Sharon Davies

In 1921 in Birmingham, Alabama a Catholic priest , sitting on his porch, is shot and killed by a Methodist minister.
Ruth Stephenson is 18 years old and defies her oppressive Methodist parents and becomes a Catholic. Their heavy handed parenting skills and their bigoted attitudes are not very popular with the young girl but under Alabama law there is little she can do unless she is married. This she does - to a Catholic - and further incenses her parents, resulting in her father shooting Fr James Coyle, the Catholic priest. He then surrenders to the local authorites claiming "self defence".
The book provides a background of all parties, and the attitudes of the times (much anti everything not white, nearly everyone of authority in the Klu Klux Klan, and religious intolerance) and follows the trial to its outcome.
An interesting read. I hope we have come a very long way since then.… (mer)

Written by a lawyer, this the horrifying and fascinating account of a Catholic priest in Birmingham, Alabama who was shot to death on the front porch of his rectory by a so-called Methodist minister. The priest had married his daughter to a Puerto Rican. The minister's lawyer, the famous Hugo Black, managed without too much trouble, to get the minister acquitted . The author presents a vivid, ugly picture the racial and religious intolerance that was so prevalent in the nation, particularly in the South in the early 20th century.… (mer)

Well researched, detailed, and thoroughly enjoyable. I personally enjoyed getting the facts in this case, because I'm directly related to Edwin Roscoe Stephenson, and I wanted to get the facts about the case. My grandmother told the story to family members, and I found that the story that has been passed down is pretty true to the facts that Sharon Davies presents save one. (I contacted the author to see if she knew about what we'd been told but so far haven't heard back yet.)

I found the book to be very objective considering the subject matter, and the author really did her homework in researching the case. It's incredbile to think that not so long ago a man shot another man in cold blood and got off scot free.

I had read "The Reverend's Revenge" about the same subject and was disappointed in it, so bought "Rising Road" to see if I could get a better idea of what really happened in Birmingham in 1921. I'm glad I bought the book and can highly recommend it. History can sometimes be boring, but in this book Sharon Davies tells the story so well that it's anything but boring.… (mer)