CHAPTER 1
1. Ernest Withers, interview on robertfranklin.org.
CHAPTER 2
1. Ernest C. Withers, Pictures Tell the Story (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2000), p. 82.
CHAPTER 3
1. Ernest Withers, interview by Marshand Boone, n.d., http://knightpoliticalreporting.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ernest-Withers-oral-history.pdf.
2. Ernest Withers, interview by Pete Daniel and Charlie McGovern, August 11, 1992, Smithsonian Rock ’n’ Soul Collection, Washington, D.C.
3. Ernest Withers, interview in documentary film Freedom’s Call, dir. Richard Breyer (2007).
4. J. B. Martin to R. R. Church, Jr., March 25, 1941, Robert Church Family Papers, University of Memphis Special Collections.
CHAPTER 4
1. Roger Biles, Memphis in the Great Depression (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1986), p. 45.
2. Ernest C. Withers, Pictures Tell the Story (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2000), p. 42.
3. Ernest Withers, in documentary film Beale Street, dir. Alexis Krasilovsky (1982).
4. Pedro Lewis, interview by author.
5. Lawrence to SAC Memphis, LHM, February 7, 1961.
CHAPTER 5
1. Nat D. Williams, “Dark Shadows,” Tri-State Defender, June 5, 1954, p. 5.
1. Ernest Withers, interview by Pete Daniel and Charlie McGovern, August 11, 1992, Smithsonian Rock ’n’ Soul Collection, Washington, D.C.
2. Calvin Newborn, interview by author.
3. Notice of the Crayton-Newborn guitar battle first appeared in the June 4, 1954, issue of the Memphis World. The Newborn ensemble with Crayton appeared in action at the local veterans’ hospital, Memphis World, June 11. The June 25 World publicized the weekly Barn Dance at the Flamingo, with no mention of Crayton.
4. The Miller version of events was handed down to Cliff Miller’s son Adrian, who shared it with me in an interview I recorded in June 2014. Newborn told me about his side of getting Elvis to the Flamingo in 2005.
5. Lewie and Morris Steinberg, interview by David Less, December 5, 1999, Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives.
6. “Flamingo Room’s New ‘Barn Dance Nite’ Is Big Hit” (photo caption), Memphis World, June 25, 1954, p. 5.
CHAPTER 7
1. Theodore Coleman, “Latest Atrocity in Mississippi Arouses Nation.” Pittsburgh Courier, September 8, 1955, p. 1.
2. Simeon Booker, Shocking the Conscience: A Reporter’s Account of the Civil Rights Movement (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2013), p. 74.
3. Wallace Terry, ed., Missing Pages, Black Journalists of Modern America: An Oral History (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2007), p. 139.
4. “L. Alex Wilson, Defender Editor in Chief, Dies,” Daily Defender, October 12, 1960, p. 1.
5. Dorothy Gilliam, quoted in documentary film Freedom’s Call, dir. Richard Breyer (2007).
6. Alex Wilson, “Defender Reporter Beaten by Mob Tells His Story,” Daily Defender, September 25, 1957, p. 22.
7. Booker, Shocking the Conscience, p. 11.
8. Ibid., pp. 19, 55.
9. Clark Porteous, “Newly Subpoenaed Witnesses Heard for Two Hours,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, September 21, 1955, p. 1.
10. Booker, Shocking the Conscience, p. 74.
11. Clark Porteous, “Mrs. Bryant on Stand,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, September 22, 1955, p. 1.
12. Clark Porteous, “Till’s Mother Tells of Viewing Body,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, September 22, 1955, p. 2.
13. L. Alex Wilson, “Reveals Two Key Witnesses Jailed,” Tri-State Defender, October 1, 1955, p. 1.
14. “Jailed To Bar Them From Trial,” Tri-State Defender, October 1, 1955, p. 2.
15. L. Alex Wilson, “Tells Inside Story of Trial,” Tri-State Defender, October 1, 1955, p. 2 and photograph on front page.
16. Ernest Withers, interview by Marshand Boone, n.d., http://knightpoliticalreporting.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ernest-Withers-oral-history.pdf.
17. Ernest Withers, interview by Pete Daniel and Charlie McGovern, August 11, 1992, Smithsonian Rock ’n’ Soul Collection, Washington, D.C.
