Pillar of Fire (104 page)

fn “I have sworn”: Byron de la Beckwith, “Open Letter to All Episcopalians,”
Jackson Daily News
, March 16, 1956, located and preserved in the papers of Rev. Edwin King, b8f387, Tougaloo.

Newspapers described Beckwith:
Jackson Clarion-Ledger
, June 24, 1963, p. 1.

courthouse on June 25: Undated SNCC report entitled
Mississippi
, A/KP16f15, p. 15; undated affidavit of Douglas MacArthur Cotton, A/MFDP10f1; int. Hollis Watkins, June 22, 1992.

grumbling against William McGee: Int. William McGee, June 25, 1992.

truck hauled them away: Undated affidavit of Douglas MacArthur Cotton, A/MFDP10f1; int. Hollis Watkins, June 22, 1992.

Rusk sent a cable: Rusk to “All American Diplomatic and Consular Posts,” June 19, 1963, NSF b295, JFK. See also the critical reply of John Kenneth Galbraith, U.S. ambassador to India, in Galbraith to Rusk, June 20, 1963, NSF b295, JFK.

“We assume”: O'Donnell to King, June 19, 1963, A/KP14f4.

King went to the summit: Branch,
Parting
, pp. 835-41.

weakened or reversed: Graham,
Civil Rights Era
, p. 85.

fn “Of course, the less”: Ibid.

Robert Kennedy offered: NYT, June 27, 1963, p. 1.

nobody in Congress had been interested: Robert Kennedy Oral History by John Bartlow Martin, JFK.

“sort of death wish”: Ibid., cited in Graham,
Civil Rights Era
, p. 127.

“overwhelming the whole program”: Branch,
Parting
, pp. 827-28.

soar briefly again in Detroit: Ibid., pp. 842-43.

“The incident was attributed”: CD, July 6, 1963, p. 10.

“did this unbecomming [sic] thing”: Rev. James Early, Sr., to MLK, July 1, 1963, A/KP1f7.

fn “I think any effort”:
New York Journal American
, July 1, 1963, p. 6, FMXNY-3713.

fn “growing bitterness”: CD, July 10, 1963, p. 10.

King debated: Branch,
Parting
, pp. 844-45.

wound up in notorious Parchman: “Report on the Release of 57 Prisoners in Mississippi,” by John M. Pratt of the National Council of Churches, Aug. 23, 1963, NCC RG6, b47f31, POH; report marked “From: Hollis Watkins in Parchman State Penitentiary,” A/SN23f12; undated affidavit of Douglas MacArthur Cotton, A/MFDP10f1; int. Hollis Watkins, June 22, 1992.

fn James K. Vardaman: Oshinsky,
Worse Than Slavery
, pp. 85-106.

Guyot and Watkins found themselves: Int. Hollis Watkins, June 22, 1992.

filed three novel actions: Branch,
Parting
, p. 826.

nameless for six weeks: Ibid., p. 827.

movement itself did not care: Int. Hollis Watkins, June 22, 1992; int. William McGee, June 25, 1992.

hanging in handcuffs: “Report on the Release of 57 Prisoners in Mississippi,” by John M. Pratt of the National Council of Churches, Aug. 23, 1963, NCC RG6, b47f31, POH; undated affidavit of Douglas MacArthur Cotton, A/MFDP10f1.

fn
Gates v. Collier
: Oshinsky,
Worse Than Slavery
, pp. 241-48.

let their wastes fall down: Int. Hollis Watkins, June 22, 1992.

9. C
AVALRY
: L
OWENSTEIN AND THE
C
HURCH

Allard Lowenstein had trekked: Lowenstein,
Brutal Mandate, passim
; Chafe,
Never Stop Running
, pp. 131-65.

“We will not soon forget”: Lowenstein address to the United Nations Fourth Committee, Oct. 17, 1959, reprinted in Stone and Lowenstein,
Acts of Courage
, pp. 7-14.

fact-finding tour of Southern campuses: Jones to Bishop, April 4, 1974, FAL-77, p. 10. This FBI summary of intelligence on Lowenstein noted his activity in “the so-called civil rights movement,” citing an account in the
New York Times
of March 20, 1960.

“teachings and philosophies”: Ibid., p. 18.

plotted the heartache of Spanish: Chafe,
Never Stop Running
, pp. 14-15.

Adlai Stevenson twice visited: Stone and Lowenstein,
Acts of Courage
, pp. 234-35.

