Lucille Times Collection
LUCILLE TIMES COLLECTION
Lucille Times marched the entire 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery (1965). Her home housed 34 marchers, both black and white and from all over the country. She and her husband, Charles, owned Times' Cafe, a hub for the movement.
Biography
Lucille Sharp was born in Montgomery County in 1922. She attended public and private schools in Montgomery, Alabama, Muskegon Heights (Michigan) and Chicago. She completed some undergraduate work at Alabama State College and Huntingdon College. She earned Licensed-Practice Nursing and Mortuary Science certificates.
On February 3, 1939, she married Charlie Times (d.2/7/78). He served in the World War II theatre. Though the couple had no children, they raised in their home 25 relatives’ children. The Times joined the NAACP in 1939. When the NAACP was outlawed in the 1950s in Alabama, they risked their safety by holding clandestine NAACP meetings in their home.
The Times became registered voters in 1950 after many, many attempts from 1945-50 even though Charlie Times was a WW II veteran.
The Times owned Times Café (1952-1986), located at 1300 South Holt Street. The café, affectionately called "Sugar Hill," was the hub of activity during the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Civil/Voting Rights Movement. As part of the "people’s transportation system," Mrs. Times was often stopped by Montgomery police and had to appear in court.
Mrs. Times marched the entire route from the base of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma to the State Capitol in the 1965 March for Voting Rights. Eighteen (18) marchers from around the country and of all races stayed in the Times’ home during and after the Voting Rights March.
Mrs. Lucille Times worked for the National Black Caucus on Aging and the Environmental Protection Agency. She also served as a substitute teacher in the Montgomery Public School system.
Inventory of the Lucille Times Papers and Artifacts, 1922-
Processed by: Dr. Gwendolyn M. Patton, Archivist
Date Completed: May 2001
Copyright 2000
H. Councill Trenholm State Community College. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Descriptive Summary Administrative Information Scope and Content
Biography Index Container List
Descriptive Summary
Title: Lucille Times Papers and Artifacts, 1922-
Collection Numbers: Barcode #s 403000 and 403001
Creator: Lucille Times
Size: 3 cu ft
Repository: H. Councill Trenholm State Community College
Administrative Information ProvenanceGift of Lucille Times, 2000
Scope and Content
The Lucille Times Papers and Artifacts document her specific involvement in the Victory Dance of the successful 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, held at the Elks Club in 1956, and her her 54-mile trek, along with hundreds of others, in the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March. Her Personal Papers include correspondences, certificates, news articles and completed "Citizenship School" practice test.Lucille Times Papers and Artifacts, 1922
H. Councill Trenholm State Community College Archives
Container List
1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott
Box 1 (#403001)
After-5, black chiffon *bleep*tail dress with matching black-crepe cape worn at Victory Dance at the Elks Club, southern Pride Lodge,
#431, I.B.P.O.E.W.
1965 Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March
Box 2 (403000)
Marching/demonstration attire, to include pants, 2 shirts, sweater, lamb’s-wool hat and sandles.
Personal Papers
Resume; correspondences to and from Vice President Al Gore, Al District Attorney Jimmy Evans, Rosa Parks; Charlie Times’ military papers; Charlie Times’ filled out literacy test used in "Citizenship Schools" to practice answering questions before going to the voter’s registration office in the attempt to become a registered voter.