Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Department

History

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

During the Civil Rights Movement, Mississippi was very resistant to activities that challenged the “Southern way of life” and did nearly everything they could to prevent civil rights workers from conducting work there. During the summer of1964 the murders of three of James Chaney, a black volunteer, and Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, white volunteers, would shock the nation and prompt an investigation by the FBI. One month prior to their disappearances, two black teenagers, Charles Moore and Henry Dee, went missing in a manner similar to the three civil rights workers. Despite the similarities in the two cases, the FBI would only more forward in the case that involved two white northerners. The intent of this research is to assert that the FBI under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover was impeded by a color barrier when investigating civil rights crimes.

Advisor(s) or Committee Chair

Patricia Minter

Disciplines

Law

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