Ellis were named co-chairs of the Durham, North Carolinas charrette S.O.S., Save Our Schools.. You gotta have somethin to look at to hate. [8][pageneeded]. During his father's trial and lengthy prison sentence, Clayton stood by his side. I didn't like them. Yes. His father and local community blamed poor blacks for their problems, and reasoned that blacks were to blame for why they could never get ahead regardless of how hard they worked. She was living in dilapidated house in North Durham on $57 a month when she became an activist. Before the trial, Ratliff's body was exhumed and autopsied, at which point a second autopsy suggested that she, too, had suffered head trauma, according to CNN. Conservative town leaders were largely receptive to his message. She became an activist with Operation Breakthrough and would later work with the United Organizations for Community improvement. Ann Atwater was used to struggling, but she hit some truly hard times. "We've made it through these years, together 30 years, and we're still friends," Ann said in the documentary. Aiden Shaw Makes His Return In 'And Just Like That' Season 2, 15 Movies On Netflix About Mothers & Daughters Thatll Make You Emotional, Beef Captures Our Toxic Tendency To Confuse Love With Sacrifice, What Parents Are Talking About Delivered Straight To Your Inbox, By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. I didn't like Ann boycotting stores. Atwater said that she refused to go to the first meeting, but her boss in the housing authority told her she'd lose her job if she didn't show up. And we showed that towards each other up until we went into the (unintelligible) a 10-day meeting. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. She was a fierce fighter for rights for poor African Americans who shook up the white power establishment in Durham, N.C. in the 1960s. Unlikely Friendship I didn't like the demonstrations downtown, Ellis told NPR in a 1996 interview. Ellis died in 2005 and Atwater was asked to deliver the eulogy. His turnabout came through a 10-day community meeting on school desegregation in 1971. When Ellis, who later became a labor rights activist, died in 2005, his family asked Atwater to give the eulogy. After their second daughter, Marilyn, was born, he left the family and moved to Richmond for a better job, according to Davidson. They settled the suit for $25 million and Atwater said, according to WRAL: Atwater has suffered an unimaginable loss, but hopefully has been able to find peace in the intervening years. Ellis, leader of the Durham Ku Klux Klan. He renounced his Klan membership, became lifelong friends with Atwater and went on to organize black and white labor unions. And he wasn't clapping his hands even along with us; he would clap an odd beat. I almost killed C.P. He had similar feelings, saying, "It was impossible. The school's Ann Atwater Freedom Library continues her work of "making surprising friendships possible".[15]. When her job as a maid ended, she found herself living in a dilapidated house in North Durham on a WebAnn Atwater Born: July 1, 1935 Growing up as the youngest of nine children, Ann started working on the family farm in Columbus County, N.C., before she can remember. Ellis quit the KKK. VarietyThe Best of Enemies depicts the unexpected friendship between Ann Atwater and C.P. Photo from the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill Libraries, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, An official website of the State of North Carolina, Advisory Council on Film, Television, and Digital Streaming, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion, N.C. Ms. ATWATER: Well, some of the people in City Hall was Klansmen as well, and they had him put out there so he could disrupt everything that everybody was trying to do. [2] Riddick recruited participants from all sectors of Durham. "They said I sold out because I worked with a Klansman," recalled Atwater. They hated each other. Ann Atwater is best known for her work in civil rights, and for her unlikely friendship with Ku Klux Klan leader C.P. She organized her community to rail against the citys repressive and reprehensible policies towards black housing, often peacefully in pickets and marches and city council meetings, but she was not averse to more violent tactics, as when she participated in the bombing of the Housing Authority. This website is undergoing design changes. was sitting there, and first he started clapping his hands. She told Dateline: According to ABC News, that made Atwater view her stepfather in another light. The film tells the story of Ann Atwater (Taraji P. Henson) and Ku Klux Klan leader C.P. As seen in The Staircase documentary on Netflix, Clayton's first son Dorian visits Michael Peterson in prison as a baby and towards the end of the documentary, his wife Becky is seen pregnant with their second child, Lucien. When asked if she believed Michael killed her mother, she said: When prompted for a possible reason why, Atwater called it "truly a culmination of a storm," that might have come from financial issues and secrets within the marriage. It was learning more during the trial that made Atwater believe that Michael could have been involved in Kathleen's death. (modern). She was a fierce fighter for rights for poor African Americans who shook up the white power establishment in Durham, N.C. in the 1960s. The unlikely friendship is remarkable, but most of all, Ann Atwaters legacy is that of a fierce defender of integration to whom the word no meant nothing. And she was an effective boycotter, too. Like fools wed been arguing about the wrong things and hadnt been doing anything to make the school system better.. Jeter Downs needs to play to develop. A friend talked her out of trying to stab C.P., telling her, "That's what they want you to do." Like in The Best of Enemies movie, examining the fact vs. fiction reveals that he did tear up his KKK membership card in public. We didnt have to worry about any air, because the cracks were all along the house, Atwater later recalled, you could just stand on the outside and look on the inside, you didnt have to go to the window. Functionality of the site should not be affected, but things may look different. Ellis and his wife Mary had a son who they called Punkin'. When Atwater got pregnant at 14, her father a deacon in the church grabbed his shotgun and walked to the house of the man responsible, French Wilson. I didnt know who to blame. I didn't like them. Ellis has died at age 78. Over the course of the 10 days that they co-chaired the committee on school desegregation, Ann Atwater and C.P. BLOCK: Well, what happened in the course of this meeting over 10 days that turned things around in the way that it did? She and her husband relocated to Durham soon after in the hopes of better opportunities, but things shifted for the worst. After that, Atwater went door to door telling people how they could get their landlords to