Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Epigraph BOOK ONE - Crossroads Prologue CHAPTER ONE - “There Is a Moral Wave Building” CHAPTER TWO - “Not Even Past” CHAPTER THREE - Freedom Street CHAPTER FOUR - “The Decisive Battlefield for America” CHAPTER FIVE - “It Is Sure Enough Changing” CHAPTER SIX - “The Scars of the System” INTERLUDE - “Another So-Called ‘Freedom Day’” BOOK TWO - A Bloody Peace Written in the Sky CHAPTER SEVEN - “WalkTogether, Children” CHAPTER EIGHT - “The Summer of Our Discontent” CHAPTER ONE - “Lay by Time” CHAPTER TEN - “The Stuff Democracy Is Made Of ” CHAPTER ELEVEN - “Give unto Them Beauty for Ashes” Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index ALSO BY BRUCE WATSON Sacco and Vanzetti: The Men, the Murders, and the Judgment of Mankind Bread and Roses: Mills, Migrants, and the Struggle for the American Dream The Man Who Changed How Boys and Toys Were Made VIKING Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published in 2010 by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc Copyright © Bruce Watson, 2010 All rights reserved Page 370 constitutes an extension of this copyright page LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA Watson, Bruce, date Freedom summer : the savage summer that made Mississippi burn and made America a democracy / Bruce Watson p cm Includes bibliographical references and index eISBN : 978-1-101-19018-0 African Americans—Civil rights—Mississippi—History—20th century African Americans—Suffrage—Mississippi—History— 20th century Civil rights movements—Mississippi—History—20th century Civil rights workers—Mississippi—History—20th century Mississippi—Race relations—History—20th century I Title E185.93.M6W285 2010 323.1196’0730762—dc22 2009047211 Set in Times New Roman Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated http://us.penguingroup.com For all the teachers and the volunteers giving of their time, compassion, and spirit A dream is not a very safe thing to be near, Bayard I know; I had one once It’s like a loaded pistol with a hair trigger: if it stays alive long enough, somebody is going to be hurt But if it’s a good dream, it’s worth it —William Faulkner, “An Odor of Verbena” segregated schools in sheriffs’ powers in state constitution of as symbol of racial terror and War for Southern Independence (Civil War) White Citizens’ Councils in Mississippi and the Fifteenth Amendment (film) “Mississippi Burning” (FBI code name) Mississippi Burning (film) Mississippi Caravan of Music Mississippi Economic Council Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and congressional challenge and Democratic Convention; see also Democratic National Convention; Freedom Democrats lawyer for party convention of and voting rights legislation Mississippi Greys Mississippi Highway Patrol “Mississippi Plan” Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission Mississippi Summer Project, see Freedom Summer Miss Mississippi Mitchell, Jerry Mondale, Walter Money, Mississippi Monk, Thelonious Montgomery, Alabama Moody, Anne, Coming of Age in Mississippi Moore, Amzie Morris, Willie Morse, Wayne Moses, Dona Moses, Janet Moses, Robert Parris (Bob) African travels of arrest of and Democratic Convention early years of and Freedom Election and Freedom Summer influence of investigations of and King in later years name change of presidential protection requested by resignation from SNCC on “sharing the terror” and SNCC accomplishments and SNCC politics as teacher and three missing men and violent attacks and volunteer training and voter registration Moses v Kennedy and Hoover Moss Point, Mississippi Mother Jones “Mr X” (informant) Musial, Stan Myrdal, Gunnar, An American Dilemma NAACP: bailing out jailed activists Freedom Summer opposed by meetings of membership in, as cause for reprisals picket lines of supporters of testing the Civil Rights Act and three missing men volunteers for white hatred for Nader, Ralph Natchez, Mississippi National Council of Churches National Council of Negro Women National Lawyers Guild NBC: censorship by lawsuit filed against “Nelson Street Blues” Neshoba County: church burning in county fair denial in discovery of bodies in Klan in murder trials in reputation of search for missing men in Steak House Café in threats and violence in three missing men in Newsweek New York Times night riders Nixon, Richard M Obama, Barack O’Brien, Fran attack on back at home as Freedom School teacher Ochs, Phil Odetta “Oh, Freedom” “O Healing River” Oktibbeha Ploughboys “Old Jolly Place, The” Ole Miss: black enrollments in “Closed Society” term coined at faculty resignations at federal marshals at integration riots at Meredith’s enrollment at volunteers’ meetings in Osheroff, Abe Oxford, Mississippi Oxford, Ohio, volunteers trained at Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Panola County, Mississippi Parchman Farm Prison Parents Mississippi Emergency Committee Parker, Mack Parker, Pamela; see also Allen, Pamela (née Parker) Parks, Rosa Patch, Penny Paxton, Tom Peacemakers