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

Haley Barbour Forgets His Citizens Councils History; Sovereignty Commission Files Help Restore Memories

Guess old Haley Barbour has totally forgotten about the relationship of the Citizens Councils to the ... Sovereignty Commission... to the... state police...to the... state legislature..to public officials, etc. Take a look at these files I found on the Sovereignty Commission site. All clearly show that everyone was working closely with Citizens Councils to keep Blacks "in line."

Just think what we would know about this history if ALL of the files were made available! My guess is that plenty of these files are still sitting in the basements of some Yazoo City, Mississippi homes (alternate state capital) waiting to be discovered.

File 1

File 2

File 3

File 4

File 5

File 6

File 7

File 8

File 9

File 10

Files 11

File 12

Scott Sisters; Not the First Time Mississippi Has Mistreated Ill, Black Prisoners

Clyde Kennard, (Photo from Northeastern University archives

Mississippi had a similar, infamous case when it kept a prisoner with cancer working in the fields. He suffered greatly and was finally released just before he died.

Clyde Kennard of Hattiesburg was arrested September 15, 1959 for illegal possession of liquor and speeding. This happened shortly after Kennard was rejected the second time for admission to Mississippi Southern College, now the University of Southern Mississippi.
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The Scott Sisters, Jamie and Gladys, were sentenced to double life terms each in prison after being convicted of armed robbery where transcripts conflictingly state that $11 could have been netted. A 14 year old witness for the state testified to being threatened to be made into a woman at Parchman Penitentiary if he did not implicate the sisters. They have served 16 years of this sentence to date.
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While Mississippi Sovereignty Commission records show authorities once considered placing dynamite in his car (and a Hattiesburg lawyer offering to run him out of the country), the state finally succeeded in its quest to punish the poultry farmer and U. S. Army veteran when thirteen months later, on November 21, 1960 Kennard was convicted on charges of stealing chicken feed. He was sentenced to Parchman Penitentiary for the maximum penalty of seven years.

NAACP leader Medgar Evers heard of the verdict and told a reporter Kennard’s conviction was “a mockery of justice” for which Evers was arrested, charged with contempt and sentenced to thirty days in jail. The Supreme Court later overturned the conviction. But Kennard was literally beaten and worked to death at Parchman and after becoming seriously ill, he was diagnosed with cancer by the University of Mississippi Hospital.

Returned to Parchman, Kennard was dragged out to work in the fields each day despite his growing weakness. Prison authorities canceled his appointment for a medical checkup and he was not allowed to see his lawyer, Jess Brown. The Jackson attorney asked to receive Kennard’s medical reports but never got them. Tougaloo students mobilized to try and free Kennard, a friend of one of their instructors.

The story was picked up nationally as Dick Gregory and Dr. Martin Luther King demanded Kennard’s release. Finally, in 1963, Governor Barnett ordered Kennard’s release, concerned over potential bad publicity for the state if Kennard died at Parchman. Kennard underwent surgery in Chicago and soon died at Billings Hospital, shortly after he was paroled.

Was it an administrative oversight? Or was it deliberate negligence because of his connection with school integration? These questions, asked by Kennard’s attorney, were never answered. “No one can say for sure. You have to draw your own conclusions,” Jess Brown said.

Clyde Kennard died at the age of thirty-six on July 4, 1963.

Footnote: In one 1959 memorandum found in Mississippi Sovereignty Commission files, commission investigator Zack VanLandingham tells of a conversation he had with a Hattiesburg lawyer, Dudley Connor, about Kennard in the late 1950s.

"If the Sovereignty Commission wanted that Negro out of the community and out of the state they would take care of the situation," VanLandingham quoted Connor as saying. "And when asked what he meant by that, Connor stated that Kennard's carcould be hit by a train or he could have some accident on the highway and nobody would ever know the difference."

In another memo, written by VanLandingham to Gov. J.P. Coleman in 1959, the investigator relates a conversation he had with John Reiter, a campus police officer. "Reiter had several weeks ago told me that when Kennard was attempting to enter Mississippi Southern College in December 1958 that he had been approached by individuals with possible plans to prevent Kennard's going through with his attempt," he wrote.

"One of the plans was to put dynamite to the starter of Kennard's Mercury. Another plan was to have some liquor planted in Kennard's car and then he would be arrested."

So for the Scott Sisters, it appears to be just one more chapter of Mississippi Goddam.
* * *
Some Sovereignty Commission Links Relating To Kennard ...

NAACP Fund Raising Letter For Kennard

Medgar Evers and Kennard

Newspaper clipping on Kennard's Guilty Verdict


Kennard's attempt to enroll in state college

Letter to editor written by Kennard

Kennard's file is large, so there are many more articles to view.

