History Thesis Final Draft

LORAS COLLEGE
COME GET MY MATTRESS. ILL KEEP MY SOUL: SNCCS MUSICAL PROGRESSION

THROUGH THE FREEDOM RIDES AND THE ALBANY MOVEMENT.
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
IN CANIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
BY
ELIZABETH JEAN DICKHUT
DUBUQUE, IOWA
DECEMBER 2014
2
Introduction
the music that kept our spirits strong and kept the movement moving.1
At Parchman Penitentiary in 1961 James Farmer witnessed the coining of the phrase Its
not the mattress, its your soul when the prison guards threatened to take away their beds if the
Freedom Riders keep singing.2 Fred Leonard, another jailed Rider, continues the narration after
the first encounter with the guards: The next night they gave us our mattresses back. So, we
started singing again. They threatened us again. We will take your mattresses and you will have
to sleep on that steel without a mattressWe kept singing freedom songs: Freedoms coming
and it wont be long.3The music of the Civil Rights Movement can be explored in a number of
ways. Commonly, the songs themselves are studied and explained. Or, the importance of religion
through gospel music and traditional hymns is explored. However, the use of music as a
mobilizing tactic, consciously or unintentionally, by organizations such as the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is an area that needs further research. Therefore,
looking at the years of 1960-62 is important in order to understand how music may have been an
instrumental part of SNCC and the Civil Rights Movement before activists made a conscious
effort in implementing it as a tactic. The intention mobilizing the music is important in
understanding various aspects of the Civil Rights Movement, like the sit-ins, the Freedom Rides,
the Albany Movement, and the various jail times in between.
1 Jesse Jackson, Foreword, Everybody Says Freedom, edd. Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser (New
York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009), xii.
2 James Farmer, Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement From the
1950s Through the 1980s, ed. Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer (New York: Bantam Books,
1990), 94-5.
3 Fred Leonard, Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement From the
1990), 95.
3
This focus, then, requires the synthesis of mass amounts of information to understand the
historical context in order to draw correct conclusions from the evidence. The Albany
Movement, known for its music and the genesis of the Freedom Singers, is generally the area of
focus for music within SNCC and the Civil Rights Movement. Vanessa Murphree in her book
The Selling of the Civil Rights: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Use of
Public Relations focuses mostly on the important individuals of Albany.4 Likewise, Burton
Peretti, in his book Lift Every Voice: The History of African American Music, does the same
while expanding to a general understanding of black music, like jazz, gospel, and rock n roll.5
In We Shall Overcome, author Herb Boyd follows a similar route as Murphree and Peretti, but
gives further analysis to suggest that music was instrumental in unifying SNCC.6
Besides books and research that specifically study music in relation to SNCC, looking at general
organizational histories and other civil rights information is also helpful in forming a complete
argument. In his seminal book In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s,
Clayborne Carson discusses and defines SNCC as uniquely radical during the organizations
early years. While he does integrate some musical references, which acknowledges the integral
importance of music to SNCC, he does not specifically analyze the songs.7 Emily Stopers book,
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee: The Growth of Radicalism in a Civil Rights
Organization, is another critical organizational history that integrates primary interviews with
secondary summarization. Her argument, however, does not necessarily address the early history
4 Vanessa Murphree, The Selling of the Civil Rights: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee and the Use of Public Relations (New York: Routledge, 2006), Chapters 1-2.
5 Burton W. Perettt, Lift Every Voice: The History of African American Music (Lanham:
Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), Chapters 5-6.
6 Herb Boyd, We Shall Overcome (Naperville, Sourcebooks, Inc., 2004), Chapters 10-11.
7 Clayborne Carson, In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1995), Chapters 1-2.
4
needed to analyze the importance of music within SNCC.8 Debating the Civil Rights Movement,
1945-1968, by Steven F. Lawson and Charles Payne, helped to synthesize all the information
about the Civil Rights Movement, as well as SNCC.9 Lawson argues for a more nationally based,
federal government controlled understanding of civil rights and desegregation. Payne, however
leans towards the importance of local leadership and grassroots activism. Both are valid
approaches to the Civil Rights Movement, yet cause different historical interpretation,
specifically in understanding the national scene and the local happenings. Due to the localized
nature of Paynes approach, it is far better when discussing music, SNCC, and the Civil Rights
Movement. Songs are usually birthed from the localized black culture, which then greatly affects
the national level. Therefore, analyzing the Civil Rights Movement in relation to grassroots
organizations will help to demonstrate the importance of music on the local culture, which then
affected the overall success of the movement. During the beginnings of the Civil Rights
Movement, specifically the sit-ins, SNCC unconsciously used music at both the local and
national levels. These subtle beginnings of music were apparent in the Southern jails after the sitins, as well as during and after the Freedom Rides, leading to the intentional implementation of
freedom songs during the Albany Movement.
Civil Rights Music: Beginnings and Sit-Ins
We cannot and will not be moved until the orchestra of freedom is sounded and the flat
key of segregation is removed.10
8 Emily Stoper, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee: The Growth of Radicalism in
a Civil Rights Organization (Brooklyn: Carlson Publishing, 1989), Chapters 1-2.
9 Steven F. Lawson and Charles Payne, Debating the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1968
(Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1998).
10 Fulton County Jail, Cell 1-E-2, 1135 Jefferson Street, N.W., Atlanta 18, Georgia to Fellow Students, 23 February
1961, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers. 1959-1972 (Sanford, N.C.: Microfilming Corporation of
America, 1982), microfilm (A: IV: 5, 0533).
5
A wealth of information emerged after the genesis of SNCC at the Raleigh Conference in
North Carolina on April 17, 1960 however the purpose of music in the organization is still
unclear.11 Connections specifically with SNCC, Guy Carawan, and the Highlander Folk School,
however, signify a strong relationship with music. Guy Carawan, a folk musician, worked for
Highlander, but was also endorsed by SNCC and the Student Voice as the music man.12One of
his most important contributions to SNCC was teaching the song We Shall Overcome to the
students at the Raleigh Conference in April of 1960.13 The Student Voice from October of 1960
also correlates this and even promotes the purchase of his sit-in documentary recording: Guy
Carawan, artist of folk music, introduced We Shall Overcome to the students. This great ballad
has become the theme song and Guy, the music man. Recently released by Folkways is the LP
The Nashville Sit-In Story, conceived and directed by Guy with the Nashville students and
ministers. These are the sounds that sweep the South today.14While We Shall Overcome is
documented, along with the role of Guy Carawan, the intent of the music still remains uncertain.
