Ep 127 – The Freedom Summer Murders

James Chaney and Michael Schwerner spent the first six months of 1964 working together to increase voter registration among Black residents in Mississippi. This was a major goal of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) — which they both worked for — and the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. That year, they organized a voter registration hub at the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, Mississippi, but the KKK burnt the church down in response. On June 21, 1964, James, Michael, and Andy Goodman — a new CORE volunteer — visited the site of the burnt church, but did not return to Meridian that evening.

In this episode, we discuss how the lives, disappearances, and deaths of these three CORE workers — James Chaney, Andy Goodman, and Michael Schwerner — garnered national support for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. We also discuss the decades-long legal fight for justice that ensued.

But first, Zoey starts the episode off with a Something Spooky segment: a BuzzFeed Halloween movie quiz.

Sources:

“Murder in Mississippi,” Freedom Summer, American Experience, pbs.org.

“‘Mississippi Burning’ murders resonate 50 years later” by Stephen Smith, CBS News, June 20, 2014.

“Case files and photos from 1964 ‘Mississippi Burning’ murders of civil rights workers made public for first time,” CBS/AP, June 28, 2021.

“On this day — Aug. 4, 1964: Missing Civil Rights Workers Found Dead in Mississippi,” A History of Racial Injustice, eji.org.

“The Lasting Impact of a Civil Rights Icon’s Murder” by Hank Klibanoff, Smithsonian Magazine, December 2008.

“Mother of ‘Mississippi Burning’ victim dies,” NBCnews.com; source: The Associated Press; May 24, 2007.

“A Burning Legacy: 25 Years Ago This Summer, 3 Murders in Mississippi Sparked a Revolution in Civil Rights, a Fire the Victims’ Families and Activists Hope to Rekindle,” by Josh Getlin, Los Angeles Times, June 15, 1989.

“41 years later, guilty of ‘Mississippi Burning'” by Shadi Rahimi, The New York Times, June 22, 2005.

“Mt. Zion has new significance,” by Tyler Cleveland, Neshoba Democrat, June 16, 2020.

“NESHOBA: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM – Official Trailer,” First Run Features, YouTube.com.

Something Spooky: “This ‘Watched It’ Or ‘Skipped It’ Halloween Movie Quiz Will Reveal If You’re Gen-Z, Millenial, Or Cusper” by Jamie Spain, BuzzFeed, Oct. 9, 2020.