Civil rights activists, Patricia Stephens Due and her husband, John Due, will speak in Pugh Hall at UF
Published: Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 3:44 p.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 3:44 p.m. The talk, sponsored by the UF Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations and the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, will be held from 5:30-8 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Buddy & Anne MacKay Auditorium in Pugh Hall on the University of Florida campus. Beginning at a reception at 5:30 p.m., Stephens Due will sign her book, "Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights," which she co-authored with her daughter, Tananarive Due, an award-winning author. For those who can't make it to UF, the Civic Media Center at 433 S. Main St. in downtown Gainesville will host a live video stream of the event. For those who can't make it to either location, you can view her talk online at www.graham.centers.ufl.edu/home. Dr. Paul Ortiz, director of the UF Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, said Stephens Due has devoted her life to social justice and equality. She also is a writer, historian and lecturer. The Dues live in Quincy. They have three adult daughers, Tananarive Due and Johnita Due Willoughby and Lydia Due Greisz, both attorneys. In 1960, while a student at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Stephens Due chose to serve 49 days in jail rather than pay a fine for sitting at a whites-only lunch counter at the Tallahassee Woolworth's. She said 11 people were arrested, including her sister, Priscilla Stephens; six other FAMU students; two high school students, and a Tallahassee woman. "It was our second sit-in," said Stephens Due, in a recent telephone interview. "We were heckled and arrested." Ortiz said before her arrest, those arrested paid a fine and avoided jail. "By refusing to post bail and by choosing to stay in jail, she gave the civil rights movement a new tactic in the struggle for equality," said Ortiz. "It was a tactical breakthrough that filled the jails and put pressure on the government." Although Stephens Due was suspended several times from FAMU for her activism, her speaking engagements and fundraising efforts also interferred with her studies. Due did not receive her degree until 1967, but she also holds an honorary doctorate degree from FAMU. In 1961, while still a law student at FAMU, John Due was a member of the CORE Freedom Rides that tested the prohibition of segregation in interstate transportation. Shortly after marrying Stephens Due in January 1963, he became a co-defendant in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Due v. Tallahassee Theaters, where the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that no state could interfere with non-violent protesters exercising their freedom of speech. After passing the bar, he argued Florida v. Hayling, a case involving friends who were almost burned alive at a Ku Klux Klan rally. Later, he become a part of the first integrated law firm in the state of Florida, which was located also in Tallahassee. Due has dedicated his life to the fight against racism and for quality in education and for worker's rights. Stephens Due is the recipient of many awards, including the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Outstanding Leadership, the Gandhi Award for Outstanding Work in Human Relations and the Florida Freedom Award from the state NAACP. She also received a letter from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. commending her for her courage and commitment. Due also has been recognized with many awards, including the Chancey Eskridge Distinguished Barrister Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Martin Luther King "Keepers of the Dream Award" from the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County, and the "Foot Soldiers Award" from the national NAACP. Ortiz summed up the event and the reason for bringing the Dues to UF. "The emphasis of ‘An Evening with the Dues' is to learn about the history of the struggle for civil rights in Florida," said Ortiz, "and to ask the question: how do we build on the achievements of the past? Who better than Patricia Stephens Due and Jon Due, who are considered among the most important civil rights activists in the nation, to help address this question?" -- http://www.gainesville.com/article/20110209/GUARDIAN/110209403/1109/sports?Title=Civil-rights-activists-to-talk-at-UF Via InstaFetch -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sixties-L" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sixties-l?hl=en.
