The Eyes of Willie McGee: A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in the Jim Crow South
Page 44
“I am the wife of Willie McGee”: Rosalee McGee letters, CRC papers.
“many other crimes”: Ibid.
“the jailer got angery”: Ibid.
“Lawyer Poole”: Ibid.
“Willie is almost crazy”: Ibid., October 13, 1949.
Patterson letters: Ibid., October 11, 1949.
press release: “A Wife Pleads to Nation for Innocent Husband: ‘Please Don’t Let Willie McGee Die!’” October 31, 1949, Kaufman papers.
Compass series: Compass, June 14–19, 1950.
Marvin Murray: Compass, June 16, 1950.
Murray execution: Jackson Advocate, July 3, 1948.
informational swap meet: author interviews with Tracey McGee, Donna Poole Mills, Liz Abzug, Bridgette McGee Robinson, and Della McGee, July 2007.
Jim Crow spokespeople: Bessie McGee letter to Abraham Isserman, June 1948, CRC papers, and DW, June 18, 1950; Carter, Scottsboro, 244–45; Daily Worker, February 6, 1951; Haywood Patterson subject files, Michigan CRC papers, Wayne State University.
Dixon Pyles, Rose McGee: interview transcripts, Mitford papers, Ohio State University.
Lottie Gordon: Rosalee McGee letters, February 23, 1950, CRC papers.
“how meny children”: Ibid., March 21, 1950.
Christmas card: box 10, frames 0456–57, CRC papers.
“i work so hard”: Ibid., April 4, 1950.
Kinderland: Gordon letters to Rosalee McGee and S. Davidovitch, CRC papers.
Rosalee speeches, travel: DW, May 18, 22, 24, June 18, 1950; NYT, June 18, 29, 1950; Jackson Advocate, July 15, 1950; Compass, July 28, 1950.
“bad company”: LLC, July 19, 1950.
Katharine Carr Esters: author interview, November 2007; Esters, Jay Bird Creek and My Recollections.
Boys & Girls Club: see “Small Town, Big Dream,” http://www.bgca.org/connections/06_winter/story2.html.
TEN: COMMUNISTS COMING HERE
McCarthy: Matusow, Joseph R. McCarthy, 19–26; Oshinsky, A Conspiracy So Immense, 103–14; NYT, February 12, 21, 1950.
China, Germany, A-Bomb: Donovan, Tumultuous Years, 51, 84, 98–101; NYT, September 24, October 2, 8, 24, 1949.
Hiss: NYT, January 22, 1950.
Fuchs: Roberts, The Brother, 195; NYT, February 4, 1950.
Greenglass, Rosenbergs: Roberts, The Brother, 244–45, 269, 271; NYT, June 17, July 18, August 12, 1950.
Emanuel H. Bloch: NYT, July 18, 1950.
North Korea: NYT, June 25, 1950.
CRC’s McGee crusade: JDN, July 17, 19, 23, 1950; LLC, July 18, 1950.
Sullens: Skates, A Southern Editor Views the National Scene; “Punch Lines by Sullens,” Collier’s, September 13, 1947; McCain, The Story of Jackson, volume 2, 12–15; JDN, December 24, 1950; November 20–21, 1957.
pugnacious Sullens: “Southern Scorcher,” Time, January 18, 1943.
“Chimneyville”: McCain, The Story of Jackson, volume 1, 196–202.
Johnson, Sullens fight: JDN, May 3, 1940; CL, May 3, 1940; Johnston, Politics: Mississippi Style, 18–21, 46, 55; “Pizen Slinger,” Time, May 13, 1940; “Punch Lines by Sullens,” Collier’s, September 13, 1947; WaPo, May 3, 1940; author interview with Paul B. Johnson III.
Sullens and Bilbo: Green, The Man Bilbo, 52; Morgan, Redneck Liberal, 228–29; Skates, A Southern Editor Views the National Scene, 239–40; CL, June 26, 1931.
“Remember her”: JDN, November 3, 1928.
“write and wire”: CRC press release, October 22, 1949, Kaufman papers.
15,000 people: Compass, July 29, 1950.
mysterious CRC activity: LLC, July 18, 1950.
Ella Fitzgerald: “M.I.S.S.I.S.S.I.P.P.I.,” Music Business, July 1950.
Compass series: June 14–19, 1950.
the Compass…had a place: NYT, May 2–3, 17, 1949; June 1, 1949. (The Compass debuted in May 1949 and ceased publication in November 1952, NYT, November 4, 1952.)
“beginning to boil”: William Patterson letters to Jack Raskin, July 12, 1950, Michigan CRC files, Wayne State University.
R. H. Harris: JDN, July 19, 1950.
“Communists Coming Here”: JDN, July 19, 1950.
“explosive case”: Abzug interviews, Columbia.
Patterson on Abzug: William Patterson letter to Jessica Mitford, May 29, 1975, Mitford Collection, Ohio State University.
error coram nobis: NYT, August 20, 1927, January 5, 1954, May 20, 1955, January 26, 1979, March 16, 1986; WaPo, October 23, 1983; Zaim, The Journal of Mississippi History, Fall 2003, 238.
