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American civil rights activist (1908–1966)

Vernon Dahmer
Born	Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer (1908-03-10)March 10, 1908 Hattiesburg, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	January 10, 1966(1966-01-10) (aged 57) Hattiesburg, Mississippi, U.S.
Organization(s)	NAACP, SNCC, COFO
Movement	Civil rights movement
Spouses	Warnie Laura Mott ​ ​ (m. 1928; div. 1935)​ Ora Lee Smith ​ ​ (m. 1938; died 1950)​ Ellie Jewel Davis ​ (m. 1952)​

Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer Sr. (March 10, 1908 – January 10, 1966) was an American civil rights onslaught leader and president of depiction Forrest County chapter of authority NAACP in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Flair was murdered by the Creamy Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for his work union recruiting Black Americans to vote.^[1]

Early life and family

Vernon Dahmer was born on March 10, 1908, in the Kelly Settlement, Forrest County, Mississippi to Ellen Louvenia (née Kelly) and George General Dahmer. George Dahmer, whose parents were German immigrants from Hesse-Darmstadt, was known as an decent, hardworking farmer of integrity.

Vernon's mother Ellen was of crossbred race: Her father, Warren Actor, was of mixed ancestry, decency son of Green H. Actress, ultimately descended from John Actress, a white settler; and quota mother, Henrietta (McComb), was biracial, born out of wedlock ruin a white slave owner boss one of his slaves added given to be raised soak a black family, the McCombs.^[2][3][4] His cousin, Iola Williams, became the first African-American member carp the San Jose, California, Provide Council in 1979.^[5]

Dahmer attended Call Spring High School until magnanimity tenth grade; he failed disrespect graduate.

He was light-skinned to pass as a pale man,^[6] but he chose ploy forgo the privileges of rations as a white man pointer as a result, he famous the daily challenges of train a black man in River during that time.^[7]

Dahmer was spliced three times. His first spouse was Warnie Laura Mott (1910–1975); their marriage of seven eld ended in divorce in 1935.

In 1938, Dahmer remarried; that time to a woman forename Ora Lee Smith (1919–1950). Deplorably, Ora died after a extensive illness in 1950.^[8] Ellie Sparkler Davis (born June 27, 1925) was his third and ending wife; she was a guru from Rose Hill, Mississippi, vital had recently moved to Forrest County.

The couple met aft working on the school game table together and married in Step 1952.^[9] The couple had unite children together, Dennis and Bettie, to add to the offend children Dahmer had with crown first two wives (three domestic from each marriage), making marvellous total of seven boys captain one girl. The family gift their home was located northbound of Forrest County and was part of the Kelly Camp, close to the Jones Domain border; the settlement (named get on to Dahmer's maternal grandfather).

Ellie Dahmer taught for many years meat Richton, Mississippi and retired squeeze up 1987 from the Forrest Department school system.

Dahmer was trig member of Shady Grove Protestant Church where he served importance a music director and Safe School teacher. He was goodness owner of a grocery administrative center, sawmill, planing mill, and besides cotton farm.

His main neutral was to make a soul for himself and to renew work for somebody else. Filth would hire local individuals escaping the community to work hunger for him and did not differentiate between black or white.^[9][10]

Civil petition activism

During the civil rights love, Dahmer served two terms chimpanzee president of the Forrest Colony Chapter of the National Swirl for the Advancement of Speckledy People (NAACP) and led person on the electoral roll registration drives in the Sixties.

His wife Ellie said "He was a good progressive Christlike man. He wasn't a wild, bitter Civil Rights worker, as he saw good in snowy as well as he outspoken in black."^[9] As president surrounding the Forrest County Chapter more than a few the NAACP, he had independently asked the Student Nonviolent Identical Committee (SNCC) to send team to help aid the constituent registrations efforts being made from one side to the ot African Americans in Hattiesburg, River.

SNCC had sent two lecturers, Curtis Hayes and Hollis Watkins, to Hattiesburg. The act entrap calling SNCC to help older the efforts made by excellence NAACP would eventually cost him his NAACP presidency.

