xt7gf18sbs7b_2 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7gf18sbs7b/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7gf18sbs7b/data/66m38.dao.xml unknown archival material 66m38 English University of Kentucky The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Carl and Anne Braden papers Louisville Patter: excerpts from the official transcript of the Jefferson County Grand Jury Investigation text 0.23 Cubic Feet 1 box Louisville Patter: excerpts from the official transcript of the Jefferson County Grand Jury Investigation 2021 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7gf18sbs7b/data/66m38/Box_1/Folder_2/Multipage20.pdf 1954 September 1954 1954 September section false xt7gf18sbs7b_2 xt7gf18sbs7b 11',” ","n' q
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from the

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

Jefferson County Grand Jury Investigation

September, 1954

into an

LiElxmo'sxow AT THE HOME 011* ANDRE‘u-J WADE IV

 

 ASSOCIATION OF NEGRO AND WHITE PEOPLE

The prosecutor and the grand jury showed keen
interest in personal nssooietions--especially
the association of Negro and white people.

Witness: a Negro oo-worker of Vernon Bown.

.0

How long have you known Vernon Bown?

Well, I have knowed him the last year or year and a half.
And how did you become acquainted with him?

Working with him.

Do you ever visit in his place of residence?

No,

c03>203><©b>

Have you ever gone to his home or his room or his apart-

No,

You are sure?

That's right. His room or apartment.

Do you know where he lives?

No, I don't.

You haven't the slightest idea where Vernon Bown lives?
Thet's right.

You have never known Where he lives?

A
Q
A
Q
A
Q
A
Q
A

Well, when he was over in Indiana, thet's the onliest
knowed where he lives. He lived over in New Albany there.

How did you know thpt?

We went over there hunting one night, coon hunting. I
didn‘t go to the house. He pulled up in front of his door. He
got out and got his gun, and then taken off in his machine. What
street he lived on I don't know, but we went in, went across the
bridge and come back thisaway. I don't know what street it was,
to be frank about it.

Q Has he ever visited you in your home?

A That's right.

 

 He has?

Yos.

On many or fow occasions?

Very few occasions.

How many times within the past twelve months would you say?

I would soy about twice,

About two timos in tho lost ycnr, is that right?

Thot's right.

Who came with him if anybody on those occasions?

Nobody else, only himself.

Do you hQVO lunch with Bown very regularly or not?

Have lunch with him?

Yes.

I haVOn‘t had lunch with him.

Have you ever gone out and ooton with him?

No.

Dinner, suppor, or breakfast?

No.

Do you know a man by tho name of Colo (white)?

I know of him.

Do you and Bown and Colo nssooioto with each other?
A Wo work on tho somo job.
0 DO you associate togothor?

A We don't associato. Tho only one that's been to the house
twico is Bown in the last twolvo months.

.1

0 How many timos have you visited Colo?

\

n Novor visited him at all.

Q You have never boon in his aportmont or houso?

A No.

 

 “3“
Does he live in on qportmont or house?
I don't knowA
Do you and Cole and Bown go _ together?
No.
You never have?
No more than working around job there.

Q When you are working around ,c job, do you occossionelly
go down to Tonth and eat together?

A No. They eat over on Tenth troot, but I don't go. I
bring my lunch with me”

Q How did he come to visit in you home?
A He was a stranger in town. I work with

like a nice fellowc

The witness was recalled during the second week of the investiga-
tion. His second testimony included the following questions and
answers:

Q Let me also make this cloor to you, that if a witnoss
commits perjury before a Grand Jury or in court, that the penalty
in Kentucky for that is one to five yeors in the ponitontinry.

I am not saying thot to score you or intimidoto you, but to ad-
vise you. You are positive you have never attended n meeting
which was also attended by Bown?

A That‘s right“...

Q Has he ever been to your ploce in Newburg?

A Yes, ho went out with me to Newburg.

Q How long ego?

It must hove been along in April or May, something liko that.
Who else went with you?
Me end my wife wont tog=thero

You ondyour wife and Bown?

Thot's right0

Wes your wife at home whenhc crme down on Greenwood?

Noa I picked him up.

 

 Q
A
Q
A
Q

A

No. I picked him up.

Picked him up where?

On Avery.

Wheroebouts on Avery?

On the corner of First and Avery, Second and Avery.
Why did you pick him up there?

. H . . l .
He 881d, I'd love to so out with you and see it.' I said,

I . . 0
'Come on and go. I am geing out in the morningg" So I stopped
and picked him up, and he went on out and came on back.

Q

A

What was his address?
I don't know the address.
Is that where he lived?

He lived there a while. I don't know how long he lived

What kind of building was it?
Brick.

Apartment building?

I am sure it was. It was an apartment, sure it was.

Did you go inside?
No, I never went inside.
Your wife was with you?

Yes.

How mnny times has he been out to your home on Greenwood?
I figure three or four times, I figure he has been there.
When was the last time, ebout?

Along here I think it Wns along in March, something like

And who came with him on those occasions?

By himself.

 

 day hi

I:

-5-

came in his automobile?

s that r? ght?
No, he didn’t stoy there.

How long did he stay?

town, but for what I don‘t know.
He did that on three or four different

Well, We went hunting together, as for
other da'yf'UDOUOOIBCD’

Have you ever tried to get Bown out of
No, I never tried to get him out.

Have you asked anybody to put money up

He stayed there for a While, then he said he had to come

occasions?

51:3 that, as I told

jail?

to get him out?

No. I haven‘t asked snvhodv to ut anv monev uv.
. 1.. . J «.

You started to “y something about him being in jail Fri-

ght?

They come down andgot him Friday, night on the job, and

they lockodhim up, and he says to me, he says,

age.

0

He give me a package, about a half-pint
Isthat all he gave you?
That‘s allo It wns in a package.
Where is thot whiskey new?

I drank it up.

Here is a pack—
of whiskey.

Witness: “nether Negro co—workor of Bown.

Has Bown ever been in your home?
No sir.
You have nevev been in Bown's home?

I never been in Bown‘s home.....

Do you socialize, so to spook, with BOWn?

No. I don‘t, soy, socialize with him.

I just know him

 

 —6—
from working. Of course; he worked at night and I worked in the day.

Q Has he ever been to your home?

A Well, he come right near my house th3re with (a) boy that
worked there with him, was working with him at night, one time.

A boy named Junior, working et D firing with him. He had an acci-
dent with his car, end I let Junior hove my car, and Bown came out
there with him.

Q He never has been inside your home?

No.
Never has been inside your home?
Noo

Q Does he know your wife?

A No.

Q Hes never met her?

A N0..a.......

Q NOW...heve you tried to help Bown get released from jail?

A No sir.

Q And you are pos itivc that you hQVon 't celled anybody by
telephone since he was nrres ted Fridey night and aske d the 3m to
chip in money to get him out?

A I haven‘t celled anybody.

Q You haven't asked anybody thet by word of mouth?
n I sure haven't.
Q Has anybody cnlled you?

A No. Nobody ever called me.

Q Your re sure you hove n't aslle, if he is on the night shift, I wonder if you edild tell
us whether in your obserVotion of his movements and his activities,
does he seem to seek the company of Negro workers? I mean, does
he seem to sort of congregate with them, if he sits down and eats
his lunch, does he sit with them or does he ——————

A No. He eats in the white restaurant, some restnurent I do.
Eats quite often at the some table I dog He doesn't seem to con—
gregate with the Negro people, no. The thing thpt surprised me
very much Was to find out-~henrsny, too-~thot he hnd been out to
the Wade house and stood guordout there. I knew nothing of that
until he was called in here and it took me more or less by sur-
prise......

 

 ~10-
j
White witness called in for questioning because
he was reported to have overheard 'hreats of bombing
the home, not otherwise connected with the case.

Q Have you ever attended any meetings of colored and white
people?

A No, sir.

The witness is Andrew Wade IV.

Q Have you ever attended any meetings, other than the Wade
Defense Committee, with the Bradens where white andcolored people,
both, appeared?

