In this WSB newsfilm clip from a press conference held in Montgomery, Alabama on January 26, 1959, Alabama state court trial judge George C. Wallace speaks to reporters after being acquitted of contempt of court charges in a case involving the United States Civil Rights Commission. The clip begins with Wallace standing in front of a curtain in the Jefferson Davis Hotel in Montgomery, Alabama, where cameramen are setting up for the press conference. Wallace tells reporters that he did not keep the voting registration records from the Civil Rights Commission in order to hide anything. Instead, he asserts that the situation was one of "federal authority against state authority" and proclaims he was willing to risk his freedom in order to maintain state rights. Wallace announces that the "evil" Civil Rights Commission and the United States Justice Department were "hunting for a way out" and so backed down after he and others defied them. He continues, "This 1959 attempt to have a second Sherman's march to the sea has been stopped in the cradle of the confederacy." The Civil Rights Commission, created as part of the 1957 Civil Rights Act, announced in September 1958 the investigation of six Alabama counties on charges that registrars had deterred African Americans from voting. In defiance of the Commission, George Wallace, then a state court trial judge, announced an investigation into alleged misrepresentation leading to the registration of unqualified people in two counties the Commission was investigating. Wallace continued to obstruct the Commission's investigation by refusing to turn over records, delaying appointments with commission agents, and requiring complicated reports before finally turning the records over to a hastily convened grand jury who then shared the records with the Civil Rights Commission. Federal judge Frank Johnson charged Wallace with contempt of court but after a January 26 trial ruled that Wallace was not guilty. Wallace made the statement seen here from the Jefferson Davis hotel in Montgomery several hours after the trial's conclusion.

Title supplied by cataloger.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.

1 clip (about 1 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.

Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Alabama state court trial judge George C. Wallace about a case involving the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Montgomery, Alabama, 1959 January 26, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0836, 19:12/20:01, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library.