Peacock, Willie Penman, Harriet Percy, Walker Percy, William Alexander, Lanterns on the Levee Petal Paper Peter, Paul and Mary Philadelphia, Mississippi: King’s visit to Klan in locals’ stories in media focus on murders in Neshoba County Fair in and search for three missing men violence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, race riots in Philadelphia Coalition Pickett’s Charge, Mississippi Greys in Pike County, Mississippi Poe, Earl Poitier, Sidney Poor People’s Campaign Popper, Martin Port Gibson, Mississippi Posey, Deborah Ray Powell, Adam Clayton Powell, James Presley, James “Little Man” Price, Cecil: arrest and release of and COFO office death of and discovery of bodies as FBI suspect and fund-raising and three missing men trial of and violence Rainey, Lawrence A.: arrest and release of and bootlegging and COFO office death of and discovery of bodies as FBI suspect and fund-raising and lawsuits power of and three missing men trial of and violence Rand, Sally Rauh, Joseph, and Democratic Convention Reagan, Ronald Reconstruction end of rewriting history on second as “The Tragic Era” Reedy, George Regional Council of Negro Leadership Republican National Convention (1964) Reston, James Restorative Justice Reuther, Walter Riesman, David Roberts, Wayne Robertson, Cornelia Robertson, Pepper “Rock of Ages” Rockefeller, Nelson A Roosevelt, Franklin Delano III Roots (TV) Rubin, Larry Ruleville, Mississippi Fourth of July in Freedom School in Russell, Bill Russell, Richard Salinger, Pierre Samstein, Mendy San Francisco Chronicle Saturday Evening Post Savio, Mario Schwerner, Anne: and search for her son son’s body discovered and son’s funeral Schwerner, Michael: arrest and release of civil rights involvement of discovery of body extermination order on false reports about memorials for missing, see three missing men personal traits of threats to Schwerner, Nathan: and murder trial and search for his son son’s body discovered Schwerner, Rita: civil rights activism of at Democratic Convention husband missing husband’s body discovered in later years and LBJ and memories of Michael and murder trial Scott, Dred Seeger, Pete segregation and censorship and civil rights, see civil rights movement and court system economic backups of Jim Crow and media as “the Negro problem” post-World War II segregation (cont.) and “redneck boys” and Supreme Court threats and violence White Citizens’ Councils as “White Man’s Burden” “Whites Only” signs Sellers, Cleveland sharecropping system Sharkey County, Mississippi Shaw, Mississippi Sherman, William Tecumseh Shetterly, Jay Sias, Henry Silver, James Mississippi: The Closed Society Simmons, William Simone, Nina Simpson, Ivesta Sinatra, Frank sit-ins Sitton, Claude Smith, Frank Smith, Hazel Brannon “Sojourner Motor Fleet” Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Spain, David Staples Singers Stennis, John Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC): and African trip anthem “We’ll Never Turn Back” black leaders developed in coming apart and Democratic Convention and end of Freedom Summer FBI wiretap on formation of founding statement of and Freedom Day and Freedom Party and Freedom Rides and Freedom Schools and Freedom Summer; see also Freedom Summer f und-raising group-centered leadership in lawsuits instituted by nonviolence debates in opening offices of public relations efforts of qualities of members resentment against outsiders reunion of security handbooks of and sex stories told by threats and hate mail to and three missing men volunteers trained by whites expelled from student protests Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) Sullivan, Joseph Supreme Court, U.S.: and integration and Neshoba murder case and voting rights Sweeney, Dennis Tallahatchie County, Mississippi Third World movements “This Little Light of Mine” Thompson, Allen Thoreau, Henry David three missing men: arrests and release of bodies discovered burial site case reopened in county jail demonstrations and vigils for early inquiries about false reports about families of and FBI, see FBI first alarms about funerals of hoax assumed by locals and the Klan and media memories of murder of murder trials about photos of rumors of murder search for station wagon of suspects in case of as symbol witnesses’ stories about Till, Emmett: memory of murder of Tillinghast, Holly Tillinghast, Muriel: building courage family background of fears of and Freedom Day and Greenville office influence of in later years and Non-Violent Action Group (NAG) and SNCC politics traveling south in volunteer training Tobis, Heather Today (TV) Toliver, Gladys Tolkien, J R R., Fellowship of the Ring “Too Many Martyrs” Touré, Sékou Travis, Brenda Travis, Jimmie Truth, Sojourner Tubman, Harriet Tullahoma Hardshells Turnbow, Hartman Turnbow, “Sweets” United Auto Workers United Farmworkers of America University of California at Berkeley Vardaman, James K Vicksburg, Mississippi: Civil War battle in Freedom House in King’s visit to Miss Mississippi pageant in violence in Vicksburg