Summer Worker Removal

Freedom Summer of 1964, also known as Mississippi Invasion, was a crucial time in Mississippi history as African American Mississippians desired to be a registered voter. As the summer progressed, the need of summer workers, individuals who visited the state of Mississippi to sponsor voter registration drives, became evident. However, in their efforts to change the lives of many and the future of voting, the presence of summer workers was not welcomed and removal of the summer workers was requested by many Mississippi natives.

One Mississippian in particular was Richard Street, a doctor from Vicksburg, Mississippi, who wrote a letter addressed to Senator John C. Stennis circa August of 1964 expressing utmost annoyance with the summer workers in the Vicksburg area. The language used in the letter seems like a passive command for the removal of summer workers rather than just a genuine suggestion for the well-being of the community.

Street opens his letter with "Dear Senator Stennis, thank you for your letter," but under "your letter" is red underline. The red underline then leads to an annotation that reads "Letter??" Because of this annotation in the letter, one may begin to wonder about the contents of Senator Stennis's initial letter to Street, or if Senator Stennis even sent an initial letter to Street.

Another key component in Street's letter to Stennis is the urgent demand for the removal of summer workers. In the letter, Street describes the summer workers as "trouble makers." Street never goes into detail about the trouble caused by the summer workers, but emphasizes that members of the community are "fed up" with the summer workers. What may be the reason for the annoyances of the community? One might never know only according to this letter simply because Street does not explain why his community is displeased with the efforts of the summer workers.

Street closes his letter thanking Senator Stennis for his efforts on "our" behalf, but there is really no clarification as to who Street regards as "our." The viewer of this letter might also begin to question what Stennis's efforts were.

In addition to the probabilities of letter exchanges between Street and Stennis, one might recognize that the “summer workers” were criticized, talked about, and belittled for their participation in the voter registration drives of 1964. The summer workers were not intentionally trying to cause trouble, but they were only trying to simply aid their fellow citizens. Before the voter registration drives of 1964, many Mississippians were denied the right to vote. However, because of the help from the 1964 summer workers, citizens of Mississippi could practice their new-found right to vote. The job of the summer workers was simply to help people register to vote, but unfortunately, they were criticized by many people like Street and were urged to be removed from their job.