God with Us: Lived Theology and the Freedom Struggle in Americus, Georgia, 1942-1976

253 Pages·2018·2.37 MB·English

by  Ansley L. Quiros

God with Us
ANSLEY L. QUIROS
God with Us
Lived Theology and the Freedom Struggle in
Americus, Georgia, 1942–1976
The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill
This book was published with the assistance of the Authors Fund of the
University of North Carolina Press.
© 2018 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Set in Arno Pro by Westchester Publishing Services
Manufactured in the United States of America
The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press
Initiative since 2003.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Quiros, Ansley Lillian, author.
Title: God with us : lived theology and the freedom struggle in Americus,
Georgia, 1942–1976 / Ansley L. Quiros.
Description: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2018] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018016975 | ISBN 9781469646756 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN
9781469646763 (pbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781469646770 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Civil rights movements—Georgia—Americus—History—20th
century. | African Americans—Civil rights—Georgia—Americus—History—
20th century. | Religion and sociology—Southern States. | Americus (Ga.)—
Religion—20th century. | Americus (Ga.)—Race relations.
Classification: LCC F294.A5 Q5 2018 | DDC 323.1196/0730758913—dc23 LC record
available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018016975
Cover illustration: Ida Berman’s Koinonia Farm Camp at Highlander (Koinonia
Farm Photographs, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of
Georgia Libraries; used by permission of Karen Berman).
A version of chapter 5 was previously published as “The Road to Charlottesville
Runs through Americus, Georgia,” The Activist History Review (October 2017),
https://activisthistory.com/2017/10/06/the-road-to-charlottesville-runs-through-
americus-georgia/. Used here with permission.
For Amanda Paul Miller Privette, and Marilyn Miller Privette
Quiros, and all those who long for justice in the South
Contents Acknowledgments
Introduction: Sweet Jesus and Unbearable Madness
Part I
CHAPTER ONE
Demonstration Plot for the Kingdom: The Radical Orthodoxy of
Koinonia Farm
CHAPTER TWO
Lee Street Theology: White Southern Protestantism in Americus,
1945–1963
CHAPTER THREE
Jesus, He’s My Brother: The Black Church, Black Theology, and the
Black Freedom Struggle in Americus
Part II
CHAPTER FOUR
Marching to Eternity: Theology Takes to the Streets of Americus
CHAPTER FIVE
The Devil Won, Hands Down: Opposition in Americus
CHAPTER SIX
Kneeling-In: The Theological Struggle Comes to Church
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations and Map
ILLUSTRATIONS
Clarence Jordan and Bo Johnson at Koinonia Farm 28
Integrated group at Camp Koinonia 30
Charles Sherrod and Randy Battle in Southwest Georgia 89
Girls in the Leesburg Stockade 105
Rev. J. R. Campbell and Rev. R. L. Freeman leading a march 113
Lester Maddox speaking at the Sumter County Courthouse 114
Police in front of the Sumter County Courthouse 119
Kneel-in at First Methodist Church in Americus 152
Los Angeles Times cartoon 158
Teresa Mansfield at Americus High School 168
Clarence Jordan and Millard Fuller 189
MAP
City map of Georgia 9
Acknowledgments
Among the many things I have learned in writing this book is the
common grace of generosity. So many have helped along the way,
sharing documents, expertise, insight, and time. To y’all, I offer my
sincerest thanks.
Many institutions and communities of scholars have supported and
sustained this work over the years. Thank you to all at Furman
University who fostered a love of history, especially Tim Fehler,
Savita Nair, David Shi, Courtney Tollison, and Dianne Vecchio. Early
stages of the work were presented at conferences at Drew University,
Emory University, the University of Memphis, and the Association
for the Study of African American History and Life, where
conversations and questions improved it mightily. Librarians and
archivists at the National Southern Baptist Archive in Nashville, the
Pitts Library and Rose Library at Emory University, the Hargrett
Library at the University of Georgia, and the Jimmy Carter
Presidential Library in Atlanta also helped along the way, and they
deserve recognition for their work in cataloguing the past. I have
found historians of the South, wherever they may be found,
particularly collegial and helpful, notably, Jim Auchmutey, Ed Blum,
Joe Crespino, Bob Elder, Paul Harvey, and Hank Klibanoff. Steve
Haynes’s ecclesiastical repentance group brought together thoughtful,
supportive laypeople and scholars interested in race and religion.
Participating in this group, and meeting Anthony Bradley, Carolyn
Dupont, Dalton Lyon, and Joe Reiff, proved to be an unmitigated
blessing.