We have created a glossary in which we identify people, places, organizations, publications, and terms mentioned or used in the documents included in Wednesdays in Mississippi: Civil Rights and Women's Work.
When we have only a part of a person's full name, we will refer to that person either with the last name plus honorific (Mr., Mrs., Dr.); when we have only the first name we will simply use that. This glossary is intended as a form of annotation; it is there to help the reader understand each document. In addition, each glossary entry includes sources used to help not only scholars, but students, teachers, and the general public both as a reference and as a guide. Our glossaries are presented in categories, and within each category we have presented our list alphabetically. We hope this will make them easier to use, and we hope the reader will remember that an alphabetical list is non-preferential; the order is only determined by the letter of the alphabet.
Sources noted in the glossary as "internal evidence" refer to material found in the Wednesdays in Mississippi team debriefing transcripts held in the archives of the National Council of Negro Women.
Attorney General - See Kennedy, Robert F.
Barnes, Barbara - Barnes, who was white, began working for the Jackson YWCA in 1954. A decade later she was president of all Jackson operations for the YWCA in that city. As one scholar has noted, Barnes had to "abide by the rules of the national organization and also by the wishes of her board and patrons." Ann later remembered Barnes as "a moving spirit, planning and moving the Y and trying to integrate the Y."
Dorothy Height, interviewed by Holly Cowan Shulman, 16 October 2002, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 18; Dorothy Height, interviewed by Holly Cowan Shulman, 24 January 2003, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 38; Jenny Irons, "The Shaping of Activist Recruitment and Participation: A Study of Women in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement," Gender and Society (December, 1998), 698; Doris Anne Younger, Interview with Ann Hewitt, 15 May 1997.
Batson, Ruth (1921-2003) - Born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, Batson was an important African American education and civil rights activist in the Boston area. She was a member of Team 2 from Boston in the summer of 1964. Batson was the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination and led the fight for equal educational opportunities for African-American children in the Boston public schools.
"1964 - The Women Who
Went to Mississippi," NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 14, File 4, Mary
McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History,
Washington, D.C., 1; "Tributes to Ruth Batson and Elma Lewis," ProclaimHer: Newsletter of the Boston Women's Heritage Trail,"
Spring 2004, http://www.bwht.org/spring2004
Beech, Rev. Bob - In the spring of 1964, Beech, a white Presbyterian minister, moved his family from Illinois to Mississippi to head the Hattiesburg Ministers Project. It was part of the larger COFO strategy of creating support for civil rights activities through a coalition of ministers. Beech was also an early member of the Delta Ministry, which began in September 1964. He was the guide for Team 1 during their visit to Hattiesburg in the summer of 1964. Less than an hour after their departure, he was arrested and jailed on charges of having an overdrawn bank account, a symptom of how the local white power structure felt about Beech and the Hattiesburg Ministers Project.
Internal evidence; James F. Findlay, Jr., Church People in the Struggle: The National Council of Churches and the Black Freedom Movement, 1950-1970, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 83,199; Susan Goodwillie, “Letter from Susan Goodwillie – Re: The first Wednesdays in Mississippi – July 7-9,” July 1964, NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 14, File 3, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C., 6.
Benjamin, Jean - A white member of Team #1 from New York in the summer of 1964, Benjamin had worked with the State Department and as a reporter for Life Magazine; she served as a member of the League of Women Voters, the National Council of Women Girl Scouts, and the Red Cross. Born in China and raised in England, she was an American citizen and the wife of Roberts S. Benjamin, the President of United Artists Corporation. After her visit to Mississippi, Benjamin hosted a fund-raising event for the Freedom Schools featuring Harry Belafonte.
Jean Benjamin, “Wednesdays in Mississippi Answers to Report Questionnaire,” 27 July 1964, NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 14, File 7, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C.; Jean Benjamin, "Registration Form for Wednesdays in Mississippi," Series 19, Box 1, File 12, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C., 1964; Polly Cowan, “Wednesdays in Mississippi 1964-1965: Final Report,” NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 12, File 14, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C., 1965.
Boddie, (Mrs.) - While the exact name of this woman is in unclear on the team debriefing audio tape, this is the name indicated on the 1964 transcript. She was affiliated with a foundation that donated funds to Wednesdays in Mississippi.
Internal evidence.
Brinson, Mrs. A. C. - Brinson was a leading white member of the National Council of Catholic Women and an interfaith fellowship group in Jackson.
Internal evidence.
Lillian Burnstein (1915- ) - The wife of Norman Burnstein, Lillian was the head of the local organization of Jewish women. She was a member of the Sisterhood of Temple Beth Israel in Jackson, Hadassah, and the National Council of Jewish Women. A white woman, she initially had reservations about participating in WIMS but became more involved as the first summer progressed. A native of Milwaukee, Lillian and her husband came to Jackson in 1948. She became active in community affairs, and served as president of the American Association of University Women, the League of Women Voters, and the Lester School PTA. In addition, she was a member of the Jackson Civic Arts Council and the Jackson Council on Human Relations. Prior to coming to Mississippi, she taught special education in New Orleans and Milwaukee.
Internal evidence; "Pride of Northside," Northside Reporter, vol. XI, 1965 (month/day unavailable), NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 8, File 13, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C.
Carver, George Washington (1864-1943) - An African American educator, researcher, and agrarian, Carver was responsible for improving farming techniques and crop rotation. His most noted contributions included enumerating a list of uses for peanuts, the expansion of agricultural education, and improvement of race relations.
Toby Fishbein, "The Legacy
of George Washington Carver," George Washington Carver All-University
Celebration, Iowa State University, 1998, www.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/gwc
Catherine John (Sister) - A white member of Team 2 from Boston in the summer of 1964, Sr. Catherine John was a teacher and nun.
Polly Cowan, “Wednesdays in Mississippi 1964-1965: Final Report,” NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 12, File 14, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C., 1965.
Charlie - Charlie is a fictional character based on Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin used in the role play at the Freedom School.
Internal evidence.
Connor, (Mrs.) - Connor was a young woman arrested for picketing in Jackson.
Internal evidence.
Cote, (Mrs.) - A white Catholic woman in Jackson, Cote was a friend of Mrs. A.C. Brinson from the Jackson National Council of Catholic Women.
Internal evidence.
Cowan, Lou (1909-1976) - The husband of WIMS Project Director Polly Cowan, Lou had worked in TV and radio production. He had owned his own independent production company, Louis G. Cowan, Inc., served as the first Vice President for Creative Affairs at CBS and, later, President of CBS television. At the time of WIMS, Lou was Communications Research Director at Columbia University. He provided WIMS staffers Susan Goodwillie and Diane Vivell with a letter stating that the two women were working on a southern cookbook for his publishing company, Chilmark Press, to serve as their "cover" and explain why they had come to Mississippi. In addition, he enlisted a grocer to supply 750 pounds of food to the COFO volunteers in Vicksburg.
