what happened to ann atwater daughters
Ellis was the son of a millworker and was raised in poverty. Change did not come easily or suddenly, and the two faced ostracism, even death threats; C.P. She was born in Hallsboro, N.C., the daughter of sharecroppers. She moved to Durham in 1953. My husband was already here, and he sent back for me and my oldest child, and he told me he had a place for us to live, Atwater explained during the oral history interview. It helped participants gain confidence that they could achieve change and escape poverty. Ann George Atwater (July 1, 1935 June 20, 2016) was an American civil rights activist in Durham, North Carolina. And she was an effective boycotter, too. The two realized they had been arguing about the wrong things, that they had the same hopes for their children and a lot in common as poor people. Atwater went to work as a maid, making 30 cents an hour. Sadly, Elizabeth would die soon after in 1985 and Michael Peterson became the guardian of her two children. Groups, Social Justice. Ellis came to realize that blacks were not suppressing poor whites, and that the two groups shared problems. [9] Atwater mobilized poor blacks in Durham to help them stand up for themselves. (Peterson maintains his innocence still to this day.) I went on back out the street and went on down, right back down the street to the office, and we Xeroxed the part that told the welfare recipients their rights.. She became an expert on housing policies; she copied and handed out welfare regulation manuals so that people could learn their rights, such as asking landlords to fix substandard conditions. She married the babys father, French Wilson, but their baby died soon after birth. Yes. "They would turn their chairs around, and they were chairs that wheeled around. Both Atwater and Ellis have since passed away, but their legacies live today through their family members. [5][pageneeded] She joked in a later interview that the house didn't need windows because she could see everyone on the streets through the cracks in the wall.[6]. She learned to take second place.[2]. He was blind, deaf, and suffered from an intellectual disability. -School for Conversion, Yes. However, they eventually joined their father in Durham, North Carolina, and spent the rest of their younger and adolescent years there. She was a woman who found and used the power of her voice. [1] In the documentary An Unlikely Friendship, Atwater recalled that while working on a white owner's farm, she was given food only through the back door and after the white workers had eaten. She even experienced racism in that moment, when a funeral home worker doubted she knew the deceased. I didnt like the demonstrations downtown, recalled Ellis some 30 years after the charrette. However, the prosecution did not accuse Peterson of Elizabeth Ratliff's death at his trial. The natural person for me to hate would be black people, because my father before me was a member of the Klan. Ellis, read about Malcolm Xs brutal assassination and Americas struggle for civil rights. A housing organizer came by one evening to ask if she needed help to get repairs. This website is undergoing design changes. ", Ann Atwater continued her work fighting for racial equality as a grass roots organizer, passing away in 2016. Daves Hot Chicken will have you begging for more, and maybe for mercy, Josiah Gray finishes April with a flourish as Nats avoid a series sweep, The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South, Durham Herald-Sun titled What Forgiveness Costs.. The circumstances in which their mother died would raise suspicions about Michael Peterson's role in Kathleen Peterson's murder ahead of his trial. Ann Atwater, interview by Sean Aery, Sallie Bingham Center for Womens History and Culture, February 1, 2006. Ellis, leader of the Durham Ku Klux Klan. The purpose of this charrette was to discuss school desegregation, a still contentious issue, and to draw up a series of recommendations to present to the school board. She made dresses out of flour and rice bags for her daughters to wear. It was learning more during the trial that made Atwater believe that Michael could have been involved in Kathleen's death. But the job didnt last, and Atwater went to the Department of Social Services to apply for help. Atwater was selected as co-chair. Courtesy of STXfilmsAnn Atwater in an image from the 2002 documentary An Unlikely Friendship. All I had was God holding my back and that's it. She attended a Durham premiere of the film in March 2019 and answered media questions on the red carpet. But my pastor was sitting there and saw me holding the knife. She didn't feel that she could ever achieve true closure, but she could move forward. And the funny part about it, we stayed friends all these years. (Romper reached out to Michael Peterson's representatives and Netflix for additional statements.). The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Im not following you any further.. Ellis described the hatred he felt toward blacks going in. Most of Michael Peterson's children stood by their father but stepdaughter Caitlin Atwater believed he was guilty of killing her mother, Kathleen Peterson. The defense team claimed Kathleen was aware of Michael's sexuality and was fine with it, but Atwater did not believe her mother would have been accepting. On November 25, 1985 Elizabeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her staircase with injuries to her head. From then on, she demanded to be heard.
