Mayor calls attorney a liar during City Commission meeting
Have you ever wondered what life was like in Jacksonville 50 years ago? It may have been a different era of history, culture and politics but there are often parallels between the kind of stories that made headlines then and today. As interesting as the similarities may be, so are the differences. These are some of the top stories from the week of Sept. 21-27, 1959. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• At what was described as a “stormy meeting” the City Commission took under consideration a plea by African-American clergymen and golfers to end racial discrimination at all municipally owned recreational facilities.
Two petitions calling for integration at such facilities as the Gator Bowl and the projected municipal auditorium were presented at a meeting at which commissioners were slated to open bids for purchase of two City-owned golf courses which had been shut down to avoid integrated golfing.
No bids were received, however, which prompted Commissioner Dallas L. Thomas to call for new bids without the restrictions which made the sale offer less attractive to prospective buyers of the courses. The other commissioners went along with a proposal to eliminate a minimum price of $606,000 for the Hyde Park course and $496,000 for the Brentwood layout.
The courses had been closed by the City Commission on April 6 to prevent African-Americans from playing on the links at the same time as white golfers. The commission called for the closings in the wake of a federal court order for unrestricted use of the courses by African-Americans. The federal court order resulted from a suit filed by African-American attorney Ernest D. Jackson Sr. on behalf of several African-American golfers including former City Policeman Frank Hampton.
Mayor-Commissioner Haydon Burns got into a bitter disagreement in front of a packed audience in the commission meeting room over details of a conference he and Jackson had concerning the golf courses prior to the filing of the federal court suit.
At one point, Burns charged that Jackson’s memory concerning the details was “convenient.” Jackson replied, “Both our memories are convenient.” Later Burns called Jackson a liar.
Commissioner Claude Smith interrupted the name-calling and Thomas took advantage of the break to move that the integration petitions be “taken under consideration.” There was no indication when the commissioners would decide on the pleas.
• The City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee wrapped up its public hearings on requests for the proposed 1959-60 municipal budget. It was reported the Council members would “go behind closed doors for prolonged sessions” at which they were expected to make slashes in the proposed $71 million outlay before the budget was actually adopted in the form of an ordinance.
During the hearings Commissioner Louis H. Ritter, who was in charge of the highway, sewer and airports departments, appeared in support of the increased expenditures he was asking for his units. He stressed the importance of a $250,000 request for replacement of deteriorated sewer lines, an item for which no money was appropriated in the budget as first presented.
Ritter said the City’s consulting engineers had several years before recommended that Jacksonville spend $1 million a year to replace antiquated concrete sewer lines.
“We know we can’t do that,” Ritter said then added the requested funds would be a start toward replacing some of the outmoded lines beneath Downtown streets.
“Much of the present sewer system was put down in the WPA days and it’s not of the best quality,” Ritter added. He also told the Council that the contractor on the Pearl Street drainage job had discovered a terra cotta sewer pipe purchased in England that was 80 years old.
• An advisory committee of “prominent citizens” met to launch a study on development of a park on City-owned waterfront property on the south side of the St. Johns River between the Alsop (Main Street) and Acosta bridges.
City Parks Commissioner Dallas L. Thomas set a Feb. 1 deadline for the advisory group to complete a master plan and cost estimates. The area was at the time a “barren stretch of dirt.”
Bank executive Frank Sherman was elected chair of the group. Harry A. Pierce Sr. was elected vice-chair and Mrs. Ward N. Seawright, secretary.
Elected to chair key committees were Mrs. Charles Henley, beautification; George Gibbs Sr., bulkhead; Pembroke Huckins, marina; and Sam Millner, site improvement.
George Register, of the engineering firm Register and Cummins, told the advisory committee it would cost roughly $286,000 to bulkhead the park along the present established bulkhead line. He also said the river had made its own shore line from 50 to 100 feet beyond the established bulkhead line and it would cost approximately $334,000 to extend the bulkhead to that point.
On motion of Henley, the advisory committee voted to make beauty the primary objective of the park but not to exclude consideration of developments such as a marina. Among the ideas suggested for the park were botanical gardens, a fountain lighted in various colors, an art display pavilion and a conservatory.
Thomas made it clear he had no set program for development of the park.
“It’s your project and we’ll endeavor to build what you propose,” he said.
• A 63-year-old Bay Street novelty shop owner was arrested at his store after a “raiding party” seized a large quantity of photographs, literature and gadgets described as pornographic.
Frank T. Tracey, operator of the novelty shop at 437 W. Bay St., was released from the Duval County jail under $2,500 bond on charges of possession and sale of pornographic material. The raid was triggered when Duval County Solicitor Lacy Mahon Jr. filed direct information against Tracey the day before.
Minutes before County Vice Squad agents entered the store, an undercover agent had purchased two “lewd books” from Tracey, officers said. The raid was conducted by Lt. Jim Hamlin and Deputy Al Rowland of the sheriff’s Criminal Investigation Division with the aid of an unidentified agent.
Hamlin and Rowland uncovered several “lewd motion picture films, pornographic playing cards, a large number of pictures, books, pamphlets and gadgets.”
Tracey exploded vocally several times during the search of the premises and bellowed, “If I had to make a living like you guys I’d shoot myself.”
During the search Rowland removed several bottles of liquor from a cabinet and asked Tracey if he was selling it.
“Of course not. It belongs to a motorcycle cop who comes in every once in a while for a nip,” said Tracey.
He volunteered that many of the books on nudism on display under a sandwich counter had been shown to Mahon previously.
• An Internal Revenue Service charge that a Jacksonville attorney made fraudulent income tax returns for 1947 and 1948 went to trial in U.S. District Court.
Will O. Murrell was charged with reporting only $985.36 of taxes due for 1947 while he allegedly owed $11,186.24. For 1948, he reported $1,885.04 taxes due while the indictment declared he actually owed $5,952.85.
U.S. District Judge Dozier A. Devane, retired, of Tallahassee, was trying the case.
In an opening statement to the jury, Assistant U.S. District Attorney Edith House said the government would attempt to prove its case by the “net worth” method. That, she explained, meant the government would attempt to show Murrell’s net worth prior to the questioned tax years and his worth at the end of each of those years and would contend that the increase in worth represented income for those years.
Defense attorney J.L. Cushman of Miami indicated Murrell would contend there was no deliberate misrepresentation of income for 1947-1948, that he made all his records for those years available to IRS agents at the time, had followed the agents’ recommendations for changes in his bookkeeping system and that if there were any errors in the tax returns they were clerical errors made by a bookkeeper, rather than a deliberate attempt to falsify the returns.
The trial was expected to last a week.
• Jacksonville Beach marked a milestone in its history when, after years of talking and planning, construction of a municipally-built golf course was complete. The announcement of the end of the installation job was made without fanfare by City Manager Buford W. McRae.
“We have finished construction work on the first nine holes of the golf course,” he said. “All we have to do now is to clean it up, wait for the grass to finish covering and arrange a lease with a private operator.”
McRae placed the cost of the work to date at $66,000 which included almost one-third of the cost of building the rest of the course.
“We are planning to have the back nine completed by next March,” he said, in time for the summer tourist season. “It shouldn’t cost much more since about one-third of the work has been done and the water system is in.”
It was noted that “Jacksonville Beach City officials and many other merchants and residents” felt the links would help the building of more homes and develop the resort’s tourist business.