BRINGING THE STORY OF J.R. CLIFFORD TO A 21ST CENTURY AUDIENCE

By Thomas Rodd,
Senior Law Clerk, West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals

Learning about J.R. Clifford and his era, and helping bring his story to life for a modern audience, has been a rewarding experience for many people.

The idea for this project originated in 2003 after a regional history seminar -- sponsored by a West Virginia Humanities mini-grant -- organized by Judy Rodd and Emily Samargo for Friends of Blackwater.

Several of the seminar participants talked about an early West Virginia civil rights court case involving the “colored” school in the Town of Coketon – and about the extraordinary lawyer who brought the case, John Robert “J.R.” Clifford (1849-1933).

Looking for more information on Clifford and the case,
State Supreme Court Clerk Rory Perry and I miraculously
located the original court transcripts and briefs in a huge warehouse filled with musty boxes of ancient records. Morgantown historian Connie Rice and others furnished key materials about Clifford’s life. Starting from the original documents, I wrote a script for a trial re-enactment over the 2003 Christmas Holidays, with the support of my friend and employer, State Supreme Court Justice Larry V. Starcher.

Janie Peyton, Esq. and Kitty Dooley, Esq. of the Mountain State Bar and NAACP leaders James Tolbert and George Rutherford joined Justice Starcher and me in organizing the first re-enactment of the trial and appeal, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, in April of 2004. Judge David Sanders presided at the trial. George Daugherty
(“the Earl of Elkview”) played the school board lawyer.

The Berkeley County courtroom was packed. The program was blessed by the attendance of many Clifford relations and distinguished alumni of Storer College, J.R.’s alma mater. Joseph Bundy played J.R. Clifford in this first program (and in many since then). Dr. Brucella Jordan played Carrie Williams. Hawey A. (Sonny) Wells was Secretary of the School Board. Julie Palas of the Supreme Court staff masterfully stage-managed the show and created our publications.

The Martinsburg program was preceded by several weeks with a seminar on J.R. Clifford at the West Virginia University College of Law, including presentations by State Supreme Court law clerk Tomas Vernon, Esq. and WVU Professors Bob Bastress, Ron Lewis, and Dana Brooks. A year later, the Mountain State Bar dedicated a plaque to Clifford at the Law School.
The seminar and re-enactment programs were a “hit” – the audiences were diverse and enthusiastic. Aided by West Virginia Humanities Council financing, we “took our show on the road” to the Mountain State’s historically black colleges. In November of 2004, a seminar at West Virginia State University at Institute was followed by a standing-room-only re-enactment program at the Cultural Center in Charleston. This program included a new first act – the “schoolroom scene” that sets the stage for the trial. Ilene Evans played Carrie Williams, the first of her several excellent performances. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Men’s Choir provided inspirational music.

From Charleston, the program moved to Bluefield State College, where attorney J. Franklin Long delivered a moving remembrance of growing up black in West Virginia in the segregation era. Four more productions followed: April 2005, at the Tucker County Courthouse in Parsons; October 2005, at the Southern Conference of Bar Presidents at the Greenbrier in White Sulfur Springs; March 2006, at Potomac State College of WVU in Keyser; and April 2006, at the Metropolitan Theatre in Morgantown.

A new fourth act, an epilogue that takes place in 1933 at the end of Clifford’s life, premiered in Keyser. At Potomac State, Delegate Cliff Moore from McDowell County played Clifford, and Kaethe George of Mannette Steel Drums in Morgantown played Williams. Kaethe then joined WVU’s Michael Ellington, playing Clifford, in the Morgantown performance, where we had invaluable help from Delegate Charlene Marshall and many other community members. It was great to learn that J.R. visited Morgantown to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation in 1895.

Meanwhile, the National Park Service’s Centennial of the Niagara Movement was being planned for August 16 – 20, 2006 at Harpers Ferry. West Virginia’s native son J.R. Clifford, of course, was a leader in the Niagara Movement, the birth of the modern civil rights movement. So we decided to create a yearlong Clifford-Niagara Project, with the help of VISTA employee Maria Armada. One of the Project’s goals is to provide scholarships for West Virginia youth, especially those with African ancestry, to attend the Centennial.

After the Niagara Centennial, the Clifford-Niagara Project will help develop curricular materials on this important aspect of West Virginia history, and work to create a network and infrastructure of educators and civic leaders committed to using those materials.

Too few West Virginians, and fewer visitors to our state, have an appreciation of the Mountain State’s rich and unique history in connection with America’s struggles and accomplishments in opposing and overcoming racism and discrimination. Additionally, the civil rights history of West Virginia is a largely untapped area of historic/heritage tourism, and there is a real need to build a wider interest in West Virginia’s civil rights history and diversity heritage. Telling the story of J.R. Clifford and his era helps us dismantle racism, one piece at a time. It’s worth it!