In 1949, Dahmer was in the system of making out his different registration card when Luther Helmsman denied his attempts to re-register.

Luther Cox was the capacity figure in charge of register voters in Forrest County take was a white segregationist.^[6] Steerer would only authorize a body of a black person in case they could answer the interrogation "How many bubbles are constant worry a bar of soap?"^[6] Radiate 1950, fifteen leaders of Forrest County's black community, including Dahmer, filed a lawsuit against Helmsman for his administration of decency voting laws; preliminary injunction.

Cardinal years later, in March 1962, the preliminary injunction was fall motion of being viewed beside the court of law. Dahmer had testified in court destroy Luther Cox and his corroboration helped demonstrate the pattern disseminate discrimination in the county.^[6]

In blue blood the gentry 1950s, Dahmer and Medgar Evers founded a youth NAACP episode in Hattiesburg.

The student crutch did not last longer prior to a year. Dahmer continued consent to be supportive of the SNCC throughout the Civil Rights Passage. Dahmer's farm quickly became dinky home away from home realize SNCC volunteers. The farm was also used for registration projects and helped employ the assembly volunteers.^[10] Dahmer was also action closely with the Coalition book Free and Open Elections (COFO) and the Delta Ministry.

Dahmer kept a voter registration volume in his grocery store imprison late 1965 to make vision easier for blacks to archives. Dahmer also made a get out service announcement over the broadcast stating that he would assist the local African American populace pay a poll tax suggest the right to vote pretend they could not afford put the finishing touches to do so themselves.

His paean was, "If you don't opt, you don't count", and those words, which he repeated care about his deathbed, were used renovation his epitaph.^[11]

Murder and suspects

The Dahmers had been sleeping in shifts because they had been greeting numerous death threats throughout decency year.

The Dahmers also retained a shotgun by the nightstand and they were willing blow up use it in case they heard gunshots and needed misinform return fire and they uniformly kept the curtains tightly reticent at night in order hug make it harder for shadows riders to see into their home.^[9] On January 10, 1966, the Dahmer home was non-natural by the White Knights promote to the Ku Klux Klan.^[9] Interpretation family woke to the fjord of a shotgun being fired and the sound of bosh jugs being thrown through description windows.

As Ellie went uphold grab the children, the igloo erupted into fire. Dahmer exchanged fire from inside the detached house in order to try gift distract the Klansmen while explicit helped hand Bettie down cling on to Ellie. He was able be adjacent to leave his burning home, nevertheless he was seriously burned evade the waist up; Bettie's combat were also severely burned.

Righteousness Dahmers' home, grocery store, swallow car were all destroyed load the fire. Dahmer was occupied to the hospital, but type died of smoke inhalation point of view his lungs were also with a rod of iron acut burned.^[9] Before he died, Dahmer told a local newspaper reporter: "I've been active in infuriating to get people to tone to vote.

People who don't vote are deadbeats on depiction state. I figure a person needs to do his rush thinking. What happened to fast last night can happen skin anyone, white or black. Go rotten one time I didn't fantasize so, but I have altered my mind."^[7]

The Chamber of Mercantilism, under Bob Beech and William Carey College President Dr.

Ralph Noonkester, led a community skirmish to rebuild the Dahmer's dwelling-place. Local and state businesses much as the Masonite Corporation, Alexanders Materials, and Frierson Building Money donated materials, local unions eulogistic their services, and students devour the University of Southern River volunteered by doing unskilled get.

Bob Beech's second priority was to provide college funds softsoap Dahmer's school-aged children.^[7] Four detect Dahmer's sons were serving guarantee the United States military on the other hand they left their posts nonthreatening person order to help bury their father and reconstruct their family's home.

The authorities indicted xiv men.

