Pillar of Fire (124 page)

“EMERGENCY MEMORANDUM”: Moses and FDP Coordinators to “All Field Staff and Voter Registration Volunteers,” July 19, 1964, A/SN16f2.

King met Moses at Tougaloo: Itinerary for Mississippi tour, A/SC41f8, A/KP16f11; int. Edwin King, June 26, 1992.

tactical questions: Forman, Moses, and Dennis to Ella Baker et al., July 13, 1964, A/MFDP23f3.

“my obsession with Mississippi”: Lowenstein speech at National Workshop on Race and Religion, summer 1964, b32f346, Lowenstein Papers, UNC.

Lowenstein peppered: Casey Hayden to Moses, “Notes on Conversation with Al Lowenstein,” July 14, 1964, A/MFDP23f4.

“America needs at least one party”: MLK statement, July 22, 1964, A/KS.

King appeared on television: Good,
Trouble I've Seen
, pp. 125-26.

King drove eastward in a caravan: Ibid. Also Cagin and Dray,
We Are Not Afraid
, pp. 380-81; Garrow,
Bearing the Cross
, p. 342; Tucker,
Mississippi from Within
, p. 46; int. Edwin King, June 26, 1992.

snack on a pickled pig's foot: Young,
Easy Burden
, p. 305; int. C. T. Vivian, May 26, 1990.

Rainey and Judge Leonard Warren: Rainey to Hoover, July 28, 1964, FK-423; Morell to DeLoach, Aug. 4, 1964, re Warren letter to Hoover dated July 28, 1964, FK-422. No charges were ever brought against Judge Warren in connection with the triple murder.

“a long line of Negro women”: Hoover memorandum for Tolson et al., 3:08
P.M.
, July 16, 1964, FK-NR.

“cornpone evangelism”: Good,
Trouble I've Seen
, p. 127.

Beatrice Cole recalled: Int. Edwin King, June 26, 1992.

Goldwater met alone for sixteen minutes: NYT, July 25, 1964, p. 1;
U.S. News & World Report
, Aug. 3, 1964, p. 4; PPP, transcript of July 24, 1964, news conference, pp. 887-92; Edwards,
Goldwater
, pp. 272-73; Stern,
Calculating Visions
, p. 196.

“launching pad”: LBJ phone call with Nicholas Katzenbach, July 25, 1964, Cit. 4338, Audiotape WH6407.14, LBJ.

stripped to boxer shorts: Int. Edwin King, June 26, 1992.

arsoned during his visit: Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church, burned on the night of July 21-22, 1964, and Rose Hill Church, burned on July 24, 1964. “Mississippi Bombings, Burnings Since June 16,” A/SN36f6. Also
Jet
, Oct. 7, 1964, p. 20.

return to the Leflore Theater: Sutherland,
Letters from Mississippi
, pp. 178-83; Dittmer,
Local People
, p. 278; Payne,
Light of Freedom
, pp. 211-12; affidavits of Silas McGhee, Robert Zellner, Dorothy Zellner, Judy Richardson, and Robert Weil, all July 1964, A/MFDP10f3.

“cursing and hollering and carrying on”: Int. Silas McGhee, June 26, 1992.

“I'm not going to go into that”: Affidavit of Robert Weil, July 30, 1964, A/MFDP10f3.

“Now (12:40 Atlanta)”: “From Betty Garman in Greenwood/J. Bond,” July 27, 1964, William Hodes Files, SHSW.

“When a man fights back”: Belfrage,
Freedom Summer
, pp. 183-88.

assemble the county convention: Minutes of the Leflore County Convention, July 27, 1964, A/MFDP10f5.

31. R
IOT
P
OLITICS

flashed into a ten-day crisis: Manchester,
Glory and the Dream
, p. 1249; Goldman,
Tragedy
, pp. 203-4; PC, Aug. 1, 1964, p. 1.

“You dirty niggers!”:
Newsweek
, July 27, 1964, p. 34.

“a great deal of the Negro”: Hobart Taylor, Jr., to LBJ, July 17, 1964, with attached notes from Jack Valenti to Lee White and from Bill Moyers to Jack Valenti, Ex HU 4/HU 4, Box 3, LBJ.

