Title: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Records
Inclusive Dates: 1962-1971

Creator:

• Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

Call Number: Mss 586; Micro 788; PH 6705

Quantity: 0.4 c.f. (1 archives box), 3 reels of microfilm (35 mm), and 1 filmstrip (35 mm)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) from 1962 to 1971. The collection consists of manuscript and microfilmed documents illustrating the organization of the party, its two challenges and subsequent law suits, its voter registration and community organizing work, and Mississippi politics in general. Included are correspondence and printed mailings, statements, and press releases; legal documents; reports and general papers; the proceedings of the Credentials Committee of the Democratic National Convention; election and registration materials; news clippings; newsletters; materials concerning related organizations; and copies of a masters' thesis and other term papers written about the MFDP by historian Leslie B. McLemore.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00586

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The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) was officially established at a mass meeting in Jackson, Mississippi on April 26, 1964. The roots of the party originated in the widespread dissatisfaction among Mississippi African Americans who were not recognized by the powerful “regular” Democratic Party in the state, and who were not permitted to register or to vote. During the campaign preceding the fall 1963 elections, the discontent coalesced and when an unofficial “freedom ballot” for governor was held, state NAACP chair Aaron Henry received 80,000 votes.

In 1964, MFDP organized a statewide political structure parallel to that of the Mississippi Democratic Party. During the summer, the Freedom Democrats, in conjunction with the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), “registered” over 50,000 African Americans. MFDP candidates Victoria Gray, Fannie Lou Hamer, John Cameron, and James Houston, opposed regular Democrats Senator John Stennis, and Representatives Jamie Whitten, William M. Colmer, and John Bell Williams in the Democratic primary of June 2, 1964, but were defeated.

Following this defeat, and an abortive attempt to place the candidates on the ballot as independents, the MFDP initiated the first of two challenges to the regular Democratic Party. During the weeks preceding the Democratic National Convention in August, precinct meetings and county conventions were held throughout the state and delegates were selected to attend the MFDP state convention held on August 6. At the state convention, 68 delegates and alternates were chosen for the National Convention. In Atlantic City, the MFDP delegates challenged the seating of the white Mississippi delegation. Although there was a certain amount of support among state delegations partial to the MFDP challenge, the credentials sub-committee of the Democratic National Committee rejected the MFDP slate. Subsequently, on December 4, 1964, the MFDP challenged the seating of the entire Mississippi delegation to the House of Representatives, on the grounds that the election in November was illegal and unconstitutional, and the results void. The “Congressional Challenge” also demanded that the three MFDP representatives, Gray, Hamer, and Annie Devine, be seated in the House. This challenge was also defeated, by Congressional vote, on September 17, 1965.

After these two major defeats, party members concentrated their efforts on local and statewide voter registration, demonstrations, civil rights projects, and election campaigns. A massive registration and election campaign held prior to the May 1966 special elections in Sunflower County also failed, as all African Americans and MFDP candidates were defeated. However, the following year Robert Clark was elected as Mississippi's first black representative in nearly a century. The party began to splinter in 1967-1968, and some MFDP members joined with young progressive whites to form the Loyal Democrats of Mississippi. Only in this way were some Mississippi black leaders able to gain the recognition needed to challenge the state's regular Democratic organization. By 1969 and 1970, the MFDP was virtually defunct.

The records, both in paper form and on microfilm, have been arranged in two series: MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY RECORDS; and MISSISSIPPI GENERAL POLITICS.

The MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY RECORDS include files of correspondence to and from party chairman Lawrence Guyot, and with the party's attorney, Joseph L. Rauh Jr., the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and other groups and individuals. There is a folder of organizational papers, with platform statements of MFDP candidates, a few minutes and other documents from the formative stages of the party, and files of general papers containing printed MFDP form letters, reports, news releases, position papers, and copies of the challenges, law suits, and court documents. In addition, there are items received by party headquarters in Jackson or in Washington, D.C., some material on the 1963 “freedom ballot,” and a few papers regarding the Loyal Democrats of Mississippi, 1967-1968. Also present are copies of formal notices of intention to contest election results, and a copy of the partial proceedings of the Credentials Committee of the Democratic National Convention, including Fannie Lou Hamer's statement.

Records of the Mississippi Summer Project and voters registration campaign of 1964 consist of an incomplete run (last names P-S) of applications to work on the project, supporting letters (which are filed immediately behind the application to which they refer), and a “Current Personnel List.” These projects were sponsored jointly with COFO. The Freedom Primers and other manuals were published by MFDP as part of its educational work. The Clippings file contains photocopied news clippings from Mississippi newspapers, and from major national papers, especially the New York Times. Within the folder pertaining to Robert Clark's election to the Mississippi House may be found news clippings, campaign documents, and a typewritten paper by David Emmons analyzing the victory. Following a court order voiding the regular election and setting a special May 1966 election in Sunflower County, the MFDP conducted a massive voter education, registration and awareness campaign. These efforts are documented in the files concerning Sunflower County, by news clippings, press releases, flyers, and other mailings. Also included are some records of the National Committee for Free Elections in Sunflower. Leslie B. McLemore's papers include a copy of his 1965 Master's thesis on the MFDP, a paper entitled “Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, A Case Study of Grass Roots Politics” (1969), and another titled “1967 Sunflower and Mississippi Municipal Elections” (1970).

