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Lankford was the son of Robert and Mary Asalee Kilgo Lankford. He grew up in [[Hokes Bluff]] in [[Etowah County]] where his father worked at a steel plant. He enrolled at the [[University of Alabama]] as a journalism major and was exceptional for joining "[[The Machine]]" without having pledged to a campus fraternity. During his senior year he served as editor of ''[[The Crimson White]]'' student newspaper. He continued at Alabama, earning a master's degree in journalism and began his career in Columbus, Georgia before joining the ''Birmingham News'' as a police reporter in [[1959]].
Lankford was the son of Robert and Mary Asalee Kilgo Lankford. He grew up in [[Hokes Bluff]] in [[Etowah County]] where his father worked at a steel plant. He enrolled at the [[University of Alabama]] as a journalism major and was exceptional for joining "[[The Machine]]" without having pledged to a campus fraternity. During his senior year he served as editor of ''[[The Crimson White]]'' student newspaper. He continued at Alabama, earning a master's degree in journalism and began his career in Columbus, Georgia before joining the ''Birmingham News'' as a police reporter in [[1959]].


As a young reporter Lankford worked closely with law enforcement and with assistant publisher [[Vincent Townsend]] during the 1960s. He photographed the violent reception given the [[Freedom Rides|Freedom Riders]] in May [[1961]].
As a young reporter Lankford worked closely with law enforcement and with assistant publisher [[Vincent Townsend]] during the 1960s, often participating in surveillance operations that exceeded ethical standards now widely accepted by mainstream journalists. He won numerous Associated Press awards for his reporting, and with his camera, he documented many events that took place as part of the [[Civil Rights Movement]] around the state.


In late [[1963]], during the federal investigation of the [[1963 church bombing|bombing]] of [[16th Street Baptist Church]], Lankford went so far as to shoot at [[J. B. Stoner]]'s empty car outside the [[National States Rights Party]] offices, from the back seat of a car driven by an FBI agent. It was hoped the stunt would provoke Stoner to start making angry calls from the phones the FBI had tapped.
Lankford worked with police officials, including [[Bull Connor]] to portray the [[Birmingham Police Department]] positively, for which he was given access to crime scenes and advance notice of newsworthy operations. That relationship sometimes extended to producing political favors. During a bitter [[1961 Birmingham mayoral election|1961 mayoral runoff]] between former assistant U.S. Attorney [[Tom King]] and Connor ally [[Art Hanes]], Lankford was invited to be present at [[Linn Park|Woodrow Wilson Park]] when King, leaving a meeting with Connor, would encounter a Black man who had been paid to offer him a handshake. The smear led the ''News'' to switch its endorsement to King on May 14. Hanes won the May 30 runoff.


Lankford also became involved in the FBI's surveillance of and efforts to discredit [[Martin Luther King Jr]]. He listened to a wiretap of [[A. D. King]]'s telephone and rode with FBI agents to what they believed would be a sexual liaison planned by the King brothers with a group of women, where Lankford was expected to capture incriminating photographs. The attempted sting was unsuccessful.
Because he was known as "Bull's boy," Lankford was spared a beating when he was caught photographing the violent reception given the [[Freedom Rides|Freedom Riders]] on May 14, 1961. Instead the mob took the film out of his camera, offering him $1 as compensation. On the other hand, Lankford also wiretapped a meeting between Connor and members of the [[Birmingham Firefighters Association Local 117]] during which Connor promised raises in exchange for their opposition to a [[1963 Birmingham referendum|referendum to change the city's form of government]]. Townsend used the tape in a radio advertisement promoting the change.


Lankford left the crime beat for an editor's desk in the late 1960s and left Birmingham to become editor and general manager of ''The Huntsville News''. While there he was part of a group contracted in [[1971]] to recommend how the state should spend federal grant funds for law enforcement. Governor [[George Wallace]] found the group's proposal for, "black-clad, nighttime police force of shock troops similar to Nazi storm troopers," to be "repugnant." The state filed a lawsuit alleging that the group misrepresented their credentials, and they returned $20,000 of their $91,570 commission.
In late [[1963]], during the federal investigation of the [[1963 church bombing|bombing]] of [[16th Street Baptist Church]], Lankford went so far as to shoot at [[J. B. Stoner]]'s empty car outside the [[National States Rights Party]] offices, from the back seat of a car driven by an FBI agent. It was hoped the stunt would provoke Stoner to make calls from the phones the FBI had tapped and possibly implicate himself.


<!--As a young reporter and photographer assigned to the police beat at The News, Birmingham’s afternoon newspaper, Mr. Lankford was seemingly everywhere during the tumultuous early 1960s, including in 1961, when members of the Ku Klux Klan attacked Freedom Riders in Birmingham, and in 1965, when John Lewis led hundreds of marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, only to be assaulted by state troopers in what became known as Bloody Sunday. His photos of these and other events have become landmark images of the struggle against Jim Crow laws.
Lankford also became involved in the FBI's surveillance of and efforts to discredit [[Martin Luther King Jr]]. He listened to a wiretap of [[A. D. King]]'s telephone and rode with FBI agents to what they believed would be a sexual liaison planned by the King brothers with a group of women, where Lankford was expected to capture incriminating photographs. The attempted sting was unsuccessful.


But all along, he was also developing a close transactional relationship with Birmingham’s police department under Eugene Connor, known as Bull, the racist public safety commissioner. As he later recounted to historians, he would ride shotgun on police raids, taking photographs that painted officers in a positive light while incriminating Mr. Connor’s enemies, Black and white. In exchange he was given access to scoops that other reporters could only dream of landing.
Beyond his law enforcement relationships, Lankford conducted surveillance on behalf of Townsend, who sought intelligence on any Civil Rights activities that would affect the business community.


On one occasion, those ties probably saved his life. During the assault on the Freedom Riders in Birmingham, a group of Klansmen, seeing Mr. Lankford shooting pictures, dragged him into an alley. But before they could hit him, another Klansman said not to touch him, because he was “Bull’s boy.” They left him alone but took the film from his camera; one of them offered him a dollar as compensation, according to Diane McWhorter, who interviewed Mr. Lankford for the 2013 edition of her book “Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution.”
Lankford left the crime beat for an editor's desk in the late 1960s and left Birmingham to become editor and general manager of ''The Huntsville News''. While there he was part of a group contracted in [[1971]] to recommend how the state should spend federal grant funds for law enforcement. Governor [[George Wallace]] found the group's proposal for, "black-clad, nighttime police force of shock troops similar to Nazi storm troopers," to be "repugnant." The state filed a lawsuit alleging that the group misrepresented their credentials, and they returned $20,000 of their $91,570 commission.
 
At the same time, as he recounted to Ms. McWhorter, Mr. Lankford worked as a one-man intelligence unit for Vincent Townsend, the powerful assistant publisher of The Birmingham News. Mr. Townsend was a racial moderate and no fan of Mr. Connor, but above all he wanted to keep tabs on anyone who might disturb the city’s business community. Mr. Lankford was happy to help, and used an expense account provided by Mr. Townsend to buy equipment to spy on civil rights leaders.
 
Sometimes Mr. Lankford’s allegiances conflicted. In 1961, as part of a plan by Mr. Connor to undermine Tom King, a relatively progressive mayoral candidate whom Mr. Townsend backed, Mr. Connor arranged for a Black man to shake Mr. King’s hand unexpectedly. Mr. Lankford, positioned nearby, took a photo, copies of which Mr. Connor’s forces spread around town, implying that Mr. King was opposed to segregation. He lost decisively.
 
Then, a year later, during a vote over whether to do away with the city’s commissioner jobs — including Mr. Connor’s — Mr. Lankford wiretapped a meeting between Mr. Connor and leaders of the local firefighters union, a story he recounted for T.K. Thorne, a former Birmingham police officer and the author of the forthcoming book “Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham’s Civil Rights Days.” On the recording, Mr. Connor promised the firefighters a raise in exchange for their support. Mr. Lankford gave the tape to Mr. Townsend, who used it in a radio ad that helped sink Mr. Connor’s campaign. He left office in 1963, near the end of Martin Luther King’s campaign to desegregate Birmingham’s lunch counters and department stores.
 
Mr. Lankford always took pride in his reporting, which earned him at least eight awards from The Associated Press and other organizations. And he believed that despite modern ethical standards that would never condone such professional border crossing, his journalism helped push forward the civil rights movement in Birmingham
Mr. Lankford left The Huntsville News, and journalism, in 1977. He worked in public relations, first in New Orleans and then, for nearly 20 years, in Saudi Arabia. He traveled widely, and during a 1986 vacation to Thailand he met his second wife, Chalermporn Changseang, known as Tan. They married the next year.


His first marriage, to Sherry Dean Murray, ended in divorce. In addition to his daughter Dawn, he is survived by his wife; another daughter, Carrie White; a brother, Glenn Lankford; and five grandchildren.
Lankford retired from journalism in [[1977]]. He began his public relations career in New Orleans, and then spent nearly two decades in Saudi Arabia. He met Chalermporn "Tan" Changseang during a visit to Thailand in [[1986]] and married her the following year. In [[1999]] he returned to Alabama, intending to operate the family farm. He took up driving a long-haul truck until suffering a heart attack in [[2008]]. After that he worked as a greeter at a Sam's Club warehouse store.


