Terry v. Adams
Kendleton, Fort Bend County, Texas
Marker Inscription
During the first half of the 20th century, the U. S. Supreme Court heard a series of significant Texas voting rights cases which collectively ended the “white primary” system established in many areas of the South after the Civil War. White primaries were unofficial, pre-election polls barred to African Americans that effectively prevented them from having any political influence. In 1950, African Americans Willie Melton, a farmer, and Arizona Fleming, a businesswoman, began a suffrage movement in Fort Bend County that led to legal action. John Terry and other black county residents agreed to lend their names as plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit filed against A. J. Adams and other officers of the Jay Bird Democratic Association. The Jay Birds functioned as a whites-only political organization that operated unofficial “straw elections” to select Democratic nominees for local elections. Since most Texans consistently voted for Democratic candidates, any nominee selected by the Jay Birds invariably won in the general elections. The case was heard in U. S. District Court in Houston, and the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, because the Jay Birds were operating as a political party and therefore subject to state and federal laws protecting voters’ rights. The ruling enabled the county’s African Americans to vote in an upcoming Jay Bird primary election. An appeal filed by the Jay Birds was heard in 1951 by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, who overturned the original judgment. In 1952, local supporters raised funds to enable an appeal to be filed. The U. S. Supreme Court heard arguments in January 1953 and in Terry v. Adams upheld the original ruling in favor of the plaintiffs. By 1959, the Jay Bird Democratic Association had suspended activities. (2009)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
For decades, whites-only "straw primaries" like those run by Fort Bend County's Jay Bird Democratic Association quietly stripped African Americans of any real political voice across the South. In 1950 local farmers and businesspeople, led by figures such as Willie Melton and Arizona Fleming, sued, lending John Terry's name to a class action against A. J. Adams and the Jay Birds. The fight reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1953's Terry v. Adams struck down the scheme as an unconstitutional evasion of voting rights.
Why it matters
This local Texas lawsuit delivered a landmark blow to the white primary, a cornerstone of the legal machinery of disfranchisement, and helped clear the road toward the Voting Rights Act.
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Related people
- · Willie Melton
- · Arizona Fleming
- · John Terry
- · A. J. Adams
Related events
- · Terry v. Adams
Themes & tags
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