Carpenters for Christmas was conceived to counteract a series of church bombings and
arson attacks in
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
during and following the
Mississippi Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer, also known as the Freedom Summer Project or the Mississippi Summer Project, was a volunteer campaign in the United States launched in June 1964 to attempt to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi. ...
in 1964. During the summer of 1964, the
Council of Federated Organizations
The Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) was a coalition of the major Civil Rights Movement organizations operating in Mississippi. COFO was formed in 1961 to coordinate and unite voter registration and other civil rights activities in the sta ...
(COFO) organized a nationally supported campaign that challenged the
racial segregation
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
of the
Mississippi Democratic Party
The Mississippi Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Mississippi. The party headquarters is located in Jackson, Mississippi.
The party has members and County Executive Committees in all 82 counties of the st ...
and the state's systematic exclusion of black citizens from voting. Churches played a central role in this campaign, often housing
Freedom Schools Freedom Schools were temporary, alternative, and free schools for African Americans mostly in the South. They were originally part of a nationwide effort during the Civil Rights Movement to organize African Americans to achieve social, political and ...
, serving as freedom election polling places, and serving as the venue for mass meetings. To counter this central role, segregationist forces began a campaign of terror against civil rights workers and the churches that gave them support.
Over the course of Freedom Summer, there were at least three murders, approximately 70 bombings or burnings, over 80 beatings, and over 1,000 arrests of civil rights activists. The COFO incident report, a single-spaced document that offered brief daily summaries, was over ten pages long.
In the fall of 1964, numerous churches in Mississippi and elsewhere in the South were burned, bombed or otherwise attacked. Students from
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
and others organized a church rebuilding project to create national support for southern churches. They chose the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in
Blue Mountain, Mississippi
Blue Mountain is a town in Tippah County, Mississippi. The population was 920 at the 2010 census. It is the location of Blue Mountain College, a private Christian liberal arts college.
History
Blue Mountain is rooted in the community that deve ...
to highlight the problem of church destruction, and in December 1964, with national media attention, the church was rebuilt with volunteer labor and donated materials. The church burned right after
Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer (; Townsend; October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977) was an American voting rights, voting and women's rights activist, Community organizing, community organizer, and a leader in the civil rights movement. She was the co-foun ...
gave a speech there.
The project received widespread publicity in national media, and contributed to broader recognition of need to afford protection to southern churches that supported the civil rights movement.
Background and context
During the 1960s Holly Springs, and Rust College, was a locus for civil rights activities i
Marshall Benton, and Tippah Counties. Partly that resulted from the active support for civil rights from the leadership and students at
Rust College
Rust College is a private historically black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Founded in 1866, it is the second-oldest private college in the state. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it is one of ten historically black colleges ...
, one of the oldest African American liberal arts colleges in the United States. Long before white civil rights workers arrived, Rust College Students, began to challenge segregation of public accommodations. A COFO office and Freedom School was ultimately located near the college on 100 Rust Avenue and North Memphis Street and was referred to as Freedom House. It was the headquarters for the voter registration movement in north Mississippi and the headquarters of the local
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segrega ...
(SNCC). Civil Rights workers stationed at Freedom House began to link to self-contained movements in Marshall and the nearby counties o
Bentonand Tippah.
African American residents of Tippah County were already involved in civil rights activities long before Freedom Summer
Hazel Foster was an NAACP activist. A letter from the
Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission
The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (also called the Sov-Com) was a state agency in Mississippi from 1956 to 1977 tasked with fighting desegregation and controlling civil rights activism. It was overseen by the Governor of Mississippi. T ...
to the Tippah County Attorney, August 23, 1962 writes:
Please furnish this commission with any general information you may have on the above subject (Hazel Foster) regarding activities with the NAACP, if any, or other subversive organizations.
A letter from the Sovereignty Commission on the same date seeks advice from the local circuit judge as to whether Mrs. Foster has registered to vote and inquires of any connection to the NAACP.
Freedom Summer
Frustrated by the slow pace of change in Mississippi, civil rights groups active in Mississippi decided to implement a "program ... which will involve the massive participation of Americans dedicated to the elimination of racial oppression.
