by Rick Bowers
St. John Barrett, U.S. Department of Justice—Civil Rights Division. A Personal Memoir 2008.
“Soviets Planned Freedom Rides, State Officials Tell of Havana Seminar,” Jackson Daily News, June 29, 1961.
“State Proves Negro’s Guilt,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, September 30, 1959.
“The Message from Mississippi” (speech), July 1960. MDAH.
“The South: Trouble in Alabama,” Time, May 26, 1961. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872446,00.html.
“Sovereignty Commission Online Agency History.” Digital Collections. MDAH.
Tucker, William H. The Funding of Scientific Racism, Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002.
Van Landingham, Zach C. Aug. 30, 1958, SCR ID # 1-16-1-21-1-1-1 to 1-16-1-21-1-1-1; Dec. 17, 1958, SCR ID #1-27-0-6-1-1-1 to 1-27-0-6-37-1-1; May 6, 1959, SCR ID# 5-3-1-19-1-1-1; September 21, 1959, SCR ID #1-27-0-40-1-1-1 to 1-27-0-41-6-1-1-1, SCR ID# 1-27-0-41-1-1-1. MDAH. Digital Archives. Report to the State Legislature on the early activities of the Sovereignty Commission. SCR ID # 7-3-0-5-1-1-1 to 7-3-0-8-1-1-1. MDAH. Digital Archives.
Waldron, Ann. Hodding Carter: The Reconstruction of a Racist. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 1993.
Watner, Callia and Anya. “Clyde Kennard: Gone but Not Forgotten,” Justice Denied: The Magazine for the Wrongly Convicted, Summer 2006, no. 33. http://justicedenied.org/issue/issue_33/jd_issue_33.pdf.
Williams, Julian. “Percy Greene and the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission.” Journalism History 28, no. 2 (Summer 2002). University of Southern Mississippi Archive.
QUOTE SOURCES
P 3: “maintain the continued separation…” and “no task for…” Coleman inaugural address, p 67; P 4: “fire-eaters” Finely, p 9. P 7: “with all deliberate speed” Brown v. Board implementation decree. P 9: “When the pot…” Carter. P 11: “vicious falsehoods” and “poison pens” Katagiri, p 9. P 15: “seeking out intelligence…” MSSC SCR 7-0-1-6-2-1-1. P 16: “this problem will never…” and “a large number of fine…” Katagiri, p 37. P 17: “vindictive speeches…” Williams, p 3. P 19: “quick to get their…” and “fallen into…” Katagiri, p 42. P 19-20: “unworthy…” Katagiri, p 42. P 20: “The death of…” and “remove all files” DeCell, SCR 9-0-0-40-1-1. P 23: “the most Southern…” Cobb, title page. P 25: “You know that old…” Curry, p xiv; “it is believed…” Van Landingham, SCR 1-16-1-21-1-1-1 to 1-16-1-21-1-1-1. P 26: “advised that he…” Van Landingham, SCR 1-16-1-21-1-1-1. P 28-29: “Are we to assume…” Kennard. P 29: “The Clyde Kennard problem…” Katagiri, p 60; “Persons who know…” Van Landingham, SCR 1-27-06-1-1-1. P 30: “The files of…” and “take care of him…” Van Landingham, SCR 1-27-06-1-1-1. P 32: “appeared to be frame up” Dittmer, p 82. P 35: “May the good Lord…” Crespino, p 35. P 37: “You know and I know…” Barnett, Inaugural Address, p 51. P 38: “God is the ultimate segregationist…” Barnett obituary, NY Times, Nov. 7, 1987; “fine Christian fellowship” Crespino, p 16. P 40: “utterances or actions…” Katagiri, p 89. P 41: “This is a selling…” Katagiri, p 76. P 42: “which showed in words…” Katagiri, p 82. P 43: “never, never land,” U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, Meredith v Fair, Jan. 12, 1962. P 45: “the extremely poor prognosis…” Dittmer, p 82. P 47: “I’m taking a ride…” Katagiri, p 96. P 48: “I’m going out…” Frankhauser. P 51: “filling the jails” Colson, 397. P 52: “He said: Come take my mattress….” and “A guard came in…” Frankhauser. P 53: “self styled…” Katagiri, p 97. P 54: “They’re pawns…” Jackson Daily News, June 29, 1961. P 57-58: RFK and Barnett, federal transcript, Sept 25, 1962. P 58: “caddillacking around,” Jackson Daily News, July 6, 1961; “What were you in jail for…” St. John Barrett, personal memoir. P 61: “known Cap Meredith…” and “Mr. Coleman also…” Downing, SCR 1-67-1-2-1-1-1-1; “Meredith Drives Cadillac…” Jackson Clarion Ledger, June 16, 1961. P 62: “a carefully calculated…” U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, (306 F.2d 374) July 27, 1962; “unnatural