Other early SNCC papers reveal, through a dearth of information, that use of music was
mostly unintentional, from the beginning of SNCC to the Albany Movement. Early Student
Voice publications are surprising silent about the music of the movement. The first edition in
June of 1960 has a Place for Poetry but mentions no songs or music.15 Considering that music,
specifically the anthem We Shall Overcome, was introduced to the SNCC population at the
11 What is SNCC?, Student Voice, article, June 1960, 0Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers,
JUNE 1960, 0001.
12 Music of the Movement, Student Voice, October 1960, Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee Papers, OCT 1960, 0010.
13 Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser, Everybody Says Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
Inc., 2009), 8.
14 Music of the Movement, Student Voice, October 1960, Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee Papers, OCT 1960, 0010.
15 Place for Poetry, Student Voice, June 1960, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Papers, JUNE 1960, 0001.
6
very first meeting, the use of songs as intentional recruiting or mobilizing tactics is highly
unlikely. While the Student Voice does endorse Guy Carawan in the October 1960 edition, music
is only mentioned in a few articles, while the December 1960, January 1961, February 1961, and
June 1962 editions lack song references completely.16 The correspondence of Jane Stembridge
and Edward B. King, the first and second administrative secretaries of SNCC, confirm the lack
of intentional use of song. Starting with correspondence dated on July 13, 1960 and going past
September 12, 1961 there are only two instances when letters were signed using We Shall
Overcome.17The letters, however, were written 9 and 16 months after the original April 1960
convention and only was actually written by a SNCC representative. Marjorie House wrote to
King on January 19, 1961 before the second bout of sit-ins, saying With the month of February
ready to descend let me wish you all many successes and victories. Make it good, make it big
and keep moving. Maybe some day we will be saying We have over come.18 The only other
intentional musical reference in the early secretary files is a letter from King to Frank Stanley, Jr.
in reference to voter registration. Our Voter Registration Projectshave us behind the eight
ball; and extra staff members also take extra monies to operate on. Oh well, We Shall Over
Come Some Day!19These letters and correspondence from the early years of SNCC, combined
with the Student Voice publications, suggest that songs were not generally used consciously as a
tactic by SNCC.
16 Student Voice, June 1960-October 1963, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers,
JUNE 1960, 0001-OCT 1963, 0054.
17 Jane Stembridge and Edward King, 1959-1961., Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Papers, A: IV: 1, 0094-A: IV: 5, 0790.
18 Marjorie House to Mr. [Edward] King, 19 January 1961, Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee Papers, A: IV: 5, 0464.
19 Edward B. King, Jr. to Frank Stanley, Jr., 3 August 1961, Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee Papers, A: IV: 5, 0764.
7
While SNCC as a formal organization might not have intentionally manipulated music,
evidence from the early protests suggest that local members might have felt a strong connection
each other through music. Right after the foundation of SNCC in April of 1960, activist C.T.
Vivian recalled a protest in Nashville, Tennessee after the bombing of Z. Alexander Loobys
house.20 We filled Jefferson Avenue: its a long, long way down Jefferson. After a while there
was a certain bit of singing, and as we came closer to town, it was merely the silence of the
feet.21Besides this protest experience, Guy Carawan also recalls attempting to use music for
protest, specifically the sit-ins. I remember, we were at a meeting and song-swap at Highlander
when Ernie Martin suggested that Im Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table would make a great
lunch-counter song. All we had to do was change a few words. So right then and there, we all
changed it. People testing out verses, throwing them in.22This unity of action through song is
also enumerated by Jonathan Schwarts of Brandeis University in a letter to the Student Voice in
August of 1960: Your action has given you a taste of freedom. You have sung in unison We are
not afraid, Your voices have been heard. When people act together in a common cause, they
become living men and women.23 Schwarts eloquently enumerates the local, personalized
experiences of the early protests and their relation to song.
20 C.T. Vivian, Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement From the
1990), 53-71.
1990), 65.
22 Guy Carawan, Everybody Says Freedom, edd. Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser (New York: W.W.
Norton & Company, Inc., 2009), 29.
23 Jonathan Schwarts, An Open Letter to SNCC from a Member of EPIC, Student
Organization from Boston and New England, Student Voice, August 1960, Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee Papers, AUG 1960, 0006.
8
Music also played an important role in the jails after the sit-ins and protests, effectively
connecting the activists to each other. Candie Carawan, married to SNCCs music man Guy
Carawan, recalls her experience about getting arrested for being involved with the sit-ins:
The worst thing was that in jail the isolated the two white women. All the other women
were together in one cell. It was really wrenching! The only connection we had with the
others was the music-we could hear the women in one cell and the men in the other cell
exchanging jokes and swapping songs, making up verses. Then they called down to us
and shouted, Hey dont you know any songs? It was a lifeline.24
A CORE pamphlet collected by SNCC tells the similar story of Thomas Gaither, who was
arrested and jailed for 30 days at York County due to sitting-in at Mc-Crorys lunch counter in
Rock Hill, South Carolina.25 In the section Arrest and Trial he writes We were first searched
and then locked in cells. We started singing freedom songs and spirituals.26 In Solitary Gaither
further explains how the activists effectively used music in the jails:
The periodic shouting, cursing and other loud noisesdid not bother the officials.
However, for several days they had objected to our singing hymns at the morning
devotional services which we had initiated. One line that particularly irritated them was
Before Ill be a slave, Ill be buried in my grave. No sooner would we start to sing, than
a guard would order us to cut out that damned fuss! Of course, we refused and simply
kept on singing. When this happened on February 7, Captain Maloney, the prison
superintendent, put us in solitary.27
The effectiveness of songs while in jail, to unite activists and keep the protest alive, was
implemented by the individuals, not organizational SNCC. In the McComb prison, music also
served those purposes with Tom Hayden and the other activists jailed for their desegregation
24 Candie Carawan, Profile: Guy and Candie Carawan, Everybody Says Freedom, edd. Pete
Seeger and Bob Reiser (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009), 38.
