Pillar of Fire

by Taylor Branch

  rescued John Herbers: NYT, June 23, 1964, p. 15.

  Herbers moved on to Mississippi: NYT, June 26, 1964, p. 14.

  Danish photographer; NYT, June 23, 1964, p. 15.

  UPI reporter told FBI: Jacksonville LHM dated June 26, 1964, FSA-NR, pp. 1-2.

  quartet of Boston University professors: Int. Harold DeWolf, May 9-10, 1983; int. Paul Deats, Aug. 1, 1984; int. Paul Deats by Larry Elswit, Jan. 13, 1993; Garrow, Bearing the Cross, pp. 334-35. Aside from Neil Richardson, DeWolf’s colleagues were Paul Deats, professor of Christian social ethics, and Albert Beisel, professor of constitutional law.

  six concrete blocks: Hartley, “A Long, Hot Summer,” p. 65, in Garrow, ed., St. Augustine.

  withdrawal on Thursday morning left DeWolf: Int. Harold DeWolf, May 9-10, 1983; int. Paul Deats, Aug. 1, 1984.

  second wade-in of the day: NYT, June 26, 1964, p. 1; Fred Shuttlesworth Oral History, Nov. 19, 1969, A/OH.

  Rev. Elizabeth Miller: “Report on St. Augustine, Florida,” by Rev. Elizabeth J. Miller, A/KP20f43; PC, July 11, 1964, p. 2.

  fn “I felt that we could not”: PC, July 4, 1964, p. 3.

  Walter Hampshire of New Jersey: Newsweek, July 6, 1964, p. 16.

  bleeding white fighter triggered: Colburn, Racial Change, p. 107.

  “They didn’t beat the niggers!”: NYT, June 26, 1964, p. 14.

  “blows struck by”: Jacksonville LHM dated June 26, 1964, FSA-NR, p. 3.

  five hundred segregationists rallied: Colburn, Racial Change, pp. 1-12. The FBI estimated four hundred in ibid.; Newsweek and the New York Times estimated eight hundred.

  DeWolf was startled: Int. Harold DeWolf, May 10, 1983.

  “bigger than the FBI”: Jacksonville LHM dated June 22, 1964, FSA-1452, p. 5.

  vest made from a Confederate flag: CDD (Gary edition), July 6, 1964, p. 1.

  he worked the crowd: WMBR-Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Florida, Tape No. 64005, NWR, PEA; Larry Goodwin, “Anarchy in St. Augustine,” Harper’s magazine, Jan. 1965, p. 79; Colburn, Racial Change, p. 8.

  “There they come!”: Int. Harold DeWolf, May 10, 1983.

  Shuttlesworth’s nightly march: Hartley, “A Long, Hot Summer,” pp. 67-68, in Garrow, ed., St. Augustine; Garrow, Bearing the Cross, pp. 334-35.

  a pause: Colburn, Racial Change, p. 9.

  “A number of Negro women”: NYT, June 26, 1964, pp. 1, 14.

  Frady was trampled: Ibid.; Newsweek, July 6, 1964, p. 16.

  headlong into a parking meter: Fred Shuttlesworth Oral History, Nov. 19, 1969, A/OH.

  Davis later conceded in court: PC, July 11, 1964, p. 2.

  “seemed primarily interested”: Jacksonville LHM dated June 26, 1964, FSA-NR, pp. 3-4.

  Miller learned to recognize: “Report on St. Augustine, Florida,” by Rev. Elizabeth J. Miller, A/KP20f43, p. 6.

  “This is the worst night”: NY LHM dated June 26, 1964, FSA-NR.

  call the Goodman parents: Levison wiretap log of June 27, 1964, FLNY-9-577a.

  encouraging Marshall to push: MLK to Marshall, June 24, 1964, A/KP24f22.

  “a total absence of hand-clapping”: Tobias Simon to Honorable Bryan Simpson, June 29, 1964, Simpson Papers, UF.

  out-of-town truce talks: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, pp. 335-36; int. Harold DeWolf, May 9-10, 1983.

  Simpson wedged himself tightly: NYT, June 27, 1964, p. 1; PC, July 11, 1964, p. 2.

  dared Judge Simpson: Farris Bryant Oral History, March 5, 1971, pp. 31-32, LBJ.

  “You have to be”: FBI wiretap transcript of June 28, 1964, FMXNY-1-26, pp. 4-5.

  filled the Harlem Armory: NYT, June 29, 1964, p. 1.

