Who was Otto F. Otepka and Why Did Mississippi Sovereignty Commission Keep a File?

Beginning in 1957, Otto F. Otepka served as Deputy Director of the State Department Office of Security. This meant that Otepka was in charge of granting security clearances for all State Department personnel. A cadre of people worked under his supervision. From this position of considerable responsibility, Otepka was plunged into a nightmare universe of harassment and surveillance. He was reassigned and removed to a position from which he could no longer reveal inconvenient truths. Yet he had done nothing wrong. It is an extraordinary tale of a career government officer being framed from within the government, his only sin the scrupulous manner in which he performed his duties.

Now, why would there be a small file of clippings about this man in Sovereignty Files? His story has recently been tied to the assassination of JFK -- but this comes years later, as researchers like Joan Mellen do this work on John F. Kennedy's demise.

Here's is a Sovereignty Commission Link

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd06/045916.png&otherstuff=6|44|0|34|1|1|1|45243|

There's a couple more files you can pull up, too.

And here is a link to a free online book about this man by author Joan Mellen. You might take a look; it's quite fascinating. For myself, it helped answer a question of why one of Kennedy's closest friends and cohorts turned on Jim Garrison, making it so rough for him to convict Clay Shaw.

Link to online book --

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

Fr. Nathaniel and the Greenwood, Mississippi Movement (civil rights)

Interesting reading -- Fr. Nathaniel and the Greenwood Movement.

Rev. Nathaniel Maciejewski, O.F.M. (St. Francis Mission - Greenwood, MS)

Here is a fascinating link to a scholarly paper by PAUL T. MURRAY, professor of sociology at Siena College in Loudonville, New York. This article is part of a larger research project on the involvement of 
Catholics in the Civil Rights Movement

http://mdah.state.ms.us/pubs/JMH_fall2010_murray.pdf

and a link to a Mississippi Sovereignty Commission file on Fr. Nathaniel

CLICK HERE

You can also search for this file, here.

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

Asa Earl Carter -- the Forrest Bedford of the Native American literary world?

I was fascinated by a recent public television documentary about a man named Asa Carter who changed his name mid-life name to Forrest Bedford Carter, becoming an author of a controversial memoir, now recognized as a work for fiction, The Education of Little Tree.

Asa Carter, segregationist, aka Forrest Bedford Carter, the Native American author

Asa Earl Carter (September 4, 1925--June 7, 1979), was a devote of  Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821 – October 29, 1877),  a notorious and racist  lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Like the real Gen. Forrest, Carter was a rabid segregationist and an infamous racist propagandist, as well, in the 1960s. A leader of the (White) Citizens Councils (a group dedicated to opposing desegregation and one that was generally considered to be a front group for the Ku Klux Klan) of North Alabama, Carter was the head of a "klavern" of the Ku Klux Klan and was an unofficial speechwriter for segregationist Governor George Wallace, the segregationist governor of Alabama in 1968 and candidate for the Presidency in 1972.

Since its first publication by Delacorte Press in 1976, the book was quite popular, with many people drawn to its message of traditional, simple living and love of nature. However,The Education of Little Tree was the subject of controversy after the publication of an article years later, on October 4, 1991, by Dan T. Carter (a history professor and distant cousin of Asa Carter) called "The Transformation of a Klansman" in the New York Times. 


Little Tree, it turned out, was a sham -- any student of Native Americans would have known this from the start, but the book found its home with people who wanted to believe what Carter had written.

Originally accepted as an actual work by a Cherokee Indian, The Education of Little Tree ranks as one of the great literary hoaxes of American literature. Carter also published two Westerns, including The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales that actor Clint Eastwood made into the 1976 hit movie The Outlaw Josie Wells (1976). After the Eastwood film was released, the New York Times published the truth about Carter, revealing that "Forrest Carter" was actually Asa Earl Carter, the segregationist. 

Since Carter was part of the Citizens Councils -- originating in 1954 in Mississippi -- and a well-known segretationist writer, I wanted to see if there were any records on him in the Sovereignty Commission. And...

Go to the Main Search Page at


http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/

and plug in Asa Carter.... for two results that will lead you to three links. Be sure to put in the last name, first. Carter...Asa.

I would provide the direct links, but the state library is playing games this days, so you have to bring these up on your own.

Good luck and have fun. Susan

(Not much there, just some newspaper articles and column, but enough to bring some fascinating history to life. sk)

Related Blogs:


Civil Rights News Releases


The Emmett Till Blog

New Retirement Blog -- please drop by and say hello

A quick note to readers of this blog -- you are invited to drop by my newest blog, The Retirement Monologues at http://retirementmonologues.com/, where I am focusing on the latest retirement issues that face many of us as we march on through life. Not financial planning (everyone else worries about that), but fun stuff like what are you going to be doing as you retire. Travel? Go fishing? Write blogs that matter?

Maybe you are going to keep working, maybe you are going to start up a new business in your basement...well, you get the idea. My husband and I are starting into these years by working on our own. No more going to the office and working for someone else.

We're finding that working for ourselves will hopefully extend the years we work -- keeping our brains active and staying engaged.

I will be interviewing lots of people, commenting on related social and political issues, and trying to pass on some of the more unique and interesting aspects of retiring and staying engaged.

So please drop by and say hi. I would love to have your comments on posts and I am always looking for contributed articles to post on this topic. I have targeted this blog  to women's issues, but hey, everyone is invited to drop by and share their thoughts.

