Atwater had been an activist for quite some time before her role in helping to solve the problems related to the desegregation of schools, which is what's focused on in the movie. They just have them. Ann Atwater and Claiborne P. Ellis had much in common, although it would take years of battling each other across the racial divide before they were able to see their similarities. She was living in dilapidated house in North Durham on $57 a month when she became an activist. C.P. Ann Atwater was used to struggling, but she hit some truly hard times. We saw that each other, you know, was making it. Ms. ATWATER: Well, thank you for talking to me. She wrote in a column that a couple of years before that committee she nearly slit his throat at a city meeting after he repeatedly used the n-word. Ann Atwater, Durham Civil Rights Activist, Dies Eventually Atwater divorced him and raised their two daughters on her own as a single mother. A housing organizer came by one evening to ask if she needed help to get repairs. When Kathleen Peterson was found dead in her home on December 9, 2001, suspicions naturally turned to the only other person in the house at the time: her husband Michael Peterson. So, where are Michael Peterson's children now? Ellis To Join Her In The Fight, A foodie, wanderlust victim, professional Francophile, and history nerd, Andrew Milne is a freelance writer who has worked at outlets like Bon Apptit and Food Network, and currently runs content at, The True Story Of Bathsheba Sherman, The Murderous Ghost From 'The Conjuring', The True Story Of Frank Lucas, The Harlem Drug Lord Who Built A Heroin Empire, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Jim Thornton/The Herald Sun Collections/University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries, Ann Atwater and C.P. Ahead of a retrial in 2017, Michael Peterson entered an Alford plea to a manslaughter charge and was released from prison. "All of this drastically changed my life, I mean, my thinking. Ann Atwater found her voice as a community activist to stand up to slumlords and bigots and yet, one of the most transformative relationships in her life was with a Klansman. People worked at job-training, took after-school tutoring, or became educated as to their rights. Newsweek has everything you need to know. She spoke at C.P. Welfare was only providing $57 a month, and she was leasing a dilapidated house where she was $100 behind her rent. She and Ellis continued their friendship to the end of their lives. NBC News reported that after seeing Kathleen's autopsy photos, Atwater called Margaret and said: The sisters stopped speaking after that. Ellis, Ann Atwater's voice was deep and powerful, and she had the ability to energize her audience. 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. Ellis Says Klan Days Have Been Over for Awhile,, This page was last edited on 1 February 2022, at 22:25. She was born in Hallsboro, N.C., the daughter of sharecroppers. Elliss funeral in 2005, Ann Atwater delivered his eulogy. Up to that point, we didnt know each other. It seems an unlikely end for a sharecroppers daughter who had taken food from the farmers back door and who had internalized that she came second. So I grabbed his hand and trying to show him how to clap along with us at the same time till we learned him how to clap. Ellis, a local Klan leader, focuses on a 10-day charrette, a community meeting that was organized in 1971 to grapple with the issue of school desegregation. Even though the Supreme Court had ruled in the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Educationcase that schools had to be desegregated, this by no means meant that there wasn't a great deal of resistance in some communities, especially in the South. But Atwater's husband struggled financially, and became alcoholic and abusive. Newsweek On the final night of the charrette, Ellis stood before the crowd and ripped up his Klan card. As seen in The Staircase on HBO Max, Caitlin's opinion changed after she saw autopsy pictures showcasing the severity of Kathleen Peterson's injuries and after learning of Michael Peterson's bisexuality. Atwater changed history in Durham, refusing to be ignored as she demanded better schools and living conditions for black residents. She said, 'Now, you ain't going to take over that thing.'" Ann Atwater was a pioneer of community organizing and black advocacy. City council members would turn their chairs away when blacks spoke. Students were getting into fights at schools over the issue. They ended up living in one small bedroom shared with another man who slept in one bed while Atwater, her husband and the baby slept in another. He stayed in touch with me; I'd call him. Ellis (portrayed by Sam Rockwell). Atwater promoted unity of the working-class African Americans through grassroots organizations. Ellis and his wife Mary had a son who they called Punkin'. The circumstances in which their mother died would raise suspicions about Michael Peterson's role in Kathleen Peterson's murder ahead of his trial. Yes. "He didn't want [integration]," said Atwater of C.P. I hated her guts.. C.P. Ellis, leader of the Durham Ku Klux Klan. When her job as a maid ended, she found herself living in a dilapidated house in North Durham on a welfare check of $57 a month. The funeral homes were still segregated, said Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, director of the School for Conversion, a community program in Durham. His turnabout came through a 10-day community meeting on school desegregation in 1971. Ann mar- The first three episodes of The Staircase premiere on Thursday, May 5, and the remaining episodes drop weekly on HBO Max. [2] Riddick recruited participants from all sectors of Durham. 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. Ann G. Atwater was born on July 1, 1935, in Hillsboro, North Carolina. Ellis, an exalted cyclops of the local Ku Klux Klan in Durham. Functionality of the site should not be affected, but things may look different. Fuller looked at the house and asked Atwater if shed like help in fixing it. The Best of Enemies fact-check revealed that Ann credited God with giving her the strength to help so many people. "They would turn their chairs around, and they were chairs that wheeled around. And she was an effective boycotter, too. In 1967, Atwater took a 17-week training course where she learned about tenant rights, housing codes and how to organize community protests. Like all historical fiction, the 2019 film The Best of Enemies takes a bit of license with reality. -An Unlikely Friendship Documentary, Yes. 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. WebIn 1971 in Durham, North Carolina, Ann Atwater tries to get better housing conditions for poor black people, and is ignored by the all-white judge panel. In October 2002, acting as administrator of her mother's estate, Caitlin Atwater filed a wrongful death claim in a civil case against Michael Peterson. As soon as he got close to me, I was going to grab his head from behind and cut him from ear to ear. She was a woman who found and used the power of her voice. One day we were working with a welfare problem, people werent getting the type help that they were supposed to get from the welfare department, so I took one of the ladies and went down to the Department of Social Services, Atwater recalled in a 2010 interview. Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media. The poor blacks of Durham had to fight both racial and class divisions: one against the whites who claimed superiority and another against the wealthier blacks who did not want to associate themselves with the lower class. The movie, which tells the story of the unlikely friendship that developed between Atwater and C.P. But much rang true. Born Ann George in the community of Hallsboro in Columbus County, North Carolina, she was pregnant and married at the age of 14. BLOCK: Why would C.P. When approached by Howard Fuller to join Operation Breakthrough, a program to help people escape poverty, Atwater found her life purpose. Accuracy and availability may vary. Initially, they didn't even speak to one another. had a machine gun, and he would show it to the city councilmen in the trunk of his car every morning. Atwater went to work as a maid, making 30 cents an hour. Atwater lived in a dilapidated house on an unpaved street in Durhams Hayti district, where she struggled to support her two daughters. During his father's trial and lengthy prison sentence, Clayton stood by his side. She made no bones about taking them out if necessary. Ann Atwater, in an interview with the Carolina Times, expressed this sentiment: Mr. Ellis has the same problems with the schools and his children as I do with mine and we now have a chance to do something for them. 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. The Best of Enemies From then on, she demanded to be heard. The program helped people gain confidence through a series of tasks to build achievement. It was learning more during the trial that made Atwater believe that Michael could have been involved in Kathleen's death. "He changed from a Klansman to a Christian, and they said I had sold out, that he was a n**ger lover." And the house was so poorly wired that when the man cut off my lights for nonpayment of [the] light bill, I could stomp on the floor and the lights would come on and Id stomp on the floor and theyd go off.. Michael and Kathleen Peterson raised a large, blended family with children from previous relationships. Atwater disliked the lack of respect many whites showed for blacks. Ellis had an especially difficult time returning to his life post-charrette, as he had lost his effectiveness in the conservative community, which he acknowledged in a toast on the last night of the charrette.

Ann Atwater was a woman to be reckoned with, a woman not to be ignored. Her bold actions so surprised the councilmen that they had to listen to her. Ellis and Atwater spoke together about their experience at events around the country, and at C.P. Atwater fought against the lack of respect that many whites showed blacks. I almost killed C.P. Ellis died last week in Durham at the age of 78. Peterson was the last person to see her alive. -An Unlikely Friendship Documentary, Yes. You gotta have somethin to look at to hate. I didn't like them. Ellis stood up and ripped apart his Klan membership card. WebKathleen had one daughter named Caitlin from her first marriage to physicist Fred Atwater, per PopSugar. 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. To her knowledge, making demands from a landlord was unheard of and she had no idea that she had the right to do so. I pulled out the knife that I kept in my hand bag and opened the blade. After their second daughter, Marilyn, was born, he left the family and moved to Richmond for a better job, according to Davidson. Ann G. Atwater He grabbed my hand and said, Dont give them the satisfaction. . That path involved a 17-week training course, where Ann Atwater learned the ropes of community organizing and the ins and outs of tenant rights along with the citys housing code. I didnt like them. Today, Todd is believed to be living in Tennessee. 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. For food, she and her daughters could only afford rice, cabbage, and gravy while she made her daughters clothes out of the bags the rice came in. I didn't like integration. She died in 2016 having won many awards and accolades for her work for the disadvantaged. On the evening of her death, the Petersons had dinner with Ratliff and her daughters. Ellis had a change of heart after a 10-day forum on integration of schools in Durham, N.C. However, more prominent members of the community felt that the issue was too hot to get involved in. Ann's granddaughter says that she's always viewed C.P. Im not following you any further. Soon, she divorced him. (Romper reached out to Michael Peterson's representatives and Netflix for additional statements.). Sadly, Elizabeth would die soon after in 1985 and Michael Peterson became the guardian of her two children. According to C.P. Despite the suspicions surrounding their mother's death, Margaret and Martha Ratliff continued to support Michael Peterson, believing he did not kill Kathleen. Your address? When addressing black people, the workers would holler at them across the room, What you here for? This embarrassed the black client, who was forced to explain private issues in front of a room full of strangers. His relationship with Ann Atwater, who attended his funeral, became the subject of a book and a documentary film, and was the favourite of all the interviews conducted by Studs Terkel. And we showed that towards each other up until we went into the 10-day meeting.. To manage the transition to racial integration, councilman Bill Riddick called a charrette. Clayton Peterson is played by Dane DeHaan, who is best known for his role as Harry Osborn/Green Goblin in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. When he requested that she and the two girls come, Atwater wrote a letter saying: I already followed you to Durham. Ellis, "and I particularly didn't want it at the time, but then I knew we were going to have to be at one school and the children had to get the best education they could. He still got my back and He always will have it as long as I keep trusting in him." "We've made it through these years, together 30 years, and we're still friends," Ann said in the documentary. Here we are, two people from the far end of the fence, having identical problems, except her being black and me being whiteThe amazing thing about it, her and I, up to that point, [had] cussed each other, bawled each other, we hated each other. The other co-chair would be C.P. Her first baby died soon after birth. 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. 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.". He invited Atwater to co-lead the charrette with C. P. Ellis, who was then the Exalted Grand Cyclops of the Durham Ku Klux Klan. Through Fuller, Ann Atwater was introduced to Operation Breakthrough. Todd Peterson is the second son of Michael Peterson, from his first marriage to Patricia Sue. I didn't like the demonstrations downtown, Ellis told NPR in a 1996 interview. She married the babys father, French Wilson, but their baby died soon after birth. She attended a Durham premiere of the film in March 2019 and answered media questions on the red carpet. Caitlin Atwater was the daughter of Kathleen and her first husband, Fred Atwater, though she was very close with the entire Peterson family. And C.P. Ellis quit the KKK. WebDid Ann Atwater's husband leave her to raise their children alone? (modern). "So that's when me and him decided that we would work for the cause and stop fussin' and arguin' because one was black and one was white. Through Operation Breakthrough, Atwater was selected for the 1971 charrette or series of planning meetings over the integration of Durhams schools. BLOCK: Well, what happened in the course of this meeting over 10 days that turned things around in the way that it did? C.P. 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. She became an activist with Operation Breakthrough and would later work with the United Organizations for Community improvement. Despite that, the couple's five children (four of whom were Michael's, all from previous relationships) stood by their dad until some information came to light that changed Kathleen's daughter's mind. Ann Atwater in an image from the 2002 documentary. She was born in Hallsboro, N.C., the daughter of sharecroppers. Ellis told an NPR interviewer that Atwater was an effective boycotter, making progress and he hated her guts. After that, Atwater went door to door telling people how they could get their landlords to fix their houses. Ann Atwater and C.P. I didn't like integration. 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. Two years later, she had another baby, whom she named Lydia, Davidson wrote. She learned to take second place.[2]. No. Ann Atwater: Grassroots Organizer and Veteran of Americas Freedom Struggle. Civil-Rights Activist, Ex-Klansman C.P. Ellis : NPR Secure websites use HTTPS certificates. Civil rights activist and former Ku Klux Klansman C.P. C.P. The couple divorced, and Atwater supported herself and her two children as a maid for 30 cents an hour, before turning to Social Services for help. How could I work with her? 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. Ellis, read about Malcolm Xs brutal assassination and Americas struggle for civil rights. 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. "I haven't been the same since I left that school program," he said years later. -An Unlikely Friendship Documentary, Yes. Yes. I didnt like the demonstrations downtown, recalled Ellis some 30 years after the charrette. Ellis was known for making provocative and inaccurate remarks expressing his fears and resentments of blacks, such as: Blacks are taking over the city.
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