Ola Mae Quarterman

["John S. Quarterman" <jsq@quarterman.org>]

>From an article written by Howard Zinn in 1962 about Albany Georgia:

``A shaky truce ended the December demonstrations, which had been
provoked by arrests at the train terminal, but were rooted, of course,
in the total segregation and white domination that make Albany, Georgia,
such a hard place for Negroes to live in. By January, the truce began
to fall apart. That month, an eighteen-year-old Negro girl named Ola
Mae Quarterman sat in the front seat of an Albany bus, refused to move
on the command of the driver, was arrested by a policeman and convicted
in city court for using "obscene" language. The driver testified that
she had told him: "I paid my damn twenty cents, and I can sit where I
want." Subsequently Miss Quarterman told a federal court, to which her
case had gone on appeal, that she had used the word "damn" in relation
to her twenty cents, not in relation to the driver. (Anywhere but in the
Deep South a judge might have thought it incredible that she should be
forced to defend her words by making such a distinction.) The city's
counsel insisted her race had nothing to do with her arrest, and in
cross-examination asked if it were not true that the cause of her arrest
was her "vulgar language." She replied softly, "That's what they said."''

http://past.thenation.com/cgi-bin/framizer.cgi?url=http://past.thenation.com/historic/19621201albany.shtml

Ola Mae Quarterman Day in Albany:
http://www.albany.ga.us/aiinet/AZINET15.HTM

Ga. House resolution about Ola Mae Quarterman-Clemons:
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/Legis/1995_96/leg/fulltext/hr1195.htm

   [seal_smt.gif] [seal_smt.gif]
   
  Georgia House of Representatives - 1995/1996 Sessions
  
    HR 1195 - Quarterman-Clemons, Ola Mae; commend
    
      Page Numbers - [1]1
      
   [2]Prev Bill [3]Next Bill [4]Bill Summary [5]Bill List [6]Disclaimer
   
1. Roberts  162nd         2. White  161st            3. Brooks  54th
4. Holmes  53rd           5. McKinney  51st          6. Davis  48th

House Comm:            /                Senate Comm:            /

House Vote: Yeas       Nays             Senate Vote: Yeas     Nays

              ----------------------------------------

               House          Action         Senate

              ----------------------------------------

              3/6/96   Read 1st Time

              3/6/96   Passed/Adopted

              ----------------------------------------



Code Sections amended:
  __________________________________________________________________________


HR 1195                                             LC 9 8794






                             A RESOLUTION

  1- 1  Recognizing and commending Ola Mae Quarterman-Clemons; and
  1- 2  for other purposes.

  1- 3  WHEREAS, Ola Mae Quarterman-Clemons was born in Worth
  1- 4  County, attended public schools in Dougherty County,
  1- 5  graduated from Monroe High School in Albany, and attended
  1- 6  Albany State College; and

  1- 7  WHEREAS, she was a devoted wife and is the mother of
  1- 8  Galvester Clemons; and

  1- 9  WHEREAS, she is a Christian woman and a believer who was
  1-10  baptized into the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church family;
  1-11  and

  1-12  WHEREAS, on January 12, 1962, Ola Mae Quarterman-Clemons, a
  1-13  student at Albany State College, refused the request of an
  1-14  Albany bus driver that she move from her seat to the back of
  1-15  the bus; and

  1-16  WHEREAS, she was convicted of disorderly conduct and
  1-17  sentenced to 30 days in jail for exercising her rights as a
  1-18  citizen; and

  1-19  WHEREAS, upon her release from jail, she was expelled from
  1-20  Albany State College, where she was a freshman; and

  1-21  WHEREAS, her actions, her courage, and her insistence in
  1-22  exercising her rights as a citizen have led to the enjoyment
  1-23  of the rights of citizenship by countless others and made
  1-24  her a leader in the quest for civil rights and justice.

  1-25  NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
  1-26  REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body recognize and
  1-27  commend Ola Mae Quarterman-Clemons for her bravery, for her
  1-28  leadership, and for the important role which she has played
  1-29  in the history of the civil rights movement in Albany and
  1-30  the State of Georgia.

  1-31  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of
  1-32  Representatives is authorized and directed to transmit an
  1-33  appropriate copy of this resolution to Ola Mae
  1-34  Quarterman-Clemons.



                                 -1-[7] (Index)
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   
                      Office of the Clerk of the House
                 Robert E. Rivers, Jr., Clerk of the House
                          Last Updated on 01/02/97
     _________________________________________________________________

References

   1. file://localhost/tmp/hr1195.htm#p1
   2. file://localhost/tmp/hr1194.htm
   3. file://localhost/tmp/hr1196.htm
   4. file://localhost/sum/hr1195.htm
   5. file://localhost/list/hblist.htm
   6. file://localhost/disclaimer.htm
   7. file://localhost/tmp/hr1195.htm#index

John S. Quarterman <jsq@quarterman.org>
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