CORE workers organized: Farmer,
Freedom When
, pp. 27-28; Meier,
CORE
, pp. 302-3.

“I am prepared to be a Tom”: Grant,
Black Protest
, pp. 349-56.

Farmer of CORE fared no better: Farmer,
Lay Bare the Heart
, pp. 279-85.

“Sending Bourke [sic] Marshall”: Moyers to LBJ, July 20, 1964, Office of the President, Box 8, LBJ.

Johnson decided instead to announce: PPP, White House statement of July 21, 1964, pp. 876-77.

Thomas E. Dewey: Section 135, Parts 1 and 2, FHOC,
passim
.

Rockefeller disclosed: Hoover memo for Tolson et al., 1:35
P.M.
, July 21, 1964, FNR-NR.

Hoover relayed: Hoover memo for Tolson et al., 1:50
P.M.
, July 21, 1964, FNR-NR.

“to investigate the police lieutenant”: Hoover memo for Tolson et al., 1:35
P.M.
, July 21, 1964, FNR-NR.

fn confessions to social workers: New York LHM dated July 24, 1964, headed “Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan/James Powell (Deceased)—Victim—Civil Rights,” Section 135, Part 1, FHOC.

fn
Jet
magazine's eulogy:
Jet
, Aug. 6, 1964, pp. 12-19.

“Achilles heel”: DeLoach to Hoover, Sept. 9, 1964, Section 135, Part 1, FHOC.

award-winning CBS documentary: CBS Television,
The Making of the President
, 1964, Tape No. 65043, PEA.

“strategy of domestic tranquility”: White,
The Making
, p. 221.

“Starkly put”: Ibid., p. 223.

fn “almost tomorrow in the eyes of history”: Ibid., pp. 223-24.

“adolescent troops”: Ibid., p. 241.

Malcolm X as a likely architect: Bland to Sullivan, Sept. 10, 1964, Section 135, Part 1, FHOC; Grant,
Black Protest
, p. 351.

“Has there been anything”: Wiretap transcript of July 31, 1964, FMXNY-sub1-59a.

“a ‘don't get involved' attitude”: Sullivan to Belmont, “Racial Disorder, Rochester,” Sept. 11, 1964, Section 135, Part 1, FHOC.

“lay the facts on the line”: Hoover's handwritten note on ibid.

staging a general White House conference: DeLoach to Hoover, Sept. 9, 1964, Section 135, Part 1, FHOC.

“where there is an outside”: Draft report for Dewey dated Sept. 18, 1964, Section 135, Part 2, FHOC, p. 14.

three times on one page: DeLoach to Mohr. Also Hoover memo for Tolson et al., 11:35
A.M.
, both Sept. 25, 1964, Section 135, Part 2, FHOC.

Dewey told Hoover: Hoover memo for Tolson et al., 11:47
A.M.
, Sept. 25, 1964, Section 135, Part 2, FHOC.

“greatly perturbed”: DeLoach to Mohr, Sept. 22, 1964, Section 135, Part 2, FHOC.

“For some reason”: Draft report for Dewey dated Sept. 18, 1964, Section 135, Part 2, FHOC, p. 2.

“F.B.I. Says Riots Had No Pattern”: NYT, Sept. 27, 1964, p. 1.

Wilkins was pleasantly surprised: Wilkins,
Standing Fast
, p. 304.

Warren Commission made public: NYT, Sept. 28, 1964, p. 1.

Johnson invited Attorney General: White,
The Making
, p. 263.

“a big blowup”: LBJ phone call with McGeorge Bundy, July 29, 1964, Cit. 4383-84, Audiotape WH6407.17, LBJ.

“My judgment is that”: Ibid.

fn “I have Jack Valenti”: LBJ phone call with John Connally, July 23, 1964, Cit. 4320-23, Audiotape WH6407.13, LBJ.

“If I can't offer”: Ibid.

talked congenially: LBJ phone call with RFK, July 27, 1964, Cit. 4349, Audiotape WH6407.15, LBJ.

Kennedy's political energy: Guthman,
We Band of Brothers
, pp. 273-78;
Newsweek
, July 13, 1964, p. 34.

“that with him there died idealism”: Guthman,
We Band of Brothers
, p. 274.

more than six hours on Tuesday: New York LHM dated July 30, 1964, FK-NR, p. 1.

