The Civil Rights Commission

George Wallace, the circuit-court judge of Montgomery, refused to turn over voting records stating “[t]hey are not going to get the records. And if any agent of the Civil Rights Commission comes down to get them, they will be locked up.” (George Wallace) 

Hesburgh issued a subpoena to get Wallace to turn over the records. "In Montgomery they were telling black Ph.D.s from Tuskegee Intsitute that they could not vote because the rednecks, were not yet "ready" to let them vote." (Theodore Hesburgh, p.182)

The record showed over 1,600 African Americans were denied the vote. The court ordered every African American that was denied be registered immediately. Hesburgh's determination in finding facts showed he would not back down. 

The Black Belt counties included 16 counties that were 70% - 80% African American, yet not one was registered to vote.  John Battle, a Southerner on the Commission, asked Father Hesburgh for advice.  "Father Ted do you think I ought to speak out strongly on this?" Hesbugh responded, "John your speaking out strongly would mean a lot more than my speaking out strongly.  You're a Southerner, a highly respected Southerner, and they all know that."

Battle later spoke against those trying to slow down the hearings.  "I am a Southerner and I take a dim veiw of intergration of schools and a lot of other things they are talking about up North, but I don't take a dim veiw of voting. Voting is a centeral part of democracy, if citizens have basic intelligance they ought to be able to vote."

One African American that testified served in the US Army.  Despite his proper documentation, Southerners still stopped him from registering.  When he was done testifying, Hesburgh announced "I want you to go back to that registration place tomorrow morning and tell them that you testified at this hearing.  You tell them that you want them to register you forthwith to vote.  If they don't . . I want you to call me immediately and let me know, because I will then call the President of the United States, who was the top general in the U.S. Army, and I will tell him that one of his officers is being prevented from voting in Louisiana.  I can promise you that the President will make things so hot for everyone . . . that they will wish they had never heard of you." (Hesburgh, p.185) The next day the man was a registered voter.  

"It occurred to me that I had the wherewithal to take all my friends on the commission to a far better place, where we could confer without interruptions and get right down to writing our final report" (Hesburgh, p.187). This place was Notre Dame's Research area in Wisconsin known as Land O' Lakes.

What seemed like an impossible task with an "us vs them" mentality became manageable at Land O' Lakes.   Hesburgh felt the first night went well as they connected over a shared love - fishing.​​​​​​​ "The battle-weary Commission  unwound,  relaxed, and made a startling discovery: Every one of the Commissioners, it turned out, was an  ardent fisherman, and the Lord must have been with us . . . because we all caught a lot of fish." (Theodore Hesburgh)The men bonded and fished everyday while talking about the hearings. "When it got too dark to continue fishing together around a big table on a screened in porch. Everyone was feeling very mellow because of the great fishing, the driest martinis, and the great dinner. The staff and I trotted out our 12 recommendations and told the Commissioners we were ready to have them go on them." (Theodore Hesburgh)