Devil in the Grove

“…the nigger Shepherd...the nigger Irvin...the nigger Greenlee...” 

This phrase, uttered by Norma Padgett as she identifies her supposed attackers in court, sends a “chill through the courtroom” and will contrast strongly with her wan and indifferent showing at the retrial. King describes her as uttering the phrase with her “pale index finger extended [...] like a young schoolteacher counting heads in class.” (3)

“You know, sometimes I get awfully tired of trying to save the white man’s soul.” 

A well-known quote from Marshall, this illustrates the “battle fatigue” he experienced as the Groveland case dragged on into the 1950s. Fatigue, emotional lows, and health problems mark Marshall’s career at various times in this account; they form the other side to the coin of his joviality and perseverance.

“They came in their jalopy cars and their overalls. [...] All they wanted to do—if they could—was just touch him, just touch him, Lawyer Marshall, as if he were a god.” 

Perhaps no quote better sums up the reverence in which Marshall is held by many in the black community, who look upon him as a savior figure because of his civil rights battles. Wherever he goes Marshall is welcomed with hospitality and gratitude, with women delivering him lunch at court and men fixing broken-down cars to drive him here and there (5).