Oral History Interviews Collection, 1974-1990

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[Item 1: Camp Depression - Paul Benson and Raymond Rund],
[Item 2: Camp Depression - John Holodick, Ray Ness, and Ken Gulmon],
[Item 3: Camp Depression - Algot Johnson],
[Item 4: Camp Depression - Mel Johnson],
[Item 5: Camp Depression Interview - Ralph Johnson, Lawrence Johnson, O.A. Hove, Walt Styer, and Franklin Vecon],
[Item 6: Agnes Geelan],
[Item 7: Leroy Goodwater and Hilda Goodwater],
[Item 8: Harold Groth and Grace Groth],
[Item 9: UND History Department Faculty - John Parker, Elwyn B. Robinson, Robert Wilkins, and Louis Geiger],
[Item 10: Elsie Brown],
[Item 11: Marian Meyers],
[Item 12: Frank Kelly],
[Item 13: Merle Kidder],
[Item 14: William Koenker],
[Item 15: William Koenker],
[Item 16: Soren Kolstoe],
[Item 17: Charles Libby and Margaret Libby Barr],
[Item 18: Henry Martinson],
[Item 19: Henry Martinson],
[Item 20: S.W. Melzer],
[Item 21: Ken Porter],
[Item 22: Benjamin Ring],
[Item 23: Elwyn and Eva Robinson],
[Item 24: Clarence Sande],
[Item 25: Gerald Skogley],
[Item 26: O.A. Stevens],
[Item 27: Robert Wilkins],
[Item 28: John R. Salter, Jr.],
[Item 29: John R. Salter, Jr.],
[All]

Item 29: John R. Salter, Jr.

Interviewed by Betsy Nash, December 26, 1990

In this interview, Salter said one factor that distinguished Mississippi from other Southern states was the comprehensiveness of its problems, violence and conservatism. Other states had areas that were moderate. Mississippi was the Citizens' Council's strongest fortress, and one of the most violent sections of the South.

Salter spoke about his reasons for writing his book, Jackson, Mississippi: An American Chronicle of Struggle and Schism. Mainly he wanted to tell the story of the courageous people involved in the movement.

Tougaloo was a private college, so a person affiliated with it could be radical without getting fired. Salter said some of the faculty at Jackson State probably would have sided with the movement except they were afraid of losing their jobs. He said Tougaloo was not militant, but it was more militant than anything else in the state.

In Mississippi in 1961, those involved in the movement trusted no politician. John Stennis was willing to be of some help occasionally. Senator James Eastland was an opportunist, a Citizens Council member, and a cruel individual, in Salter's opinion. Erle Johnston was an adversary, but Salter said he respected him. Salter and other activists from the outside generally had to assume that any Mississippi white person was the enemy.

Salter spoke some about Medgar Evers, and reported that he (Salter) and Edwin King were almost killed in a rigged car accident shortly after Evers' murder.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act allowed many whites who were secretly moderate, politically, to follow their own politics; they could say they had to abide by federal law. The Citizens' Council tried to convince people to boycott merchants who abided by the new law, but they were unsuccessful. The whole economic, political power structure of the South generally went along with the Act.

Salter also spoke about the Sovereignty Commission, which was essentially a secret police agency that accumulated a lot of poisonous data. Its primary goal was opposing social change. The Commission was functionally killed in the early 1970s and officially killed in 1977.

A Mississippi American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit was filed to open up the Commission's files. In 1985, Salter was part of a group allowed to look at them. He said the materials contained horrible allegations, and almost certainly lies. He wanted to work out arrangements where the public would have access to materials on the Sovereignty Commission, but not the information on private individuals; the ACLU did not like that arrangement. There was a big battle between open disclosure advocates and those who wanted to protect privacy rights.

Salter said he believes Byron De La Beckwith is guilty of Medgar Evers' murder, but a third trial is merely an effort to find a scapegoat in an attempt to deflect bad publicity caused by the movie "Mississippi Burning" and other factors. Mississippi has to put aside old antagonisms and work toward social and economic justice for everyone. He said the United States in general has never before gone as long without social upheaval as we have now, and the county is entering a time when we will see great social change.

Interview: None

Transcript: OGLMC 1213, Box 3, Folder 2 (113 pages and index)

Browse by Item:

[Item 1: Camp Depression - Paul Benson and Raymond Rund],
[Item 2: Camp Depression - John Holodick, Ray Ness, and Ken Gulmon],
[Item 3: Camp Depression - Algot Johnson],
[Item 4: Camp Depression - Mel Johnson],
[Item 5: Camp Depression Interview - Ralph Johnson, Lawrence Johnson, O.A. Hove, Walt Styer, and Franklin Vecon],
[Item 6: Agnes Geelan],
[Item 7: Leroy Goodwater and Hilda Goodwater],
[Item 8: Harold Groth and Grace Groth],
[Item 9: UND History Department Faculty - John Parker, Elwyn B. Robinson, Robert Wilkins, and Louis Geiger],
[Item 10: Elsie Brown],
[Item 11: Marian Meyers],
[Item 12: Frank Kelly],
[Item 13: Merle Kidder],
[Item 14: William Koenker],
[Item 15: William Koenker],
[Item 16: Soren Kolstoe],
[Item 17: Charles Libby and Margaret Libby Barr],
[Item 18: Henry Martinson],
[Item 19: Henry Martinson],
[Item 20: S.W. Melzer],
[Item 21: Ken Porter],
[Item 22: Benjamin Ring],
[Item 23: Elwyn and Eva Robinson],
[Item 24: Clarence Sande],
[Item 25: Gerald Skogley],
[Item 26: O.A. Stevens],
[Item 27: Robert Wilkins],
[Item 28: John R. Salter, Jr.],
[Item 29: John R. Salter, Jr.],
[All]