J. Douglas Wetmore Explained
Judson Douglas Wetmore (died 1930) was a lawyer in Jacksonville, Florida. He and Isaac Lawrence Purcell challenged state law requiring segregated streetcars (Avery Law).[1]
A nasty comic of him relating to a city council election was published.[2]
He corresponded with W. E. B. Du Bois.[3] He was a childhood friend and business partner of James Weldon Johnson.[4] He wrote to Booker T. Washington.[5]
Wetmore moved to New York City with his family. He criticized discrimination at the federal level. Booker T. Washington was critical of him.[6]
James Weldon Johnson fictionalized an African American passing as white in his book, An Ex-Colored Man.[7] He advertised his office at 5 Beekman Street in New York City.[8]
He had two brothers.[9] In 1930 his health was failing and he committed suicide by shooting himself at his summer home in Greenwich, Connecticut.[10] He married twice and had three children.[10]
Notes and References
- Web site: Lawyer Wetmore Wins the Case! ยท Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909. Blackvirginia.richmond.edu.
- Web site: Political cartoon depicting J. Murdoch Barrs and J. Douglas Wetmore.. Floridamemory.com. June 5, 2022.
- Web site: Letter from J. Douglas Wetmore to W. E. B. Du Bois, October 20, 1903. Credo.library.umass.edu.
- Web site: 4 racial protests and riots from Jacksonville's past | Modern Cities. Moderncities.com.
- Book: Booker T. Washington Papers Volume 11: 1911-12. Assistant Editor, Geraldine McTigue. Booker T.. Washington. Louis R.. Harlan. Geraldine R.. McTigue. Louis R.. Harlan. May 30, 1981. University of Illinois Press. 9780252008870 . Google Books.
- Web site: "To Maintain Our Self-Respect": The Jacksonville Challenge to Segregated Street Cars and the Meaning of Equality, 1900-1906. PDF. Shira Levine. Micvhiganjournalhistory.files.wordpress.com. June 5, 2022.
- Web site: lection: passing strange. Tmorris.utasites.cloud.
- Web site: The Crisis. May 30, 1912. The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc.. Google Books.
- Book: Johnson, James Weldon. The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (International Student Edition) (Norton Critical Editions). April 4, 2016. W. W. Norton & Company. 9780393614633 . Google Books.
- News: Obituary for Judson Douglas Wetmore . The New York Age . 2 August 1930 . 1 .
