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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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-07-04
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Norbert F. Gariety, Coral Gables, Florida, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-005.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope and newspaper clippings, from Bertha Deer Levey, St. Paul, Minnesota, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong. The clippings are from The Wanderer: "Student to Describe Experiences: Freedom Rider to Speak at U" and "A Reader Reports What She Heard at Local 'Fair Play for Cuba' Meeting."
File Name: 173108-11-006.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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.
File Name: 173108-11-008.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 196x
Description: A note containing the address of Sam K. Cook, Jr., of the Western Nationalist Crusade of Oakland, California.
File Name: 173108-11-009.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Bill Jerry, Overland, Missouri, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-010.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-07-01
Description: Telegram regarding Freedom Riders from G. N. Armstrong, DeLand, Florida, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-011.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-07-01
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope and a newspaper clipping, from Cleve Allen, Jr., Gulfport, Mississippi, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong. The clipping is from The Independent American and includes the article "Communist Affiliations Of C.O.R.E. Leaders" by Phoebe Courtney.
File Name: 173108-11-012.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Stanwood N. Osgood, Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-013.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Letter regarding Communism, with envelope, from Clay Bernard, Avondale, Arizona, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-014.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Clippings Attached to Birdsong Correspondence
Date: 1961-05-30
Description: Envelope from the Evening Star, Washington D.C., to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong, with a newspaper clipping, "Officials Dispute Link of Riders to Red Cuba" by Associated Press.
File Name: 173108-11-015.pdf
Folder Title: Clippings Attached to Birdsong Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Greeting card sent by an unknown person from Albany, New York, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-016.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-07-01
Description: Letter, with envelope, from Arthur George Smith, Norwalk, Ohio, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-017.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-07-01
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Mrs. G. O. Sullivan, Woodville, Texas, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-018.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders from an unknown person in Phoenix, Arizona, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-019.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-07-01
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Thomas W. Johnston, Mt. Airy, North Carolina, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-020.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Frank M. Lynch, Miami, Florida, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-021.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope and a newspaper clipping, from W. A. Cosgrove, Flomaton, Alabama, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong. The clipping is the front page of Common Sense, Issue No. 352, November 1, 1960.
File Name: 173108-11-022.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Note regarding Freedom Riders, with a newspaper clipping, from an unknown person in Richmond, Indiana, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong. The clipping is titled, "Threaten Rights - Unions, Not The KKK, Behind South's Trouble" by Westbrook Pegler.
File Name: 173108-11-023.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Hugh H. Duncan, Evansville, Indiana, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-024.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Mass mailing letter, "The Truth About Integration," with envelope, from Ben F. Bloodworth, Macon, Georgia, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-025.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Mrs. Henry J. Morkovsky, San Antonio, Texas, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-026.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
Date: 1961-06-30
Description: Letter regarding Freedom Riders, with envelope, from Robert H. Garrison, Louisville, Kentucky, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong.
File Name: 173108-11-027.pdf
Folder Title: Commissioner Birdsong's Correspondence
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Meredith March Memoranda
Date: 1966-06-08
Description: Memorandum regarding media coverage of Mississippi Highway Patrol response to James Meredith's March Against Fear from Grady Gilmore, Public Information Office, to Commissioner T. B. Birdsong. Shorthand dictation attached.
File Name: 173108-13-001.pdf
Folder Title: Meredith March Memoranda
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Meredith March Memoranda
Date: 1966-06-15
Description: Memoranda between Grady Gilmore, Public Information Office, and Deputy Commissioner A. D. Morgan discussing the Meredith March Against Fear with notes and shorthand dictation attached.
File Name: 173108-13-002.pdf
Folder Title: Meredith March Memoranda
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Civil Rights Clippings
Date: 1966-09-15
Description: Newspaper clippings from The Clarion-Ledger, "Clayton Suspends Grenada Classes" by James Bonney.
File Name: 173108-14-001.pdf
Folder Title: Civil Rights Clippings
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Civil Rights Clippings
Date: 1966-09-20
Description: Newspaper clipping from Jackson Daily News, "Below Olympus" cartoon regarding Grenada, Mississippi schools by Frank Interlandi.
File Name: 173108-14-002.pdf
Folder Title: Civil Rights Clippings
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Civil Rights Clippings
Date: 1966-09-22
Description: Newspaper clipping from The Clarion-Ledger, "AWPR Wants Charges Dropped Against Whites," by Americans for Preservation of the White Race.
File Name: 173108-14-003.pdf
Folder Title: Civil Rights Clippings
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Civil Rights Clippings
Date: 1966-10-12
Description: Newspaper clipping from The Clarion-Ledger, "Mississippi Notebook: Behind The Headlines, Off The Cuff" by Tom Ethridge.
File Name: 173108-14-004.pdf
Folder Title: Civil Rights Clippings
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Civil Rights Clippings
Date: 196x
Description: Newspaper clipping from an unknown newspaper, "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave" cartoon by L. D. Warren.
File Name: 173108-14-005.pdf
Folder Title: Civil Rights Clippings
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Civil Rights Clippings
Date: 1966-09
Description: Newspaper clipping, "Maintain Is Big Job: Mississippi Finds Law, Order Easier To Proclaim" by James Saggus.
File Name: 173108-14-006.pdf
Folder Title: Civil Rights Clippings