WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)

Description

In this WSB newsfilm clip from January 29, 1965, Reverend Charles E. Wells, Sr. and three unidentified African American men peacefully attempt to patronize the Lester Maddox Cafeteria in Atlanta, Georgia, where they are faced down by Lester Maddox and other white restaurant patrons and staff, who violently push them away from the establishment and shout at them. A young white male patron is also pushed off of the property. Multiple segments of the clip appear to be out of sequence.The silent clip, just over four and a half minutes long, begins outside the entrance of the Lester Maddox Cafeteria at 891 Hemphill Avenue N. W., Atlanta, where a crowd of white men and four African American men are gathered. Lester Maddox, the restaurant's proprietor, shoves Reverend Charles E. Wells, Sr. and an unidentified African American man away from the entrance; they resist peacefully. The clip breaks, and in the next shot, Maddox, holding an axe handle, grabs Wells by the lapels of his coat, and pushes him forcefully across the parking lot, while Lester Maddox, Jr. aggressively shoves another African American man outside of the camera frame. Again, Wells and the other African American man are peacefully resisting. As Maddox retreats to the front entrance of the restaurant, he yells something to the crowd of bystanders. The clip breaks, and Maddox uses his hands to push away a third African American man who also resists peacefully. Maddox then rushes across to shove Wells, who has returned from the edge...

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia