Monthly Archives: January 2012

“His [De La Beckwith’s] wife was of pioneer stock, a descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. She had been in the WAVES. They had been married twice and apparently fought all the time they were married. At … Continue reading →

“Charles Edmundson, a reporter for the Commercial Appeal, wrote in an article published the day after De La was arrested: ‘Once a showplace, the family home was built by Lemuel P. Yerger in 1900 and still remains in the family. Now … Continue reading →

“After [De La Beckwith] was arrested I got a call from a man with Life Magazine saying they were in Greenwood and understood that I had known De La for a long time. They wanted to talk to me about him. … Continue reading →

“He [De La Beckwith] always played the role of the true Southern gentleman, greeting the ladies with a bow and ‘Howdy, Ma’am’ and always saying ‘Sir’ to the men. He liked to dress in white and once when he met … Continue reading →

“De La [Beckwith]’s arrest came after Thorn McIntyre of Itta Bena saw a picture of the gun which killed Evers in the paper. The gun had been left at the scene of the murder. McIntyre notified authorities that he had … Continue reading →

“Early in June of 1963 we were watching a Jackson television station when [Medgar] Evers came on with a rather strong plea for Negroes to register to vote. At the time we commented that he certainly was brave to appear … Continue reading →

“In covering the civil rights story I was torn between trying to do the best possible job I could of reporting the facts and at the same time trying to protect Greenwood from all the bad publicity. There were a … Continue reading →

“Many of the black ministers took part in the demonstrations and there were almost nightly meetings in the Negro churches with speeches by visiting civil rights leaders. At one time or another nearly every nationally known Civil Rights leader came … Continue reading →

“In one of the church meetings comedian Dick Gregory, who gained fame by poking fun at the race issue, joked about Governor Ross Barnett’s industrial trips north. ‘He flys to Chicago on an intregrated plane, speaks to an integrated audience, … Continue reading →