The Eyes of Willie McGee: A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in the Jim Crow South

by Alex Heard

  ‘repugnant’: NYT, February 3, 1948.

  first Jackson meeting: NYT, February 13, 1948; Hillard, A Biography of Fielding Wright, 86.

  Fielding Wright background: Frederickson, The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932–1968; Hilliard, A Biography of Fielding Wright: Mississippi’s Mr. State Rights; subject files, MDAH.

  Bailey death: NYT, November 3, 1946.

  Trudell, Lewis, Meiers: WaPo, January 2, 1947; NYT, January 5, 1947; JDN, January 4–6, 9–10, 1947.

  Clemency denied, Wright praised: CL, January 12, 1947.

  execution: Hillegas, “Preliminary List of Mississippi Legal Executions,” 2001.

  “He doesn’t get angry”: Memphis Press-Scimitar (reprinted in JDN, August 3, 1947).

  Wright inauguration speech: JDN, January 21, 1948.

  governors’ meeting: WaPo, February 9, 1948.

  Jackson meeting, February: NYT, February 13, 1948.

  Jackson meeting, May: CL, May 10–11, 1948.

  “If…you have become so deluded”: NYT, May 10, 1948.

  Wallace background: Culver and Hyde, American Dreamer.

  Wallace dumped: NYT, July 22, 1944; American Dreamer, 353–66.

  “The Way to Peace”: “Selected Works of Henry A. Wallace,” http://newdeal.feri.org/wallace/haw28.htm; NYT, September 13, 1946.

  Byrnes: NYT, September 14, 1946.

  “a pacifist one hundred percent”: Culver and Hyde, American Dreamer, 425.

  Wallace dismissed: NYT, September 21, 1946.

  Progressive Party candidate: Culver and Hyde, American Dreamer, 456–58.

  SEVEN: THE ODDS AGAINST SMILING JOHNNY

  U.S. Supreme Court: NYT, December 9, 1947; Patton v. Mississippi, 332 U.S. 463 (1947).

  Patton case: The Meridian Star, February 28, March 1, 1946; Patton v. Mississippi, Mississippi Supreme Court, 36298, 1946; Southern Reporter, Patton v. State, 36298, Volume 29, 2nd series, 96–100.

  Mississippi Supreme Court: McGee v. State, 36411, February 9, 1948. See Southern Reporter, Volume 33, 2nd series, 843–49.

  as far back as 1880: Strauder v. West Virginia, 100 U.S. 303 (1880); Patton v. Mississippi, 332 U.S. 463 (1947).

  McGee reversal and dissent: McGee v. Mississippi, 203 Miss. 592 (1948); Southern Reporter, Volume. 33, 1948, 843–49.

  McGee indicted: JDN, February 19, 1948.

  black grand jurors: NYT, February 10, 17, 1948; LLC, February 17, 19, 1948; McMillen, Dark Journey, 221–23; Wharton, The Negro in Mississippi, 137.

  “considered unusual”: JDN, February 16, 1948.

  Pyles quits: Pyles interview, Mitford papers, Ohio State.

  “Communist front,” Eisler: HUAC, Report on Civil Rights Congress as a Communist Front Organization, February 15, 1947; NYT, December 12, 1946, February 5, 1947.

  Rankin on Communism: Congressional Record, July 18, 1945, 7737.

  Abzug’s first Mississippi trip: Abzug interviews, Columbia.

  Isserman and Abzug: “Summary of Activities of Abraham J. Isserman in Labor and Civil Rights Matters, 1930–1961,” 14. Papers of Maurice Isserman.

  Alvin London: Abzug interview, Columbia; author interview with Ann London Liberman and Mitch Liberman, August 2008.

  New York Bar: NYT, May 2, 1948.

  “all Oriental and gorgeous”: “What Makes Bella Run?” New York, June 20, 1977.

  looked like Shirley MacLaine: Harold Holzer interview in Levine and Thom, Bella Abzug, 77.

  Macy’s: Abzug interviews, Columbia.

  Abzug background: Ibid.; author interviews with Liz Abzug; Levine and Thom, Bella Abzug; Hunter Bulletin, May 27, 1940; NYT, November 26, 1939.

  Hunter College: NYT, November 26, 1939, May 23, 1940.

  American Student Union: Abzug interviews, Columbia; NYT, January 5, 1936, January 10, 1941.

  issues of the day: Abzug interviews, Columbia; Savitzky, “Armistice Day—and The Last World War,” Hunter Bulletin, November 6, 1940.

  ASU contingent: WaPo, February 11, 1940; Hunter Bulletin, February 26, 1940.

  “The Yanks Are Not Coming”: Hunter Bulletin, February 26, 1940.

  “a campus pink”: New York Post, March 10, 1941.

  “pure fabrications”: Hunter Bulletin, March 25, 1941.

  Martin Abzug, law school: NYT, September 21, 1970; Abzug interviews, Columbia; Harvard Crimson, May 6, 2003

  Cammer: NYT, September 17, 1950, October 25, 1995.

  Witt: NYT, August 4, 1948.

