"Rising Road" by Sharon Davies

America at the close of World War One was a diverse mixture of nationalities and religions. By the early 1920’s the Ku Klux Klan had re-organized and begun a campaign of xenophobia and hatred that spread across the land. At the same time there was a growing Socialist movement involved in labor organization. All this served to pit one American against another, either along the lines of religion or race, politics or money.

Beneath the emerging prosperity there was a growing discontent and intolerance for views that differed from ones own. By 1925 the Klan was marching in Washington, DC, unopposed, down Pennsylvania Avenue and past the White House.

Catholicism was under severe attack. Its adherents were likened to “cross kissers” and “papists.” Into this seething cauldron that was America in the summer of 1921, two people married. This seemingly innocent event would turn into a sensational murder trial involving the girl’s father, Edwin Stephenson,(a former barber turned lay minister)Reverend James Coyle,(the local Catholic Priest) and Hugo Black,(a KKK sympathizer who would go on to become a Supreme Court Justice.)

Ms. Davies has done the seemingly impossible with this book. She has at once presented us with a true life murder-mystery, as well as a complete and accurate overview of the social issues of the time. No easy task.

The two lovers who bought about this commotion are of great interest. The girl, Ruth Stephenson, a Protestant,who is fascinated by the Catholic Church, meets Pedro Gussman at the age of 13 when he is doing some work at her family's home. He is a practicing Catholic from Puerto Rico. He is 24 years older. This is a doomed relationship from the start. The three strikes of race, religion and age make it imposssible for the couple to begin dating a few years after they meet.

Added to this combustible mix is Mr. Stephenson's lack of work as a barber. After accidentally shooting himself in the foot he can no longer stand for long periods of time. He becomes a Protestant lay preacher. Birmingham was a thriving town where many runaways went to get married in civil ceremonies. Mr. Stephenson takes to wandering the steps of the court house in an effort to seek out and marry these young wayward couples in the eyes of God. This effort is frowned upon by the Reverend Coyle, who feels not only that his church is being cheated of the revenue afforded by these marraiges, but also that these marraiges are not valid in the eyes of God.

Ruth's growing relationship with Pedro only fuels her passion for the rituals of his Catholicism and she decides to convert and marry him in the Catholic Church. She is 18 and does not need, nor does she seek, her parents consent. This enrages Mr. Stephenson to the point of confronting Reverend Coyle on the porch of his rectory. What happens there triggers this sensational trial for the Reverends' murder.

There is no doubt that Mr. Stephenson did it, there were witnesses to the act. The trial, instead turns on the "why" behind the murder. Was Ruth brainwashed into becoming Catholic? Aren't Puerto Ricans merely light skinned blacks, as claimed by future Justice Black? And therefore not entitled to marrying outside of their race? The fact that Hugo Black would go on to become such a stalwart advocate of Civil Rights only makes the book more interesting.

The motivations of all the characters involved is mind boggling. Every one has an ulterior motive for the verdict they wish to see. Race, religion and politics, a volatile mixture back in the 1920's, has not changed all that much. The racists seek to keep another group down socially, while the religious crowd tries to force their particular God down your throat and the politicians attempt to walk a fine line, attempting to satisfy us all, on their way to higher office at our expense. One of the arguments presented by the Defense touches upon what would later become known as the "Miranda Decision", in which a defendants right to counsel is affirmed by the arresting authority. This was not done in Mr. Stephenson's case, and Hugo Black skillfully uses this argument to cast doubt upon the evidence for the Prosecution, which included Mr. Stephenson's confession on the night of the murder.

Mr. Stephenson is freed by a jury that takes it's course from the Bible, rather than enacted law. Mrs. Gussman never reconciles with her parents, citing "years of abuse" as her reason. This is a riveting book with applications to today's world and our continued division over these same issues.