Parting the Waters (175 page)

light of a bonfire: Durr,
Outside
, pp. 300—301. The burned car belonged to Clifford and Virginia Durr. The Durrs had lent their Buick to their houseguest and friend, British author Jessica Mitford, who was researching a humor article for
Esquire
on American class distinctions.

Byron White told: MA, May 23, 1961, p. 1.

“Alabama Asks”: NYT, May 22, 1961, p. 1.

stacks of telegrams: MA, May 23, 1961, p. 48, and May 25, 1961, p. 4.

“baby-sitting the agitators”: MA, May 23, 1961, p. 6.

Roy Wilkins…told:
Jet
, June 22, 1961, p. 8.

“he's just worried”: Int. Diane Nash Bevel, Feb. 20, 1985.

Lewis recoiled from Farmer: Archie E. Allen interview of John Lewis, May 30, 1969, AAP.

but was not sure:
Jet
, July 6, 1961, p. 16; int. James Lawson, Nov. 14, 1983, and Bernard Lee, June 19, 1985.

“Me, too”: Viorst,
Fire
, p. 156; Raines,
My Soul
, p. 130; Farmer,
Lay Bare
, p. 206; int. James Farmer, Nov. 18, 1983.

“my Golgotha”: Int. James Farmer, Nov. 18, 1983.

“He don't have to have”: Int. Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Aug. 20, 1964.

Bevel supported King's: Int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985.

“respected him more”: Forman,
The Making
, p. 147.

Lewis bridled: Int. John Lewis, May 31, 1984.

“Riders must develop”:
Jet
, June 8, 1961, p. 17; NYT, May 24, 1961, p. 1.

appeared in front of Orrick: William Orrick, JFKOH.

thanked Ben Davis: Scatterday to Rosen, May 22, 1961, cited in Garrow,
FBI
, p. 24.

strongly resembled a report: Sgt. T. H. Cook to Eugene Connor, “Martin Luther King, Jr. and Communism,” May 17, 1960, BIR/BC5f24.

“difficult decision”: Burke Marshall, JFKOH, p. 37.

Kennedy then faced: Guthman,
Band
, p. 176.

“That would be a matter”: MA, May 23, 1961, p. 1.

“in fact, I suppose”: RFK, JFKOH, cited in Schlesinger Jr.,
Robert Kennedy
, p. 322.

“your baby crib”: Burke Marshall, JFKOH, p. 39.

reinforcements arrived: John Lewis, A/OH; int. Lewis, May 31, 1984.

imperial jade ring: Dietrich to Walker, Aug. 1, 1961, and Walker to Dietrich, Aug. 21, 1961, A/SC33f2.

“may be a hazardous journey”:
Jet
, June 8, 1961, p. 15.

7:06
A.M.
: MA, May 25, 1961, pp. 1, 2, 3.

vomited on the side: Burke Marshall, JFKOH, p. 38.

“nothing to do”: MA, May 25, 1961, p. 1.

“I think we should all”: NYT, May 25, 1961, p. 24.

reported almost continuously: Log of conference call, papers of Ed Guthman, Philadelphia, Pa.

“My prayers are with you”: Farmer,
Lay Bare
, p. 3; int. James Farmer, Nov. 18, 1983.

“embarrassed all our lives?”: Stein,
Journey
, pp. 98—103.

“damn shame”: MA, May 25, 1961, p. 2.

“cooling-off period”: NYT, May 25, 1961, p. 24.

“displayed any common sense”: MA, May 25, 1961, p. 1.

“Our conscience tells us”: Guthman,
Band
, pp. 154—55. This sentence was deleted from the version reported in Schlesinger Jr.,
Robert Kennedy
, p. 322. The conversation was preserved by aides listening in on Kennedy's end of the line, handwritten notes in papers of Ed Guthman.

“against the atom bomb?”: Wofford,
Of Kennedys
, p. 156.

all but excluded: Int. Harris Wofford, Sept. 26, 1985.

“they don't understand”: Wofford,
Of Kennedys
, p. 156.

“Do you want to go on?”: Stein,
Journey
, pp. 100—101.

Sheriff Mack Sim Butler: MA, May 26, 1961, p. 1; NYT, May 26, 1961, p. 1.

“so furious”: Stein,
Journey
, p. 101.

