James Chaney
Encyclopedia
James Earl "J.E." Chaney (May 30, 1943 – June 21, 1964), from Meridian, Mississippi
, was one of three American
civil rights
workers who were murder
ed during Freedom Summer
by members of the Ku Klux Klan
near Philadelphia
. The others were Andrew Goodman
and Michael Schwerner
from New York City
.
James attended Catholic school for the first nine grades. At the age of 15 in high school, he and other students starting wearing paper patches reading "NAACP", to mark their support for the national civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
, founded in 1910. They were suspended for a week from the segregated high school, because the principal feared the reaction of the all-white school board.
After high school, Chaney started as an apprentice in a trade union with his father.
from Tennessee to Greenville, Mississippi
, and in another from Greenville to Meridian. He and his younger brother also were part of other non-violent demonstrations. James Chaney started volunteering in late 1963, joining the Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE) in Meridian. He organized voter education classes, introduced CORE workers to local church leaders and helped them get around the counties.
In 1964 he met with leaders of the Mt. Nebo Baptist Church to gain their support for letting Michael Schwerner
, local leader of CORE, come to address the church members, to encourage them to use the church for voter education and registration. He acted as a liaison with other CORE members.
and Andrew Goodman
were investigating the burning of Mt. Zion Methodist Church, which had been a site for a CORE Freedom School. In the wake of Schwerner and Chaney's voter registration rallies, parishioners had been beaten by whites. They accused the Sheriff's Deputy, Cecil Price
, of stopping their caravan, and forcing the deacons to kneel in the headlights of their own cars, while white men beat them with rifle butts. That same group was identified as having burned the church.
Price arrested the three (Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman) for an alleged traffic violation and took them to the Neshoba County jail. They were released that evening, without being allowed to telephone anyone. As they drove back to their quarters in Meridian, they were stopped on a remote rural road by two carloads of KKK members. The men shot and killed Schwerner, then Goodman, and finally Chaney, after chain-whipping and mutilating him. They buried the young men in an earthen dam nearby.
The men's bodies remained undiscovered for 44 days. The FBI was quickly brought into the case by John Doar, the Department of Justice representative in Mississippi monitoring the situation during Freedom Summer. The missing civil-rights workers became a major national story, especially coming on top of other events as civil rights workers were active across Mississippi in a voter registration drive. As rivers were dredged, investigators found the bodies of other black men and women who had been murdered, but their deaths were not investigated at the time.
Schwerner's widow Rita, who also worked for CORE in Meridian, expressed indignation that the press had ignored previous murders and disappearances of blacks in the area, but had highlighted this case because two white men from New York had gone missing. She said she believed that if only Chaney were missing, the case would not have received nearly as much attention.
, the lawyer who secured his parole."
.
, the Birmingham church bombing and the murder of Vernon Dahmer
. He developed new evidence about the civil rights murders, found new witnesses, and pressured the State to prosecute. It began an investigation in the early 2000s.
In 2004 Barry Bradford, an Illinois
high school teacher, and his three students, Allison Nichols, Sarah Siegel, and Brittany Saltiel, joined Mitchell's efforts in a special project. They did additional research, and created a documentary about their work. Their documentary, produced for the National History Day contest, presented important new evidence and compelling reasons for reopening the case. They obtained a taped interview with Edgar Ray Killen
, who had been acquitted in the first trial. He had been an outspoken white supremacist nicknamed the "Preacher." The interview helped convince the State to reopen an investigation into the murders.
In 2005 the state charged Killen in the murders of the three activists, the only one of six living suspects to be charged. When the trial opened on January 7, 2005, he pleaded "Not guilty." Evidence was presented that he had supervised the murders. Not sure that Killen intended in advance for the activists to be killed by the Klan, the jury found him guilty of three counts of manslaughter
on June 20, 2005, and he was sentenced to 60 years in prison—twenty years for each count, to be served consecutively.
Believing there are other men involved in his brother's death who should be charged as accomplices to murder, as he was, Ben Chaney has said, "I'm not as sad as I was," he adds. "But I'm still angry."
