Youth Groups Meet. Indorse N. A. A. C. P. Protest on Joe Louis Movie Hours

ID: 546 ~ Source: "Youth Groups Meet. Indorse N. A. A. C. P. Protest on Joe Louis Movie Hours," Portsmouth Times (11 February 1938): 11. Historic Portsmouth Newspaper Collection, Center for Public History Archive, Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio. ~ Date: 11 February 1938

This file appears in: Portsmouth NAACP Protests Jim Crow at the Westland Theater: Screening of Joe Louis's “The Spirit of Youth” Sparks Controversy in 1938

Newspaper headline for the "mass meeting" held at Pleasant Green Baptist Church to protest the Westland Theater's segregated screening of Joe Louis's film, "Spirit of Youth."

This file appears in: Portsmouth NAACP Protests Jim Crow at the Westland Theater: Screening of Joe Louis's “The Spirit of Youth” Sparks Controversy in 1938

Portsmouth NAACP Protests Jim Crow at the Westland Theater: Screening of Joe Louis's “The Spirit of Youth” Sparks Controversy in 1938

By Andrew Lee Feight, Ph.D.

In February 1938, Joe Louis was just starting his reign as heavy-weight champion of the world, having won the title the previous June when he knocked out James J. Braddock. Portsmouth, Ohio, like the…