McGee’s petition: Mississippi v. Willie McGee, Petition for Writ of Error Coram Nobis, No. 1268, July 21, 1950.
tea leaves: LLC, July 21, 1950.
Swartzfager’s reply: Mississippi v. Willie McGee, State’s Answer, July 22, 1950.
Poole in Laurel: Poole, Bloch, Abzug affidavits, July 1950, MDAH.
coram nobis dismissal: LLC, July 22, 1950; Collins, Mississippi v. Willie McGee, July 22, 1950.
B. Frank Carter: Affidavit, Hinds County Circuit Court, July 24, 1950.
Poole disbarment: LLC, July 22, 1950; DW, July 24, 1950.
Jackson in the 1950s: Memphis Commercial Appeal, January 19, 1953; Jackson City Directory, 1952–53; Beautiful Jackson: In Pictures; author correspondence with Jerry Dallas.
“a new industrial empire”: Memphis Commercial Appeal, January 19, 1953.
Jackson businesses: Jackson City Directory, 1950; Dallas, “Capitol Street, Jackson, Mississippi—Then and Now,” http://usads.ms11.net/dallas.html.
new and old capitols: Oxford Eagle, February 16, 1950; Mississippi: The WPA Guide to the Magnolia State, 214–15, 217–18.
Jackson office buildings: CL, JDN, September 7, 1986; JDN, May 14, 1953; CL, April 6, 1956, February 5, 1986; Welty, One Writer’s Beginnings, 82–83.
…and hotels: Eastland papers, Ole Miss; McCain, The Story of Jackson, volume 2, 60; subject files, MDAH.
Farish Street: Mississippi: The WPA Guide to the Magnolia State, 221; James Rundles interview.
Greene on CRC: Jackson Advocate, July 22, 1950.
police, American Legion: JDN, July 19, 22, 1950.
“lies and propaganda”: LLC, July 20, 1950.
Klan, Spinks: JDN, July 17, 1950; NYT, August 7, 1947, March 26, 1950.
FBI reports: FBI file, “Willie McGee.”
manageably sized group: CL, July 20, 23, 1950.
black CRC members: FBI file, “Willie McGee.”
Gene Weltfish: Gacs, Women Anthropologists, 372–77; NYT, December 22, 1942, August 5, 1980.
Franz Boas: NYT, December 22, 1942; Stocking, The Shaping of American Anthropology, 307–16.
The Races of Mankind: Benedict, Race, Science and Politics, 167–69, 182–83; Price, Threatening Anthropology, 113–15; WaPo, April 28, March 9, 1944; NYT, March 6, 1944.
Stoll and Ordower: author interviews with Anne Stoll (September 2004) and Steven Ordower (March 2005).
germ warfare: NYT, September 26, 1952; Time, “Brother, You Don’t Resign,” October 6, 1952.
Weltfish and Columbia: NYT, September 26, 1952, April 1, 1953.
Winifred Feise: CL, July 21, 1950; author interview with Winifred Feise, October 2006; NYT, April 6, 8, 1956.
Johnson, Dombrowski: NYT, October 6, 1932, January 10, 1949; Egerton, Speak Now Against the Day, 299–301.
“two men and two women”: LLC, July 14, 1950; CL, July 21, 1950.
“It was not a rape.”: author interview with Winifred Feise.
train station: subject file, MDAH Historic Preservation Division.
clemency delegation: FBI file, “Willie McGee” JDN, July 25, 1950; Compass, July 26, 1950.
McGehee ruling: LLC, July 25, 1950; JDN, July 26, 1950.
Harry Raymond: JDN, July 25, 1950; NYT, March 8, 25, 1930; April 22, August 26, 1930.
Harold J. Lightcap: See “Tribute to a Workingclass Journalist,” eulogy for Harry Raymond by Simon W. Gerson, Gerson papers, Tamiment Library, NYU.
Rose Lightcap: NYT, August 11,
October 25, 1950.
seating arrangements, legionnaires: Compass, July 26, 1950.
clemency hearing: JDN, July 25, 1950; Compass, DW, NYT, July 26, 1950; FBI file, “Willie McGee.”
“aged Jacksonian”: JDN, July 26, 1950.
violence stories: NYT, July 27, 1950; JDN, July 26, 1950; DW, July 27–28, 1950; FBI file, “Willie McGee.”
train station attack: Compass, July 27, 1950.
Fifth Circuit: NYT, July 26, 1950.
airport violence: JDN, July 26, 1950.
Grossman’s demands: FBI file, “Willie McGee.”
Burton stay: Burton papers, LOC; Compass, July 27, 1950; U.S. Supreme Court telegram, July 26, 1950.
Rosalee learns of stay: JDN, July 26, 1950; FBI file, “Willie McGee.”
Jackson aftermath: CL, July 27, 1950; JDN, July 27, 1950; FBI file, “Willie McGee.”
“this writer”: FBI file, “Willie McGee.”
Klan gunfight: Ibid.; JDN, July 27, 1950.
