“Reflections of Mississippi Freedom Summer”

“Mississippi Freedom Summer” was a Civil Rights project that took place in the summer of 1964. Local volunteers worked with northern volunteers associated with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to run “Freedom Schools” to prepare African Americans to vote. At the time, Mississippi had 422,000 African Americans who were eligible to vote, but only 28,500 were registered voters. Voter registration in Mississippi was contingent upon payment of poll taxes (later deemed illegal) and a literacy test, the outcome of which was subject to the approval of the county registrar.

Not only did the Freedom Schools teach reading, writing, and black history; they also gave classes on the philosophy of non-violent protests. Other classes offered to supplement the deplorable educational opportunities offered to African American students by state schools were typing, poetry, art, and foreign language. Another important part of the Freedom Schools was that they taught local African Americans how to deal with certain social situations: how to protect yourself non-violently, how to survive a beating, what to do if you are arrested. Good citizenship and legal rights were also the subject of classes during “Mississippi Freedom Summer.” Northern participants in “Mississippi Freedom Summer” were typically college age men and women. Volunteers had training workshops at the Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio, before coming to Mississippi. While in Mississippi, they stayed with local African American families. Many became very attached to their hosts who definitely put themselves in the line of fire by housing these unpopular outsiders.

Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was the largest Freedom Summer site. On the first day of the Freedom Schools in Hattiesburg, 600 students of all ages enrolled. African American churches served as the locations for the seven Freedom Schools in Hattiesburg including: Bentley Chapel United Methodist Church, Morning Star Baptist Church, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, St. Paul United Methodist Church, True Light Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, Priest Creek Missionary Baptist Church, and St. John United Methodist Church in Palmer’s Crossing.