Beech--Incoming correspondence, January-August, 1964 (Robert Beech papers, 1963-1972; Archives Main Stacks, Mss 945, Box 2, Folder 2)

This folder contains primarily incoming correspondence to a white northern clergyman, Robert Beech, who was working with a Ministers' Project and with COFO before, during, and after Freedom Summer. The materials document his work arrangements and salary, people's responses to his reports about conditions in Hattiesburg, and letters from other clergy volunteering or returning from volunteering. Many clergy visited for only a week or two and most seem to have been exhilarated by the experience. Others, who tried to interview white clergy, were shocked by being turned away by white churches in Hattiesburg. Some doubted their motives for coming. Taken together, these letters provide a glimpse into the range of clergy involvement (and resistance) to the civil rights movement and tensions between clergy and COFO workers.