What do you think?
Rate this book
Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders
In the spring and summer of 1961, several hundred Americans—blacks and whites, men and women—converged on Jackson, Mississippi, to challenge state segregation laws. The Freedom Riders, as they came to be known, were determined to open up the South to civil rights: it was illegal for bus and train stations to discriminate, but most did and were not interested in change. Over 300 people were arrested and convicted of the charge "breach of the peace."
The name, mug shot, and other personal details of each Freedom Rider arrested were duly recorded and saved by agents of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, a Stasi-like investigative agency whose purpose was to "perform any and all acts deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi." How the Commission thought these details would actually protect the state is not clear, but what is clear, forty-six years later, is that by carefully recording names and preserving the mug shots, the Commission inadvertently created a testament to these heroes of the civil rights movement.
Collected here in a richly illustrated, large-format book featuring over seventy contemporary photographs, alongside the original mug shots, and exclusive interviews with former Freedom Riders, is that testament: a moving archive of a chapter in U.S. history that hasn't yet closed.
The name, mug shot, and other personal details of each Freedom Rider arrested were duly recorded and saved by agents of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, a Stasi-like investigative agency whose purpose was to "perform any and all acts deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi." How the Commission thought these details would actually protect the state is not clear, but what is clear, forty-six years later, is that by carefully recording names and preserving the mug shots, the Commission inadvertently created a testament to these heroes of the civil rights movement.
Collected here in a richly illustrated, large-format book featuring over seventy contemporary photographs, alongside the original mug shots, and exclusive interviews with former Freedom Riders, is that testament: a moving archive of a chapter in U.S. history that hasn't yet closed.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published May 23, 2008
3 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
Read
July 21, 2011Hi, I'm the author & photographer of Breach of Peace, and just wanted to say thanks for all the good words about the book. It was an amazing project to work on. If anyone has any questions about it or the Freedom Rides I'd be happy to try to answer.
To Abigail A, who several years ago wondered about an apparent trend of portrait/bio collections, I am not familiar with the works mentioned except for Taryn Simon's The Innocents, which I remember coming across when I was working on my book. Another book that I discovered very late in my work is Jillian Edelstein's Truth and Lies: Stories from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. It's another photo/text project that is just devastatingly good, and has been something I return to and think about often.
To Abigail A, who several years ago wondered about an apparent trend of portrait/bio collections, I am not familiar with the works mentioned except for Taryn Simon's The Innocents, which I remember coming across when I was working on my book. Another book that I discovered very late in my work is Jillian Edelstein's Truth and Lies: Stories from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. It's another photo/text project that is just devastatingly good, and has been something I return to and think about often.
August 17, 2019
What is it that impels people to become involved in movements for social change? That they feel strongly, it goes without saying. But what makes them choose to get involved? What makes them decide that this is the moment to take a stand? Breach of Peace seeks to address that question, reproducing the mug shots taken of the Freedom Riders - the Civil Rights activists who descended upon Mississippi in 1961, determined to integrate bus and train stations - who were arrested and convicted of the charge of "breach of peace," and who spent time in Mississippi’s notorious Parchman state prison. Taken by the anti-integration Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission and preserved in the state’s Vital Records Center, these photographs only saw the light of day again after a protracted legal struggle on the part of the Mississippi ACLU.
Paired whenever possible with a current portrait, taken by photographer Eric Etheridge, as well as basic biographical information and brief personal statements, these mug-shots have been used to create a unique oral history of a great (and terrible) moment in our nation’s history. Here the reader can witness the senselessness of segregation, and the brutality of its defenders. But this is mainly the story of the quiet courage and principled strength of the ordinary Americans - black and white, male and female, Christian and Jew, Northerner and Southerner, experienced activist and previously uninvolved citizen - who chose this moment in history to stand up against injustice, and put their lives on the line for the ideal of equality.
In the pages of this book the reader will encounter Jean Thompson, born and raised in Louisiana, whose parents always taught her that the injustice of segregation couldn’t last forever: ”They raised us to be ready. I remember my dad saying the day will come, and when the day comes, you should be ready.” Here too is Alexander Weiss, whose family escaped from Europe in 1940, and who was determined not to be one of those ”good Germans who just looked the other way;” or William Leons, who felt that in confronting the evils of Jim Crow he was living up to the example of his parents, both of whom were sent to concentration camps for their role in the Dutch Resistance during World War II.
