Five black Chattanooga women sued the Ku Klux Klan and won.
Their case set precedent for attorneys across the country to sue the white supremacy group for millions until Klan chapters in several states went bankrupt.
Documentarian John Beder realized that many people in Chattanooga didn’t know the story and made a film about it. The film, “How To Sue The Klan,” was so compelling that it gained national attention and won the 2024 Harlem International Film Festival Best Short Documentary Award. Beder presented the film to Camp REACH students this summer.
“We want to make history available to you,” said Mary Walker Foundation Executive Director Adrian Edwards before introducing Beder. “These five courageous women right here in Chattanooga set a precedent of cases to come from all over the country.”
The documentary told the story of how Viola Ellison, Lela Evans, Katherine Johnson, Opal Jackson, and Fannie Mae Krumsey presented a historic and groundbreaking lawsuit against the klan.
Although the women saw very little of the $535,000 that the jury awarded, they established a precedent that was used to fight and defund white supremacy across the country.
Juanita “Missy” Toney, the granddaughter of Krumsey, sat in the audience amongst teens and their parents as Beber showed the film. She answered questions after the film ended. She also started the Fannie Mae Crumsey Foundation that advocates for racial equality in honor of her grandmother.
Camp REACH Executive Administrator Elizabeth Tallman said she wants the documentary to inform and inspire campers.
“We want students to feel encouraged on their life path, to believe in themselves, that they also can achieve amazing things,” she said.
About 40 Camp Reach students sat in folding chairs at Hope City Church’s gym as the lights went out and they heard the sound of police sirens and 911 calls transporting them back in time to April 19, 1980 when three klansmen drove down East Ninth Street and unloaded two shot guns into four elderly black women standing on the corner.
The fifth woman, Krumsey was a few blocks away bent over tending her garden as the Klan fired shots again. There were so many bullet holes lodged in the area just above her head that if she had raised up, the bullets would have taken her head off, said Attorney Randolph McLaughlin, who was a co-counsel to the women during the lawsuit and one of the narrators for the film.
The women could have chosen to accept life as it was. But the women wanted justice for what happened to them and they wanted a better life for generations to come.
It took about four years to make the film, said Beder. He said producing it was difficult, but lots of people helped and the outcome has been worth the work.
“I hope after watching, you learn about these five women, but you also feel like movies like this can be made in Chattanooga about people here in Chattanooga,” said Beder
The film included McLaughlin, Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crum who also narrated the film, local journalist David Cook and Nicole Brown, a manager at Memorial Hospital who also co-produced the film.
Shawnda Hatchett, parent of Camp REACHer Samaria Allen, said the film showed how a few people could make a difference.
“They were willing to make a change,” Hatchett said. “Sometimes when one person steps up, that’s when everybody is ready to step up.”
By McKenna Garmany, 14
Camp REACH student journalist
(Camp REACH is a program of the Mary Walker Foundation)