Use Mississippi Sovereignty Commission Files to Write Your Own Fiction or Nonfiction Books, Author Susan Klopfer Says

Adlena Hamlett: You will find her files in the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission data base. Family members once loaned me this photograph of her for my book, Who Killed Emmett Till? and I've always appreciated their assistance. sk

Have you ever wanted to write your own book? This link to files on the story of Horace Germany would make a great short novel. It's a fascinating story about a man who wanted to make a difference in Mississippi, and almost lost his life. And -- no one has done this yet (as far as I can tell).

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/imagelisting.php?foldercheckbox%5B%5D=49%7C1%7C32%7C%7C0&searchimages=Submit+Query

An update on my book, The Plan --


The Plan is about to go to the editor. Yea! I've been working eight hour days to get the final chapters completed. The wonderful thing about digital publishing is that readers don't have to wait for a year or more to get a book in their hands.

Important News: The Writers in Transition (WIT) group is giving our  monthly reading and you are invited. It's free at the California Kitchen in Cuenca. I'll be presenting Chapter 2 of The Plan, so I really look forward to your presence. Here's more information:

WIT Presentation - Click Here for Time and Day

Just recently, new information about a horrid prison camp in the southern Andes of Chile, Colonia Dignidad, made international news. Former victims and their families are suing the state of Chile over this horrid prison that was allowed to stay open until very recently.And what does this have to do with my new book? Plenty, believe me. So I've needed a little extra time to make updates.

Susan

Cleve McDowell Autopsy; interesting... (Mississippi civil rights advocate, lawyer. Murdered in 1997)

Many of you may be interested in looking at the entire autopsy of Cleve McDowell. I believe that I own the only copy, since the state of Mississippi said it "disappeared" with time...

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwmgTfJtEx11SW5lMmU0VDJEQUk/edit#

Pretty interesting stuff, and I have written quite a bit about the person who conducted this autopsy and the observations of a physician/lawyer:

http://emmett-till.blogspot.com/2011/08/mississippi-attorney-meets-early-death.html

Related Posts

News Release on McDowell Autopsy

Academic Smearing at its "Unlevel Best" -- Loads of Sovereignty Commission Records

The man who once taught sociology at Tougaloo College under the name of John Salter, a fine academic and brilliant writer who was frequently smeared by the Sovereignty Commission, takes time to reflect.

Hunter Gray to Bear, 6:17 AM (2 hours ago)

I much like Fall in the West. Here in the higher altitudes of the Mountain States,
the air is living-crispy during the days and the nights call for our wolf robe or at least my colorful Pendleton blankets. Occasional rain and some snow slowly bring deer, elk, and moose down into the somewhat lower winter ranges -- not far at all above us right here -- accompanied by lions,bobcats, coyotes, even an occasional wolf. Bears do their final fattening up for their long den-sleep -- which will carry them far feelings-wise from oncoming cold weather with its cutting winds and inevitable snow. But the sky can be as blue as turquoise, the mornings always promising good luck, and the slowly dimming early evenings with their fading sunlight and faint haze and creeping chill have a strangely appealing and mystical feel. The nights can be downright witchy.

For me, it's the Time of my Coming of Age Bear.

http://hunterbear.org/coming%20of%20age%20[western%20memoir.%20htm.htm

HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq /St. Francis
Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´
and Ohkwari'

Our Lair of Hunterbear website is now almost 12 years old. It contains a great deal of primary, first-hand material on Native Americans, Civil Rights Movement, union labor, and organizing techniques -- and much more. Check it out and its vast number of component pieces. The front page itself -- the initial cover page -- has about 36 representative links.

www.hunterbear.org
----

John Salter and the Sovereignty Commission

Here are several Sovereignty Commission links, to get you warmed up... (Note: Records under Salter and Salters. Remember, these files are ancient and tricky. Always expand out searches, remembering they may come in multiple sets under variations on the name.)

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd01/000155.png&otherstuff=1|3|0|11|2|1|1|153|#


http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/pages/135250.png&otherstuff=1|73|0|7|1|1|1|5347|#

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd01/005541.png&otherstuff=1|73|0|21|1|1|1|5389|#


http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd05/039726.png&otherstuff=3|74|2|16|2|1|1|39125|#


http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd01/005496.png&otherstuff=1|73|0|5|1|1|1|5345|#


Tons more files to go through. All fascinating... The main link is at http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/

Don't ever discount the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission

I remember when I first started looking at Sovereignty Commission records. I read a quote, calling the investigators "keystone cops", back when the records were first made public. Reporters had done a quick look through records of prominent people and most likely, because many records had already been pulled and kept away from public view, or stolen, it looked like there was not much available. Thus -- reporters dismisssed the entire batch.

