Talk:Booker T. Spicely

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles

United States: North Carolina Mid‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
	North Carolina portal This article is supported by WikiProject North Carolina (assessed as Mid-importance).

Virginia High‑importance

	Virginia portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Virginia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the U.S. state of Virginia on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.VirginiaWikipedia:WikiProject VirginiaTemplate:WikiProject VirginiaVirginia articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Military history: Biography / North America / United States / World War II

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles

This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: criterion not met Coverage and accuracy: criterion not met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion not met

Associated task forces:
/
	Military biography task force
	North American military history task force
	United States military history task force
	World War II task force

Crime and Criminal Biography High‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Crime and Criminal Biography articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Crime and Criminal BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyCrime-related articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Discrimination High‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Discrimination, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Discrimination on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.DiscriminationWikipedia:WikiProject DiscriminationTemplate:WikiProject DiscriminationDiscrimination articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the importance scale.

Civil Rights Movement High‑importance

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Civil Rights Movement, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Civil Rights Movement on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Civil Rights MovementWikipedia:WikiProject Civil Rights MovementTemplate:WikiProject Civil Rights MovementCivil Rights Movement articles

High

This article has been rated as High-importance on the importance scale.

To-do list for Booker T. Spicely:

No to-do list assigned.

WikiProject Civil Rights Movement to do list:

Edit the tasks list

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Article requests : All redlinked articles listed at User:Mitchumch/Movement templates#Civil Rights Movement need to be created.
Durham movement (North Carolina)
Greensboro movement (North Carolina) (currently a redirect)
Henry Hezekiah Dee (currently a redirect)
Delano Herman Middleton (currently a redirect)
Charles Eddie Moore (currently a redirect)
Henry Ezekial Smith (currently a redirect)
Cleanup : Rosa Parks, and upgrade to GA status
Black Arts Movement
Collaborate : Tagging all relevant articles with project template.
Expand : And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
Medgar Evers
The Children (Halberstam)
Cambridge movement (civil rights)
Browder v. Gayle
Strom Thurmond filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957
Photo : Milton Galamison • J. Charles Jones • Gloria Richardson • Richard Durham • Freedom Riders • Freedom Summer • March Against Fear • Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom • Youth March for Integrated Schools (1958) • Youth March for Integrated Schools (1959) • Birmingham riot of 1963 • 16th Street Baptist Church bombing (image of bombing) • Bloody Tuesday (1964) • Biloxi wade-ins (image of wade-ins) • Tallahassee bus boycott • Tent City (Tennessee) • Memphis sanitation strike (image of actual strike) • Americus movement • Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple bombing • Baton Rouge bus boycott • Orangeburg massacre • Mansfield school desegregation incident • Bloody Monday (Danville)

African diaspora Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject African diaspora, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of African diaspora on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.African diasporaWikipedia:WikiProject African diasporaTemplate:WikiProject African diasporaAfrican diaspora articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Evets70 (talk) 18:13, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Spicely murder and warehouse fire[edit]

I'm very glad to see this article, and believe that Booker T. Spicely deserves more historical attention (and a plaque at Walltown Park, very close to where he died--and four blocks from my house). But there is one likely mistake in the current text, and in the Endangered Durham blog, that has been repeated again and again--the connection of the murder to the warehouse fire.

One thing I am sure of--the warehouse fire took place the night of Spicely's death, not after the trial. See next day's edition of Durham Herald, Raleigh News, Charlotte Observer. Moreover, the papers do not mention arson. The fire started in the basement of a furniture warehouse, and newspapers say the cause was unknown. Cristina Greene seems to bring up the possibility of arson, but really offers no proof. Even if it was arson, there was clearly no public riot involved. There was a "race riot" in Durham during the war, but it was in 1943 not 1944 and involved an altercation at a state liquor store involving a soldier, and had nothing to do with the Spicely murder.

I know several old timers in the warehouse business and will ask them about the fire, which was indeed destructive.

I haven't yet found anything about Black reaction to the verdict, but the newspapers do not mention any violent reaction.

Bob H. Durham —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.10.251.86 (talk) 01:18, 20 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Bob:

Interesting... I was actually thinking about that awhile ago, as I was talking to a friend who is in his 60s or 70s who grew up in Durham and said he didn't know that the fire was linked to Spicely's death. He assumed maybe it was just downplayed by the local government/police/newspapers if that was the case.

Do you think it was because of his death (but, as you pointed out, not post-trial)? Or it was just random? I used secondary information for what I wrote about the fire aspect... I'd like to look into some old newspapers articles and etc. to see what was being said back then/originally (but it looks like you already have). It could all be revisionist rumor perhaps!?

Thanks for the info. I think I will rewrite it as I'd like to be accurate with the story, of course.

Evets70 (talk) 16:29, 1 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]