Hollis Watkins is an activist who was part of the
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
activities in the state of Mississippi during the 1960s. He became a member and organizer with the
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) in 1961, was a county organizer for 1964's "
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. ...
", and assisted the efforts of the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), also referred to as the Freedom Democratic Party, was an American political party created in 1964 as a branch of the populist Freedom Democratic organization in the state of Mississippi during the ...
to unseat the regular Mississippi delegation from their chairs at the 1964 Democratic Party national convention in Atlantic City. He founded Southern Echo, a group that gives support to other grass-roots organizations in Mississippi. He also is a founder of the Mississippi Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement.
Early life
Watkins was born on July 29, 1941, in
Lincoln County, Mississippi
Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 34,869. Its county seat is Brookhaven.
The county was created by the legislature on April 7, 1870, during the Reconstruction Era. I ...
, USA, near the town of Summit. He is the youngest and twelfth child of sharecroppers John and Lena Watkins. His family purchased a farm about 1949, via a loan program started under President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
. Watkins graduated from the segregated Lincoln County Training School in 1960. He was also a student at Tougaloo College. Tougaloo's commitment to the freedom movement was rare, as it was one of the few all black colleges that allowed any type of political activity; this was largely because it was one of the only all black schools at that time that wasn't run by a white segregationist. Watkins was part of the Work-Study Program at Tougaloo, which allowed students to be active in the movement while still earning credits towards a degree.
During his youth Watkins attended
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...
(NAACP) youth meetings led by
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi, who was murdered by Byron De La Beckwith. Evers, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who had served i ...
. In 1961 Watkins met
Bob Moses Robert Moses (1888–1981) was an American city planner.
Robert Moses may also refer to:
* Bob Moses (activist) (1935–2021), American educator and civil rights activist
* Bob Moses, American football player in the 1962 Cotton Bowl Classic
* Bob M ...
who was organizing in Mississippi for the
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).
Watkins was asked by Bob Moses to join the Voter Registration Organization effort in McComb. Watkins became involved the next day.
He joined SNCC, and began canvassing potential voters around
McComb, Mississippi
McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The city is approximately south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 12,790. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statist ...
in Amite County. He soon became a mentor and role model for McComb High school activists.
He participated in McComb's first sit-in at a
Woolworth's
Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to:
Businesses
* F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores
* Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...
lunch counter in attempt to achieve integration, for which he was jailed for 34 days. During his time in jail, he was threatened on several occasions, including once being shown a noose and told that he would be hung that night.
[ He kept his decision to participate in the sit in a secret from his parents knowing they wouldn't allow him to do so, but when his father found out he spoke at a mass meeting protesting their arrest. This support helped encourage Watkins during his difficult time in jail.]
Afterward he took part in a walk-out at McComb's colored high school, along with dozens of other activists including Brenda Travis
Brenda Travis (born 1945) is an African American veteran of the Civil Rights Movement from McComb, Mississippi, whose imprisonments for protesting a segregated bus station and participation in a peaceful high school walk out in 1961 helped cataly ...
, which resulted in his being sentenced to 39 more days in jail. Watkins' activism also had a personal price. Many of his extended family ostracized him and would not recognize him in public for fear of losing their jobs; the White Citizens Council
The Citizens' Councils (commonly referred to as the White Citizens' Councils) were an associated network of white supremacist, segregationist organizations in the United States, concentrated in the South and created as part of a white backlash ...
and other groups conducted economic boycotts against activist blacks, getting them fired, evicted from rental properties, and refusing loans and credit.
Early career
Vernon Dahmer
Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer Sr. (March 10, 1908 – January 10, 1966) was an American civil rights movement leader and president of the Forrest County chapter of the NAACP in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He was murdered by the White Knights of ...
, president of the Forrest County, Mississippi
Forrest County is located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 74,934. Its county seat and largest city is Hattiesburg. The county was created from Perry County in 1908 and named in honor of Nathan Bedfor ...
