It was a test for freedom that almost cost five New Orleanians their lives.
Jerome Smith, Alice Thompson, George Raymond, Thomas Valentine and Doratha “Dodie” Smith-Simmons boarded a Greyhound bus on Nov. 29, 1961. Their destination was a bus terminal in McComb, Miss. Their assignment was to test compliance with two Supreme Court desegregation rulings.
As the designated observer, Smith went into the terminal first. A few minutes later, the others entered, headed straight to the lunch counter and sat down.
Raymond asked, “May I have a cup of coffee, please?” The server ignored him. Again he said: “May I have a cup of coffee, please?”
“At this point, a young white Mississippian went to the coffee machine, poured out a hot cup of coffee, walked around to George, poured the hot coffee over his head and hit him in the neck with the coffee cup,” Smith-Simmons said. “At that point, all hell broke out.”
Smith-Simmons described the experience during an Aug. 17 event at the main New Orleans Public Library. The event was in conjunction with the traveling exhibit, “The Trail They Blazed,” built collaboratively by the Historic New Orleans Collection and local civil rights leaders.
Smith was beaten with brass knuckles. Smith-Simmons was kicked in the back. Valentine was thrown to the ground several times. Thompson, who weighed about 100 pounds, was kicked in her side.
“The guys were being beaten and Jerome was taking such a severe beating by these young white guys,” Smith-Simmons said. “Alice and I were the only two left in the waiting room. We looked at each other and I guess we decided at the same time: ‘We’d better get the hell out of here!’ ”
With the help of Black Mississippians, the team escaped and caught a Greyhound back home. They were bloodied, bruised and beaten – Smith still suffers from his injuries today – but they were alive.
“We made it back and the rest is history,” Smith-Simmons said. “It is something that I will never ever forget. I will never regret taking that ride at 18 and a half years old.”
The 81-year-old, however, still hasn’t found the answer to the burning question she had back then: “Where does the hate come from?”
For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the Back in the Day archives.