Black History Month

Freedom Summer Murders; The Dangers of Progression

Kellen Schneider, Staff Writer
April 1, 2023

On June 21, 1964, three young men went missing; Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Henry Schwerner. All three worked for CORE: Congress Of Racial Equality and were among hundreds of college students who volunteered to bring social justice to Mississippi and across the nation (AE). Ku Klux Klan (KKK) membership was rampant in Mississippi, however, and the men knew their work was dangerous. They also knew it was important.

The Klan members were prepared to use violence against the progressive movement, as they had done for nearly 100 years. In fact, over the summer of ’64, the KKK burned over 20 churches, and severely beat attendants at Schwerner’s own church. Luckily he wasn’t there that day, as he was training Freedom Summer Volunteers in Ohio. On their return to Mississippii, Their CORE vehicle was stopped, and officers arrested all three for “speeding” (AE). Chaney was charged with speeding, while Schwerner and Goodman were held for investigation. Cecil Price, who was the Sheriff’s deputy, then escorted them to the Philadelphia, Mississippi, jail around 4 pm.

Despite the fact that the schedule of fines for speeding was posted on the wall, Price said the three would have to remain in jail until the Justice of the Peace arrived. He then denied their one phone call and left the jail (AE). In Meridian, Mississippi, CORE staff began making phone calls tp local jails, asking about the three missing CORE members, as this was “standard procedure.” The jailer’s wife, Mrs. Herring denied that any call had been made to the Philadelphia jail on the 21st, although CORE records show that they called around 5:30 pm. Price then returned at 10 pm and collected the speeding fine, without the Justice of Peace, and told them to get out of the county.

On June 22nd, FBI agents arrived in Mississippi to investigate the kidnapping of the three men. Over the next few days, more than 200 agents would arrive in Mississippi alone (AE). On June 23, the investigators found a CORE station wagon still smoldering from an attempt to destroy evidence on the side of the road. Now the investigation shifted from rescue to recovering bodies (AE). This case in particular was drawing much international attention, particularly because Schwerner and Goodman were both white northerners. Sadly, Black murders in Mississippi weren’t uncommon. In fact, while investigators dragged the nearby river looking for the three men, they uncovered eight African American men (Zinn).

After six weeks of searching, investigators finally uncovered the men, after a tip drew them to an earthen dam. Throughout the fall of ’64, the FBI pursued the case, until it was taken to trial. In court, the prosecutors read the confessions of Horace Barnette and James Jordan, which described what happened on the night of June 21st: “After leaving Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman in the Philadelphia jail, Cecil Price contacted Edgar Ray Killen, one of the leaders of the local Ku Klux Klan, who was also a Baptist minister. Killen directed Klan members to gather in Philadelphia that evening. When two cars filled with Klansmen headed for the outskirts of Philadelphia, Price released the Civil Rights workers from jail and ordered them to head back to Meridian. He then joined the pursuit of the CORE station wagon” (AE). The KKK members then proceeded to force the CORE station wagon to stop, and the rest is history.

The fight for social justice and equality was a bloody one, bloody as any conventional war. This month, we can honor those brave individuals whose lives were given for such a tremendously important cause, starting with these three CORE volunteers: Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Henry Schwerner.