"On August 27, 1960, more than 200 whites with ax handles and baseball bats attacked members of the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP in downtown Jacksonville who were sitting in at white lunch counters protesting racism and segregation. Referred to as Ax Handle Saturday, [this book] chronicles the racial and political climate of Jacksonville, Florida in the late fifties, the events leading up to that infamous day, and the aftermath."--Jacket.

First edition was published in 2008.

Jacksonville and the Duval County School System, circa late fifties and early sixties -- News for and about the colored people of Jacksonville -- Rutledge Pearson and the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP -- Earl Johnson -- The black church -- The Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP and the 1960 sit-in demonstrations -- Richard Charles Parker -- The Boomeranges -- August 27, 1960 Ax Handle Saturday -- Mrs. Ruby Hurley -- August 28, 1960, the day after Ax Handle Saturday -- Richard Charles Parker II -- Dr. Martin Luther King -- The first kneel-in -- The NAACP mass meetings -- Reverend Charles White McGehee -- Judge Marion Gooding -- Mayer Haydon Burns -- The Jacksonville Chronicle -- State Representative George Stallings -- Telling the Ax Handle Saturday story -- The bi-racial committee -- Warren Folks -- Summary -- Mr. Pearson's death -- The Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP hall of fame.