Title: Freedom Information Service Records
Inclusive Dates: 1962-1979

Creator:

• Freedom Information Service

Call Number: Mss 515; Micro 780; Audio 415A

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

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 a Mississippi communications clearinghouse where all forms of useful information were gathered, organized, and transmitted to the poor, rural, black population. Included are materials written and printed by FIS, and items created by allied Mississippi civil rights groups, all of which were distributed by the Service. In the collection are freedom primers; political handbooks concerning county and municipal government; leaflets and flyers on a variety of political, economic, and agricultural subjects; news releases; and a small file of correspondence and printed form letters. There are also copies of the proposal for organizing FIS, and a prospectus for later expansion; with small files regarding the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee. From the 1970s are records created and collected by Jan Hillegas and Ken Lawrence, some of which were produced under the aegis of FIS. These later documents concern women's rights and feminism, the Republic of New Afrika, farm workers and labor, and racism in the military. On microfilm are papers and clippings which pre-date the organization of FIS, but which were deposited for use by FIS by the Council of Federated Organizations. These materials include WATS Reports; clippings, statements, and news releases concerning the disappearance and murder of Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman in 1964; and similar documentation of incidents of brutality and harassment. On tape is “A Visit to Sunflower County, Mississippi,” a recording made by FIS head of news and tape programs, Phil Lapsansky.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00515

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The Freedom Information Service (FIS) was established in July 1965 to help meet the political and educational needs of the poor, rural, black population of Mississippi. FIS was originally conceived as a communications clearinghouse where all forms of useful information could be gathered, compiled, organized, and transmitted in appropriate forms to the people who needed to know. As part of its educational program, FIS had as goals “to promote wide sharing of information, ideas, and experiences” in a curriculum largely determined and created by the students. Workshops, particularly in the areas of political education, constituted the major communications tool of FIS. These stressed voter education and citizenship; international politics; economics, such as agriculture and industry; federal programs and how they could benefit groups and individuals; and Negro history. In addition, FIS maintained a news and tape program, library and other files, and research and writing staff. The Service taped documentaries on the Council of Federated Organizations, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and Mississippi Freedom Labor Union, among others, for news services and networks in the north, FIS also reproduced and distributed literature created by these organizations. The initial costs of FIS were underwritten by the Delta Ministry of the National Council of Churches, which provided an old college campus in Edwards, Mississippi, for the use of the Service. Other sources of income included individual contributions and foundation funds.

FIS was allied with most of the large and small civil rights organizations working in Mississippi during this period. Among them were: Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Medical Committee on Human Rights (MCHR), Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), Mississippi Freedom Labor Union (MFLU), NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., Poor Peoples Conference and Poor Peoples Corporation, Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC), Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

The Freedom Information Service did not dissolve with the waning of the major southern civil rights movements in the late 1960s. The Service continued under the administration of long-time leader Jan Hillegas, with the addition of Ken Lawrence to the staff. During the mid-1970s the base of FIS operations moved to Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, Mississippi, and later to Jackson, and the scope of the organization expanded to encompass women's rights and feminism, black pride and black nationalism, and black political activism. Hillegas became active in the feminist movement, and publications produced by her were so oriented, while Lawrence was involved with the Provisional Government of Republic of New Afrika. Although these activities reflect the interests of Hillegas and Lawrence, some material was issued under the aegis of the Freedom Information Service as late as 1978.

The collection has been divided into three portions, “early” and “later” documents, and microfilmed papers and clippings mostly pre-dating the organization of FIS. The EARLY DOCUMENTS date from the mid-1960s, and reflect the civil rights orientation of FIS at that time. Most of the material consists of printed leaflets, booklets, handbooks, and similar items written and printed by FIS for wide-scale dissemination. Included are freedom primers, which discuss the freedom vote, the right to vote, and the convention and the Congressional challenge of the Freedom Democratic Party. Political handbooks concern county and municipal government, including those specifically written for people in Carroll, Madison, and Jackson counties. A file of leaflets and flyers contains mass-produced, simply-written papers on a variety of political, economic, and agricultural subjects. Other papers include a file of correspondence and printed form letters, sent by FIS staff to supporters. Some of the correspondence was written by Hillegas, then FIS treasurer, and others by Phil Lapsansky, who headed the FIS news and tape program. Also present are news releases and reports, the initial proposal for the establishment of FIS in 1965, a prospectus for expansion the following year, and voting and election statistics for 1966. There are also small files of papers created by the Freedom Democratic Party and SNCC. Also in this series is the tape made in August 1966 by Phil Lapsansky for FIS, entitled “A Visit to Sunflower County, Mississippi,” which was the home of Senator James O. Eastland.