Post Vietnam War Village Voice volunteers: arrests of black vs white books read by changed lives of in community centers and Democratic Convention disillusionment of fears of and first day of Freedom Summer and Fourth of July hate stares directed at hospitality toward and host families idealism of interviews of as invaders in later years leaving and legislation letters home media interviews of numbers of at Ole Miss parents of plea for federal protection of praise for radio network for recruitment of returning home reunions of risks assumed by settling in and sex “sharing the terror” staying on as teachers threats against training of traveling south violence against for voter registration wearing out their welcome as writers see also specific volunteers voter registration classes for on Freedom Days for Freedom Democrats lawsuits filed at night numbers of obstacles to post-World War II repeated attempts for resistance to successes of and violence volunteer work on voting rights congressional challenge to denied to blacks and Reconstruction and Supreme Court Voting Rights Act (1965) “Wade in the Water” Wallace, George Wall Street Journal War for Southern Independence (Civil War) Warren, Earl Washington, Booker T Washington Post Waters, Muddy Watkins, Hollis Weaver, Claude “Wednesdays in Mississippi” “We’ll Never Turn Back” Welty, Eudora “We Shall Overcome” Western College for Women, Oxford, Ohio Wetmore, Linda “What a Beautiful City” White Citizens’ Councils White Folks Project White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi “Whites Only” signs Wilkins, Roy Williams, Chris attacks on and COFO and Democratic Convention on first day of Freedom Summer and host families in later years letters home and media stories and Penny personal traits of settling in threats against in training program traveling south volunteering for Freedom Summer and voter registration Williams, Jean Williams, Myrlie Evers Williams, Roosevelt (fict.) Williams, Rosa Lee Williams, Tennessee Winn, Fred: carpentry work of decision to stay in Mississippi in Indianola in later years letters home from marriages of memories of name changed by and nights in San Francisco in Shaw, Mississippi writing his will women’s movement Woodward Vann Wright, Richard Black Boy Yancey, Wayne Young, Andrew Zellner, Bob Zinn, Howard Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint excerpts from the following copyrighted works: “A Change Is Gonna Come,” words and music by Sam Cooke © 1964 (renewed) ABKCO Music, Inc All rights reserved Used by permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc “They Say That Freedom Is a Constant Sruggle” by Guy and Candie Carawan and “We’ll Never Turn Back” by Bertha Gober from Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Its Songs by Guy and Candie Carawan, published by NewSouth Books (2008) Reprinted by permission of the publisher Intruder in the Dust and The Unvanquished by William Faulkner (Random House) Jordan County by Shelby Foote Copyright 1954 and copyright renewed 1982 by Shelby Foote Used by permission of Random House, Inc Mississippi Harmony: Memoirs of a Freedom Fighter by Winson Hudson and Constance Curry By permission of Palgrave Macmillan “Cross Road Blues (Crossroads)” words and music by Robert Johnson Copyright © (1978), 1990, 1991 MPCA King of Spades (SESAC) and Claud L Johnson (SESAC) Administered by MPCA Music, LLC All rights reserved “Healing River” by Fran Minkoff and Fred Hellerman © Copyright 1964 (renewed) by Appleseed Music Inc All rights reserved Used by permission Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody Copyright © 1968 by Anne Moody Used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc “Here’s to the State of Mississippi,” words and music by Phil Ochs © 1966 (renewed) by WB Music Corp (ASCAP) All rights reserved Lanterns on the Levee by William Alexander Percy (Alfred A Knopf) “For My People” from This Is My Century: New and Collected Poems by Margaret Walker By permission of the University of Georgia Press The Eye of the Story by Eudora Welty Copyright © 1978 by Eudora Welty Used by permission of Random House, Inc “Facts About Me” from Where I Live by Tennessee Williams Copyright © 1978 by The University of the South Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp Black Boy by Richard Wright Copyright 1937, 1942, 1944, 1945 by Richard Wright; renewed © 1973 by Ellen Wright Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers ... sex was rejected Once accepted, volunteers were divided into two groups: Freedom School teachers, who would show up for training the following week, and these first arrivals, whose summer would... wooden churches with majestic names, whole congregations rose from the pews While gospel choirs chanted—“We-ee shall not, we shall not be moved”—men and women slipped Freedom Ballots” into wooden... down to follow Highway 61 north, life in Mississippi was no joke Before Freedom Summer and the changes it jump-started, Mississippi was a place where a black body floating in a muddy river was