  “if he is the leader”: Goldman, Death and Life, p. 202.

  “a lot of those fishes and freaks”: Elijah Muhammad wiretap transcript of June 29, 1964, FMXNY-4843, p. 2.

  Jones commended Malcolm’s statement: New York LHM dated July 1, 1964, FMXNY-4669.

  “7:08 P.M. Jones left”: “Physical surveillance of Clarence B. Jones on 6/29/64” (two pages), FJNY-NR.

  only ninety members: New York LHM dated July 2, 1964, FMXNY-4675.

  “We will creep into Florida”: Jet, July 16, 1964, pp. 18-19.

  “If the federal government”: SAC, New York, to Director, June 30, 1964, FMXNY-1-28; Malcolm X telegram to MLK, June 30, 1964, A/KP15f16.

  Muhammad laughed when: Elijah Muhammad wiretap transcript of July 1, 1964, FMXNY-4843, pp. 3-4.

  “He is dying a little”: Elijah Muhammad wiretap transcript of June 29, 1964, FMXNY-4843, p. 3.

  Bryant devised a blustering gambit: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, p. 337; Colburn, Racial Change, p. 109; Abernathy, Walls Came Tumbling, p. 293.

  Lynch was rallying segregationists: Jacksonville to Director, July 1, 1964, FSA-1476.

  fresh criminal charges: Ibid.

  hastily composed statement: King handwritten statement nd (June 30, 1964), A/KS.

  “If things go as they are expected”: WMBR-Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Florida, Tape No. 64005, NWR, PEA.

  Outside influences have created: Bishop West to Rev. Seymour, July 1, 1964, SAHS.

  “people will think”: Colburn, Racial Change, pp. 170-72.

  “Either that or be converted”: Notes of Trinity Parish Church vestry meeting, July 1, 1964, 4:30 P.M., Colburn Papers, UF.

  transfer out of Florida: Colburn, Racial Change, p. 172.

  “If they [Mississippi authorities] encourage”: Katzenbach to LBJ, with cover notes to Lee White and George Reedy, July 1, 1964, Ex HU, Box 26, LBJ.

  “Dear Lyndon”: Aubrey Williams to LBJ, July 1, 1964, WHCF, Name File, LBJ.

  “the correct one”: LBJ to Aubrey Williams, July 14, 1964, Ex CO1/Southeast Asia, LBJ.

  “poor ol’ Herb Wolfe”: LBJ phone call with George Smathers, July 1, 1964, Cit. 4106, Audiotape WH6407.01, LBJ.

  gruff, savvy chain-smoker: Int. Victoria Murphy, Aug. 17, 1993.

  pick up an early draft: PDD, July 1, 1964.

  filed paternity suits: Perry, Malcolm, pp. 305-8.

  “Things are pretty hot”: Goldman, Death and Life, pp. 203-4.

  “merely another effort on the part”: Domestic Intelligence Division unsigned cover note to teletype dated July 4, 1964, FMX-126.

  “she didn’t want to hear”: Wiretap summary of July 6, 1964, conversation in SAC, Chicago, to SAC, Buffalo, FMXNY-4845, pp. 1-2.

  “she feels that they don’t”: Report of July 7, 1964, wiretap conversation in SAC, New York, to Director, July 8, 1964, FMXNY-4696.

  members to get him: Chicago LHM dated July 10, 1964, FMXNY-4710, p. 6; SAC, New York, to Director, July 7, 1964, FMX-133; Malcolm X wiretap transcript of 2:03 A.M., July 5, 1964, FMXNY-1-33.

  Sharrieff testified in open court: CDD, July 6, 1964, pp. 1, 8; CDD, July 9, 1964, p. 3.

  “Uncle Wallace told me”: CDD, July 8, 1964, p. 12.

  rushed to the police and FBI: Statement of Hassan Sharrieff at 3rd District police station, dated June 23, 1964, plus two memos dated July 8, 1964, “Muslims—Chicago Branch,” RS File No. 589, CHS; SAC, Chicago, to Director, July 10, 1964, FMXNY-4711; Chicago LHM dated July 10, 1964, FMXNY-4710; SAC, Chicago, to Director, July 23, 1964, FMXNY-4766, pp. 7-8.

  “I know they are fanatics”: CDD, July 8, 1964, p. 3.

