Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement

by Rick Bowers

Hardcover, 2010

Status

Available

Call number

323.11960730762

Genres

Nonfiction

All Topics

Collection

Your library

Publication

National Geographic Children's Books (2010), Paperback, 128 pages

Description

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission compiled secret files on more than 87,000 private citizens in the most extensive state spying program in U.S. history. Its mission: to save segregation.

User reviews

LibraryThing member mamzel

I have to admit I am not a lover of history as I find books frequently dry and quite frankly, boring. The topic of this book, however, sounded interesting, and since it was written for kids, by National Geographic, and was reasonably short, I thought I would give it a shot. It is "The true story of

the spy network that tried to destroy the civil rights movement". Sounds promising, right?

They sure managed to suck all of the tension, intrigue, and villany out of the topic. I was really disappointed. It's not even a good book for research on the topic although there are three pages of bibliographic references at the end. One bland fact after another tracing the history with only a smattering of quotes and primary source material. Four pages out of the book's 120 were given to photographs and there were a few pages of documents at the end. Otherwise, the writing was as even and flat as can be.

So sorry.

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9 more

LibraryThing member rkat

The best part of this book is the subject. A government mandated group in Mississippi with the intention to destroy the Civil Rights movement, the dangers of combining ideology and secrecy. It sounds like it should be a thriller, but is non-fiction. I have a fondness for obscure history and this is

a bit that probably should be so unknown. The book is wonderfully researched and covers a lot of ground. The only drawback is in the actual writing. It can sometimes be a bit simplistic for the subject and intended teen audience.

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LibraryThing member ipomoea911

This is such an interesting subject that deserves much more well-written coverage than it gets from this book. Americans spying on other Americans based on their political beliefs and goals? It's a subject that's just as timely now as in the 50's and 60's. Unfortunately, the book's writing is flat,

boring, and one-dimensional. I'd love to find a history book that covers this subject in more multi-dimensional detail, because that book is probably what I'd recommend to a patron instead of this one.

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LibraryThing member MarthaL

An intersting way to present information on the Civil rights movement. Recommended reading for

LibraryThing member lilibrarian

This is a non-fiction book about segregation and the civil rights battles in Mississippi during the 1950’s and 60’s. The state, in an attempt to maintain segregation created a secret commission called the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission which was charged with doing whatever was

necessary to prevent integration.

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LibraryThing member KarenBall

In 1956, Governor J.P. Coleman signed House Bill 880 which created the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. It was dedicated to the preservation of segregation: separate laws, schools, facilities and even entrances based on race. It created propaganda, including movies that were supposed to

show how segregation was good for society. The commission was funded by the state, answered directly to the governor, and used its resources to spy on people in Mississippi for 20 years. Not all of the commission's agents were white. There were black people who acted as spies for many reasons: some did it because it paid very well, some did it to try to ensure their jobs (like the black school superintendent who didn't want integration because it meant that he would lose his job), and some acted as double agents, giving the commission false information. Though the commission never participated directly in acts of violence, it provided information to the Ku Klux Klan which was used in murders, lynchings, assaults and intimidation. By the early 1960's, the commission was regularly providing "watch lists" of names, addresses, and license plate numbers to police and sheriff's departments across the state. Those departments were filled with Klan members, who used the information to terrorize people. The Civil Rights Movement in America wasn't just about overall legal rights -- it was about everyday citizens making choices to act that often put their lives at risk... for things as small as which door to enter the grocery store or which seat to take on the bus, and as enormous as marches and demonstrations that would likely lead to vicious, violent attacks. The spies in Mississippi's Sovereignty commission network made sure of that. Rick Bowers has used interviews of surviving members and spies, the actual files of the commission, photos and other primary source materials to bring this story of abuse of power and utter disregard for individual rights to light. Strong 7th grade readers and up.

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LibraryThing member Prop2gether

As a basic overview, this history is quite good in detailing the spy network set up by the government of the State of Mississippi in the 1950s and 1960s. It's a better read for 8th or 9th grade than upper levels, however, because the style is quite simple.

LibraryThing member tonawandagirl

Spies of Mississippi describes the creation and goings-on of the "Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission" created in 1956. The "Commission" was, in reality, a publically-funded state office to protect and maintain the institution of segregation. The book is written in dramatic fashion and reads

almost like a mystery. The ruthlessness of the schemes that the members dream up is shocking as well as the suffering (including murder) inflicted on African Americans who want only to be treated as equals and on white civil rights workers campaigning on their behalf. It is a great read and would serve as an excellent complement to studies on integration taught in an American history class. It speaks to a topic of great importance to developing young adults--equity and justice--and I would think they would really enjoy this book. As testament to that, Bowers includes, in the last chapter “What Happened Next,” the story of the effort by students at Lincolnshire High School in Illinois to clear Clyde Kennard’s name (p. 105). Kennard had been wrongly accused, convicted and imprisoned for theft, was diagnosed with cancer while in prison in Mississippi and died in 1963. The students, along with the Center for Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, convinced Kennard’s accuser to recent his testimony and Kennard’s name was cleared. After his death and subsequent vindication, the University of Southern Mississippi named a building in his honor (p. 106).

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LibraryThing member kornelas1

This book divulges the little known history of the government group orchestrated to spy on members of the Civil Rights Movement in order to hinder the progress and paint them as rogue operatives who were struggling to destabilize the state. This group, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission

was charged with spreading lies and misinformation and propaganda to the public in order to argue the merits of segregation. It was intriguing to see through this book how some African American actors aligned themselves with this commission, and the variety of reasons they chose to do so. This gives nuance to the picture of the Civil Rights Movements, which is by and large understudied and misrepresented in history classes. The number one flaw of this book is the highly monotonous tone of voice that carries through the story. This would have been a perfect opportunity to use rhetoric to express the intrinsic attacks against civil liberties undertaken by the government, and how to show the horror of what happens when the government willingly aligns itself with the KKK, a known hate group that regularly terrorizes and targets minorities with violence. Thus, although the book is capable of maintaining an even tone that may help its claims of legitimacy and unbiased reporting of the truth, the lack of emotion inhibits the emotional response this segment of history should evoke. Also, although the book contains photographs, the layout of the narrative could have been much stronger had the pictures been placed throughout. This would have allowed readers to put faces to the story, without having to wait until the middle of the book to find this information. Recommended for additional purchase. Ages 12 and up.

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LibraryThing member Salsabrarian

Talk about backwoods Mississippi. This book reveals a lesser-known aspect of the civil rights movement, in which the state of Mississippi worked to destroy the civil rights movement and maintain white supremacy, using an elaborate network of spies and informers, including, sadly, using willing

black citizens. It's hard to believe how stubbornly anti-desegration people were back in those days. It hurts to read this book but it's important to know this was part of our history.

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