18. Ernest C. Withers, Pictures Tell the Story (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2000), p. 17.
CHAPTER 8
1. “Rev. M.L. King, Jr. Asks Changes in Treatment on Ala. Buses,” Memphis World, December 13, 1955, p. 1.
2. Melvin Greer, “Elvis Presley Visits Fairgrounds on Tuesday,” Memphis World, June 23, 1956, p. 3.
3. Louis Cantor, a WDIA deejay who had attended Humes High School with Elvis, asked the singer to come perform at the revue. Elvis could not perform due to contract issues, but agreed to appear onstage. Louis Cantor, Wheelin’ on Beale (Seattle: Pharos Books, 1992), pp. 192–96.
4. “B.B. King Hears How Presley Copied His Style,” Tri-State Defender, February 2, 1957, p. 12.
5. B.B. King, Blues All Around Me (New York: Avon Books, 1996), p. 186.
6. This recollection is in the highly informative appendix to Ernest Withers and Daniel Wolff, The Memphis Blues Again: Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs (New York: Viking Studio, 2001), p. 163.
7. Thomas and Williams quotes are from Cantor, Wheelin’ on Beale, p. 194.
8. Nat D. Williams, “Down on Beale: ‘Pied Piper’ Presley,” Pittsburgh Courier, December 22, 1956, p. 14.
9. King, Blues All Around Me, p. 186.
CHAPTER 9
1. L. Alex Wilson, “Defender Writer Tells of Ride with History,” Chicago Defender, December 24, 1956, p. 1.
2. L. Alex Wilson, “In Montgomery: An Exciting Day for Thousands,” Tri-State Defender, December 29, 1956, p. 1.
3. Ernest Withers, interview at robertfranklin.org. For a more thorough version of the Montgomery story, see Ernest Withers, interview by Pete Daniel and Charlie McGovern, August 11, 1992, Smithsonian Rock ’n’ Soul Collection, Washington D.C.
4. L. Alex Wilson, “Defender Writer Tells of Ride With History,” Chicago Defender, December 24, 1956, p. 8.
5. L. Alex Wilson, “Riders Tell Reaction to New Pattern,” Tri-State Defender, December 29, 1956, p. 2.
6. “Gets a Report” (photo caption), ibid.
7. The profile was that of Methodist minister Glenn Smiley, according to the photo caption, ibid., p. 1.
8. Imogene Wilson, Behind the Veil Oral History Collection, Duke University, Durham, N.C.
CHAPTER 10
1. “Throng to Hear Rev. King April 19,” Memphis World, April 29, 1957, p. 1.
2. “Noted Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Urges Realistic Look at Race Relations Progress,” Memphis World, April 24, 1957, p. 4.
3. L. Alex Wilson, “For the Record: No Turning Back Now,” Tri-State Defender, September 21, 1957, p. 5.
4. United Press, “Ike to Use ‘Whatever Force Necessary’,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, September 23, 1957, p. 2.
5. Alex Wilson, “Defender Reporter Beaten by Mob Tells His Story,” Chicago Defender, September 25, 1957, p. 22.
6. Relman Morin, “After Violence Negroes Go,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, September 23, 1957, p. 2.
7. Wilson, “Defender Reporter Beaten by Mob,” pp. 22, 25.
8. William Theis, “Describes Mob Attack on Defender Reporter,” Chicago Defender, October 5, 1957, p. 12.
9. Morin, “After Violence Negroes Go,” p. 2. Reportedly, this version of events was read to Eisenhower over the phone as he deliberated his course of action.
10. “Dr. T.R.M. Howard” (photo caption), Memphis World, October 4, 1955, p. 1.
11. Francis Finley and William H. Lawrence, “Moses J. Newsom,” file # 44-341, FBI Interview Report, September 24, 1957.
12. Robert C. Hickam and Milford C. Runnels, “Clarence Malcom Whitehead,” file # 44-341, FBI Interview Report, September 30, 1957.
13. Quoted in Memphis Press-Scimitar, September 25, 1957, p. 4.
14. Nat D. Williams, “Down on Beale: Witch Hunt on Beale,” Pittsburgh Courier, November 9, 1957, p. 24.
CHAPTER 11
1. Elton H. Weaver III, Mark the Perfect Man: The Rise of Bishop C.H. Mason and the Church of God in Christ, Ph.D. diss, University of Memphis, 2007, p. 125.