  Pressman: NYT, August 28–29, 1950.

  Abzug on Pressman: Abzug interviews, Columbia.

  Abzug on Poole: Ibid.

  drinking problem: FBI file, John Poole.

  “Jewish woman lawyer”: Abzug interviews, Columbia.

  “quite an experience”: London interview, 1952, CRC papers.

  Poole background: author interviews with Donna Poole Mills, Beverly D. Poole, Carolyn Poole Ellis, Buddy Evers, and Emmett Owens.

  train accident: “Young Johnny Poole Packs Wallop, Will,” undated newspaper clipping, Poole family papers; author interview with Emmett Owens.

  “Smiling Johnny”: undated Memphis Commercial Appeal clip, Poole family papers.

  Poole at Millsaps: Bobashela (yearbook), 1942–45; Purple and White (newspaper), February 4, 1944; Poole family papers.

  House race, 1947: Poole family papers.

  “Dad must have sensed the danger”: from “Crossfire,” unpublished manuscript by Donna Poole Mills.

  third trial: State of Mississippi v. Willie McGee, MDAH; (See Supreme Court case 36411, McGee v. Mississippi.) LLC, February 26, 28, March 1–6, 8, 1948; JDN, February 27–28, March 4–5, 7–8, 1948; CL, February 28, 1948.

  Deavours: Poole interview, 1952, CRC papers.

  Swartzfager: author interview with Jon Swartzfager, November 2007.

  pretrial testimony: State of Mississippi v. Willie McGee, 16411, 3–501.

  direct testimony: State of Mississippi v. Willie McGee, 16411, 502–910.

  ‘If that is all…’: McGee v. State, 36411, filed August 6, 1947.

  Poole and Spivak: Poole interview, 1952, CRC papers.

  Poole quits: Ibid.

  EIGHT: A RUMPUS OF REDS

  third trial appeal: John Poole to Abraham Isserman, April 26, 1948, CRC papers.

  McGee to Cadden: Willie McGee letters, CRC papers.

  “don’t stop working for Willie”: Bessie McGee to Abraham Isserman, June 1948, CRC papers.

  CRC reply: Abraham Isserman to Bessie McGee, June 25, 1948.

  “come to see me”: Willie McGee letters, August 17, September 29, 1948, CRC papers.

  Poole’s libel suit: John Poole to Abraham Isserman, April 26, 1948; John R. Poole v. Mississippi Publishers Corporation. U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, Jackson Division, 1324, National Archives, Atlanta, Georgia.

  “One Defense Cut Off”: JDN, March 10, 1948.

  George Marshall: WaPo, April 22, 1948, May 15, 1948.

  Smith Act arrests: NYT, July 21–22, 1948.

  trial under way: NYT, March 8, 1949.

  “The recent indictment”: Commager, “Should We Outlaw the Communist Party?,” NYT, August 22, 1948.

  “Reichstag fire”: NYT, July 21-22, 1948.

  Pollsters blew it: NYT, October 31, 1948.

  1948 electoral totals: http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?f=0&year=1948

  May Day: NYT, April 18, 1947.

  “distance himself”: Culver and Hyde, Henry Wallace, 464–65.

  “in no sense a Communist party”: NYT, August 3, 1948.

  “obscene, hideous people”: NYT, April 17, 1948.

  Foster on U.S.-Soviet conflict: NYT, May 29, 1948.

  “erratic comet”: Macdonald, Henry Wallace: The Man and the Myth, 93.

  John Coe: The Worker, February 22, 1948.

  Sidney Ordower: author interview with Steven Ordower, March 2005.

  Southern swing: Culver and Hyde, American Dreamer, 493–96; NYT, A
ugust 30–31, September 1–3, 1948; WaPo, August 28, 30–31, September 3, 1948.

  Vicksburg: “Vicksburg Surrenders,” Time, July 9, 1945.

  Wallace in Mississippi: JDN, Vicksburg Evening Post, September 2, 1948; NYT, WaPo, September 3, 1948.

  William L. Patterson: Patterson, The Man Who Cried Genocide; William L. Patterson papers, Howard University; FBI file, William Patterson.

  George Marshall’s imprisonment: DW, June 1, 1950.

  “mass indignation”: Patterson, The Man Who Cried Genocide, 7–13.

  fanatical father: see “…Life History of Party Functionaries,” Patterson FBI file.

  “What the Jew is to Germany”: Patterson FBI file, Chicago field office report, December 12, 1945.

  Robeson’s early rise: Duberman, Robeson, 19–109.

  Sacco and Vanzetti: Topp, The Sacco and Vanzetti Case, 1–51; Patterson, The Man Who Cried Genocide, 75–90; Felix Frankfurter, “The Case of Sacco and Vanzetti,” The Atlantic, March 1927; NYT, August 18, 23–24, 1927.

  Palmer bombing: NYT, June 3, 1919.

  Palmer Raids: Ackerman, Young J. Edgar, 6, 113–23, 155–63, 340.

  “There was…William Patterson”: Sinclair, Boston, 682–84.

