<html><head></head><body><div class="ydpc7ce4255yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div style="font-size: 16px; font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif;"></div>
<div data-setdir="true" dir=""><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">Dear members of Durham's InterNeighborhood Council, </span></font></div><div data-setdir="true"><b style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42);"><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br></font></b></div><div data-setdir="true"><b style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42);"><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">We are writing to seek your support for the placement of a historic marker to commemorate the life and martyrdom of Booker T. Spicely, an African American soldier who was fatally shot by a white bus driver
in Durham after he objected to Jim Crow segregation during WWII.</font></b></div></div><div id="ydp6ac0bdb1yahoo_quoted_2252740983" class="ydp6ac0bdb1yahoo_quoted"><div style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42);"><div><div id="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144"><div class="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144yahoo-style-wrap"><div id="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp38d4e817yahoo_quoted_2269497634" class="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp38d4e817yahoo_quoted"><div style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42);"><div><div id="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yahoo_quoted_1568834372" class="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yahoo_quoted"><div style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42);"><div><div id="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yiv1375468151"><div id="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yiv1375468151ydpbab2807cyahoo_quoted_1723164077" class="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yiv1375468151ydpbab2807cyahoo_quoted"><div style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42);"><div><div id="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yiv1375468151ydpbab2807cyiv2873093942"><div id="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yiv1375468151ydpbab2807cyiv2873093942ydpaabd0641yahoo_quoted_2264435665" class="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yiv1375468151ydpbab2807cyiv2873093942ydpaabd0641yahoo_quoted"><div style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42);"><div><div id="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yiv1375468151ydpbab2807cyiv2873093942ydpaabd0641yiv2352233361"><div><div class="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yiv1375468151ydpbab2807cyiv2873093942ydpaabd0641yiv2352233361WordSection1"><div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br clear="none"></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">On Saturday evening, July 8, 1944, Pfc. Spicely was headed back to Camp Butner. He in uniform and unarmed. Along with another Black serviceman, a Black woman, and her five-year-old son, Spicely boarded a
Durham city bus owned and operated by the Duke Power Company. The four African Americans sat in the next-to-last row. <br clear="none"></font><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br clear="none"></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">At a subsequent stop, the white driver directed Spicely and the other African Americans to move to the last row so that a group of white soldiers could take their seats. Spicely protested, saying, “<b><i>I
thought I was fighting this war for democracy</i></b>.” Although Spicely ultimately changed seats, when he got off the bus at the corner of what is now Berkeley Street and Club Boulevard, the driver shot him twice in the chest with a nickel-plated .38</font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br clear="none"></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">Spicely was transported first to Watts Hospital, which refused to treat him because he was Black. By the time he reached Duke Hospital, it was too late to save him. The Durham Black community and the NAACP
Legal Defense Fund assisted in the prosecution but the driver was acquitted of all charges. An all-white jury deliberated for only 28 minutes.</font></div><div><b><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br clear="none"></font></b></div><div dir="ltr"><b><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">We are a group of citizens working on submitting an application for a state historic marker to recognize this event -- and are asking you to
<u>write a short email of support to NC’s Marker Advisory Committee</u>. <br clear="none"></font></b><div><div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><b><br clear="none"></b></font><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">-<b>This event has ongoing significance</b>: Many of the issues in the case, the shooting of an unarmed African American by a white person deputized to enforce
the law, and the failure of the system ensure a diverse jury and hold the killer accountable, sadly still resonate today.</font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">Why support a marker? Feel free to include some of these ideas (or add your own):</font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">-<b>Spicely was a Civil Rights Martyr</b>: When he challenged Jim Crow segregation, he was part of the national Double V Campaign to end oppression abroad and
at home.</font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">-<b>This event had national impact</b>: Future Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall was involved in the case, as was the NAACP’s
first general counsel Charles Hamilton Houston.</font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">-<b>A maker will promote a deeper understanding of state history</b>: It is critical all citizens of North Carolina learn an accurate, balanced account of our
shared history. </font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">Please send a word document or PDF, or just paste your text into an email and send to John Schelp (<a shape="rect" href="mailto:bwatu@yahoo.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bwatu@yahoo.com</a>)
by <b>September 30, 2022</b>. The salutation can be “Dear NC Marker Advisory Committee Members.” We will then include all submissions with our application for a historic marker.</font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">With much appreciation,</font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><br></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3">Mandy Carter, Eddie Davis, Gretchen M. Engel, Walter Jackson, Joseph F. Jordan, Irving Joyner, Philip J. Penn, John Schelp, Tim Tyson, James E. Williams Jr.</font></div><div><b style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br></b></div><div><b style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">PS</b></div></div></div></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><b>INC neighborhood groups played a significant role in helping secure the Royal Ice Cream Sit-In marker, after the state historic committee first said they didn't see much interest in the Durham community. Messages from across the Bull City then turned the tide. </b></font></div></div></div></div><div id="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yiv1375468151ydpbab2807cyiv2873093942yqtfd70959" style="font-size: 13px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" class="ydp6ac0bdb1yiv9159581144ydp3722fd56yiv1375468151ydpbab2807cyiv2873093942yqt7826360606">
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