25 Thomas Gaither, Jailed-In, pamphlet, ed. Jim Peck (New York: League for Industrial
Democracy, 1961), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: IV: 3, 0150-58.
Democracy, 1961), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: IV: 3, 0154.
Democracy, 1961), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: IV: 3, 0155.
9
activities. Later on Hollis will lead out with a clear tenor into a freedom song; Talbert and
Lewis will supply joke; and McDew will discourse on the history of the black man and the
Jew.28 A letter from Fulton County Jail, Cell 1-E-2 to Fellow Students on February 23, 1961
further shows the importance of music while in jails through exceptional musical puns and
analogies appealing to the general public:
We cannot and will not be moved until the orchestra of freedom is sounded and the flat
key of segregation is removed. We can hear the horns of segregation blowing an off key
tune, join me, join me. We can hear Frank Cummings, Adophus Campbell, Wilbert
Dixon, and Alton Stevens playing, One Day We Shall Walk Together Hand In Hand on
their freedom clarinets. And in the distance we can hear the other seventy-six members of
the orchestra of freedom joining them in that masterpiece of Gods, WE SHALL
OVERCOME. You brave men and women playing the tune that brave men in the past
have lived and died for, that is the melody of freedom. Your cellmates and other members
of the orchestra shall stay in this music hall of segregation playing the master piece, WE
SHALL OVERCOME; until we, you, and the whole world can make up one great
orchestra representing the musical composition of God, that all men are brothers. So until
that great day when we all can be together, we leave you in Gods hands that you may
teach others to take up the instruments and join Gods Orchestra For Freedom:
YOUR FELLOWS IN THE ORCHESTRA OF FREEDOM29
These experiences in jail after the sit-ins show the integral role of music in connecting the
protesters to each other and further uniting them in their common cause.
Freedom Riders
Its not the mattress, its your soul30
Protests after the sit-ins, specifically the Freedom Rides and subsequent imprisonment of
the Riders, was essentially the springboard for the mobilization of music within SNCC during
28 Tom Hayden, Revolution in Mississippi, Black Protest: History, Documents, and Analyses,
1619 to the Present, ed. Joanne Grant (New York: Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1968), 303.
29 Letter from Fulton County Jail, Cell 1-E-2 to Fellow Students, 23 February 1961, Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: IV: 5, 0533.
1990), 94-5.
10
the Civil Rights Movement, due to the fact that many different civil rights organizations were
involved with the Rides. From May of 1961 to about mid-1962, music helped revitalize the
Freedom Riders, creating a unified community. This was partially done through borrowing old
folk and gospel tunes, which were then modified to reflect the changing times. After the Freedom
Rides, when a number of Riders were jailed, freedom music was commonly equated with the
souls of those imprisoned. Also, the songs lightened a dark situation while promoting
resistance. Therefore, the imprisonment of the Freedom Riders, and the actual Rides, helped
music to be more realized as a possible vehicle for civil rights.
Song helped activists on the actual Freedom Rides create a unified community in the face
of considerable backlash. James Farmer recalls the Freedom Ride to Mississippi as the Riders
reached the city of Jackson: As we got to the suburbs of Jackson, one of the Freedom Riders
broke into song, and this was as it had to be.31 In the book Everybody Says Freedom, James
Farmer further explains the situation to the editor Pete Seeger, notable civil rights musician:
Our hearts jumped to our mouth. The Mississippi National Guard flanked the highway,
their guns pointed toward the forest on both sides of the road. One of the riders broke out
singing, and we all picked it up. I remember the words:
Im taking a ride on the Greyhound bus line
Im riding the front seat to Jackson this time
Hallelujah Im a-traveling
Hallelujah aint it fine
Hallelujah Im a-traveling
Down freedoms main line.32
1950s Through the 1980s, edd. Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer (New York: Bantam Books,
1990), 93.
32 James Farmer, Everybody Says Freedom, edd. Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser (New York: W.W.
11
In yet another book, James Farmer continues this narration by saying All the Freedom Riders
picked up the chorus, then we pulled into Jackson itself.33 Group singing and music due to the
Freedom Rides is also outlined by musician and Rider Bernard LaFayette when his bus reached
Birmingham, Alabama with the Freedom Ride: But now we were trapped, nowhere to go. Our
only hope was to stay together. We joined hands in a circle and started singing We Shall
Overcome. The song has different meanings at different timesin that bus station it was a prayer
a song of hope that we would survive and that even if we in that group did not survive, then
we as a people would overcome.34 Music helped create a unified community through the
troubling violent experiences of the Freedom Rides. Lucretia Collins, another Rider, tells of
being arrested after reaching Birmingham, but then persevering after being released and riding
further. But anyway, the next bus, the next bus, we caught. And it was a very strange thing.
(LOW VOICE) Because we stood there. and prayed. And we sang. And it was so meaningful.
And the next bus, we caught it.35 Further in her interview, Collins talks about being unjustly
trapped for their own protection by the police in a church: So there we were. We decided that
the best thing to do would be to make the best of it since we were here. So we sang and the
fellowship grew stronger and stronger, person to person to person.36 Stuart H. Loory, a reporter
for the New York Herald Tribune, tailed Lucretia Collins group of Freedom Riders and wrote
about the experience. Before the bus left Birmingham, Mr. Zwerg and two white girls had sat
33 James Farmer, Sticks and Bricks, Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights
Movement From the 1950s Through the 1980s, edd. Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer (New
York: Bantam Books, 1990), 93.
34 Bernard LaFayette, Everybody Says Freedom, edd. Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser (New York:
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009), 55.
35 Lucretia Collins, interview by [James] Forman, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Papers, A: VIII: 228, 1150.
12
with the Negros for eighteen hours waiting to board a bus to Montgomery. Two hours before the
bus pulled out, they gathered on the platform and sang Negro spirituals and hymns. Mr. Zwerg
sang a solo part in Oh Lord, keep your eyes on the prize.37 Spirituals and hymns, as Mr.
