Parting the Waters

by Taylor Branch

  specifically for the Attorney General: Hoover’s written note on Rosen to Belmont, July 23, 1962, FA-479; Rosen to Belmont (later on), July 23, 1962, FA-477.

  “The Negroes finally”: Burke, “Monday Report,” July 24, 1962, Box 16, Marshall Papers, JFK.

  “We are glad”: NYT, July 23, 1962, p. 20.

  “unjust and unconstitutional”: NYT, July 23, 1962, p. 1; AH, July 23, 1962, p. 1.

  private gripe session: Forman, The Making, pp. 274-75; Lewis, King, p. 163; Kunstler, Deep, p. 106; int. Charles Jones, Nov. 23, 1986; int. Charles Sherrod, Jan. 23, 1986; int. C. B. King, July 10, 1985; int. Timothy Jenkins, March 11 and April 23, 1986; int. Clarence Jones, Aug. 18, 1986; int. Marion King Smith, July 31, 1986.

  his fourth child: Int. Clarence Jones, Aug. 18, 1986.

  “I mean you!”: Int. Marion King Smith, July 31, 1986.

  “trying to do his job”: Int. Marion Cheek, July 11, 1985.

  pro forma responses: Although Agent Cheek recalls a mixture of anger and cooperation on the part of those at Slater King’s home on the night of Marion King’s beating, the reports out of FBI headquarters emphasized the surliness of the Negroes while glossing over the alleged damage to Mrs. King. This is another illustration of the way FBI information was shaped by sensitivities at headquarters, which in turn affected the Justice Department. See Director Hoover to the Attorney General, “Racial Situation, Albany, Georgia…,” July 24, 1962, FA-515.

  “the internal administration”: Marshall to King, two telegrams dated July 26, 1962, both in A/KP24f19 and Marshall Papers, Box 16, JFK.

  “Rules with Negro”: AH, July 24, 1962, p. 1.

  “Albany Will Stand”: AH, July 25, 1962, p. 1.

  “We…beg you”: King and Anderson to Kelley, July 24, 1962, 1:46 P.M., CRA.

  only Abernathy even mentioned: Int. C. B. King, July 10, 1985; int. Charles Jones, Nov. 23, 1986; Rosen to Belmont, “Racial Situation, Albany Georgia…,” July 24, 1962, FA-494.

  a near riot: NYT, July 25, 1962, p. 1, and July 26, 1962, p. 1; AH, July 25, 1962, p. 1; AJ, July 25, 1962, p. 1; Time, Aug. 3, 1962, pp. 12-13; Newsweek, Aug. 3, 1962, p. 19; Watters, Down to Now, pp. 210-12.

  peacemaker’s tour: Watters, Down to Now, pp. 213-15; int. Charles Jones, Nov. 23, 1986.

  remarkable news dispatch: NYT, July 27, 1962, p. 1. Also described by Pat Watters in Down to Now, pp. 164-68.

  descended on Terrell County: Int. John Doar, May 12, 1986; Doar, “Monday Report” to RFK, Aug. 7, 1962, and Marshall to RFK, Aug. 29, 1962, Marshall Papers, Box 16, JFK.

  “by gracefully retiring”: ADW, July 26, 1962, p. 4.

  “when the world’s on fire”: NYT, July 28, 1962, p. 44; Lewis, King, p. 164.

  “immediate steps to assure”: Rockefeller to RFK, July 27, 1962, RAC; NYT, July 28, 1962, p. 44.

  discussion with Spivak: King handwritten jail diary, BUK16f9; excerpts of jail diary published in Jet, Aug. 23, 1962, pp. 14-21; int. Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Aug. 20, 1984.

  “C.B., who did this?”: NYT, July 29, 1962, p. 1; AJ, July 29, 1962, p. 1.

  Campbell was old-school: AH, Sept. 15, 1962, p. 10. Former police chief Pritchett recalled that as a young police officer Campbell had been convicted of murder in a nearby county, and that he had worked his way into the sheriff’s office from jail (int. Laurie Pritchett, Nov. 25, 1986).

  “Yeah, I hit him”: Int. Marion Cheek, July 11, 1985.

  Spivak bore in: “Meet the Press” transcript for July 29, 1962; a copy is in King’s files, A/KP1f26.

  Martha’s Vineyard, where King: King log, BUK6f151; Jet, Aug. 16, 1962, p. 16.

  President ran aground: NYT, July 30, 1962, p. 12.

  “called at a propitious moment”: Int. Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Aug. 20, 1984.

  “find it wholly inexplicable”: NYT, Aug. 2, 1962, pp. 1, 8.

  “We earnestly desire”: Anderson and Slater King to Kelley, Aug. 2, 1962, 3:41 P.M., CRA.

  “violent, calculated campaign”: AH, Aug. 3, 1962, p. 1; NYT, Aug. 4, 1962, p. 11.

  “Negro-wooing Government”: AH, Aug. 10, 1962, p. 1.

  “not Roy’s style”: Int. Burke Marshall, Sept. 26, 1984.

  “if our hands weren’t tied”: Kunstler, Deep, pp. 118-19; Doar to RFK, Aug. 7, 1962, Marshall Papers, Box 16, JFK.

  “Martin King kill himself”: Levison intercept, Aug. 3, 1962, 5:03 P.M., FL-NY-5-NR.

  “let alone 20 million Negroes”: Time, Aug. 3, 1962, pp. 12—13.

  silk pajamas: Int. McCree Harris, Jan. 24, 1986, and James Gray, Jan. 24, 1986; C. King, My Life, p. 211.

  sung out and prayed out: City Manager S. A. Roos memorandum, Aug. 4, 1962, CRA.

  wrote in his diary: Jet, Aug. 23, 1962, p. 20.

  unearthed glimpses: Summers, Goddess, passim, esp. pp. 353-56.

  “sententious poppycock”: Newsweek, Aug. 20, 1962, p. 29; Seattle Times, Aug. 7, 1962, p. 1.

  “Bobby and I engaged”: Schlesinger journal, Aug. 6, 1962; Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, pp. 636-37.

  “Poor Marilyn Monroe”: McDonald to King, Aug. 8, 1962, A/KP15f9.

  “with clean hands”: NYT, Aug. 9, 1962, p. 9.

  Mothers’ March: C. King, My Life, p. 212.

  trial before Judge Durden: NYT, Aug. 11, 1962, p. 1.

  “suspended sentence on Martin”: intercept of Levison conversation with Toni Hamilton, Aug. 10, 1962, 3:28 P.M., FL-NY-7-1440.

  closed the city library: NYT, Aug. 12, 1962, p. 1.

  “King or No King”: AH, Aug. 11, 1962, p. 1.

  “You hear that, deacons!”: Kunstler, Deep, pp. 125-26.

  “I am M. S. Page”: Newsweek, Aug. 27, 1962, pp. 25—26; Page statement, Aug. 15, 1962, CRA.

  charred remains: NYT, Aug. 16, 1962, p. 1; King statement, Aug. 15, 1962, A/KS2.

  including nine rabbis: NYT, Aug. 17, 1962, p. 8; AH, Aug. 29, 1962, p. 1; NYT, Aug. 30, 1962, p. 17; S. A. Roos memorandum, Aug. 28, 1962, CRA; list of “Religious Arrested August 28, 1962,” A/SC1f26.

  “at least ten years”: AH, Aug. 15, 1962, p. 10A.

  “only if the objective”: Lewis, King, p. 169.

  encompassed nearly all: “Albany, Georgia,” Crisis, February 1963, pp. 69-78.

  “Albany remains segregated”: NYT, Aug. 18, 1962, p. 44.

  King told his audience in Birmingham: NYT, Sept. 27, 1962, p. 29.

  “fireman anymore”: Int. Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Dec. 21, 1984.

  Seventeen

  THE FALL OF OLE MISS

  thickened in Greenwood: NYT, Aug. 16, 1962, p. 12; Liberation, January 1970, pp. 16-17; Forman, The Making, pp. 283-86.

  “kind of guy this Bob Moses”: Forman, The Making, p. 286.

  colleagues to Highlander: Ibid. Also confidential report by Bernice Robinson (Septima Clark’s partner at the Highlander citizenship school) dated July 19, 1962, and Robinson to Moses, July 19, 1962, both SHSW/HP.

  “‘this is my school book’”: Block to SCLC, July 16, 1962, A/SC33f12.

  O’Dell urged James Bevel: O’Dell to Bevel, Aug. 8, 1962, A/SC135f7.

  Wiley Branton: Sketch from Branton, CRDPOH; int. Branton, Sept. 28, 1983.

  they founded COFO: Forman, The Making, p. 288; Carson, In Struggle, p. 78; Watters and Cleghorn, Climbing, p. 64; int. Wiley Branton, Sept. 28, 1983.

  rearrested in Sunflower County: SNCC booklet, Mississippi: A Chronicle of Violence, p. 9, A/SC16f15.

  classes around Ruleville: Liberation, January 1970, p. 17; Forman, The Making, p. 91; Robinson to Myles Horton, July 30, 1962, SHSW/HP.

  Hamer fled: Raines, My Soul, pp. 271-74.

  vigilantes poured gunshots: NYT, Sept. 1, 1962, p. 20.

  two fresh burnings: NYT, Sept. 10, 1962, p. 1.

  two girls went to the hospital: NYT, Sept. 11, 1962, p. 20; Jet, Sept. 27, 1962, pp. 14-21.

  usual detailed report: Memo from Bob Moses and Charles Cobb, “Shooting Incident in Ruleville,” A/SC141f4. The copy in King’s files is marked “Attn: Andy” in King’s handwriting, indica
ting that King assigned the response to Andrew Young.

  from faraway Baltimore: Watters and Cleghorn, Climbing, p. 139.

  They chopped wood: Carson, In Struggle, p. 79.

  “the deeper the fear”: Liberation, January 1970, p. 17.

  Operation Mongoose: U.S. Senate (Church Committee), Report No. 94-755, Book III, pp. 135ff.

  “any more outrageous action”: NYT, Sept. 14, 1962, pp. 1, 12.

  pledged $10,000: NYT, Sept. 15, 1962, p. 12.

  I Hope Baptist Church: NYT, Sept. 18, 1962, pp. 1, 26.

  “specifically to intimidate”: Navasky, Justice, pp. 119—20.

  “protection guarantees”: Jet, Oct. 4, 1962, pp. 3-4.

  Four more Negro churches: NYT, Sept. 26, 1962, p. 23.

  USIA Director Edward R. Murrow: Golden, Mr. Kennedy, pp. 123-24.

  “We were amazed”: Rep. Fred Schwengel to O’Donnell, Aug. 24, 1962, Lee White Papers, Box 20, JFK. A previous miscommunication is reflected in Lawrence O’Brien to Rep. James Roosevelt, April 7, 1962, Box 1478, Name File, JFK.

  wiretap on Stanley: Levison intercept, Aug. 14, 1962, FL-NY-7-148a.

  “Anything they hate”: Levison intercept, Aug. 27, 1962, FL-NY 7-161a.

  centennial celebration: PC, Sept. 22, 1962, p. 4.

  “A structure of segregation”: NYT, Sept. 22, 1962, pp. 1, 50.

  Kennedy praised King’s: JFK to King, Sept. 24, 1962, A/KP14f4.

  “real mobilization”: King to Shortridge, Sept. 4, 1962, Shortridge Papers, in the possession of Mrs. W. E. (Pinkie) Shortridge.

  “connectional man”: Shuttlesworth remarks at Shortridge funeral, May 2, 1964, Shortridge Papers, ibid.

  Shortridge had dived: Shortridge statement to FBI agents, May 29, 1962, re shooting of March 28, 1962, Shortridge Papers, ibid.

  small extra bedroom: Int. Pinkie Shortridge, July 29, 1986.

  Connor’s image problems: BN, Dec. 26, 1951, p. 1; BN, Jan. 7, 1952, p. 1; Corley, “The Quest,” pp. 159-61.

  “silk-stocking people”: David Vann, Duard LeGrand Lecture of 1978, collected by the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Center for Urban Affairs, pp. 14-15.

  emissary secretly to Atlanta: Lee E. Bains thesis, BIR, p. 9; int. David Vann, Aug. 1, 1986.

  “wrong meeting”: Fred Shuttlesworth, A/OH; Shuttlesworth, CRDPOH; Raines, My Soul, pp. 168-69.

  “We have to have toilets”: Ibid.

  “were all trained”: Savannah office report, Aug. 29, 1962, cited in Garrow, FBI, p. 52.

  confidential contact from Seigenthaler: Int. John Seigenthaler, Dec. 15, 1987, and Jack O’Dell, July 1, 1986.

  O’Dell chafed at: Int. Jack O’Dell, July 1, 1986.

  “to ride the Bull!”: Police notes of mass meeting, Sept. 24, 1962, BIR/BC6f14.

  Tuesday, September 25: Meredith confrontation from Lord, The Past, pp. 139-43; Meredith, Three Years, pp. 193-97; Navasky, Justice, pp. 185-92, 199-204; NYT, Sept. 26, 1962, p. 1.

  Meredith’s third retreat: NYT, Sept. 27, 1962, p. 1; Watters and Cleghorn, Climbing, pp. 144-45.

  Christmas shopping boycott: Int. Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Dec. 21, 1984.

  “soon as you leave”: Ibid.

  “Hello, General”: Navasky, Justice, p. 209; Watters and Cleghorn, Climbing, p. 147.

  “thinks we’re compromising”: Navasky, Justice, p. 215.

  defiant holiday mood: Watters and Cleghorn, Climbing, pp. 150-52.

  stoically apprehensive Meredith: Meredith, Three Years, pp. 205-6.

  triple-tier headlines: NYT, Sept. 28, 1962, p. 1.

  “loony”: Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 342.

  DEFCON 3: Charles Vanderburgh, “A Draftee’s Diary from the Mississippi Front,” Harper’s, February 1964, p. 37.

  dull by comparison: NYT, Sept. 28, 1962, p. 23.

  landed on King’s left cheek: Account of attack drawn from int. Septima Clark, Dec. 17, 1983, Edward Gardner, Jan. 21, 1986, and John Drew, Jan. 21, 1986; int. Clark, HOH; Robert Brank Fulton to King and Walker, Oct. 4, 1962, containing Fulton’s statement dated Sept. 29, 1962, A/SC33f15; Ann Braden to King and Walker, Oct. 6, 1962, with enclosed draft, A/SC34f15.

  “self-styled Nazi”: NYT, Sept. 29, 1962, p. 9; Peter Kihss to Walker, Oct. 4, 1962, and Walker to Kihss, Oct. 10, 1962, A/SC33f15; int. Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Dec. 21, 1984.

  Nazi “dormitory”: Rosen to Belmont, Sept. 28, 1962, FSC-7x6.

  “Heil Hitler!”: Rockwell to James, Sept. 30, 1962, BIR/BC10f6.

  “Bring your flags”: Lord, The Past, p. 159.

  bring the President himself: Guthman, Band, p. 199.

  “Johnny boy”: Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 344.

  “an A-1 lawyer”: Presidential Recordings, Integration of the University of Mississippi, Belt 4-A, JFK.

  he was recovering: Sorensen, Kennedy, p. 484.

  “Except Eisenhower”: Belt 4A-2, JFK.

  “sneaking him into Jackson”: Lord, The Past, p. 165.

  “Not a one of ’em’ll be armed”: Belt 4C, JFK.

  “We’ve got a deal”: Navasky, Justice, p. 230.

  “I love Mississippi!”: Lord, The Past, p. 169.

  “General Grant’s table”: Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 345.

  “stage of politics”: Navasky, Justice, pp. 230-31.

  “We have it all down”: Lord, The Past, p. 172.

  “Hey, Nick”: Raines, My Soul, p. 374.

  little Oxford airport: Meredith, Three Years, p. 211.

  “Go to hell, JFK!”: Lord, The Past, p. 178.

  Doar pleaded for time: Guthman, Band, pp. 201-2.

  Historian Walter Lord: Lord, The Past, pp. 180-84.

  “Bob, I’m very sorry”: Guthman, Band, p. 202.

  “my fellow citizens”: NYT, Oct. 1, 1962, p. 22.

  grim siege watch: Description of riot drawn from Lord, The Past, pp. 181-204; Sorensen, Kennedy, pp. 485-87; Guthman Band, pp. 200-205; Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, pp. 346-49. Also from Presidential Recordings, Integration of the University of Mississippi, JFK, cited below by number.

  “throwing iron spikes”: Audiotape 26, JFK.

  “wife may be lying”: Ibid.

  Barnett had parried: Dictabelts 4E and 4F, JFK.

  “Okay, we’ll move him”: Audiotape 26, JFK.

  “G-U-I-H-A-R-D”: Jack Rosenthal to Evelyn Lincoln, Dictabelt 4F-2, JFK.

  “hell of a problem”: Audiotape 26A, JFK.

  reporter was so awed: Int. Nicholas Katzenbach, Oct. 22, 1986.

  army blankets: Meredith, Three Years, p. 212.

  “Andersonville”: Vanderburgh, “A Draftee’s Diary,” Harper’s, February 1964.

  “provoked the students”: NYT, Oct. 2, 1962, pp. 1, 25.

  “a blood clot”: Johnson to Mrs. George Etz, Jr., Nov. 20, 1962, Marshall Papers, Box 19, JFK.

  “utter contempt”: Lord, The Past, p. 206.

  indicted Chief Marshal McShane: NYT, Nov. 17, 1962, p. 1.

  “planned physical torture”: Silver, Closed, pp. 128-32.

  “evils of Reconstruction”: Sorensen, Kennedy, p. 4; Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 350.

  best legal minds: Navasky, Justice, pp. 235-36.

  “qualified his optimism”: NYT, Oct. 1, 1962, p. 1.

  profound depression: William Goldsmith, The Growth of Presidential Power, cited in Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 351.

  “feel like pawns”: King, “It’s a Difficult Thing to Teach a President,” Look, Nov. 17, 1964.

  Eighteen

  TO BIRMINGHAM

  “hit Oxford”: Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 545.

  retrieved Congressman Hale Boggs: Sorensen, Kennedy, p. 702.

  moved the entire family: Int. C. B. King, July 10, 1985.

  “Absolutely not”: Duard LeGrand lecture by David Vann, Center for Urban Affairs, UAB.

  The First Family: Newsweek, Dec. 3, 1962, p. 29; Rolling Stone, Almanac, p. 73.

  “tip-toe stance”: King address, Dec. 27, 1962, A/K
S3.

  “infiltrated to the top”: New Orleans Times-Picayune, Oct. 26, 1962, p. iv—1.

  O’Dell told King: Int. Jack O’Dell, July 1, 1986; O’Dell to King, Jan. 29, 1963, A/KP18f33.

  “communist conspiracy”: Testimony, July 30, 1958, HUAC Hearings, pp. 2712-20.

  “I wouldn’t try”: Ibid., p. 2716.

  “What can I do?”: Int. Jack O’Dell, July 1, 1986.

  “totally inaccurate and false”: King statement, A/KP18f38.

  O’Dell figured: Int. Jack O’Dell, July 1, 1986.

  “Turn Left for Scarsdale”: NYT, March 19, p. 31, and March 16, 1962, p. 33.

  “Some people would laugh”: Levison intercept, Nov. 14, 1962, FLNY-7-240a; also FBI headquarters memo, Nov. 15, 1962, FS-NR.

  agents had planted: FBI headquarters ordered the COMINFIL (Communist infiltration) investigation on Oct. 23, 1962, and planted the five articles the next day, Garrow, FBI, p. 53.

  DeLoach flatly refused: DeLoach to Guthman, Nov. 7, 1962, Edwin Guthman Papers; int. Guthman, June 25, 1984.

  suspicions of foul play: Int. Jack O’Dell, July 1, 1986.

  add a fourth wiretap: Garrow, FBI, p. 57; the home wiretap was installed on Nov. 29, 1962, FLNY-9-77.

  “deliberately sandwiched”: Sorensen, Kennedy, p. 482.

  “carries the whole nation”: Jet, Dec. 6, 1962, p. 7.

  wave after wave: Jet, Dec. 20, 1962, pp. 6—7; NT, Nov. 25 and Dec. 2, 1962.

  cultural divide: Archie E. Allen interviews with Stanley Wise, May 31, 1969, and John Lewis, Aug. 8, 1969, AAP.

  Third Kiokee: Laurie Pritchett memo, Nov. 10, 1962, CRA.

  “come back to Albany”: AC, Nov. 16, 1962, p. 5.

  “President Chided”: NYT, Nov. 15, 1962.

  “Dr. King Says”: NYT, Nov. 19, 1962, p. 21; reprinted widely, as in PC, Dec. 1, 1962, p. 1.

  Rosen interpreted: Garrow, FBI, p. 55.

  Jet declared: Jet, Dec. 6, 1962, p. 12.

  “reveal a total ignorance”: CD, Dec. 6, 1962, p. 4.

  “deceit, lies and treachery”: DeLoach to Mohr, Jan. 15, 1963, FK-NR.

  Dunbar could not refer: Int. Leslie Dunbar, May 12, 1986.

  December 9: Documents describing installation sermon for Rev. John Porter, BUK5f83 and A/KP1f17.

  board meeting: Minutes of board meeting, Dec. 12, 1962, A/KP11f20.