warfare…” MSSC, SCR 97-11-0-222-1-1-1; “our greatest crisis…” Barnett, Television address. P 63: “Which one of you…” Katagiri, p 108. P 64: “If there is to be…” Katagiri, p 110. P 64-65: “I was under…” RFK and Barnett, federal transcript, Sept 27, 1962. P 66: “I love Mississippi…” and “I looked back…” Dittmer, p 140; “As he stood…” Johnston, I Rolled with Ross. P 67: “you had an agreement…” and “that won’t do at all…” RFK and Barnett, federal transcript, Sept. 30, 1962. P 68: “My heart says…” Barnett, Television address. P 69: “It is my opinion…” Scarborough. P 72: “quiet integrationist, “Nossiter, p 28. P 74: He is a weak…” Hopkins, SCR 74-1-17-3-1-1 1; “Evers spoke” MSSC SCR 2-5-2-95-1-1-1; “The NAACP is…” MSSC SCR 2-72-2-58-1-1-1. P 76: “practically jumped up.” Jackson Daily News, Feb. 3, 1964, p 1; “Expert with a pistol…“Associated Press, Jan. 23, 2001. P 78: “believed to be…” Hopkins, SCR 1-77-0-19-1-1-1. P 80: “to lay plans for…“Katagiri, p 122. P 81: “The difference between…” Tucker, p 286. P 84: “Peace Corp–type operation,” Agent X, SCR 9-31-1-9-1-1-1; “The program of voter registration…” Agent X, SCR 9-31-1-1-22-1-1-1. P 85: “It appears now” and “completely integrated…“and “After a few interviews…” Agent X, SCR 9-31-1-37-1-1-1; “I decided…” Agent X, SCR 9-31-1-67-1-1-1. P 85-86: “X is departing…” MSSC, SCR 9-31-1-74-1-1-1. P 86: “Now get this…” Klopfer, p 423. P 87: “The purpose of…” Katagiri, p 159. P 87: “communists, sex perverts…” Downing, SCR 2-112-1-36-1-1-1. P 88: “secret organizations of…” Crespino, p 115; “The first contact…” Crespino, p 112. P 92: “these subjects met…” and “There are rumors…” Hopkins, SCR 2-112-1-41-1-1-1 to 1-19-1-1-1. P 93: “Cuba or another” Jackson Clarion Ledger editorial, Aug. 3, 1964. P 96: “We are not going to be” Crespino, p 118. P 98: “We have evidence…” Finley; “Except for a copy…” Johnston, SCR 99-62-0-33-1-1-1. P 99: “Ole Watchdog Is…” Katagiri, 225.
Credits for Interior Photos:
Bob Adelman/Corbis
William Lovelace/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Bettmann/Corbis
The Jackson Advocate/Associated Press
Paul Schutzer/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Mississippi Department of Archives & History
Mississippi Department of Archives & History
McCain Library and Archives, University of Southern Mississippi
MPI/Getty Images
Bettmann/Corbis
Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty Images
Francis H. Mitchell/Ebony Collection/Associated Press
Flip Schulke/Corbis
Photographic Insert
The color line in Mississippi (exemplified by this ferry waiting room, left) was established by a complex web of laws and customs that both sides were expected to understand and adhere to. Violators could face the wrath of the state and white supremacist groups.
The roadside billboard below falsely claimed that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., attended a training school that taught the tenets of Communism.
Wasting away with cancer, Clyde Kennard was confined to a hospital bed after his release from the notorious Parchman prison.
Jackson Advocate editor Percy Greene took payments in exchange for publishing propaganda and keeping tabs on civil rights leaders.
The bus that carried freedom riders to Jackson, Mississippi, required heavy police and military protection.
The Commission kept photos of protest marchers in an extensive investigative file. The faces of leaders were circled in red, targeting them for further investigation – or worse.
Druggist Aaron Henry served as president of the Mississippi branch of the NAACP. In retaliation for his civil rights advocacy, white opponents firebombed his store.
Mississippi governor Ross Barnett was an avid football fan. Here white fans give him a hero’s welcome.
James Meredith broke the color barrier in higher education in Mississippi.
Medgar Evers—N
AACP field secretary for Mississippi—was assassinated by former Klansman Byron De La Beckwith in front of his home in Jackson in June 1963. The photo at right shows where the bullet hit Evers’s window after passing through his body.