Loory writes, were used by the Riders as a way to unify and create a cohesive, spirited
community.
Through this community, revitalizing old tunes became a method of promoting the Civil
Rights Movement. Readers of the New York Herald Tribune are witness to this phenomenon
through Stuart Loorys article.38 This is also similar to James Formans experience with
Hallelujah, Im A-Travelin.39 Musician Pete Seeger, in his book Everybody Says Freedom,
notates a number of traditional songs changed in order to relate to the Freedom Rides, including
Dog, Dog, Im on My Way, Hallelujah, Im A-Traveling, and Which Side Are You On?40
In reference to the last song, Seeger even notes that In 1961 one of the most exciting
reincarnations came with the verses written by James Farmer and the freedom riders.41 Bernard
LaFayettes experience with We Shall Overcome was also a very common example of
recycling traditional music, adding a new, civil rights driven, meaning. James Farmer and the
jailed Freedom Riders at Hinds County sang new versions of old folk and gospel songs such as
37 Stuart H. Loory, Reporter Tails Freedom Bus, Caught in Riot, New York Herald Tribune,
May 21, 1961, in Black Protest: History, Documents, and Analyses, 1619 to the Present, ed.
Joanne Grant (New York: Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1968), 321.
38 Stuart H. Loory, Reporter Tails Freedom Bus, Caught in Riot, New York Herald Tribune,
May 21, 1961, in Black Protest: History, Documents, and Analyses, 1619 to the Present, ed.
Joanne Grant (New York: Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1968).
1990), 93.
40 1961: The Freedom Rides, Everybody Says Freedom, edd. Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser
(New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009), 43-69.
41 Pete Seeger, Everybody Says Freedom, edd. Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser (New York: W.W.
13
We Shall Overcome Someday.42 William Mahoney, yet another jailed Freedom Rider, also
writes about specific spirituals and traditional music revitalized while in prison. His notes
include Im Going to Tell God How You Treat Me, Day Oh, and We Will Meet Again.43
Specifically, he recounts the changed lyrics for Day Oh to reflect current events:
Freedom, Freedom/Freedom come and I gonna go home.
I took a trip down Mississippi way (Hey)
Freedom come and I gonna go home.
Met much violence on Mothers Day (Hey)
Freedom come and I gonna go home44
Mahoney, along with Farmer, LaFayette, Seeger, and Loory, experienced the promotion of Civil
Rights Movement through music. Specifically, the mode of passage was through traditional
gospel and folks songs that were manipulated to reflect the current events and trends of the Civil
Rights Movement.
While the revitalization of old music was important, more significant was the ability of
freedom music to sustain the activists while in prison. After getting arrested, the Atlanta
Constitution reported on February 28, 196c in the article 15 Negroes Arrested On Macon City
Buses that the Negroes sang hymns in jail while awaiting fingerprinting and photographing.45
Cordell Reagon, in talking about his experience at Hinds, also has a very similar message. We
were in the Hinds County jail, and we were fasting and singing all the time. We were in separate
42 The Congress of Racial Equality, Documentary History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement,
ed. Peter B. Levy (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992), 82.
43 William Mahoney, In Pursuit of Freedom, Liberation, September 1961, Documentary
History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement, ed. Peter B. Levy (Westport, CT: Greenwood
Press, 1992), 80-1.
44 William Mahoney, In Pursuit of Freedom, Liberation, September 1961, Documentary
History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement, ed. Peter B. Levy (Westport, CT: Greenwood
Press, 1992), 81.
45 15 Negroes Arrested On Macon City Buses, Atlanta Constitution, 28 February 1961,
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: XV: 51, 0711.
14
cells, but we could sing to each other so it wasnt bad.46The element of music, related by
Cordell Reagon, is also an aspect of James Farmers reflection on Hinds and the inspiration and
timing for the Freedom Rider version of the traditional song Which Side Are You On? While
I was in the Hinds County jail, myself and some of the freedom riders were speculating about the
attitude of the local Negroes. We learned through the trustees at the jail that most local Negroes
were with us, but afraid to do anything because of fear of reprisalsThats when I rewrote the
old labor song Which Side Are You On? right there on the spur of the moment.47 Lurcretia
Collins, in her interview with Forman about the Freedom Rides, also talks about the significant
role of music in sustaining and encouraging the Riders. So we got into the wagon, pleasantly.
And went to jail. Of course, we sang all the way...And it caused quite a sensation as we were
going through townAnd of course, this gave us even more determination.48 During and after
jail, however, the significance of the freedom music changed dramatically and their importance
increased tenfold:
Weve been here..and it just seeded all the blood was just drained from you or something.
And we began to sing. And I dont think that song ever had so much meaningWe Shall
Overcome. And I dont think it has ever had so much meaning, to it. Because this was
really felt after waiting all that time andyou know, we were refused. It was like a
promise of something big, you know. And then after you wait so much time, you cant get
it. It was veryit was just hardlywell, we had really a littlw worship right there on the
zone. And the young man prayed. We read scripture. It was a beautiful thing! It was
unlike any of the other devotional period we had had.49
46 Cordell Reagon, Everybody Says Freedom, edd. Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser (New York: W.
W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009), 61.
47 James Farmer, Everybody Says Freedom, edd. Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser (New York: W.W.
15
C.T. Vivian, after the release of the Freedom Riders from Parchman, witnessed as much. The
feeling of people coming out of the jail was one that they had triumphed, that they had achieved,
that they were now ready, they could go back home, they could be a witness to a new
understanding.50The energy and spirit revived in the Freedom Riders during and after being
thrown in jail correlates with the presence of freedom songs, which ultimately sustained them
through imprisonment.