  “Often I would imagine”: “In the Name of Allah, God, the Originator,” manifesto by Wallace D. Muhammad, July 1964, from files of Gladys Towles Root, courtesy of Bruce Perry.

  guided the Sinatra family: Perry, Malcolm, p. 306.

  wide black sombrero: CD, July 14, 1964, p. 5.

  “DENY PATERNITY SUITS”: CDD, July 6, 1964, p. 1.

  “False Charges Filed”: Chicago New Crusader, July 11, 1964, p. 5.

  “Negro Prostitutes Accuse”: Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch, July 11, 1964, p. 1.

  “injected with medicines”: Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch, July 16, 1964, p. 3.

  flew to Egypt: New York report dated Jan. 20, 1965, FMX-215, pp. 102-3.

  majority of his remaining
days: Karim, Remembering Malcolm, pp. 176-77.

  “Malcolm X Flees”: PC, July 11, 1964, p. 1.

  “Malcolm X Flys to African Parley”: New York World Telegram, July 10, 1964.

  “said he intended”: NYT, July 14, 1964.

  “After a while in America”: Malcolm X, The Autobiography, p. 370.

  28. TESTING FREEDOM

  swore in General Maxwell Taylor: NYT, July 3, 1964, p. 1.

  “In a few minutes”: Whalen and Whalen, The Longest Debate, p. 225.

  “we are past the danger point”: PDD, July 2, 1964.

  lemon cake at a seventeenth-birthday: Johnson, White House Diary, p. 173.

  “One hundred and eighty-eight”: PPP, July 2, 1964, pp. 842-44.

  seventy-two ceremonial pens: Whalen and Whalen, The Longest Debate, p. 227.

  curtail street demonstrations: Lee White, “Memorandum to the Files,” July 6, 1964, Ex LE/HU2, LBJ.

  filed suit within the hour: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, 379 U.S. 241 (1964); Graham, Civil Rights Era, p. 170.

  fn “The photographs of Lester Maddox”: Maddox, Speaking Out, p. 57.

  “As long as it is there”: Stern, Calculating Visions, p. 185.

  rescued Hollywood actor Jack Palance: Newsweek, July 20, 1964, p. 32; AC, Aug. 7, 1994, p. M4.

  “could cause a great deal”: WLBT news film 2730/F1730, MDAH.

  “Guess she will never”: William Hodes to “Folks,” July 3, 1964, William Hodes Files, SHSW.

  Moses clung to movement policy: Sutherland, Letters from Mississippi, p. 62; int. Dorothy Zellner, Dec. 12, 1991.

  Word reached Greenwood: “Grats to the St. Augustine businessmen, if they really do what they say they will.” William Hodes to “Folks,” July 3, 1964, William Hodes Files, SHSW.

  Rev. Samuel Wells blessed: Int. Rev. Samuel B. Wells, July 9, 1985.

  blue-ribbon NAACP delegation: July 6, 1964, p. 1, July 7, 1964, p. 20, July 8, 1964, p. 19; Dittmer, Local People, p. 276.

  fn Robert E. Lee Hotel: Report of A. L. Hopkins, Investigator, July 9, 1964, MSSC; NYT, July 9, 1964, p. 16; Cagin and Dray, We Are Not Afraid, p. 379.

  SCLC conference in Birmingham: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, p. 339; King statement of July 16, 1964, A/KS.

  “White folks act like”: Young to Septima Clark, July 9, 1964, A/SC154f4.

  “I don’t worry about a gun”: Belfrage, Freedom Summer, p. 72.

  nearly wept to hear himself: Holt, The Summer, p. 45.

  no Negro in Greenwood would dare: William Hodes to “Folks,” July 4, 1964, William Hodes Files, SHSW.

  Silas McGhee: Belfrage, Freedom Summer, pp. 130-31; von Hoffman, Mississippi Notebook, pp. 106-8; Dittmer, Local People, p. 276; Payne, Light of Freedom, p. 210.

  “Well, you wasn’t nowhere”: Int. Silas McGhee, June 26, 1992.

  Lewis moved eastward to Selma: Garrow, Protest at Selma, p. 34; Jerry DeMuth, “Black Belt, Alabama,” The Commonweal, Aug. 7, 1964, pp. 536-39.

