Spies of Mississippi

March 1, 2010
Gr 6-10-Bowers draws upon archival material, supplemented with his own extensive research, to document the activities of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, a Civil Rights-era state agency that disseminated segregationist propaganda and used Soviet-style methods to spy upon, harass, and harm those who challenged white supremacy. He describes how the Commission, formed in 1956 in reaction to the "Brown v. Board of Education" Supreme Court decision, recruited a wide network of spies and informants, and conspired with elected officials and state and local law enforcement agencies to thwart any progress on civil rights. Bowers details the Commission's tactics, which disregarded constitutional protections for those who supported or aided the cause, and discusses how the scope of its activities quickly escalated from its initial attempts to control or marginalize the NAACP and resist public and school and university integration into outright advocacy of violence and obstruction of justice. He closes with a discussion of how federal civil rights legislation and the threat of financial sanctions resulted in the abolition of the Commission, but warns readers that the bigotry that gave it free rein still exists and could emerge again. Period black-and-white photographs, an appendix with reproductions of selected Commission documents, and an extensive bibliography of books and links to online archives supplement the text. This book's unique perspective will help students understand the previously unknown history of the despicable actions of Mississippi leaders who opposed civil rights and the silent citizens who supported their activities."Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2010
Grades 7-10 *Starred Review* With all the books on the civil rights movement for young people, its hard to believe theres a topic that hasnt yet been touched. But Bowers, through impeccable research and personal investigation, seems to have come up with something chillingly new. In 1956, the state of Mississippi conceived a Sovereignty Commission that began as a propaganda outlet and morphed into a spy network, with a goal of stopping integration and crushing the civil rights movement in the state. Written with clarity and understated power, the book methodically shows how white politicians organized the network and willing blacks accepted payment to infiltrate groups like the NAACP, or in some cases rail against civil rights organizations in churches and African American newspapers. After the election of Governor Ross Barnett, the commissions tactics grew bolder, and violence became a part of the mix. Those with knowledge of the era will find this a vivid depiction of those turbulent days, but for them as well as students new to the history the extremes will be an eye-opener. The inset of photographs might have worked better spread throughout the text, but the story is so powerful it hardly needs visuals. Sources, an extensive bibliography, and copies of some of the commission documents (all were unsealed in 1998) are appended.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)