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From Wikipedia (accessed June 13, 2016):
Carl Braden (June 24, 1914 – February 8, 1975) was
born in New Albany, Indiana, and died in Louisville, Kentucky. He was a
left-wing trade unionist and social justice activist. He worked for the Louisville
Herald-Post, Cincinnati Enquirer (1937–45), and Louisville Times.
He also wrote for other news services including the Harlan Daily Enterprise,
the Knoxville Journal, the New York Daily News, the Chicago
Tribune, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Newsweek, and the
Federated Press.
In 1948, while
working as a reporter in Kentucky, he met and married fellow journalist Anne
Gambrell McCarty. The Bradens had three children: James, born in 1951, a 1972
Rhodes Scholar, and a 1980 graduate of Harvard Law School (where he preceded
Barack Obama as editor of the Harvard Law Review), has lived and practiced law
for over 25 years in San Francisco, California. Elizabeth, born in 1960, has
worked as a teacher in many countries around the world, serving as of 2006 in
that capacity in rural Ethiopia. Anita, born in 1953, died of a pulmonary
disorder at the age of 11.
While raising
their children, Carl and his wife Anne Braden remained deeply involved in the
civil rights cause and the subsequent social movements it prompted from the
1960s to the 1970s, because of this they were frequent targets for attacks from
southern white supremacists.
The Wade incident
In 1954, as a method of protesting the rigid practice of racial segregation in neighborhoods, the Bradens arranged to purchase a house in an all-white neighborhood of Louisville and deed it over to Andrew Wade and his wife, who were African-American. White supremacists lashed out at this act and tried to intimidate the Wades with cross burnings and bombings. Carl's wife, Anne, carefully chronicled the ordeal and used it as the basis for her book The Wall Between, published in 1958. As a result of their actions, Carl Braden was charged with sedition, since working for racial integration was interpreted by many southern whites as an outright sign of communist support. He was sentenced to 15 years and ended up serving eight months before he was released on the highest bond ever set in Kentucky up to that time.
In 1954, as a method of protesting the rigid practice of racial segregation in neighborhoods, the Bradens arranged to purchase a house in an all-white neighborhood of Louisville and deed it over to Andrew Wade and his wife, who were African-American. White supremacists lashed out at this act and tried to intimidate the Wades with cross burnings and bombings. Carl's wife, Anne, carefully chronicled the ordeal and used it as the basis for her book The Wall Between, published in 1958. As a result of their actions, Carl Braden was charged with sedition, since working for racial integration was interpreted by many southern whites as an outright sign of communist support. He was sentenced to 15 years and ended up serving eight months before he was released on the highest bond ever set in Kentucky up to that time.
In 1967, the
Bradens were again charged with sedition for protesting the practice of
strip-mining in Pike County, Kentucky. They used this case to test the Kentucky
sedition law, which was eventually ruled unconstitutional.
The Bradens
dedicated their lives to impelling whites into the cause of justice for all
people. After Carl's death, Anne Braden remained active in networks of anti-racist
work.
Early activism
In 1948, Carl Braden along with his wife Anne involved themselves in Henry Wallace's run on the Progressive Party for the presidency. Soon after Wallace's defeat, they left mainstream journalism to apply their talent as writers to the interracial left wing of the labor movement through the FE (Farm and Equipment Workers) Union, representing Louisville's International Harvester employees, Catherine Fosl, Subversive Southerner (Palgrave, 2002).
In 1948, Carl Braden along with his wife Anne involved themselves in Henry Wallace's run on the Progressive Party for the presidency. Soon after Wallace's defeat, they left mainstream journalism to apply their talent as writers to the interracial left wing of the labor movement through the FE (Farm and Equipment Workers) Union, representing Louisville's International Harvester employees, Catherine Fosl, Subversive Southerner (Palgrave, 2002).
Later activism
The Bradens were Blacklisted from local employment in Kentucky. They took jobs as field organizers for the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF), developing their own media attention through SCEF's monthly newspaper, The Southern Patriot, and through numerous pamphlets and press releases publicizing major civil-rights campaigns. The Bradens were acclaimed by young student activists of the 1960s and among the civil rights movement's most dedicated white allies.
The Bradens were Blacklisted from local employment in Kentucky. They took jobs as field organizers for the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF), developing their own media attention through SCEF's monthly newspaper, The Southern Patriot, and through numerous pamphlets and press releases publicizing major civil-rights campaigns. The Bradens were acclaimed by young student activists of the 1960s and among the civil rights movement's most dedicated white allies.
The Southern
Christian Leadership Conference hosted a reception honoring Frank Wilkinson and
Carl Braden on April 30, 1961, the day before they went to jail for defying the
House Un-American Activities Committee. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dr.
James Dombrowski were present at this reception honoring Wilkinson and Braden.
Death
Carl Braden died on February 8, 1975, and is buried in Eminence Cemetery in Henry County, Eminence, Kentucky.
Carl Braden died on February 8, 1975, and is buried in Eminence Cemetery in Henry County, Eminence, Kentucky.
See also
External links
- http://crdl.usg.edu/cgi/crdl?query=id%3Autkn_braden&_cc=1
- http://www.peterfosl.us/Carl_Braden_Memorial_Center/Carl_Braden_Memorial_Center_Home.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/17/national/17braden.html?scp=1&sq=Carl+Braden&st=nyt
Selected Sources from UK Libraries:
Braden, Carl. The Right to
Organize : How North Carolina Tries to Wreck People's Movements.
Louisville, Ky.: Southern Conference Educational Fund, 1972. Print.
Special Collections Research
Center Closed Stacks - Ask at desk on
2nd Floor for assistance (JC599.U52
N80)
Braden, Carl, Louis. Lusky,
Robert W. Zollinger, and Kentucky. Court of Appeals. Carl Braden, Appellant,
versus Commonwealth of Kentucky, Appellee : Appeal from Jefferson Circuit Court,
Criminal Branch, Second Division : Brief of Appellant. Kentucky: Court of
Appeals, 1955. Print.
Special Collections Research
Center Closed Stacks - Ask at desk on
2nd Floor for assistance (364.13
L975)
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