. In 1967, Atwater took a 17-week training course where she learned about tenant rights, housing codes and how to organize community protests. When asked if she believed Michael killed her mother, she said: When prompted for a possible reason why, Atwater called it "truly a culmination of a storm," that might have come from financial issues and secrets within the marriage. Yes, The Best of Enemies is based on a true story. Caitlin Atwater's quotes on Michael Peterson's involvement in Kathleen's death explain what eventually made her question what happened the night her mother died. -School for Conversion. Before the trial, Ratliff's body was exhumed and autopsied, at which point a second autopsy suggested that she, too, had suffered head trauma, according to CNN. One evening a housing organizer came by and asked whether she needed help to get repairs made to the house and invited her to a community meeting. Ellis have agreed to take part in these meetings, which were all about improving race relations and figuring out a way to integrate the schools? SCOTUS Now Just Another Congressional Committee, Trump Ramps up Attacks on DeSantis: 'Dropping Like a Rock', Russian Strikes on Pavlohrad Aim to Hamper Ukraine's Counteroffensive, Greg Abbott Criticized for Response to Texas Shooting: 'A New Low', Democrat Sold First Republic Stock, Bought JP Morgan Before Collapse, Conservative Influencers Struggle With Countering Biden's Messaging. [13][pageneeded], Atwater and Ellis presented the School Board with a list of recommendations from the charrette, including giving students a larger say on education issues by expanding the board to include two students from each of the major racial groups. And we showed that towards each other up until we went into the (unintelligible) a 10-day meeting. The strikes left 34 people injured, including three children, and caused widespread damage. Durham's prosperous black business sector made the city a beacon of hope for African Americans seeking to rise through self-help. She was making progress. She was also not afraid to tell anyone to go to hell if she felt like it. Ellis a couple of years before we worked together to integrate Durhams schools, Atwater wrote in a 2013 column in the Durham Herald-Sun titled What Forgiveness Costs., We were at a meeting downtown together, and he kept yelling n---- this and n---- that. She was making progress. In the 1960s, eighty percent of black Durham residents lived in substandard housing, a figure which had remained unchanged since the 1920s. She credits her parents for teaching her the value of discipline and hard work, which has been the foundation for her success as a community activist. Ellis were named co-chairs of the Durham, North Carolinas charrette S.O.S., Save Our Schools.. She showed that it was possible for whites and blacks, even with conflicting views, to negotiate and collaborate by establishing some common ground. She hit him over the head with a telephone receiver and he sat down to listen. C.P. Ellis. Ellis remained close until his death in 2005, and Ellis family asked Atwater to give the eulogy. Ms. ATWATER: No, it don't when you look back at it. Caitlin Atwater's quotes on Michael Peterson's, Caitlin Atwater was the daughter of Kathleen, Michael could have been involved in Kathleen's death, Atwater view her stepfather in another light. In 1971 Atwater was asked to co-chair a group looking for answers for the problems of desegregation of Durham Schools. Ann Atwaters life didnt start off easy. Over 10 days, the opposing sides met and tension grew. She is best known as one of the co-chairs of a charrette in 1971 to reduce school violence and ensure peaceful school desegregation. She became an effective leader. The Durham federal district court had just ordered desegregation of schools to comply with the Supreme Court ruling, an action which was still opposed by many residents. Durham Civil Rights activist Ann Atwater best known for the relationship she forged with her biggest enemy, a member of the Ku Klux Klan has died. It was the only organization in the world that would take care of the white people. I didn't like integration. He got up in the middle of their conversation, ignoring Atwater and the crowd of black parents behind her. Like his older brother Clayton, Todd Peterson stood by his father's side during the trial and today. Yes. Two years