Hartman Turnbow (March 20, 1905 – August 15, 1988) was a Mississippi farmer, orator, and

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

during the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

. On April 9, 1963, Turnbow was one of the first African Americans to attempt to register to vote in Mississippi, along with a group called the “First Fourteen”.

Early life

Turnbow was born on March 20, 1905 in Mileston,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. His grandparents were former slaves and he inherited their farm. He moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

where he met and married his second wife Dee. They returned to Mississippi with their children, settling in Tchula, where he became an independent farmer and owned his land.

Civil Rights Movement

Voter Registration

On April 9, 1963, Turnbow, with a group of 13 other African Americans, including

Hollis Watkins Hollis Watkins is an activist who was part of the Civil Rights Movement activities in the state of Mississippi during the 1960s. He became a member and organizer with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1961, was a county organi ...

, Ozell Mitchell, and Alma Mitchell Carnegie arrived at the Holmes County, Mississippi courthouse in Lexington in an attempt to register to vote. This group became known as the “First Fourteen”. The “First Fourteen” were approached by a myriad of whites who attempted to intimidate and prevent the group from registering to vote. In a thick mob of angry whites, deputy sheriff, Andrew Smith, with his hand on his gun holster, called out, “All right now, who will be the first?” At that point, Turnbow stepped forward and told the deputy sheriff "Me, Hartman Turnbow. I came here to die to vote. I'm the first."United States v. Holmes County, 385 F.2d 145, 1967 U.S. App. LEXIS 4773 (United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit October 24, 1967 ). Retrieved from https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=cases&id=urn:contentItem:3S4W-WSV0-0039-Y2X5-00000-00&context=1516831. All fourteen took the literacy test and were failed by the circuit clerk. Although none of the “first fourteen” were able to register, their pride and courage drove the Movement in Holmes County. Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) In April 1964, the

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), also referred to as the Freedom Democratic Party, was an American political party created in 1964 as a branch of the populist Freedom Democratic organization in the state of Mississippi during the ...

(MFDP) was founded. Turnbow was elected delegate of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) at the

1964 Democratic National Convention The 1964 Democratic National Convention of the Democratic Party, took place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey from August 24 to 27, 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for a full term. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnes ...

in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he testified his personal accounts with voter suppression. Turnbow spoke in an unusual way that is now known as “Turnbowisms” and had a tendency to utter malapropisms, as he once referred to Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as the “student violent non-coordinated committee.”B. Howell, J. (2018, April 15). Hartman Turnbow. Retrieved February 6, 2020, from https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/hartman-turnbow/ Yet he knew how to deliver powerful speeches and act as an inspirational leader for others. Nonviolence Freedom Movement Hartman Turnbow famously confronted

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

informing him: “This nonviolent stuff ain’t no good. It’ll get you killed.”Prof. Nicholas Johnson, guest-blogging. (2014, January 27). The what and why of ''Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms''. Retrieved February 6, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/01/27/the-what-and-why-of-negroes-and-the-gun-the-black-tradition-of-arms/ The practice of nonviolence has been a centerpiece tactic for African Americans in the

and King wished to elevate this tactic. In May 1963, Turnbow fought off an attack on his family and himself with rifle fire. Being consistent with the foundation of the freedom movement, Turnbow explained, “I wasn’t being non-nonviolent, I was just protectin’ my family.” In this instance, Turnbow exercised his right to private self-defense just like

Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer (; Townsend; October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977) was an American voting rights, voting and women's rights activist, Community organizing, community organizer, and a leader in the civil rights movement. She was the co-foun ...

.Nicholas J. Johnson* (July, 2013). Commentary: Gun Control Policy and the Second Amendment: Lead Article: Firearms Policy and the Black Community: An Assessment of the Modern Orthodoxy. ''Connecticut Law Review, 45,'' 1491. Retrieved from https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=analytical-materials&id=urn:contentItem:59K8-B9F0-00CV-T15P-00000-00&context=1516831. SNCC’s Joyce Ladner accompanied Turnbow and his wife in Atlantic City for the

. She recalls, “Mrs. Turnbow always carried a little brown paper bag. She had a pistol in it. ��But she didn’t trust those people. I mean people had tried to firebomb her home, so she might have been in the presence of a senator and a congresswoman, but she carried a gun.”

Personal life

House Fire and Arrest

On May 7, 1963, Turnbow and his wife Dee took their daughter to choir practice at 7:00 pm. The family returned home around 9:30 pm, when Dee noticed a vent was open in the kitchen ceiling. A quick search around the house was done, but nothing was found so the Turnbow family went to sleep. Around 3:00 am on the morning of May 8, Turnbow was awakened by the sound of an explosion, flames, and smoke. His wife and daughter ran outside while two men started to shoot at Turnbow. Turnbow, with his .22 sixteen-shooter rifle in hand, shot back at the two assailants until he emptied that .22 rifle. The two white men ran away while Turnbow and his family spent the next few hours getting the flames under control.JULIAN BOND (Fall, 2014). DAMON J. KEITH CENTER FOR CIVIL RIGHTS BIENNIAL LECTURE: UNDER COLOR OF LAW . ''The Journal of Law in Society, 16,'' 181. Retrieved from https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=analytical-materials&id=urn:contentItem:5G1T-HMR0-00SW-50FC-00000-00&context=1516831.Pulitzer Prizes. Do we have the guts to do something about racial bias? Retrieved February 6, 2020, from https://www.pulitzer.org/article/do-we-have-guts-do-something-about-racial-bias Sheriff Smith accompanied by a deputy and FBI agent arrived at the scene at 9:00 am. Bob Moses, a non-Mississippi voter registration worker, was also on the scene of investigation taking pictures of the fire. Moses was told to stop taking pictures by an investigator and was immediately arrested for interfering with the investigation after taking Sheriff Smith’s picture. Turnbow and several other SNCC workers were later charged for arson and arrested by Smith. The only piece of evidence at the preliminary hearing was a testimony given by Sheriff Smith. County Attorney Pat M. Barrett said he was “not a demolition expert,” but “it just couldn’t have happened. There is no way on God’s earth for that situation over there to have happened like he said it happened.” As a result of the case, Turnbow was bound over under $500 bond by the Holmes County Grand Jury. The charges against the other SNCC workers were dismissed for lack of evidence after they spent five nights in jail. Hartman Turnbow was attacked and framed for arson because he was one of the first African Americans that step forward to vote in Mississippi. In a reflection on his attack, Turnbow states, "Anybody had’a just told me ’fore it happened that conditions would make this much change between the white and the black in Holmes County here where I live, why I’da just said, “you’re lyin’. It won’t happen.” I just wouldn’t have believed it. I didn’t dream of it. I didn’t see no way. But it got to workin’ just like the citizenship class teacher told us—that if we could redish’ to vote and just stick with it. He says it’s gon’ be some difficults, gon’ have troubles, folks gon’ lose their lives, peoples gon’ lose all their money, and just like he said, all of that happened. He didn’t miss it. He hit it ka-dap on the head, and it’s workin’ now. It won’t never go back where it was."

Marriages and children

Turnbow was married and had six children, sons Jewross and Hartman, and daughters Mae Alice, Mae Bell, Mary and Christine.

Death

Turnbow died on August 15, 1988 at the Methodist Hospital of Middle Mississippi in Lexington at the age of 83. His funeral was held on August 24 at Rock of Ages Church of God in Christ in Tchula. Elder Fred Wade officiated with interment in the Pinkston Cemetery north of Lexington.''The Holmes County Herald'', page 12, Lexington, Mississippi, August 25, 1988

Legacy

Turnbow's courageous effort to register to vote succeeded and gave Black people in the South a voice regarding which politicians would represent them. He is best known for his independent spirit and orating the truth. The unusual way that Turnbow spoke is now known as "Turnbowisms". Voting rights activist Sue (Lorenzi) Sojourner said this about Turnbow's oration: An example of the way Turnbow spoke can be found in this excerpt, when during

Freedom Summer Freedom Summer, also known as the Freedom Summer Project or the Mississippi Summer Project, was a volunteer campaign in the United States launched in June 1964 to attempt to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi. ...

he tried to persuade more black Mississippians to vote:

References

External links

"Mississippi, Into the Storm." Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement

"Hartman Turnbow," One Person, One Vote

Audio * ttp://digital.library.illinoisstate.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15990coll1/id/241 1964 interview with Hartman Turnbow (part 1)
1964 interview with Hartman Turnbow (part 2)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turnbow, Hartman 1905 births 1988 deaths African-American farmers American farmers Activists for African-American civil rights Farmers from Mississippi People from Holmes County, Mississippi People from Tchula, Mississippi 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century African-American people