wore khaki pants: Int. John Doar, May 12, 1986; Lord, The Past, pp. 104—7.
assembly line for a-suits: Int. John Doar, May 12, 1986.
J. P. Majors: Garrow, Protest, p. 31.
address the annual convention: A/KS2. Letters praising the speech, which the UAW recorded and distributed as an album, are located in BUK6f119.
Eleven
BAPTISM ON WHEELS
Lewis missed his bus: Archie E. Allen interview of John Lewis, Feb. 14, 1969, AAP.
motley collection: Peck, Ride, p. 89.
Dance of 1933: Ibid., p. 30.
Golden Rule: NYT, May 2, 1958, p. 1, and June 5, 1958, p. 38; Raines, My Soul, p. 118.
interested only three reporters: Int. Simeon Booker, Feb. 11, 1985.
“call me if there is”: Ibid. Also John Seigenthaler, CRDPOH.
Kennedy promptly forgot: RFK, JFKOH; Guthman, Band, p. 167; Marshall, JFKOH, p. 11.
signs still guarded: Jet, May 25, 1961, p. 10.
Walker’s former church: Archie E. Allen interview of John Lewis, May 30, 1969, AAP.
passed through Farmville: Peck, Ride, p. 90.
“Western Nations Rejoice”: NYT, May 6, 1961, pp. 1, 11, 14.
for five weeks: Guthman, Band, p. 160.
“biggest percentage” to “We will move”: NYT, May 7, 1961, p. 62.
“resolute speech”: Ibid., p. 1.
Salinger announced: NYT, May 10, 1961, p. 1.
Vandiver was announcing: Ibid., p. 29.
“cactus bouquet”: NYT, May 11, 1961, p. 24.
Greyhound terminal at Rock Hill: Incident described in Peck, Ride, pp. 91—92; Raines, My Soul, pp. 117—18; Farmer, Lay Bare, p. 199; Viorst, Fire, pp. 143—44; Jet, May 25, 1961, p. 14; Archie E. Allen interview of John Lewis, Feb. 14, 1969, AAP.
SCLC board meeting: Jet, May 25, 1961, p. 8; Reddick to King, May 9, 1961, BUK7f39; Fauntroy to King, April 26, 1961, BUK8f10.
sent a telegram: Unlocated but referred to in Kennedy’s reply to King, May 18, 1961, BUK1f48.
Shuttlesworth had just: Jet, June 1, 1961, p. 12.
all but decided: Int. Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, Nov. 19, 1984.
dinner on Saturday night: Farmer, Lay Bare, p. 200; int. James Farmer, Nov. 18, 1983. Farmer was mildly annoyed that King did not offer to pick up the tab for dinner.
“You will never make it”: Int. Simeon Booker, Feb. 11, 1985.
“I can outrun”: Ibid.; Raines, My Soul, p. 119.
emergency phone call: Farmer, Lay Bare, pp. 200—201.
Perkins became group: Jet, May 25, 1961, p. 12.
plainclothes investigators: Ibid.; Patterson, JFKOH; Raines, My Soul, p. 120.
warning of a mob: Jet, May 25, 1961, p. 12.
“White Intrastate Passengers”: NYT, May 15, 1961, p. 22.
pounding on the bus: Greyhound burning from Peck, Ride, p. 96; Raines, My Soul, pp. 119ff; Jet, May 25, 1961, p. 12; NYT, May 15, 1961, p. 1; BN, May 15, 1961, p. 1; BW, May 17, 1961, p. 1; MA, May 15, 1961, p. 1.
Trailways bus pulled into Anniston: Jet, June 1, 1961, pp. 14ff; Peck, Ride, pp. 97ff; BN, May 15, 1961, p. 10.
Shuttlesworth had been telling: Shuttlesworth, CRDPOH; Meier and Rudwick, CORE, p. 137.
told his FBI handlers: Rowe, Undercover, pp. 38ff.
FBI’s Birmingham office: FBI memos and Rowe Senate testimony cited in Corley, “Quest,” pp. 215ff.
SAC kept a record: SAC Birmingham to Director, airtel, May 12, 1961 (2:52 P.M.), and airtel, May 13, 1961 (10:55 A.M.), from FBI Gary Thomas Rowe file, #170-9-SF.
active collaborator: Informant report, April 25, 1961, FBI file BH 137-698-SF-42; SAC Birmingham to Director, airtel, and Letterhead Memorandum, May 5, 1961, FBI file #157-48; Kemp to SAC Birmingham, May 18, 1961, FBI file #170-9-SF, serial 4.
“only man on duty”: SAC Birmingham to Director, “Urgent” teletype, May 14, 1961 (9:12 P.M.), FBI file 149-1684-[illegible].
Rev. John Rutland: Int. David Vann, Aug. 1, 1986.
Rowe learned by telephone: Rowe, Undercover, p. 42.
designated testers for Birmingham: Account of attack from Jet, June 1, 1961, pp. 14ff; Peck, Ride, pp. 98ff; NYT, May 15, 1961, p. 1, and May 17, 1961, p. 23; MA, May 15, 1961, p. 1; BN, May 15, 1961, p. 1; int. Simeon Booker, Feb. 11, 1985.
distress from Anniston: Raines, My Soul, pp. 121—22; Shuttlesworth, CRDPOH.
reached John Seigenthaler: Int. Simeon Booker, Feb. 11, 1985.
“day is coming”: MA, May 15, 1961, p. 1.
Peck answered questions: Peck, Ride, p. 99; BN, May 15, 1961, p. 10.
glorious Sunday picnic: Int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985, and Diane Nash Bevel, Feb. 20, 1985.
“keep talking nasty”: Int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985.
marathon debate: Ibid.; also Archie E. Allen interview of John Lewis, May 30, 1969, AAP.
“Where Were the Police?”: BN, May 15, 1961, p. 1.
businessman told: Corley, “Quest,” p. 216.
“eyewitness account”: NYT, May 15, 1961, p. 10.
superimpose that shot: Farmer, Lay Bare, p. 203.
In faraway Tokyo: Duard LeGrand lecture by David Vann, November 1978, Center for Urban Affairs, University of Alabama at Birmingham; int. David Vann, Aug. 1, 1986.
struck at ten o’clock: Jet, June 1, 1961, p. 20.
case of the mumps: Marshall to Charles Reich, May 3, 1961, Marshall Papers, JFK; Burke Marshall, JFKOH.
Kennedy quickly established: Birmingham siege of May 15 drawn from Jet, June 1, 1961, pp. 20—21; NYT, May 15, 1961, p. 1; Peck, Ride, p. 101; Farmer, Lay Bare, p. 203; Guthman, Band, pp. 167—68; Meier and Rudwick, CORE, p. 173; int. Simeon Booker, Feb. 11, 1985; John Seigenthaler, CRDPOH; Burke Marshall, JFKOH; John Patterson, JFKOH; Fred Shuttlesworth, CRDPOH; report of May 15 mass meeting, BIR/BC9f24.
preferred to be called: Burke Marshall, JFKOH, p. 5.
“You know Diane Nash”: John Seigenthaler, CRDPOH. Burke Marshall, in JFKOH, p. 13, recalled that he learned of Nash’s plans from Seigenthaler, not the other way around, but chronology and the placement of people at the time favor Seigenthaler’s memory.
consumed all of Tuesday: Archie E. Allen interview of John Lewis, May 30, 1969, AAP; int. Lewis, May 31, 1984; int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985; Viorst, Fire, p. 149.
“Young lady”: Fred Shuttlesworth, CRDPOH; int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985; Morris, Origins, p. 232.
Bevel first chose: Int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985; Archie E. Allen interview of John Lewis, AAP.
Monday’s siege: Forman, The Making, pp. 150ff; John Lewis, A/OH; Archie E. Allen interview of Lewis, AAP; MA, May 18, 1961, p. 1; NYT, May 18, 1961, p. 27.
President in his pajamas: Breakfast meeting primarily from Burke Marshall, May 29, 1964, JFKOH. Also John Seigenthaler, CRDPOH; John Patterson, JFKOH; NYT, May 19, 1961, p. 17.
Khrushchev in Vienna: MA, May 15, 1961, p. 1; NYT, May 17, 1961, p. 1.
“couldn’t stand their singing”: Burke Marshall, JFKOH.
Lewis sat behind Bull: Ardmore journey drawn from John Lewis, A/OH; Archie E. Allen interview of Lewis, May 30, 1969, AAP; Forman, The Making, pp. 150ff; Viorst, Fire, pp. 150ff.
“Many thanks to you”: RFK to King, May 18, 1961, BUK1f48.
“We do not wish”: Marshall to Earl James, May 19, 1961, Marshall Papers, Box 1, JFK.
achieved bulletin status: Forman, The Making, p. 153; John Lewis, A/OH; int. Lewis, May 31, 1984.
third attempt to move: NYT, May 20, 1961, p. 18; MA, May 20, 1961, p. 1; Grant, Black Protest, p. 323; Forman, The Making, p. 153.
“President Can’t Reach”: NYT, May 20, 1961, p. 1.
“speeches at me, John”: RFK and Marshall, JFKOH, p. 559; John Patterson, JFKOH.
“Glad to see you”: John Seigenthaler, CRDPOH.
“given me this statement”: Ibid. Also MA, May 20, 1961, p. 1; NYT, May 21, 1961, p. 78; Guthman, Band, p. 170.
obtained from Montgomery’s: MA, May 20, 1961, p. 1.
“one life to give”: G
rant, Black Protest, p. 323. Also Archie E. Allen interview of John Lewis, AAP; Lewis, A/OH; Raines, My Soul, p. 126; Viorst, Fire, p. 151. Lewis puts the driver’s declaration at a different time during the Birmingham siege.
“touch with Mr. Greyhound”: Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 318.
“I never recovered”: RFK, JFKOH, pp. 566—67.
Finally, without warning: Grant, Black Protest, pp. 318, 323.
not believe a word: Burke Marshall, JFKOH, p. 18; Guthman, Band, p. 170; NYT, May 21, 1961, p. 78.
Seigenthaler finished breakfast: Seigenthaler, CRDPOH, pp. 38ff.
ordered Doar to stay clear: Int. John Doar, May 12, 1986.
“It doesn’t look right”: Raines, My Soul, p. 128.
“Let’s all stand together”: Forman, The Making, pp. 154ff. May 20 Montgomery riot drawn heavily from Stuart Loory’s eyewitness account in the New York Herald Tribune, May 21, 1961, reprinted in Grant, Black Protest, pp. 318ff. Also from John Seigenthaler, CRDPOH; Burke Marshall, JFKOH; John Patterson, JFKOH; John Lewis, A/OH; Archie E. Allen interview of Lewis, May 30, 1969, AAP; Guthman, Band, pp. 170—71; Navasky, Justice, p. 124; Durr, Outside, p. 298; NYT, May 21 and 22, 1961; MA, May 21, 1961; ADW, May 21, 1961; secretary’s notes of Doar phone report of May 20, 1961, Ed Guthman Papers.
Twelve
THE SUMMER OF FREEDOM RIDES
“How are you doing?”: John Seigenthaler, CRDPOH.
rumbling ominously: NYT, May 21, 1961, pp. 78—79; MA, May 21, 1961, p. 1, and May 22, 1961, p. 1.
Farmer ordered: Farmer, Lay Bare, p. 204.
then accepted Doar’s: NYT, May 22, 1961, p. 1; int. John Doar, May 12, 1986.
about fifty of them: John Patterson, JFKOH.
“don’t need your marshals”: NYT, May 22, 1961, p. 26; MA, May 22, 1961, pp. 1, 2; Guthman, Band, pp. 172—73.
hiding in the basement: Forman, The Making, p. 155.
White called Washington: Raines, My Soul, p. 342.
began trickling into: Montgomery siege of May 21 drawn from interviews with John Lewis, May 31, 1984; Diane Nash Bevel, Feb. 20, 1985; James Bevel, May 16, 1985; William Beasley, Dec. 20, 1983; Bernard Lee, June 19, 1985; James Farmer, Nov. 18, 1983; Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, Nov. 19, 1984; Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Aug. 20, 1984; Edwin Guthman, June 26, 1984; Archie E. Allen interview of John Lewis, May 30, 1969, AAP; Lewis, CRDPOH; Lewis, A/OH; John Patterson, JFKOH; RFK and Burke Marshall, JFKOH; Marshall, JFKOH; William Orrick, JFKOH; Shuttlesworth mass meeting of May 22, 1961, BIR/BC9f14; Forman, The Making, pp. 155—56; Guthman, Band, pp. 175—78; Raines, My Soul, pp. 128ff, 334ff; Navasky, Justice, pp. 24, 124—25; Farmer, Lay Bare, pp. 204—7; Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, pp. 320—21; Viorst, Fire, pp. 153ff; Meier and Rudwick, CORE, pp. 138—39; NYT, May 22, 1961; MA, May 22, 1961.
light of a bonfire: Durr, Outside, pp. 300—301. The burned car belonged to Clifford and Virginia Durr. The Durrs had lent their Buick to their houseguest and friend, British author Jessica Mitford, who was researching a humor article for Esquire on American class distinctions.
Byron White told: MA, May 23, 1961, p. 1.
“Alabama Asks”: NYT, May 22, 1961, p. 1.
stacks of telegrams: MA, May 23, 1961, p. 48, and May 25, 1961, p. 4.
“baby-sitting the agitators”: MA, May 23, 1961, p. 6.
Roy Wilkins…told: Jet, June 22, 1961, p. 8.
“he’s just worried”: Int. Diane Nash Bevel, Feb. 20, 1985.
Lewis recoiled from Farmer: Archie E. Allen interview of John Lewis, May 30, 1969, AAP.
but was not sure: Jet, July 6, 1961, p. 16; int. James Lawson, Nov. 14, 1983, and Bernard Lee, June 19, 1985.
“Me, too”: Viorst, Fire, p. 156; Raines, My Soul, p. 130; Farmer, Lay Bare, p. 206; int. James Farmer, Nov. 18, 1983.
“my Golgotha”: Int. James Farmer, Nov. 18, 1983.
“He don’t have to have”: Int. Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Aug. 20, 1964.
Bevel supported King’s: Int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985.
“respected him more”: Forman, The Making, p. 147.
Lewis bridled: Int. John Lewis, May 31, 1984.
“Riders must develop”: Jet, June 8, 1961, p. 17; NYT, May 24, 1961, p. 1.
appeared in front of Orrick: William Orrick, JFKOH.
thanked Ben Davis: Scatterday to Rosen, May 22, 1961, cited in Garrow, FBI, p. 24.
strongly resembled a report: Sgt. T. H. Cook to Eugene Connor, “Martin Luther King, Jr. and Communism,” May 17, 1960, BIR/BC5f24.
“difficult decision”: Burke Marshall, JFKOH, p. 37.
Kennedy then faced: Guthman, Band, p. 176.
“That would be a matter”: MA, May 23, 1961, p. 1.
“in fact, I suppose”: RFK, JFKOH, cited in Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 322.
“your baby crib”: Burke Marshall, JFKOH, p. 39.
reinforcements arrived: John Lewis, A/OH; int. Lewis, May 31, 1984.
imperial jade ring: Dietrich to Walker, Aug. 1, 1961, and Walker to Dietrich, Aug. 21, 1961, A/SC33f2.
“may be a hazardous journey”: Jet, June 8, 1961, p. 15.
7:06 A.M.: MA, May 25, 1961, pp. 1, 2, 3.
vomited on the side: Burke Marshall, JFKOH, p. 38.
“nothing to do”: MA, May 25, 1961, p. 1.
“I think we should all”: NYT, May 25, 1961, p. 24.
reported almost continuously: Log of conference call, papers of Ed Guthman, Philadelphia, Pa.
“My prayers are with you”: Farmer, Lay Bare, p. 3; int. James Farmer, Nov. 18, 1983.
“embarrassed all our lives?”: Stein, Journey, pp. 98—103.
“damn shame”: MA, May 25, 1961, p. 2.
“cooling-off period”: NYT, May 25, 1961, p. 24.
“displayed any common sense”: MA, May 25, 1961, p. 1.
“Our conscience tells us”: Guthman, Band, pp. 154—55. This sentence was deleted from the version reported in Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 322. The conversation was preserved by aides listening in on Kennedy’s end of the line, handwritten notes in papers of Ed Guthman.
“against the atom bomb?”: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 156.
all but excluded: Int. Harris Wofford, Sept. 26, 1985.
“they don’t understand”: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 156.
“Do you want to go on?”: Stein, Journey, pp. 100—101.
Sheriff Mack Sim Butler: MA, May 26, 1961, p. 1; NYT, May 26, 1961, p. 1.
“so furious”: Stein, Journey, p. 101.
“took a lot of guts”: WP, May 25, 1961, cited in Navasky, Justice, p. 206. Kennedy is not identified in the story as the source of the quotations, but Navasky and the context of the story make it plain that it was he.
“we can end segregation”: NYT, May 26, 1961, p. 21.
King presided: Minutes of meeting, May 26, 1961, A/KP10f39.
“I am here to promote”: NYT, May 26, 1961, p. 12.
tripled draft calls: Manchester, Glory, p. 1117; NYT, July 27, 1961, p. 1.
approaching two hundred: NYT, June 26, 1961, p. 9.
“long-held customs”: NYT, May 26, 1961, p. 32.
“Dr. King Refuses”: Ibid., p. 1.
Gallup poll: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 157.
telescoped a process: Guthman, Band, p. 175; Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 323.
Kennedy himself intervened: RFK, JFKOH, cited in Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, p. 325.
Capahosic: Int. Leslie Dunbar, May 12, 1986.
“three Charlies”: Int. Timothy Jenkins, March 11, 1986.
On June 16: Carson, In Struggle, p. 39.
“You are a public official”: Int. Charles Sherrod, July 10, 1985; Farmer, Lay Bare, pp. 219—20.
draft exemptions: Int. Charles Jones, Nov. 24, 1986.
Wofford put the choice: Raines, My Soul, pp. 245—46.
call the Justice Department collect: Ibid., p. 250; int. Robert P. Moses, Aug. 10, 1983.
wedding anniversary: Jet, July 13, 1961, p. 13. The Belafonte meeting, like Rober
t Kennedy’s meeting with the SNCC students, was a substitute for Harris Wofford’s persistent recommendations that President Kennedy himself meet these leaders: e.g., Wofford to Kenneth O’Donnell, March 20, June 12, and Oct. 4, 1961, all File HU, May 11, 1961—Nov. 15, 1961, Box 358, WHCF, JFK.
“Negro Vote Surge”: NYT, June 26, 1961, p. 1.
Belafonte encouraged: Int. Harry Belafonte, March 6—7, 1985; Carson, In Struggle, p. 39.
all-day meeting in New York: Meier and Rudwick, CORE, pp. 174—75. Letters about King’s participation in the July 28 meeting are in BUK7f50.
a month later: Telegrams between Walker and Currier, Aug. 15, Aug. 17, and Aug. 17, 1961, A/SC36f23, regarding the meeting on Aug. 23, 1961.
a hundred compromises: Wofford, Of Kennedys, p. 159; Schlesinger Jr., Robert Kennedy, pp. 324—25; Morris, Origins, pp. 234—36.
“empirical evaluation”: Dunbar to Farmer, Wilkins, Young, Walker, McDew, and Jenkins, Sept. 13, 1961, A/SC36f23.
Down in Mississippi: Freedom Rider jail account drawn heavily from Farmer, Lay Bare, pp. 1—32. Also Meier and Rudwick, CORE, pp. 139—42; Peck, Ride, pp. 110—17; Raines, My Soul, pp. 133—38, 305; int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985; int. John Lewis, May 31, 1985; Lewis, A/OH; C. T. Vivian, 1983, HOH; int. James Farmer, Nov. 18, 8583; Jet, June 15, 1961, pp. 12—13, and June 22, 1961, pp. 6—7.
“top priority”: SNCC minutes, Baltimore meeting, July 14—16, 1961, A/SN7 and A/KP23f18; Carson, In Struggle, p. 40.
“this is an emergency”: Sherrod circular, July 22, 1961, A/KP23f18.
Baffled by the intrigue: Int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984.
two cooperating wings: Carson, In Struggle, pp. 41—42; Charles McDew, CRDPOH, p. 72.
“Move on Mississippi”: Charles McDew, CRDPOH; int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985.
up to three years: Jet, Aug. 17, 1961, p. 16; int. James Bevel, May 16, 1985, and Diane Nash Bevel, Feb. 22, 1985.
map on the wall: Int. John Doar, Oct. 25, 1983, and Charles Sherrod, July 10, 1985.
Sherrod was obliged: Int. Charles Sherrod, July 10, 1985.
trying to make peace: NYT, May 26, 1961, p. 1.
“Steps have been taken”: News Service of the Southern Baptist Convention release, Aug. 9, 1961, BUK7f7.
On a single day: NYT, June 17, 1961, p. 10; Peggy Fowler to Wheatley et al., June 12, 1961, RAC; int. Hugh Morrow, Dec. 20, 1984.
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