While music sustained the Freedom Riders, by equating their songs with their souls, the
activists were able to further their resistance behind bars. C.T. Vivians witness of the released
prisoners is an example of this spirit and soul.51 Parchman Penitentiary, where the phrase Its not
the mattress, its your soul was coined, is a very obvious instance.52SNCC notes from the
Freedom Rides, while not using the exact wording, insinuate similar feelings. Hunger strike,
withholding of traysMorale was high at the outset, Took mattresses for singing=Steel floors
with holes in it.53While the notes dont specifically say that the high morale relates to the
singing, it is highly unlikely that the high spirits are due to the hunger strike or the steel floor. In
Mississippi, CORE activist William Mahoney had a similar empowering experience with
mattresses and prison guards: Another time when the Riders sang too loud for the guards, six of
them were dragged down the hall with wrist-breakers (clamps tightened upon their wrists) and
1990), 96.
1990), 96.
1990), 94-5.
53 Notes, Freedom Rides (July 29, 1961), n.d., Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
16
thrown into dark six-by-six boxes for a couple of days. As the spunky fellows were being taken
to solitary they sang, Im Going to Tell God How You Treat Me.54The spirit and spunk of the
jailed activists was helped significantly by the freedom songs used to resist prison.
The Freedom Riders and the jail time they served allowed for revitalization of the Civil
Rights Movement specifically through song. This unified community that developed revitalized
old, traditional music which enabled the desegregation to spread. Also, song allowed for the
Freedom Riders protest to be sustained while in prison, promoting further resistance. Guy
Carawans experience with the Freedom Rides and the imprisonment of activists summarizes the
importance of these events and the spread and vitalization of music within the movement. I
think the freedom rides gave the biggest boost there was to the spread of freedom songsthey
held meetings and strategy sessions and religious services, and they sangthe Nashville students
sang their songs, and the North Carolina people and the Washington people and the New York
people, and the CORE people and the SNCC people.55This community of activists, essentially
forced together through prison, created a unified purpose for music through the revitalization of
traditional songs.
The Albany Movement
So the Albany Movement was sort of a spontaneous thing.56
Andrew Young, civil rights activists and member of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) endorses the culture of the Albany Movement in one powerful statement:
The strength was that I dont know that there were any more powerful and beautiful people.
54 William Mahoney, Documentary History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement, ed. Peter B.
Levy (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992), 81.
56 William G. Anderson, Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement
From the 1950s Through the 1980s, ed. Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer (New York: Bantam
Books, 1990), 100.
17
Albany was one of those areas where blacks seemed to be still intact culturally. The singing, the
folklore, had a kind of indigenous power to it that meant you couldnt walk away from Albany,
Georgia.57The power of these people and their action made a notable impact on the Civil Rights
Movement, but specifically SNCC. A unique, genuine identity was created through the music and
culture of the Albany Movement. Music as a reflection of values could also be seen in the
attitudes of the imprisoned and the atmosphere of the jails used in the Albany Movement.
Likewise, the music and the freedom songs created a unique vehicle to mobilize and unite
activists, and it was through these actions that song started to play the role of tactic, versus
unconscious noise. This nuanced shift is reflected in the adoption of music by some Southern
whites. Indeed, the power of the people involved with the Albany Movement can be seen as
directly linked to the role of freedom music as a mobilizing tactic, a new development to the area
due in part to the localized black culture and strength of relationships.
The Albany Movement mostly relied on the locals, who were not trained activists, which
created a unique atmosphere prime for the implementation of music. When interviewed by Henry
Hampton for his book that compiled the voices of freedom, William G. Anderson, essentially
the president of the Albany Movement said we all recognized that we had no experience in
what we were doing. We had never been involved in mass demonstrations, mass arreststhis
was not a select group. These were common, ordinary, everyday people58 It was this localized
effort, however, that also made SNCC most successful. An Albany Office press release from July
17 states as much. The shortage of activists here has caused the Student Nonviolent
57 Andrew Young, Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement From the
1990), 113.
58 William G. Anderson, Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement
Books, 1990), 103.
18
Coordinating Committee here to change its tactics.59Howard Zinn, in his report on Albany,
specifically talks about this novel technique as coming from the outside, set up
headquarters in the community, and worked so closely with local people that after a while they
were, as one Albany Negro put it, completely integrated with the Negroes of that city.60
Attempting to work in cohesive homogeneity with the local people is essentially one of the
unique characteristics of the Albany Movement, especially since there were a number of nonactivists involved.
This localized effort is where culture, while obviously important to any community,
played a vital role in the instigation of music as a tactic within the Albany Movement. Bernice
Johnson Reagon found music as a powerful tool for groups within the Albany Movement and as
an important link to culture:
The mass meetings had a level of music that we could recognize from other times in our
lives. And that level of expression, that level of cultural power present in an everyday
situation, gave a more practical or functional meaning to the musicThe music was a
group statement. If you look at the music and the words that came out of the Movement,
you will find the analysis that the masses had about what they were doing.61
Reagons explanation of the function of music within the Albany Movement shows how the
cultural power gave way to a utilitarian purpose to music. Guy Carawan, active in SNCC and the
Albany Movement, has a similar observation: The music became a part of everythingyou
couldnt tell who was singer and who was an organizer, because the organizers sang and the
singers organizedThis is a culture where everybody sings.62 Music as a part of the culture,
specifically in Albany, helped to spread songs and promote their importance with the movement.
59 Albany Office Press Release, 17 July, 2, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, A: VIII: 102, 0327.
60 Howard Zinn, Albany, 8 January 1962, 35, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, A: VIII: 102, 0317.
61 Bernice Reagon, Documentary History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement, ed. Peter B.
Levy (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992), 98.
19
The localized black culture that perpetuated freedom songs was also responsible for the
creation of a unified identity for the Albany Movement that critically involved music. This can
clearly be seen in the Albany Movement, where Bernice Reagon recognized power through
music:
Singing is different than talking, because no matter what they do, they would have to kill
me to stop me from singingAnd you would just know that your word is being heard.