2. Ibid., p. 128.
3. C. H. Mason to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, December 14, 1939, FBI file number 25-286284-6.
4. Richard T. Allen, “Investigation Is Under Way in Fire at Negro Church,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, February 15, 1958, p. 1.
5. “Church of God in Christ Hit by Mystery Fire,” Memphis World, February 19, 1958, p. 1.
6. “Glenview Plan Directors Say Difficulty Lingers,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, February 19, 1958, p. 26.
7. “Commissioner Loeb’s Grave Blunder” (editorial), Tri-State Defender, March 15, 1958, p. 1.
8. Ibid.
9. “Police Praised for Action in Tension Area,” Tri-State Defender, March 8, 1958, p. 1.
10. “Rev. Charles H. Mason Harassed by Another Fire,” Memphis World, March 8, 1958, p. 1; “Fire Breaks Out in Negro’s Home on White Street,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, March 4, 1958, p. 1.
11. “Rev. C. H. Mason Denies ‘Prostitution Charge,’” Memphis World, October 18, 1958, p. 8; “Woman Took Over Domestic Chores,” Tri-State Defender, October 18, 1958, p. 1.
12. Warner Dickerson, interview by author, February 11, 2015.
13. “Editor Wilson Back Home—To Stay,” Tri-State Defender, October 22, 1960, p. 1.
CHAPTER 12
1. Special Agent (SA) William H. Lawrence to Special Agent in Charge (SAC), “Ernest Columbus Withers PCI,” February 7, 1961.
2. “Cold War in Fayette County,” Ebony, September 1960, p. 29.
3. Trezzvant W. Anderson, “The Biggest Question: How Will Demo. Att’y-Gen’l Handle Rights?” Pittsburgh Courier, January 28, 1961, p. 12.
4. Joseph A. Canale, FBI report, November 19, 1958, Department of Justice file no. 72-72-34.
5. John F. Kennedy news conference, January 25, 1961, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1961.
6. Lawrence to SAC Memphis, “Freebus RM,” July 21, 1961.
7. Lawrence to SAC (137-907), “Ernest C. Withers,” July 28, 1961.
8. Lawrence to SAC, “Ernest Columbus Withers PCI,” February 7, 1961.
9. Lawrence to SAC, “Southern Conference Educational Fund,” April 18, 1961.
10. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “James Rufus Foreman aka James Forman, Racial Matters,” September 6, 1961.
11. Lawrence to SAC Memphis, December 8, 1961.
12. Lawrence to SAC Memphis, November 6, 1961.
CHAPTER 13
1. Nathaniel Lewis, interviews by the author in early 2011.
2. William Fleetwood to Lord Treasurer Cecil, 1585, excerpted in Gamini Salgado, The Elizabethan Underworld (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992), p. 33.
3. “Hob-Nobbing in Memphis, by Ann and Mable,” Pittsburgh Courier, December 18, 1954, p. 16.
4. J. Edgar Hoover, “Racial Tension and Civil Rights,” March 9, 1956, p. 13.
5. SAC Memphis to SAC Little Rock “. . . NOI,” November 13, 1963.
6. Lawrence to SAC, “Ernest Columbus Withers CS (R),” June 10, 1964.
7. Lawrence to SAC, “Nation of Islam,” January 28, 1964.
8. Lawrence to SAC, “Ernest C. Withers Confidential Source (Racial),” February 14, 1964.
CHAPTER 14
1. Ernest Withers, interview in documentary film Freedom’s Call, dir. Richard Breyer (2007).
2. Dorothy Gilliam, interview ibid.
3. Dorothy Gilliam, “Mississippi Negroes happily Stunned by Meredith,” Washington Post, October 7, 1962, p. 1.
4. Ibid.
5. Ernest C. Withers, Sr., “Defender Photographer Held in Jail 4 Hours After Beating by Police,” Tri-State Defender, June 22, 1963, p. 1.
6. Elaine Woo, “John Doar Dies at 92; Key Justice Department Civil Rights Lawyer,” Los Angeles Times, November 12, 2014.
7. John Salter (aka Hunter Gray) to author, November 15, 2016.
8. Ernest C. Withers, Sr., “Defender Photographer Held in Jail 4 Hours After Beating by Police,” Tri-State Defender, June 22, 1963, p. 4.