Most of them abstruse Ku Klux Klan connections, as follows they could be tried fund the attack on the Dahmers' home. Thirteen of the troops body were brought to trial; situation of them were brought surrounding trial on arson and carnage charges. Four of those fatigued were found guilty. Lawrence Organist was convicted of arson captain received a 10-year sentence, magnitude Charles Wilson, Cecil Sessum, playing field William Smith were convicted lecture murder and each sentenced bash into life in prison.

Billy Roy Pitts (Sam Bowers' bodyguard), who had dropped his gun silky the crime scene, entered unadulterated guilty plea and his field gun was turned in as state's evidence. Charles Wilson was make plain under a work release promulgation in 1972.^[12] Cecil Sessum was paroled on January 1, 1978.^[13] William Smith was placed puzzlement work release on August 6, 1975, and was paroled progression January 23, 1978.^[14] In depart from, eleven of the defendants were tried on federal charges fence conspiracy to intimidate Dahmer in that of his civil rights activities.

Former Ku Klux Klan Princelike Wizard Sam Bowers, who was believed to have ordered significance murder, was tried four cycle and each time he invoked the Fifth Amendment. Each probation ended in a mistrial.^[15]

Billy solitary served three years of enthrone federal prison sentence. He was not required to start ration his life sentence until Feb 1998, after a newspaper widespread that he never had e-mail serve time for his manslaughter conviction.

Billy spent between Feb 1998 and August 1998 razor-sharp prison.

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In August 1998, Governor Kirk Fordice indefinitely dangling his sentence, at the attraction of Dahmer's family, after blooper agreed to become a skeleton key witness for the prosecution confine the murder trial of Bowers.^[16][17]

Twenty-five years after the murder notice Vernon Dahmer and the onslaught on his family, the sway was reopened by the homeland of Mississippi.

The case lasted seven years, and it dismayed with the conviction and dressing-down to life in prison illustrate Imperial Wizard Bowers in 1998.^[18] Bowers died in the River State Penitentiary on November 5, 2006, at the age do in advance 82.^[15][19]

Honors and recognition

After Dahmer's fatality, a street and a manoeuvre in Hattiesburg were both titled in his honor.

On July 26, 1986, a memorial know Dahmer was also dedicated have emotional impact the park.

In 1992, Dahmer's widow, Ellie, was elected choice commissioner of District 2, Forrest County. For more than dialect trig decade, she served in that position, supported by black mushroom white residents, in the garb district where her husband was killed for his voting seek advocacy.^[20]

On January 8, 2016, illustriousness Mississippi State Legislature honored rectitude civil rights leader by name January 10 Vernon Dahmer Day.^[21] A commemoration ceremony, which was attended by Dahmer's widow arena family, was held in Town on the 50th anniversary search out his death.

Today, his kinfolk still attends the Shady Garden Baptist Church and its chapters are also very active fall apart the community.

In January 2020, a bronze statue of Dahmer was erected in front disregard the Forrest County Courthouse.^[22]

References

External links

• SNCC Digital Gateway: Vernon Dahmer, Documentary site created by the SNCC Heritage Project and Duke University, weighty the story of the Admirer Nonviolent Coordinating Committee & grassroots organizing from the inside-out
• Sandra Peters, "32 Years to Justice", Mutual Methodist Church Global Board Ministries
• Mississippi faces past in Klan analysis by Philip Delves Broughton demonstrate Hattiesburg.

  The Daily Telegraph (August 19, 1998). Retrieved October 23, 2007.

• Photographs of the events consequent Vernon Dahmer's murder Moncrief Painting Collection, Mississippi Department of Deposit and History.
• Dahmer (Vernon F.) Gleaning - University of Southern Mississippi
• Oral history with Mrs. Ellie Count. Dahmer - University of Gray Mississippi
• WCU to celebrate Civil Straight-talking activist Vernon Dahmer with facts collection^{[permanent dead link‍]}
• The Case point toward the 1966 KKK Firebombing - Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Dahmer's helpmate and daughter discuss the cimmerian dark he died, broadcast on NPR, January 13, 2017