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"Etheridge" "Ethridge" "Ethredge"; Mississippi Sovereignty Commission Files Not So Easy to Research

When the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission kept files on various people, the names often were misspelled. Thus, you will need to do multiple name guesses and searches. A good example are the files kept on a Clarion-Ledge columnist.

You will need to look under the names Etheridge, Ethredge, and Ethridge. Here are a few to play with -- these were found under Tom Ethridge.

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd03/016100.png&otherstuff=3|9|2|38|1|1|1|15739|

Letter from Sovereignty Commission Director re the Ole Miss Law School that mentions the reporter

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd01/004375.png&otherstuff=2|21|2|41|1|1|1|4259|

Letter to the editor re an angry Methodist Youth Minister over a column written by “Ethridge”

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd04/028494.png&otherstuff=3|25|0|55|1|1|1|27984|

Letter about “Ethridge” column from The Methodist Interboard Council

These are fascinating files that give a good feeling for this segregationist reporter who was apparently throught quite well of by the state's spy agency -- the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission.
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Medgar Evers Was Targeted By Mississippi Sovereignty Commission; 2010 80th Anniversary of Evers's Birth

Medgar Evers, Mississippi's first NAACP leader. 2010 eightieth anniversary of his birth.

Blogger Rev. Gerald Britt pays hommage to Medgar Evers, Mississippi's first NAACP leader who was murdered in the driveway of his home:

This year is the 80th anniversary of the birth of Medgar Evers, one of our country's most significant Civil Rights freedom fighters.

Recognition of Evers often gets lost between that given Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcom X, yet for 10 years, ending with his assassination in 1963, Medgar Evers was a prominent figure in the struggle for equal rights, serving as field secretary for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples) in Jackson, Mississippi.

Rev. Britt is the Vice President of Public Policy & Community Program Development of Central Dallas Ministries. He is also the author of a monthly column for The Dallas Morning News.

At his site, Britt shows two important film clips..."The excerpt from the documentary 'Eyes on the Prize', gives the context of the movement - the institutionalization of the culture of injustice, the intimidation of those who sought to register to vote (briefly shown is an example of the 'literacy test' given to actually disqualify voters. The same type of test recommended by Tom Tancredo at the recent TEA Party Convention). It also shows how the legal system gave cover to those who committed such heinous crimes, such as the assassination of Evers."

The second clip is of Myrlie Evers-Williams at the Martin Luther King dinner.

Of course the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission digital database was filled with files on Evers. Here are just a few to get your started:

Info on Evers's auto

Integration Agitator/Medgar Evers

Report on NAAACP efforts in Laurel
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What Change Is All About ... Watching It Move Into Mississippi

Marching in Grenada, Miss. (Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement)



Dear Blog Readers:

I get wonderful e-mail from people who are interested in the Emmett Till story and related civil rights history. The best email, of course, comes from those who share their personal history of what it was like to be involved in the modern civil rights movement.

Here is a powerful message that I recently received from a Grenada, Miss. blogger:

Dear Susan:

Could you please mention this site -- the John Rundle High School Google Group -- http://groups.google.com/group/JRHS.

I will be visiting the Emmett Till website. I have visited Money, MS and have seen the store which was still standing 5 years ago.

I am currently in Baghdad but I'll be home to Washington DC in another week or so and I'll look forward to reading your book. I want to work with our JRHS group to understand our history -- of all our citizens -- so we can start talking about a new future for Mississippi. My dream is to go back home and try to make a difference. That is the dream of many.

Charles Latham is one who has done that. I'd like to get more stories published of those that have gone home and what their perspective is for the future. I re-read Charles email to the JRHS Group from 5 years ago and it is a powerful statement.

You had to be there at the time to understand exactly how dangerous it was for a black child to try to go to a white school. I could visualize Martin Luther King Jr. shaking the hands of the children that morning of September 20, 1966, before they left to go to the schools.

As a father of three I do not know that I could do that -- but I also don't know that I could stand in my child's way if they want to stand up for what they thought was right. It was courage on an unprecedented scale and it was that courage, jijutsued by the beating of the children into a national outrage, that changed the South.

MMaxey
* * * *

So here is the story (printed with permission) that Michael Maxey (MMaxey) refers to, with a short introduction by Maxey:

Charles Latham is an African American alumnus of John Rundle High School. Charles was in the Class of 1971. He left Grenada and this email tells his story and why he came back home. The photograph that Charles refers to in the email is of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, escorting children to school on September 20, 1966. He was one of the black students who attended Lizzie Horn Elementary that day. I've copied Charles on this email.

Michael Maxey
JRHS 1970

Email From: "Charles Latham" To: JRHS Group
Subject: RE: JRHS Website Update >Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2004 11:27:33 -0800

Fellow JRHS Alumni:

My name is Charles Latham (class of '71), although I didn't know you all personally, I do remember your names and had classes with some of you. I was in the band and played trombone when Mr. Mullens was the director. I have lived and worked San Diego, Ca. since 1975.