fix their houses. To her knowledge, making demands from a landlord was unheard of and she had no idea that she had the right to do so. A lock icon or https:// means youve safely connected to the official website. She was not afraid to voice her opinions loudly and proudly. However, she says that they had to teach him how to clap his hands in rhythm and not on an odd beat. In one meeting with a councilman, Atwater recalls that when he was not taking her seriously as she was trying to make her points, she would hit him on the head, surprising him so much that he would listen to her afterwards. Ellis remained close until his death in 2005, and Ellis family asked Atwater to give the eulogy. BLOCK: Why would C.P. Kevin Washington, C. So I told C.P. Margaret Ratliff and her young sister Martha Ratliff were adopted by Michael Peterson after their parents, Elizabeth and George Ratliff, died. Ann's granddaughter says that she's always viewed C.P. She was the star of her class, Davidson wrote, and when the training was over, she could [as she herself put it] kill anybody that wasnt already dead.. ", Ann Atwater continued her work fighting for racial equality as a grass roots organizer, passing away in 2016. Ellis like an uncle and still keeps in touch with his family. Breakthrough was a project designed to alleviate poverty by teaching residents how to address its root causes, and by organizing the community to create a social security net. Today, he lives in Maryland with his two children, according to The News and Observer. Michael had adopted the girls after their mother (and his good friend), Elizabeth Ratliff, died in a fall down the stairs. She was 80. Ellis. They became particularly close following George's death. WebEventually Atwater divorced him and raised their two daughters on her own as a single mother. At one point, she said, "We went in the office and cried because we were doing things the wrong way just because one was black and one was white.. Like all historical fiction, the 2019 film The Best of Enemies takes a bit of license with reality. From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. Ann Atwater, a black civil rights activist, talks about her friend. She had little faith that hed be able to get her landlord to do anything, but she agreed to go with him to a meeting for his organization. The Durham federal district court had just ordered desegregation of schools to comply with the Supreme Court ruling, an action which was still opposed by many residents. On the final night of the charrette, Ellis stood before the crowd and ripped up his Klan card. I didnt like them. Caitlin Atwater was the daughter of Kathleen and her first husband, Fred Atwater, though she was very close with the entire Peterson family. [3] The faucets in the bathroom were faulty, shooting out water so intensely that her kids nicknamed it Niagara Falls. had a machine gun, and he would show it to the city councilmen in the trunk of his car every morning. She had already been friends with the girls when their parents met and connected. Ellis' funeral on Saturday. His action resulted in death threats and he was shunned by a significant portion of his community. Ann Atwater She turned those chairs back around to force them to face her. Like his older brother Clayton, Todd Peterson stood by his father's side during the trial and today. The other co-chair would be C.P. Caitlin Atwater is Kathleen Peterson's daughter with her first husband, Fred Atwater. Ms. ATWATER: Well, thank you for talking to me. I went on back out the street and went on down, right back down the street to the office, and we Xeroxed the part that told the welfare recipients their rights.. C.P. Colin Firth and Toni Colette star in HBO Max's latest true-crime drama, The Staircase, based on the 13-part documentary series of the same name by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. Ellis stood up and ripped apart his Klan membership card. -School for Conversion. It wasnt until way down in the meeting," Atwater recalled in 2002 documentary film, Ann Atwater: Grassroots Organizer and Veteran of Americas Freedom Struggle, when the children got us together and said they wanted to go to school together. -School for Conversion, Yes. Welfare was only providing $57 a month, and she was leasing a dilapidated house where she was $100 behind her rent. They got all the good jobs and youre all sittin here letting em do it. He said that black people should stay on the other side of the railroad because they had no business in town. Despite the suspicions surrounding their mother's death, Margaret and Martha Ratliff continued to support Michael Peterson, believing he did not kill Kathleen. She became an effective leader. And we showed that towards each other up until we went into the 10-day meeting.. Civil rights activist and former Ku Klux Klansman C.P. An Alford plea is one where the defendant admits that the evidence against them would likely lead to a finding of guilty, but the defendant asserts their innocence. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Clayton Peterson was sentenced to four years in prison for a failed attempt to firebomb the Duke University Administration Building, reports Metro.US. Atwater, who died in 2016 at the age of 80, defied stereotypes. When Atwater discovered caseworkers kept key information from clients, she figured out how to get the information herself. If we fail, at least no one can say we didnt try. Ignoring her and the parents with her was a mistake. Ann G. Atwater So, where are Michael Peterson's children now? At first, Caitlin supported her step-father and told the press after his arrest: "My mother and Mike had an absolutely loving relationship and there is no way that either of them would ever wish any sort of harm on the other one.". NBC News reported that after seeing Kathleen's autopsy photos, Atwater called Margaret and said: The sisters stopped speaking after that. At this point, the couple had another daughter, Marilyn. The defense team claimed Kathleen was aware of Michael's sexuality and was fine with it, but Atwater did not believe her mother would have been accepting. When Michael Peterson and Patricia Sue lived in Germany, they befriended Elizabeth and George Ratliff and their two daughters, Margaret and Martha. Ann Atwater and C.P. "This particular night C.P. Ellis was a former grand exalted cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan in Durham, North Carolina. The two became lifelong friends, often appearing together in interviews and documentaries. [1] In the documentary An Unlikely Friendship, Atwater recalled that while working on a white owner's farm, she was given food only through the back door and after the white workers had eaten. Atwater initially declined to serve as co-chair, but reluctantly agreed to work with Ellis. Initially, they didn't even speak to one another. The only foods she could afford for her children were rice, cabbage, and fatback.