“took a lot of guts”: WP, May 25, 1961, cited in Navasky,
Justice
, p. 206. Kennedy is not identified in the story as the source of the quotations, but Navasky and the context of the story make it plain that it was he.

“we can end segregation”: NYT, May 26, 1961, p. 21.

King presided: Minutes of meeting, May 26, 1961, A/KP10f39.

“I am here to promote”: NYT, May 26, 1961, p. 12.

tripled draft calls: Manchester,
Glory
, p. 1117; NYT, July 27, 1961, p. 1.

approaching two hundred: NYT, June 26, 1961, p. 9.

“long-held customs”: NYT, May 26, 1961, p. 32.

“Dr. King Refuses”: Ibid., p. 1.

Gallup poll: Wofford,
Of Kennedys
, p. 157.

telescoped a process: Guthman,
Band
, p. 175; Schlesinger Jr.,
Robert Kennedy
, p. 323.

Kennedy himself intervened: RFK, JFKOH, cited in Schlesinger Jr.,
Robert Kennedy
, p. 325.

Capahosic: Int. Leslie Dunbar, May 12, 1986.

“three Charlies”: Int. Timothy Jenkins, March 11, 1986.

On June 16: Carson,
In Struggle
, p. 39.

“You are a public official”: Int. Charles Sherrod, July 10, 1985; Farmer,
Lay Bare
, pp. 219—20.

draft exemptions: Int. Charles Jones, Nov. 24, 1986.

Wofford put the choice: Raines,
My Soul
, pp. 245—46.

call the Justice Department collect: Ibid., p. 250; int. Robert P. Moses, Aug. 10, 1983.

wedding anniversary:
Jet
, July 13, 1961, p. 13. The Belafonte meeting, like Robert Kennedy's meeting with the SNCC students, was a substitute for Harris Wofford's persistent recommendations that President Kennedy himself meet these leaders: e.g., Wofford to Kenneth O'Donnell, March 20, June 12, and Oct. 4, 1961, all File HU, May 11, 1961—Nov. 15, 1961, Box 358, WHCF, JFK.

“Negro Vote Surge”: NYT, June 26, 1961, p. 1.

Belafonte encouraged: Int. Harry Belafonte, March 6—7, 1985; Carson,
In Struggle
, p. 39.

all-day meeting in New York: Meier and Rudwick,
CORE
, pp. 174—75. Letters about King's participation in the July 28 meeting are in BUK7f50.

a month later: Telegrams between Walker and Currier, Aug. 15, Aug. 17, and Aug. 17, 1961, A/SC36f23, regarding the meeting on Aug. 23, 1961.

a hundred compromises: Wofford,
Of Kennedys
, p. 159; Schlesinger Jr.,
Robert Kennedy
, pp. 324—25; Morris,
Origins
, pp. 234—36.

“empirical evaluation”: Dunbar to Farmer, Wilkins, Young, Walker, McDew, and Jenkins, Sept. 13, 1961, A/SC36f23.

Down in Mississippi: Freedom Rider jail account drawn heavily from Farmer,
Lay Bare
, pp. 1—32. Also Meier and Rudwick,
CORE
, pp. 139—42; Peck,
Ride
, pp. 110—17; Raines,
My Soul
, pp. 133—38, 305; int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985; int. John Lewis, May 31, 1985; Lewis, A/OH; C. T. Vivian, 1983, HOH; int. James Farmer, Nov. 18, 8583;
Jet
, June 15, 1961, pp. 12—13, and June 22, 1961, pp. 6—7.

“top priority”: SNCC minutes, Baltimore meeting, July 14—16, 1961, A/SN7 and A/KP23f18; Carson,
In Struggle
, p. 40.

“this is an emergency”: Sherrod circular, July 22, 1961, A/KP23f18.

Baffled by the intrigue: Int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984.

two cooperating wings: Carson,
In Struggle
, pp. 41—42; Charles McDew, CRDPOH, p. 72.

“Move on Mississippi”: Charles McDew, CRDPOH; int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985.

up to three years:
Jet
, Aug. 17, 1961, p. 16; int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985, and Diane Nash Bevel, Feb. 22, 1985.

map on the wall: Int. John Doar, Oct. 25, 1983, and Charles Sherrod, July 10, 1985.

