DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1964-1998 | 1964-07-09 Article: ""Not Afraid in Mississippi""

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Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1964-1998

1964-07-09 Article: ""Not Afraid in Mississippi""

        Not Afraid in Mississippi 
Davenport civil rights worker Carole Gross revealed Wednesday that the Negro widow with whom she is living in Mississippi had previously put up for the night Medgar Evers and James Chaney. 
    Chaney is one of the three missing feared murdered civil rights workers whose car was found burned out in Mississippi two weeks ago. 
   Evers was the NAACP leader who was murdered in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Miss., by a gunman last summer. 
   "But we are not worried about our safety," said the 21-year-old Carole, whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. LaVerne gross, live at 717 Spaulding Blvd.
   "There are so many FBI agents and other federal investigators around here now that it is scaring the white segregationists." 
  Carole is one of a 15 students who are helping to run a summer school for underprivileged Negro children in Harmony Community, near Carthage, Miss.
   Also in her group is a former Davenporter, Anne Lindsay, 22, whose home is now in Evanston, Ill. 
  Carole telephoned the Times-Democrat Wednesday from Jackson, Miss., where she had gone for the day. 
  "We daren't call from Harmony," she said. "the only Negro in the district who has a phone has 10 whites sharing the party line and it would be rather precarious to try and talk openly on that line."
  She said the local Ku Klux Klan burned a cross July 4 near the negro church where she and her volunteer group are conducting open air classes for 50 Negro children. 
"they also scattered tacks on the road leading flat tires. 
  "We were anxious about all this at first but Harmony is so isolated from the whites around we don't worry that they will try to harm us. 
  "But they obviously hate us and they harrass us all they can and insult us if we go into Carthage."
   Carole said the Negor women with whom she is living, has 11 children. 
  "She is desperately poor like all the Negroes around here. The house has no running water, and no toilet. In fact there isn't even an outhouse. But she is a wonderful women and she is one of the leaders of the Negroes in the area. That is why she had put up James Chaney and Medgar Evers." 
  Repair, Lose Schoolhouse 
  Carole said when her group arrived in Harmony they were told they could use a derelict old schoolhouse for their classes if they repaired it.
  "They didn't think we would but the local Negroes were just wonderful and everyone turned out and we fixed it up nicely. 
  "So when the white officials saw what we had done they said it was county property and they turned us out. We tried to on their side and they evicted us last Saturday. 
  "They had watched all the time we were working to patch up that old schoolhouse that hadn't been used for six years. They waited until the moment we finished. "But it doesn't matter. The Negroes we are working with are wonderful people . "So now we have our classes under a tree in the churchyard."
   Carole said one man has donated the land to build a little school. 
   Would Be Condemned 
  "We thought at first we could build it ourselves. That would have only about $1,100 and we might just have raised that I think.
  Then we were warned the county would condemn it as against the building code. So if we want to build it we shall need $5,000 to hire a contractor. "If anyone at home wants to donate toward this they can send the money to the (Student Association for Racial Equality at the State University of Iowa.") 
  Carole said she and her group were harassed by Mississippi state police Wednesday when they tried to get state driving licenses. "They called us white niggers and all kinds of other insults and just looked for every excuse to be nasty. They found some reason not to give licenses to four of the six of us who asked. 

Thursday, July 9, 1964

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Not Afraid in Mississippi Davenport civil rights worker Carole Gross revealed Wednesday that the Negro widow with whom she is living in Mississippi had previously put up for the night Medgar Evers and James Chaney. Chaney is one of the three missing feared murdered civil rights workers whose car was found burned out in Mississippi two weeks ago. Evers was the NAACP leader who was murdered in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Miss., by a gunman last summer. "But we are not worried about our safety," said the 21-year-old Carole, whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. LaVerne gross, live at 717 Spaulding Blvd. "There are so many FBI agents and other federal investigators around here now that it is scaring the white segregationists." Carole is one of a 15 students who are helping to run a summer school for underprivileged Negro children in Harmony Community, near Carthage, Miss. Also in her group is a former Davenporter, Anne Lindsay, 22, whose home is now in Evanston, Ill. Carole telephoned the Times-Democrat Wednesday from Jackson, Miss., where she had gone for the day. "We daren't call from Harmony," she said. "the only Negro in the district who has a phone has 10 whites sharing the party line and it would be rather precarious to try and talk openly on that line." She said the local Ku Klux Klan burned a cross July 4 near the negro church where she and her volunteer group are conducting open air classes for 50 Negro children. "they also scattered tacks on the road leading flat tires. "We were anxious about all this at first but Harmony is so isolated from the whites around we don't worry that they will try to harm us. "But they obviously hate us and they harrass us all they can and insult us if we go into Carthage." Carole said the Negor women with whom she is living, has 11 children. "She is desperately poor like all the Negroes around here. The house has no running water, and no toilet. In fact there isn't even an outhouse. But she is a wonderful women and she is one of the leaders of the Negroes in the area. That is why she had put up James Chaney and Medgar Evers." Repair, Lose Schoolhouse Carole said when her group arrived in Harmony they were told they could use a derelict old schoolhouse for their classes if they repaired it. "They didn't think we would but the local Negroes were just wonderful and everyone turned out and we fixed it up nicely. "So when the white officials saw what we had done they said it was county property and they turned us out. We tried to on their side and they evicted us last Saturday. "They had watched all the time we were working to patch up that old schoolhouse that hadn't been used for six years. They waited until the moment we finished. "But it doesn't matter. The Negroes we are working with are wonderful people . "So now we have our classes under a tree in the churchyard." Carole said one man has donated the land to build a little school. Would Be Condemned "We thought at first we could build it ourselves. That would have only about $1,100 and we might just have raised that I think. Then we were warned the county would condemn it as against the building code. So if we want to build it we shall need $5,000 to hire a contractor. "If anyone at home wants to donate toward this they can send the money to the (Student Association for Racial Equality at the State University of Iowa.") Carole said she and her group were harassed by Mississippi state police Wednesday when they tried to get state driving licenses. "They called us white niggers and all kinds of other insults and just looked for every excuse to be nasty. They found some reason not to give licenses to four of the six of us who asked. Thursday, July 9, 1964