Southern Conference Educational Fund, Inc.
822 Perdido Street, New Orleans 12, La.
October 19, 1960
MEMO TO: TALLAHASSEE EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE
FROM: CARL BRADEN, FIELD SECRETARY
IN RE: JAILING OF RICHARD F. PARKER
Richard F. Parker, a white student from Florida State University, has now been in jail almost two months ago because he had the courage to take part in sit-ins conducted by Negro students in Jacksonville.
The obvious reason for Parker's being in jail is that city officials in Jacksonville wish to discourage white people from joining Negroes in the struggle for their rights.
They will have won if they are able to keep Parker in jail until the end of his 90-day sentence on Nov. 28. Parker's attorneys are making every effort to free Parker, but the courts continue to find technicalities on which to hold him.
It is therefore necessary that concerned citizens should take up this situation with public officials in Florida. We are asking friends in Jacksonville to see the Mayor about this, and we feel that friends in Tallahassee could help by seeing the Governor.
They should protest to the Governor about the mistreatment of this man whose only crime is a firm belief in the dignity of the individual. The Governor should also be asked to make a public statement condemning the harassment and jailing of citizens who take part in work for integration. This would have a profound effect, as did his statement last spring on the sit-ins.
We therefore suggest that friends in Tallahassee should form a delegation to see Governor Collins. We must do everything we can to free Parker before he serves his whole sentence.
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