ELEVEN: A LONG, LOW SONG
“They are all hot”: Willie McGee letters, CRC papers.
Laurel reaction: LLC, JDN, July 27, 1950.
“nastiest group”: LLC, August 9, 1950.
letters to Wright: Willie McGee case correspondence, MDAH.
letters to McGehee: JDN, August 11, 1950.
letters to Burton: Burton papers, LOC.
“fomenting discord”: Colmer remarks on the floor of the U.S. House, July 31, 1950, Colmer papers, University of Southern Mississippi.
Martinsville stay: DW, July 27, 1950.
Daily Worker editorial: DW, July 28, 1950.
Thackrey editorial: Compass, July 27, 1950.
Supreme Court rosters: Urofsky, Division and Discord: The Supreme Court under Stone and Vinson, 1941–1953.
Raberthe Hanks: Hanks letter to Aubrey Grossman, March 8, 1952, Danny Grossman papers.
“I can’t even visit Willie”: Rosalee McGee letters, CRC papers.
Rosalee’s work problems: Ibid.
death of sister: Ibid., October 2, 1950.
Percy Greene: Ibid., October 24, 1950.
Gracie Lee: Ibid., October 7, 1950.
wish list: Rosalee McGee letters, December 29, 1950, CRC papers.
“pajama suit”: Willie McGee letters, November 21, December 26, 1950, CRC papers.
Poole disbarment: LLC, July 22, 1950; DW, July 24, 1950.
libel case: Poole interview, 1952, CRC papers; JDN, CL, June 30, 1950.
Poole withdraws: JDN, August 16, 1950.
Easterling response: Undated clip, Kaufman papers, Smith College.
contempt of Congress: Goodman, The Committee, 179–81.
Patterson, Lanham. Compass, August 6, 1950; NYT, August 6, 1950, April 10, 1951; “Gentleman from Georgia,” Time, August 14, 1950.
contempt charges: NYT, August 27, 1950.
Rosa Lee Ingram: Horne, Communist Front?, 205–6; Patterson, We Charge Genocide, 99.
one hint: FBI file, “Willie McGee.”
Rosalee’s affair story: Rosalee McGee affidavit, July 25, 1950.
appeal filed: Abzug letter to J. P. Coleman, November 24, 1950; NYT, November 23, 1950.
“without proof so far”: CL, November 26, 1950.
Louis Lautier: Atlanta World, November 29, 1950.
Schwartz: MLS memo, 254 Misc., 1950, Reed papers, University of Kentucky.
Burnett: JGB memo, January 11, 1951, Douglas papers, LOC.
Supreme Court declines: NYT, January 16, 1951.
“No More Interference”: JDN, January 17, 1951.
Worker reaction: DW, January 17, 1951.
“My hart is hurt”: Bessie McGee letters, CRC papers.
“I was dead broke”: Rosalee McGee letters, CRC papers.
confusion and hurt feelings: see “The Patterson-Wilkins Correspondence,” NAACP press release, November 23, 1949, and William Patterson to Thurgood Marshall, June 15, 1950, NAACP papers.
mistrust his intentions: Chicago field report on William Patterson, November 4, 1947; FBI file, “William Patterson,” 7–52, 128–30.
Martinsville: Rise, The Martinsville Seven; Patterson, The Man Who Cried Genocide, 156–68; “The Martinsville Seven Case,” unpublished report by Robert Harris for Len Holt, August 21, 1964, Patterson papers, Howard University; Daily Worker coverage; Tuskegee news clippings file, reel 234; SRC clippings file, “Martinsville, VA, Rape Case 1949–1951.”
“cannot…be associated”: Atlanta Daily World, June 18, 1949; Rise, The Martinsville Seven, 63–65.
“guilt or innocence”: The Nation, March 3, 1951, 212.
“alleged victim”: Patterson, The Man Who Cried Genocide, 161.
Battle grants stay: NYT, November 11, 1950.
Vinson and Burton: NYT, February 2, 5, 6, 1951.
“mass pilgrimage”…“vigil”: DW, January 29, 1951.
executions: NYT, February 3, 6, 1951; DW, February 5, 1951.
“funeral pyre”: DW, February 7, 1951.
“Communist calliope”: Time, February 12, 1951.
“Martinsville Chant”: William Patterson papers, Howard University.
“unconcern”: Moon, “The Martinsville Rape Case,” The New Leader, February 12, 1951.
McGee’s affair stories: See Dixon Pyles interview with Daily Worker investigator, 1952, CRC papers, and Willie McGee affidavit, February 3, 1951, Hinds County Chancery Clerk’s Office, Jackson, Mississippi, CRC papers.
TWELVE: BARE-LEGGED WOMEN
new execution date: LLC, February 5, 1951.
affair story revealed: DW, February 25, 1951; Daily People’s World, March 2, 1951; “Fact Sheet On Willie McGee,” Kaufman papers, Smith College.
habeas corpus plea, denial: “Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus,” McGee v. Jones and Brogan, March 5, 1951; CL, March 6, 1951.
new flourishes: Raymond, Save Willie McGee, February 1951.