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| ], who later worked in Jacksonville law enforcement for 37 years, including eight years as sheriff of Jacksonville, recalled stumbling into the riot. Glover said he ran to the police, expecting them to arrest the thugs, but was told to leave town or risk being killed.<ref>Pemberton, John: {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701062553/http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/022298/met_glover.html|date=2017-07-01}} Florida Times-Union, February 22, 1998, "Focus on: Nat Glover"</ref> | ], who later worked in Jacksonville law enforcement for 37 years, including eight years as sheriff of Jacksonville, recalled stumbling into the riot. Glover said he ran to the police, expecting them to arrest the thugs, but was told to leave town or risk being killed.<ref>Pemberton, John: {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701062553/http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/022298/met_glover.html|date=2017-07-01}} Florida Times-Union, February 22, 1998, "Focus on: Nat Glover"</ref> | ||
| Several white people had joined the black protesters on that day. Richard Charles Parker, a 25-year-old student attending ], was among them. White protesters were the object of particular dislike by racists, so when the fracas began, Parker was hustled out of the area for his own protection. The police had been watching him and arrested him as an instigator, charging him with vagrancy, disorderly conduct and inciting a riot. After Parker stated that he was proud to be a member of the ], Judge John Santora sentenced him to 90 days in jail.<ref>Weathersbee, Tonyaa: Florida Times-Union, February 4, 2008, "The story of a white man who joined the '60s sit-ins"</ref>{{dead link|date=September 2023}}<ref> |
Several white people had joined the black protesters on that day. Richard Charles Parker, a 25-year-old student attending ], was among them. White protesters were the object of particular dislike by racists, so when the fracas began, Parker was hustled out of the area for his own protection. The police had been watching him and arrested him as an instigator, charging him with vagrancy, disorderly conduct and inciting a riot. After Parker stated that he was proud to be a member of the ], Judge John Santora sentenced him to 90 days in jail.<ref>Weathersbee, Tonyaa: Florida Times-Union, February 4, 2008, "The story of a white man who joined the '60s sit-ins"</ref>{{dead link|date=September 2023}}<ref>"Ax Handle Saturday: The Segregated Lunch Counters," ''Florida Times Union," Aug. 21, 2020. (Subscription only.)</ref> | ||
| ==Aftermath== | ==Aftermath== | ||
Revision as of 19:09, 24 September 2023
1960 race riot in Jacksonville, Florida| Ax Handle Saturday | |||
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| Part of Civil Rights Movement | |||
| Date | August 27, 1960; 64 years ago (August 27, 1960) | ||
| Location | Hemming Park Jacksonville, Florida | ||
| Parties | |||
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| Civil rights movement in Florida | |
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| Daytona
Jacksonville
Miami
St. Augustine St. Petersburg, Fl Tallahassee
Other localities |
Ax Handle Saturday, also known as the Jacksonville riot of 1960, was a racially motivated attack in Hemming Park (since renamed James Weldon Johnson Park or JWJ Park) in Jacksonville, Florida, on August 27, 1960. A group of 200 white men used baseball bats and ax handles to attack black people who were in sit-in protests opposing racial segregation.
Background
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Because of its high visibility and patronage, Hemming Park and surrounding stores were the site of numerous civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s. Black sit-ins began on August 13, 1960, when students asked for service at the segregated lunch counter at Woolworths, Morrison's Cafeteria, and other eateries. They were denied service, kicked, spit at, and addressed with racial slurs.
Incident
On August 27, 1960, a group of approximately 200 white men, some of whom were thought to have Ku Klux Klan affiliations, gathered in Hemming Park armed with baseball bats and ax handles. They attacked the protesters conducting sit-ins. The violence spread, and the white mob started attacking all black people in sight. Rumors were rampant on both sides that the unrest was spreading around the county. Actually, the violence stayed in relatively the same location, and did not spill over into the mostly white, upper-class Cedar Hills neighborhood, for example. A black street gang called the Boomerangs came to protect the demonstrators. Police had not intervened when the protesters were attacked, but when "blacks started holding their own" and the Boomerangs and other black residents attempted to stop the beatings, the police arrested them for it.
Nat Glover, who later worked in Jacksonville law enforcement for 37 years, including eight years as sheriff of Jacksonville, recalled stumbling into the riot. Glover said he ran to the police, expecting them to arrest the thugs, but was told to leave town or risk being killed.
Several white people had joined the black protesters on that day. Richard Charles Parker, a 25-year-old student attending Florida State University, was among them. White protesters were the object of particular dislike by racists, so when the fracas began, Parker was hustled out of the area for his own protection. The police had been watching him and arrested him as an instigator, charging him with vagrancy, disorderly conduct and inciting a riot. After Parker stated that he was proud to be a member of the NAACP, Judge John Santora sentenced him to 90 days in jail.
Aftermath
Snyder Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church hosted community discussions and negotiations following the incident. Lunch counters in Jacksonville were desegregated in 1961.
See also
References
- Corley Peel; Jenese Harris (August 11, 2020). "Council OKs renaming Hemming Park after James Weldon Johnson". News4Jax.com. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- "Ax Handle Saturday: Jacksonville's Ugliest Hour". The Coastal. 2019-08-27. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
- staff. "Discrimination in all its forms must be axed". jacksonville.com. Archived from the original on 2008-11-22. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
- Andino, Alliniece T. "40 years ago this weekend, Jacksonville gave itself a national reputation for violence - Jacksonville.com". Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
- staff. "Civil rights - Jacksonville.com". Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
- Wilson, Gil. "St. Augustine Civil Rights 1960 -1965". drbronsontours.com.
- Pemberton, John: Archived 2017-07-01 at the Wayback Machine Florida Times-Union, February 22, 1998, "Focus on: Nat Glover"
- Weathersbee, Tonyaa: Florida Times-Union, February 4, 2008, "The story of a white man who joined the '60s sit-ins"
- "Ax Handle Saturday: The Segregated Lunch Counters," Florida Times Union," Aug. 21, 2020. (Subscription only.)
- "Finding a New Purpose for the Snyder Memorial Church Building". The Coastal. 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
- Soergel, Matt. "WJCT TV-7 offers powerful documentary on Ax Handle Saturday". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
Further reading
- Bartley, Abel A. (Summer 1999). "The 1960 and 1964 Jacksonville Riots: How Struggle Led to Progress". Florida Historical Quarterly. 78 (1): 46–73.
- Hurst, Rodney L. (2008). It was Never about a Hot Dog and a Coke!: A Personal Account of the 1960 Sit-in Demonstrations in Jacksonville, Florida and Ax Handle Saturday. WingSpan Press. ISBN 9781595941954.
External links
- Ax Handle Saturday, 1960: A day of defiance in black and white (newspaper article)
- "Ax Handle Saturday": A dark day in Jacksonville history occurred 56 years ago
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| Related articles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- 1960 in Florida
- 1960 protests
- August 1960 events in the United States
- 20th century in Jacksonville, Florida
- Civil rights movement
- Civil rights protests in the United States
- History of African-American civil rights
- Anti-black racism in Florida
- Riots and civil disorder in Florida
- African-American history of Florida
- White American riots in the United States
- African-American history in Jacksonville, Florida