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The New Light House of Prayer was one of two Greenville churches damaged in arson fires and then rebuilt 25 years ago. File photo
The City of Greenville was the center of nationwide media attention 25 years ago, following two arson fires at local churches.
A fire was reported at the New Light House of Prayer late on the night of June 9, 1996, followed by a fire early the next morning at the Church of the Living God.
The blazes occurred on the same weekend as some 30 pastors met with then-Attorney General Janet Reno about a string of suspicious fires at predominantly black churches across the south, which prompted the creation of the federal Church Arson Task Force.
Contributing Writer
R andy Stewart and his son, Austin, had a brain storm one day. They are patriotic people and, wishing they had a flag pole for an American Flag (the 4th of July was coming up), they did the next best thing. They painted the American flag on their barn roof. Yep. They didn’t realize how much work it was going to be, but once they got started, it was hard to quit. They went to work with scaffolding, and ladders, and chalk-lines, and paint brushes, and cans of spray paint. The result is an eye catching, 12′ x 32′ American flag on their barn roof, which faces the road at 1406 310th St., Salem, Iowa. It’s known as Stewart Acres.
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Remembering Bruce Carver Boynton, anti-segregation fighter and Freedom Ride inspiration December 21, 2020 2:19 PM CDT By Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II And Elliott Smith
At left, Bruce Carver Boynton in a recent photo. At right, an NAACP Freedom Bus in 1961. | AP and Florida State Archives
On Dec. 20, 1958, exactly 62 years ago, a young law student on his way home for the holiday break was on the brink of setting the country one step forward towards racial equality. His arrest on misdemeanor charges in a racially charged case resulted two years later in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation in public transportation. Bruce Carver Boynton, the student and plaintiff in