"1964 - The Women Who Went to Mississippi," NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 14, File 4, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C., 1; Holly Cowan Shulman, “Wednesdays in Mississippi: The National Council of Negro Women and the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi During Freedom Summer, 1964,” 2005, unpublished manuscript.
Cowan, Polly (1913-1976) - The Project Director of Wednesdays in Mississippi, Pauline "Polly" Cowan was born in 1913 in Kenilworth, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. The daughter of the only Jewish family in town, she experienced first-hand how it felt to be excluded from social circles: her Jewish heritage served as a marker for discrimination. Her parents were not traditionally religious or observant, but she did practice the principles of prophetic Judaism and devoted her life's work to them: do good, seek justice, and rescue the oppressed. Polly attended Sarah Lawrence College, started a master's degree in Sociology at the University of Chicago and married Louis G. Cowan in 1939. In the years before America entered World War II, she and her husband did what they could to rescue German Jews from persecution and extermination. Polly began working for her husband, a radio and television producer, from the early days of their marriage, and she became a producer for numerous TV and radio shows. After Lou left his own independent production company, Louis G. Cowan, Inc., and moved to CBS where he was first Vice President for Creative Affairs and later president of CBS Television, Polly began a new career, including helping Ellen Straus create Call for Action a radio service intended to help publicize such problems in New York City as inadequate housing and health care. She also served as a consultant with the Committee for Civil Rights in Metropolitan New York and the National Women's Committee for Civil Rights. She was a member of the League of Women Voters and the Citizen's Committee for Children of New York. In 1963, Cowan joined Height as a volunteer at the NCNW to actively work for civil rights. The two women forged a working relationship and a close friendship that lasted until Cowan's death in 1976.
Polly Cowan, "Registration
Form for Wednesdays in Mississippi," Series 19, Box 1, File 12,
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s
History, Washington, D.C., 1964; Holly C. Shulman, “Recollections
of Polly Spiegel Cowan,” Jewish Women’s Archive, 2003, www.jwa.org/cgi-bin/print-page
Crockett, George (1909-1997) - An African American attorney and friend of Dr. Arthur and Marian Logan, Crockett practiced law in Detroit, Michigan and was the co-founder of the first-known integrated law firm in the country. His extensive legal work on behalf of civil rights led him to found the National Lawyer's Guild office in Jackson, Mississippi in the spring of 1964 to provide legal support for the Freedom Summer volunteers and investigate the deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.
Internal evidence; "George
W. Crockett," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Crockett,
as viewed on 12 September 2007; African American Registry, "Lawyer,
Judge, congressman: George Crocket...," 2005, www.aaregistry.com/african
DeFarge, (Madame) - DeFarge is a fictional character in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Outwardly quiet and innocent--a woman who appears simply to be knitting while the great events of the Terror unfold during the French Revolution--in reality, she is ruthless and vengeful and into her knitting hides a coded list of those who must die for the revolution.
Evers, Medgar (1925-1963) - The NAACP Field Secretary in Jackson, Evers became the organization's first field representative in Mississippi after he was denied admission to the University of Mississippi Law School because of race in 1954. In the 1960s, Evers worked to obtain admission for James Meredith at the university, to integrate public facilities in Jackson, and to open job opportunities for African Americans, particularly in law enforcement. His efforts in Jackson were frustrated by Mayor Allen Thompson's agreeing to and then withdrawing concessions on their demands and the lack of national media attention afforded the Jackson movement. A local TV station finally gave Evers the opportunity to respond publicly to Thompson, however, this resulted in an increase in the number of threats against Evers' life. Not long after the appearance, he was murdered in his driveway as he returned home from a planning meeting. Following the assassination, Charles Evers took over his brother's responsibilities.
Taylor Branch, Parting the
Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963 (New York: Simon &
Schuster Paperbacks, 1988), 813-825; "Medgar Evers," Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
To learn more on Medgar Evers life and his contributions to the civil rights movement, please read:
Medgar Wiley Evers, The Autobiography of Medgar Evers: A Hero's Life and Legacy Revealed through his Writings, Letters, and Speeches, edited and with commentaries by Myrlie Evers-Williams and Manning Marable; Adam Nosstier, Of Long Memory: Mississippi and the Murder of Medgar Evers (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1994); John R. Tisdale, "Circumventing the Segregationists: Medgar Evers the Publicist and the Role of the Press in the Struggle for Equality in Mississippi," Journal of Mississippi History, 2004 66(1): 17-36; Michelle Grassi Yelle, "The Making of a Martyr: Mississippi and the Murder of Medgar Evers," Proteus, 1998 15(1): 53-56.
Fairfax, Jean - An African American civil rights leader, Fairfax originally moved to the South in 1942. For many years she worked in the Quaker organization, the American Friends Service Committee, and later with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund as Community Service Director. Fairfax sought to insure desegregation of public schools across the South. During the summer of 1964, she was working with Mississippians for Public Education to encourage African American families to register their children in white schools. An African American woman, she was a friend of both Dorothy Height and Doris Wilson, and located housing for Wilson with an African American family in Jackson.
Internal evidence; Susan Goodwillie, diary scroll, entry 8 July 1964; Wednesdays in Mississippi Papers, University of Virginia Special Collections Library, Charlottesville, VA; Susan Goodwillie Stedman, correspondence, 24 August 2007.
Goodwillie, Susan (1941- ) - Goodwillie was one of the two white WIMS staff members based in Jackson, Mississippi in the summer of 1964. Born and raised in the suburbs of New York City, Goodwillie graduated from Stanford University. Her association there with Allard Lowenstein and subsequent reading about the civil rights struggle while volunteering in Africa inspired Goodwillie to return to Washington, DC in search of a job where she could contribute to the movement. Her hopes were realized in the fall of 1963 when she was hired by Dorothy Height as the first white staff member at the National Council of Negro Women. Subsequently, she was chosen to go to Jackson with WIMS in 1964, and she worked alongside Polly Cowan in New York to plan the 1965 WIMS trips. Goodwillie went on to earn degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Kennedy School at Harvard. For fourteen years, she directed the Goodwillie Group, Inc. providing international advisory services for USAID, the United Nations, and various non-government organizations. She is an author and the first recipient of the Refugees International award for service on behalf of refugees. Now Susan Goodwillie Stedman, she resides in Maine where she continues her social activism in education and regional theater.
Susan Goodwillie, interview with William Chafe, 22 January 1989, “The Reminiscences of Susan Goodwillie,” Lowenstein Oral History Project, Oral History Research Office, Columbia University, New York; Susan Goodwillie Stedman, interview by Holly Cowan Shulman, 20 October 2002, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia; Susan Goodwillie Stedman, personal correspondence.