  “Would appreciate any mail”: Mary Varela to Andrew Young, Jan. 24, 1964, and Andrew Young to Mary Varela, Jan. 30, 1964, A/SC134f8. Varela, who recruited six Northern students for a Selma Literacy Project, expressed similar apprehensions in a letter to James Forman of SNCC: “The post office as you know is the intelligence center (in addition to the phone company) for the posse etc. I was doing all right until someone slipped up and sent me a check from the office in a letterhead envelope.” Varela to Forman, March 11, 1964, A/SN23f3.

  introduced himself: Remarks of Silas Norman at Session No. 6 of the Trinity College SNCC Reunion, April 14-16, 1988, pp. 2-12, transcript courtesy of Jack Chatfield.

  “There’s niggers in the Wilby!”: Chestnut, Black in Selma, p. 174.

  deputies invaded behind tear gas: Jerry DeMuth, “Black Belt, Alabama,” The Commonweal, Aug. 7, 1964, p. 537; NYT, July 6, 1964, p. 19.

  Lewis led seventy aspiring voters: NYT, July 7, 1964, p. 20.

  “The Negroes were marched”: Ibid.

  Hare issued an injunction: Selma Times-Journal, July 10, 1964, p. 1; Chestnut, Black in Selma, pp. 172-78.

  “New Law Hoax, Fraud”: Selma Times-Journal, July 5, 1964, p. 1.

  “liberalism is destroying democracy”: Selma Times-Journal, July 10, 1964, p. 1.

  Harold DeWolf wrote Martin: DeWolf to “Martin and Coretta,” July 3, 1964, A/KP8f24; Robert Dyal to Bill Moyers, July 29, 1964, WH Name File, Box 144, LBJ.

  Klan marched on the night of July 4: Colburn, Racial Change, p. 111.

  fishing off a bridge: NYT, July 6, 1964, p. 19.

  Brock kept his word: Jacksonville FBI report dated July 24, 1964, FSA-NR, pp. 7-8.

  “claiming that they were afraid”: Lee White to LBJ, July 15, 1964, HU2/ST9, LG/St. Augustine, LBJ.

  4th of July picnic: Int. Ellen Dahmer, Vernon Dahmer, Jr., et al., June 21, 1992; int. Lorne Cress-Love, June 25, 1994; int. Stanley Zibulsky, June 26, 1994.

  Hattiesburg’s Freedom Schools: Sandy Leigh to Bob Moses, “Report from Hattiesburg,” July 8-14, 1964, A/SN98f24; Sutherland, Letters from Mississippi, pp. 90-117; Holt, The Summer, pp. 97-128; Rothschild, Black and White, pp. 93-121; Dittmer, Local People, pp. 257-61.

  eight to eighty-two: Terri Shaw memo, “Re: Hattiesburg Project,” July 7, 1964, A/SN98f24, p. 3.

  how to teach movement history: Sutherland, Letters from Mississippi, p. 93.

  teachers abandoned lectures: Int. Richard Kelly, June 25, 1994; int. Lorne Cress-Love, June 25, 1994; int. Stanley Zibulsky, June 26, 1994.

  In Moss Point: Int. Lawrence Guyot, Feb. 1, 1991.

  Stallworth fell wounded: Sutherland, Letters from Mississippi, pp. 119-21.

  fn “sharing their terror with them”: NYT, July 6, 1964, p. 19.

  night riders bombed the group: Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch, July 25, 1964, p. 1; Harris, Dreams Die Hard, pp. 60-63; Dittmer, Local People, pp. 266-68; Mary King, Freedom Song, p. 418; Payne, Light of Freedom, p. 223; int. Rev. Harry Bowie by Jack Bass and Walter De Vrie, March 31, 1974, Series A-98, Collection 4007, pp. 3-4, UNC.

  arrested Rev. Robert Beech: Holt, The Summer, p. 214.

  supervised the pilgrim clergy: Int. Robert Beech, Dec. 8, 1991; Holt, The Summer, p. 86.

  Arthur Lelyveld: NYT, July 11, 1964, p. 22, July 13, 1964, p. 13; Sutherland, Letters from Mississippi, pp. 122-26; U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Law Enforcement, p. 53. The injured summer volunteers were Lawrence Spears and David Owen, both of California.

  drew suspended sentences: Tucker, Mississippi from Within, p. 110.