There was a real sense of platformness and clearly empowerment, and it was like just
saying, Put me in jail, thats not an issue of power. My freedom has nothing to do with
putting me in jail. And so there was this joy.63
Reagon emphasizes the unity of the Albany Movement through music. In a similar report by
Cordell Reagon and Charles Sherrod, the unified identity of the community through music is
emphasized in group singing. They write: And when we rose to sing We Shall Overcome,
nobody could imagine what kept the top of the church on four corners. It was as if everyone had
been lifted up on high and had been granted voices to sing with the celestial chours in another
time and in another place.64 Everyone singing together in a heavenly choir subtly emphasizes
the unity of the Albany Movement through music. The passage continues, furthering the
understanding of solidification through group singing:
But when I momentarily opened my eyes something good happened to me. I saw
standing beside a dentist of the city, a man of the streets singing and smiling with joyful
tears in his eyes and beside him a mailman with whom I had become acquainted along
with people from all walks of life. It was then that I felt deep down within where it really
counts, a warm feeling and all I could do was laugh out loud in the swelling of the
singing.65
63 Bernice Johnson Reagon, Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement
Books, 1990), 108.
64 Cordell Reagon and Charles Sherrod, Introduction, n.d., The Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee Papers, A: XV: 31, 0309.
20
This unique identity of unity through music can be seen in the activists, as well as the Albany
community, enhancing the integral role of freedom songs.
While the identity of the Albany Movement might have drawn the attention of the
community, music mobilized activists. This connection between protest and music is articulated
in an article for The Atlanta Journal and Constitution written by Pat Watters. In Were Not
Afraid: Albany Negroes March to Arrest this spirit and unification is seen clearly: It was
afternoon and the crowd had been there all day, hearing leaders exhort them and lead them in
prayers that would suddenly become chanting audience-response songs, and lifting voices in
their battle-hymns: We are not afraid Everybody says freedom Policemens on my track,
but I wont turn back66 An article by Bruce Galphin for the Atlanta Constitution also cites a
similar incident: Albany faced another day of racial conflict Thursday as Negroes voted to
continue their hymn-singing anti-segregation marches on City HallWednesdays
demonstrations started at 9:52 a.m. when 76 Negroes knelt and sang hymns in front of City Hall.
The first demonstration ended when its leader was cited for contempt of court.67 Guy Carawan,
in recollecting the use of We Shall Overcome in the Albany Movement, says: A nationally
televised CBS documentary showed spirited students rhythmically clapping and singing Aint
gonna let Chief Pritchett turn me round while the policemen picked them up, two to a student,
and carried them into the paddy wagons.68 These protests show how song promoted activism
and rebellion even when the movement itself faced turmoil.
66 Pat Watters, Were Not Afraid: Albany Negroes March to Arrest, The Atlanta Journal and
Constitution, 17 December 1961, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A:
XV: 51, 0706.
67 Bruce Galphin, Negroes Vote New Marches After Albany Jails 204 More, The Atlanta
Constitution, 14 December 1961, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: XV:
51, 0705.
21
This protest led to numerous activists being jailed, but this imprisoned community was
simply reenergized through song. Music as effectively and infectiously promoting civil rights can
be seen clearly in the jail time during and after the Albany Movement. Bernice Reagon, in an
interview about her jail experiences in 1979, emphasizes how the music of Albany radically
changed her experience in prison: One song that started to be sung in Albany was, Aint gonna
let nobody turn me roundSinging voiced the basic position of the movement, of taking action
on your life69 This joy and power of song as portrayed by Reagon highlights the important
role music played while activists were unjustly imprisoned. They were able to take some
semblance of action while completely oppressed and controlled by the local government. This
attempt at protest while being thoroughly quashed by law enforcement is seen in an early article
from The Atlanta Constitution. As Albany protesters were being arrested, they began singing as
a group of about 50 persons shouted at them.70This tactic of music effectively solidified the
community that developed due to the Southern jail system. A report from Cordell Reagon and
Charles Sherrod contains a similar message. The role of music develops as important in
continuing the spirit of the movement. While in prison, some activists were told: Therell be no
singing and prayingyou can pray to yourselfyou loose all your rights and privileges here.71
However, those in prison ...sang through this crisis and voices were raised in prayer to the
Almighty God daily.72 This shows the importance of music as continuing protest while in jail
and keeping the spirit of the movement intact.
69 Bernice Reagon, Documentary History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement, ed. Peter B.
Levy (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992), 98-99.
70 11 Jailed at Albany In Integration Bid, The Atlanta Constitution, 11 December 1961, The
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: XV: 51, 0703.
22
The vitality of music and freedom songs in the Albany Movement can be seen through
the white adoption of the tactic. As early as November of 1960, freedom songs influenced the
white population: The La. White Citizens Council wants to impeach Judge Wrightand the
younger sympathizers to white supremacy sing Glory Glory Segregation.73 During and after
the Albany Movement, however, music was used by both white civil rights activists and
segregationists. The article Albany Negroes Press Protests, published on December 14 of 1961
focuses on the activists and their protest but also mentions a rather unique situation: During the
period before the mayor spoke, police arrested a stout white man who walked past a group of
kneeling Negroes, suddenly raised clenched fists over his head and began singing Dixie.74
Later identified as Carl Cone, his implementation of the Confederate national anthem could be
considered instigated by the activists protesting the City Hall by kneeling and singing hymns.75In
an article for the Atlanta Constitution, music is reported as an unsettling tactic when used in
conjunction with race: While the lawmen and disturbed citizens looked on, the Negroes and
two white youths joined hands and began singing We Shall Overcome.76 While this event
happened in Sasser, Georgia, this part of the article was placed under the subheading Ties It To
Albany, most certainly due to the use of music.77 The adoption of music by white activists and
segregationists alike reflects the critical importance of song, especially during but also after the
Albany Movement.
73 Louisiana, Student Voice, November 1960, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee Papers, NOV 1960, 0013.
74 Albany Negroes Press Protests, clipping, 14 December 1961, The Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee Papers, A:XV: 51, 0704.
75 Albany Negroes Press Protests, clipping, 14 December 1961, The Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee Papers, A:XV: 51, 0704.
76 Sheriff Invades Negro Rally At Sasser, Says Hes Fed Up, Atlanta Constitution, 27 July
1962, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: VIII: 115, 0829.
77 Sheriff Invades Negro Rally At Sasser, Says Hes Fed Up, Atlanta Constitution, 27 July
1962, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: VIII: 115, 0829.