later, she had another baby, whom she named Lydia, Davidson wrote. However, her husband soon left her, and she was faced with raising their two children on her own. State Government websites value user privacy. Eventually Atwater divorced him and raised their two daughters on her own as a single mother. Then, when it was nearly over, Atwater and Ellis had a change of heart. [7][pageneeded] Afterward she attended the Operation Breakthrough meeting and discussed how the poor had to work together to get the government's attention in order to help solve poverty and what her concerns were. BLOCK: Why would C.P. She said that after "all was said and done, I felt confident that I knew what happened. Ann Atwater, a black civil rights activist, talks about her friend. She was not afraid to voice her opinions loudly and proudly. "And we had to go up and knock them back around so that would let them know that we are human and well talk to them.. After the course, Atwater had found her lifes purpose. Ellis. Today, he lives in Maryland with his two children, according to The News and Observer. This wasnt actually true there was no house waiting for her when she arrived in Durham. Ann Atwater found her voice as a community activist to stand up to slumlords and bigots and yet, one of the most transformative relationships in her life was with a Klansman. As the civil rights movement increased in urgency and militancy, he believed acting as a spokesman on behalf of the Klan was crucial to upholding the Southern way of life and its natural social hierarchy. A lock icon or https:// means youve safely connected to the official website. He moved to Richmond seeking better work and asked Atwater to join him there with their two daughters, she said no. One day we were working with a welfare problem, people werent getting the type help that they were supposed to get from the welfare department, so I took one of the ladies and went down to the Department of Social Services, Atwater recalled in a 2010 interview. BLOCK: You know, it seems like such an unlikely transformation. We didnt know we had things in common., They talked about the hardships of raising children in poverty, and their efforts to emphasize that their children's potential was equal to that of middle-class children. Even though the Supreme Court had ruled in the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Educationcase that schools had to be desegregated, this by no means meant that there wasn't a great deal of resistance in some communities, especially in the South. I knew what happened to my mom." Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Ellis and Atwater spoke together about their experience at events around the country, and at C.P. I didn't like integration. He worked multiple jobs to support his family, but like Atwater, he barely found the funds to make ends meet. She was a poor black woman raising children alone in the South in the mid-20th century. He organized a federally-funded sit-down which would rule on the issue one way or another, held for 10 days from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Atwater was chosen as one of the charrettes leaders. I pulled out, I had a little small knife, pocket knife." And me and him cried at that time, and we began to melt down towards one another. In October 2002, acting as administrator of her mother's estate, Caitlin Atwater filed a wrongful death claim in a civil case against Michael Peterson. When her job as a maid ended, she found herself living in a dilapidated house in North Durham on a welfare check of $57 a month. The other was C.P. Here we are, two people from the far end of the fence, having identical problems, except her being black and me being whiteThe amazing thing about it, her and I, up to that point, [had] cussed each other, bawled each other, we hated each other. WebKathleen had one daughter named Caitlin from her first marriage to physicist Fred Atwater, per PopSugar. As seen in The Staircase on HBO Max, Caitlin's opinion changed after she saw autopsy pictures showcasing the severity of Kathleen Peterson's injuries and after learning of Michael Peterson's bisexuality. In the end, Ellis repudiated racism and the Klan and they became lifelong friends. He invited Atwater to co-lead the charrette with C. P. Ellis, who was then the Exalted Grand Cyclops of the Durham Ku Klux Klan. The Society's Olivia DeJonge portrays Caitlin Atwater in HBO Max's The Staircase. As far as he was concerned, it was the savior of the white people. According to The Best of Enemies true story, Ann says that C.P. Born Ann George in the community of Hallsboro in Columbus County, North Carolina, she was pregnant and married at the age of 14. Accuracy and availability may vary. Ann Atwater was a woman to be reckoned with, a woman not to be ignored. She had already been friends with the girls when their parents met and connected. Two years later, they had a daughter named Lydia. Like