On this day in 1964,

MISSISSIPPI BURNING

THREE "FREEDOM SUMMER" CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS MURDERED

"Mom & Dad - The people in this city are wonderful and our reception was very good."

On this day in 1964, three young Freedom Summer civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman (a former Honors Program student at the University of Wisconsin), Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney, were murdered in Neshoba County near Philadelphia, Mississippi.

The three had traveled to Longdale, MS, to meet with members of a black congregation whose church had been burned by the KKK.  As they left the church, they were arrested allegedly for speeding, and thrown in jail for a few hours.  When they were allowed to leave, they were followed by the local police and others, including members of the KKK.  The police pulled them over again as they were about to leave the county and, with the mob, took the three to another location, tortured Chaney, and shot all of them at close range.  Their bodies were buried deep in a nearby earthen dam.  Their burnt-out car was found three days later near a swamp and their bodies were found two months later thanks to a then-anonymous tip to the FBI from a member of the local police force.

On the day he was murdered, Goodman wrote his last postcard to his parents:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I have arrived safely in Meridian.  This is a wonderful town and the weather is fine.  I wish you were here.  The people in this city are wonderful and our reception was very good.

All my love.

Andy 

The murder of the young Freedom Summer workers enraged the nation and helped guarantee passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

When the State of Mississippi refused to prosecute, the federal government took over and successfully prosecuted several individuals with civil rights violations but failed to find all those involved.  Forty-one years later, Edgar Ray Killen, was charged and convicted of three counts of manslaughter.  Killen is currently serving a 60 year prison sentence.

Edgar Ray Killen

In 1980, in what many believe is a black mark on his career, Ronald Reagan opened his campaign for president by giving a speech at the Neshoba County Fair Grounds near Philadelphia, expressing his support for states’ rights.