Episode 130 The 1964 Freedom Summer Murders

Southern Mysteries Podcast

Shannon Ballard

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 918 Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In June 1964, the Ku Klux Klan conspired with law enforcement in Neshoba County, Mississippi to kidnap and murder three young civil rights workers. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were murdered in an effort to preserve segregation in the state and deter further civil rights activism. Despite dozens of indictments and a few trials, was justice served? What role did the state of Mississippi play in their murders? Want more Southern Mysteries? Hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries Connect Website: southernmysteries.comFacebook: Southern Mysteries PodcastTwitter: @southernpod_Instagram: @shannonballard_Email: [email protected] Episode Sources Mississippi Department of Archives and History. “Sovereignty Commission Online website”. (Viewed on July 29, 2023). <www.mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/> Mississippi Encyclopedia. “Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission”. (Viewed on July 29, 2023). <https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/mississippi-state-sovereignty-commission/> African American History. Cozzens, Lisa. "Brown v. Board of Education." (Viewed on July 29, 2023). <http://fledge.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/brown.html> Wisconsin Historical Society Freedom Summer Digital Collection. “Edward Hollander recordings [sound recording], 1963-1964; Audio 369A; WIHVH2870-A.” (Viewed on July 28, 2023)<https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/p15932coll2/id/11990> Jackson Free Press. “FBI Celebrates Civil-Rights Heroes”. (Viewed on July 30,2023) <https://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2011/jun/21/fbi-celebrates-civil-rights-heroes/> Famous Trials. “Mississippi Burning Trial Chronology.” (Viewed on August 1, 2023) <https://famous-trials.com/mississippi-burningtrial/1959-chronology> King Encyclopedia.”Freedom Summer.” (Viewed on August 1, 2023) <https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/freedom-summer> Jewish Women's Archive. "Rita Schwerner." (Viewed on August 2, 2023) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bender-rita>. Neshoba Democrat. “Mt. Zion to hold annual memorial”. (Viewed on July 31, 2023)<https://neshobademocrat.com/stories/mt-zion-to-hold-annual-memorial,87244> Pacifica Radio Archives, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. “Memorial service for James Chaney.” 1964-08-28. (Viewed July 28, 2023). <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-28-m901z42919>. History.com. “Freeom Summer.” (Viewed July 27, 2023). <https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-summer> Porter, Dawn. “Spies of Mississippi.” (Viewed July 29, 2023). <https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/spies-of-mississippi/> Episode MusicSpirit of Fire by Jesse Gallager. Licensed under Creative Commons; Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Shannon Ballard. If you're new to Southern Mysteries and enjoy the show, you can always hear more when you become a member on Patreon.
0:09.0	As an independent podcast, your support makes Southern Mysteries possible. And I want to say thanks to our new... P
0:14.6	your support makes Southern Mysteries possible. And I want to say thanks to our newest Southern Mysteries patrons.
0:17.8	Lindsey from Gray, Georgia, Miranda from Jacksonville, Florida. Tammy from Horton, Alabama.
0:24.8	Gregory from Pleasant Garden, North Carolina.
0:27.7	Alex from Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.
0:30.2	Stacy from Enterprise Alabama. Sarah from Waldorf, Maryland,
0:34.4	Genovee from Las Vegas, Jill from Hemlock, Michigan,
0:38.9	and Captain America, who apparently resides and listens to the show in Seaford, Delaware.
0:46.2	And also a big thanks to our patrons listening from mysterious locations, Sheila
0:52.2	Tracy, Terry Pamela, Verna, Kimberly, Ginger, Cheryl, and Timothya.
0:59.3	If you would like to join them and hear ad-free episodes,
1:02.9	The Southern Mysteries Archive of more than 60 episodes,
1:06.4	plus the new monthly patron-exclusive podcast,
1:09.3	audacious, Tales of American Crime.
1:12.1	You can sign up now and start listening at Patreon.com
1:16.8	slash Southern Mysteries. Jackson, Mississippi's West County Line Road, leads you to the Jackson Field Office of the FBI.
1:34.0	In 2011, the federal building was renamed to recognize the sacrifice of three civil rights workers
1:41.0	and the agent who headed the investigation into their
1:44.0	disappearance. The James Cheney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and Roy
1:49.9	K-Mour Federal Building honor Rights Workers, Cheney, Goodman, and Schwerner, who were
1:56.0	murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi in the summer of 1964.
	...

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