Tal Rutledge Explained

Talmadge Rutledge (1929 – April 16, 2020) was an American civil rights activist who lived in Clearwater, Florida. He was the first president of the NAACP's Clearwater branch.[1] [2] His brother Charles was also a businessman and was a party to the lawsuit that precipitated the desegregation of Pinellas County Schools.[3]

At one point he found three bullet holes in his home.[4] He owned a laundromat and dry cleaning establishment.[5]

In 1968, he was convicted and fined $35 for obstructing a school bus during a desegregation demonstration. The national president of the NAACP, Kivie Kaplan, attended the trial. Municipal Court judge Roland Fox presided.[6]

He opposed the closing of a community center named for Martin Luther King Jr. in the North Greenwood section of Clearwater.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Clearwater civil rights icon Tal Rutledge: 'He wasn't afraid to speak out.'. https://web.archive.org/web/20200727083630/https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2020/04/29/clearwater-civil-rights-icon-tal-rutledge-he-wasnt-afraid-to-speak-out/%3. dead. July 27, 2020.
  2. Web site: Robert William Saunders and a memoir of the civil rights movement in Florida. digital.lib.usf.edu.
  3. Web site: Charles Rutledge, last party to 1964 lawsuit that desegregated Pinellas schools, dies. Tampa Bay Times.
  4. News: Sit-in at Tampa FL Kress Store. Tampa Bay Times. February 12, 2009. 13. newspapers.com.
  5. Book: Clearwater, Florida. Sandra W.. Rooks. Randolph. Lightfoot. May 17, 2002. Arcadia Publishing. 9780738514734. Google Books.
  6. Web site: Page 8.
  7. Web site: North Greenwood Recreation Complex Could be Renamed After Rev. Walter C. Campbell. April 27, 2012. Clearwater, FL Patch.

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