Thelwell to RPW Letter 5/14/64 Searchable Text

Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee

6 RAYMOND STREET, N.W.                            WASHINGTON OFFICE:
ATLANTA 14, GEORGIA                                    3418 11th Street, N.W.
         688-0331                                                     Washington, D.C. 20010
                                                                                              387-7445

                                                                                  May 14, 1964

Mr. William Penn Warren
2495 Redding Road
Fairfield, Connecticut

     This is a request for your help in a project which we
feel to be extremely important.  As you probably know, the 
Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) -- a coalition of
civil rights groups working in Mississippi -- is planning
a massive summer project for Mississippi.  The program is
described in the enclosed brochure.  You will see that it
calls for over a thousand workers in Freedom Schools, Negro 
voter registration, Community improvement centers and other
projects in Mississippi.

     The record of that state for violence against civil
rights workers must be well known to you, and we are extremely
concerned about the physical safety of the volunteers during
the Summer.  In order to focus national and federal attention
on Mississippi this summer, and, if possible, to secure the 
presence of a peace keeping force that will minimize the threat
of violence and chaos, we are sponsoring hearings here in
Washington on conditions in Mississippi.

     A group of Mississippians of both races will testify
before a panel of "jurors" to the conditions in Mississippi
which make it necessary for federal protection of the rights
and lives of our workers this summer.  This panel of jurors
will be comprised of a number of prominent persons.  They will
listen to the evidence and, we hope, issue a statement in
support federal action to head off any bloody incidents
in Mississippi.

     National civil rights leaders have been asked to join
with COFO workers to seek an audience with President Johnson

                            "One Man, One Vote"

[Page 2:]

Mr. William Penn Warren                              Page 2

on June 10th.  The evidence presented at the June 9th hearing
will be made available to him, and we will request that he
use the full powers of his office to insure a peaceful summer
for Negro and white Mississippians.

     Your presence on the panel will lend weight and prestige
to our insistence that morality and order must prevail in
Mississippi this Summer, and might be instrumental in averting
any tragic incidents that will bring more shame to the South-
land and our Nation.  Please consider this request seriously.
Stokely Carmichael has asked me to add his personal request
that you appear.

     I shall be happy to answer any questions that you may have,
and I hope to hear from you at an early date, as time is short.

     Wth every good wish,

                                                    Yours for Freedom,    

                                                     [Signed]

                                                     Mike Thelwell
                                                     Director
                                                     SNCC Washington Office

P.S. I have just learned that Mr. C. Van Woodward, the
        historian, has consented to appear and I pass it on for
        your information.

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[First enclosure, article with image and caption; original text is in three columns:]    

REPRINTED FROM:

     Newsweek February 24, 1964

MISSISSIPPI:

Allen's Army      

    The second summer of the Negro revolt was still months off.  But ever since the first, Allen Thompson, the graying, satin-smooth mayor of unreconstructed Jackson, Miss., has been acting as though Armageddon were just around the corner.

     Girding for a new wave of civil-rights demonstrations this summer, Thompson is massing an impressive--and expensive--deterrent force of men and military hardware.  To defend the capital city of 144,422, he is building up his young, tough, riot-trained police force from 390 to 450, plus two horses and six dogs.  The force is "twice as big as any city our size," Thompson boasted last week--and it will be backed by a reserve pool of deputies, state troopers, civilian city employes, and even neighborhood citizen patrols.

     With a hefty $2.2 million budget to spend, the department recently bought 200 new shotguns, stockpiled tear gas, and issued gas masks to every man.  Its motor fleet includes three canvas-canopied troop lorries, two half-ton searchlight trucks, and three giant trailer trucks to haul demonstration POW's off to two big detention compounds.  "I think we can take care of 25,000," the mayor said.

     Weepers:  But the pride of Allen's Army is Thompson's Tank--the already popular nickname for a 13,000-pound armored battlewagon built to the mayor's specifications at rough $1 a pound.  The twelve-man tank, abristle with shotguns, tear-gas guns, and a sub-machine gun, flopped on its first mission--putting down a demonstration at all-Negro Jackson State College two weeks ago.  As it rolled up, a tear-gas shell went off inside, and all twelve men stumbled out, crying.  Nevertheless, Thompson says reverently: "It's a wonderful thing."

     Would a collision come? Thompson thought so--and so did the young war-hawks of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, already mapping a massive summer campaign in Mississippi.  SNCC was dispatching questionaires last week to prospective recruits for its own nonviolent army of 500 to 1,000--mostly college students--to staff "freedom schools," community centers, and voter-registration drives.  "The summer of 1964, SNCC chairman John Lewis said, "could really be the year for Mississippi.  Before the Negro people get the right to vote, there will have to be a massive confrontation, and it probably will come this summer...  We are going to Mississippi full force."

     And when they come, Thompson feels he has the means to contain them.  "There will be no unlawful marching and peaceful picketing," he vowed.  "We are not going to let them come into the downtown area."

     The mayor insists his army is only a second-strike force designed to preserve law and order.  "We have to wait," he told NEWSWEEK'S Karl Fleming, "until they start trouble."  But Thompson is certain trouble will come.  "This is it," he said.  They are not bluffing and we are not bluffing.  We're going to be ready for them...  They won't have a chance."

[Photo caption: "Thompson, troops--and armor"]

                                                            Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

                                                         8 1/2 Ramond Street, N. W., Atlanta 14, Georgia                    Labor Donated      

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[Second enclosure, article; orginal text is in three columns:]      

                                           REPRINTED FROM:

                                                          The Atlanta Journal
                                                                       AND                                                     
                                                   THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION      

                                                        SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 1964    

Governor Seeks Power for Patrol

by KENNETH TOLER
Jackson Bureau, Memphis
Commercial Appeal
Special to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

     JACKSON, Miss., March 7.  Full police powers for state highway patrolmen to give him a "highly mobile, professional force" to deal with anticipated racial conflicts has been asked of the legislature by Gov. Paul B. Johnson.  

     Patrolmen are under the jurisdiction of the governor but are restricted to enforcement of traffic laws.

     Gov. Johnson did not disclose any of the anticipated disorders but did tell the legislators in joint session this week that "the situation we face is loaded with the most powerful emotions, feelings run deep and blood runs hot." 

"THINKING CLEARLY is not easy amid the pressures which we all will have to endure in the months ahead," he said.

     Mississippi officials anticipate mass invasions of upwards to 1,000 biracial outsiders within the next few months to protest segregation and laws they contend discriminate against the rights of Negroes to vote.

     With the racial "tag" attached, the legislative reaction at the moment is favorable.  however, leaders and many members want to the governor to "spell out" a bit more in detail his plans to make certain they do not include raids in areas where liquor is openly sold without local law interference.

     In the past, proposals for state level law enforcement has met with defeat in the legislature.  Major opposition has come from the powerful sheriffs association because of those officials' exclusive law enforcement authority in their particular bailiwicks.

     GOV. JOHNSON assured the legislators that if given the state level authority he will "use it carefully, in the interest of law and order, public safety, constitutional government and the integrity of our state's sovereignty."

     "I alone will stand accountable," he added.

     The governor told the lawmakers that "we must decide now that law and order will be maintained at all times and under all circumstances, by disciplined, uniformed duly-authorized law enforcement officials...and no one else."

     Gov. Johnson also urged the legislature --which enters its tenth no-limit biennial session Monday--to authorize cities and counties to send their "overflow prisoners to a detention center at the state penitentiary at Parchman in the delta."

                                                            Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

                                                                 8 1/2 Raymond Street, N. W. 

Labor Donated                                             Atlanta 14, Georgia

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[Third enclosure, brochure with three images; original is in several columns across the front and back of the item]

MISSISSIPPI SUMMER PROJECT

DEVELOPMENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI PROJECT

     Although the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee has active projects in thirteen Southern states, it has achieved its most dynamic success in the state of Mississippi.  A state where individual political life is non-existant, where the economic condition of a vast majority of the population is appalling, the home of white supremacy, Mississippi has become the main target of SNCC's staff and resources.

     In August, 1961, SNCC went into Mississippi under the leadership of Project Director Robert Moses.  Overcoming violence and hardship, SNCC workers have been able to expand their activity into all five of Mississippi's congressional districts.  By fall, 1963, SNCC had joined with CORE, SCLC, the NAACP and many voting and civic groups in forming a statewide organization, the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), and through COFO conducted a Freedom Vote campaign in which 80,000 disenfranchised Negroes cast ballots for Aaron Henry for Governor.

     Preparation for real democracy calls for additional programs in the state.  Literacy projects have been instituted, and food and clothing drives.  But much more comprehensive programs are needed to combat the terrible cultural and economic deprivation of Negro communities in Mississippi.

     This summer, SNCC, in cooperation with COFO, is launching a massive Peace Corps-type operation in Mississippi.  Students, teachers, technicians, nurses, artists and legal advisors will be recruited to come to Mississippi to staff a wide range of programs that include voter registration, freedom schools, community centers and special projects.

VOTER REGISTRATION

     The struggle for freedom in Mississippi can only be won by a combination of action within the state and a heightened awareness throughout the country of the need for massive federal intervention to ensuret he voting rights of Negroes.  This summer's program will work toward both objectives.

     Voter registration owrkers will operate in every rural county and important urban area in the state.  These workers will be involved in a summer-long drive to mobilize the Negro community of Mississippi and assist in developing local leadership and organization.

