Parting the Waters (176 page)

“Can you believe”: Int. Rev. Gardner Taylor, Oct. 25, 1983.

“masterminded the invasion”: NYT, Sept. 10, 1961, p. 35;
Jet
, Sept. 28, 1961, p. 18.

“hoodlums and crooks”: CD, Sept. 16—22, 1961.

“injurious to my public image”: King to Jackson, Sept. 10, 1961, BUK7f19.

“is not righted”: SCLC release, Sept. 12, 1961, BUK7f19.

“Jack would allow”: Int. Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, July 30, 1984.

“smoke has cleared”: Walker to Reid, Sept. 6, 1961, A/SC129f12.

Department intervened: Bass,
Unlikely Heroes
, p. 216; Grant,
Black Protest
, p. 308.

Marshall, who authorized: Int. John Doar, May 12, 1986.

hauntingly peaceful: Int. Arvid Sather, Nov. 8, 1985.

illustrious Mordecai Johnson: Church program, BUK7f23.

Moses in person:
Liberation
, January 1970, p. 12; Doar and Landsberg,
Performance
, p. 12.

Doar found a phone message: Int. John Doar, Oct. 25, 1983.

“You killed my husband!”: Charles McDew, CRDPOH, p. 102.

perspective on his guilt:
Liberation
, January 1970, p. 12; int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984.

the actual killer: Doar and Landsberg,
Performance
, pp. 36f; Grant,
Black Protest
, p. 327; Carson,
In Struggle
, p. 48; Tom Hayden interview, Oct. 27, 1961, “The Children of McComb,” Tape #BBO225, PRA; Burke Marshall to Director Hoover, Sept. 26, 1961, “Intimidation of Negro Applicants for Registration in Amite County, Mississippi,” records of the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice.

Louis Allen was: Elizabeth Allen affidavit in Council of Federated Organizations,
Mississippi
, pp. 30ff.

“I'm not playing with you”: Louis Allen affidavit of July 31, 1962, attached to the investigative report of staff attorneys William H. Downs and Jack F. Govan, Aug. 29, 1962, U.S. Civil Rights Commission. Other government documents on Louis Allen's testimony, and the pressures upon him, include the file memo of D. Robert Owen, Oct. 20, 1961, and Burke Marshall to J. Edgar Hoover, Aug. 22, 1962, in the records of the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice.

Trapped between victim: Int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984.

“examine Lee's body”: Doar and Landsberg,
Performance
, p. 37.

Moses confessed to Bryant's: Int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984.

along with 119 students: Charles McDew, CRDPOH; Grant,
Black Protest
, p. 307; int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984;
Jet
, Oct. 19, 1961, pp. 4—5; Zellner interview, “The Children of McComb,” PRA.

“behind some of this racial”: NYT, Oct. 7, 1961, p. 47.

Jones alerted outside news: Int. Charles Jones, Nov. 24, 1986.

“Where the students lead”:
Jet
, Nov. 2, 1961, p. 18.

“puts himself in the class”:
Time
, Oct. 20, 1961, p. 26.

Belafonte sent them $5,000: Charles McDew, CRDPOH, pp. 93—94.

“SNCC Done Snuck”: Ibid., p. 95.

Moses to wonder: Int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984.

Grand Ol' Opry: Lewis records, AAP; Reddick to King and Walker, Oct. 6, 1961, BUK7f39.

“has to have his say”: Reddick to King and Walker, Sept. 15, 1961, BUK7f39.

“reign of terror”:
Jet
, Oct. 19, 1961, p. 5.

“my own personal”: Walker to Kennedy, Oct. 6, 1961, BUK1f48.

privately with the President: Wofford's renewed requests for a King appointment recorded in Wofford to O'Donnell, Oct. 4 and Oct. 9, 1961, File HU May 11, 1961—Nov. 15, 1961, Box 358, WHCF, JFK.

ominous to Burke Marshall: Marshall to Hoover, June 9, 1961, FL-130.

Marshall had lingered: Int. Harris Wofford, June 26, 1984; Wofford,
Of Kennedys
, p. 216.

Marshall's argument: Int. Burke Marshall, June 27, 1984.

meeting with President Kennedy:
Jet
, Oct. 26, 1961, p. 4; Wofford,
Of Kennedys
, p. 216; Oates,
Trumpet
, p. 179; King, Birmingham speech, Jan. 20, 1962, BIR/BC6f14. Also mentioned in King to Wachtel, Nov. 7, 1961, BUK7f55.

after the delivery: The dating of Wofford's formal warning to King comes partly from Marshall's memo to RFK of Sept. 12, 1963 (Marshall Papers, Box 3, JFK), which placed the warning in 1961. Interviews with Wofford and Marshall, and log records, make the Wofford warning and the Kennedy lunch most likely to have occurred on the same day, as presented here.

“Eve of Nonviolent”:
Southern Patriot
, November 1961.

Moses halted: Forman,
The Making
, p. 235.

“war for what?”: Charles McDew, CRDPOH.

Moses advised Allen: Int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984.

On October 19: Doar and Landsberg,
Performance
, pp. 36—39.

Moses and Doar found themselves: Int. Robert P. Moses, July 30, 1984.

Donis Hawkins': Elizabeth Allen affidavit, in Council of Federated Organizations,
Mississippi
, p. 32.

come to like Louis Allen: Int. John Doar, Oct. 25, 1983.

open dissent: Int. John Doar, May 12, 1986.

few words of Yiddish: Charles McDew, CRDPOH.

“middle of the iceberg”: Moses note, Nov. 1, 1961, reprinted in Forman,
The Making
, p. 233.

Fourteen
ALMOST CHRISTMAS IN ALBANY

full of zeal and empty: Morris,
Origins
, p. 240; int. Charles Sherrod, July 10, 1985, and Jan. 23, 1986.

King had seven sons: Int. C. B. King, July 10, 1985.

something about him: Charles Sherrod interview by Joe Phister, made available by Sherrod.

let Sherrod use a room: Int. H. C. Boyd, July 11, 1985.

Tom Chatmon: Int. C. B. King, July 10, 1985.

might be Communists: C. B. King, A/OH.

“urgent and distressing call”: Monthly Report of Vernon E. Jordan, Nov. 10, 1961, File III-A-258, NAACP.

“demonstrations were expected”: Minutes of Special Meeting of Albany City Commission, Oct. 30, 1961, 4:00
P.M.
, CRA.

seven hundred volunteers: NYT, Nov. 2, 1961, p. 28.

plan for Albany: Zinn,
Albany
, p. 10; Carson,
In Struggle
, p. 58; Lewis,
King
, p. 144.

giant free barbecue: Guy Touchtone deposition, Jan. 18, 1963,
Georgia
v.
Ware
, indictments #933-35. Touchtone was the Ichuaway overseer.

account of the FBI agent: Int. Marion Cheek, July 11, 1985; statement of Charlie Ware, July 23, 1961, C. B. King files.

dripping from his ears: Defense motion filed Nov. 10, 1961, in
Georgia
v.
Ware
.

Slater King's home: Goldie Jackson and E. D. Hamilton, both A/OH.

rivalry and suspicion: Slater King, “Battleground of Albany,”
Freedomways
(First Quarter, 1964), p. 95.

“vicarious experience”: Albany Movement founding document of Nov. 17, 1961, CRA; Morris,
Origins
, pp. 240—41.

on November 22: Zinn,
Albany
, pp. 11ff; Forman,
The Making
, pp. 247ff; Carson,
In Struggle
, pp. 56ff.

“go clean-sided”: Int. McCree Harris, Jan. 24, 1986.

“blackest white man”: Int. A. C. Searles, July 11, 1985.

the songleader role: Int. Rutha Harris, Jan. 23, 1986, A. C. Searles, July 1, 1985, and Charles Jones, Nov. 23, 1986; Watters,
Down to Now
, pp. 158—59; Morris,
Origins
, p. 241.

“hard, grown men”: Sherrod report to SNCC headquarters, cited in Forman,
The Making
, p. 247.

inviting a spark: Int. Charles Sherrod, Jan. 23, 1986.

new executive secretary: Forman sketch drawn from Forman,
The Making
, passim.

Lee took Forman's idea: Int. Bernard Lee, June 19, 1985.

pulled into Albany's: Arrival at station and subsequent arrests from Zinn,
Albany
, pp. 12ff; Watters,
Down to Now
, pp. 157ff; Lewis,
King
, pp. 145—46; Forman,
The Making
, p35 252-53; int. Charles Sherrod, Jan. 23, 1986, Rutha Harris, Jan. 23, 1986, McCree Harris, Jan. 24, 1986, and A. C. Searles, July 1, 1985; NYT, Dec. 11, 1961, p. 40; AC, Dec. 11, 1961, p. 30.

jailing Marion King: Watters,
Down to Now
, p. 159; Forman,
The Making
, p. 253.

“ace group” to “monkey eat pepper”: Int. Charles Sherrod, Jan. 23, 1986, and McCree Harris, Jan. 24, 1986.

December rain: March to city hall and mass arrest from Zinn,
Albany
, p. 14; Forman,
The Making
, p. 253; NYT, Dec. 13, 1961, p. 51; AC, Dec. 13, 1961, p. 1; int. Charles Sherrod, Jan. 23, 1986, and McCree Harris, Jan. 24, 1986.

Pritchett argued: Int. Asa Kelley, Jan. 22, 1986.

“other nigger organization”: NYT, Dec. 14, 1961, p. 47.

Lee told Walker: Int. Bernard Lee, June 19, 1985.

auctioneers were selling: Clark,
Echo
, p. 224; SAC Memphis to FBI Director, Oct. 17, 1961, FBI file #61-7511, serial 276.

protest telegrams: King to RFK, Nov. 1, 1961, A/SC 35f1.

airport and rostrum: Log, BUK6f151.

“Testimonial Service”: Speech list, A/KP9f6; testimonial program, A/SC58f14.

hospital for tests: NYT, Dec. 2, 1961, p. 25;
Jet
, Dec. 14, 1961, p. 17.

spent more than $27,000: Levison and O'Dell budget memo, Aug. 31, 1961, A/SC57f11.

Theodore Kheel: Int. Harry Wachtel, Oct. 27, 1983; King to Wachtel, Nov. 7, 1961, BUK7f55.

write King's speech: Garrow,
FBI
, p. 26.

“Negroes are almost entirely”: King AFL-CIO address, Dec. 11, 1961, A/KS2.

came to their feet: Oates,
Trumpet
, pp. 185-88.

Eichmann's conviction: NYT, Dec. 11, 1961, p. 1.

Lithuli's acceptance: Ibid., pp. 1, 12.

landed in South Vietnam: NYT, Dec. 12, 1961, p. 21.

immediately called Ralph: Int. McCree Harris, Jan. 24, 1986.

Late Wednesday night: Forman,
The Making
, p. 255; Morris,
Origins
, pp. 242-43; Lewis,
King
, p. 147; AC, Dec. 15, 1961, p. 10; int. Bernard Lee, June 19, 1985, A. C. Searles, July 11, 1985, C. B. King, July 10, 1985, and Emmanuel “Bo” Jackson, July 10, 1985.

asked Vandiver: Int. Asa Kelley, Jan. 22, 1986.

“We pray, oh Lord” to “I like pecans”: Watters,
Down to Now
, pp. 163-65; also Albany documentary “Freedom in the Air,” Tape #BBO270, Sept. 10, 1962, PRA. On the Sherrod beating, FBI agent Marion Cheek recalls that Sheriff Mathews admitted pushing Sherrod around and said he had told the Negro prisoners, “I want it so quiet in this jail that you can hear a flea peeing in a wad of cotton” (int. Cheek, July 11, 1985).

“keeps the faith”: AC, Dec. 15, 1961, p. 1.

Slater King had refused: NYT, Dec. 16, 1961, p. 18.

amended it by letter: Solomon Walker to Kelley, Dec. 15, 1961, CRA.

dismissed her Latin: Int. McCree Harris, Jan. 24, 1986.

The ensuing clash: Watters,
Down to Now
, pp. 11-15; also int. Rutha Harris, Jan. 23, 1986, Charles Jones, Nov. 23, 1986, and other Albany interviews.

He told the crowd: NYT, Dec. 16, 1961, p. 18; Lewis,
King
, p. 148.

“put you in a dungeon”: Watters,
Down to Now
, p. 14.

departure from the schedule: Ibid., p. 15; int. C. B. King, July 10, 1985, and McCree Harris, Jan. 24, 1986.

“Be here at seven”: AJ, Dec. 16, 1961, p. 20; Albany draft restraining order, Dec. 15, 1961 (probably misdated from the 16th), CRA; Oates,
Trumpet
, p. 190.