Pickrick Drumstick signed by Lester Maddox
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1975
name: label: Created by
content: Lester Maddox, American, 1915 - 2003
notes: label: Caption
content: Lester Maddox (1915-2003) was a restaurant owner in Atlanta with an interest in politics, having first run for mayor in 1957. His restaurant, the Pickrick Cafeteria, featured a dozen axe handles ("Pickrick Drumsticks," he called them) displayed by the front door. After passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawing segregation in public accommodations, Maddox continued to refuse to serve African Americans, running an initial group of protestors off with a pistol while his son and some customers and employees brandished the axe handles. The image became a favorite of segregationists and Maddox took to selling axe handles and other "state’s rights" souvenirs, a practice he continued from 1964 to at least the late 1980s.
label: Caption
content: Maddox sold his restaurant in 1965 and entered Georgia politics full time, serving as governor (1967-1971) and then lieutenant governor (1971-75).
label: Description
content: A Pickrick Drumstick signed by Lester Maddox. The wooden axe handle has printed type in blue ink that reads: [LESTER MADDOX'S / PICKRICK DRUMSTICK]. Next to the printing is the signature [Lester Maddox] in black ink.
label: Description
content: Lester Maddox's Pickrick Drumstick from his 1966 political campaign for Governor of Georgia. Signed "Good luck to Ray/Lester Maddox 1-25-75". Maddox would use ax handles like this one to threaten and assault Civil Rights activists attempting to integrate his restaurant.
place: label: Place used
content: Georgia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: American South
label: Topic
content: Civil Rights
label: Topic
content: Politics
label: Topic
content: Race discrimination
label: Topic
content: Segregation
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1961-1969
label: Topic
content: Violence
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Weapons and Ammunition
label: Exhibition
content: Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation, 1876-1968
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 2, C 2053
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Michael Donnelly
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2011.123
objectType: label: Type
content: handles
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: wood
label: Dimensions
content: 36 x 2 x 3 in. (91.4 x 5.1 x 7.6 cm)