Freedom Summer

Freedom Summer

Freedom Summer, also known as the Mississippi Summer Project, was a 1964 voter registration drive aimed at increasing the number of registered Black voters in Mississippi. The project was organized by a coalition of civil rights organizations, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Background

In the early 1960s, Mississippi was a stronghold of racial segregation and discrimination. Despite the Fifteenth Amendment, which granted African American men the right to vote, discriminatory practices such as literacy tests and poll taxes effectively disenfranchised Black voters. By 1962, only 6.7% of eligible Black voters in Mississippi were registered.

Planning and Organization

The idea for Freedom Summer was conceived by Robert Moses, a leader in SNCC, who believed that a massive voter registration drive could bring national attention to the civil rights struggle in Mississippi. The project was announced in February 1964, and volunteers, many of whom were white college students from the North, were recruited to assist in the effort.

Activities

Freedom Summer volunteers engaged in several activities:

• Voter Registration: Volunteers went door-to-door to encourage Black Mississippians to register to vote, often facing intimidation and violence.
• Freedom Schools: These were established to provide education to Black children and adults, teaching literacy, math, and civics, as well as African American history and culture.
• Community Centers: Volunteers helped set up centers that offered various services, including legal and medical assistance.

Opposition and Violence

The project faced fierce opposition from local authorities and the Ku Klux Klan. Volunteers were harassed, arrested, and attacked. The most notorious incident was the murder of three civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, who were abducted and killed by Klansmen in June 1964.

Impact and Legacy

Despite the violence, Freedom Summer succeeded in drawing national attention to the civil rights movement and the plight of Black voters in the South. The project laid the groundwork for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed discriminatory voting practices.

Freedom Summer also had a lasting impact on the volunteers, many of whom became lifelong activists. The project highlighted the importance of grassroots organizing and the power of young people in the struggle for social justice.

See Also

• Civil Rights Movement
• Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Selma to Montgomery marches

References

• McAdam, Doug. Freedom Summer. Oxford University Press, 1988.
• Watson, Bruce. Freedom Summer: The Savage Season of 1964 That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy. Viking, 2010.