Civil Rights Act Gets First N. Carolina Test

Press Release
November 10, 1964

Civil Rights Act Gets First N. Carolina Test preview

Elizabeth City and New Bern Firms Sued in 1st N.C. Test of Civil Rights Act

Cite this item

  • Press Releases, Volume 1. Civil Rights Act Gets First N. Carolina Test, 1964. 2e8f7d6c-b592-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/8f774c14-f12d-4cf3-bc11-7143a9c87445/civil-rights-act-gets-first-n-carolina-test. Accessed April 30, 2025.

    Copied!

    10 Columbus Circle 
New York, N.Y. 10019 
JUdson 6-8397 
NAACP 

Legal Defense and Educational Fund 
PRESS RELEASE 
President 

ir. Allan Knight Chalmers 

Director-Counsel 
Jack Greenberg FOR RELEASE 

Associate Counsel Tuesday 
Constance Baker Motley November 10, 1964 

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT GETS 
FIRST N. CAROLINA TEST 

Elizabeth City and New Bern Firms Sued 

NEW BERN---North Carolina received its first test of the 1964 Civil 
Rights Act today in U.S. District Court here. 

NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorneys asked for infseigetons to end 
discrimination at Moore's Barbecue in New Bern and at the Villa 
Vicki Hotel Court and Restaurant in Elizabeth City. eX 

The two suits ask the Court to enforce Title II of the new law, 
which is currently under review in the U.S. Supreme Court. Legal 
Defense Fund lawyers charged in their complaints that North Carolina 
supports the discriminatory policy of these establishments by state 
action and that operators of the restaurants affect Interstate 
Commerce. 

Negro plaintiffs represented by the Legal Defense Fund sought 
and were denied service at Moore's Barbecue on July 13, and at the 
Villa Vicki on August 12, October 2, and October 21. 

The owners of these establishments turned them away, saying 

that Negroes would not be served. 

The Legal Defense Fund complaints make clear that both places 
of public accommodation axe located on interstate highways and that 
the food served there moved in interstate commerce, 

Today's action in North Carolina brings to 14 the number of 
Legal Defense Fund suits under the Civil Rights Act. These cases 
involve over 35 places of public accommodation in five states of the 
Old Confederacy. 

Participating in the North Carolina cases are Fund Director- 
Counsel Jack Greenberg and Assistant Counsel Michael Meltsner of 
New York; and W,G. Pearson, II, C.C. Malone, Jr., Conrad 0, Pearson, 
J. LeVonne Chambers, and Reginald L. Frazier, all of North Carolina. 

=30= 

oN rth Carolina Reporters may secure further 
‘information by contacting Attorney J. LeVonne 
Chambers in Charlotte at 375-1764 or 375-1765, 

AI 

Jesse DeVore, Jr., Director of Public Information—Night Number 212 Riverside 9-8487

Copyright notice

© NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

This collection and the tools to navigate it (the “Collection”) are available to the public for general educational and research purposes, as well as to preserve and contextualize the history of the content and materials it contains (the “Materials”). Like other archival collections, such as those found in libraries, LDF owns the physical source Materials that have been digitized for the Collection; however, LDF does not own the underlying copyright or other rights in all items and there are limits on how you can use the Materials. By accessing and using the Material, you acknowledge your agreement to the Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Materials.


Additional info

To the extent that LDF includes information about the Materials’ origins or ownership or provides summaries or transcripts of original source Materials, LDF does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy of such information, transcripts or summaries, and shall not be responsible for any inaccuracies.

Return to top