The J.C. Penney Boycott and Picketing Campaign

The J.C. Penney Boycott and Picketing Campaign

Image Credit:
An image of the Penney Picketing Campaign, 1961. Photo by Gene Suggs as a staff photographer for the Urbana Courier.

15 E. Main Street, Champaign, IL

During the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans fought for equal opportunity in employment across the nation. In Champaign-Urbana, the Champaign-Urbana Improvement Association (CUIA) was founded to demand greater job opportunities for African Americans, resulting in one of the most influential local civil rights victories known as the J.C. Penney Boycott.

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A Penney’s department store was planned for 15 E. Main Street in downtown Champaign and scheduled to open on April 6, 1961.  Local Black ministers encouraged members of their congregations to apply for salesclerk positions that were advertised.  Several Black women applied for the positions, including the wife of a Chanute Air Base employee with ten years’ experience.  All were denied employment. It was found that Penney’s was only hiring African Americans for the stockroom and janitorial capacities. This information resulted in organized, collective action on the part of the Black community. The protest was planned under leadership of Rev. J.E. Graves of Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church, president of the CUIA.  Rev. Graves called a meeting of ministers and lay people on March 22, 1961, at Bethel A.M.E. Church, to map out a plan of action.  Over one hundred community members responded. Ministers took the leadership because their positions were less vulnerable to retribution.

Picketing, organized by community members Mary Alexander and George Pope, began on opening day. African Americans and others sympathetic to the cause were asked to boycott the store. Meanwhile the CUIA began training potential job applicants in interview techniques. At the end of three weeks, on April 25th, with the assistance of lone Black city council member Kenneth Stratton, an agreement was reached that successfully impacted hiring in all department stores in the community. The Council for Community Integration called it a “magnificent undertaking.”

The J.C. Penney Boycott and Picketing Campaign, and the dedicated men and women who participated, are remembered today for standing up to discriminatory employment practices.

This trail stop is sponsored by:

References

Alexander, Mary and Winston, Kathleen Johnson.  (Spring 1996).  “Reflections on Life, Part 2.”  Through the Years: African-American History in Champaign County.  Museum of the Grand Prairie.  https://eblackcu.net/years/MA.htm

Lenstra, N. (December 11, 2012) Penney Picketing Campaign. https://localwiki.org/cu/PenneyPicketing_Campaign

Urbana School District #116. https://www.usd116.org/ProfDev/AHTC/lessons/Burrus10/penneysarticles_red.pdf.

  • “Negroes Tell Why They Picket; Rap Penney’s for Discriminating”
  • “Penney Manager Announces Cease of 3 Week Picketing”
  • “Topic:  The J.C. Penney Co. Affair” ( Memo dated April 25, 1961)

People:

  • George Pope
  • Mary Alexander
  • Rev. J.E. Graves

Location(s):

  • Champaign, Illinois
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Additional Champaign Trail Sites

Community

Social and Religious Life

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church

Located at 401 E. Park Street in Champaign, Bethel A.M.E. Church is the oldest African American led church in Champaign County. It was organized in 1863 and predates the establishment of the University of Illinois. During the early part of the century when segregation was a fact of life, Bethel established a library and had a church orchestra. The church served as a meeting place for Black students attending the University of Illinois, establishing monthly lyceum meetings where students and members of the congregation came together for lectures, discussions, debates, and musical performances. In 1915 it was the site of the founding of the Twin Cities Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Spiritual, community and educational development have continued to be a mission for the church.

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Education

Booker T. Washington School

Booker T. Washington Elementary School was built to replace Lawhead School and opened in 1952. Designed by Berger-Kelley Associates, it was a K-6 building serving Black children in the neighborhood. Odelia Wesley, formerly a first grade teacher at Lawhead, was principal and led an all-Black staff. She remained at the school as principal from 1952–1972. In 1968, Booker T. Washington School was established as a magnet program in partnership with the University of Illinois, as a part of Unit #4’s desegregation plans to promote voluntary integration. While Black families would have to bus their children to southwest Champaign to integrate the schools there, white families could voluntarily choose to send their children to Washington School to access “innovative” instructional programs. Following the retirement of Mrs. Wesley, Mrs. Hester Suggs assumed the principalship (1972–1993) and developed an award-winning arts and humanities-based program which continued under the leadership of Dr. Arnetta Rodgers (1993–2000).

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Community

Albert R. Lee

Albert R. Lee was born on June 26, 1874, on a farm outside of Champaign, Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois in 1894, and in 1895 he became the second African American hired at the university. He started as a messenger, but then became the clerk for the Office of the President. Lee served under six university Presidents. At a time when African Americans were not allowed to live on campus, he took it upon himself to assist them with housing and maneuvering through school, becoming known as the unofficial Dean of African American Students.

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