Senator KENNEDY. What happened in September?

1

The CHAIRMAN. Let him answer the question. Did you finish your answer?

Mr. PROCTOR. That continued until February 14 of 1956. At that time the city leased the golf course back to the original Tallahasse Country Club.

Senator KENNEDY. What happened in September of 1952? Was there some kind of incorporation? Did the old stockholders get together? Was there some kind of meeting?

Mr. PROCTOR. There was a meeting of the old stockholders.

Senator KENNEDY. How many were there of them at that time?
Mr. PROCTOR. I do not know the exact number.

Senator KENNEDY. They got together and did they petition the city at that time?

Mr. PROCTOR. They got together and they discussed it with the city commission at that time, and petitioned the city to turn the club back over to them for their private operation.

Senator KENNEDY. Then you said in 1956, February 14 of 1956, it was actually transferred back to this group, is that correct?

Mr. PROCTOR. That is correct.

Senator KENNEDY. And was the group that it was transferred to in 1956 the same group of stockholders that met in 1952? Were there others who were added to that group?

Mr. PROCTOR. There were others who were added to that group, and they formed a new club. This same group combined with a group of other interested citizens, and formed the Capital City Country Club, Inc. They filed for a certificate of incorporation on April 24 of 1956. Senator KENNEDY. As I understand it, one of those incorporators was the nominee, Judge Carswell; is that correct?

Mr. PROCTOR. One of the original subscribers was Judge Carswell. We had some 300-odd subscribers at that time.

Senator KENNEDY. Now this was an added membership over the 1952 meeting, was it not?

Mr. PROCTOR. That is correct.

Senator KENNEDY. Could you give us any idea of how many were added to it and how many were original stockholders?

Mr. PROCTOR. Original stockholders back in 1924, Senator? I do not know. It was 35 maybe.

Senator KENNEDY. The group that met in 1952 was approximately how large? Are you talking about two or three or 15 or how many?

Mr. PROCTOR. I do not know: I am talking about probably 15 to 20. They were heirs, and those members who had received this original stock.

Senator KENNEDY. And the club itself, of which the 1952 group had been stockholders, was a private country club, was it not? They had been former members or stockholders in a private country club? Mr. PROCTOR. Some of them were original stockholders. Others were families of original stockholders.

Senator KENNEDY. And it had been a private country club?

Mr. PROCTOR. It had been a private country club from 24 to 35, at which time the city took it over and operated it at their request, and with their cooperation.

Senator KENNEDY. Now do you have a list of the directors of the old country club and the incorporators of the new Capital City Country Club? Do you have that information available?

Mr. PROCTOR. I have. It is available and I will make it available to the committee.

Senator KENNEDY. Could it be made a part of the record?
The CHAIRMAN. Oh, sure.

(The documents referred to appear in the appendix.)

Senator TYDINGS. Before you leave that point, as I understand it, you had several hundred subscribers when you decided to

Mr. PROCTOR. Correct.

Senator TYDINGS. And you picked from those subscribers 21 persons to use as incorporators?

Mr. PROCTOR. As subscribing incorporators, correct.

Senator TYDINGS. One of those 21 names was the name of U.S. attorney for the district of northern Florida, was it not?

Mr. PROCTOR. Judge Harrold Carswell, or Harrold Carswell, right. Senator TYDINGS. How did you happen to pick him as one of the 21 incorporators?

Mr. PROCTOR. Senator, I cannot answer that question. It is just we took 21 out of the group. I happened to be one of the 21. Why did they pick me?

Senator TYDINGS. Were you trying to pick prominent people in the community to show community support?

Mr. PROCTOR. Not necessarily. Many of them were prominent. I would not consider myself partícularly prominent, and I happened to

be one.

Senator TYDINGS. Did you just pick them out of a hat? How did you do it?

Mr. PROCTOR. No, we just picked out a group of 21.

Senator TYDINGS. You just did it at random? You did not particularly want to have a U.S. attorney's name in that group of subscribers and incorporators?

Mr. PROCTOR. No.

Senator TYDINGS. It was just happenstance?

Mr. PROCTOR. It just happened.

Senator TYDINGS. You just happened to pick him?

