With help from organizations like SNCC, CORE,
COFO, NAACP, and the Voter Education
Project, among others, blacks in Mississippi attempted to exercise their right
to vote. Key to these efforts were the elderly people, who according to Hattye
Gatson, a civil rights activist from Pickens, Mississippi, "welcomed the civil
rights workers in their homes, held meetings in their homes," and stood up to
face the situation head on. And that's what brought in so many of the younger
families." Although met by extreme violence from Klansmen and law enforcement
officials, these individuals persisted. Gatson noted that many people were "afraid
of what would happen because of the cross-burnings and shootings", but they
made the attempt to participate anyway. Before these activities ended, tens
of thousands of Mississippians had risked their lives to bring democracy to
the Deep South. While many of these drives brought death to its organizers and
supporters, it is true that without them, Mississippi and the country as a whole
might still be stuck in a period where equality and justice remain figments
of people's imagination.
is a picture of a voting rights demonstration in McComb, Mississippi, in 1962.
McComb was the site of the some of the most violent repression of civil rights.
Many churches and houses were bombed. Many people died. One man, Herbert
Lee, was shot in cold blood. McComb was also the site of a mass
arrest of students.
From the Erle Johnston Papers, McCain Library and Archives, University of
on the play button to hear the following excerpt. Total time: 39 seconds
Well, in 1964 I kept trying to register, and Theron Lynd was the deputy registrar
at that time. His name was Theron Lynd. And he wouldn't let us register
no matter what. You'd go up there. They would put some stiff questions to
you. And even if you answered them, he still wouldn't let you pass. He'd
send you back and make you come back. You'd just go, go, go and couldn't
become a registered voter.
– Pinkey Hall, a civil rights activist, vol. 676, discussing how
Theron Lynd, the registrar of voters for Forrest County, Mississippi, refused
to allow blacks to register to vote. When her repeated attempts to register
to vote were unsuccessful, Mrs. Hall joined with others in the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party and attended the 1964 Democratic Convention to,
in her words, "show what was happening in the state of Mississippi."
on the play button to hear the following excerpt. Total time: 41 seconds
The freedom registration program. And quite often a police car would kind
of cruise along the street at two miles an hour while you were walking down
the street knocking on doors. Not so much to intimidate us but to intimidate
the people we would be talking to. So that we'd knock on the door, the people
would come to the door. They'd see the police car out front and say, "What
the hell is going on?" and slam the door, right?
--Rims Barber is a native of Chicago, Illinois, who participated in
the Freedom Summer project with the National Council of Churches. In 1977,
he went to work for the Children's Defense Fund as the Director of the Mississippi