Comments on: Whispering Pines: Transformations and Trajectories

By: Tom Gamper , Class of 1979

Tom Gamper , Class of 1979 — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:49:11 +0000

A little more than a decade ago, I met Professor Charles Marsh while he was teaching theology at Loyola College in Baltimore.(His family and mine were members of the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation.) He had recently finished his award winning book, “God’s Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights”. It chronicles the particularly violent and tense summer of 1964 in Mississippi.

Professor Marsh points out that Hodding Carter’s “Greenville Delta-Democratic Times” pointedly spoke out against Thomas and Robert Hederman – owners of two largest newspapers “Clarion Ledger” and “Jackson Daily News” — describing them as a homegrown product of Jim Crow racism and Christian fundamentalism. Marsh adds that Carter’s son, Hodding Carter,III, further described the Hedermans in his Princeton undergraduate thesis : “The Hedermans were to segregation what Joseph Goebbels was to Hitler.”

That Hodding Carter would attribute the forging of his progressive (and courageous) voice to his Bowdoin “education” is a remarkable component of the Civil Rights Movement.

Thanks John for a great story!

By: John R. Cross

John R. Cross — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:50:58 +0000

It is especially rewarding to read the comments of alumni, parents, and others, who enrich the The Whispering Pines columns with new information, insights, and personal experiences. Dave Larsson’s post adds important pieces to the story about father-and-son lawyers in the political world of Washington before and during the civil rights movement; Barbara Kaster’s documentary film about Bowdoin’s history underpins so much about what I know of the College’s history; Calanthe Wilson-Pant’s thoughtful commentary broadens, deepens, and personalizes issues of race and difference that we sometimes tuck away in memory or ignore; and David Henshaw highlights the event that brought Bayard Rustin (Deputy Director of the 1963 “March on Washington”) and Martin Luther King, Jr. to the campus for the Spring Issues Conference on May 5 and 6, 1964. The alumni magazine reported that after Rustin’s talk in Pickard Theater, he spoke with students in the Moulton Union from 9 P.M. to 3 A.M. Dr. King spoke the next night to an overflow crowd estimated at 1,100 at First Parish Church, which had a much greater seating capacity than Pickard Theater. The members of my family squeezed into seats scattered around the church, and were spellbound by the power and eloquence of Dr. King’s speech. Dan Levine (Bowdoin’s Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of History and Political Science Emeritus and one of the organizers of the event) has written a wonderful biography of Rustin, “Bayard Rustin and the Civil Rights Movement”, that was published by Rutgers University Press in 2000.

By: Dana H. Glazer '92

Dana H. Glazer '92 — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:01:09 +0000

John,

So glad to read this history of Bowdoin. Your insights are always refreshing and sharp.
It’s always wonderful reading about Bowdoin alums like these guys who stood up for the common good. Hoping to see you during reunion weekend!

Best,

Dana

By: David Henshaw ''64

David Henshaw ''64 — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:29:31 +0000

I was recently involved in an MLK Jr. memorial event, and have been trying to remember the name of his lieutenant who came with him on his visit to Bowdoin in the fall of ’63.
We had a few Russwurm scholars on campus, from MLK’s alma mater, Moorhouse College in Savannah.
After the speech in the First Parish Church, a group of us went back to the Moulton Union to gather in the lounge for a more intimate group. What happened that night was truly enlightening.
When one of the young men asked how long they had to suffer the villainies of the KKK and similar bigots, this mans told some horrifying experiences which had involved his friends. “But, ” he ended, “if we descend to violence, we are no better than they are.’
That night I fully understood the depths of non-violent protest.

If anyone can come up with the name of that one of MLK’s lieutenants I would appreciate it. I have told the story numerous times, but my training at Bowdoin and as a copy editor urge me to tell the story completely and accurately.

By: Calanthe Wilson-Pant

Calanthe Wilson-Pant — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:25:33 +0000

As I sit reading this in a Navajo clinic where we have one Navajo nurse, and no Native providers, I am reminded of Spring Break of ’76, when I visited my great aunt in rural SC. She was appalled that I was working with an African-American boss in the cafeteria, and admonished me that I should have come to the local college and studied chicken farming, instead of going to that damned Yankee school. I looked at her in horror–although I am not sure whether it was the prejudice or the chicken farming.

Later I learned that my mother had found it necessary to pull my father into the back bedroom for a lecture about appropriate behavior, when, in middle school, I had invited an African American classmate to dinner. Dad,however,had a profound interest in and respect for Native Americans. Since we lived in Montana,that was the minority group of my childhood. Hence those attitudes are what I had learned in regard to other cultures–and, thanks to Mom, didn’t learn otherwise. What I admire about Hodding Carter is his ability to “unlearn.” We need more of that in our world.

From his mother’s comments, Linc apparently found acceptance in spite of some “Hodding Carters,” some of whom were no doubt slower to “unlearn.” Carter, too, had found acceptance enough to sustain him when he returned home and found himself “suspect.” Perhaps that was the true gift to each man. I found “acceptance balanced with expectation” at Bowdoin and it had a profound effect on my life.

We do have an African-American doctor and PA, as well as a female doctor and PA. One of the Navajo CNAs’ son is in medical school, and the head of the lab is Navajo. We have come a long way, we still have a ways to go, and there is hope.

By: Scott F. W ight

Scott F. W ight — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:35:15 +0000

And Barbara, I would have helped you film it! Carter & Johnson are fascinating in there juxtaposition. Nice work, John!

By: Barbara Kaster

Barbara Kaster — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:33:43 +0000

John, this is one of your all-time best! I knew about Hodding Carter but nothing about Linc Johnson. Wish I had known so I could have included his story in my video history, To Serve the Common Good. Thanks, my friend!

By: Bill Clark '76

Bill Clark '76 — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:16:04 +0000

John and Dave, two of my favorite history buffs!
Great column John, as always. Thanks for keeping the Bowdoin spirit alive.

By: Dave Larsson

Dave Larsson — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:57:14 +0000

Thanks for another great piece, and for your curiosity about Henry Lincoln Johnson, Jr. â€27. As usual, your curiosity is contagious. He was evidently quite a lawyer: his name shows up in at least two U.S. Supreme Court cases (Emanuel PEA Jr. v. UNITED STATES, 378 U.S. 571, 1964; COOK v. COOK, 342 U.S. 126, 1951), and he won both times. His name also shows up in many D.C. Circuit court opinions. Perhaps he was an appellate specialist? I can see that Henry's father's reputation may have caused Henry to be a controversial figure in young Hodding Carter's estimation; Henry's father is characterized as a man of "significant influence and power ... in Georgia and in national Republican politics" in Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944 by J. Clay Smith, Jr. and Thurgood Marshall, pps. 195-197.