Back to Mississippi: A Personal Journey Through the Events That Changed America in 1964

by Mary Winstead

Mary Winstead grew up in Minneapolis, captivated by her fathers tales of his boyhood in rural Mississippi. As a child, she visited her relatives down South, and her nostalgia for that world and its people would compel her to collect her fathers stories for her own children. But Winsteads research into her family history led her to a series of horrifying revelations: about her relatives ingrained racism, their involvement with the Klan, and their connection to the infamous 1964 murders of three civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney.Writing with dignity, humility, and a profound sense of time and place, Winstead chronicles her awakening to painful truths about people she loved and thought she knew. She profiles her father, a man of remarkable charm and secretiveness. She traces her familys roots through post-Civil War poverty, Southern pride, and Jim Crow laws, exploring racism on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. Most movingly, she details her own inner war, a battle between her love for her family and their untenable beliefs and practices.

Back to Mississippi won the Minnesota Book award for best memoir or biography in 2003.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Memoir

256 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2002

Reviews

[Priscilla King · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summarized in a sentence: "He's a relative so I feel for him, but HONestly, Officer, I don't KNOW the man!" What else could anyone write while the most unusual life experience they ever had was realizing that a distant relative might have been involved in the biggest unsolved murder case in their town's history? Details are delightfully nostalgic for Southerners and/or baby-boomers, but in the end that's all Winstead really has to tell us.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the end, we will remember not the words of our church enemies, but the silence of our friends. -MLK jr.

[Mary Burkholder · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting perspective on Mississippi history, specifically the murders of Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winstead gave a talk at the Edina Library in 2004 for the 40th anniversary of the murder of these three civil rights workers. The man behind these murders was a relative of her family living in Philadelphia, MS where she spent summers as a child. Her perspective on this is relevant and fascinating. It may not be the best book on the subject (I haven't read any others), but it is excellent and well worth reading. The story of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman is one with which every American needs to be familiar.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A personal journey thru the events that changed 1964.
Emphasis on 3 civil rights students killed in the South: Andy Goodman, Chaney & Schwener...

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much I don't know about American History. Why didn't I learn this in High School?