Freedom Rider Files, 1960-1966 Series 2985
This is a collection of records transferred from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to the Department of Archives and History in March 2026. The files document Commissioner Thomas Butler (T. B.) Birdsong’s response to civil rights events in Mississippi during the early 1960s. Of primary interest are Birdsong’s files and correspondence related to the Freedom Rides during the summer of 1961. Individuals throughout the country sent letters expressing support for and opposition to Commissioner Birdsong’s statements regarding the Freedom Riders. There are also nine folders of Freedom Riders’ arrest records and mug shots, which appear to be duplicates of material found in the State Sovereignty Commission Records. A few memoranda also mention James Meredith’s March Against Fear in 1966. The bulk of the material is newspaper clippings related to the Civil Rights Movement, and also general articles of interest to DPS at the time. All pages were scanned and can be accessed here. The original documents can be viewed in the William F. Winter Archives and History Building. Ku Klux Klan related documents transferred by DPS are also available for research.
Read MoreThis is a collection of records transferred from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to the Department of Archives and History in March 2026. The files document Commissioner Thomas Butler (T. B.) Birdsong’s response to civil rights events in Mississippi during the early 1960s. Of primary interest are Birdsong’s files and correspondence related to the Freedom Rides during the summer of 1961. Individuals throughout the country sent letters expressing support for and opposition to Commissioner Birdsong’s statements regarding the Freedom Riders. There are also nine folders of Freedom Riders’ arrest records and mug shots, which appear to be duplicates of material found in the State Sovereignty Commission Records. A few memoranda also mention James Meredith’s March Against Fear in 1966. The bulk of the material is newspaper clippings related to the Civil Rights Movement, and also general articles of interest to DPS at the time. All pages were scanned and can be accessed here. The original documents can be viewed in the William F. Winter Archives and History Building. Ku Klux Klan related documents transferred by DPS are also available for research.
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173108-01-001.pdf
Date: 1961-09-22
Description: Human Events, Vol. XVIII, No. 38, pages 633-636. Includes "Communists Identified Among Freedom Riders" by Fulton Lewis, Jr.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-002.pdf
Date: 1961-07-05
Description: Audio tape transcription of telephone call: Sam K. Cook, Jr., Oakland, California, to Grady Gilmore, Public Information Office, Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, Jackson, Mississippi. Transcribed by Minnie Sims.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-003.pdf
Date: 1961-07-06
Description: Audio tape transcription of telephone call: Sam K. Cook, Jr., Oakland, California, to Art Richardson, Public Information Office, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Jackson, Mississippi. Transcribed by Minnie Sims.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-004.pdf
Date: 1964-04-28
Description: Memorandum from DPS Public Relations (Gilmore and Richardson) to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong regarding the use of publicity in the summer months of 1964.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-005.pdf
Date: 1961
Description: A list of "Trips Made by Negro Bus Agitators" between May 25, 1961 and June 8, 1961.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-006.pdf
Date: 1961-05-26
Description: The Commercial Dispatch, "Riders Aided, Abbetted In Disregard Of State Law."
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-007.pdf
Date: 1961
Description: "Prospectus for the Summer" produced by the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) containing a list of "Freedom Centers" and a "Freedom School Application" form.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-008.pdf
Date: 1961-07-06
Description: Letter from attorney Franklin P. Hall of Madison, Wisconsin, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong regarding statements about James Robert Wahlstrom attributed to Commissioner Birdsong and Art Richardson, Highway Patrol Public Information Officer, in media reports.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-009.pdf
Date: 1961-06-07
Description: Memorandum from Commissioner T. B. Birdsong regarding the Freedom Riders.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-010.pdf
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Notes taken by Minnie Sims, Public Relations secretary, on a phone call from Sam K. Cook, Jr., of the Western Nationalist Crusade of Oakland, California.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-011.pdf
Date: 1961-07-03
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Mrs. A. C. Smith to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-012.pdf
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Statements from Commissioner T. B. Birdsong about the Freedom Riders and Communists.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-013.pdf
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Press release discussing a news conference held at the Mississippi Highway Patrol headquarters.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-014.pdf
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Correspondence between Commissioner T. B. Birdsong and attorney Franklin P. Hall regarding James Wahlstrom.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-015.pdf
Date: 19xx
Description: June 29, 1961, newspaper clipping from The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee), "Birdsong Says Known Reds are Behind Protest Riders"; a flyer titled, "Land of One Race" with a note on the back from Tom Moore to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong; and a pamphlet titled "The Ugly Truth about the NAACP: An Address by Attorney General Eugene Cook of Georgia…." The flyer and pamphlet were distributed by the Citizens' Councils of Greenwood (Mississippi).
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-016.pdf
Date: 1961
Description: Transcript of message regarding Freedom Riders arriving from New Orleans, from Adams County Sheriff William Ferrell to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong and Albert Jones, State Sovereignty Commission.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-01-017.pdf
Date: 1961
Description: List of arrests of six Freedom Riders: Rose Schorr Rosenberg, Jean Kidwell Pestana, Norma Libson, Katherne [Katherine] Pleune, James Douglas Peck, and James Walstrom.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Files
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173108-02-001.pdf
Date: 1961
Description: Katherine Pleune arrest file.
Folder Title: Freedom Riders' Arrest Files
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173108-03-001.pdf
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: John Copeland Rogers, Jr., arrest file.
Folder Title: Freedom Riders' Arrest Files
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173108-04-001.pdf
Date: 1961-06-27
Description: Thomas Van Roland arrest file.
Folder Title: Freedom Riders' Arrest Files
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173108-05-001.pdf
Date: 1961-06-27
Description: Grant Harland Muse, Jr., arrest file.
Folder Title: Freedom Riders' Arrest Files
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173108-06-001.pdf
Date: 1961-06-23
Description: Eugene John Uphoff arrest file.
Folder Title: Freedom Riders' Arrest Files
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173108-07-001.pdf
Date: 1961-07-17
Description: Jessie James Davis arrest file.
Folder Title: Freedom Riders' Arrest Files
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173108-08-001.pdf
Date: 1961-06-14
Description: Leslie Word arrest file.
Folder Title: Freedom Riders' Arrest Files
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173108-09-001.pdf
Date: 1961-06-19
Description: Lowell A. Woods arrest file.
Folder Title: Freedom Riders' Arrest Files
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173108-10-001.pdf
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Janice Louise Rogers arrest file.
Folder Title: Freedom Riders' Arrest Files
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173108-11-001.pdf
Date: 1961-07-03
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope and newspaper clipping, from Corbett Mask, Calvary Baptist Church, Hazen, Arkansas, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong. The clipping is from the Miami News, "Baptist Leader Calls Riders 'Agitators'" by Louise Leyden.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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173108-11-002.pdf
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Postcard regarding Freedom Riders from an unknown person in East Orange, New Jersey, addressed to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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173108-11-003.pdf
Date: 1961-07-03
Description: Envelope postmarked Dallas, Texas, and addressed to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong containing two pamphlets: one from The Aryan Knight, Waco, Texas, titled, "A Message from the Hight Cabala Secret"; the other from the Women's Voice, Chicago, Illinois, titled, "Abominable Yet True."
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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173108-11-004.pdf
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Cornelius Nicholas Bakker of The Manasseh Cutler Church, Hamilton, Massachusetts, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence