Ed Hamlett White Folks Project Collection

Series:

Series I: Correspondence

Series II: Business records

Series III: Publications

Series IV: Photographic materials

Series V: Audiovisual materials

Series VI: Oversized materials

Series I, Correspondence, is divided into two sub-series, General and Organizational. Folders for general correspondence hold letters sent to Mr. Hamlett from individuals discussing volunteer work for the WFP. Also included are letters between WFP staff members and their close friends or family, and letters to Mr. Hamlett from active volunteers with concerns about the project. Folders for organizational correspondence hold letters received by Mr. Hamlett from organizations interested in merging projects, or ideas, letters sent from staff members about volunteers and letters between staff members about promotional materials.

Series II, Business Records, is divided into three main sub-series: daily reports, meeting minutes, and volunteer applications. The folder for daily reports holds the day to day personal accounts of civil rights activities in various regions within Mississippi ca. summer 1964. The folder for meeting minutes holds copies of executive and local WFP meeting minutes. The folder for volunteer applications holds forms filled out by individuals mentioned frequently in the collection’s meeting minutes and in letters of correspondence.

Series III, Publications, is divided into three main sub-series: articles, newsletters and booklets. Materials in this series are assumed to have been gathered by Mr. Hamlett during his years spent advocating for civil rights. Some of the publications relate specifically to the WFP and some to other important aspects of the civil rights movement. Included is an original Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party booklet and a signed copy of a booklet titled, Majority-Black School Districts in the 11 Southern States, with Part Two, “Three Majority-Black Districts in South Carolina” authored by Ed Hamlett.

Series IV, Photographic Materials, is a collection of photocopied photographic images taken at an unknown gathering.

Series V, Audiovisual Materials, is a folder holding Ed Hamlett’s ca. 45-minute interview with Sue Shirah, sister of Sam Shirah, a Biloxi/Gulfport civil rights volunteer. Sam and Mr. Hamlett first became acquainted during his tenure in Jackson, MS prior to Freedom Summer 1964. In the 2001 interview, Sue discusses how Sam’s civil rights activities impacted her family before, during and after Freedom Summer.

Series VI, Oversized Materials, consists of two oversized copies of The Southern Patriot and oversized news clippings about the disappearance of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, Freedom Summer volunteers who were murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi.