Oretha Castle Haley facts for kids

Oretha Castle Haley (July 22, 1939 – October 10, 1987) was a brave American civil rights activist. She lived in New Orleans and worked hard to end segregation. Segregation meant keeping Black and white people separate in public places. Oretha also helped people register to vote.

She grew up in a working-class family. Still, she was able to attend Southern University of New Orleans (SUNO). This university was a hub for student activism. Oretha joined many protest marches. She became a very important leader in the Civil Rights Movement.

Fighting for Fairness

In 1954, the US Supreme Court made a big decision called Brown v. Board of Education. This ruling said that having separate schools for Black and white children was unfair. It helped push forward the fight for civil rights.

Other events also sparked change. In 1955, a young boy named Emmett Till was murdered. This showed the unfair treatment of African Americans in the South. Later that year, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat. This led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott lasted almost a year. It showed the power of peaceful protest. It also helped make Martin Luther King Jr. a famous leader.

Oretha Castle first joined protests with the Consumers League of Greater New Orleans. But when she wanted to do sit-ins at segregated lunch counters, these groups were not interested. They were busy with other legal work.

So, in 1960, Oretha and her friends Rudy Lombard and Jerome Smith started their own group. They looked for a national organization to support them. They chose the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). CORE was founded in 1942 and believed in non-violent action. Another group, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), also grew quickly. CORE and SNCC focused on direct action protests. All these groups worked together to help the Civil Rights Movement succeed.

The McCrory's Sit-in

On September 17, 1960, Oretha and three friends protested at McCrory's. This was a store on Canal Street in New Orleans. They sat at the lunch counter, which was only for white customers. These protests aimed to highlight that stores would not hire Black sales clerks. This was unfair, especially since most customers in that area were Black.

Oretha Castle, Cecil Carter, Sydney Goldfinch, and Rudy Lombard were arrested. They were charged for refusing to leave the store. There were no specific laws allowing segregation in businesses. However, the Mayor and police chief had publicly warned against sit-ins. The protesters were fined $350 or faced 60 to 120 days in prison.

CORE lawyers appealed the case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. On May 20, 1963, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling. Chief Justice Earl Warren said that public officials had pressured businesses to keep segregation. This meant the protesters' rights were violated. The court also said it violated the 14th Amendment, which promises equal protection under the law.

Joining the Freedom Rides

In 1961, CORE started the Freedom Rides. This was a new way to protest segregation on buses and trains that traveled between states. Volunteers, trained in non-violence, rode Greyhound and Trailways buses. They started in northern cities like Washington DC and headed South. At different stops, they used "whites-only" waiting rooms. This drew attention to the unfair rules. The Freedom Rides were planned to end in New Orleans.

The first Freedom Riders faced violence. One bus was attacked and burned in Anniston, AL. Passengers were beaten. Another group was beaten by a mob in Birmingham, AL, while local police did nothing.

Oretha Castle's home in New Orleans became a safe place for Freedom Riders. Her mother, Virgie, and sister, Doris, helped house and feed hundreds of riders. New Orleans CORE also organized Freedom Rides through Louisiana and Mississippi. When two Freedom Riders were beaten in New Orleans, CORE protested at the Police Headquarters. Oretha Castle was one of fifteen people arrested.

The U.S. Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy, stepped in. He pushed the Interstate Commerce Commission to act. Finally, on November 1, 1961, the "whites only" signs were removed from interstate travel facilities. The success of the Freedom Rides made CORE more famous and respected.

Leading CORE and New Challenges

Toward the end of 1961, Rudy Lombard left. Oretha Castle became the president of the New Orleans CORE chapter. Other activists called her "the guiding force" and "a woman of extraordinary capabilities." With its new fame, the New Orleans CORE chapter grew.

CORE was founded to be a group for both Black and white people. But in 1962, Oretha and other Black members questioned white members' roles. They felt white members were taking over leadership. Oretha suspended the white members. This caused a conflict with the national CORE organization. Richard Haley was sent to New Orleans to fix the problem. The suspensions were canceled, and white members slowly rejoined. However, the chapter lost some members. Richard Haley stayed with the organization. Oretha and Richard married in 1967. They had two sons, adding to the two sons Oretha was already raising.

In 1963 and 1964, protests continued almost every night. They targeted segregated stores, hotels, theaters, and an amusement park. A grocery store chain, Schwegmann's, closed its lunch counters because of a CORE lawsuit. A protest march on city hall led to the desegregation of the city cafeteria. The 1964 Civil Rights Act made segregation in public places illegal. This meant the protest marches could stop.

The next big fight was for voting rights. CORE joined other civil rights groups for the Freedom Summer project in 1964. In the spring of 1964, Oretha left her presidency. She moved to Ouchita Parish to work as a field secretary. She was later promoted to field secretary for all of northern Louisiana. For over a year, Oretha used her protest skills in cities like Monroe, Jonesboro, and Bogalusa, Louisiana. Freedom Summer helped lead to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. This law made it illegal to stop people from voting because of their race.

Her Legacy and Later Life

After 1965, some activists began to question non-violence. This was partly due to events like the Watts Rebellion in 1965. The Black Panther party emerged, encouraging Black communities to determine their own future. CORE also faced disagreements, and many long-time leaders left. Oretha Castle was among the original New Orleans CORE members who left by 1965.

Oretha returned to New Orleans in 1966. She went back to SUNO to finish her degree. Her experience in organizing helped her lead several community groups. These groups were part of the Federal "War on Poverty" program. She successfully led a campaign to desegregate public playgrounds. In 1971, she managed the election campaign for Dorothy Mae Taylor. Dorothy became the first African-American woman state legislator in Louisiana.

In the 1980s, Oretha worked as a deputy administrator at Charity Hospital. She brought in many positive changes there. She also helped create the Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation. Oretha remained married to Richard Haley until she passed away from cancer in 1987. She was 48 years old.

In 1989, a street in New Orleans was renamed Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard. This street, formerly Dryades Street, was historically a busy business center. It was home to many different cultures. It also served Black musicians and baseball players during the Jim Crow era. Dryades Street became a key place for the civil rights movement because of Oretha Castle Haley's boycotts in the 1960s. The street naming was also a way to help rebuild the area.

In 2015, an exhibit opened called 'Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard: Past, Present and Future'. It explored the street's rich history. In 2017, her namesake street won "The Great American Main Street Award."