     Forty thousand dollars must be raised for a Freedom Registration campaign.  The registration campaign which was launched in February will be implemented by summer workers.  Freedom Registrars will be established in every precinct, with registration books closely resembling the official books of the state.  The Freedom Registration books will serve as a basis for challenging the official books and the validity of "official" federal elections this fal.

     Finally, voter registration workers will assist in the summer campaigns of Freedom Candidates who will be running for congressional office.

FREEDOM SCHOOLS

     An integral part of SNCC's voter registration work is the development of leadership for politically emerging communities.  Freedom Schools will begin to supply the political education which the existing system does not provide for Negroes in Mississippi.

     The summer project will establish ten daytime Freedom Schools and three resident schools.  The daytime schools will be attended by 10th, 11th, and 12th grade pupils; the schools will operate five days a week in the students' home towns.  Instruction will be highly individualized--each school will have about fifteen teachers and fifty students.  The program will include remedial work in reading, math and basic grammar, as well as seminars in political science, the humanities, journalism and creative writing.  Whrever possible, studies will be related to problems in the students' own society.

     The three resident schools will be attended by more advance students from throughout the state.  The program will be essentially the same as that of the day schools, with emphasis on political studies.

     The students who attend the schools will provide Mississippi with a nucleus of leadership committed to critical thought and social action.

COMMUNITY CENTERS

     In addition to the Freedom Schools, Community Centers will provide services normally denied the Negro community in Mississippi.  Staffed by experienced social workers, nurses, librarians and teachers in the arts and crafts, the centers will provide educational and cultural programs for the community.  Instruction will be given in pre-natal and infant care, and general hygiene; programs will provide adult literacy and vocational training.  The thirty thousand books now in SNCC's Greenwood office library will be distributed to these centers, and others will be obtained.  The centers will serve as places of political education and organization, and will provide a structure to channel a wide range of programs into the Negro community in the future.

RESEARCH PROJECT

     The program of voter registration and political organization will attempt to change the fundamental structure of political and economic activity in Mississippi.  In order to accurately picture this structure, extensive research must be done into Mississippi's suppressive political and economic life.  Skilled personnel are needed to carry out this program both from within and outside the state.

WHITE COMMUNITY PROJECT

     The effort to organize and educate Mississippi whites in the direction of democracy and decency can no longer be delayed.  About thirty students, Southern whites who have recently joined the civil rights movement, will begin pilot projects in white communities.  An attempt will be made to organize poor white areas to make steps toward eliminating bigotry, poverty and ignorance.

LAW STUDENT PROEJCT

     A large number of law students will come to Mississippi to launch a massive legal offensive against the official tyranny of the state.  The time has come to challenge every Mississippi law which deprives Negroes of their rights, and to bring suit against every state and local official who commits crimes in the name of the state.

Trained Personnel Are Needed

           For applications write:

    MISSISSIPPI SUMMER PROJECT
      1017 Lynch Street -- Room 10
           Jackson, Mississippi
 (applications must be received by mid-April)

PROGRESS IN MISSISSIPPI DEPENDS ON YOU

     The Mississippi Summer Project needs money now to establish and support the activities described in this pamphlet.  We are asking the people of America--individuals as well as institutions--to contribute now to assist SNCC in its commitment to the struggle for justice in the state of Mississippi.

     A contribution in any amount will be of help.  For example: 

$5 will supply school materials for one day-student for the entire summer.

$25 will pay the utility bills for one Freedom School for the summer.

$50 will buy office materials for one voter registration field office.

$100 will buy materials for a home nursing and baby care class for one Community Center.

$125 will buy one tape recorder for a Freedom School.

$400 will provide scholarship money for one Southern Negro college student, enabling him to return to school after working in Mississippi for the summer.

$2000 will rent and remodel a building for one Community Center.

$3000 will buy one used bus for transporting vote workers and registrants.

Send your contribution to:

MISSISSIPPI SUMMER PROJECT

      Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

              8 1/2 Raymond Street, N. W. 

                    Atlanta 14, Georgia

[Image caption: "All photographs were taken during Freedom Day at Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on January 22, 1964.  Above photo by Norris McNamara; other photos by Danny Lyon."]

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[Envelope: ]

THE STUDENT NONVIOLENT      [Postmark: WASHINGTON, D.C. 4A  AM 15 MAY 1964]  [Postage: 10 cents]
COORDINATING COMMITTEE       [Manuscript note: "AIR MAIL"]
   3418 Eleventh Street, N.W.
    Washington, D.C., 20010

                                                            Mr. William Penn Warren
                                                            2495 Redding Road
                                                            Fairfield, Connecticut

[Manuscript notes, apparently in Warren's hand, appear on the front and back of the envelope.]