Mat swares was on the staff of the congress of racialu he remembers one night someone made the mistake of bringing a white volunteer to an organizing meeting. Word got out that a white woman was in the meeting with black men and a white mob, including men from the sheriff's department, gathered outside. Corps staff members decided to send out several black men in one car to draw the mob away and then sneak the white woman out in another car. Mat swarez: "They literally just pulverized him all day on the highway"
In the summer of 1964, about a thousand young Americans, black and white, came together in Mississippi to place themselves in the path of white supremacist power and violence. They issued a bold pro-democracy challenge to the nation and the Democratic Party.
Produced by John Biewen, with series collaborator Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews with John Lewis, Bob Moses, Unita Blackwell, Hollis Watkins, Dorie Ladner, and many others.
The series editor is Loretta Williams. Freedom song recordings courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways. Other music by Algiers, John Erik Kaada, Eric Neveux, and Lucas Biewen. Music consulting and production help from Joe Augustine of Narrative Music.
Photo: A Freedom Summer worker in Mississippi, 1964. Photo by Steve Schapiro.