When Bobby Hutcherson Met Railroad Bill

Railroad Bill was the name assigned to Morris Slater in the late 1800s. He was the Jessie James-type black desperado who would rob the trains and sell his plunder to those nearby. Legend has it that, if they didn’t buy voluntarily, he would force purchases at gunpoint. He had killed a number of persons who worked for the railroad and, in a subsequent shoot-out, had killed Sheriff McMillan of Escambia County, Alabama. After Slater was killed, enterprising merchants exhibited his body to onlookers for a fee. Fast forward to the 1970s when entrepreneur Arden Anderson built New World Landing—an auditorium and boutique hotel. He decorated the auditorium with historic photographs of early Pensacola including views of the busy Pensacola harbor with its fishing smacks. There was a photo of the body of Morris Slater, lashed to a plank with a white man standing over him holding a rifle—no doubt a paying tourist having his photo taken. Most people were unfamiliar with the background of the photo. In 1990, WUWF Radio was major sponsor of  Pensacola JazzFest. Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson of Los Angeles was a guest artist at the sponsors’ party at New World Landing on a Friday night before the Saturday-Sunday JazzFest. Hutcherson saw the photo and quietly informed the WUWF staff that he declined to play. There was no disruption otherwise as the artists were performing in a relaxe