NAACP asked SNCC for help with voter registration, and Watkins moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar County. The city popu ...
to help with that project. Watkins worked half days at Dahmer's sawmill to pay his way, and spent the rest of the time organizing voter registration projects. He was rebuffed from efforts to meet at Hattiesburg's Baptist churches, but had success at the St. James Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. His first effort led to six people volunteering to try and register, including Victoria Gray Adams
Victoria Jackson Gray Adams (November 5, 1926 – August 12, 2006) was an American civil rights activist from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She was one of the founding members of the influential Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
Early life and ed ...
.[ At the request of ]Amzie Moore
Amzie Moore (September 23, 1911 – February 1, 1982) was an African-American civil rights leader and entrepreneur in the Mississippi Delta.
Early life
Amzie Moore is one of the lesser known Civil Rights Movement leaders, but was extremely in ...
, he next went to Holmes County, Mississippi
Holmes County is a county in the U.S. state of Mississippi; its western border is formed by the Yazoo River and the eastern border by the Big Black River. The western part of the county is within the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta. As of the 2010 cen ...
, where he began to canvass potential voters. He was willing to risk his life for this movement, for instance one day he went to a shack on a plantation to talk to them about voting, but ended up being chased away and shot at by the plantation owner, however, that didn't stop him from going back the next week.
Supplied with equipment by CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
, Watkins went to the clerk of court's office with a hidden camera and microphone in order to film a typical encounter with voter registration officer Theron Lynd. CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
was covering the movement. The footage of Lynd, and some of Watkins was aired as a "CBS Reports" program called "Mississippi and the Fifteenth Amendment." It has since been re-released on DVD as "Mississippi and the Black Vote."
Watkins was with Hartman Turnbow
Hartman Turnbow (March 20, 1905 – August 15, 1988) was a Mississippi farmer, orator, and activist during the Civil Rights Movement. On April 9, 1963, Turnbow was one of the first African Americans to attempt to register to vote in Mississipp ...
and others when Turnbow tried to register to vote at the Holmes County Courthouse. That night there was a firebomb attack on Turnbow's home. Turnbow was later accused by the sheriff of setting fire to his own house, and he, Watkins and others SNCC workers were arrested.[ It was during one of his jail terms that Watkins became noted as a leader and singer of "freedom songs."][ Watkins led freedom songs with Lawrence Guyot. These songs provided people with joy, spirit, and honesty.] It was a way to lift people's spirits and provide a sense of comfort.
Watkins was involved in the voter registration in many ways. After becoming a SNCC field secretary he went to Hattiesburg and set up a three-month voter registration project with a budget of only 50 dollars. Watkins also went on to do movement work in Greenwood, Mississippi
Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta region, approximately 96 miles north of the state capital, Jackson, and 130 miles south of the riverp ...
and other locations, working with Sam Block, Willie Peacock, Annell Ponder, John Ball and others. In addition to voter registration projects, Watkins taught voter education and basic literacy classes. In the early 1960s Watkins attended Highlander Folk School
The Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, is a social justice leadership training school and cultural center in New Market, Tennessee. Founded in 1932 by activist Myles Horton, educator Don West (e ...
in Tennessee, a school which trained grassroots organizers. Later he served as a member of the board. That relationship continues today. He was in Washington D.C. at the time of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...
, but did not participate in the march. Instead, he, Bob Moses Robert Moses (1888–1981) was an American city planner.
Robert Moses may also refer to:
* Bob Moses (activist) (1935–2021), American educator and civil rights activist
* Bob Moses, American football player in the 1962 Cotton Bowl Classic
* Bob M ...