“the undermuck of Harlem”: White,
The Making
, p. 241.

“Wingate of course double-crossed Martin”: Bayard Rustin Oral History by T. H. Baker, June 17, 1969, LBJ.

shuttled between the parties: Garrow,
Bearing the Cross
, p. 343; New York LHMs dated July 28, 1964, July 30, 1964, and Aug. 3, 1964, FK-NR.

“utterly unresponsive”: MLK press statement of July 30, 1964, A/KS.

slander suit filed against him: NYT, April 13, 1965, p. 27, May 27, 1965, p. 48, June 3, 1965 (“III Negro Helped by Lieut. Gilligan”), p. 37.

“violent and futile disorder”: Wilkins telegram to John Lewis, July 22, 1964, John Lewis Chronological File, AAP.

Wilkins proposed: Wilkins,
Standing Fast
, p. 304; Forman,
Black Revolutionaries
, p. 368; Garrow,
Bearing the Cross
, p. 343; int. James Farmer, Nov. 18, 1983.

“Negro Leaders Split”: NYT, July 30 and July 31, 1964, p. 1.

Kennedy found himself listening: White,
The Making
, pp. 263-66; Evans and Novak,
Exercise of Power
, pp. 468-72; Valenti,
Very Human President
, pp. 113-15; Kearns,
Lyndon Johnson
, pp. 201-3; Guthman,
We Band of Brothers
, pp. 280-82; Clifford,
Counsel
, pp. 394-98. Kennedy dictated his version of the conversation, as preserved in Schlesinger,
Robert Kennedy
, pp. 711-15. President Johnson described his version immediately afterward in two phone calls: with Clark Clifford, 2:17
P.M.
, Cit. 4392-93, and with McGeorge Bundy, 2:30 pm, Cit. 4394-95, both July 29, 1964, Audiotape WH6407.18, LBJ.

“it would be unwise for our party”: Johnson,
The Vantage Point
, pp. 576-77.

planned with Clark Clifford: LBJ phone call with Clark Clifford, 11:45
A.M.
, July 29, 1964, Cit. 4389, Audiotape WH6407.18, LBJ.

“courage and forthrightness”: LBJ phone call with Clark Clifford, 2:17
P.M.
, July 29, 1964, Cit. 4392-93, Audiotape WH6407.18, LBJ.

“This is quite hopeful”: LBJ phone call with McGeorge Bundy, 2:30
P.M.
, July 29, 1964, Cit. 4394-95, Audiotape WH6407.18, LBJ.

Kennedy declined suggestions: LBJ phone call with Clark Clifford, 8:21
P.M.
, July 29, 1964, Cit. 4409, Audiotape WH6407.19, LBJ.

“Any preferences or choices?”: LBJ phone call with Kenneth O'Donnell, July 30, 1964, Cit. 4426, Audiotape WH6407.20, LBJ.

lasting desire to conceal: Even in his 1971 memoirs, Johnson presented Robert Kennedy as the incidental victim of a high-minded maxim that a president should separate electoral politics from good government. Johnson,
The Vantage Point
, pp. 98-100.

“his Adam's Apple”: Schlesinger,
Robert Kennedy
, p. 714.

“drop to zero overnight”: Johnson,
White House Diary
, pp. 186-87.

32. C
RIME
, W
AR, AND
F
REEDOM
S
CHOOL

task force of eighty-three FBI agents: Callahan to Mohr, Aug. 18, 1964, FLP-217.

three double-barreled shotguns: SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 14, 1964, FLP-113, p. 2.

they whipped Potts: SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 13, 1964, FLP-113, pp. 9-10; SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 15, 1964, FLP-52, p. 3.

Sims bludgeoned: SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 13, 1964, FLP-113, pp. 5-6.

evidence seemed “sketchy”: Atlanta FBI report dated July 22, 1964, FLP-115, p. 154.

Pollock frankly allowed: SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 15, 1964, FLP-52, pp. 3-4.

11:30
P.M.
and again at 12:20
A.M.
: Atlanta FBI report dated July 22, 1964, FLP-115, pp. 151-55; SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 13, 1964, FLP-113, pp. 6-9. The shooting victims were Alice Fair and John Clink.

