Anne Braden

1954. After Anne and Carl Braden bought a house in a white suburb of Louisville for Andrew Wade and his wife, an African- American couple, a cross was burned nearby, shots were fired into it, and finally, the Wade home was bombed. Although it was common knowledge who did it, the grand jury called the Bradens to testify.

The day they met, September 15, was my son's third birthday. I was the first one called. I'd only been there a few minutes when I realized it was not the bombing that was under investigation. It was me! They began by asking me what organizations I belonged to and what books I had in my house. I'd heard that questions like those were being asked by HUAC, but I didn't expect them from the grand jury. I told them, "It's none of your business what my affiliations or reading habits are. It doesn't have a thing to do with who blew up this house." The same thing happened when Carl went there. The next day the prosecutor made a statement that there were two theories about the bombing. One was that the neighbors blew it up to get the Wades out. The other was that it was a Communist plot to stir up trouble between the races and bring about the overthrow of the governments of Kentucky and the United States. By the beginning of October, those of us who had been openly supportive of the Wades were charged with sedition.