, and Curtis Hayes picketed the Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
. While in Washington, Watkins met and talked with Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
, leader of the Nation of Islam.[
Black people were constantly denied the right to vote. Watkins played an active role in trying to fix that. It was legal for African Americans to vote but they were denied the ability to vote because of their lack of education. The government purposefully set up required questions they knew the majority of black people could not answer. This led to Freedom Summers, set up by COFO (Council of Federal Organizations). The Freedom Summers set up freedom schools and community education centers for black citizens to teach them how to read and write.] He gathered 750 people in the Greenwood area who would provide homes, food, protection, and support for the group of students coming from the north who were a part of the freedom summers.
Watkins strongly believed in the power of local activism and control, which was the major reason for his opposition to 1964's 'Summer Project' also known as 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. ...
. He thought that bringing in outsiders would disrupt the growth of the grassroots programs that were already in place, and that after the volunteers left, it would be harder to get the local movements moving again. Once the project was agreed upon, however, Watkins did his best to make it succeed. He and other SNCC members trained participants at Miami University
Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...
of Ohio. After blocking efforts by Stokely Carmichael
Kwame Ture (; born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael; June 29, 1941November 15, 1998) was a prominent organizer in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. Born in Trinidad, he grew up in the Unite ...
to appoint a new arrival over him, he served as director of the Holmes County efforts. More than 50 volunteers moved to Holmes to canvass voters and to operate the freedom schools. For their safety he insisted they follow a set of strict rules, including no drinking, no dating locals, and no arguments with local segregationists. Perhaps because of these rules, Holmes County was relatively free of incident that summer. The community came to depend on the group from the north during freedom summer. They were educated and spoke well so people listened to them, but when they left everything became scattered and they had to pick up the pieces.
Watkins was one of many people spied upon by 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 ...
, a tax-supported agency ostensibly formed to support the state image. Its staff and informers investigated civil rights workers and created files on them for government use, as well as passing material to local White Citizens Councils for reprisals against activists. Watkins’ name appears in the files 63 times. Some of the reports refer to him as a communist, although he had little idea what that even meant at the time. In 1990, the state government made these papers accessible to public viewing.
Watkins traveled to Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. for the 1964 Democratic Party national convention in support of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), also referred to as the Freedom Democratic Party, was an American political party created in 1964 as a branch of the populist Freedom Democratic organization in the state of Mississippi during the ...
; it attempted to unseat the regular Mississippi Democratic Party (which was white dominated and maintained disenfranchisement of blacks) as the true representatives of state residents. He was present when 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 her testimony to the credentials committee, and later when Hamer argued with Martin Luther King over whether the MFDP should accept the compromise of the two seats at the convention offered by President Lyndon Baines Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
.[ His efforts on behalf of the party led Victoria Gray to announce her candidacy for the U.S. Senate from Mississippi under the MFDP banner.][
]
Recent work and honors
In 1988, Watkins returned to the Democratic Party National Convention, this time as a delegate for Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...
.[ Beginning in 1989 Watkins joined, and now serves as President of Southern Echo, a group dedicated to providing assistance to civil rights and education-reform groups throughout the south.] He is also among the founders of the Mississippi Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, which has worked to educate people about the movement and celebrate its work.l
*In 2011 Watkins was honored by Jackson State University
Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...
with a Fannie Lou Hamer Humanitarian Award.[
*On February 27, 2014, the acting mayor, Charles H. Tillman, and the City of Jackson Council honored Watkins with a resolution in City Hall chambers for his work on commemorating the Fiftieth Anniversary of Freedom Summer.
*According to Watkins the most empowering thing is for people to feel a part of mobilizing and not being isolated, which motivates them to get things done. It very important to have community and unity, because it is empowering to help people overcome fear that is deep down. He states that you should not to allow fear to keep you from doing things. You are expanding the workforce when you feel empowered. People need to accept each other's differences, which will help overcome this massive burden and we can use this to build a massive movement.]
References
External links
"Mississippi, Into the Storm." Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement
''One Person, One Vote'' Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Hollis
1941 births
Living people
People from Jackson, Mississippi
American civil rights activists