Station 1: The Freedom Summer Project The Freedom Summer was a nonviolent effort by civil rights activists to integrate Mississippi's segregated political system during 1964. Planning began late in 1963 when the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) decided to recruit several hundred northern college students, mostly white, to work in Mississippi during the summer. They helped African-American residents try to register to vote, establish a new political party, and learn about history and politics in newly-formed Freedom Schools. Because black Mississippians were barred from Democratic Party primaries and caucuses, they challenged the right of the Party's all-white delegation to represent the state at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August. Because black Mississippi residents were not allowed to vote, they held a parallel "Freedom Election" in November and challenged the right of the all-white Mississippi congressional delegation to represent the state in Washington in January 1965. Residents and volunteers were met by extraordinary violence, including murders, bombings, kidnappings, and torture. Much of this was covered on national television and focused the country's attention on civil rights issues for the first time. Why Did Freedom Summer Happen? For nearly a century, segregation had prevented most African-Americans in Mississippi from voting or holding public office. Segregated housing, schools, workplaces, and public accommodations denied black Mississippians access to political or economic power. Most lived in dire poverty, indebted to white banks or plantation owners and kept in check by police and white supremacy groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. African-Americans who dared to challenge these conditions were often killed, tortured, raped, beaten, arrested, fired from their jobs, or evicted from their homes. SNCC and CORE leaders believed that bringing well-connected white volunteers from northern colleges to Mississippi would expose these conditions. They hoped that media attention would make the federal government enforce civil rights laws that local officials ignored. They also planned to help black Mississippians organize a new political party that would be ready to compete against the mainstream Democratic Party after voting rights had been won. Who Participated in Freedom Summer? More than 60,000 black Mississippi residents risked their lives to attend local meetings, choose candidates, and vote in a "Freedom Election" that ran parallel to the regular 1964 national elections. Several hundred African-American families also hosted northern volunteers in their homes. Nearly 1,500 volunteers worked in project offices scattered across Mississippi. Most volunteers were white students from northern colleges, but 254 were clergy sponsored by the National Council of Churches, 169 were attorneys recruited by the National Lawyers Guild and the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee, and 50 were medical professionals from the Medical Committee for Human Rights. What Were the Goals for Freedom Summer? Its overarching goal was to empower local residents to participate in local, state, and national elections. Its other main goal was to focus the nation's attention on conditions in Mississippi. Specific goals for the summer included: Increase Voter Registration Organizers wanted as many black Mississippians as possible to try to join the voter rolls. They correctly assumed that the majority would be denied the right to vote and that this injustice could be widely exposed. Create the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) Because officials prevented most blacks from registering to vote or participating in the regular Democratic Party, organizers tried to create a separate party and hold a parallel election. Challenge the Democratic National Committee (DNC) At the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the MFDP contested the right of the white-supremacist delegation to represent Mississippi. They challenged it on the grounds that black residents had been systematically excluded from party meetings and primaries at which the delegates were chosen. Set Up Freedom Schools Schools were established in local churches, storefronts, and other buildings so children and adults could learn black history, social studies, reading, and math, as well as develop leadership skills. Open Community Centers These were opened in existing buildings or new ones erected from scratch in order to provide child care, library books, meals, medical assistance, and other services denied to segregated black neighborhoods. Hold a Freedom Vote Since black residents couldn't vote in the regular election for president and local offices, organizers conducted a parallel election in which all residents could participate. It was scheduled just before the segregated regular election held on November 3, 1964. Challenge Exclusionary Congressional Elections After the all-white winners of the regular election were sent to Washington, D.C., the MFDP challenged their right to take seats in Congress because black residents had been systematically excluded from the electoral process. Who Opposed Freedom Summer? A number of groups opposed the project. Officials in Mississippi at all levels denounced the Summer Project. Its senators and governor publicly refused to obey federal integration laws, the state police nearly doubled in size, legislators passed new laws prohibiting picketing and leafleting, and local sheriffs and police chiefs expanded their forces and acquired new weapons. Businesses banded together in white Citizens Councils to coordinate punishment of African-Americans who participated in Freedom Summer. They foreclosed mortgages on black residents' homes, fired workers from jobs, banned customers from shopping in stores, and shut down food pantries for the poor. Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan inflicted violence on black residents and civil rights workers. Between June 16 and September 30, 1964, there were at least 6 murders, 29 shootings, 50 bombings, more than 60 beatings, and over 400 arrests of project workers and local residents. What Did Freedom Summer Accomplish? On the project's first day, June 21, three workers (James Chaney, Mickey Schwerner and Andrew Goodman) were kidnapped and murdered. Americans all around the country were shocked by the killing of civil rights workers and the brutality they witnessed on their televisions. The MFDP convention drew hundreds of people and successfully launched the new party. Its delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August, however, were not recognized by party leaders and were not allowed to take seats.More than 40 Freedom Schools opened in 20 communities. More than 2,000 students enrolled in classes led by 175 teachers. During the unofficial Freedom Vote held October 31- November 2, more than 62,000 people cast ballots despite shootings, beatings, intimidation, and arrests. In most counties, Freedom Voters outnumbered regular Democratic Party voters. By the fall of 1964, many organizers and activists had become disillusioned. The brutality of the white power structure convinced some civil rights workers that nonviolence had failed. The refusal of the U.S. government to enforce its own civil rights laws disillusioned those who had hoped for federal intervention. This persuaded many activists around the nation that traditional politics would not secure basic civil rights. Some national leaders, such as Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael, therefore began to urge African- Americans to seize their rights "by any means necessary." This sentiment helped create the Black Power Movement and organizations such as the Black Panthers. What Happened After Freedom Summer? Freedom Summer raised the consciousness of millions of people to the plight of African-Americans and the need for change. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed Congress in part because lawmakers' constituents had been educated about these issues during Freedom Summer. Mississippi's black residents gained organizing skills and political experience. By the end of 1966, more than half of African-Americans in southern states had registered to vote. In the years that followed, many were elected to local offices such as mayors, school boards, and chiefs of police.In later years, when the federal government finally sent dozens of officials into local courthouses to enable African-Americans to vote and run for office, they were prepared to take part in the political process. Source:http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=N:4294963828- 4294963805&dsRecordDetails=R:CS3707 http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-mississippi-freedom-summer-project/ 6 minute Walter Cronkite news clip (from 1964) about the Freedom Summer Station 3: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 & The Voting Rights Act of 1965 In a nationally televised address on June 6, 1963, President John F. Kennedy urged the nation to take action toward guaranteeing equal treatment of every American regardless of race. Soon after, Kennedy proposed that Congress consider civil rights legislation that would address voting rights, public accommodations, school desegregation, nondiscrimination in federally assisted programs, and more. Despite Kennedy’s assassination in November of 1963, his proposal culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson just a few hours after House approval on July 2, 1964. The act outlawed segregation in businesses