/,

.4 Yes,

Witness is a white man, who publishes a mimeo-
graphed monthly magazine. Printed an article by
Braden on the situation at Reno Court prior to the
bombing. SerVed as a guard at the home after

the bombing.

Q Let me ask you this question. Don't answer it if you
don't want to. But I notice in yourpublieation here just a couple
of titles, and also your interest in the Wade §_tuation. Why is
it that people such as you—~and as I say, don't answer the ques-
tion; I am just asking you for my own information. Now, I think
that all of us in this Grand Jury room are equally interested in
the welfare of mankind, so to speak, and I have just as much feel-
ing, I believe, for an unfortuante colored family as you do have,
but why is it that people will bend themselves over in a situation
of this kind, that is, some people, to protect a colored man's
family, and yet not do the same for a white family? I mean,
what is your thinking along that line, if you don'tmind saying?

In other words, would you go to this much trouble to help a white
man whose house had burned down, or whose house had blrwn up as
you would to help Wade?

A Well, that's a hard question to answer. I never thought
that I would do more for a colored man than I would for a white
man.

Q Have you ever gone out to protect a white man's house Where
his home may have been entered by burglars, or where he was mis-
treated or thought that he was mistreated?

/\

A No. But as far as I can remember, I haVG never known a

 

 -11-
white man that wanted anybody to guard his house,,,,,,

Q Did it occur to you that when you went to the Wades’ home

to act as a guarduwoid it occur to you that you might get into
trouble doing that?

A No. I didn't anticipate getting into trouble. Perhaps
I should haVO thought abeut it, but I didn‘tou...

Q Were you there Pt daytime or at nighttime?

A At night, I thought they wanted me for maybe window dress-
ing, if nothing else, to show other people that white people were
in favor of Wade having the right to live there, perhapso....

Q Why was it that you did not go out there before the explo-
sion? You stated a while ago that there really wasn’t much point
in guarding a house after it had already been bombed, Why is it
you went after but did not go before, if thatis a fact?

A W011, what I said by I didn't think there was much point
in guarding the house after, that was my own personal feeling in
the matter, but I Went because I felt that they wanted me or
somebody to ceme.....

The witness is Vernon Bown, white truck driver,
who served as daytime guard at the home and was
later indicted for sedition, conspiracy, con-
tempt, and the bombing.

0 (by a juror) Well, Mr. Bown, you went out there, did you

v

without knowing Mr. Wade?

’\

A Yes, ma'am.

Q May I ask you a question? would that be in your mind a
reasonable question?

A A reasonable question.

Q Why did you go?

A Well, ma’am, I can't say a definite time, over a period

of time, I might have been away from home and working out on differ-
ent jobs and so forth, I have gradually come to the conclusion

that Negro people have been pretty badly treated in this country.
They are persecuted in many areas, and even in Louisville where

the people are more enlightened than they are further south. Still
there is a lot of prejudice and segregation, and I believe that
colored people have the same rights and should have the some rights
as anyone else, and that ineludes the right to move into a house
wherever they wish, regardless of whether it is in colored neighq
borhoods or white neighbotheods. White people can moVQ in any house

 

 -12-

where they wish, Why should white people try to tell colored people
where they should live? I think it is a question of the Consti-
tution. We are all supposed to be human brings? We are all
guaranteed certain rights under that Constitution, so if Mr. Wade
had moved out there and been no violence whatever; I probably would
have paid no attention to it, but nfter the violence started, it
seemed to me that Mro Wode needed helpa He wasn’t going to be

able to carry on this fight himself, and in View of my ideas on

the question, I decided to go out and see what I could do to help,
even if it Wasn't more than moral support. I don't know what I
could do, I just went out to see theme

 

 THE FOCE OF PEEFVDTCE

The eventual twist whieh tho investigation was given
reveals more clearly than “nv1n1nT eLs the attitude

of the officials and the Llnr pe op113 e: no; rnc-d in reg rd
to democracy for Negroes: i’WLVuP, frw: uezitly

the wording o“ questions and a :swcrs poir'
these attitudes, many times unw1ct1ngl ,
part of the speaker.

