Walter P. Carter
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Howard University (MSW)
Walter P. Carter | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | April 29, 1923 Monroe, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | July 31, 1971 (aged 48) |
| Education | North Carolina A&T State University (BA) Howard University (MSW) |
| Organization(s) | Congress of Racial Equality Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee |
| Movement | Civil Rights Movement |
| Children | Jill |
Walter Percival Carter (April 29, 1923 – July 31, 1971) was an activist and central figure in Baltimore, Maryland during the Civil Rights Movement. He earned that designation by organizing demonstrations against discrimination throughout Maryland.[1] Carter is best known for his work as the chairman of the Baltimore chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) from 1960 to 1963 and as the Maryland coordinator for the 1963 March on Washington. A hospital, an elementary school, a recreation center, a college library, and a day-care center in Baltimore have been named in his memory.
Carter was the seventh of nine children born to Carrie P. and Walter Carter Sr. in Monroe, North Carolina.[2] He received his bachelor's degree from North Carolina A&T, where he participated in voter registration, the debate team, and became a member of the Progressive Party. He was well liked by his classmates and admired for his keen intellect and unusual sense of humor. Carter obtained a Master's Degree in Social Work (MSW) at Howard University. While studying at Howard, he met young Stokely Carmichael and the two became friends.
Civil Rights activism
Carter was a World War II veteran. He led voter registration drives in the South. As chairman of the local chapter of Congress of Racial Equality,[3] he helped to organize the 1960 Freedom Rides to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Gwynn Oak Park, Howard Johnson Chain, and other eating establishments along Routes 40, 1, 150, and 50; apartment buildings, hotels, and other public accommodations throughout Maryland. In 1963, he served as the Maryland coordinator of the March on Washington and, in 1965, he was a coordinator of the Federated Civil Rights Organization march with over 3,000 people protesting housing segregation.
In 1963, Carter created the William L. Moore Foundation, for fellow CORE activist and Baltimorean William L. Moore. Moore was marching to the mansion of the Alabama state Governor to deliver a letter. While embarking on this lone march on April 23, 1963, in Gadsden, Alabama, Moore was shot and killed. His body was found by a passing motorist. The letter that Moore intending on giving to the Governor was later found but never delivered to the Governor of Alabama.
In 1966, Carter and five other members of CORE formed Activists for Fair Housing, later shortened to Activists, Inc. That same year, the Apartment House Owners Association of Maryland was forced to open facilities to all.[4] In the late 1960s, Carter convinced the Community Chest, now known as the United Way of Central Maryland, to fund grassroots organizations with African American constituents, such as Echo House.[5] Carter protested segregated housing and poor living conditions that African Americans faced in Baltimore in the late 1950s and through the 1960s. He organized protest marches, often taking the fight to the homes of the white landlords who owned the segregated housing.[6]
Carter was appointed by Mayor Thomas L. J. D'Alesandro III, to head the Community Action Agency (CAA). But the Baltimore City Council voted 10–8 on September 30, 1968, to not confirm Carter's appointment. According to news accounts, William Donald Schaefer complained that Carter was "too radical", and would move the agency forward at a pace at which the city was not yet ready. Due to Carter's rejection, 12 of 21 members of the Community Action Committee, and three top members of the Urban Coalition including Parren J. Mitchell resigned from their positions to protest the rejection of Carter's nomination.
