Contents
Introduction
Map of Office Locations during Freedom Summer
Abbreviations
Chapter 1. Before Freedom Summer
“A Guide to Mississippi,” Spring 1964 / Journalist Jerry DeMuth’s introduction to life in the heart of the segregated South
“Rugged, Ragged ‘Snick’: What It Is and What It Does” / A portrait of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Fannie Lou Hamer Deposition / A personal account of the torture of Delta women for using whites-only facilities
SNCC Biography: Bob Moses / A short profile of the director of the Freedom Summer project
Notes on Biography of Dave Dennis / An informal résumé of CORE’s director of operations in Mississippi
Chapter 2. Debates, Preparations, Training
Memo to SNCC Executive Committee, September 1963 / Bob Moses proposes the Freedom Summer project
Notes on Mississippi / Summary of the 1963 Freedom Vote and SNCC’s November 14–18, 1963, staff meeting
Dear Friend / COFO recruits supporters and volunteers
Application to Work on the Freedom Summer Project / Andrew Goodman’s volunteer application, March 1964
Mississippi Summer Project Launched / SNCC announces Freedom Summer to the press, March 20, 1964
Letter from Volunteer Training in Oxford, Ohio / Joel Bernard writes home on June 25, 1964, from Freedom Summer orientation
Possible Role-Playing Situations / Volunteers prepare to meet hostile conditions in Mississippi
Security Handbook / Manual for volunteers describing how to face the summer’s dangers
Nonviolence: Two Training Documents / Volunteers are introduced to the theory and practice of nonviolence
Chapter 3. Opposition and Violence
Mississippi Readies Laws for Freedom Summer / Bills introduced in the Mississippi legislature to thwart Freedom Summer, June 1964
The Klan Ledger / The Klan reacts to Freedom Summer, September 1964
The Citizens’ Council: A History / The head of the White Citizens’ Councils explains their history and mission
Summary of Major Points in Testimony by Citizens of Mississippi to Panel of June 8, 1964 / Black Mississippians describe the intimidation and harassment they faced
“Road to Mississippi” / Journalist Louis Lomax’s haunting account of the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner on June 21, 1964
Memo to Parents of Mississippi Summer Volunteers, Late June 1964 / Bob Moses writes to parents of volunteers after the murders
Selected Hate Mail / Vicious correspondence sent to staff and families by racist opponents of Freedom Summer
Notes and Letter from Neshoba County, August 15–22, 1964 / A volunteer moves to the town where the three murdered men worked
Chapter 4. Voter Registration
Negro Voters by District and County, 1963 / Percentages of African Americans registered to vote in Mississippi
Voter Registration Summer Prospects / COFO’s instructions for voter registration volunteers, June 1964
Techniques for Field Work: Voter Registration / COFO instructs volunteers how to canvass door to door
Sworn Written Application for Registration / Application to register to vote in Mississippi
What Were We There To Do? / Two ministers describe voter registration work in Hattiesburg
Dear Dad / Robert Feinglass describes a typical day canvassing for voters in Holly Springs
Dear Mom and Dad / Volunteer Ellen Lake describes what voting means to her Gulfport neighbors
To Overcome Fear / SNCC worker Charles McLaurin takes local residents to the courthouse for the first time
Chapter 5. Freedom Schools
Some Notes on Education / SNCC’s Charlie Cobb envisions a new kind of schooling for Mississippi’s youth
Profiles of Typical Freedom Schools: Hattiesburg, Meridian, Holly Springs, and Ruleville, Spring 1964 / COFO describes how four towns are preparing to host Freedom Schools
Freedom School Curriculum Outline / An overview of the curriculum taught in Freedom Schools
Curriculum Part II, Unit 1: Comparison of Students’ Reality with Others / Freedom School teachers use students’ lives to foster critical thinking
Curriculum Part II, Unit 6: Material Things and Soul Things / Freedom School teachers make their students ask big questions
Dear Family and Friends / Teacher Cornelia Mack describes Freedom School students and classes
Freedom Schools in Mississippi, September 1964 / Liz Fusco, coordinator of the Freedom Schools, evaluates their results
Chapter 6. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
Mississippi Freedom Candidates / The program of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and its candidates
Notes on the Democratic National Convention Challenge / The Reverend Charles Sherrod’s account of the MFDP’s challenge to racist delegates at the Democratic National Convention
Instructions for the Freedom Vote and Regular Election / How the MFDP’s parallel “Freedom Election,” October 31–November 2, 1964, was run
Congressional Challenge Fact Sheet / The MFDP challenges Mississippi’s all-white congressional representatives
Chapter 7. After Freedom Summer
Affidavits of Violence in August–September 1964 / Brutality in McComb after Northern volunteers and reporters go home
COFO Program, Winter 1964–Spring 1965 / COFO’s plan to continue Freedom Summer initiatives through spring 1965
“These Are the Questions” / SNCC’s executive secretary James Forman reflects on the organization’s past and its future in November 1964
Afterword: Freedom Summer Documents
Acknowledgments
Sources
Index