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
, was one of three American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
workers who were murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed during Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer was a campaign in the United States launched in June 1964 to attempt to register as many African American voters as possible in Mississippi which had historically excluded most blacks from voting...
by members of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
near Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Mississippi
Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,303 at the 2000 census.- History :...
. The others were Andrew Goodman
Andrew Goodman
Andrew Goodman was one of three American civil rights activists murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi, during Freedom Summer in 1964 by members of the Ku Klux Klan.-Early life and education:...
and Michael Schwerner
Michael Schwerner
Michael Henry Schwerner , was one of three Congress of Racial Equality field workers killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by the Ku Klux Klan in response to their civil rights work, which included promoting voting registration among Mississippi African Americans...
from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Early life and education
James Earl Chaney was born in Meridian, Mississippi, the oldest son of Fannie Lee and Ben Chaney, Sr. His brother Ben was nine years younger, born in 1952, and he had three sisters, Barbara, Janice and Julia. His parents separated for a time when James was young.James attended Catholic school for the first nine grades. At the age of 15 in high school, he and other students starting wearing paper patches reading "NAACP", to mark their support for the national civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
, founded in 1910. They were suspended for a week from the segregated high school, because the principal feared the reaction of the all-white school board.
After high school, Chaney started as an apprentice in a trade union with his father.
Civil rights activist
In 1962 Chaney participated in a Freedom RideFreedom ride
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to test the United States Supreme Court decisions Boynton v. Virginia and Morgan v. Virginia...
from Tennessee to Greenville, Mississippi
Greenville, Mississippi
Greenville is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 48,633 at the 2000 census, but according to the 2009 census bureau estimates, it has since declined to 42,764, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. It is the county seat of Washington...
, and in another from Greenville to Meridian. He and his younger brother also were part of other non-violent demonstrations. James Chaney started volunteering in late 1963, joining the Congress of Racial Equality
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a U.S. civil rights organization that originally played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement...
(CORE) in Meridian. He organized voter education classes, introduced CORE workers to local church leaders and helped them get around the counties.
In 1964 he met with leaders of the Mt. Nebo Baptist Church to gain their support for letting Michael Schwerner
Michael Schwerner
Michael Henry Schwerner , was one of three Congress of Racial Equality field workers killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by the Ku Klux Klan in response to their civil rights work, which included promoting voting registration among Mississippi African Americans...
, local leader of CORE, come to address the church members, to encourage them to use the church for voter education and registration. He acted as a liaison with other CORE members.
Murder
Chaney and the other men were killed near the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi. He and fellow workers Michael SchwernerMichael Schwerner
Michael Henry Schwerner , was one of three Congress of Racial Equality field workers killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by the Ku Klux Klan in response to their civil rights work, which included promoting voting registration among Mississippi African Americans...
and Andrew Goodman
Andrew Goodman
Andrew Goodman was one of three American civil rights activists murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi, during Freedom Summer in 1964 by members of the Ku Klux Klan.-Early life and education:...
were investigating the burning of Mt. Zion Methodist Church, which had been a site for a CORE Freedom School. In the wake of Schwerner and Chaney's voter registration rallies, parishioners had been beaten by whites. They accused the Sheriff's Deputy, Cecil Price
Cecil Price
Cecil Ray Price was linked to the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. At the time of the murders, he was 26 years old and a deputy sheriff in Neshoba County, Mississippi...
, of stopping their caravan, and forcing the deacons to kneel in the headlights of their own cars, while white men beat them with rifle butts. That same group was identified as having burned the church.
Price arrested the three (Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman) for an alleged traffic violation and took them to the Neshoba County jail. They were released that evening, without being allowed to telephone anyone. As they drove back to their quarters in Meridian, they were stopped on a remote rural road by two carloads of KKK members. The men shot and killed Schwerner, then Goodman, and finally Chaney, after chain-whipping and mutilating him. They buried the young men in an earthen dam nearby.
The men's bodies remained undiscovered for 44 days. The FBI was quickly brought into the case by John Doar, the Department of Justice representative in Mississippi monitoring the situation during Freedom Summer. The missing civil-rights workers became a major national story, especially coming on top of other events as civil rights workers were active across Mississippi in a voter registration drive. As rivers were dredged, investigators found the bodies of other black men and women who had been murdered, but their deaths were not investigated at the time.
