Michael Schwerner (1939 - June 21, 1964), called Mickey by friends and colleagues, was a CORE field worker kidnapped and killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by the Ku Klux Klan in response to the civil-rights work he coordinated, which included promoting registration to vote among Mississippi African Americans.
Two CORE volunteers with him at the time of his kidnapping, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, were also killed. The film Mississippi Burning is loosely based on the murders and ensuing FBI investigation.
On January 7, 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, once an outspoken white supremacist nicknamed the "Preacher," pleaded "Not Guilty" to Schwerner's murder.
External link
Biography of Michael Schwerner (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/price&bowers/Schwerner.htm) from University of Missouri - Kansas City Law School
Schwerner became the first white civil rights worker to be permanently based outside of the capitol of Jackson.
It is not surprising that the first thing Schwerner wanted to do when he returned from Ohio with Chaney and Goodman on June 21 was to return to Longdale and meet with those who had been beaten and lost their church as a result of his efforts on their behalf.
Schwerner was the second of two sons of a father who operated a wig manufacturing plant and a mother who taught high school biology.
Called Mickey by friends and colleagues, was a CORE field worker killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by the Ku Klux Klan in response to the civil-rights work he coordinated, which included promoting registration to vote among Mississippi African Americans.
Schwerner became the first white civil rights worker to be based outside of the capitol of Jackson.
Schwerner's murder occurred near the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi, where he and fellow workers, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman were undertaking field work for CORE.
Feeds |
Contact