“Charles credited his mother for his activism. He remembered that she refused to sit in the upstairs Jim Crow section of a Clinton movie theater. Her activism, he suggests, ‘kind of rubbed off on him.'” – George William McDaniel, Annals of Iowa, 2001

A newspaper clipping discussing Charles Toney’s activism within John Deere and the Quad Cities

Toney v. Baxter 1945

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court desegregated schools in a landmark case for the Civil Rights Movement, known as Brown v. Board of Education. But successful Civil Rights cases did not start there. In Iowa, they started with Charles and Ann Toney.

After a date in 1943, Charles and Ann were refused service by waitress Dorothy Baxter at the Colonial Fountain in Davenport because they were black. The next day, Charles filed a complaint at the county attorney’s office under the Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1884. Two years later on August 3rd, 1945 the trial began. Ms. Baxter, the waitress, admitted that she was against Civil Rights. The jury deliberated for ten minutes before finding Ms. Baxter guilty.

As the first successful Civil Rights Case in the state of Iowa, this showed the Toney’s willingness to fight for their rights on a local level, a path that would lead to successful national cases later on. To read more about the Toney’s case click here.

Catholic Interracial Council

Charles formed the Davenport Catholic Interracial Council (CIC) in 1959 and was president of the organization until 1969. The CIC worked to improve race relations locally, nationally, and internationally. In order to recognize people for their work in peace and justice, the CIC created the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom award in 1964. The recipient of the first annual award in 1964 was John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States. The award was given in his honor, since he had been killed one year earlier. Mr. Kennedy’s wife, Jacqueline, wrote Charles a letter thanking him for recognizing her husband.

The second annual award was given to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When Dr. King, a respected icon for the National Movement came to Davenport, it showed that local civil rights work had an impact on the national level. However,  J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI,  did not like Dr. King, so he tried to have the whole ceremony stopped. But Charles and his friends were determined that the ceremony would continue. As president of the CIC, Charles presented Dr. King the award himself. To read an article published by the Quad City Times on the FBI’s involvement click here >> “FBI Bucked It”.

To learn more about the FBI’s involvement in Dr. King’s work go to the Outside Resources page. 

Dr. King gave a long acceptance speech that highlighted the progress that had been made in America, but he also talked about how long the country still had to go before discrimination was a thing of the past. You can listen to a part of the speech below. 

Charles Toney presenting the Pacem in Terris award to Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

To hear the whole speech, go to For Educators. To read a transcript of this excerpt click on this link >> Excerpt of Dr. King’s speech

Additional Civil Rights Activism

Charles was the president of the Davenport NAACP in 1945 and remained so for many years, before eventually handing the position over to his wife Ann. But Charles was involved in many other organizations as well. In the late 1940’s Charles and Ann were members of the League of Social Justice, which was a short-lived student organization (to read more about it click here).

In the Press

Sepia Record, 1944. Pictured: Charles Toney Jr. with a pastor.

In 1944 Charles and Ann began publishing a magazine that they called Sepia Record. According to Charles, they started the publication because “the black community never got any press locally. And the only time they made the news was when they committed a crime.” Sepia Record was a way to showcase local members of the black community in their achievements. It also depicted the National Civil Rights Movement. The content was written, edited, and put together entirely by Charles and Ann.  Sepia Record had only two issues before it was disbanded in 1945.

 

On the Course

Charles Toney, golfing with a few friends.

Throughout his life, Charles was an avid golfer. While working for Deere & Co. in 1972 Charles’ colleagues questioned why he was not a member of the local country club, Crow Valley Country Club. Charles was hesitant to apply for membership because he was black. His colleague, William Straley, told Charles that the country club would not dare to deny him based on the color of his skin. But when Charles applied, his application was rejected. Several executives in Deere & Co., withdrew their membership from the club because of Charles’ denial. Soon after, the president of Crow Valley called an emergency meeting of the board and Charles was then voted into the club. This decision made Charles the first black member in the history of Crow Valley Country Club. 

 

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