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.
| File Name | Folder Title | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 173108-01-001.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | Human Events, Vol. XVIII, No. 38, pages 633-636. Includes "Communists Identified Among Freedom Riders" by Fulton Lewis, Jr. | 1961-09-22 |
| 173108-01-002.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | 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. | 1961-07-05 |
| 173108-01-003.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | 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. | 1961-07-06 |
| 173108-01-004.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | Memorandum from DPS Public Relations (Gilmore and Richardson) to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong regarding the use of publicity in the summer months of 1964. | 1964-04-28 |
| 173108-01-005.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | A list of "Trips Made by Negro Bus Agitators" between May 25, 1961 and June 8, 1961. | 1961 |
| 173108-01-006.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | The Commercial Dispatch, "Riders Aided, Abbetted In Disregard Of State Law." | 1961-05-26 |
| 173108-01-007.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | "Prospectus for the Summer" produced by the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) containing a list of "Freedom Centers" and a "Freedom School Application" form. | 1961 |
| 173108-01-008.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | 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. | 1961-07-06 |
| 173108-01-009.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | Memorandum from Commissioner T. B. Birdsong regarding the Freedom Riders. | 1961-06-07 |
| 173108-01-010.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | 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. | 1961-06-30 |
| 173108-01-011.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Mrs. A. C. Smith to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong. | 1961-07-03 |
| 173108-01-012.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | Statements from Commissioner T. B. Birdsong about the Freedom Riders and Communists. | 1961-06-30 |
| 173108-01-013.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | Press release discussing a news conference held at the Mississippi Highway Patrol headquarters. | 1961-06-30 |
| 173108-01-014.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | Correspondence between Commissioner T. B. Birdsong and attorney Franklin P. Hall regarding James Wahlstrom. | 1961-06-30 |
| 173108-01-015.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | 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). | 19xx |
| 173108-01-016.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | 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. | 1961 |
| 173108-01-017.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Files | List of arrests of six Freedom Riders: Rose Schorr Rosenberg, Jean Kidwell Pestana, Norma Libson, Katherne [Katherine] Pleune, James Douglas Peck, and James Walstrom. | 1961 |
| 173108-02-001.pdf | Freedom Riders' Arrest Files | Katherine Pleune arrest file. | 1961 |
| 173108-03-001.pdf | Freedom Riders' Arrest Files | John Copeland Rogers, Jr., arrest file. | 1961-06-30 |
| 173108-04-001.pdf | Freedom Riders' Arrest Files | Thomas Van Roland arrest file. | 1961-06-27 |
| 173108-05-001.pdf | Freedom Riders' Arrest Files | Grant Harland Muse, Jr., arrest file. | 1961-06-27 |
| 173108-06-001.pdf | Freedom Riders' Arrest Files | Eugene John Uphoff arrest file. | 1961-06-23 |
| 173108-07-001.pdf | Freedom Riders' Arrest Files | Jessie James Davis arrest file. | 1961-07-17 |
| 173108-08-001.pdf | Freedom Riders' Arrest Files | Leslie Word arrest file. | 1961-06-14 |
| 173108-09-001.pdf | Freedom Riders' Arrest Files | Lowell A. Woods arrest file. | 1961-06-19 |
| 173108-10-001.pdf | Freedom Riders' Arrest Files | Janice Louise Rogers arrest file. | 1961-06-30 |
| 173108-11-001.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence | 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. | 1961-07-03 |
| 173108-11-002.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence | Postcard regarding Freedom Riders from an unknown person in East Orange, New Jersey, addressed to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong. | 1961-06-30 |
| 173108-11-003.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence | 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." | 1961-07-03 |
| 173108-11-004.pdf | Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence | Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Cornelius Nicholas Bakker of The Manasseh Cutler Church, Hamilton, Massachusetts, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong. | 1961-06-30 |