Governor of Mississippi - See Johnson, Paul B. Jr.
Harvey, Clarie Collins (1915?-1995) - An African-American resident of Jackson, Harvey was the owner of Collins Funeral Home and the founder of WomanPower Unlimited, an interracial network of women who supported civil and human rights efforts. At the "off-the-record" Women's Interorganizational Committee meeting held in Atlanta, Harvey asked the NCNW to send women to her to community to act as a "ministry of presence" in anticipation of increased violence in the summer of 1964.
Collins Funeral Home, "Our
Founders," www.servicebycollins.com
Height, Dorothy (1912- ) - Dorothy Height served as President of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), member of the National Board of the YWCA, Director-Consultant of the Action program for Desegregation and Integration of the YWCA, and former President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. An African-American, she was born in Virginia in 1912 and raised in Rankin, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. After winning a scholarship in a national high school oratory contest, she received her bachelors and master's degrees in four years at New York University and later did postgraduate work at Columbia University and New York School of Social Work. In 1937, while working for the Harlem Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), Height was asked to escort Eleanor Roosevelt to a meeting with NCNW founder Mary McLeod Bethune. Bethune was so impressed with Height that she asked her to volunteer with the Council and, thus began Height's long association with the organization. She became President of the NCNW in 1958 and carried forward Bethune's philosophy that the organization should work for social justice by employing interracial, interfaith efforts, which blended well with Height's deeply rooted Christian faith. Height served throughout the 1960s as the only woman head of a national black women's organization among the male-dominated leadership in the civil rights movement. In that capacity, she worked to expand the dialogue beyond desegregation to include issues important to women, such as housing, education, child care, hunger, and employment. Height retired from the YWCA in 1977 and the presidency of the NCNW in 1998, however, she continued as NCNW Chair and President Emerita. Height has received numerous honorary degrees and awards for her service to interracial, interfaith efforts to improve the lives of women and African-Americans around the globe. These include the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal.
Dorothy Height, “Interview
Conducted by Polly Cowan” (11 February, 10 April, 29 May, 6 October,
10 November 1974; 2 February, 28 March, 25 May, 5 October 1975; 1 February,
31 May, 6 November 1976). Ruth Edmonds Hill, ed., The Black Women
Oral History Project Vol. 5 from the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger
Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliff College
(Westport, CT: Meckler, 1991); Dorothy Height, Open Wide the Freedom
Gates, (New York: Public Affairs, 2003); National Council of Negro
Women, Inc., "Dr. Dorothy I. Height," http://www.ncnw.org/about
Henderson, Luther (1919-2003) - Twice nominated for Tony Awards, Henderson was a prominent African-American composer and arranger who worked on numerous Broadway musicals and with performance groups such as the Canadian Brass and Duke Ellington's Orchestra.
"Luther Henderson," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Herbers, John (1923- ) - A journalist who began his career with the Greenwood, Mississippi Morning Star and the Jackson Daily News, Herbers reported from Mississippi for United Press International from 1953-1963 and then joined the New York Times to report on civil rights and other issues.
"John Herbers," Reporting Civil Rights: The LOA Anthology,
2003, www.reportingcivilrights.org
Hewitt, Ann Alford (1915-2004) - A white native of Mississippi, an accountant, a widow of independent means whose economic livelihood could not be threatened, a life member of the National Council of Negro Women, and deeply religious Presbyterian, her mother, Helene Alford, had been committed to racial justice and set the pattern for her daughter Ann. By the summer of 1964, Hewitt had begun working with WIMS as a local facilitator, or "angel," operating at the local level to minimize suspicion about their activities and create contacts with other local women. She became a vital member of the WIMS effort, even running much of the bank account. She relocated to New York City in the 1970s, where she remained until she moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to be near her daughters toward the end of her life. She later recalled of 1964, "The first meeting that I went to where I simply met Shirley Smith and Polly Cowan, everything had to be done so unobtrusively and in a withdrawing method . . ." and again, "Jackson was a calm, quiet place, where I was raising my girls, but at the same time, my mother and I were known as just the most liberal people you would ever meet in Jackson."
Internal evidence: Obituary, Ann Arbor News, 31 January 2004, Cindy Annchild, "Ann Hewitt" memorial address, personal possession of Cindy Annchild; Al Chambers, Interview with Ann Hewitt, 12 December 2002, WIMS Project, University of Virginia; Doris Anne Younger, Interview with Ann Hewitt, 15 May 977.
Hicks, Jimmy - Hicks was an African-American child at one of the Freedom Schools in Hattiesburg.
Internal evidence.
Horne, Lena (1917- ) - A popular African-American singer and actress, Lena Horne was the first African American woman to sign a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio. She had known both Height and Cowan since at least the 1950s. Horne worked actively for civil rights.
"Lena Horne," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Johnson, Lyndon Baines (1908-1973) - A Texas Democrat and Vice-President, Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) became President in 1963 following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. LBJ was responsible for pushing through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and numerous programs as part of the Great Society to address poverty and racial injustice. He was elected in 1964 but did not seek a second term, in part due to public opposition to the Vietnam War.
"Lyndon B. Johnson," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Johnson, Paul B., Jr. (1916-1985) - Paul Johnson served as the governor of Mississippi from 1964-1968. An ardent segregationist, Johnson campaigned using offensive racist rhetoric. Once in office, he dismissed the possibility of the three civil rights workers being slain in Mississippi and suggested instead that they had fled to Cuba. Johnson later adopted a more moderate stance on civil rights to protect the state's economic well-being. As Lieutenant Governor, Johnson had physically attempted to block federal marshals from escorting James Meredith to classes at the University of Mississippi.
"Paul B. Johnson, Jr.," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Jones, Lillie Bell - Director of the black YWCA in Jackson, Lillie Bell Jones agreed to let WIMS staffers Susan Goodwillie and Doris Wilson meet in the back room of her facility to coordinate and plan the WIMS visits. Jones knew Wilson prior the summer of 1964 as Wilson had traveled to Mississippi in her capacity as a senior official of the national YWCA working with students in the area. Allowing Wilson and Goodwillie to meet at the black YWCA was a risky move on Jones' part, and as a result, she insisted that they be careful and not stay long. While the national YWCA was making strides toward integration, local branches, especially in the South, lagged behind. Lucy Westbrook of the Jackson, Mississippi branch explained that this was not because white women failed to accept the black women, but because the white women feared the "stirring up of feeling" it would create in the community. Lillie Bell Jones' opening her doors to an interracial meeting was thus an important contribution to the WIMS effort and enabled the staff to meet without drawing attention to the project.
Internal evidence; Susan Goodwillie, interview with William Chafe, 22 January 1989, “The Reminiscences of Susan Goodwillie,” Lowenstein Oral History Project, Oral History Research Office, Columbia University, New York, 20; Susan Goodwillie Stedman, interview by Holly Cowan Shulman, 20 October 2002, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 35-36; Susan Goodwillie Stedman, personal Correspondence; Helen Laville, "'If the Time is not Ripe, Then it is Your Job to Ripen the Time!' The Transformation of the YWCA in the USA from Segregated Association to Interracial Organization, 1930-1965," Women's History Review, 15:3 (01 July 2006), 380.
Kennedy, Robert "Bobby" Fitzgerald (1925-1968) - A Massachusetts Democrat and brother of President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy (RFK) served as Attorney General from 1961-1964 and was an outspoken advocate for civil rights and social justice. He was elected to the Senate in 1964 and was assassinated while campaigning for the presidency in 1968.
"Robert F. Kennedy,"
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Law, Bernard (1931- ) - Ordained as a priest in 1961, Father Bernard Law was assigned to work as a priest in Natchez-Jackson, Mississippi, where he edited the diocesan newspaper Mississippi Register. During the 1960s he was a member of the Mississippi Leadership Conference and Mississippi Human Relations Council and noted for his civil rights activism. Ann Hewitt once described him as "one of the most progressive racial people in Mississippi." He was promoted to his first national position in 1968, and he later became archbishop of Boston, from which position he resigned in 2002. Father Law is white.
"Bernard Francis Law,"
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Leigh, Sandy - An African-American man, Leigh was the COFO Project Director in Hattiesburg.
Internal evidence; "Movement
Photographs of Herbert Randall," Faces of Freedom Summer,
2004, www.crmvet.org/images/prandall
Lelyveld, Arthur (1913-1996) - Rabbi of the Fairmount Temple in a Cleveland suburb, Lelyveld was active in the civil rights struggle and participated in voter registration efforts during Freedom Summer. At one point, he was beaten with a tire iron in Hattiesburg by opponents of desegregation. Rabbi Lelyveld was white.
"Arthur Lelyveld, Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Loft, Deborah - Loft was the secretary for the project based in New York City.
Polly Cowan, “Wednesdays in Mississippi 1964-1965: Final Report,” NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 12, File 14, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C., 1965.
Logan, Arthur (1909?-1973) - The husband of 1964 Team 1 member Marian Logan, Dr. Logan was a physician, New York City Director of Community Action Program, and Chairman of the Board of Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited. Logan was African American.
"1964 - The Women Who Went to Mississippi," NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 14, File 4, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C., 1; "Dr. Arthur Logan, Civil Rights Figure," The Washington Post, Times Herald, 27 November 1973, C8, ProQuest Historical newspapers, as viewed on 13 September 2007.
Logan, Marian Bruce (1920?-1993) - An African-American member of Team 1 from New York in the summer of 1964, Logan was the New York City Special Projects Coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), President of the Women's Auxiliary to the Manhattan Central Medical Society, and a member of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She was a singer before she married her husband Dr. Arthur Logan, who was a physician, New York City Director of Community Action Program, and Chairman of the Board of Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited.
Marian Logan, "Registration Form for Wednesdays in Mississippi," Series 19, Box 1, File 12, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C., 1964; Richard D. Lyons, "Marian Logan, 73, A Civil Rights Aid and Cabaret Singer," New York Times, 28 November 1993. ProQuest Historical Newspapers, as viewed on 12 September 2007; "Profiles of Members of First Wednesday in Mississippi Team." NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 14, File 7. Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C.
Lynette - Lynnette was an African-American child at one of the Freedom Schools in Hattiesburg.
Internal evidence.
McDougal, Connie - A law student at Harvard who spent the summer of 1964 in Mississippi as a volunteer at the Meridian community center, McDougal has personal links to both Dorothy Height and Polly Cowan. Born and raised in New York City, she had numerous connections to WIMS participants. Her parents were friends of Dr. Arthur and Marian Logan. Connie attended the Dalton School, where she knew at least two of Polly Cowan's children, and was a friend of the daughter of another WIMS woman, Ellen Craft Dammond.
Internal evidence; Peggy Roach, "Report Peggy Roach (Washington Team) Wednesdays in Miss. 7/22/64 (Meridian)," NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 14, File 9. Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C; Personal conversation with Holly Cowan Shulman.
McGlinchy, Anne - A white member of Team 1 from New York in the summer of 1964, McGlinchy was a retired high school history teacher, Co-chair of the Social Action Committee of the Catholic Interracial Council, and a member of the National Council of Catholic Women.
Ann McGlinchy, "Registration Form for Wednesdays in Mississippi," Series 19, Box 1, File 12, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C., 1964; "Profiles of Members of First Wednesday in Mississippi Team." NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 14, File 7. Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C.
President - See Johnson, Lyndon Baines.
Redmond, (Miss) - Miss Redmond is identified in the debriefing as a member of WomanPower Unlimited in Jackson. She was probably Rosie Redmond Holden, a founding member of WomanPower Unlimited who served as the chair of the Clothes Committee for the group.
Internal evidence; Tiyi Makeda Morris, "Black women's civil rights activism in Mississippi: the story of Womanpower Unlimited" (Ph.D. diss., Purdue University, 2002), 125.
Schutt, Jane (1922-2006) - A white Jackson woman who served as the chairman of the Mississippi Advisory Committee to the United States Civil Rights Commission, Schutt was willing to speak out to local women on the injustices she had observed. After having crosses burned in her yard and her husband's job threatened, she withdrew from her high-profile involvement on the commission but continued working for civil rights behind the scenes. Ann Hewitt once called her "the saintliest activist" and a "beautiful woman."
Internal evidence; Jenny Irons, “The Shaping of Activist Recruitment and Participation: A Study of Women in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement,” Gender and Society, 12.n6, Special Issue: Gender and Social Movements, Part 1, (December 1998), 699; Jane M. Schutt, interview by Leesha Faulkner, 3 October 1994, transcript, Mississippi Oral History Program at the University of Southern Mississippi, http://www.lib.usm.edu/~spcol/crda/oh/schutt.htm, as viewed on 13 January 2007; Doris Anne Younger, Interview with Ann Hewitt, 15 May 1997.
Shelton, Isabel (1917?-1993) - Shelton was a reporter for the Washington Star who covered stories on civil rights and the women's movement.
Isabelle Shelton, interview
by Anne Ritchie, 30 July 1992, 20 September 1992, and 11 July 1992,
for the Washington Press Club Foundation oral history project Women
in Journalism, 1993, http://wpcf.org/oralhistory
Smith, Doug - An African-American COFO youth coordinator in Hattiesburg and chief assistant to Sandy Leigh, Smith had been expelled from school after being arrested for picketing.
Internal evidence; "Movement
Photographs of Herbert Randall," Faces of Freedom Summer,
2004, www.crmvet.org/images/prandall
Smith, Shirley B. (1927?-2000) - Executive Director of the National Women's Committee for Civil Rights, Smith worked for civil rights on many fronts. A white woman, she was jailed in the early 1960s for her participation as a Freedom Rider. In 1963, she accompanied Dorothy Height, Polly Cowan, and Dr. Dorothy Ferebee on a trip to Selma, Alabama that would become the prototype for WIMS to investigate accusations of police brutality against children jailed for encouraging voter registration. Smith later married and continued her social work as Shirley Smith Anderson.
Dorothy Height, Open Wide the Freedom Gates, (New York: Public Affairs, 2003), 157; Polly Cowan, autobiography fragments, Polly Cowan Papers, Series 1, Box 1, File 7, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C., 16-17.
Straus, Jack (1900?-1985) - Straus was the President of Macy's Department Store based in New York City. His family also owned radio stations and newspapers. His wife, Ellen Straus, along with Polly Cowan developed a radio show "Call for Action," as a service to help publicize problems in New York City, such as inadequate housing and health care. If "Call for Action" could not resolve the issue, the radio station would air a documentary or editorial on the difficulty. Straus and his wife were white.
Eric Pace, "Jack I. Straus, 85, Macy's Leader through 4 Decades of Expansion," New York Times, 20 September 1985, A20, ProQuest Historical newspapers, as viewed on 19 September 2007; Holly Cowan Shulman, “Wednesdays in Mississippi: The National Council of Negro Women and the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi During Freedom Summer, 1964,” 2005, unpublished manuscript.
Uncle Tom - A fictional character, Uncle Tom is a pious, faithful, subservient slave from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. The term is used to indicate one who is overeager to win the approval of whites.
Victoria Frances (Sister) - A nun present at debriefing for Team 1 in 1964, Sr. Victoria Frances was possibly with the Maryknoll Sisters.
Internal evidence.
Vivell, Diane (1941-1997) - A college roommate of Susan Goodwillie, Diane Vivell agreed to volunteer as the second white WIMS staff member in the summer of 1964.
Susan Goodwillie, interview with William Chafe, 22 January 1989, “The Reminiscences of Susan Goodwillie,” Lowenstein Oral History Project, Oral History Research Office, Columbia University, New York; Susan Goodwillie Stedman, interview by Holly Cowan Shulman, 20 October 2002, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 33.
Washington, Booker T. (1856-1915) - Washington was a prominent African-American educator who became the first leader of the normal school that would become Tuskegee University in Alabama. While Washington was an influential leader in the African-American community and with white politicians, he was criticized in the later years of his life for accommodating whites in his stance on civil rights.S
Booker T. Washington National
Monument, "Up from Slavery," www.nps.gov/archive/bowa
Willen, Pearl Larner (1904-1968) - A white member of Team 2 in the summer of 1964, Willen was the President of the National Council of Jewish Women. Willen's philosophy was rooted in the left wing of the New Deal. She began her career as a social worker, going from case work to organizer of the Southern School for Workers to chair of the Women's Division of the American Labor Party. Her husband served as Executive Vice President of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies from 1941-1967. Willen traveled with the Boston team, but actually resided in New York. She died in a bus crash in Kenya in 1968.
Polly Cowan, “Wednesdays in Mississippi 1964-1965: Final Report,” NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 12, File 14, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C., 1965; Holly Cowan Shulman, “Wednesdays in Mississippi: The National Council of Negro Women and the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi During Freedom Summer, 1964,” 2005, unpublished manuscript, 16; Joseph Willen Obituary, New York Times, 10 July 1985; American Jewish Historical Society, American Jewish Desk Reference (New York, 1999) 597.
Williams, (Mrs.) - Mrs. Williams was the African American hostess of Marian Logan, who was a member of Team 1 in 1964.
Internal evidence.
Williams, Joe (1918-1999) - An African-American jazz singer, Joe Williams performed with both Lionel Hampton and Count Basie Orchestras.
"Joe Williams," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Williams, Mary Lou (1910-1981) - An African American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer, Mary Lou Williams also wrote and performed religious music and taught at Duke University.
"Mary Lou Williams," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Wilson, Doris (1920- ) - Wilson was the African American WIMS staff member in Jackson, Mississippi in the summer of 1964. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wilson graduated from Tuskegee Institute in 1942. She holds two master's degrees: one in Christian education from Union Theological Seminary in affiliation with Columbia University, and the other in social administration from Case Western Reserve. Upon completion of the second degree, Dorothy Height approached Wilson about joining the WIMS team for the summer of 1964. Height knew Wilson through their mutual work with the YWCA where Wilson had experience dealing with interracial and student groups, including those in the South. At the end of the summer, Wilson assumed the position of Director of the University YWCA at UCLA. She later served as Director of Race Relations and Executive of the Metropolitan YWCA in Chicago where she pioneered programs to aid battered women and rape victims. Wilson retired from the YWCA in 1977, however, she remained active in community service work in the Chicago area until moving back to Pittsburgh in 1983.
Doris Wilson, interviewed by Mary Ann Lawlor, 9 March 2003, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Atlanta, Georgia - The state capital, Atlanta is located in the northeastern area of central Georgia, approximately 55 miles east of the Alabama border. Atlanta was the location chosen by the NCNW, YWCA, National Council of Catholic Women, National Council of Jewish Women, and Church Women United for their "off-the-record" Women's Interorganizational Committee meeting that culminated in a request for the NCNW to bring northern women to Jackson.
Internal evidence; Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. Atlanta.
Cambridge, Massachusetts - A city in the greater Boston metropolitan area, Cambridge is an educational center, and home to Harvard University, Radcliff College, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. Cambridge.
Campbell College - An African-American college in Jackson, Mississippi, Campbell was later closed and the land sold to Jackson College, now Jackson State University.
Denoral Davis, "When Youth Protest: The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, 1955-1970," Mississippi History Now: An Online Publication of the Mississippi, Historical Society,
http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/index.php?id=53, as viewed on 13 September 2007.
Canton, Mississippi - A rural community about thirty miles north of Jackson, Canton was visited by Team 2 from Boston and Team 6 from Chicago in 1964.
Internal evidence.
Capitol Street - A major thoroughfare in Jackson, Mississippi, Capitol Street was at the heart of the downtown business district.
Internal evidence.
Cardinal Cushing College (House of Study) - A Catholic women's college sponsored by the Sisters of the Holly Cross, Cardinal Cushing College operated from 1952-1972 in Brookline, Massachusetts.
"Cardinal Cushing College," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Cleveland, Ohio - The second largest city in the state, Cleveland is located in the northeastern part of Ohio on Lake Erie. In 1967, Cleveland was the first major U.S. city to elect an African American mayor, Carl B. Stokes.
Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. Cleveland.
Detroit, Michigan - The state's largest city, Detroit is located in southeastern Michigan across the Detroit River from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The city is known as a center for the American automotive industry.
Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. Detroit.
England - Located on the southern portion of the island of Great Britain, England is the largest entity of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Considered to be part of the European continent, the United Kingdom is an island nation north of the mainland.
Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. England, United Kingdom.
Far East - Countries making up the east and southeast part of the Asian continent are defined as the Far East.
Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. Far East.
Great Neck, New York - A residential community, Great Neck is located on the north shore of Long Island, New York.
Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. Great Neck.
Greenville, Mississippi - A rural community on the Mississippi River in the Delta region, Greenville is 120 miles northeast of Jackson, Mississippi. The town was visited by WIMS team members in 1965.
Internal evidence.
Harlem - An area located in the Manhattan borough of New York City, north of Central Park between the Eighth Avenue and the East and Harlem rivers, Harlem became a predominately black residential area in the first two decades of the 20th century. Following the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, the name became synonymous with black culture. The Latino community began to grow in the area following WWI. During the 1960s, significant civil rights efforts were focused on ending poverty and unscrupulous business practices of landlords who targeted African-Americans living there.
"Harlem," Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Hattiesburg, Mississippi - A small town located less than a hundred miles south of Jackson, Hattiesburg had seven Freedom Schools, which was the most of any community in Mississippi. Team 1 from New York and Team 7 from New Jersey both visited Hattiesburg in 1964.
Internal evidence; John Dittmer, Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi, (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1995), 259.
Heidelberg Hotel - The Heidelberg is one of the hotels in Jackson, Mississippi that housed visiting white team members in the summer of 1964.
Internal evidence.
Hungary - A country in eastern Europe, Hungary is south of Slovakia, east of Austria, and north of Croatia, Yugoslavia, and Romania. Originally siding with the Axis in WWII, Hungary later tried to negotiate a truce with the Allies and was occupied by Germany. Over 400,000 Hungarian Jews lost their lives during the Holocaust. After the war, Hungary was occupied by Soviet troops. In 1956, Hungary attempted to revolt, but the insurrection was met with military retaliation by the Soviet Union.
"Hungary," Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Jackson, Mississippi - The capital of Mississippi, Jackson is centrally located and is the state's largest metropolitan area. In 1964, Mayor Allen Thompson hired additional policemen, purchased weapons, and procured an armored tank to counteract the "invasion" by Freedom Summer volunteers seeking to gain equal rights for African-Americans.
“Police Fear Crisis in Jackson, Miss.: Force Strengthened to Bar any Negro Demonstrations,” The New York Times, 8 March 1964, NCNW Papers Series 19, Box 10, File 9, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Archives for Black Women’s History, Washington, D.C.; Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. Jackson.
Jitney Jungle - A cash-and-carry grocery store chain, Jitney Jungle opened its first store on East Capitol Street in Jackson in 1919. The chain expanded to over one hundred stores, but it had financial difficulties and sold out to Winn-Dixie in 2000.
"Jitney Jungle," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
King Edward - The King Edward is one of the hotels in Jackson, Mississippi reported to be accepting African American patrons.
Internal evidence; "King
Edward Hotel," Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Laurel, Mississippi - A small lumber town, Laurel is located 90 miles southeast of Jackson, Mississippi and 30 miles north of Hattiesburg.
Internal evidence.
Macy's - A famous New York City department store founded in 1858 and acquired by the Straus family in 1896, Macy's was bought out in the 1980s and has since seen numerous mergers and corporate reorganizations.
"Macy's," Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Mississippi - Situated on the Gulf of Mexico, the state is east of Louisiana, west of Alabama, and south of Tennessee in the heart of the Deep South. A center of racial hatred, Mississippi was the state with the highest number of lynchings and experienced a massive increase in the number of members in the Ku Klux Klan and similar organizations in the wake of the civil rights movement. Racial tensions grew even worse in the summer of 1964 with anticipated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the influx of northern students coming down for Freedom Summer.
Taylor Branch, Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-1965, (New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1998), 240; Lynne Olson , Freedom’s Daughters: The Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement from 1830-1970, (New York: Touchstone, 2001), 173, 200, 299; Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. Mississippi.
Morning Star Baptist Church - Located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Morning Star Baptist Church housed one of seven Freedom Schools in the community.
Internal evidence.
Mount Zion Baptist Church - Mount Zion Baptist Church was the location for one of the Freedom Schools in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, visited by Team 1 in the summer of 1964.
Internal evidence.
New York, New York - Located in the southeast corner of New York state at the mouth of the Hudson River, New York City is the largest city in the country, made up of five boroughs: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The city is the foremost national and international financial and trade center and home to the United Nations headquarters. New York was the city of origin for Team 1 and Team 5 in 1964.
Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. New York City.
Ole Miss - See University of Mississippi.
Palmer's Crossing, Mississippi - A rural community near Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Palmer's Crossing was visited by Team 1 in 1964.
Internal evidence.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Located in southeastern corner of the state, Philadelphia is Pennsylvania's largest city and a hub for commercial, financial, and industrial activity. In 1965, a team traveled from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, Mississippi where civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were murdered in 1964.
Internal evidence; Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. Philadelphia.
Russia - Covering the northern expanse of the Asian continent and located east of Europe, Russia is the country with the largest land mass in the world. In 1917 following the Russian Revolution, the country became the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and, in 1922, joined with surrounding communist states as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Despite these changes, the country continued to be referred to as Russia. In 1991, the USSR dissolved and the Russian Federation was formed.
Merriam-Webster's Geographical
Dictionary (2001), s.v. Russia; "Russia," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Sun-n-Sand Motor Hotel - The Sun-n-Sand is one of the hotels in Jackson, Mississippi, that housed visiting white team members. Dorothy Height, Marian Logan, and Clarie Harvey had a frightening experience at the hotel's restaurant on their first night in Jackson when the manager informed them that as African-Americans they should not be dining there. The hotel was also the location Susan Goodwillie used as her transition point when traveling between the white and black sides of town.
Internal evidence.
Union Theological Seminary - A private interdenominational school of theology, Union Theological Seminary is located in New York City.
Union: Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, www.utsnyc.edu, as viewed on 19 September 2007.
University of Mississippi - Nicknamed Ole Miss, the University of Mississippi is located in Oxford, approximately 150 miles north of Jackson. Rioting broke out in 1962 when African-American student James Meredith attempted to enroll. The National Guard had to be brought in to maintain order. In 1965, Dorothy Height was the first black lecturer at the summer Institute on the Desegregation of Schools at the university and the first black guest to stay at the Ole Miss Faculty Club.
Dorothy Height, Open Wide the Freedom Gates, (New York: Public Affairs, 2003) 180-184; "University
of Mississippi," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Vicksburg, Mississippi - A small town located forty miles west of Jackson on the Mississippi River, Vicksburg was visited by Team 4 from Minneapolis in 1964.
Internal evidence.
Vietnam - Located south of China and east of Laos and Cambodia, Vietnam is situated on the coast of the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea. After numerous disputes for government control both within and beyond their borders, the country divided into North and South Vietnam at the 17th parallel in 1954. In the 1960s and 1970s, the United States participated in an unsuccessful war effort there in opposition to the communist-controlled government in North Vietnam. Heavy casualties and public opposition eventually led to the withdrawal of American troops. In 1976, the country united under the name Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (2001), s.v. Vietnam.
Washington, D.C. - The United States capital, Washington, D.C. is located off the mid-Atlantic coast between Maryland and Virginia on the Potomac River. Washington is a center for government, politics, international diplomatic relations, education, scientific research, and tourism. Washington was the point of origin for Team 3 in 1964. At that time, the National Council of Negro Women was headquartered in Washington at 1318 Vermont Avenue, which had served as both home and office to founder Mary McLeod Bethune and the NCNW. Today, the NCNW offices are located at 633 Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Capitol and the White House.
Merriam-Webster's Geographical
Dictionary (2001), s.v. Washington; National Council of Negro Women,
"History of 633 PA Avenue," http://www.ncnw.org/about
Advisory Committee to the National Civil Rights Commission - The United States Commission on Civil Rights is an independent agency created in the 1950s to monitor abuse of civil liberties and make recommendations to rectify those abuses.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights,
"Mission," http://www.usccr.gov/, as viewed on 19 September
2007; "United States Commission on Civil Rights," Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U
Carmelite Sisters - A religious order founded in 1929, the Carmelite Sisters assist with the needs of the elderly and infirmed.
Carmelite Sisters for the Aged
and Infirmed, "Our Community," http://www.carmelitesisters
Church Women United - Church Women United was founded in 1941 under the name United Church Women to bring together 70 Protestant denominations to work for peace. In 1961, they took on "Assignment Race" to challenge racism, working behind the scenes and participating in marches. In 1963, the organization changed its name to Church Women United (CWU) and continued working for civil and human rights both at home and around the globe.
Church Women United, "Our
History," http://www.churchwomen.org
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) - CORE was founded in 1942 to apply nonviolent tactics toward ending segregation. Under the leadership of co-founder James Farmer in the 1960s, CORE helped to organize sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, and the Freedom Summer Project.
"Congress of Racial Equality," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) - COFO was founded in 1962 to unite the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in a common goal. Bob Moses of SNCC conceived the plan and served as director. During the summer of 1964, COFO implemented the Freedom Summer Project that brought college students, predominately from the North, to Mississippi to register voters and offer education to children and adults.
"Freedom Summer," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Freedom Riders - The Freedom Rides were organized by CORE and SNCC to test the Supreme Court ruling in Boynton v. Virginia that required interstate public transportation be desegregated. The Freedom Riders left Washington, D.C. in May 1961 intending to travel to New Orleans. Their trip was cut short by mobs that disabled and fire bombed the buses, unsuccessfully attempting to burn the Freedom Riders inside. The protesters did succeed in beating the riders as they exited the bus. In Jackson, the Freedom Riders were arrested and jailed under abusive conditions until Attorney General Robert Kennedy insisted the Interstate Commerce Commission create and enforce regulations to protect them.
"Freedom Ride," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Health, Education Department - The Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) was a cabinet level department from 1953-1979 to protect the health of Americans and provide necessary services. Today, it is the Department of Health and Human Services.
"United States Department
of Health, Education, and Welfare," Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Justice Department - The Department of Justice was created in 1870 to meet the country's growing need to enforce its laws and maintain a fair and impartial legal system. The Civil Rights Division was established with passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. This division enforces all subsequent civil rights acts, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and other laws which protect the rights of citizens to equal access and equal opportunity.
United States Department of
Justice, "Mission Statement and Statutory Authority," http://www.usdoj.gov/02organiza
League of Women Voters - The League of Women Voters was founded in 1920, shortly before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. The League is nonpartisan and does not endorse or oppose specific candidates. However, their mission is to facilitate informed political decisions, and they work to influence public policy through education and advocacy.
League of Women Voters, "About
the League," http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template
Maryknoll Sisters - Founded in 1912, and based in New York, these women were the first group of sisters dedicated to service ministries overseas.
Maryknoll Sisters, "About
Maryknoll Sisters," http://sisters.maryknoll.org
Mississippi Council on Human Relations - An informal biracial organization established in early 1964, the Council's goals were to expand African-American newspapers, create a Medgar Evers Memorial Library and Community Center, establish an official biracial commission on civil rights, work with antipoverty programs, and survey the needs of American Indians in the state.
"Mississippi Glossary,"
National Council of Negro Women, http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) - The NAACP was founded in 1909 to address the challenges and injustices facing African-Americans. Primarily focusing on legal and legislative remedies, the NAACP has fought lynching, segregation in public facilities and education, and employment discrimination. Roy Wilkins served as the executive director of the NAACP from 1955-1977.
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, "History," www.naacp.org/about/history
National Civil Rights Commission - The United States Commission on Civil Rights is an independent federal agency created in the 1950s to monitor abuse of civil liberties and make recommendations to rectify those abuses.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights,
"Mission," http://www.usccr.gov/, as viewed on 19 September
2007; "United States Commission on Civil Rights," Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U
National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) - The NCCW was founded in 1920 to provide a national scope and thereby strengthen the effect of work done by Catholic women. Their mission is to respond with Gospel values to the needs of Church and society, and to improve the lives of those less fortunate.
National Council of Catholic
Women, "History of NCCW," http://home.catholicweb.com
National Council of Churches - The NCC was founded in 1950 to be an ecumenical force in Christian leadership to work for education, advocacy, and service.
National Council of Churches
USA, "NCC at a Glance: Who Belongs, What We Do, How We Work Together,"
http://www.ncccusa.org/about
National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) - The NCJW was founded in 1893 to act as an advocate for social change applying Jewish values. The organization works to improve the quality of lives of women, children, and families by working to protect individual rights and freedoms.
"NCJW Mission and Resolutions,"
NCJW: National Council of Jewish Women, http://www.ncjw.org/html
National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) - The NCNW was founded in 1935 by Mary McLeod Bethune to act as an umbrella organization for existing African-American women's organizations, and thus to enable them to make progress in ways that were not possible by working independently. Dorothy Height was recruited by Bethune to join the organization in 1937, and she became president in 1957. Under Height's leadership, the NCNW has proved to be the most influential and longest lived of African-American women's organizations. At the time of WIMS, the National Council of Negro Women was headquartered in Washington at 1318 Vermont Avenue, which had served as both home and office to founder Mary McLeod Bethune and the NCNW. However, planning for the project took place in New York City where Dorothy Height and Polly Cowan both worked and resided. Today, the offices are located at 633 Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Capitol and the White House. The Vermont Street location, now called the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House, is a national historic site operated by the National Park Service and houses the National Archives for Black Women's History, including the archives of the NCNW and WIMS.