“an energetic young American”: Department of State airgram from Madrid, Aug. 17, 1962, cited in New York FBI report on internal security, dated Sept. 27, 1962, FAL-23, pp. 2-6.

“made it clear”: Ibid.

agents mostly chased: See generally the Lowenstein FBI file, FAL, Serials 7 through 50. The FBI investigation of Lowenstein under the Foreign Agents Registration Act remained open from the fall of 1961 through the summer of 1963, as summarized in Jones to Bishop, April 4, 1974, FAL-77, p. 4.

perturbed administrators of Stanford: San Francisco FBI office investigative report dated April 30, 1962, FAL-18.

single-handedly bowled over campus culture: Chafe,
Never Stop Running
, pp. 166-77.

“Last week was perhaps”: Armin Rosencranz to Lowenstein, May 13, 1963, b8f289, Lowenstein Papers, UNC.

fn “Awe is more than an emotion”: Stanford lectures published as Heschel,
Who Is Man?
, pp. 88, 115-17.

Lowenstein was across the country: Chafe,
Never Stop Running
, pp. 178-79.

“this extra one”: Robert Spearman to Lowenstein, b32f347, Lowenstein Papers, UNC.

“the hostile peak”: “N.” to Lowenstein, June 14, 1963, on the stationery of the UNC Dean of Women, b32f292, Lowenstein Papers, UNC.

“Dear Chief”: Lowenstein to Chief Albert J. Lituli [sic], March 22, 1963, Box 16, Lowenstein Papers, UNC.

“Dear Sir”: Lowenstein to the President, Eastern Air Lines, June 28, 1963, Box 16, Lowenstein Papers, UNC.

“Dear Miss Hepburn”: Lowenstein to Hepburn, Aug. 27, 1963, Box 16, Lowenstein Papers, UNC.

three meals with James Meredith: Lowenstein speech of Oct. 2, 1963, at Stanford, Tape No. 631002-S1-2, SUARC.

on July 4 introduced himself: Carson,
In Struggle
, pp. 96-97; Harris,
Dreams Die Hard
, pp. 30-31; Cagin and Dray,
We Are Not Afraid
, pp. 210-11; Chafe,
Never Stop Running
, pp. 180-82.

Rev. Edwin King had hurtled: Int. Edwin King, June 26, 1992. Also Salter,
Jackson, Mississippi
, pp. 132-39; Edwin King, “Growing Up in Mississippi in a Time of Change”; Silver,
Closed Society
, pp. 58-60; Findlay,
Church People in the Struggle
, p. 141; int. Edwin King, June 26, 1992.

fn turned away from Galloway Church: Silver,
Closed Society
, p. 59; int. Edwin King, June 26, 1992; Cunningham,
Agony at Galloway
, pp. 13-35.

lug nuts on his tires: Dennis Sweeney speech of Oct. 2, 1963, at Stanford, Tape No. 631002-S1-2, SUARC.

acknowledged some weeping confessions:
Jackson Clarion-Ledger
, June 1, 1963, p. 1.

gift books by Gandhi: Int. Edwin King, June 26, 1992.

northward into the Delta: Ibid. Also Aaron Henry to Lowenstein, July 13, 1963, b8f294, Lowenstein Papers, UNC.

“I am at present in the heart”: King telegram to Hosea Williams, July 9, 1963, A/KP3f15.

“I'm Al Lowenstein”: Cagin and Dray,
We Are Not Afraid
, p. 210.

Bob Dylan and Josh White: NYT, July 6, 1963, p. 7.

“holding out”: Chafe,
Never Stop Running
, p. 181.

Moses remembered him: Int. Robert P. Moses, Aug. 10, 1983.

Moses confessed the paralysis: Int. Robert P. Moses by Anne Romaine, Sept. 1966, pp. 64-69, A/AR.

Africans withdrew into formal mourning: Chafe,
Never Stop Running
, p. 181.

From this seed grew: Ibid. Also int. Edwin King, June 26, 1992.

no small resistance: Cf. Moody,
Coming of Age
, p. 297.

“Across the chasm between white and nonwhite”: Lowenstein,
Brutal Mandate
, p. 185.

“Dear Al, Bad news!”: Bill [Edwards] to Lowenstein, July 21, 1963, Lowenstein Papers, UNC.

“Mississippi: A Foreign”: Lowenstein speech of Oct. 2, 1963, reprinted in Stone and Lowenstein,
Acts of Courage
, pp. 22-36.