Sherrod was obliged: Int. Charles Sherrod, July 10, 1985.

trying to make peace: NYT, May 26, 1961, p. 1.

“Steps have been taken”: News Service of the Southern Baptist Convention release, Aug. 9, 1961, BUK7f7.

On a single day: NYT, June 17, 1961, p. 10; Peggy Fowler to Wheatley et al., June 12, 1961, RAC; int. Hugh Morrow, Dec. 20, 1984.

“interest the television networks”: Rockefeller to King, Aug. 22, 1961, responding to King of Aug. 9, 1961, BUK7f39.

King flew back: Log, A/KP9f6.

ventured into Jackson:
Jet
, July 20, 1961, p. 6.

dollar-conscious Benjamin: Mays to King, July 20, 1961, BUK7f26.

arranged for him: Levison to King, July 24, 1961, BUK7f25.

“before the bank froze”: Levison to King, June 20, 1961, BUK7f25.

Levison to whom King entrusted: Ibid.

“grammar is uncertain”: King, “‘The Time for Freedom Has Come,'”
The New York Times Magazine
, Sept. 10, 1961.

emergency meeting: Minutes of the Freedom Ride Coordinating Committee, Aug. 3, 1961, A/SC35f2.

opened their first: Grant,
Black Protest
, p. 304.

day trip to New York: Log, A/KP9f6.

Thirteen
MOSES IN McCOMB, KING IN KANSAS CITY

C. C. Bryant: Int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984;
Time
, Oct. 20, 1961, p. 26.

Hollis Watkins: Watkins interview by Joe Sinsheimer, student at Duke, Feb. 13, 1985.

morning of August 15: Int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984. Also
Liberation
, January 1970, pp. 8ff; Forman,
The Making
, pp. 226—27; Tom Hayden,
Revolution in Mississippi
, Students for a Democratic Society publication reprinted in Grant,
Black Protest
, pp. 303ff; Carson,
In Struggle
, pp. 47—49; New York U.S. Attorney's report “Résumé of the Inquiry Re: Robert Parris Moses, Conscientious Objector,” March 21, 1962, pp. 10—11, A/SN17.

next morning, August 29: Int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984. Also Doar and Landsberg,
Performance
, pp. 34—35; telegram, SAC New Orleans to Director Hoover, Aug. 29, 1961, FBI file #44-18167, serial 1; Moses statement of Sept. 6, 1961, FBI file #44-1348.

“Forgive them”: “Résumé of the Inquiry Re: Robert Parris Moses.”

“flash bundle”: Int. Rev. Thomas Kilgore, Nov. 8, 1983.

King faced choices: Int. Rev. Gardner Taylor, Oct. 25, 1983, Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Dec. 21, 1984, and Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, May 30, 1984.

Koenigsdorf's courtroom: Kansas City
Star
, Sept. 6, 1961; int. Chauncey Eskridge, Feb. 22, 1985.

made no sense to Wyatt: Int. Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Dec. 21, 1984.

“flying wedge”:
Jet
, Sept. 21, 1961; Kansas City
Star
, Sept. 7, 1961, p. 1; CD, Sept. 9—15, 1961, p. 1; ADW, Sept. 7, 1961, p. 1; int. Rev. Gardner Taylor, Oct. 25, 1983.

Wright's attorney valued:
Jet
, Feb. 1, 1962, p. 46; CD, Sept. 16—22, 1961, p. 1.

Britt finally escaped:
Liberation
, January 1970, p. 11; NYT, Oct. 11, 1961, p. 28; Carson,
In Struggle
, p. 48; int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984; Director Hoover to SAC New Orleans, Sept. 7, 1961, FBI file #44-18167-NR (Not Recorded); Burke Marshall to Hoover, Sept. 26, 1961, “Intimidation of Negro Applicants for Registration in Amite County, Mississippi,” records of the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice.

khaki safari shorts: Int. John Doar, Oct. 25, 1983.

“I want to see you”:
U.S.
v.
Wood
, 295 F. 2nd 772, opinion reprinted in Grant,
Black Protest
, pp. 308f.

“A to Z”: Kansas City
Star
, Sept. 7, 1961, p. 1.

Jackson won: Kansas City
Star
, Sept. 8, 1961, p. 1.