Ann Atwater, Claiborne Paul Ellis was raised in a life of poverty. Ellis Says Klan Days Have Been Over for Awhile,, This page was last edited on 1 February 2022, at 22:25. Students were getting into fights at schools over the issue. Ellis had a change of heart after a 10-day forum on integration of schools in Durham, N.C. She was born in Hallsboro, N.C., the daughter of sharecroppers. "[11] Atwater and Ellis came to realize some commonalities, among them that their children were ostracized because of the parents' working together. She did. He grew up in the tobacco and textile town of Durham, North Carolina. To her knowledge, making demands from a landlord was unheard of and she had no idea that she had the right to do so. Her mother died when she was 6. Ellis was known for making provocative and inaccurate remarks expressing his fears and resentments of blacks, such as: Blacks are taking over the city. When Michael Peterson and Patricia Sue lived in Germany, they befriended Elizabeth and George Ratliff and their two daughters, Margaret and Martha. Atwater told Dateline correspondent Dennis Murphy that she had lost "far more than just my mother. Jim Thornton/The Herald Sun Collections/University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill LibrariesAnn Atwater and C.P. She became an activist with Operation Breakthrough and would later work with the United Organizations for Community improvement. City council people, would, they was in those chairs you know they wheel around, and they would turn their backs to us and didnt wanna hear us," Atwater said in the 2010 interview with Duke University historian Robert Korstad. Ann Atwater, a black civil rights activist, talks about her friend. In 1971, as tensions rose over school integration, union organizers in Durham called in Bill Riddick, a professor and consultant, to lead the effort to resolve the issue. She survived on $57 a month from a welfare check, and struggled to pay rent, as she gained only occasional domestic work in white homes. C.P. They settled the suit for $25 million and Atwater said, according to WRAL: Atwater has suffered an unimaginable loss, but hopefully has been able to find peace in the intervening years. She made dresses out of flour and rice bags for her daughters to wear. Ann Atwater, interview by Sean Aery, Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, February 1, 2006. Aiden Shaw Makes His Return In 'And Just Like That' Season 2, 15 Movies On Netflix About Mothers & Daughters Thatll Make You Emotional, Beef Captures Our Toxic Tendency To Confuse Love With Sacrifice, What Parents Are Talking About Delivered Straight To Your Inbox, By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. WebAtwater lived in a dilapidated house on an unpaved street in Durhams Hayti district, where she struggled to support her two daughters. [10][pageneeded]. Up to that point, we didnt know each other. Ms. ATWATER: Well, thank you for talking to me. Some people may not have liked that she was demanding and outspoken, but those qualities enabled her to be a successful activist and organizer. Ms. ATWATER: Yeah. She was taught that whites were better and that their needs came before hers. I didnt know who to blame. Atwater initially declined to serve as co-chair, but reluctantly agreed to work with Ellis. It was funded by the North Carolina Fund, a statewide program to improve education. is afraid that the black children will come to the white schools. But in the early 1970s, he had a remarkable change of heart and mind, and he became a civil rights advocate. I didnt like Ann boycotting stores. She was a member of several community groups and local Democratic Party vice president in 1968. Throughout Michael Peterson's arrest, trial, and 17 years of appeals, the Peterson children remained divided over their father's innocence. He invited Atwater to a meeting and to join. I didn't like Ann boycotting stores. I didnt like them. When approached by Howard Fuller to join Operation Breakthrough, a program to help people escape poverty, Atwater found her life purpose. When Kathleen Peterson was found dead in her home on December 9, 2001, suspicions naturally turned to the only other person in the house at the time: her husband Michael Peterson. She first became involved in activism after local housing advocates helped her be able to keep her home when she fell behind on rent. Ann's granddaughter says that she's always viewed C.P. At one school meeting, a school board member got up in the middle of a conversation as she was making demands for school improvements. Atwater lived in a dilapidated house on an unpaved street in Durhams Hayti district, where she struggled to support her two daughters. Civil rights activist and former Ku Klux Klansman C.P. [citation needed], One tactic Atwater used to tackle this problem was using the power of numbers. Secure websites use HTTPS certificates. She and Ellis continued their friendship to