People with Strength in Monroe, North Carolina
[New York]: [Committee to Aid the Monroe Defendents], [1962]. Cover illustration, map inside front cover, publisher ad inside rear cover. Softcover. Octavo. 37 pages.
World War II veteran and NAACP leader Robert F. Williams organized and--with the help of the NRA--trained his fellow African American neighbors in Monroe, North Carolina. When a member of their community was targeted by the KKK in 1957, Williams and his group took up arms and protected him, utterly humiliating the mob of yahoos who fled with their tails between their legs.
This is a scarce, early account of this little-known incident. Many of the Black participants, including Williams, were subsequently subjected to all manner of harassment in the local judicial system. This booklet was published to raise money for their legal fees. Williams exiled himself and his family to Cuba escape the legal persecution.
A rare artifact from this under-reported chapter in the Civil Rights struggle.
Printed paper covers, saddle-stapled binding. A few short diagonal creases across lower fore corner tip of rear cover, else fine. Clean and sound overall.
Item #1773
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