Not a smart thing to do. There is so much in the data base and it's fun just to pull anonymous records and start sniffing around. This evening, I was looking to see if there were any records available for a lawyer by the name of Lanier Foote. No luck so far -- but remember, not everything is indexed, so I will keep looking in the cracks.

But I did pull up this record -- not sure who exactly it is referencing, but take a look at the "research" done by the investigator. This person was obviously experienced, and it is chilling to watch how he was operating...

http://bit.ly/pup8Ma

or http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd02/010877.png&otherstuff=4|7|0|10|1|1|1|10646|#


No -- not all of these investigators were keystone cops...

Mississippi Sovereignty Commission Files: Dr. King Spied On By State-Hired FBI Agents

Lots of links in the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission files showing the state officials's hatred of Dr. King.

Here's a poster calling for his murder:

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd03/021330.png&otherstuff=2|55|12|41|1|1|1|20869|

Memo detailing plan to harm Dr. King:

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd10/078243.png&otherstuff=99|93|0|15|1|1|1|77228|

Mississippi student gets in trouble for hanging up picture of Dr. King (1971). This is interesting, because I received reports that a Cleveland, Mississippi first-grader was warned he would be sent home if he brought to school a picture of President Barack Obama. This happened right after the election.

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd08/058745.png&otherstuff=8|19|2|49|1|1|1|57945|

Dr. King is accused of promoting violence in Grenada.

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd06/046461.png&otherstuff=2|149|0|30|6|1|1|45781|

Sovereignty Commission investigators are sent into Grenada; SCLC activities.

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd06/046451.png&otherstuff=2|149|0|30|1|1|1|45771|

King Files Could Could be Opened -- Sen. John Kerry

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was threatened early on not to come into Mississippi. Here's an early report:

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd01/000387.png&otherstuff=2|2|0|4|13|1|1|380|
* * * * *

From the Clarion Ledger --

U.S. Sen. John Kerry plans to introduce legislation next week that would pave the way for the release of thousands of FBI documents on the life and death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Kerry said the bill, which failed in 2006, can pass this year in honor of King. "I want the world to know what he stood for," Kerry said. "And I want his personal history preserved and examined by releasing all of his records."

The bill calls for creating a Martin Luther King Records Collection at the National Archives that would include all government records related to King. The bill also would create a five-member independent review board that would identify and make public all documents from agencies including the FBI - just as a review board in 1992 made public documents related to the 1963 John F. Kennedy assassination.
---

This is very good news. The Sovereignty Commission files, of course, are filled with reports on Dr. King. Later today (when I have some free time), I will start posting some links...susan

More --

Civil Rights Lawyer William Kunstler Liked to Shake Up Mississippi

Attorney Kunstler, Wickipedia

Daughters of the late civil rights attorney, William Kunstler, Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler, have recently completed a documentary about their father entitled William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe which will have its world premiere screening as part of the Documentary Competition of the upcoming 2009 Sundance Film Festival in January.

Mississippi's Sovereignty Commission had great interest in Kunstler, who fought for civil righs with Dr. King., and judging by the hundreds of files still available to peruse, the civil rights lawyer loved stirring it up Mississippi. Here are several:

Kunstler name makes it on Senator Eastland's "index of names"

Kunstler helped Fannie Lou Hamer open voting rights in Sunflower County

Lawyer for Freedom Democrats -- editorial written by the Sovereignty Commission for the Jackson Daily News

A Kunstler "spotting" by Sovereignty Commission spy Tom Scarbrough is reported to the Jackson office

Kunstler defends a Freedom Rider in Biloxi

Sending a "Peace Corps of lawyers" into Mississippi

Warning to the governor -- "Expect Anything" -- People's Coalition For Peace and Justice Coming to Jackson

Report Biased Judge Harold Cox in Kunstler case before Federal Court

Transcript -- State of Mississippi vs. Henry J. Thomas

Be sure to check all versions of Kunstler's name -- i.e. "Kuntsler" in the files

"Kuntsler" and the RNA