The third time he appeared before the grand jury
Mr. Wade made the following statement to them:

I am very much concerned over this thing getting unraveled,
However, it comes out, I definitely know that I didn’t have any—
thing to do with it. New there was a good intent in moving out
there on my part.

Q (by the prosecutor) There was a what?

A A good intent, and my wife was commenting on it last night,
"Look at all this, all we wr'nted was a house, and what's happen-
ing? Big thing’ But I am very much concerned to this point, that
if it is a matter of negligence, or whatever it is, that this
thing hasn't been wound up by now, I think it ought to be uncovered.
The clues that were found the other day by you people, whichever
person found them, I think it's pretty bad to say that clues are
still there.1 They may be there no w. Maybe something else. They
mentioned in the paper a possible expert. Perhaps he could find
something. One expert has been there already to my recollection,
and I don't know if he found anything or not, but I allowed him
on the premises, and he was arranged for in advance. I would say
that there was a possible confession made, and it was authentically
stated that there would b an arrest Very soon at the time of that
other Grand Jury hearing. I would like that you people take all
of those points into considerationu

Q Andrew, let me make this statement to you, and at least I
have been more or less impressed I think with your sincerity about
it, and I don't intend to cast any reflections on you or your
witnesses, and I felt that you probably wanted to get to the bottom
of it. I hope you do. But so far as the conflict in the testimony,
in my opinion it has come from your side of the fence, so to speak,

 

During the inVestigati: n the grand jury inspected the bombed
house. It was later announced in the press th t one juror
said he had found a Hclue. The nature of his find was never
publically announced.

See statement of Carl Braden, 10-1—54, on page

 

 -14-

and that's why I askgd you a while ago about Bown and the signifi-
cance of that radioc Now if you knrw of anything reflecting upon
Bown, Bradens, Hones, Rinehart, or anybody? you ought to go on

and tell this Grand Jury about it any not withhold anything. And
since you say that was Bown-s radio,‘I am particularly making my
remarks in connection with that man9 and also with the Bradens,
and as I say if there is anything at all one way or the other, we
want the truth, and that‘s wlat we are trying togget, but unless
you and your friends and everybody cooperates with us, you can’t
expect us to do the impossibleo And for that reason, now if you
know of any statement that Bown or Rene or anybody has made to you,
it is your duty and your moral obligation to tell this Grand Jury
about it.

A I would say from the over-all picture, I don't think that
any persons on my side had anything to do with it, but from the
line of this investigation, it has caused me to wonder, and still
each person in here could easily see why that I haVe a lot of
confidence in these people, because the people that are on my side
went to a lot of trouble and possible risk of their life conscienti—
ously I belieVe to safeguard my Welfare, and they have done endless
hours of work. Now I don’t know how Communists operate. I don't
know how liberal people of any other race operate. But I do know
more about the non—liberals in this country than I doa bout Com—
munists and how they operate in their own country. I know only
what I read, but I know from here in this country we have had a
lot of determined efforts to keep Negro and other minorities from
securing what is reghtfully theirs. You will find, if you trace
my history, that I conscientiously believe that I should be consid—
ered as much a man as another, and I would be wrong in thinking my-
self better than anyone else. So if there’s anything that would
materialize, I think I would feel free to talk to Mr. Hamilton.

‘13 i '3?

During the second week of the hearing Bown was called
in for the second time, and the following exchange took
place with one of the jurors.

Q Of course, you haVO always felt, as you just said, I be-
lieve, the Negroes as well as any minority group has the right to
liVe any place he wants to?

A That's right.

Q And there are a number of people, I think you will agree,
who feel the same way you do in principle?

A I believe there are.

Q However, their way of doing it is different from yours.
They feel that those things are best effected over a long period

5. The blast blew a hole in the floor of the bedroom which Bewn
had been occupying. His shattered radio and other items from
the room were found beneath the floor later.

 

 -15-

of time. You evidently are of the school of thought where you
don't think so?

A I think you are assuming-~

Q I am not assuming. I am asking you the question if that is
what you think.