the end of their lives. For example, when addressing a white person, the welfare worker would politely call the person over to the desk and there privately ask Your name? Categories: WebDid Ann Atwater's husband leave her to raise their children alone? Her mother died when she was 6. After their second daughter, Marilyn, was born, he left the family and moved to Richmond for a better job, according to Davidson. So I grabbed his hand and trying to show him how to clap along with us at the same time till we learned him how to clap. Racism was instilled in Ellis from a young age. [3] The faucets in the bathroom were faulty, shooting out water so intensely that her kids nicknamed it Niagara Falls. I didn't like them. It was revealed over the course of the trial that Michael was bisexual and had been corresponding with a male sex worker, even making plans to meet up. He struggled to make ends meet and provide for his family. So I told C.P. Atwater, who died in 2016 at the age of 80, defied stereotypes. Ann Atwater, interview by Jennifer Fiumara and Mary Cleary, The Southern Oral History Program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, December 7, 1995. The marriage was unhappy, and when Wilson got a job in Richmond, Virginia and asked Atwater to uproot herself again, she countered: I already followed you to Durham. When Atwater had first met C. P. Ellis at a previous Durham city council meeting, she felt great resentment toward him. In July 1971, the public schools were still segregated, despite the 1954 US Supreme Court ruling that segregated schools were unconstitutional, and 1960s federal civil rights legislation about integration of public facilities. Her husband was a drinker who often spent all his pay on homemade liquor. The charrette was held for 10 days from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Whatever the leaders chose on school integration would become a binding decision that Durhams City Council would have to follow. Patrick Schwarzenegger and Dane DeHaan as Todd and Clayton Peterson in The Staircase on HBO Max. -An Unlikely Friendship Documentary. Those collaborative processes involved ten days of town meetings among numerous residents, in order to hear as many voices as possible and to resolve issues related to implementation of the court order. Despite the suspicions surrounding their mother's death, Margaret and Martha Ratliff continued to support Michael Peterson, believing he did not kill Kathleen. She was a fierce fighter for rights for poor African Americans who shook up the white power establishment in Durham, N.C. in the 1960s. Ellis' funeral on Saturday. They presented ways to improve curriculum, in addition to making it easier for students' voices to be heard. The couple divorced, and Atwater supported herself and her two children as a maid for 30 cents an hour, before turning to Social Services for help. To learn more, view our full privacy policy. Ms. ATWATER: Well, some of the people in City Hall was Klansmen as well, and they had him put out there so he could disrupt everything that everybody was trying to do. "She didn't particularly like the Klan," C.P. The funeral homes were still segregated, said Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, director of the School for Conversion, a community program in Durham. And the house was so poorly wired that when the man cut off my lights for nonpayment of [the] light bill, I could stomp on the floor and the lights would come on and Id stomp on the floor and theyd go off.. When Atwater discovered caseworkers kept key information from clients, she figured out how to get the information herself. C.P. We saw that each other, you know, was making it. At this point, the couple had another daughter, Marilyn. What are you gonna do? " the father demanded, according to the book The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson, upon which the movie is based. Durham schools suffered from increasing racial tensions among students anxious about the future. She moved to Durham in 1953, where her husband, William French, had relocated. It's just a strange thing, but it really happened. The unlikely friendship is remarkable, but most of all, Ann Atwaters legacy is that of a fierce defender of integration to whom the word no meant nothing. Ellis quit the KKK. She was a fierce fighter for rights for poor African Americans who shook up the white power establishment in Durham, N.C. in the 1960s. That was real, said Ann-Nakia Green, Atwaters 35-year-old granddaughter. Historical Commission Votes to Study Relocation of Confederate Monuments, Summary of Public Hearings by the State Capitol African American Memorial Committee. They also proposed major changes in the school curriculum, such as more instruction on dealing with racial violence, creation of a group to discuss and resolve problems before they escalated, and expansion in choices of textbooks to include African-American authors. She and