23
Beyond Albany
We are not afraid, the women sang.78
Music served a more utilitarian purpose after the Albany Movement. SNCC specifically
saw a rise in the function of freedom music in their organization. Student protests and reports of
those events showed more prevalent references to music. More importantly, however, the
fundraising aspect of music increased dramatically, allowing for groups like the Freedom Singers
to raise contributions in order to keep SNCC functioning. These things combined reflect the
implementation of music as a tactic within the Civil Rights Movement, as well as lay the
groundwork for the continuation of the musical tradition.
After the Albany Movement, SNCC, as well as the general population, seemed more
cognizant of the role of the freedom songs as reflected in documentation. The importance of
culture and its representation through music, which then connects to the individual, was
recognized. In SNCC notes on the Freedom Schools, which were put into effect after the Albany
Movement, music was a good way to connect people and their experiences. Art, music, drama
can all be related to peoples lives.79 Further in the document, Music Class is explained: Why
are many young white (especially those close to the Movement) interested in folk music and
young Negro people like rhythm and blues? Dont need psychiatrists to discuss that. It may be a
good way to get students to open up.80 After these notes, a number of freedom song lyrics are
noted, including Keep Your Eyes on the Prize, The Birmingham Song, Well Never Turn
Back, We Shall Not Be Moved, Aint Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round, Woke Up This
Morning With My Mind On Freedom, Which Side Are You On, This Little Light Of Mine,
78 Pat Watters, Were Not Afraid: Albany Negroes March to Arrest, The Atlanta Journal and
Constitution, 17 December 1961, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A:
XV: 51, 0706.
79 Freedom Schools, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: VIII: 229, 1161.
80 Freedom Schools, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: VIII: 229, 1162.
24
We Shall Overcome, Oh Freedom, Im On My Way To The Freedom Land, and If You
Miss Me From The Back Of The Bus.81These songs, while containing important information,
are more significant in context, due to the fact that the record of these songs exist. Since SNCC
collected these songs into documents, this denotes their cultural importance, specifically their
representation of the local people and the civil rights community.
SNCC records indicate the presence of freedom songs, but the Student Voice also
documents more musical references in protest around this time. In December of 1962, a
photograph by Bob Zellner made the front page of the newspaper, and the caption read: On
right, after attempts to desegregate 12 restaurants, 150 students walk through downtown
Nashville singing We Shall Overcome.82 Also in the same issue, in the article 200 Students at
SNCC Institute Plan and Demonstrate in Nashville, the Student Voice reports: Students were
refused in all restaurants tested. After the demonstrations ended, all 150 marched to the First
Baptist Church through the streets of downtown Nashville singing We Shall Overcome, Later
the group marched silently to the Davidson Country jail where they sang and prayed on the
streets of Talbert, imprisoned inside.83 In a later issue, the Student Voice also reports In
Americus, Georgia: Police Smash Demonstrators, Four Face Death Penalty, that: The 250,
mostly teenagers, strode one block to Cotton Avenue and, standing in front of a colored caf,
began singing We Shall Overcome. During the singing eighteen policemen, the city marshall,
the sheriff and two state patrolmen showed up, one young Negro said. They tried to surround
81 Freedom Songs, n.d., Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, 12, A: VIII: 230,
1163-1168.
82 Student Voice, 19 December 1962, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers,
DEC 1962, 0044.
83 200 Students at SNCC Institute Plan and Demonstrate in Nashville, Student Voice, 19
December 1962, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, DEC 1962, 0044-5.
25
us, but we surrounded them in the middle of the street.84 The interview of the young Negro
continues under the subheading Police Shoot, Slug; Arrest Five: So they pulled their guns
and started shooting in the air. They tried to tell us to disperse, but we just kept on singing. They
started shooting, but nobody moved, he said.85 Besides the powerful testament to music within
the Student Voice, the SNCC staff meetings also reflect an almost imperceptible shift in
procedure: The motion to adjourn the meeting was carried at 11:30 p.m. It closed with the
singing of We Shall Overcome, and prayer by our new chairman, Mr. John Lewis.86 These
instances of song, especially in relation to the staff meetings, are noticeably absent in record
before the Albany Movement.87The first time a freedom song was even referenced within staff
papers was in a memorandum from the office to all staff personnel, saying KEEP Up the Good
work. We shall Overcome.88Albany, therefore, did have a notable impact on the documentation
of music within SNCC and the Civil Rights Movement.
Besides the prevalence of and specific references to freedom songs, music garnered a critical role
within SNCC as a tool for fundraising. From October of 1962 to April of 1963, Freedom in the
Air, was sold through the Student Voice in order to help fund SNCC.89These documentary
recordings contained the story of Albany, Georgia in the voices and songs of the participants
84 In Americus, Georgia: Police Smash Demonstrators, Four Face Death Penalty, Student
Voice, 1963 October, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, OCT 1963, 0054.
85 In Americus, Georgia: Police Smash Demonstrators, Four Face Death Penalty, Student
Voice, 1963 October, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, OCT 1963, 0054.
86 Minutes of Executive Committee, 14-15 June 1963, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee Papers, A: III: 1, 0813-4.
87 The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, A: III: 1, 0752-0814.
88The Office to All Staff Personnel, Memorandum Number 1, 10 November 1961, The
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: III: 1, 0797.
89Student Voice, October 1962-April 1963, OCT 1962 0042, DEC 1962 0045, APR 1963 0048.
26
themselves.90 The December 1962 issue of the Student Voice contains an order form for
Freedom in the Air, and sells it as:
Powerful and exhilarating, says the November 28th issue of the Reporter magazine of
FREEDOM IN THE AIR, a SNCC-produced documentary album of the Albany
Movementtold in on-the-spot tapes in the words and songs which made this movement
internationally famous. Reviews throughout the country indicate that this, as the New
York Times says, is the most effective documentary recording to grow out of the
integration movement.91
Likewise, the following publication from the Student Voice carries a similar message, by quoting
a review: It (FREEDOM IN THE AIR) is a documentary, which means there are repetitions,
and voices are mixed in with the music, but its materials are rich with immediacy and danger.92
The article/advertisement also quotes James Forman as saying FREEDOM IN THE AIR is not
only a recordit is the means by which we are able to raise funds independently to support our
50 part-and full-time staff members.93 This plea from the SNCC executive secretary during the
Albany Movement shows the importance of songs in order to raise money to support their
programs and activists in Georgia.
