"Board Approval of Negro Jobs Now Awaited."]]> A Series of articles from the *Tri-Cities Daily* and *Florence Herald* reporting on the hiring of Harrison Eugene Humes and Oscar Southard, Jr. to the Florence Police force.

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In October of 1963, Florence Chief of Police Noah Danley stated that the decision to hire black policemen was prompted by practical concerns rather than what was currently happening in the civil rights arena and that he had been considering hiring Negro officers for some time, pending the approval of the Civil Service Board. Florence was thus the first city in the Shoals to hire black officers.

In the late 1860s, during Reconstruction, Florence briefly experimented with black policemen, then again, in September of 1920 when Will Vaughn was hired to patrol the black business section of East Florence (Vaughn didn't receive a salary but was instead paid from the fines levied on offenders). ]]>

Florence Herald]]>

Florence Herald
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1963-10-30

1964-03-18

1964-03-19]]>