Thanks, Susan Klopfer

The Retirement Monologues

More on John Sullivan, the Vicksburg attorney who once worked with Banister's New Orleans detective agency and then "died" after shooting himself in the groin following a hunting trip...after JFK was assassinated.

http://mississippisovereigntycommission.blogspot.com/2008/12/searching-for-information-on-john-d.html

Just put up a "history" of the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission (see Pages, at the left). Will be putting up some related links over the next few days.

Here's one -- some "stats" gathered after the murder of Emmett Till, over Mississippi murders...

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd08/062856.png&otherstuff=10|5|0|4|4|1|1|62031|#

Civil Rights & Social Justice News: Real Civil Rights History Beats Out "The Help" and Hollywood's Take on Mississippi

Civil Rights & Social Justice News: Real Civil Rights History Beats Out "The Help" and Hollywood's Take on Mississippi

A true script of what really went on in Mississippi during the modern civil rights era would show, for instance, that professor and social justice advocate John Salter was heavily spied on by the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission. Check out his name with these variations (for starters, I am sure there are more records tucked away) --

SALTER, JNO. R.
SALTER JR, JNO. R.
SALTER, JOHN
SALTER JR, JOHN
SALTER JR, JOHN R.
SALTER, JOHN R.
SALTERS, JOHN
SALTERS, JOHN R.

Here are a few links to get you started...

Head of Sovereignty Commission sends records to a judge --

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd01/005502.png&otherstuff=1|73|0|8|1|1|1|5351|#

News clippings -- city wants to query Salter

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd01/005532.png&otherstuff=1|73|0|16|1|1|1|5380|#

White Citizens Councils meets and talks about John Salter

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=/data/sov_commission/images/png/cd01/000154.png&otherstuff=1|3|0|11|1|1|1|152|#

Enjoy...

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...

Remembering Emmett Till; looking through some Sovereignty Commission 'tidbits', getting a feel for the times

Note: I wrote this post last year as the 56th anniversary of young Emmett Till's murder approached, and included some links to Sovereignty Commission files related to his death. In light of Trayvon Martin's murder, I thought that some readers might be interested in more history about Emmett Till. If you don't know about the Sovereignty Commission, it was a state-run spy organization to halt integration, and was formed following Till's murder.

Very few such records actually are in the state's archives regarding Emmett Till, since most of the records were probably boxed up and taken home by sovereignty commission directors and others.

But -- it is still interesting to see what is there. It helps give a feel for the times, if nothing else.

Here are some links -- there are many  more. Remember that you can look up more records yourself by going to
http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/namesearch.php

Just search on Till, since there are various ways these records are indexed (i.e., Louis Till, Emmit Till, Emmett Till, etc.)

Negro Leader Critical of Southern Juries, FBI

Signs of Attack Seen by NAACP on State Segregation

Part of a conversation on lynching in Mississippi, mentions Till; tries to place blame of acquittal on a "negro undertaker." Fascinating. I spoke with that person before he died, and that is not the story he told me...

Political cartoon of Mississippi black murder victims, includes Till.

"Crack Mississippi, and you can crack the South. Crack the South, and you can crack the U.S." History professor and Citizens Councils member fears the civil rights movement is the forerunner of Communism.

Emmett Till Blog; Murder in the Mississippi Delta; Civil Rights Cold Cases: Emmett Till eBook Still FREE for only one more week; Keith Beauchamp -- Murder He Wrote

Emmett Till Blog; Murder in the Mississippi Delta; Civil Rights Cold Cases: Emmett Till eBook Still FREE for only one more week; Keith Beauchamp -- Murder He Wrote. (You are a teacher, historian, anthropologist, social worker, bartender and STILL don't know this important piece of modern civil rights history? Here's your chance...

Emmett Till Blog; Murder in the Mississippi Delta; Civil Rights Cold Cases

eBook author of Who Killed Emmett Till? drops price to 99 cents. "More people need to know this story" -- also wants to honor upcoming 56th anniversary of this murder "that helped launch the modern civil rights movement."

Emmett Till Blog; Murder in the Mississippi Delta; Civil Rights Cold Cases

Emmett Till Blog; "Emmett and Me"

Special offer on new Diversity eBook, Coupon for $1 off

Readers of this blog will receive a special discount on my new eBook, Cashing In On Diversity when they purchase it through Smashwords --

Promotional price: $2.99
Coupon Code: HC29F
Expires: July 10, 2011

To purchase your copy now, go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/63393 and use the Coupon Code, above, for your special discount.

Susan

Freedom Riders Under the Sovereignty Commission Radar

As Mississippi honored the 1961 Freedom Riders on the 50th anniversary of the movement that changed America forever, one among them returning was Thomas Armstrong, the first to join the Rides in his native Mississippi.

Armstrong led more than 30 students from Tougaloo College, Jackson State University and local high schools in going to the bus terminal in Jackson and boldly entering the white waiting room, refusing to leave. They were all arrested and jailed, as police were locking up freedom riders coming into the state.

Who were the Freedom Riders and what did they do? You can find a number of fascinating (and chilling) files kept by Mississippi's secret spy force, the Sovereignty Commission. Here are a few links to get you started ...


"Keep an eye out on him"

"Soviets Planned Freedom Rides"

"Names and Addresses"

"Beating 'Cleared'"

Of course, there are hundreds of records about this sordid part of Civil Rights history in these files. Many, truly fascinating. BTW, I have written extensively about the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission in my book, Where Rebels Roost; Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited."

Susan

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