Schwerner's widow Rita, who also worked for CORE in Meridian, expressed indignation that the press had ignored previous murders and disappearances of blacks in the area, but had highlighted this case because two white men from New York had gone missing. She said she believed that if only Chaney were missing, the case would not have received nearly as much attention.
Aftermath for family
After the funeral of their oldest son, the Chaneys left Mississippi because of death threats. Helped by the Goodman and Schwerner families and other supporters, they moved to New York City, where Ben attended a private, majority-white high school. In 1969 Ben joined the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Party. In 1970 he went to Florida with two friends to buy guns; the other two killed men in South Carolina and Florida, and Chaney was also convicted of murder in Florida. He served 13 years and after gaining parole, founded the James Earl Chaney Foundation in his brother's honor. Since 1985 he has worked "as a legal clerk for the former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey ClarkRamsey Clark
William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former public official. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, which included service as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson...
, the lawyer who secured his parole."
Federal trial
In 1967, the US government went to trial, charging ten men with conspiracy to deprive the three murdered men of their civil rights under the Force Act of 1870, the only federal law then applying to the case. The jury convicted seven men, including Deputy Sheriff Price, and three were acquitted, including Edgar Ray KillenEdgar Ray Killen
Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen is a former Ku Klux Klan organizer who conspired in the murders of three civil rights activists—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner—in 1964....
.
State investigation
Over the years, activists had called for the state to prosecute the murders. The journalist Jerry Mitchell, an award-winning investigative reporter for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, had discovered new evidence and written extensively about the case for six years. Mitchell had earned renown for helping secure convictions in several other high-profile Civil Rights Era murder cases, including the assassination of Medgar EversMedgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi...
, the Birmingham church bombing and the murder of Vernon Dahmer
Vernon Dahmer
Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer, Sr. was an American civil rights leader and president of the Forrest County chapter of the NAACP in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.-Early life:...
. He developed new evidence about the civil rights murders, found new witnesses, and pressured the State to prosecute. It began an investigation in the early 2000s.
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
high school teacher, and his three students, Allison Nichols, Sarah Siegel, and Brittany Saltiel, joined Mitchell's efforts in a special project. They did additional research, and created a documentary about their work. Their documentary, produced for the National History Day contest, presented important new evidence and compelling reasons for reopening the case. They obtained a taped interview with Edgar Ray Killen
Edgar Ray Killen
Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen is a former Ku Klux Klan organizer who conspired in the murders of three civil rights activists—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner—in 1964....
, who had been acquitted in the first trial. He had been an outspoken white supremacist nicknamed the "Preacher." The interview helped convince the State to reopen an investigation into the murders.
In 2005 the state charged Killen in the murders of the three activists, the only one of six living suspects to be charged. When the trial opened on January 7, 2005, he pleaded "Not guilty." Evidence was presented that he had supervised the murders. Not sure that Killen intended in advance for the activists to be killed by the Klan, the jury found him guilty of three counts of manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
on June 20, 2005, and he was sentenced to 60 years in prison—twenty years for each count, to be served consecutively.
Believing there are other men involved in his brother's death who should be charged as accomplices to murder, as he was, Ben Chaney has said, "I'm not as sad as I was," he adds. "But I'm still angry."
Legacy and honors
- A memorial at the Mt. Nebo Baptist Church commemorates the three civil rights activists.
- A plaque near Riverside Drive in New York City commemorates the three men.
- The sacrifice of the murders contributed to Congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964Civil Rights Act of 1964The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, federal legislation to enforce social justice and constitutional rights. - 1998, the James Earl Chaney Foundation was set up by his brother Ben Chaney in his honor to promote the work of civil rights and social justice.
Representation in other media
- The 1975 2-part TV movie, Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux KlanAttack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux KlanAttack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan is a 1975 two-part television movie, which dramatised the events following the 1964 disappearance and murder of three Civil Rights workers in Mississippi...
was based on Don WhiteheadDon WhiteheadDon Whitehead was an American journalist. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom. He won the 1950 George Polk Award for wire service reporting....
's book (Attack on Terror: The F.B.I. Against the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi), detailing the events a week before the assassinations and concluding with the Federal trial of the conspirators. Actor Hilly HicksHilly HicksHilly Gene Hicks is an American character actor, born May 4, 1950 in Los Angeles, California.-Biography:The role for which Hicks is perhaps best known is Lewis Moore in the TV mini-series Roots...
portrayed "Charles Gilmore," a fictionalized representation of James Chaney. - MeridianMeridian (novel)Meridian is a 1976 novel by American author Alice Walker.-Plot summary:Set in the 1960s and 70s, Meridian centers on Meridian Hill, a student at the fictitious Saxon College, who becomes active in the Civil Rights movement. She becomes romantically involved with another activist, Truman Held, and...
1976, a novel by Alice WalkerAlice WalkerAlice Malsenior Walker is an American author, poet, and activist. She has written both fiction and essays about race and gender...
, portrayed issues of the civil rights era. - The 1988 film, Mississippi BurningMississippi BurningMississippi Burning is a 1988 American crime drama film loosely based on the FBI investigation into the real-life murders of three civil rights workers in the U.S. state of Mississippi in 1964. The film focuses on two fictional FBI agents who investigate the murders...
, was loosely based upon these events. - The circumstances surrounding the deaths of the activists were the subject of the 1990 TV movie Murder in MississippiMurder in MississippiMurder in Mississippi is a 1990 television movie which dramatized the last weeks of civil rights activists Michael "Mickey" Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, and the events leading up to their disappearance and subsequent murder in the summer of 1964. It starred Tom Hulce as Schwerner,...
, which featured Blair UnderwoodBlair UnderwoodBlair Underwood is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known as headstrong attorney Jonathan Rollins from the NBC legal drama L.A. Law, a role he portrayed for seven years. He has gained critical acclaim throughout his career, receiving numerous Golden Globe Award...
as James Chaney. - In the Season 13 episode, "Chosen," of the series Law & OrderLaw & OrderLaw & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, a defense lawyer Randy Dworkin (played by Peter JacobsonPeter JacobsonPeter S. Jacobson is an American film and television actor.-Life and career:Jacobson was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Chicago news anchor Walter Jacobson. He is a graduate of Brown University and Juilliard...
) prefaces a speech against affirmative actionAffirmative actionAffirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
with the phrase, "Janeane GarofaloJaneane GarofaloJaneane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...
herself can storm into my office and tear down the framed photos of GoodmanAndrew GoodmanAndrew Goodman was one of three American civil rights activists murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi, during Freedom Summer in 1964 by members of the Ku Klux Klan.-Early life and education:...
, Chaney and SchwernerMichael SchwernerMichael Henry Schwerner , was one of three Congress of Racial Equality field workers killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by the Ku Klux Klan in response to their civil rights work, which included promoting voting registration among Mississippi African Americans...
, that I keep on the wall over my desk..." - The band FlobotsFlobotsThe Flobots are a political rock and hip hop musical group from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2000 by Jamie Laurie. Flobots found mainstream success with their major label debut Fight with Tools , featuring the single "Handlebars", which became a popular hit on Modern Rock radio in April 2008.-Early...
' song, "Same Thing," asks to bring back Chaney. - In Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's The Dark TowerThe Dark Tower (series)The Dark Tower is a series of books written by American author Stephen King, which incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy, science fantasy, horror and western. It describes a "Gunslinger" and his quest toward a tower, the nature of which is both physical and metaphorical. King...
fantasy novel Song of SusannahSong of SusannahSong of Susannah is the sixth novel in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2005.-Plot summary:...
(2005), the protagonist Odetta Holmes met Chaney and his colleagues in Oxford Town.
External links
- Douglas O. Linder, "Biography of James Chaney", The Mississippi Burning Trial: 'US v. Price' (1967)], University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School
- James Earl Chaney Foundation
- Barry Bradford, The Mississippi Burning Case Website
- Killen plea, CNN 7 January 2005