Mr. Lankford returned to Alabama in 1999 with plans to work on his family’s farm. Instead he started yet another career, this time as a long-haul trucker, until he had a heart attack in 2008. He then worked as a greeter at a Walmart-owned Sam’s Club and consulted with Ms. Thorne on her book.-->
Lankford died in December [[2020]] of complications from [[2020 Coronavirus pandemic|COVID-19]]. He was survived by his wife, two daughters, and five grandchildren.


==References==
==References==
* {{McWhorter-2001}}
* Risen, Clay (January 17, 2021) "Tom Lankford, 85, Dies; Southern Journalist With Divided Loyalties." ''The New York Times''
* Risen, Clay (January 17, 2021) "Tom Lankford, 85, Dies; Southern Journalist With Divided Loyalties." ''The New York Times''


Revision as of 18:26, 18 January 2021

Thomas Earl Lankford (born September 20, 1935 in Piedmont, Calhoun County; died December 31, 2020 in Gadsden) was a reporter and photographer for The Birmingham News during the 1960s, and later an editor, public relations professional, and truck driver.

Lankford was the son of Robert and Mary Asalee Kilgo Lankford. He grew up in Hokes Bluff in Etowah County where his father worked at a steel plant. He enrolled at the University of Alabama as a journalism major and was exceptional for joining "The Machine" without having pledged to a campus fraternity. During his senior year he served as editor of The Crimson White student newspaper. He continued at Alabama, earning a master's degree in journalism and began his career in Columbus, Georgia before joining the Birmingham News as a police reporter in 1959.

As a young reporter Lankford worked closely with law enforcement and with assistant publisher Vincent Townsend during the 1960s, often participating in surveillance operations that exceeded ethical standards now widely accepted by mainstream journalists. He won numerous Associated Press awards for his reporting, and with his camera, he documented many events that took place as part of the Civil Rights Movement around the state.

Lankford worked with police officials, including Bull Connor to portray the Birmingham Police Department positively, for which he was given access to crime scenes and advance notice of newsworthy operations. That relationship sometimes extended to producing political favors. During a bitter 1961 mayoral runoff between former assistant U.S. Attorney Tom King and Connor ally Art Hanes, Lankford was invited to be present at Woodrow Wilson Park when King, leaving a meeting with Connor, would encounter a Black man who had been paid to offer him a handshake. The smear led the News to switch its endorsement to King on May 14. Hanes won the May 30 runoff.

Because he was known as "Bull's boy," Lankford was spared a beating when he was caught photographing the violent reception given the Freedom Riders on May 14, 1961. Instead the mob took the film out of his camera, offering him $1 as compensation. On the other hand, Lankford also wiretapped a meeting between Connor and members of the Birmingham Firefighters Association Local 117 during which Connor promised raises in exchange for their opposition to a referendum to change the city's form of government. Townsend used the tape in a radio advertisement promoting the change.

In late 1963, during the federal investigation of the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church, Lankford went so far as to shoot at J. B. Stoner's empty car outside the National States Rights Party offices, from the back seat of a car driven by an FBI agent. It was hoped the stunt would provoke Stoner to make calls from the phones the FBI had tapped and possibly implicate himself.

Lankford also became involved in the FBI's surveillance of and efforts to discredit Martin Luther King Jr. He listened to a wiretap of A. D. King's telephone and rode with FBI agents to what they believed would be a sexual liaison planned by the King brothers with a group of women, where Lankford was expected to capture incriminating photographs. The attempted sting was unsuccessful.

Beyond his law enforcement relationships, Lankford conducted surveillance on behalf of Townsend, who sought intelligence on any Civil Rights activities that would affect the business community.

Lankford left the crime beat for an editor's desk in the late 1960s and left Birmingham to become editor and general manager of The Huntsville News. While there he was part of a group contracted in 1971 to recommend how the state should spend federal grant funds for law enforcement. Governor George Wallace found the group's proposal for, "black-clad, nighttime police force of shock troops similar to Nazi storm troopers," to be "repugnant." The state filed a lawsuit alleging that the group misrepresented their credentials, and they returned $20,000 of their $91,570 commission.

Lankford retired from journalism in 1977. He began his public relations career in New Orleans, and then spent nearly two decades in Saudi Arabia. He met Chalermporn "Tan" Changseang during a visit to Thailand in 1986 and married her the following year. In 1999 he returned to Alabama, intending to operate the family farm. He took up driving a long-haul truck until suffering a heart attack in 2008. After that he worked as a greeter at a Sam's Club warehouse store.

Lankford died in December 2020 of complications from COVID-19. He was survived by his wife, two daughters, and five grandchildren.

References

  • McWhorter, Diane (2001) Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0743226488
  • Risen, Clay (January 17, 2021) "Tom Lankford, 85, Dies; Southern Journalist With Divided Loyalties." The New York Times
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