Dorothy Height, Open Wide the Freedom Gates, (New York: Public Affairs, 2003); National Council
of Negro Women, Inc., "History," http://www.ncnw.org/about
Partners for Progress - An Atlanta interracial organization, Partners for Progress was formed when a group of primarily middle-class white women, who had been fighting for open schools following the Brown decision under the name Help Our Public Education (HOPE), joined with middle-class black women to urge compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Jane Sherron De Hart, "Second Wave Feminism(s) and the South: The Difference that Differences Make," in Christie Ann Farnham, ed., Women of the American South, (New York: New York University Press, 1997), 284; Internal evidence.
United Church Women - See Church Women United.
White Citizens Council - The WCC originated in the Delta town of Indianola, Mississippi in 1954 to counteract the efforts being made by African-Americans in nearby Mound Bayou, Mississippi to fight for civil rights. The organization quickly spread across the South to fight desegregation. Members met openly and often used the fear of economic reprisal to prevent support for civil rights.
"White Citizens Council," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
White Community Project - Sponsored by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), this program was designed to educate individuals in the poor and middle-class white communities in the South in an effort to eliminate racism and poverty, as well as move closer to democracy for African-Americans.
Patti Miller, "Keeping
History Alive," http://www.keepinghistoryalive.com/freedom-brochure.html,
as viewed on 19 September 2007; "Western Regional SNCC Conference," Online Archive of California, http://209.85.165.104/search?q
WomanPower Unlimited - An organization originally founded by Clarie Collins Harvey to support the Freedom Riders on trial in Jackson, WomanPower Unlimited grew to an interracial network of over 300 women who supported voter registration, school desegregation, and other civil rights projects.
John Dittmer, Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi, (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1995), 98-99; Dorothy Height, Open Wide the Freedom Gates, (New York: Public Affairs, 2003), 175-176.
Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) - The YWCA is a service organization dedicated to ending racism and empowering women. In 1946, the YWCA led the way in desegregation when it adopted an Interracial Charter. In 1965, the YWCA appointed Dorothy Height to lead its newly created Office of Racial Justice. The leaders of both YWCA's in Jackson assisted the WIMS project.
"YWCA," Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
"The Freedom Press" - "The Freedom Press" was a newspaper created by the students at one of the Freedom Schools in Hattiesburg.
Internal evidence.
Mississippi Register - This Catholic diocesan newspaper was edited by Father Bernard Law in the 1960s.
Internal evidence; Mississippi
Catholic, "Our History," http://www.mississippicatholic
New York Times - Founded in 1851, this New York City daily newspaper has won more Pulitzer Prizes than any other paper, and it is often considered the paper "of record" in the United States.
"The New York Times," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Pivotal to change in racial equality, this legislation outlawed segregation in public facilities and eliminated unequal voter registration requirements. Title VII of the act prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. President Kennedy initially requested the civil rights bill be introduced, but President Johnson was the one who spearheaded its passage and signed it into law on July 2, 1964.
"Backgrounder on the Civil
Rights Act of 1964," U.S. Statutes at Large 78 (1964): 241, http://usinfo.state.gov/usa
Community Center - COFO established community centers in several Mississippi communities that served as a meeting place, a library, a recreational center for children and teens, and a school. Citizenship classes to prepare African-Americans for the voter registration tests were among those held at the centers.
Internal evidence.
Democratic Convention and "Freedom meeting" - The 1964 Democratic National Convention was scheduled for August 1964, with an all-white delegation set to represent Mississippi. A group of African-Americans with support from SNCC formed the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to protest the state's barriers to African-American voter participation and the larger Democratic Party's refusal to seat African-American delegates to the convention or to represent their cause.
Internal evidence; Vicki Crawford “African American Women in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party,” in Sisters in the Struggle: African American Women in the Civil Rights-Black Power Movement, ed. Bettye Collier-Thomas and V.P. Franklin, 121-138. (New York: New York University Press, 2001); Kay Mills, This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, (New York: Plume, 1994).
Freedom houses - These locations housed the Freedom Summer volunteers and served as headquarters for their activities. The term could describe a home that opened its doors to the volunteers, a rented apartment, or any make-shift housing available.
Internal evidence.
Freedom Schools - These schools were part of the Freedom Summer Project and offered African-Americans, from young children to adults, the opportunity for a better education. The curriculum included basic knowledge, but more importantly, focused on giving people the tools to be advocates for change through exercising their rights as citizens.
Internal evidence.
Freedom songs - Freedom songs were sung during the civil rights movement, particularly at mass meetings, to give a sense of unity and hope for the future, and to protest mistreatment of African-Americans. Many of the songs were adapted from spirituals and reflected the situation in the community in which they were sung.
Bernice Johnson Reagon, "How
to Think of Freedom Songs," American Civil Rights Movement 1954-1985,
a special presentation of American Experience, http://209.85.165.104/search?q
Freedom Summer - During the summer of 1964, the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) implemented the Freedom Summer Project that brought over 1000 volunteers, predominately college students from the North, to Mississippi to register voters and offer education to children and adults. Many of the volunteers met with violence, and three were murdered. Freedom Summer is also referred to as the Mississippi Summer Project. A number of the WIMS northern women had children who were participating in Freedom Summer.
"Freedom Summer," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
Hallelujah Chorus - The "Hallelujah Chorus" is the most well-known part of George Frideric Handel's Messiah.
Mass meeting - A gathering of large groups of people, often in African-American churches, these meetings sought to motivate people to action. Speeches were given on the status of the civil rights movement and the direction for the future. Freedom songs were often an important part of the meeting to give people a sense of unity and hope. The 1964 transcriber periodically misunderstood this phrase to be "last meeting."
Internal evidence.
Ministry of presence - At the off the record meeting in Atlanta in March 1964, Clarie Collins Harvey of Jackson, Mississippi asked the NCNW to bring northern women to her community to act as what she called a "ministry of presence," a calming influence against violence and intolerance. She shared the concerns of many Mississippians who anticipated an increase in violence that summer in reaction to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the influx of northern students for the Freedom Summer Project. The 1964 transcriber mistakenly interpreted this phrase as "administrating presence."
Dorothy Height, Open Wide the Freedom Gates, (New York: Public Affairs, 2003), 165; Internal evidence.
"Unconstitutional civil rights law" - This refers to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was not unconstitutional but was unpopular with many Mississippians.