9. Ibid.
10. Ernest Columbus Withers, Sr., signed statement from FBI interview, June 24, 1963.
11. John Salter to author, November 15, 2016.
12. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “CP, USA—Negro Question, Communist Influence in Racial Matters, IS–C” (LHM), November 15, 1963.
13. John Salter, identified in “the Southern Conference Educational Fund, Inc.: Its Planned Activities and Financial Requirements, 1964,” attached to Lawrence to SAC, “Ernest Withers CS (R),” May 14, 1964.
1. Helen Fuller, “Southern Students Take Over: The Creation of the Beloved Community,” New Republic, May 2, 1960, clipping in Ernest Withers Collection, Howard University, Spingarn Library.
2. Lawrence to SAC Memphis, “Ernest C. Withers, PCI,” July 17, 1962.
3. Lawrence to SAC, “Ernest Columbus Withers CS (RAC),” July 12, 1963.
4. “Hinds Is Endorsed and Others,” Tri-State Defender, October 26, 1963, p. 1.
5. Lawrence to SAC Memphis, April 8, 1964.
6. Lawrence to SAC, “West Tennessee Voters Project (WTVP), RM,” August 24, 1965, p. 4.
7. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “West Tennessee Voters’ Project (WTVP) Racial Matters” [marked Personal Attention: Assistant Director William Sullivan], September 3, 1965.
8. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “West Tennessee Voters’ Project (WTVP)” (LHM), September 10, 1965, p. 38.
9. Ibid., p. 34.
10. Lawrence to SAC, “West Tennessee Voters’ Project (WTVP) Racial Matters,” October 18, 1965.
11. SAC Memphis to SAC Milwaukee, February 7, 1966.
12. Lawrence to SAC, “West Tennessee Voters’ Project (WTVP) Racial Matters,” October 26, 1965.
13. Lawrence to SAC, “West Tennessee Voters’ Project (WTVP) Racial Matters,” November 19, 1965.
14. Lawrence to SAC Memphis, March 17, 1966.
15. Lawrence to SAC, “International Days of Protest SM-C,” October 22, 1965.
16. Lawrence to SAC, “Ernest C. Withers, CS,” April 13, 1966.
CHAPTER 16
1. Lawrence to SAC, “Logos, IS-PLP,” May 26, 1966.
2. “FBI Warns of College Unrest,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, February 7, 1966, p. 3.
3. Lawrence to SAC, “Liaison With Groups Sponsoring Integration, RM,” January 2, 1968, p. 3.
4. Stokely Carmichael with Ekwueme Michael Thelwell, Ready for Revolution (New York: Scribner, 2003), p. 489.
5. Ibid., p. 490.
6. K. W. Cook, “King Leads Marchers on Meredith’s Route,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, June 8, 1966, p. 1.
7. K. W. Cook, “Negroes Urged to Leave Vietnam,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, June 10, 1966.
8. Aram Goudsouzian, Down to the Crossroads (New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2014), p. 40.
9. “March to Jackson, Mississippi,” July 1, 1966 (LHM), p. 3, file no. 157-147.
10. “Demonstrations Protesting Shooting of James Meredith—RM” (FBI teletype), June 23, 1966.
11. “RE: March to Jackson; Racial Matters; Election Laws, Memphis” (LHM), June 25, 1966, p. 4.
12. Ibid.
CHAPTER 17
1. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam; Student Mobilization Committee, Internal Security—C” (LHM), May 9, 1967.
2. SAC Memphis, to Director FBI, “Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, Information Concerning Internal Security; Student Mobilization Committee, Internal Security—C,” (LHM), May 5, 1967, p. 9.
3. Ibid., p. 4.
4. “Jackie Robinson . . . Wants to Hear From Dr. King,” Tri-State Defender, April 15, 1967, p. 7.
5. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War In Vietnam; Student Mobilization Committee, Internal Security—C,” April 27, 1967, p. 11.
6. Lawrence to SAC, “COMINFIL of Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC), IS-C,” November 29, 1966.
7. “Hoover Colors Stokely Pink,” Tri-State Defender, May 20, 1967, p. 11.
8. Lawrence to SAC, “COMINFIL, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) RM,” June 2, 1967.
9. Michael Honey, Going Down Jericho Road (New York: W.W. Norton, 2011), pp. 229–30.
10. “Three Get Heavy Fines as ‘Would-Be’ Rioters,” Tri-State Defender, July 8, 1967, p. 1.
11. William H. Lawrence, “Charles Laverne Cabbage,” FBI case report, September 29, 1967, p. 7.
12. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “COMINFIL, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) IS-C” (LHM), July 17, 1967, pp. 4–5.
13. SAC Memphis, to Director FBI, “Demonstrations Protesting United States Intervention in Vietnam, IS-C; Vietnam Summer, IS-C” (LHM), July 11, 1967, p. 6.
14. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “Demonstrations Protesting United States Intervention In Vietnam, IS-C; Vietnam Summer, IS-C” (LHM), June 16, 1967, p. 6.
15. SAC Memphis to Director FBI Memphis, “COMINFIL, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) IS-C” (LHM), July 17, 1967, pp. 15–16.
1. The MAP-South leadership structure is a mystery to me. A news story in the August 16, 1967, Memphis Press-Scimitar identifies Lawson as “chairman of the MAP-South Citizens Association,” while noting that Hershel Feibelman was local War on Poverty Committee chair. Lawson ended up being the go-to leader for reporters seeking quotes on MAP-South matters.
2. “‘Poor’ Will Speak at MAP South Meet,” Tri-State Defender, April 22, 1967, p. 2.
3. “Brown Aims Blast at Pres. Johnson” (UPI), Memphis Press-Scimitar, July 27, 1967, p. 3.
4. “Report Stirs Capitol Hill,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, August 4, 1967, p. 1.
5. William Steif, “OEO Chief Defends Workers’ Record in Summer Riots,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, August 11, 1967, p. 15.
6. Kay Pittman Black and Bill Evans, “Senate Prober Checks in Memphis,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, August 10, 1967, p. 1.
7. Ibid., pp. 1, 10.
8. Charles A. Brown, “Two ‘Angry Young Men’ Kicked Out,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, August 8, 1967, p. 3.
9. Lawrence to SAC, “Communist and Black Power Infiltration, Poverty Program, Memphis Area Project-South (MAPS), RM; IS-C,” August 25, 1967, p. 2.2
10. Charles A. Brown, “Anti-Poverty Group Demands Hearing for Two Controversial Workers,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, August 11, 1967, p. 9.
11. Charles A. Brown, “Decision Expected Tonight in Case of Two Dismissed Poverty Workers,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, August 24, 1967, p. 12.
12. Ibid.
13. William H. Lawrence, “Charles Laverne Cabbage,” FBI case file, September 29, 1967, p. 15.
14. Charles Cabbage, interview by James Mosby, Ralph Bunche Collection, Moreland-Spingarn Archives, Howard University.
15. SAC Albany to Director FBI, “RE: Counterintelligence Program, Black Nationalist Hate Groups,” August 25, 1967.
16. Kenneth O’Reilly, “Racial Matters”: The FBI’s Secret File on Black America, 1960-1972 (New York: Free Press, 1989), pp. 267–68.
17. Lawrence, “Charles Laverne Cabbage,” cover page C, p. 11.
18. Kay Pittman Black, “MAP South Men Defend Controversial Anti-Poverty Work,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, September 11, 1967, clipping in University of Memphis Special Collections, Press-Scimitar morgue file 5446.
19. Joan Turner Beifuss, At the River I Stand (Memphis: St. Luke’s Press, 1990), p. 180.
1. Lawrence to SAC, “Communist and Black Power Infiltration, Poverty Program, Memphis Area Project–South (MAPS), Memphis, Tennessee, RM; IS-C,” September 21, 1967.
2. “Charles Laverne Cabbage,” FBI case file, March 25, 1968, p. 22.
3. Lawrence to SAC, “Palmer Watson Gunter, aka Watson Gunter, SM-C,” October 12, 1967.
4. “Commissioner Loeb’s Grave Blunder,” Tri-State Defender, March 15, 1958, p. 1.
5. “Evers and Willis Clash on Air . . . The Winner??” Memphis World, October 21, 1967, p. 1.
