The fight for the right to vote for Black people in America was a long and difficult one, and a LIFE story from 1960 provides a vivid illustration of the kinds of obstacles that were encountered in the not-too-distant past.
In its issue of Sept. 19 of that year, LIFE ran a collection of articles examining the state of Black political life in this country, including the right to vote. The topics were wide-ranging, but began with news from Tennessee, where Black people attempting to partake in the electoral process were meeting discouragement in many forms. Here’s how the magazine described it:
Thursday after Thursday in the sweltering summer heat of Brownsville, Tenn., the seat of Haywood County, Negro citizens stood in line, hoping to register as voters. It was a slow process, for reasons no white official seemed ready to explain. Last week fewer than 400 of Haywood’s 15,000 Negroes had seen their names inscribed. In adjoining Fayette County those few Negroes who had successfully insisted upon their right to register were paying a penalty. They were losing jobs and finding themselves unable to sell anything or to buy anything from their white neighbors.
The most striking pictures from this collection by staff photographer Walter Sanders are of those ordinary citizens in Tennessee who dared to have a say in their governance and a result were met with boycotts from local businesses. The NAACP brought food and clothes to help Black people who were shut out of shops because they had registered to vote.
The collection of stories also included one on how protestors trained for sit-ins, a popular form of protest then in the campaign for civil rights. Another story looked at Black politicians such as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and William L. Dawson who had gained elected office, laying the groundwork for Barack Obama to become the first Black president nearly a half-century later.
In its 1960 story LIFE wrote of the incremental nature of change: “The struggle, degrading to minority and majority alike, was far from over, but it was progressing.”
Black people endured an improbably slow wait to get into Haywood County (Tenn.) Courthouse to register to vote, 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Black people endured an improbably long wait in the summer sun when they came to register to vote in Haywood County, Tennessee, 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Black people endured an inexplicably long wait on a summer afternoon to get into Haywood County (Tenn.) Courthouse to register to vote, 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life PIcture Collection/Shutterstock
This Black farmer has his goods boycotted in local stores in Tennessee because he registered to vote, 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The NAACP delivered food and clothing to Black people in Tennessee who faced boycotts from local stores after registering to vote, 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A woman received clothing provided by the NAACP after local businesses in Tennessee had barred Black people who had registered to vote, 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Thad Turner, a bus driver, and his 17 children had to move because of harassment after he registered to vote in Tennessee, 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
John W. Kellogg, a city councilman in Cleveland, 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Congressman William L. Dawson of Chicago met with constituents, 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Congressman William L. Dawson of Illinois spoke with precinct captain Ruth Patillo at a picnic, 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life PIcture Collection/Shutterstock
William L. Dawson, a U.S. Congessman from Chicago, was the first Black person to chair a Congressional committee.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Congressman William L. Dawson spoke with Lyndon B. Johnson in 1960; Johnson would become president in 1963 and sign the landmark Voting Rights Act in 1965.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (right) of New York and Rep. Gracie Pfost of Idaho at a congressional committee meeting. 1960
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Corneal A. Davis, a state representative in Illinois, shown here in 1960, served in the legislature from 1943 to 1979.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Floy Clements, the first Black woman to serve in the Illinois state legislature, at political dinner in 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. at a demonstration, 1960.
Walter Sanders/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
