Peter Stoner Papers

Peter (Pete) Stoner was a self-proclaimed "young radical" from Pennsylvania attending the University of Chicago when he first became aware of the extent of racial injustice in the South. While visiting New Orleans in 1960, Pete noticed racially segregated water fountains at the public library, and was determined to help bring about change.

When the Freedom Riders project began later that year, Pete traveled to Montgomery, Alabama to volunteer himself for the cause. He was sent with fellow Riders by bus to Jackson, Mississippi to participate in local and statewide voter registration projects. The Riders were arrested when they arrived in Jackson, and taken to the state penitentiary at Parchman, where they were incarcerated for an unspecified period of time. After his release, Pete joined with other volunteers to participate in meetings and rallies held at Campbell College, which later became a part of Jackson State College.

Pete remained in Mississippi, and enrolled at Tougaloo Southern Christian College in 1961. He continued to volunteer in civil rights projects and activities sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He attended several meetings in Greenville, Hattiesburg, and Greenwood, where he was arrested and released a second time.

After graduating from Tougaloo in 1963, Pete began working for SNCC as a full-time civil rights worker, and was sent to Hattiesburg in January of 1964. In Hattiesburg, he took part in a massive voter registration drive in Palmer's Crossing and was arrested five times over a five-month period on a variety of misdemeanor charges. While serving a jail term, Pete was placed in a Forrest County work camp for several months, where he performed road construction among other duties. He was also severely beaten by officers and fellow prisoners on more than one occasion.

Despite his experiences, Pete remained in Mississippi. He married and settled in Jackson in 1964, where he still resides. He returned to Hattiesburg to receive both his Master of Science and Doctorate in chemistry at the University of Southern Mississippi in 1979 and 1983, respectively.