Mr. PROCTOR. Absolutely, right.

Senator KENNEDY. Were there any blacks who were incorporators

or invited to participate?

Mr. PROCTOR. It was open to the public.

Senator KENNEDY. Were there any blacks who were asked to participate?

Mr. PROCTOR. I did not ask any.

Senator KENNEDY. Do you know from your own knowledge whether any were?

Mr. PROCTOR. I do not know.

Senator KENNEDY. Were there any in fact included in that list? The CHAIRMAN. His answer was he did not know.

Mr. PROCTOR. I do not know.

Senator KENNEDY. You have the list of the 21?

Mr. PROCTOR. I have a list of the 21. I also have a list of about 400 people.

The CHAIRMAN. Ask him the questions but give him time to answer the questions,

Mr. PROCTOR. In addition to the 21 subscribers, there were about 400 other subscribers who had decided to join the country club, of which I can provide the list to the committee.

Senator KENNEDY. You are familiar with the 21 incorporators? Mr. PROCTOR. I am.

Senator KENNEDY. Were any of those black?

Mr. PROCTOR. No.

Senator KENNEDY. To your knowledge do you know whether any of the 400 members of the club were black?

Mr. PROCTOR. I do not know.

Senator KENNEDY. Would you know if there were some black members?

Senator TYDINGS. Do you really want us to believe that you do not know whether any of the subscribers were black?

Mr. PROCTOR. There are one or two names that I would not know, and I would not answer that they were black or white.

Senator KENNEDY. Were there any blacks that played on the golf course prior to the time that it became the Capital City Country Club, that is while it was the municipal club?

Mr. PROCTOR. Wait a minute, repeat the question, please.

Senator KENNEDY. Were any black citizens permitted to play on the municipal golf course?

Mr. PROCTOR. When the city was operating it?

Senator KENNEDY. When the city was operating it.

Mr. PROCTOR. I do not know. It was a city golf course. It was open to the public. It was not a private country club. It was operated by the city, and for city revenue. The pros were hired by the city. I cannot answer that question because I am maybe a 1-day-a-week golfer.

Senator KENNEDY. What was the pattern or the practice at this time in municipal country clubs either in Tallahassee or in that area? Were blacks permitted to play?

Mr. PROCTOR. Senator, I was not familiar with the other country clubs in that area.

Senator KENNEDY. Actually the Florida A&M golf team, which as I understand it was all black, was allowed to play there?

Mr. PROCTOR. Was allowed to play? They could have been.
Senator KENNEDY. Were you familiar with that?

Mr. PROCTOR. I am not familiar with it.

Senator KENNEDY. As I understand it they were allowed to use the course before 8 a.m. every morning.

Mr. PROCTOR. Also the Florida State University Golf Club were able to use it. They could have played. I would not necessarily know. Senator KENNEDY. At some time then in 1956 this course was turned over to a group of incorporators?

Mr. PROCTOR. That is right, May 4, 1956. Now may I bring out a point here?

Senator KENNEDY. Yes, I wish you would.

Mr. PROCTOR. You mentioned the fact about Judge Carswell's name being one of the original subscribers, and on the 21 subscribing original directors. It just happens that I was among the original 21. To my knowledge Harrold Carswell never participated during that time, never attended a meeting to my knowledge, and I attended about 93

percent or more of them. He took no active interést at that time in the development of the Tallahassee Country Club.

On May 4, 1956, the Tallahassee Country Club assigned its lease to the new Capital City Country Club, Inc.

Senator KENNEDY. And Judge Carswell was an incorporator, was

he not?

Mr. PROCTOR. He was one of the original incorporators."

Senator KENNEDY. And he actually signed

Mr. PROCTOR. He signed as one of 21 subscribing members. Senator KENNEDY. And he received a stock certificate, did he not? Mr. PROCTOR. He did not.

Senator KENNEDY. He did not?

Mr. PROCTOR. No, because we were in the formative stage of the club. The dues were set, $300. We paid, some of us paid $100 at the time, in order to have sufficient money on hand for the incorporation. Judge Carswell was one of those who paid the $100.

