Nov. 10, 1962 - Approximately $60,000 has been raised to rebuild three Negro churches destroyed by fire in southwest Georgia last summer after their use for voter registration rallies. All the churches were Baptist, but religious groups of other faiths have joined in the fund drive conducted by organizations and individuals, white and Negro, in the North and South. The destruction of the churches came after the civil rights controversy in Albany had spilled over into surrounding areas in the form of a Negro voter-registration campaign. Shady Grove Church in Lee County burned Aug. 15, and Mount Olive and Mount Mary (pictured), both in adjoining Terrell County, on Sept. 9. A fourth church, I Hope Baptist in Terrell County, was burned Sept. 17. Three white men of Dawson confessed to the crime and were convicted. A group led by some whites in that community are rebuilding I Hope. They have said they would refuse any outside aid.
