| Click here to view the item | |
| Title: | Lester Tate joins the Los Angeles Civil Rights Congress, January 1950, Los Angeles |
| Date: | 1950 Jan. |
| Description: | Photograph of Celia Rodriguez, left, and Shifra Meyers helping Lester Tate become the first person in 1950 to join the Los Angeles Civil Rights Congress (CRC). Rodriguez was financial secretary and Meyers was administrative secretary of CRC, an organization founded in 1946 to defend the rights of labor, African-Americans and other minorities. CRC successfully waged a national campaign to prevent Tate's extradition to Virginia. In 1941, Tate and four others were arrested and charged with the attempted robbery of a grocery store near Norfolk, Virginia. Tate was sentenced to a chain gang, but escaped in 1943 and moved to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, he changed his name from Albert Lindsay Gee to Lester Tate and became active in the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers union. In 1944, Tate was arrested in Los Angeles on a minor charge, and police learned he was wanted in Virginia on a fugitive warrant. The CRC, the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union and other supporters waged a campaign to prevent Tate's extradition, maintaining he would be mistreated in Virginia's prison system. Their efforts succeeded when California Gov. Earl Warren refused to sign extradition papers. Tate's supporters, including more than 600 trade union members and leaders, celebrated their victory at a dinner. 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 the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata. |
| Types: | Black-and-white photographs |
| Subjects: | Rodriguez, Celia | Meyers, Shifra | Tate, Lester | African Americans--Civil rights--California--Los Angeles | African Americans--Civil rights--United States | Labor movement--California--Los Angeles | Labor unions--California--Los Angeles | Civil Rights Congress (U.S.) | Associations, institutions, etc.--African American membership | Robbery--Virginia--Norfolk | Escapes--Virginia--Norfolk | Chain gangs--Virginia--Norfolk | Extradition--United States | Los Angeles (Calif.) | Los Angeles County (Calif.) |
| Collection: | Charlotta Bass / California Eagle Photograph Collection |
| Institution: | University of Southern California Libraries |
| Contributors: | Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research | University of Southern California. Digital Archive | Charlotta Bass / California Eagle Photograph Collection (University of Southern California. Digital Archive) |
| Online Publisher: | [Los Angeles, Calif.] : University of Southern California Digital Archive |
| Original Material: | Charlotta Bass / California Eagle Photograph Collection, Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, Los Angeles |
| Rights and Usage: | Cite as: [photographer]. [title]. From the Charlotta Bass / California Eagle Photograph Collection, Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research, Los Angeles. Digitally reproduced by the University of Southern California Digital Archive. Available: http://digarc.usc.edu. Accessed [date]. Copyright has not been assigned to the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research Researchers may make single copies of images solely for the purpose of private study. Copies for any other purpose must be requested in writing from the director of Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research at the address or e-mail given (phone (323) 759-6063; fax (323) 759-2252). When the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research gives permission for publication, it is as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. |
| Related Materials: | Forms part of online collection: Charlotta Bass / California Eagle collection. |
| Persistent Link to Item: | http://digarc.usc.edu/search/controller/view/scl-m0318.html |