6. Lawrence to SAC Memphis, “COMINFIL of SNCC,” November 17, 1967.
7. “Charles Laverne Cabbage,” FBI case file, p. 10.
8. Jesse H. Turner, “Jesse Turner’s Analysis of City Election,” Memphis World, November 25, 1967, p. 1.
9. “Charles Laverne Cabbage,” FBI case file, p. 9.
10. Lawrence to SAC, “COMINFIL of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) IS-C; RM,” December 4, 1967, p. 4.
11. Ibid., p. 1.
12. Lawrence to SAC, “COMINFIL of SNCC, IS-SNCC; RM,” January 25, 1968.
13. Lawrence to SAC, “COMINFIL of SNCC, IS-SNCC; RM,” January 5, 1968.
14. FBI interview report of Charles Cabbage and Clifford Taylor, January 5, 1968, included in “Charles Laverne Cabbage,” FBI case file, pp. 36–37.
15. Lawrence to SAC, “COMINFIL of SNCC, IS-SNCC; RM,” January 25, 1968.
CHAPTER 20
1. Frank Holloman to J. Edgar Hoover, January 6, 1959, Frank Holloman Collection, Memphis Public Library.
2. Cartha “Deke” DeLoach to Frank C. “Preacher” Holloman, January 4, 1960, Holloman Collection.
3. Holloman to Edward L. Boyle, February 15, 1960; and Holloman to Lee Teague, January 26, 1960, both in Holloman Collection.
4. Holloman to J. Edgar Hoover, March 2, 1960, Holloman Collection.
5. Holloman to Teague, January 26, 1960, and Jack Carley to Hoover, April 25, 1960, both in Holloman Collection.
6. Holloman to Hoover, September 21, 1960.
7. Frank Holloman to department heads, January 22, 1968, Frank Holloman Collection.
8. William H. Lawrence, testimony to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, November 21, 1978, HSCA, MLK Appendix, vol. 6, p. 546.
1. Joan Turner Beifuss, At the River I Stand (Memphis: St. Luke’s Press, 1990), p. 49.
2. Frank Holloman, interview by David Yellin and Joan Beifuss, May 9, 1973, transcript in Crossroads to Freedom Archive, Rhodes College, Memphis.
3. Director FBI to SAC Memphis, “The Invaders,” January 15, 1968.
4. Beifuss, At the River I Stand, p. 108.
5. Holloman interview by Yellin and Beifuss, May 9, 1973.
6. Whittier Sengstacke, Jr., and Ed Harris, “Strikers Mauled by Cops,” Tri-State Defender, March 2, 1968, p. 12. Holloman quotes are from Yellin and Beifuss interview.
7. “RE: Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee” (LHM), February 24, 1968, p. 3.
8. Dorothy Withers, interview by Jack Hurley, 1999; Jack Hurley, “Bearing Witness to Change: Ernest Withers and the Civil Rights Movement,” unpublished essay, Hurley’s possession.
9. Ernest C. Withers, Pictures Tell the Story (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2000), p. 82.
10. This account comes from Memphis Police Department intelligence chief, Lieutenant Eli H. Arkin, “Civil Disorders, Memphis, Tennessee (February 12–April 16, 1968),” p. 13, Frank Holloman Collection. The document seems to have been produced from MPD informant reports made during the sanitation strike, for internal use rather than for public circulation.
11. Beifuss, At the River I Stand, p. 129.
12. Lawrence to SAC, “COMINFIL of SNCC, IS-SNCC; RM,” February 14, 1968, pp. 1–3.
13. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, RM” (LHM), February 27, 1968.
14. Capt. Earl J. Clark to Asst. Chief W. W. Wilkinson, February 27, 1968, Holloman Collection, Memphis Public Library.
15. Michael Honey, Going Down Jericho Road (New York: W.W. Norton, 2011), p. 405.
CHAPTER 22
1. Director FBI to SAC Albany, “Counterintelligence Program, Black Nationalist-Hate Groups, Racial Intelligence” (FBI airtel), March 4, 1968.
2. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, RM” (LHM), March 6, 1968, p. 4.
3. “Strike Supporters Told, ‘Clear Out of Here or Go to Jail,’” Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 6, 1968, p. 37.
4. Ibid.
5. Marrell McCullough, testimony to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, November 20, 1978, HSCA, MLK Appendix, vol. 6, p. 415.
6. The first draft of these events was memorialized in SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, RM,” March 7, 1968. The “put-up” characterization and Withers’s and Black’s regrets appear in Lawrence to SAC, “COMINFIL of SNCC, IS-SNCC; RM,” March 25, 1968.
CHAPTER 23
1. “Re: Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, Racial Matters” (FBI report), March 9, 1968, p. 6.
2. William H. Lawrence, testimony to House Select Committee on Assassinations, November 21, 1978, HSCA, MLK Appendix, volume 6, p. 553.
3. Frank Holloman, interview by David Yellin, May 9, 1973, transcript in Crossroads to Freedom Archive, Rhodes College, Memphis.
4. Martin Luther King, Jr., address at Bishop Charles Mason Temple, March 18, 1968, http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/documentsentry/address_at_mass_meeting_at_the_bishop_charles_mason_temple.1.html.
5. K. W. Cook, “King Urges Work Stoppage by Negroes to Back Strike,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, March 19, 1968, p. 1. For Lawson and Young’s discussion of King’s return engagement, see James Lawson, interview by David Yellin and Bill Thomas, July 1, 1968, transcript in Crossroads to Freedom Archive, Rhodes College, Memphis.
6. James Lawson, interview by Joan Beifuss and David Yellin, July 8, 1970, transcript in Crossroads to Freedom Archive, Rhodes College, Memphis.
7. Memphis to Director and Jackson, “Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tenn.; RM” (teletype), March 19, 1968.
CHAPTER 24
1. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, RM” (LHM), March 26, 1968; and Memphis to Director, “Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tenn.; RM” (teletype), March 26, 1968.
2. George C. Moore, testimony to House Select Committee on Assassinations, November 17, 1978, HSCA, MLK Appendix, vol. 6, p. 366.
3. “Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Current Analysis,” FBI monograph, March 12, 1968.
4. David J. Garrow, The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Penguin Books, 1983), p. 186.
5. Section Chief George C. Moore, Racial Intelligence, SOG, to SAC Jackson, “Washington Spring Project, RM,” March 11, 1968.
6. Lawrence to SAC Memphis, “COMINFIL of SNCC, 157-1092-128,” March 21, 1968,
7. Inspector G. P. Tines to Chief J. C. MacDonald, “Departmental Communication: Activities Planned During the March, March 27, 1968,” Frank Holloman Collection, Memphis Public Library.
8. Ernest C. Withers, Pictures Tell the Story (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2000), p. 84.
9. Ibid.
CHAPTER 25
1. This conclusion according to anecdotal observations of march participants, including James Lawson, as well as statements of police director Holloman, and the March 28 police roll call, Frank Holloman Collection, Memphis Public Library.
2. “Students Hurl Rocks at Police,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 28, 1968, p. 1.
3. Joan Turner Beifuss, At the River I Stand (Memphis: St. Luke’s Press, 1990), p. 289.
4. SAC Memphis (probably written by William Lawrence, signed off on by Memphis SAC Robert Jensen) to Director “Black Organizing Project” (FBI airtel), May 6, 1968, p. 40.
5. Ralph David Abernathy, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down (New York: Harper & Row, 1989), p. 417.
6. James Lawson, interview by Joan Beifuss and David Yellin, July 8, 1970, transcript in Crossroads to Freedom Archive, Rhodes College, Memphis.
7. SAC Memphis (apparently written by William Lawrence and signed off on by Memphis SAC Robert Jensen) to Director and Washington Field Office (FBI teletype), March 28, 1968, p. 3.
8. Ibid.
9. “Day’s Log of Police Calls Traces Racial Disturbance Shock Waves,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, March 29, 1968, p. 25.
10. “One Boy Started It, Minister Says,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, March 29, 1968, p. 9.
11. E. E. Redditt and W. B. Richmond to Graydon P. Tines, “RE: Information Re: Garbage Strike and Garbage Strike Sympathizers,” Memphis Police Department, Inspectional Bureau memo, April 1, 1968, Frank Holloman Collection, Memphis Public Library.
12. Ralph Abernathy, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down (New York: Harper & Row, 1989), p. 418.
13. Thomas BeVier, “Widow’s Wreath Is Bright Spot in Riot Rubble,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, March 29, 1968, p. 25.