her husband relocated to Durham soon after in the hopes of better opportunities, but things shifted for the worst. Ellis, a local Klan leader, focuses on a 10-day charrette, a community meeting that was organized in 1971 to grapple with the issue of school desegregation. Atwater promoted unity of the working-class African Americans through grassroots organizations. From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. BLOCK: Ann Atwater joins us from her home in Durham to share her memories of C.P. In researching The Best of Enemies' historical accuracy, we learned that C.P. We looked at each other like fools wed been arguing about the wrong things and hadnt been doing anything to make the school system better., They started talking. I hated her guts., BlacKkKlansman: How black detective Ron Stallworth infiltrated the Colorado Klan, Atwater countered: I hated him just as hard as he hated me. WebAnn Atwater Born: July 1, 1935 Growing up as the youngest of nine children, Ann started working on the family farm in Columbus County, N.C., before she can remember. They wanted their children to attend schools free of violence. was sitting there, and first he started clapping his hands. Welfare was only providing $57 a month, and she was leasing a dilapidated house where she was $100 behind her rent. Bill Riddick, a professor and consultant, was contracted by union organizers to help solve the crisis. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. She was one of those legendary black women in the South who was simply fearless when facing white oppression. Ellis, whos played by Sam Rockwell. He was chosen to chair the meetings, along with his polar opposite, a militant African-American leader of Durham's civil rights movement, Ann Atwater. (modern). We looked at each other. Considering their history of mutual animosity, Atwater and Ellis were reluctant to work with the other, but both knew that to have their opinion represented, they must participate. WebEventually Atwater divorced him and raised their two daughters on her own as a single mother. Ellis had regularly been attending city council meetings, school board meetings, and county meetings to oppose civil rights changes and its activists. Ellis were the best choices to present a variety of viewpoints from opposing sides, so they had them chair the meeting together. Ellis and his wife Mary had a son who they called Punkin'. BLOCK: Well, Ann Atwater, thanks very much for talking with us. Her bold actions so surprised the councilmen that they had to listen to her. Claiborne Paul Ellis, union organiser, born January 8 1927; died November 3 2005, A reformed white racist, he fought for black workers, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. In examining The Best of Enemies' historical accuracy, we learned that Ann Atwater was ridiculed by some in her community over the fact that she had worked with C.P. A fact-check of The Best of Enemies confirms that Atwater became involved in school desegregation in 1971 when she was asked to co-chair a special initiative to address the matter, which is when we catch up with her in the movie. His relationship with Ann Atwater, who attended his funeral, became the subject of a book and a documentary film, and was the favourite of all the interviews conducted by Studs Terkel. No. Ellis were named co-chairs of the Durham, North Carolinas charrette S.O.S., Save Our Schools.. I almost killed C.P. Poverty was still a problem in the segregated society; in 1950 28% of families lived below the designated poverty line of $3000. The Housing Authority, part of an old boy network headed by autocratic cotton mill executive Carvie Oldham, failed to enforce housing codes. They became particularly close following George's death. They raised him until approximately age 11, when he was placed in an institution. I didn't like them. [2], After Atwater co-led the charrette, she continued to work with the poor and middle-class black community in Durham. Ignoring her and the parents with her was a mistake. Like fools wed been arguing about the wrong things and hadnt been doing anything to make the school system better.. Ellis, an exalted cyclops of the local Ku Klux Klan in Durham. Ann Atwater: Grassroots Organizer and Veteran of Americas Freedom Struggle. On the evening of her death, the Petersons had dinner with Ratliff and her daughters. The other co-chair would be C.P. City council members would turn their chairs away when blacks spoke. Yes. And that plan was to put us there to make sure that this school integration would be done peacefully, and that's what happened. Before Peterson's trial, the Durham court ordered the exhumation of Ratliff's embalmed body, buried in Texas, for a second autopsy in April 2003. Ann's dad had encouraged her baby's father to marry her. He was to tear it apart. Fuller was bankrolled by the North Caroline Fund to do some community organizing and soon drafted Atwater into the group.