Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, State Government Funded Racist Department

The Mississippi Sovereignty Commission was a secret state police force operating from 1956 to 1977 to suppress the civil rights movement and maintain segregation. The commission kept files, harassed and branded many as communist infiltrators via agents who were retired FBI, CIA and military intelligence. No one was safe in Mississsippi. A form of the Sovereignty Commission continues today in Mississippi. Ask Haley Barbour.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Names Sometimes Associated With JFK Assassination Found in Mississippi Sovereignty Commission Files

Looking for names sometimes associated for various reasons with the JFK assassination?? Well, I can't say look no further -- because I have the ultimate guide. However -- Here’s a partial list of some pretty interesting names that can be found in the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission files. (I will update this list as I run into more names.)

I think it's quite fascinating that any records on these folks were collected, since most weren't Mississippi residents. Anyway, I've included one or two links for each name. None are particularly representative of what is in the Commission's treasure chest; But take a look; there are some real gems.

Remember, when using these files look for all sorts of spellings and combinations of names. Even Guy Banister's contract employee, John D. Sullivan, spelled the old coot's name with two n's! Also, all of the files are not thoroughly indexed, so names can appear in reports but not be found through the main index. SUSAN

Here's the link for a basic name searjch./http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/

Remember, this database was built pre-computer days. Try several possible spellings to a name when using it. For instanc, J Egar Hoover has three different versions.

Guy Banister

Jack Brown (as named by Joe Milteer).

Robert DePugh

Wickliffe P. Draper

James O. Eastland

David Ferriie

Jim Garrison

J. Edgar Hoover

H.L. Hunt

Lamar Hunt

Lyndon B. Johnson

John F. Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy

John Lechner (name foud in Richard Nagell’s notebook)

Carlos Marcello

Robert D. Morrow

Robert Morris

Lee Harvey Oswald

(Fair Play For Cuba)

Marina Oswald

Henry Palmer

David A. Phillips

Alex Rorke, Jr.

John Roselli

John H. Rousselot

Jack Ruby

John C. Satterfield

Jay Sourwine (note: Pacifica Foundation was chaired by Andrew Goodman's father)

Clay Shaw

Willie Somersett

John D. Sullivan

Robert Surrey

Wesley Swift

Ned Touchstone

Gen. Edwin Walker

As Long as Kennedy is in power -- (Mississippi and JFK)

In June of 1963, the University of Mississippi must decide whether or not to block the entrance of a second black student to the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). But "so long as the Kennedy's are in power, situations like this will have to be endured..." notes an investigator for the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission. Did he know anything about the upcoming assassination? Most of the Commission's investigators had ties to the FBI, so it's a fair question.

Check out this report --

http://bit.ly/X8FIT3

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd01/005634.png&otherstuff=1|75|0|12|1|1|1|5481|

Who Knew What Before Freedom Summer

Months before the murders of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney Mississippi Sovereignty Commission officials were talking about "doing something about the outsiders." Here's a fascinating memo sent to the head of the Commission by Vicksburg detective John D. Sullivan who did investigative work for the state-funded spy organization. Interestingly, a year before this memo was written, Sullivan, a former FBI agent in Chicago, had been working for Buy Banister in New Orleans.

The three young men, volunteers for Freedom Summer, were killed shortly after coming into the state. outside of Philadelphia, a small town northeast of Meridian.

LINK

Take a look --

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd05/039906.png&otherstuff=3|74|0|6|1|1|1|39304|A

Meanwhile -- while I was looking at old Sullivan reports, I found this one rather fascinating. Back from working with Banister, old John D. got busy coming up with new ideas for the Saovereignty Commission. Here he names names of a helpful newsreporter (Jimmy Ward), talks about the dangers of church collectivism (those darned Methodists) and tells of a mother who's concerned about her kid becoming a Communist at Millsaps College.

Sullivan is still trying to get the Sovereignty Commission to go after Tougaloo's accreditation and has some really keen ideas about how to do this. Great reading.

March 1964

LINK

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd05/039906.png&otherstuff=3|74|0|6|1|1|1|39304|A

Mississippi Sovereignty Commission Links

On Wikipedia: ” The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission was a state agency directed by the governor of Mississippi that existed from 1956 to 1977. The commission's stated objective was to "[...] protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi, and her sister states" from "federal encroachment." Initially, it was formed to coordinate activities to portray the state, and the legal racial segregation enforced by the state, in a more positive light.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_State_Sovereignty_Commission Facts About Mississippi Sovereignty Commission: Some facts about the now-defunct Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, whose files were opened to the public Tuesday. FOUNDED: Created by legislative act in 1956, two years after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education outlawed segregated schools. MISSION: The Legislature created the commission to "protect the sovereignty of the State of Mississippi and her sister states" from federal government interference. In practice, it worked to preserve a segregated society and to oppose school integration. In secret, the commission harassed and spied on activists, branding many of them racial agitators and communist infiltrators. http://www.mdcbowen.org/p2/bh/badco/missSov.htm MDAH Digital Collection: Sovereignty Commission Online http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/ The Berkeley Free Speech Movement and the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission by Jo Freeman (2001): “On Thursday, August 18, 1966 I entered the Bellflower Church in Grenada, Mississippi, which the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was using as its headquarters for a voter registration project. I had been a fieldworker for SCLC for over a year but in Mississippi only since June.” http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/jofreeman/sixtiesprotest/FSMMiss.htm