This account of the murder of Civil Rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Mickey Schwermer in Mississippi in June, 1964 starts by delving into the lives of the three men to understand the roots of their social justice activism and how they came to be working together on Civil Rights in Mississippi at the start of Freedom Summer in 1964. Chaney grew up in the area. Schwermer was from New York. Though both were young, they were veterans of civil rights work in Mississippi. Goodman was on his first trip there, having signed on to be a Freedom Summer volunteer. The narrative then looks closely at the investigation into their disappearance, complicated by the complicity and silence of local law enforcement and white community leaders involved in or tied to the Ku Klux Klan, and then at the trials — the first one in 1967, the second one in 2005. The ugliness of racism comes through loud and clear in the investigation and initial trial, but forty-one years after the murders, when the second trial took place, there is hope inherent in the markedly changed attitudes. Don Mitchell conducted a number of interviews in addition to drawing on ample additional source material to pen this arresting account full of the tension of the times. (Age 14 and older)

A gripping true story of murder and the fight for civil rights and social justice in 1960s Mississppi.

On June 21, 1964, three young men were killed by the Ku Klux Klan for trying to help black Americans vote as part of the 1964 Fredom Summer registration effort in Mississippi. The disappearance and brutal murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner caused a national uproar and was one of the most significant events of the civil rights movement.The Freedom Summer Murders tells the tragic story of these brave men, the crime that resulted in their untimely deaths, and the relentless forty-one-year pursuit of a conviction. It is the story of idealistic and courageous young people who wanted to change their county for the better. It is the story of black and white. And ultimately, it is the story of our nation's endless struggle to close the gap between what is and what should be.