The second series, MISSISSIPPI GENERAL POLITICS, contains printed reference material about state elections, voter registration statistics, state officers, politics, the Democratic Party, and similar material. The writings by McLemore and others consist mainly of notes and drafts. A file on the Young Democratic Clubs of Mississippi includes a few flyers and a report of activities.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has one of the richest collections of Civil Rights movement records in the nation, which includes more than 100 manuscript collections documenting the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964. More than 25,000 pages from the Freedom Summer manuscripts are available online as the Freedom Summer Digital Collection.

Acquisition Information

Portions loaned for microfilming by Leslie B. McLemore, Jackson, Mississippi, 1979; loaned for copying by Joseph L. Rauh Jr., Washington, D.C., 1979; presented by the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, via Lawrence Guyot, 1967, and via Michael Morgalla, 1975; and transferred from the Social Action Vertical File. Accession Number: M67-226, M67-459, M75-422, M79-510, M79-577

Processing Information

Processed by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, December 1979; additions processed by Susan Bertocchi, January 1982.

	Series: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Records
Mss 586	Subseries: Paper Documents
Box   1 Folder   1	Organizational papers, platform statements, 1964-1966, undated Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   2	Miscellaneous minutes and reports, 1964, undated
Box   1 Folder   3	Correspondence and mailings, 1964-1966, undated
Box   1 Folder   4	Key list mailings, 1966
Box   1 Folder   5	Papers and reports, 1965-1966, undated
Box   1 Folder   6	Press releases, 1964-1966, undated
Box   1 Folder   7	Public statements and speeches, 1964-1965, undated Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   8	The Congressional Challenge, 1964-1965, undated
Box   1 Folder   9	Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention Credentials Committee (partial), 1964 August 22 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   10	Legal briefs and memoranda, 1964-1966 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   11	Formal notices of intention to contest elections, circa 1965 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   12	Miscellaneous legal documents, 1964-1965 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   13	Political primers and handbooks, circa 1965
Box   1 Folder   14	Election and registration materials, 1965-1966, undated
Box   1 Folder   15	Memos, leaflets, flyers, and petitions, 1964-1966, undated
Box   1 Folder   16	Miscellaneous materials regarding Elections and Politics Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   17	Clippings Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   18	Mississippi Freedom Labor Union, 1965
Box   1 Folder   19	Miscellany regarding Other Groups, 1962-1965
PH 6705	Freedom Democratic Party Challenge: filmstrip, 1964
Micro 788	Subseries: Microfilmed Documents	⇧
Reel   1 Segment   1	Correspondence, 1964-1965
	General Papers
Reel   1 Segment   2	1963-1965 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online: Part 1 and Part 2.
Reel   2 Segment   2	1965-1971 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online: Part 1 and Part 2.
Reel   2 Segment   3	Mississippi Summer Project and Voters Registration, 1964
Reel   2 Segment   4	Freedom primers and other manuals, circa 1965, 1967 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
	Clippings
Reel   2 Segment   5	1964-1968 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Reel   3 Segment   5	1968-1970
Reel   3 Segment   6	Clark, Robert, Election to Mississippi House of Representatives, 1967-1968
Reel   3 Segment   7	Flyers of other candidates, 1966-1967
Reel   3 Segment   8	Sunflower County elections, 1965-1967
Reel   3 Segment   9	The Sunflower County Project report, 1964-1965 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Reel   3 Segment   10	McLemore, Leslie B., Master Thesis, 1965, and Other Papers, 1969, 1970
	MFDP News Letters
Reel   3 Segment   11	Nos. 1, 3-6, 8-10; 1965 March 17, April 24, June 5, July 7, 28, September, November 5, December 20
Reel   3 Segment   11	No. 1; , 1967 October 1
Reel   3 Segment   11	Volume 1?, No. 3; 1967 November 27
Reel   3 Segment   11	Volume 2, Nos. 2, 4-6, 8, 9, [misnumbered]; 1967 [undated], December 19; 1968, January 30, [undated], June 22, November 5
	Hinds County FDP News
Reel   3 Segment   12	Volume 1, Nos. 11, 13, 22, 23, 25, 27-29, 32-34, 37-39, 45; 1967 March 23, April 8, June 10, 16, 30, July 14, 21, 28, August 18, 25, September 1, 23, 29, October 6, 27
Reel   3 Segment   12	Series: Mississippi General Politics	⇧
Reel   3 Segment   13	Mississippi voting and voters registration, elections, politics, and reference materials, 1963-1968
Reel   3 Segment   14	General information, State Officers, 1964-1968
Reel   3 Segment   15	Election results, 1966-1969
Reel   3 Segment   16	General information on politics and the Democratic Party - writings of McLemore and others, undated
Reel   3 Segment   17	Young Democratic Clubs of Mississippi, 1965