  Freedom School with thirty-five students: Holt, The Summer, p. 217.

  destruction of Mount Zion: Mount Zion Hill Baptist was burned July 17, 1964, Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist on July 22, and Rose Hill Baptist on July 24. Ibid. Also “Mississippi Bombings, Burnings Since June 16,” A/SN36f6.

  “75 students on the lawn”: Sutherland, Letters from Mississippi, p. 104.

  visiting white minister [Rev. Don McCord]: Von Hoffman, Mississippi Notebook, p. 71.

  Malva and “Red” Heffner: Ibid., pp. 64-78; Good, Trouble I’ve Seen, p. 144; Harris, Dreams Die Hard, pp. 63-64; Mary King, Freedom Song, pp. 423-24; Dittmer, Local People, p. 305.

  poisoned Falstaff, their dachshund: Von Hoffman, Mississippi Notebook, p. 78.

  “When I’d go downtown”: Meridian Star, Sept. 6, 1964, p. 1; Tucker, Mississippi from Within, pp. 122-23.

  “I said, ‘That’s right’”: Belfrage, Freedom Summer, p. 142.

  Greenwood’s fourth Freedom Day: Ibid., pp. 142-70; Sutherland, Letters from Mississippi, pp. 174-76; Holt, The Summer, p. 217.

  Silas McGhee watched: Int. Silas McGhee, June 26, 1992.

  abduct him at gunpoint: Ibid.; U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Law Enforcement, p. 44; Payne, Light of Freedom, pp. 211-12.

  “James Bevel, the wonderful”: William Hodes to “Folks,” July 17, 1964, William Hodes Files, SHSW.

  King returned to St. Augustine: Garrow, Bearing the Cross, pp. 340-41.

&
nbsp; “The businessmen said before”: King statement of July 16, 1964, A/KS.

  surrounded Twine’s car: “Racial and Civil Disorders in St. Augustine,” Report of the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, Feb. 1965, p. 46, in Garrow, ed., St. Augustine.

  Twine crooked his elbow: Int. Katherine and Henry Twine, April 2, 1991.

  fn “That ain’t no trash out there”: Ibid.

  luxury integration: Ibid.

  fn Galimore died: NYT, July 27, 1964, p. 1.

  owner James Brock: Colburn, Racial Change, pp. 111-12; Jacksonville FBI report on James Brock dated July 24, 1964, FSA-NR, pp. 1-13.

  Klansmen firebombed the Monson anyway: Ibid. Also St. Augustine Record, July 24, 1964, p. 1.

  Pappy’s Seafood Restaurant: SAC, Jacksonville, to Director, July 20, 1964, FSA-1515.

  “We have gone too far”: Hartley, “A Long, Hot Summer,” pp. 70-71, in Garrow, ed., St. Augustine. (From St. Augustine, Hosea Williams wrote a letter asking for an extension of unpaid leave from his job as a chemist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Williams to Dr. F. O. Marzke, July 15, 1964, A/KP35f16.)

  “It was a great moment”: King statement of July 16, 1964, A/KS.

  “profound and revolutionary changes”: King statement before the Platform Committee of the Republican National Convention, July 7, 1964, A/KS.

  bugged King’s hotel room: Garrow, FBI and Martin, p. 117; FBI microphone surveillance summary dated Oct. 28, 1976, FSC-107.

  adding four new wiretaps: Baumgardner to Sullivan, July 7, 1964, Folder 24, FHOC.

  He arrived on July 10: Whitehead, Attack on Terror, pp. 93-98; DeLoach, Hoover’s FBI, pp. 181-86.

  God and the Ladies: Von Hoffman, Mississippi Notebook, p. 38.

  “Hoover would not criticize”: Jackson Clarion-Ledger, July 11, 1964, p. 1.

  deployment merely fueled: Cagin and Dray, We Are Not Afraid, pp. 370-71.

  “With so many FBI agents sleuthing”: Tucker, Mississippi from Within, p. 49.

  “Money is no object!”: Int. Roy Moore, June 22, 1992.

  empty files and dummy walls: Ibid. Also DeLoach, Hoover’s FBI, p. 181; Ungar, FBI, p. 413.

  Sullivan then delivered: Int. Joseph Sullivan, Feb. 3, 1991.

  callers promised to shoot: Whitehead, Attack on Terror, p. 97; int. Cartha DeLoach, June 1, 1984.

  “Hoover Leaves State”: Jackson Clarion-Ledger, July 12, 1964, p. 1.