  “people’s university”: Patterson, The Man Who Cried Genocide, 90.

  the Scottsboro Boys: Carter, Scottsboro; NYT and WaPo coverage, 1931–35; Patterson and Conrad, Scottsboro Boy.

  arrests and first trials: Carter, Scottsboro, 3–50; NYT, March 26, April 9–10, 1931.

  ILD, NAACP: Carter, Scottsboro, 51–103; NYT, June 21, 28–31, July 6, December 28, 30, 1931.

  Powell decision: Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932); NYT, March 25–26, April 10, May 17, June 1, October 11, November 8, 1932.

  Patterson, ILD: Carter, Scottsboro; Patterson autobiography, FBI file.

  Samuel Leibowitz: Carter, Scottsboro, 181–82; for an example of Leibowitz’s murder cases, see “Frame-Up Charged in Gordon Murder,” NYT, June 19, 1931.

  threatens to quit: NYT, April 3, 1933.

  lynch rumors: NYT, April 6, 1933.

  second Scottsboro trials: Carter, Scottsboro, 192–242; NYT, March 28, April 6–10, 1933.

  Ruby Bates recants: NYT, April 7, 1933.

  “Jew money from New York”: NYT, April 8, 1933.

  Haywood Patterson verdict: NYT, April 10, 1933.

  bribery attempt: NYT, October 2, 1934; Carter, Scottsboro, 308-309.

  Horton voids conviction: NYT, June 23, 1933.

  Patterson’s third trial: NYT, December 2, 1933.

  Norris decision: NYT, April 2, 1935; Norris v. Alabama, 294 U.S. 587 (1935).

  Scottsboro conclusion: see Patterson and Conrad, Scottsboro Boy, “Timetable of Events in the Scottsboro Case,” 301–309.

  Haywood Patterson’s escape: NYT, July 21, 1948.

  third Mississippi Supreme Court appeal: McGee v. Mississippi, 36892, January 28, 1949.

  …and opinion: McGee v. Mississippi, 36892, April 11, 1949. See Southern Reporter, Volume 40, 2nd series, 160–72.

  Poole’s follow-up: “Suggestion of Error,” McGee v. Mississippi, 36892.

  stay granted: LLC, June 3, 1949.

  execution preparations: Ibid.

  Poole and Roberds: London interview, 1952, CRC papers.

  Brogan declined to accept: CRC press release, June 3, 1949, Kaufman papers; JDN, June 3, 1949; DW, June 5, 1949.

  U.S. Supreme Court appeal: Willie McGee v. State of Mississippi, No. 238, “Petition for Writ of Certiorari,” National Archives, Washington, D.C.

  Rosenwein and Silverman: NYT, October 20, 1947, December 15, 1955; Report on the National Lawyers Guild, HUAC, 1950.

  Brown v. Mississippi: 297 U.S. 278 (1936); NYT, February 18, 1936.

  Screws v. United States: 325 U.S. 91 (1945).

  Murphy’s death: NYT, July 20, 1949.

  Screws case: 325 U.S. 91 (1945); WaPo, October 8, November 3, 1943, May 10, 1945; Waldrep, The Many Faces of Judge Lynch, 170–72.

  Mississippi response: McGee v. Mississippi, No. 238, brief of appellee, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

  Murray L. Schwartz: “Faculty Obituary: Murray Schwartz,” UCLA School of Law, February 19, 2009; author correspondence with Marshall L. Small.

  Supreme Court procedures: Wagman, The Supreme Court: A Citizen’s Guide, 8–9.

  Christopher memo: U.S. Supreme Court papers, No. 238, 1949, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

  Schwartz memo: Clark papers, Tarlton Law Library, University of Texas, Austin.

  Smith Act trial: NYT, March 8, 22, April 28, June 1, July 8, 12, October 9, 1949.

  Browder, Duclos: NYT, May 25, 1945, March 30, 1947, March 22, 1949.

  Peekskill riots: NYT, August 28–29, 1949.

  Abzug at Peekskill: author interviews with Liz Abzug.

  Supreme Court declines: CL, October 11, 1949.

  Smith Act verdict: NYT, October 15, 1949.

  new death date: DW, June 13, 1950; Kaufman case timeline, Kaufman papers, Smith College.

  NINE: COUNTRY GIRL

  London’s complaint: London interview, 1952, CRC papers.

  Poole’s libel suit: John R. Poole v. Mississippi Publishers Corporation, Southern District of Mississippi, National Archives, Atlanta, Georgia; Dixon Pyles interview transcript, Mitford papers, Ohio State University; Southern Reporter, Volume. 44, 2nd series, 467–77.

  “intimidate me”: NYT, May 3, 1955.

  “Rosie Lee Gilmore McGee”: JDN, June 7, 1950.

  “She is a Negro woman”: “This is the story that Detroit papers were afraid to touch,” by William Allan. Undated clipping, Mitford papers, Ohio State.

  Saffold family: U.S. Census report, Carroll County, Mississippi, April 17, 1930.

  Bertha Mae Crowell: author interviews, December 2007.