Besides Freedom in the Air, a group called the Freedom Singers developed as a result of the
Albany Movement. The Student Voice, in their December 1962 publication, announced in the
article Freedom Singers Debut, To Appear at Feb. 1 Fete the genesis of this subgroup of
SNCC. THE FREEDOM SINGERS, a newly organized group of SNCC field secretaries, are
90 More Than A Documentary: Freedom In The Air An Inspiring Album, Says Chronicle,
Student Voice, October 1962, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, OCT
1962, 0042.
91 Freedom in the Air: Albany, Georgia, Student Voice, 19 December 1962, The Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, DEC 1962, 0045.
92 Freedom In The Air Rich With Immediacy, Says Harpers, Student Voice, April 1963, The
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, APR 1963, 0048.
93 Freedom In The Air Rich With Immediacy, Says Harpers, Student Voice, April 1963, The
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, APR 1963, 0048.
27
shown above at a reception at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Ga.94The article further extolls
the group by saying that they slated to appear with several top stars at a SNCC benefit on
February 1, 1963 at New Yorks Carnegie Hall to commemorate the third anniversary of the sitin movement.95Besides the Student Voice, SNCC notes also make mention of the Freedom
Singers, and while a number of the references include paying the singers cash for their
engagements, reference to their engagements were noted. Freedom Singers > organized in
Chicago_______. Small gatherings-club meetings, etc. 96 Besides these rather opaque notes,
explicit references and performance requests can be found in letters to SNCC, like the
correspondence from Lynn Pfuhl, the secretary for the Louisville, Kentucky Student Nonviolent
Action Committee: arranging a performance of the Freedom Singers here in Louisville.97 This
letter was originally addressed to Julian Bond, the current administrative assistant of SNCC, who
replied In reference to the Freedom Singers, we should be most happy to have them appear in
Louisville and promptly connected Lynn Pfuhl and Bernice Johnson in order to arrange the
appearance.98 Besides these letters, copies of programs from the Freedom Singer performances
could also be found in the SNCC files, noting that The quartet will sing freedom songs
emerging from southern jails, from sit-ins and freedom rides, from mass meetings and prayer
vigils. Admission is free. An offering will be taken for the work of the Student Nonviolent
94 Freedom Singers Debut, To Appear at Feb. 1 Fete, Student Voice, 19 December 1962, The
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, DEC 1962, 0045.
95 Freedom Singers Debut, To Appear at Feb. 1 Fete, Student Voice, 19 December 1962, The
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, DEC 1962, 0045.
96 Notes, n.d., The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: III: 2, 0043-0054.
97 Lynn Pfuhl to Bernice Johnson [8 December 1962], The Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee Papers, B: I: 158, 0340.
98 Horace Julian Bond to Lynn Pfuhl, 13 December 1962, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee Papers, B: 1: 158, 0339.
28
Coordinating Committee, which has been spearheading voter registration in the deep south.99
Likewise, Matt Jones, another musician associated with SNCC and the Civil Rights Movement,
noted It turned out to be one of our best fundraisers in reference to the Freedom Singers and
their concerts.100 The Freedom Singers, a group that developed during the Albany Movement and
in its aftermath, not only spread freedom songs but simultaneously raised funds for SNCC to
continue their programs, specifically voter registration.
The Albany Movement stretched beyond the town, influencing other civil rights
struggles. Charles Sherrod, in a field report about Dawson in February of 1962, wrote They are
therefore in contact with the movement: Our theory concerning the influence of direct action in
Albany on the participation in the movement in this county or the surrounding counties, is
working again. People continue to ask about Albany and what is the situation there.101 SNCC
members in Sasser, Georgia also had a similar experience with Albany directly affecting their
work. The New York Times reported this July 27th, 1962 in an article titled Sheriff Harasses
Negroes At Voting Rally in Georgia.102 Journalist Claude Sitton reported Sheriff Mathews said
the racial crisis is nearAlbany also had aroused local whites and had brought the agitators to
Sasser.103 The New York Times made similar, yet musical observations about the same event,
reporting the activists as singing Pass Me Not, Oh Gentle Saviour as well as We Are Climbing
99 Sing For Freedom, 23 February 1963, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Papers, B: 1: 158, 0342.
100 Matt Jones, Everybody Says Freedom, edd. Pete Seeger and Bob Reiser (New York: W.W.
101 Charles Sherrod, Field Report, February 1962, 5, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A:
VIII: 116, 0839.
102 Claude Sitton, Sheriff Harasses Negroes At Voting Rally in Georgia, clipping, The New York Times, 27 July
1962, 2, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: VIII: 115, 0830-1.
1962, 2, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: VIII: 115, 0830.
29
Jacobs Ladder.104The fact that these songs are noteworthy enough for reporters to record
shows the impact of music, but specifically the role of the Albany Movement and SNCC.
Without both, it is clear that the Civil Rights Movement, especially in Georgia, would have
developed differently.
Music helped mobilize activists, specifically SNCC members, during the early workings
of the Civil Rights Movement, like the sit-ins. The later Freedom Rides, however, were the
springboard for music to be implemented throughout the music when the Riders were jailed in
mid-1961. While the center of location for the Rides was Mississippi, the Albany Movement in
Georgia was also shaped by music as a valuable tactic to garner attention, support, and money.
This lasting influence of the music movement is notable, but the work is far from over. Bernice
Johnson Reagon, in an interview reflecting on Albany and the Civil Rights Movement,
emphasizes as much: [Begins singing.] Shine on me, shine on me, let the light from the
lighthouse shine on me. Shine on me, shine on me, let the light from the lighthouse shine on me.
Its like claiming your space. We had been too long out of the light. It was our time. It still is.105
1962, 2, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Papers, A: VIII: 115, 0830-1.
105 Bernice Johnson Reagon, Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement
From the 1950s Through the 1980s, edd. Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer (New York: Bantam
Books, 1990), 108.
30
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COME GET MY MATTRESS. ILL KEEP MY SOUL: SNCCS MUSICAL PROGRESSION

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