14. “One Fatality During a Storm of Rioting,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 29, 1968, p. 11.
15. The local black press and white press, respectively, published drastically different accounts of the slaying. The black Tri-State Defender quoted Patrolman Jones as saying to Payne, “Come out nigger, or I’m going to shoot.” In the white Memphis Press-Scimitar, Fowler Homes residents surrounded and intimidated the two officers. According to Patrolman Williams, “They were calling us every dirty name in the book, and shouting ‘Kill the white ——.’” The Defender story described Payne’s mother witnessing the shooting and crying, “You killed my son!” This, according to the Defender, prompted Jones to swing the shotgun toward her and say, “If you don’t get back nigger, I’ll kill you,” at which point she fainted. But Payne’s mother does not appear in the Press-Scimitar account. The Press-Scimitar described Patrolman Jones as staying with Payne and urging him to keep breathing and stay calm until an ambulance arrived, while in the Defender version, Payne was instantly killed. In the Defender, Jones kicked the boy’s dead body, while in the Press-Scimitar, Jones repeated, “I’m sorry it happened. I didn’t want to kill him.”
16. “Downtown Area Left Scarred as Violence Erupts,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 28, 1968, p. 6-X.
17. “Guardsmen Back Riot Curfew,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, March 29, 1968, p. 1.
18. FBI Memphis to Director and WFO, “ 114PM URGENT,” March 28, 1968, p. 1.
19. “Guard Arrives in City,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 28, 1968, p. 1.
20. Mary George Beggs, “Curfew Streamlines Swinging Loeb Party,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, March 29, 1968, p. 18.
CHAPTER 26
1. David J. Garrow, The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Penguin Books, 1983), p. 194.
2. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, RM” (LHM), March 29, 1968, p. 3.
3. Ibid., p. 4.
4. Ibid., p. 13.
5. Lawrence’s handwritten notes, obtained by Memphis Commercial Appeal reporter Marc Perrusquia.
6. House Select Committee on Assassinations, Report, 95th Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1979), pp. 411–13.
7. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “Black Organizing Project,” May 6, 1968, p. 42.
8. Ibid., p. 36.
9. Ibid., pp. 41–42.
10. Lawrence to SAC, “Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tenn., RM,” April 2, 1968, p. 2.
11. Director FBI to SAC Memphis, teletype, April 2, 1968, in “FBI Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee” file.
CHAPTER 27
1. James Lawson, interview by David Yellin and Joan Beifuss, July 8, 1970, transcript in Crossroads to Freedom Archive, Rhodes College, Memphis.
2. “ 2 Senators Ask That U.S. Block King” (UPI), Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 28, 1968, p. 1.
3. G. C. Moore to Mr. Sullivan, “Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, Racial Matters” (LHM), March 28, 1968.
4. David Garrow, The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Penguin Books, 1983), p. 196.
5. FBI Memphis to Director, “Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tenn., RM” (teletype), March 28, 1968, p. 3.
6. Moore to Sullivan, “Counterintelligence Program, Black Nationalist-Hate Groups, Racial Intelligence (Martin Luther King),” March 29, 1968.
7. “King’s Credibility Gap,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, March 30, 1968, p. 6.
8. SAC Memphis to Director FBI, “Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, RM” (LHM), April 6, 1968, pp. 1–6.
CHAPTER 28
1. Howard Teten, interview by Stanley Pimentel, November 19, 2004, Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, Oral History Project.
2. Ernestine Cofield, “S. African Student Photographer Gets Assassination Shots,” Chicago Daily Defender, April 8, 1968, p. 29.
3. Ernest C. Withers, Pictures Tell the Story (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2000), p. 95.
4. Eliza Berman, “The Photograph That Captured the Horror of MLK’s Assassination,” Time, April 3, 2015.
5. Frank Holloman, interview by David Yellin, August 14, 1973, transcript in Crossroads to Freedom Archive, Rhodes College, Memphis.
AFTERWORD
1. Jim Balentine, “Withers Tells About Role in Pardon-for-Pay Deal,” Memphis Press-Scimitar, April 7, 1981, p. 1.
2. Clayborne Carson, ed., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Warner Books, 1998), p. 358.