Lester Maddox who was the Atlanta restaurant owner adopted the pick handle as his symbol of defiance in a successful bid for the Georgia governorship in 1966.
Explanation:
In 1964 Maddox came to national attention first. He refused to serve three black Georgia Tech students at his restaurant by violating the newly signed federal civil rights act. Maddox was determined that no black would experience the atmosphere that he created specially for whites.
He picked the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City where he believed that most of the promoters of civil rights legislation could be found. His opinions were not fixed on other issues. He was opposed to smoking & drinking, liberal approaches, atheism, socialism, press, civil rights workers etc.