4th of July rally: SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 21, 1964, FLP-81; SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 15, 1964, FLP-52, pp. 7-8; Lesher,
George Wallace
, p. 307.

refuge in Bob Walker's Drive-In: Atlanta FBI report dated July 22, 1964, FLP-115, pp. 148-50; Good,
Trouble I've Seen
, pp. 180-81.

run over by a passing freight train: SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 15, 1964, FLP-52, p. 6; SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 21, 1964, FLP-81, p. 1; AC, July 25, 1964, p. 1.

anonymous pedestrian as Melvin Reed: SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 16, 1964, FLP-87, p. 5.

fifty small dents: Hoover to Walter Jenkins “BY COURIER SERVICE,” July 12, 1964, FLP-19; Atlanta FBI report dated July 22, 1964, FLP-115, pp. 448-52.

Guest had finished only the first grade: Statement of Herbert Guest, Aug. 6, 1964, FLP-152.

mistrust within the Klan families: Report on July 15, 1964, of KKK Women's Auxiliary, in SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 16, 1964, FLP-87, pp. 1-2; SAC, Atlanta, to Director, July 30, 1964, FLP-122; McGowan to Rosen, July 31, 1964, FLP-132.

Guest's thirty-seventh birthday: AC, Aug. 19, 1964, p. 1; SAC, Atlanta, to Director, Aug. 19, 1964, FLP-213; DeLoach to Mohr, Aug. 19, 1964, FLP-210.

whirlwind of gossip: Report of investigator A. L. Hopkins, Aug. 6, 1964, MSSC.

blitz was designed: Int. Joseph Sullivan, Feb. 3, 1991, July 26, 1996; Whitehead,
Attack on Terror
, pp. 127-28; Cagin and Dray,
We Are Not Afraid
, pp. 394-96.

“they think they know”: LBJ phone call with Carl Sanders, Aug. 1, 1964, Cit. 4617-18, Audiotape WH6408.02, LBJ.

“in a case such as this”: Rosen to Belmont, July 31, 1964, FMB-1191.

Half the globe away: On the August 2 Gulf of Tonkin incident, see Karnow,
Vietnam
, pp. 380-84; Johnson,
The Vantage Point
, pp. 112-13.

“hired personnel”: Gravel, ed.,
Pentagon Papers
, Vol. 3, p. 183.

“a pervasive infusion of Americans”: Karnow,
Vietnam
, p. 361.

“the Vietnamese had some difficulty”: Gravel, ed.,
Pentagon Papers
, Vol. 3, p. 327.

“This is no drill”:
Newsweek
, Aug. 17, 1964, p. 19.

Maxwell Taylor objected: Taylor,
Swords and Plowshares
, pp. 318-19; McNamara,
In Retrospect
, p. 131.

“make it look like”: LBJ phone call with Robert Anderson, 9:46
A.M.
, Aug. 3, 1964, Cit. 4631-32, Audiotape WH6408.03, LBJ.

rumors that Jacqueline Kennedy: LBJ phone call with Robert McNamara, 10:20
A.M.
, Aug. 3, 1964, Cit. 4633, Audiotape WH6408.03, LBJ.

“not only with the objective”: NYT, Aug. 4, 1964, p. 1.

tranquil White House schedule: PDD, Aug. 3, 1964.

at the Tallahassee airport: NYT, Aug. 3, 1964, p. 11; NYT, Aug. 4, 1964, p. 13.

Supreme Court sent:
Dresner et al. v. City of Tallahassee
, 375 U.S. 136.

Rudd sent them off: NYT, Aug. 5, 1964, p. 36;
Florida Times-Union
, Aug. 4, 1964, p. 3.

Robert McAfee Brown: “Pathfinding Protestants,”
Newsweek
, May 25, 1962, pp. 84-86; “Catholics' Protestant,”
Time
, Jan. 14, 1963, pp. 71-72.

white inmates more often reviled: Int. Robert McAfee Brown, July 17, 1991; int. Israel Dresner, July 31, 1991; int. Robert Stone, June 3, 1993.

“this ship could be attacked tonight”: LBJ phone call with Robert McNamara, 9:43
A.M.
, Aug. 4, 1964, Cit. 4658, Audiotape WH6408.03, LBJ.