Mass, Governor’s Mother Gaoled

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30405, 2 April 1964, Page 13

Mass, Governor’s Mother Gaoled

(N.Z. Press Association— Copyright)

ST. AUGUSTINE (Florida), March 31.

A sprightly 72-year-old Boston grandmother went to gaol in St. Augustine today for leading an anti-segregation demonstration.

Mrs Malcolm Peabody, mother of Governor Endicott Peabody, of Massachusetts, said the St. Johns County gaol was the first gaol she had ever been to.

“It’s very pleasant here,” she said. “There are seven of us in one cell, all white women, and we have running water and a shower.” Mrs Peabody, whose husband is an Episcopal bishop in Massachusetts, was taken into custody when she attempted to enter a segregated motel diningroom with a biracial group. She was charged with trespassing after a warning and gaoled.

Mrs Peabody said she intended to remain in gaol overnight, pay 100 dollars bail and leave town. She said she did not think it “would be right" to be gaoled and then pay bail immediately. Mrs Peabody said she had talked to her son by telephone this morning and he told her “to do what I thought was right.” She said that while many people had come down from the North to participate in the integration drive, most of them “have been young people. We need some old people in this thing,” Mrs Peabody said. “We are just what they say we are, dogooders."

The arrest of Mrs Peabody capped hours of frantic activity on the part of St. Augustine police. About 117 demonstrators were arrested during the day, bringing total arrests since the new round of demonstrations started in the nation’s oldest city last week-end to nearly 200. At one point authorities had tear gas and electric cattle prods ready, but neither were brought into play. Police dogs were used to help control the crowds, but were kept on leashes at all times. Service Cancelled

Mrs Peabody, who arrived in St. Augustine on Sunday night declaring she was going to campaign for a “better deal” for Negroes, started the day by trying to enter an Episcopalian church. Church officials said: “We don’t want any demonstration of any kind,” and promptly cancelled the morning communion service.

“We were fearful of life and property. If she had come to worship there would be no objection, but not for violence," said the Rev. Charles Seymour, pastor of the Trinity Episcopal Church.

Meanwhile, about 300 Negro youths marched through the 400-year-old city to a spot where slaves were once sold at auction. Later about 150 youths went to an exclusive hotel and sat in the diningroom. Most of them left quietly wheft warned by the police.