A You see, this wasn't my idea for Mr. Wade to move out there,
and once he had moved out there I felt he had the right to stay,
and if I could help him to stay there, I thought it was my duty.

Q HaVQ you ever participated in any other thing that happened
like this before?

A No.

Q Have you ever, when another Negro family has needed assis-
tance in any way, have you ever done that, helped them?

A Well, not in this sense, no. I guess I just never have
run across another case like thiso I know there are cases like
this that have happened in other cities, but I wasn't there.

Q Didn't it occur to you that if there was violence there
and a 1: t of shooting you could have been killed too?

A I am not the kind of person that runs away from violence.
I don't let fear interfere with things like that. If I feel strong-
ly about a situation, I don't let fear interfere with it.

x‘

During his first testimony Carl Braden was asked
by the prosecutor:

Q Will you tell the jury in your own words, Mr. Braden, just
what led up to the purchase of this house by you and Mrs. Braden
for the Wades?

A Well, it Was, as I said, sometime in March, and he (Wade)
called and he came down to see us. I don't think Mrs. Braden was
there when he first came. And he talked to me about getting a
house. He said he wanted a ranch-type house with a sort of stone
facing. He mapped it all out in his mind, tha at he and his wife
had decided that was the kind of house they wanted, and they had
looked all over town and c uldn't find any downtown, so they had
gone over to Indiana, on Green Valley Road, I believe, and found
a place over there. Now he said that prior to that he had attempted
to buy two or three houses of that type, one I believe in Indiana
and two in the suburbs of Louisville, and he had been unable to
because before he closed the deal the people who were selling it or
the real estate man discovered that he was a Negro. He is very
light-skinned, and some people mistake him for a Puerte Rican or
some foreign nationality. So he kept running into this. When
they checked his references and found out where he lived, they

 

 -16i

they found out he lived in a Negro neighborhood, and they checked
further and knew who he Was, and he said somebody suggested why not
get some white friends to do ito So he said he first studied about
getting a Negro couple who Were almost white to do it, and then he
was afraid that they would be discovered? so he asked us if we
would do it. Well, I said that I would personally, and I thought my
wife would, but to come back 0nd talk to both of us0 So he came
back and talked to both of us, and we said that we would. We
couldn't do anything else, because if you believe in something you
believe in it. You believe in equality and democracy, you either
practice what you preach or you keep still about believing in it...

s a *

James A. (Buster) Rene, age 26, is the son of the man
who built the house and sold it to the Brodens.
Buster was a neighbor of the Wedes. He was sub~
poenaed to testify on the second day of the Hearings
and gave the folltwing answers to questions:

Q Do you know anything about burning the cross in the field
near the house?

A Mo and my brother-in—law was the ones who burned the cross.
It was just two pieces of wood tied together.

Q Was it wrapped in cloth?

A No it was not.

Q Did you put inflamatory material around it?
A Yes sir.

Q What was your idea in burning the cross?

n It was just an idea brought up.

0 Who brought it up?

A I don’t know. It was on my ground. I didn't think it
would do no harm.

Q What was your purpose-~whot did you hope to gain?

A I don’t know. We just wanted--there is nobody thought they
should moVO in the neighborhood.

4. Young Rene, Rinohort, and Stanley Wilt, brother-in-law of Reno,
confessed to active participation in the cross burning on May 15.
None were indicted by the grand jury. On 2-24—55 Mr. Wade filed
affadavits accusing the trio of the cross burning. The Quarterly
Court dismissed the charges on the ground that a subsequent grand
jury failed to indict.

 

 ‘17-
Lawrence Rinehart, another neighbor, was ques-
tioned the first day of the hearingo He also
was questioned about the cross burningc

0 New, Lawrence, I advised you n while ago about your rights

not to incriminate yourself: and if you do not want to answer any
of the questions, you say so.u and we will get the court to rule
on it. But were you present on Moy 15th when a man by the name
of Will (probably Stanley Wilt) and Buster Rene come out to your
house and I believe a cross was built out there. Do you remember
that occasion? Or, do you went to answer that question?