I really appreciate the comments and the photo by Mary Gene Boteler, it brought back memories for me. And if ya'll don't mind, I'd like to share some of them with you. The girl on our left is Grace Lemon (my former sister-in-law). I remember Mrs. Lemon having a copy of the photo and a copy of the magazine the story came out in. I was also in that line that day. That day was a significant emotional event for me.

Before the march began, we all stood in line in front of our church (Bell Flower A.M.E) for an opportunity to shake Dr. King's hand. When my turn came, I remember thinking no matter what we had to go through for equality, it would be worth it. Because this man made us believe that he was there for us and would die for his beliefs.

Before that day I was content with the way things were. We lived and worshiped in our own community. Went to our own schools and played with our own friends (sounds familiar?). Even when we went to the movies and had to sit in the balcony and go outside for concessions (rain or shine) I just thought that was the way it was. I didn't realize how nice and comfortable it was downstairs. Or even that we had a right to do so.

When I would see that "third" restroom marked "colored" I had no problem using it, because that's the way it was. When I would stand in line at stores waiting to pay for merchandise and the clerk would look past me to assist a white customers first, I still waited patiently. But after that day, things were different. I don't mean that Grenada had changed, but I had. My way of thinking had.

Suddenly, I started to ask why? And later challenging the status quo.

I remember the first day we had to go to JRHS. I was determine to make new friends and live the dream Dr. King had spoken of. I remember meeting Diane Einkner and talking to her about JRHS. She was telling me about the school, where things were and how things were.

I remember people talking about us (both black and white). The fact that two young people were trying to be examples of how things should be. I remember sitting in the back of the class with Chuck Hancock and a couple of his friends joking and having fun. I don't remember all the guys names forgive I'm getting old er). Some of you even hung out with me and invited me over to your homes.Sometimes I wondered what if their parents came home and saw me there?

I also realized that those of you who chose to interact with me personally were taking a chance too. I appreciated that. Because I learned a valuable lesson that has helped me until this day. That is, I shouldn't hold all people accountable for the actions of a few.

Recently I was contacted by a reporter with the San Diego Tribune. He is doing a story on African-Americans who are cashing out of the SD area and moving back to the south. After 33 years, I've been blessed to be able to retire and go back home. I've even hired Ronnie Collins' younger brother Odie to build our dream home. The reporter interviewed my family last night. His interview with me has led him to Grenada. Where he is scheduled to go there next week to talk to others who have also moved back to Grenada from SD.

One lady, who was originally from Itta Bena and lived in SD for forty years, purchased a home over the internet (sight unseen) will be featured in the story. Ray Branscome, Joe Lee III and the honorable Diane Freelon will also be interviewed.

I am proud to be a Grenadian and look forward to going back there and contributing to the city's success. Grenada has come a long way in just forty years. And I still believe that we all (God's children) have a responsibility to make this world a better place. And I try to do that one relationship at a time. When the time comes that we do have a reunion, I will be happy to assist in any way I can.

May God bless you all.
Respectfully,

Charles H. Latham
* * *

As if turns out, Charles Latham's name does appear in Sovereignty Commission records. Here are several links, to get started:

A weekly report from 1971

Names of Black Youth Group Members

Another report, before Latham's times, is from 1958 regarding NAACP activity NAACP activities

Lots more to check out in the Files Section under Grenada County ...

Good Reading and Happy Holidays!

Susan

Cleve McDowell -- Still a Warm Case?

Eleven years after the murder of a popular Mississippi lawyer, some still assert the murderers of Cleve McDowell were never caught. McDowell's murder deserves further investigation.







McDowell and Rev. Jesse Jackson, cotton dust floats in the air


On the morning of March 13, 1997, the lifeless body of McDowell, first black student admitted to the University of Mississippi's law school and a long-time civil rights advocate, was discovered by his youngest sister propped up against a bathroom wall.

Throughout his Drew, Miss. home, dozens of powerful handguns and rifles -- "always one within his reach," his sister and friends say -- had been strategically placed by McDowell for self-protection. So why didn't he use one to save his life?

What happened to bullets taken from McDowell's body during the state's autopsy? Would such evidence show if more than one shooter was involved? What happened to his guns and to all of his investigative files?

For over forty years, McDowell studied murders taking place during the modern civil rights movement. Where is all of the information he collected on the killings of Emmet Till, Medgar Evers and others?

There've been some attempts to explain what took place when McDowell was murdered, and one man went to jail. But nothing makes sense when you look at the whole story and talk to McDowell's friends.

McDowell, of course, was the subject of the Sovereignty Commission's early investigations:

McDowell's entry into "Ole Miss"

McDowell and James Meredith on campus

More on "campus life"

Secret report on "Fudge" McDowell's son

Surveillance Report on McDowell at "Ole Miss"

More on McDowell and others ...