Vernon Dahmer
Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer, Sr. (born March 10, 1908 in Forrest County , Mississippi, † January 11, 1966 in Hattiesburg , Mississippi) was an American civil rights activist and head of a chapter of the NAACP in Hattiesburg Mississippi in Forrest County.
Early years
Dahmer was born in Forrest County , Mississippi in 1908 to George and Ellen Dahmer . He went to Bay Spring High School. In March 1952, Dahmer married Ellie Jewell Davis, a teacher from Rose Hill , Mississippi . The couple had eight children. Ellie Dahmer taught in Mississippi state schools until she retired. Dahmer was a member of the Shady Grove Baptist Church . Dahmer was active in the NAACP and was very committed to educating blacks about their right to vote.
His mantra was: “If you don't vote, you don't count” - “If you don't vote, you don't count.” These words are also carved on his tombstone.
murder
On the night of January 10, 1966, Dahmer's house was bombed. When Ellie and the children tried to escape, they were shot at. Vernon returned fire from inside the house and was badly injured by the fire. He died the next day. In addition to his house, the fire also destroyed his greengrocer's and his car.
Fourteen men with ties to the Ku Klux Klan were arrested. Thirteen were charged, eight of them with arson and murder. Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers , suspected of being the chief of the conspiracy, has been charged several times and always acquitted
In 1998, Bowers was charged again and sentenced to life in prison for murder . He died in the Mississippi State Penitentiary on November 5, 2006.
Honors
After Dahmer's death, a street and a park in Hattiesburg were named after him. A memorial stone was unveiled in this park on July 26, 1986.
On February 3, 2007, Dahmer was posthumously honored for his heroic commitment to the civil rights movement at William Carey University in Hattiesburg.
Web links
- Sandra Peters: 32 Years to Justice. In: United Methodist Church Global Board Ministries. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014 .
- Philip Delves Broughton: Mississippi faces past in Klan trial. In: The Daily Telegraph . August 19, 1998, archived from the original on November 3, 2003 .
- Pictures from the context of the murder of Vernon Dahmer. Moncrief Photograph Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
- Bobs M. Tusa: Dahmer (Vernon F.) Collection. In: McCain Library and Archives of the University of Southern Mississippi. September 10, 2004, archived from the original on March 10, 2017 .
- Oral history with Mrs. Ellie J. Dahmer. In: University of Southern Mississippi. (English).
- WCU to celebrate Civil Rights activist Vernon Dahmer with literature collection. (No longer available online.) William Carey University formerly in the original (English). ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
- A Byte out of History: The Case of the 1966 KKK Firebombing. Federal Bureau of Investigation, January 9, 2006, archived from the original January 11, 2006 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Patricia Langley Harvey: Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer, Sr. In: Find a Grave . January 26, 2007, accessed June 22, 2019 .
- ^ A b Philip Delves Broughton: Mississippi faces past in Klan trial. In: The Daily Telegraph . August 19, 1998, archived from the original on November 3, 2003 ; accessed on June 22, 2019 (English).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dahmer, Vernon |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dahmer, Vernon Ferdinand Sr. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American civil rights activist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 10, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Forrest County , Mississippi |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 11, 1966 |
| Place of death | Hattiesburg , Mississippi |