Prospectus for the Mississippi Freedom Summer Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer, also known as the Freedom Summer Project or the Mississippi Summer Project, was a volunteer campaign in the United States launched in June 1964 to attempt to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi. ...
would involve the creation of 25 freedom schools, establishment of community centers, and what the project described as "a massive legal offensive against the official tyranny of the State of Mississippi." In the Spring of 1964, law enforcement and the Sovereignty Commission were gearing up for possible Freedom Summer activities. Sovereignty Commission investigators began to visit with local officials throughout Mississippi to prepare. A MSC investigation report describes a visit to Tippah and Alcorn Counties:
The officers in Alcorn as well as Tippah County appreciated very much the work this department is doing with officers. They also are very much concerned about the expected mass demonstrations which the various civil rights organizations are threatening this state with this summer....The investigative staff of the Sovereignty Commission has now visited and had discussions with city and county officials in every county in the State of Mississippi since the middle of January, 1964, these four counties being the last ones. All county and city officials are expecting trouble in this state this summer and those whom I visited are relying heavily on the assistance of this department if and when the demonstrations begin in their county.
Promoting voter participation
A major goal of Freedom Summer, including the work performed out of Holly Springs, was to break through obstacles to black voting in Mississippi. Historians have focused upon efforts to participate in the Presidential electoral process. But just as important were efforts to afford black citizens equal participation in local elections. For that reason, Holly Springs COFO workers in Northern Mississippi Counties worked to enhance black participation in Agricultural Stabilization Committee elections.
, 150, 1, 23, 1, 1, 1, 46099, # Archives of Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, December 15, 1964.
/ref> ASC participation was crucial to small farmers, because of the cotton allotment program.
See also
* 1999 Lake Worth, Texas church fire
* Cross burning
In modern times, cross burning or cross lighting is a practice which is associated with the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was practiced long before the Klan's inception. Since the early 20th century, the Klan burned crosses on hillsides as a way to i ...
* ''R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul
''R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul'', 505 U.S. 377 (1992), is a case of the United States Supreme Court that unanimously struck down St. Paul's Bias-Motivated Crime Ordinance and reversed the conviction of a teenager, referred to in court documents only ...
''
References
External links
Hale, A HISTORY OF THE MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM SCHOOLS, 1954–1965, page 202
Destroyed Antioch Missionary Baptist Church
Fund Raising Solicitation for church rebuild
Interview with Charlene Cobb
Oberlin Carpenters
Mount Zion, Philadelphia Mississippi Church Burning
, 80, 0, 11, 1, 1, 1, 68913, # Another Negro Church Burns, Hattiesburg American
, 80, 0, 9, 1, 1, 1, 68901 The Carpenters for Christmas: Assembled students leaving for Mississippi
Digital Library List of Church bombings
Mississippi Civil Rights Project
Aint Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around
Article by Charleane Hill, church member, in Bay Area Friends of SNCC newsletter
, 80, 0, 3, 1, 1, 1, 68847, # Oberlin Crowd at Ripley (clipping on file with Mississippi Sovereignty Commission
, 80, 0, 4, 1, 1, 1, 68852 Oberlin Students Keep Yule Promise
, 80, 0, 5, 1, 1, 1, 68860, # Marcia Aronoff, Co-Chair, Oberlin Action for Civil Rights
, 80, 0, 8, 2, 1, 1, 68898, # Gift Idea...A roof for Christmas
, 80, 0, 13, 1, 1, 1, 68939, # Church Project Peaceful
Boston Herald, December 22, 1964
, 80, 0, 20, 1, 1, 1, 68965, # Traditional Oberlin College Shines Brightly
December 29, 1964
, 80, 0, 21, 1, 1, 1, 68968 Christmas Carpenters Fired Upon as they Rebuild Church
, 80, 0, 26, 1, 1, 1, 68975, # Rebuilt Church Looks Beautiful
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Civil rights movement
African-American history of Mississippi
1964 in Mississippi
Oberlin College