On September 1, 1956, the Capital City Country Club, Inc., took the lease over from the Tallahassee Country Club. They still had not issued the stock.

On September 4, 1956, the Capital City Country Club, Inc., had its first annual stockholders' meeting. Forty-two names were proposed as the original stockholders of the new club. Harrold Carswell's name was among those 42. He was not elected to the board of directors. They elected 21 directors out of 42. He was not among those elected. Senator KENNEDY. Now at some time did he receive a share of stock?

Mr. PROCTOR. No. It was on February 3 of 1957, before the stock had been issued, that Carswell withdrew, requested that he be withdrawn as a member and wrote a letter to that effect.

Senator KENNEDY. Do you have that letter, a copy of the letter? Mr. PROCTOR. No. I say a letter. I do not know exactly if it was by letter for actually at that time we do not have the records so I stand corrected. He requested that his name be withdrawn. On February 12 of 1957; Carswell was refunded $76 of the $100. I do have a copy here of the date in which he along with that many who were refunded their money, which I will be happy to pass over to the committee.

Senator KENNEDY. So he never in effect received any paper that would indicate that he had actually got this share of stock or that he had given $100 for it in your bookkeeping?

Mr. PROCTOR. Right, not up until that time because the stock was not issued. The only record of that was on the subscribing forms that were filled out by the secretary of state of the State of Florida. His name happened to be among those present.

Senator KENNEDY. Did he sign any note to indicate that he had actually received his $76 back?

Mr. PROCTOR. Not that I know of. I imagine it was in the form of a check. I assume that he endorsed the check because I believe he used that money.

Senator KENNEDY. But there was no passage of any paper?"

Mr. PROCTOR. No passage of any paper. We had all paid our $100, but as far as stock certificates, we did not. We had not received any. As I stated a few minutes ago, we had to buy three shares at $100 a share to become members. Before they were issued there was a large list

including Harrold Carswell who withdrew their names and requested a refund of their money. He was charged, I think, $12 a month for 2 months' dues during that interim.

Senator KENNEDY. Isn't it fair, Mr. Proctor, to say that when this club was a municipal club, that actually it was a segregated club?

Mr. PROCTOR. It might be fair for you to say that, but it was open to the public.

Senator KENNEDY. Was it open to the blacks?

Mr. PROCTOR. It was open to the citizens of Tallahassee.

Senator KENNEDY. And did any blacks to your knowledge use that club?

Mr. PROCTOR. I do not know. You stated that some played so it must have been open to them.

Senator KENNEDY. How many times do you play there?

Mr. PROCTOR. I said once a week.

Senator KENNEDY. Once a week, and did you ever see any?
Mr. PROCTOR. But once a week during the warm weather.

Senator KENNEDY. From your own experience and knowledge of municipal facilities in Tallahassee, were they segregated prior to 1956 or not?

Mr. PROCTOR. Senator, I do not think that I could answer that question. It was open to the public. We had not had any-it would have been open for membership should they have the desire to join.

Senator KENNEDY. And did in fact-well, the question is not the municipal. The question is, Did any of them, even when it became a private club, did any of them join?

Mr. PROCTOR. I do not know, but I will say this. That when the Tallahassee Country Club took over the club, there was an article in the paper describing, giving information as to the forming of the club. It gave the names of the officers, it listed the directors, and it stated in the newspaper that the club would remain open to the public by payment of daily green fees, monthly dues or annual dues.

The CHAIRMAN. I have got a newspaper clipping here that says this:

Although the new club is now a private organization, the golf course facilities are open to the public at daily, monthly or yearly green fees. The club plans to construct new facilities including a new club house and swimming pool.

Mr. PROCTOR. That is what I am referring to.

The CHAIRMAN. And so it was an announcement?

Mr. PROCTOR. It was an announcement to the public in the local newspaper.

The CHAIRMAN. By the club?

Mr. PROCTOR. By the club..

The CHAIRMAN. That it was open to all people, is that correct?
Mr. PROCTOR. That is correct, open to the public.

Senator KENNEDY. So it was generally known that a new club was being formed?

Mr. PROCTOR. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. I want that admitted into the record.

(The article referred to follows:)