Haley, Oretha Castle, 1939-1987
Oretha Castle Haley (July 22, 1939 – October 10, 1987) was an American civil rights activist in New Orleans where she challenged the segregation of facilities and promoted voter registration. She came from a working-class background, yet was able to enroll in the Southern University of New Orleans, SUNO, then a center of student activism. She joined the protest marches and went on to become a prominent activist in the Civil Rights Movement.[1] The first protest marches Oretha Castle participated in were sponsored by the Consumers League of Greater New Orleans (CLGNO). When Castle and several fellow protesters sought support to stage sit-ins at segregated lunch counters, both the Consumers League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) took no interest. The CLGNO and NAACP were involved in sensitive litigations and negotiations and shunned the publicity.[3] In the summer of 1960, Oretha Castle, Rudy Lombard and Jerome Smith pioneered their own organization and sought sponsorship from a national organization. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC, was not active in New Orleans. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was the first activist group dedicated to non-violence founded in 1942 and based in Chicago. The newly formed Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) rapidly grew in prominence. SNCC's powerbase became the Nashville chapter founded by Diane Nash and John Lewis. Castle and her cohorts chose to ally their local group with CORE, and developed their power base in New Orleans. On September 17, 1960, Castle and three of her fellow student-protesters were arrested for sitting in at the counter of McCrory's, a Canal Street five-and-dime store in New Orleans Oretha Castle, Cecil Carter, Sydney Goldfinch and Rudy Lombard were charged with criminal mischief, "which makes it a crime to refuse to leave a place of business after being ordered to do so by the person in charge of the premises".[4] There were no laws particularly allowing racial segregation in businesses in the town, however public announcements explaining a zero tolerance on sit-in demonstrations by the Mayor and Superintendent of the police had been made.[4] Those charged were sentenced to a $350 fine and 60 days in prison, or if the fine could not be paid 120 days in prison.[4]
This case first went to Louisiana State Trial Court. The case was appealed by CORE attorneys to the Louisiana State Supreme Court, which upheld the conservative decision of the Trial Court.[6]
The case was appealed and brought to the US Supreme Court. The USSC, headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, overturned the ruling in an eight to one decision on May 20, 1963. Oretha remained married to Richard Haley until her death, caused by cancer, in 1987 at the age of 48.[10] In 1989, the first eight blocks of Dryades Street in Central City, New Orleans, was renamed Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.