LATER PAPERS of FIS date from the 1970s, and reflect the interests and work of Hillegas and Lawrence. Included are copies of Lawrence's paper on racism in the military and selective service, which was widely reproduced and distributed; other material and flyers written by both Lawrence and Hillegas including two publications from the American Friends Service Committee; and copies of a newsletter and flyers produced in 1974 by the United Farmworkers Support Group in Jackson. Two political discussion booklets apparently created by FIS include articles on American labor, the women's movement, Malcolm X, Zimbabwe liberation, the Blackstone Rangers, and memoirs of a Bolshevik (0. Piatnitsky). Papers of the Republic of New Afrika consist of press releases regarding the activities of the Republic, an organization which sought to turn Mississippi and four other southern states into an independent black nation, and the efforts of state and federal governments against eleven imprisoned Republic members. Several of the press releases bear Ken Lawrence's name as contact person. “Women's Monthly,” was produced in Jackson, Mississippi by the Women's Service Group; Jan Hillegas was a member and contributor to the newsletter. Several issues of the newsletter are in the collection.

The MICROFILMED RECORDS consist of papers and clippings which appear to have been originally assembled by COFO staff members and other groups and later deposited with FIS for use at its center. About half of this series is made up of Wide Area Telephone Service reports (WATS Reports), which were telephoned to the Atlanta office of SNCC by civil rights workers throughout the South, and which provide daily and sometimes even hourly pictures of events. Although the WATS reports extend from January 1964 to August 1965, there are several gaps in the sequence at both beginning and end. A section entitled “Incidents” includes clippings, statements, and news releases concerning, and arranged as, affidavits, beatings, bombings, and similar occurrences. Both the file entitled Clippings, and the one on Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman primarily concern the murder of three civil rights workers, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman, in Philadelphia, Mississippi, in 1964. The original telephone notes were taken from phone calls made and received at the time of the murders. A small group of miscellaneous reports and news releases completes the series. Although the microfilmed material has been arranged chronologically, it is somewhat difficult to use, as many of the smaller items were mounted on both printed and blank sides of COFO newsreleases, application forms, and other “scrap” paper. Consequently, while these backing sheets may be of interest to the researcher, their appearance in the midst of the actual FIS papers is confusing.

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

Presented and loaned for microfilming by the Freedom Information Service, via Jan Hillegas, Edwards, Mississippi, 1966, 1967, 1973; by Phil Lapsansky, Edwards, Mississippi, 1966; and by Jan Hillegas and Ken Lawrence, Jackson, Mississippi, 1979. Accession Number: M66-6, M66-6.1, M66-6-1, M66-330, M66-445, M67-22, M67-54, M67-165, M73-29, M79-425

Processing Information

Processed by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt and Susan Bertocchi, January 1982.

Mss 515	Series: Early Documents
Box   1 Folder   1	Clippings, 1964 August Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   2	Correspondence and Printed Form Letters, 1965-1968
Box   1 Folder   3	Freedom Primers
Box   1 Folder   4	Freedom Schools, 1964
Box   1 Folder   5	Leaflets and Flyers, 1964-1967, undated
Box   1 Folder   6	Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, 1966-1967
Box   1 Folder   7	News Releases and Reports, 1965
Box   1 Folder   8	Political Handbooks, 1966-1967, undated
Box   1 Folder   9	Proposal and Prospectus for FIS, 1965-1966
Box   1 Folder   10	Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, 1964-1966 Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.
Box   1 Folder   11	Voting and Election Statistics, 1966-1967, undated
Audio 415A	“A Visit to Sunflower County, Mississippi,” 1966 August
Mss 515	Series: Later Papers	⇧
Box   1 Folder   12	United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO, 1974
Box   1 Folder   13	Writings of Jan Hillegas and Ken Lawrence, 1971, 1978-1979
Box   1 Folder   14	Political Discussion Booklets, 1974, 1976
Box   1 Folder   15	Republic of New Afrika, 1971-1979
Box   1 Folder   16	“Women's Monthly,” 1976 November-1977 October
Box   1 Folder   17	Miscellany
Micro 780	Series: Microfilmed Records	⇧
Reel   1	WATS Reports, 1964 January-1965 August
	Incidents
Reel   1	Affidavits, A-Z
Reel   1	Beatings, 1962-1964, undated
Reel   2	Beatings, 1962-1964, undated (continued)
Reel   2	Bombings, 1964 April-November
Reel   2	Damage, 1964 April-June
Reel   2	Run Out of Country, 1964 April
Reel   2	Threats, 1964 January-July
Reel   2	Traffic Arrests, 1962-1964
Reel   2	Clippings, 1963-1965, undated
	Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman
Reel   2	General Statements and Information, 1964-1965
Reel   2	Original Telephone Notes
Reel   3	Original Telephone Notes (continued)
Reel   3	Miscellaneous Reports and News Releases, 1962-1965, undated Alternate Format: All or part has been digitized and is available online.