girls entered. They asked to see the Mid-South Art Exhibit. They were directed to the basement where it is. They were standing and examining the exhibits when police arrived and suggested that they leave. They also stood mute, and were taken to jail."

* "Police chief J. C. Macdonald said those arrested were LeMoyne & Owen College students. Most of them confirmed this to newsmen."

The LeMoyne & Owen Junior College Students marked their triumph by ending their sit-in movement on November 18, 1961. They secured victories not only for Black people in Memphis, but for all people who operate with courage, dignity, empathy, freedom, and integrity. It was a supreme honor to share space with them during the "LeMoyne & Owen College Students SIT-IN 65" commemoration event at The LeMoyne-Owen College last year on March 19. The attendees were blessed from curating the stories of Memphis Civil Rights Foot Soldiers and icons such as the Honorable Olly Neal, Mr. Clifton Drake, Mr. Evander Ford, Mr. James Wilhite, Mr. T. C. Heard, Ms. Amanda Battles, Ms. Ernestine Lee Henning, Ms. Gwen Glover, Ms. Johnie Rogers Turner, and Ms. Katie Robertson Mallory.

Mr. Bob Smith - Civil Rights Pioneer

** "Mr. Bob Smith was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi in 1944. He is a lifelong advocate for justice and equality, and he has spent decades facilitating nonviolent activism in support of civil rights, peace, and democratic participation across the United States. He has been an activist since the age of 14, when he challenged segregation by demanding equal service at a whites‑only ice cream shop. He later left college to join the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), committing himself full-time to the freedom struggle. In 1966, he was arrested alongside Mr. Stokely Carmichael in Greenwood, Mississippi, and later that year was imprisoned for three months following an arrest at the Federal Atlanta Induction Center for his opposition to the U.S. military‑industrial complex."

** "During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, he was struck with tear gas on three separate occasions while taking part in demonstrations in various locations within Mississippi, and was arrested and convicted in Jackson, Mississippi for attempting to eat at the F. W. Woolworth lunch counter. Over the course of his activism, he was arrested 14 times, standing again and again on the side of human dignity and equal treatment under the law."

** "A steadfast supporter of democratic engagement, he volunteered and/or worked on the campaigns of Mr. Julian Bond, the late Congressman John Lewis, and Massachusetts Senators Diane Wilkinson and Bill Owens, as well as other state and local races, and has volunteered in every Democratic presidential election since 1964. Today, he continues to bear public witness through one‑person, nonviolent demonstrations across Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, and New York, calling for the protection of voting rights and for the National Guard to be returned to home states. He has served as a featured speaker at the No Kings Protest in Mississippi and is an active member of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Mutual Aid Coalition, and he also speaks out in support of gay rights in the United States."

** "A protegee of the late Congressman John Lewis, Bob counts among his many heroes Mr. H. Rap Brown, Ms. Fannie Lou Hamer, Ms. Victoria Gray, Ms. Annie Pearl Avery, Ms. Ruby Doris Smith Robinson, Ms. Diane Nash, and Ms. Muriel Tillinghast, whose courage and sacrifice continue to shape his own witness. Beyond his public life as an activist, Bob is a father of four children, grandfather of five, husband, and a proud member of a large, close-knit family that has sustained his work for justice over many decades. He is especially grateful for the example and courage of relatives such as Olympian Mr. John Carlos, Ms. Nikki Pope, and Mr. David Roberson. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama and a Master of Social Work from Boston College, grounding his lifelong work for justice in both hard‑won experience and formal education."

Mr. Bob Smith sent a beautiful photo to me of his grandchildren and him standing in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The caption that he listed with it is a reminder of the legacy that is shared between the residents of Memphis, Selma, and fellow free citizens everywhere.

"My grandkids and me on the bridge which led to you having the right to vote. Think about it."

Photo Credits:

Header Photo: Ms. Jasmine Waters

Body Photo (1): Ms. Carolyn McCright

Body Photo (2): Ms. Jasmine Waters

Body Photo (3): Mr. Bob Smith 

Sources:

* The complete timeline and unedited excerpts of the coverage of the LeMoyne & Owen Students' sit-ins are displayed exclusively at the Cossitt Branch Library, 33 South Front Street, Memphis, Tennessee - 38103.

** Mr. Bob Smith granted permission to Gilbert Barnes Carter III to list his biography in the body of this article.

The Commercial Appeal

March 20, 1960

March 22, 1960

May 18, 1960

June 4, 1960

November 9, 1960

June 21, 1961

October 23, 1964

The LeMoyne-Owen College 

Video Credits:

Body Video (1): - Gilbert Barnes Carter III

Gilbert Barnes Carter III is a Memphis-based author, child welfare advocate, community organizer, emerging farmer, gardener, journalist, and social justice advocate. He began his social justice advocacy and work by serving as a Shelby County Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Board volunteer in 2005. He has worked since then to effectuate change for low-wage, immigrant, and migrant workers as a Temporary Workers Campaign Manager with Workers Interfaith Network; an advocate for Teamsters Local 667 sanitation workers; and a community / field organizer to uphold blight reduction, efficient public mass transit, environmental justice, food access, food justice, food security, narrative change, and public safety.