Ceola Wallace (July 22, 1907 – March 20, 1994) was an American seamstress and civil rights activist from Mississippi. She was one of the African-American women who filed lawsuits in the women's poll tax repeal movement to eliminate the requirement to pay taxes before one could vote. She was active in the 1964 voter registration, Freedom Summer Project.
Ceola Wallace | |
|---|---|
 l-r: Johnny Waters, Ceola Wallace, Willie McGeey, and Jake Plum. Waters, Wallace and Plum are poll workers assisting McGeey in registering to vote, 1964 | |
| Born | Ceola Sloan July 22, 1907 |
| Died | March 20, 1994 (aged 86) |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Ceola Boochie |
| Occupation(s) | seamstress, civil rights activist |
Biography
editCeola Sloan was born on July 22, 1907, in Forrest County, Mississippi.[1][2] She came from a large family which included four brothers — Jacob, Mose, Willie and Ison – and a sister, Louvenia.[2] She was unable to finish more than the first grade of school, but taught herself to read and write. Her first husband was surnamed Boochie.[3][4] They had eight children: Annie, Desseree, Eddie Lee, George, James Curtis, James H., Mary Lee, and Mose.[2] Her husband died leaving Boochie a young widow and she went to work as a tenant farmer. She also took in laundry and did farm and domestic chores to earn support for the family.[3]
Earning $3 per week from her various jobs, Boochie taught herself to sew by reading the instructions on the back of dressmaking patterns.[3] She remarried a construction worker named John Wallace and lived Hattiesburg, where she gained a reputation as a seamstress.[3][5] Wallace was very involved in the civil rights movement and her photograph was featured in Ebony in September 1964, regarding the Freedom Summer Project, which tried to help African Americans register to vote.[3][6] That year she filed a lawsuit along with Victoria Gray challenging the Mississippi poll tax statute which required voters to pay the tax before they could vote.[7] She was one of several women active in the women's poll tax repeal movement who filed lawsuits to abolish poll tax laws.[8] A three-judge federal panel ruled that the tax was unconstitutional in federal elections because it prohibited registered voters from casting their ballots.[9]
In addition to Mrs. Wallace's direct work in voter registration and at considerable danger to themselves, Mr. and Mrs. Wallace boarded several white voter-registration workers and teachers for the Child Development Group of Mississippi (CDGM) during the height of the Civil Rights years in the early 1960s.
Death and legacy
editWallace died on March 20, 1994, at the Conva-Rest Warren Hall in Hattiesburg.[10] The documentary Freedom Summer was released in 2014, on the Public Broadcasting Service's series American Experience. It told the story of Wallace and other activists involved in the Freedom Summer Project.[11]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ Death Index 1994.
- ^ a b c The Hattiesburg American 1977, p. 30.
- ^ a b c d e Bolton 1999.
- ^ The Hattiesburg American 1989, p. 6.
- ^ The Hattiesburg American 1975, p. 2.
- ^ Poinsett 1964, p. 28.
- ^ The Greenwood Commonwealth 1964, p. 1.
- ^ Podolefsky 1998, p. 867.
- ^ Boothe 1964, p. 1.
- ^ The Hattiesburg American 1994, p. 7.
- ^ Hinckley 2014.
Bibliography
edit- Bolton, Charles (June 5, 1999). "Oral History/Interview: Sheila Michaels". Civil Rights Movement Archive. San Francisco, California: Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
- Boothe, Dallas (October 29, 1964). "Poll Tax Non-Payment Receipt Ruled Out in Federal Election". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. United Press International. p. 1. Retrieved October 31, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Hinckley, David (June 3, 2014). "'Freedom Summer,' TV review". The Daily News. New York City, New York. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
- Podolefsky, Ronnie L. (1998). "Illusion of Suffrage: Female Voting Rights and the Women's Poll Tax Repeal Movement after the Nineteenth Amendment". Notre Dame Law Review. 73 (3). Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame. ISSN 0745-3515. Archived from the original on October 3, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
- Poinsett, Alex (September 1964). "Crusade in Mississippi". Ebony. Vol. 19, no. 11. Chicago, Illinois: Johnson Publishing Company. pp. 25–36. ISSN 0012-9011.
- "Ceola Wallace". The Hattiesburg American. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. March 21, 1994. p. 7. Retrieved November 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Death Index: Ceola Wallace". FamilySearch. Alexandria, Virginia: US Social Security Administration. March 20, 1994. Retrieved November 19, 2020.(subscription required)
- "George Wallace Sr". The Hattiesburg American. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. June 8, 1989. p. 6. Retrieved November 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "James H. Boochie Services Saturday". The Hattiesburg American. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. January 28, 1977. p. 30. Retrieved November 19, 2020 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
- "John Wallace Services Sunday". The Hattiesburg American. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. January 31, 1975. p. 2. Retrieved November 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Seeks Injunction to Prevent Law from Being Enforced". The Greenwood Commonwealth. Greenwood, Mississippi. Associated Press. June 1, 1964. p. 1. Retrieved October 31, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.