“we've come up with two ideas”: Ibid. For a recorded version of the complete speech, see Tape No. 631002-S1-2, SUARC.

Robert Spike: Findlay,
Church People in the Struggle
, pp. 34-35; int. Jack Pratt, March 25, 1991; int. Bruce Hanson, Feb. 22, 1991.

“practically no interest in racial”: Findlay,
Church People in the Struggle
, p. 191, n. 18.

Gwynn Oak Amusement Park: NYT, July 5, 1963, p. 1.

full-time chemist: Williams profile, AJ, Nov. 8, 1965; Hosea L. Williams, “History and Philosophy of the Southeastern Georgia Crusade for Voters,” A/SC139f2; int. Hosea Williams, Oct. 29, 1991.

not board material: Int. Hosea Williams, Oct. 29, 1991.

became like a son: Ibid. Also int. Septima Clark, Dec. 17, 1983.

Savannah's historic Negro pulpits: Woodson,
History of the Negro Church
, p. 41ff.

trademark .38-caliber pistols: Lester Hankerson Oral History, Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, Savannah; int. Lester Hankerson, nd.

climbed upon Tomochichi's Rock: Int. Hosea Williams, Oct. 29, 1991; int. Willie Bolden, May 14, 1992; NYT, June 14, 1963, p. 16.

obscure Civil War ordinance: NYT, July 11, 1963, p. 1; SCLC press release dated Aug. 15, 1963, A/SC139f23.

hemorrhage of runaway slaves: For contemporary evidence of distress about runaway slaves from the Savannah slaveowners' point of view, see Myers,
Children of Pride
, esp. Vol. 4, pp. 151-74.

eleven white citizens: SCLC press release dated Aug. 15, 1963, A/SC139f23; WP, Sept 4, 1963, p. 6.

Spike landed in Savannah: Robert Spike report, “A Night of Watching,” July 26, 1963, p. 4, NCC RG6, b48f13, POH.

“Two Negroes Shot”: NYT, July 12, 1963, p. 8.

“Spike for introducing them”: Int. Andrew Young, Oct. 26, 1991.

undercurrents within Negro Savannah: Ibid. Also int. W. W. Law, Dec. 17, 1983; int. Hosea Williams, Oct. 29, 1991; NYT, June 27, 1963, p. 20.

meetings at the Flamingo Club: Oral histories by Carolyn Barlow, Sidney Barnes, Henry “Trash” Brownlee, Rick Tuttle, and Andrew Young, Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, Savannah.

“It was largely the work”: Speech of July 12, 1963, Tape No. BB0358, PRA.

“You think these white folks”: Ibid.

“This is the first time”: Robert Spike report, “A Night of Watching,” July 26, 1963, p. 2, NCC RG6, b48f13, POH.

Young's first trip to jail: Int. Andrew Young, Oct. 26, 1991.

“I had the strongest feeling”: Robert Spike report, “A Night of Watching,” July 26, 1963, p. 2, NCC RG6, b48f13, POH.

first group of white emissaries: Ibid., p. 8. Also Findlay,
Church People in the Struggle
, p. 79.

“There was constant police surveillance”: Spike, “Report of the Executive Director,” Sept. 5, 1963, NCC RG6, b47f31, POH, pp. 1-2.

$10,000 bail grant: Ibid., p. 3.

came to Jack Pratt: Int. Jack Pratt, March 25, 1991.

Pratt rushed back to Mississippi: Jack Pratt, “Report on the Release of 57 Prisoners in Mississippi,” Aug. 23, 1963, NCC RG6, b47f31. Also Pratt memo on bail project, Oct. 21, 1963, A/SN115f3; Pratt speech at Union Theological Seminary, Jan. 7, 1964, NCC RG6, b47f31, POH.

threatening to shoot the prisoners: Undated affidavit of Douglas MacArthur Cotton, A/MFDP10f1.

“Put that gun down!”: Int. Jack Pratt, March 25, 1991.

welcoming celebration: Ibid. Also int. William McGee, June 25, 1992; int. Hollis Watkins, June 22, 1992.

Arterbery greeted him with deputies: Jack Pratt, “Report on the Release of 57 Prisoners in Mississippi,” Aug. 23, 1963, NCC RG6, b47f31.

“Praise God!”: Int. Jack Pratt, March 25, 1991.

10. M
IRRORS IN
B
LACK AND
W
HITE

Watkins did not attend: Int. Hollis Watkins, June 22, 1992.

“Even the Federal Government”: Gentile,
The March on Washington
, p. 160.