A I am not sure about the date°

Q But the three of you did build a cross, is that right?

A There was just one thereO I mean, it was not exactly a
cross and we took it over to the propertyo

O

.1

You took it over to Mr. Reno's mother's?
A Yes.

Q Were there 2 people there when youorrived?
There were several people there.

Can you give us their names?

No, I don't know them.

Could you giVe their first names?

No.

Q After you got there to Reno’s house with the cross, whet
did you do with the cross?

Burned it.

And where did you burn it?
On Buster's preperty there.
Where was that?

There next to his mother's.

And that would be somewhere across the street from Wade's

No, it would be on the some side of the street.

But more or less next to Wade's house?

In o let adjoining Wade's house.

 

 ~18-

Q Now can you tell the jury the purpose of burning that cress
there?

A I don't know.
Q Sir?
A Just a silly idea, I don't know.

0 Well was it an effort to frighten the people in the Wade
house?

A I guess so. What it was, was just to let them know that
we didn't want themo To let them know that they were not welcome
in that neighborhood.

Q (by a juror) Who instigated that?

A I don't know. It was just a thought that somebody threw
around, I guess.

On the fifth day of the herring the mayor of

Shively was called in to testify. The jury evidently
wished to ascertain the general feeling of

people in the area concerning the Wades' moving

into the house. He testified in part as follows:

0, (by a juror) Mr. Mayor, our first question is, can you
sum up in your mind the general attitude or the general feeling of
the people in Shively, I mean the things that have been said to
you, the things that you all have talked about, of how the people
out there feel about the whole thing?

A Well, the sentiment of the majority of the people, natur-
ally, property owners are opposed to colored people moving out
there or purchasing property. Heretofore, we have had no colored
people out there. That is in the boundary of Shively. I know that
the majority of the people are opposed to any coltred people moving
out there or purchasing property for fear of more of them coming,

I guess......

Q They just Wouldn't do a thing about it? If this was hap-
pening in this neighborhood and they had lived there for a number
of years, and they don't like it, we can understand that, that

they just would say, "Well, this thing has happened, and that's it?"

n I feel it's the coloredpeople have equal rights, and there
is nothing we can do about it.

Q Sure they o.

A But of course, I suppose there are some peeple I know Who
don't approve of it, but there isn't too much we can do about it.

 

 .19..

Q (still by a juror) Do you feel like the Jefferson County
Police hQVe done a good job in their duty in the protection of the
Wade family?

A Every time I passed there, I always see a car there, and I
have spoke to the Shively police, and they have stated thnt they
have been very effective and on the job ell the time, although
they didn't appreciate it very much, I understand, but they had to
do their job.

Q What do you mean they didn't appreciate it, they felt
they should have done it themselves?

A He ‘ am?

Q What do you mean, the Shively police didn't appreciate
haVing the County police there?

A No. The County police didn't appreciate the job that they
had. That's what I mean.

Another Shively citizen was the following wit—

ness. He too was asked to giVe his opinion as

to the reaction of the people in the area. His testi-
mony was brief and contained the following statement;

I have some Negro neighbors. uhd we have this little cele-
ny of the Negroes over in the St. Denis area. They are good neigh—
bors. In the early part of the year, they dedicated themselves a
church over there, which I was invited to and did attend, and
practically every business house in the St. Denis area was re-
presented at that meeting. I don't believe they call it dedication—-
what do you call it when they start? Ground breaking?

Q Cornerstone.

A And so far as I kn w, every business house in that neigh—
borhood contributed to that church. They were all represented
there. And one man said that he wanted them to know that they
were good neighbors, and we love you, and we will do anything we
can to help you. So I would say that’s the general attitude of
people in that area, of the Negro population that We have. Now
insofar as the city of Shively is concerned, so or as I know of
we have not a single Negro in it. If we do have, he is hidden
somewhere that I don't know about.....

The grand jury picked up little bits of infor-
mation here and there about the people concerned.
Toward the end of the investigation a former

 

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deputy sheriff.was questi ned about a white Woman, who
had openly expressed her support of the Wados
and spent a number of afternoans at the heme
wi