March On

The oligarchy is rapidly consuming the United States government, but there’s hope in the stories about mass protests. Look at South Korea’s swift reaction to its former president’s attempt to declare martial law.[1] See also the thousands of people in the streets of Georgia (the country).[2] And recall, too, the group power we used to fight in 2017.

In March 1956, a protest in Los Angeles proved effective within two weeks: the Currie’s Ice Cream Company promised to end its “lilywhite hiring policy” and “‘hire Negroes in all of the stores that are located in Negro communities.’”[3] The man behind the boycott, Adolphus Clay, was a barber.[4] He was “affronted by the sight of Negroes spending their money where they couldn’t work.”[5]

Adolphus was born in 1898 in Missouri, to Nazier and Florence (Triplett) Clay.[6] By 1910, the family had moved to westward, and lived in Powhattan, Kansas.[7] There, his sister was born. Nazier and Florence likely divorced before 1920; Nazier remained in Kansas while Florence, Adolphus, and Lorraine migrated to Oregon.[8]

That 1956 ice cream parlor protest was not Adolphus’s first foray into activism, nor was it his last. In May 1946, he was elected by the Journeyman Barbers Local 295 of Los Angeles “as delegate to the state convention of the Association of Barbers, Hairdressers and Cosmetologists,” notwithstanding the 90% white membership of the union.[9] It was the first time the union had voted for a Black man to represent them.

He was active in the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, presenting the accomplishments and future programs of the Civil Liberties department at a 1952 meeting held in Balboa Park, San Diego.[10] In 1955, he was among the candidates for “Leading Citizen of L.A.,” a contest sponsored by a bourbon company.[11] And ten years later, he raised funds to support the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.[12]

Adolphus married in 1931, to Olivette, a native of Kentucky.[13] In an article about the leading citizens contest, he said “‘She has given me courage in my course and happiness in the home . . . ‘What more can a man ask for?’”[14]

Adolphus Clay died 7 October 1981, in Los Angeles.[15] With no apparent descendants, it seems his contributions to the community and the country were not publicly memorialized.[16]

Resisting injustice takes people willing to stand up, to speak out, to put themselves on the line. Find your community, like Adolphus Clay did. Work within that community, like he did. It is in community that we can and will find strength. We do not know what the future holds, but if we stand together, we can prevail.

[1] Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_South_Korean_martial_law_crisis), “2024 South Korean martial law crisis,” revised 31 January 2025, 14:03. All websites were visited 2 February 2025.

[2] Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024%E2%80%932025_Georgian_protests), “2024–2025 Georgian protests,” revised 2 February 2025, 16:47.

[3] “New boycott, inspired by Montgomery, breaks Currie’s,” The Los Angeles (California) Tribune, p. 1, cols. 1-2; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/999843806/).

Currie’s was a popular ice cream parlor throughout Southern California “from the 1930s through the 1960s.”Currie’s Ice Cream parlor, 1521 W. Whittier Blvd, Montebello, Los Angeles, 1946,” blog post, Martin Turnbull, Martin Turnbull (https://martinturnbull.com/2023/09/22/curries-ice-cream-parlor-1521-w-whittier-blvd-montebello-los-angeles-1946-2/ : posted 22 September 2023).

[4] Ibid., p. 2, col. 4.

[5] Ibid.

[6] 1950 U.S. census, Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, enumeration district (ED) 66-1740, sheet 18, household 185, line 30, Adolphus Clay; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/).

Nazier Clay married Florence M. Triplett on 3 April 1897. Clinton County, Missouri, Marriage Records, 3:275, Clay–Tripplett, 1897; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1171/records/1999325).

[7] 1910 U.S. census, Brown, Kansas, Powhattan, ED 32, sheet 18B, dwell. 39, fam. 40, Adolphus (12), Lorraine (9), and Florence (33) in household of N.A. Clay; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/records/7842211).

[8] In 1920, Nazier resided alone and was enumerated as divorced. 1920 U.S. census, Brown, Kansas, Horton, ED 28, sheet 8B, dwell. 185, fam. 195, Nazier A. Clay; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/records/47164220).

1920 U.S. census, Multnomah, Oregon, Portland, ED 132, sheet 7A, dwell. 119, fam. 195, Adolphus (22) in household of Florence M. Clay; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/records/67192797).

[9] “Adolphus Clay to represent union at state meetings,” Los Angeles (California) Tribune, 4 May 1936, p. 9, col. 4; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/999746405/).

[10] “Mayor Butler Welcome Elks to San Diego,” Los Angeles (California) Tribune, 12 June 1952, p. 3, col. 2; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/999839804/).

[11] “Last chance to vote in Old Charter’s ‘Leading Citizen of L.A.’ contest,” Los Angeles (California) Tribune, 30 Sept 1955, p. 5, cols. 1-2; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/999842017).

[12] “Bishop Primm Leads L.A. Group to Selma March,” Los Angeles (California) Herald Examiner, p. 8, col. 5; imaged, Newsbank.com (https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ccclez.idm.oclc.org).

[13] “Happy marriages basis of community service of Old Charter unselfish leader entries,” Los Angeles (California) Tribune, p. 12, cols. 1-5; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/999841802/).

1950 U.S. census, Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, ED 60-378, sheet 6A, household 119, line 17, Olivette Clay (43, b. Kentucky) in household of Adolphus Clay; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/records/74092140).

He likely first married in 1921, to Cordelia Taylor. “Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906–1971,”database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61677/records/121807416), Taylor–Clay, 8 Mar 1921.

[14] Happy marriages basis of community service of Old Charter unselfish leader entries,” Los Angeles (California) Tribune, p. 12, cols. 1-5.

Olivette died in 1966; she shares a gravestone with Theodore Schaffer, Adolphus’s nephew. FindAGrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148588168/theodore-milton-schaffer), memorial 148588168, Theodore Schaffer (1922–1973), Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles, California; memorial by Jax (48121323).

Theodore was born to Lorraine Clay and Milton Schaffer 28 February 1922. Multnomah County, Portland, “Birth Certificates, 1842–1923,”database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61676/records/757827), birth certificate no. 7853, Theodore Milton Schaffer, 28 Feb 1922.

[15] “California, U.S., Death Index, 1940–1997,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5180/records/1351740), entry for Adolphus B. Clay.

[16] Searches in Newspapers.com, NewspaperArchive, OldNews, and GenealogyBank did not find an obituary.