Rev. William Kirby Seals, Sr.

Seals Family History and Cookbook

Rev. William Kirby Seals, Sr. (May 10, 1905 – August 22, 1981)

Civic Leader, W. K. Seals, dies
Jackson Sun
08/23/1981

By KEVIN BARNARD
Jackson Sun Reporter

The Rev. W. K. Seals, 76, a religious, civic and minority leader in Jackson for more than 10 years, died Saturday afternoon after apparently suffering a heart attack at his home at 444 N. Hays Ave. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital.

It was the Rev. Seals’ fourth heart attack since a massive coronary in 1975, said his wife, Mrs. Alena Seals. She said the second, in 1979, and the third, which sent him to the hospital in May, were minor.

The Rev. Seals had been Jackson’s Affirmative Action officer since about 1978, monitoring compliance with federal regulations concerning hiring of minorities in city departments. He also served as an informal community relations officer, helping residents in need of city assistance or relief.

During the early 1970s, Rev. Seals served as president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. During that time he participated with James L. Buchanan and Genevieve R. Brooks in a class action lawsuit challenging Jackson’s three-man commission form of government.

That lawsuit – which alleged the commission form, diluted the voting strength of minorities – The lawsuit was dismissed in March by U.S. District Judge Odell Horton, and is now on appeal.

The Rev. Seals had been pastor of Berean Baptist Church since about 1970.

He was born and raised in Houston, Miss., attending Rust College in Holly Springs, Miss., and graduating from A and M College in Alcorn, Miss. The Rev. Seals was principal of Houston (Miss.) Junior High School for about five years.

He later graduated from the Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville and moved to Jackson.

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The article listed above was published in the Jackson Sun Newspaper on August 23, 1981.  It, along with the information from the reference links listed below, gives a synopsis of the work Cousin Kirby did in the area of civil rights.  His work not only influenced voting rights and city government structure changes in the City of Jackson, but it also led to electoral and government structure changes in Clarksville and Chattanooga, Tenn.

I learned about Cousin Kirby’s civil rights activities when I took a trip to Jackson, Tenn., on October 18, 2017.  I had promised Cousin Dorothy Lipson, Rev. Kirby’s daughter on last spring that I would visit her before the year came to an end.  So, I was happy to fulfill that promise. 

Upon my arrival, we sat on the porch for a while and discussed Seals’ family gossip.  Several minutes into our conversation, I asked her to tell me some things about her dad.  She explained how her dad was instrumental in bringing voter rights to minorities in the city of Jackson.  I nearly fell off my chair as I had no idea that someone in our family had been such an important figure in the civil rights movement. 

She continued to talk about her dad and about her two brothers, the late William Kirby Seals, Jr., and Cecil Depriest Seals.  Then she unexpectedly asked if I would go with her to City Hall, which was only a mile or so away.  So we got into my car and drove to the City Hall building located in the heart of downtown.  We walked through the lobby toward the security guard’s desk then turned left.  And there on the wall was a plaque with the image of Rev. William Kirby Seals, Sr., along with the images of Genevieve R. Brooks and James L. Buchanan.  The three individuals were recognized, and their images were placed on the wall of City Hall as pioneers in the struggle for civil rights for all the citizens of Jackson. 

What an impressive legacy Cousin Kirby has left for us.  First, a lesson that we have an obligation to pull others up by their bootstraps, and second, throw away your selfish ambitions and do whatever you can to improve the lives of your fellowman.  Cousin Kirby spent over 10 years fighting the City of Jackson for an equal form of government, a fight that eventually led to a class action lawsuit against the City of Jackson (Buchanan v City Of Jackson, Tenn.).  He could have gone about his business and merely pastored Berean Baptist Church; but he chose instead to use his God-given energy and talents to help mankind in the area of civil rights.  We, as members of the Seals family, could learn something from his failures, and successes. 

Rev. William Kirby Seals, Sr.

This plaque is displayed on the wall in Jackson City Hall, Jackson, Tenn.

 

Wikipedia (look under 20th Century)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson,_Tennessee

In 1977 three city residents filed suit against the city in US District Court, in Buchanan v. City of Jackson (1988), (683 F.Supp. 1515), challenging the structure and electoral system of the city government because the at-large voting had diluted the voting power of the city’s significant minority of African-American residents. (According to the 1980 Census, the city population was 49,074, of which 16,847, or 34.3%, were black.) Since 1915, no black person had ever been elected to, or served on, the Board of Commissioners. The court found this commission electoral system was found to be discriminatory in effect. Over the decades, the African-American minority was effectively closed out of city government. The case was appealed and affirmed; the defendants ultimately proposed a new system approved in 1988 by the court. By a new city charter, in 1989 the city created a Board of Commission based on nine single-member districts. The mayor is elected at-large.

Similar legal challenges to the electoral and city systems in Clarksville and Chattanooga led to changes in their city charters to establish more numerous members of a city council or board of commission, to be elected from single-member districts. As a result, more African-American and women candidates have been elected as representatives.

JUSTIA US Law

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/683/1515/2268207/

 

Rev. William Kirby Seals, Sr., and Alena P. Seals

Burial Site: Elmwood Cemetery Jackson, Tenn.