Freedom Summer

Called “Freedom Riders” – the first group of Freedom Summer volunteers arrived in Mississippi to address civil injustice after having completed their orientation.

Three of those “Freedom Riders” – Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney – investigated a church-bombing near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Late that night, they were arrested for a traffic violation and held for several hours.

They were released at 10:30 p.m. – but never seen alive thereafter.

Mississippi governor Paul Johnson dismissed the notion that any foul play was involved. Instead, he accused the missing men of being part of a rising Communist movement and suggested:

”Maybe they went to Cuba.”

The governor – a known critic of the civil rights movement – once told a journalist from Time magazine (August 16, 1963) that the NAACP stood for “niggers, alligators, apes, coons, and possums.”

In addition to being the official Eagles Outsider for BlameMyFather.com, Barry Bowe is also the author of:

• Born to Be Wild
• 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant
• 12 Best Eagles QBs
• Birth of the Birds
• Soon-to-be-published sexy, police procedural Caribbean Queen
• Soon-to-be-published novel Stosh Wadzinski
• Soon-to-be-published novel Polish Widow