Many of those interviewed felt that they simply did what “needed to be done,” while others seemed to be conscious at the time that they were participating in extraordinary events. Claude Liggins, twenty years old at the time of his arrest, had always wondered what it would have been like to participate in the Boston Tea Party, and used to imagine himself ”being in that kind of thing, wanting to know how it felt to be part of some historical thing.”
Some of the Freedom Riders were longtime members of the Movement, while others seem to have just “stumbled” into it. Most of them were organized through C.O.R.E. (Congress of Racial Equality), but some - such as Canadian Michael Audain - simply answered the call of conscience, and came on their own.
These vignettes - sadly incomplete, as some of the Freedom Riders have since died, and others could not be found - are also a timely reminder that "the more things change the more they stay the same." Many of those chronicled here have stayed active in politics, and are still fighting for "the dream" of a just society. It is a sobering thought that Joan Pleune, arrested on June 20, 1961 as a Freedom Rider, is still being arrested, these days as a member of the Granny Peace Brigade, protesting the Iraq War. Or take the case of Theresa Walker, arrested June 21, 1961. Her most recent "criminal" activity was her participation in a NYC protest at the police killing of Amadou Diallo. Do you even need to inquire as to whether she was arrested?
Finally, I should note that I tend to go through phases in my reading, whether intentional or no, and it struck me, upon completing Breach of Peace, that I seem to be drawn to portrait collections of late. First it was Kiviat and Heidler's Women of Courage and Logan's Unveiled , both of which offer portraits and brief autobiographical snippets by Afghan women. Then it was Taryn Simon's The Innocents , which profiles 47 people who served time for crimes they didn't commit, before being freed by the Innocence Project. Most recently it was Rosann Olson's This Is Who I Am , in which modern American women discuss their bodies and self-image...
Is this some new trend, or is it just coincidence that I keep running across photography/biography collections of this nature? Whatever the case may be, Breach of Peace is a powerful record, one that made me think about the intersections between national and family history. I recommend that every American citizen take the time to read it - not just for its depiction of a crucial moment in our nation's history, but for the portrait of true heroism and strength that it offers.
Paired whenever possible with a current portrait, taken by photographer Eric Etheridge, as well as basic biographical information and brief personal statements, these mug-shots have been used to create a unique oral history of a great (and terrible) moment in our nation’s history. Here the reader can witness the senselessness of segregation, and the brutality of its defenders. But this is mainly the story of the quiet courage and principled strength of the ordinary Americans - black and white, male and female, Christian and Jew, Northerner and Southerner, experienced activist and previously uninvolved citizen - who chose this moment in history to stand up against injustice, and put their lives on the line for the ideal of equality.
In the pages of this book the reader will encounter Jean Thompson, born and raised in Louisiana, whose parents always taught her that the injustice of segregation couldn’t last forever: ”They raised us to be ready. I remember my dad saying the day will come, and when the day comes, you should be ready.” Here too is Alexander Weiss, whose family escaped from Europe in 1940, and who was determined not to be one of those ”good Germans who just looked the other way;” or William Leons, who felt that in confronting the evils of Jim Crow he was living up to the example of his parents, both of whom were sent to concentration camps for their role in the Dutch Resistance during World War II.
Many of those interviewed felt that they simply did what “needed to be done,” while others seemed to be conscious at the time that they were participating in extraordinary events. Claude Liggins, twenty years old at the time of his arrest, had always wondered what it would have been like to participate in the Boston Tea Party, and used to imagine himself ”being in that kind of thing, wanting to know how it felt to be part of some historical thing.”
Some of the Freedom Riders were longtime members of the Movement, while others seem to have just “stumbled” into it. Most of them were organized through C.O.R.E. (Congress of Racial Equality), but some - such as Canadian Michael Audain - simply answered the call of conscience, and came on their own.
These vignettes - sadly incomplete, as some of the Freedom Riders have since died, and others could not be found - are also a timely reminder that "the more things change the more they stay the same." Many of those chronicled here have stayed active in politics, and are still fighting for "the dream" of a just society. It is a sobering thought that Joan Pleune, arrested on June 20, 1961 as a Freedom Rider, is still being arrested, these days as a member of the Granny Peace Brigade, protesting the Iraq War. Or take the case of Theresa Walker, arrested June 21, 1961. Her most recent "criminal" activity was her participation in a NYC protest at the police killing of Amadou Diallo. Do you even need to inquire as to whether she was arrested?
Finally, I should note that I tend to go through phases in my reading, whether intentional or no, and it struck me, upon completing Breach of Peace, that I seem to be drawn to portrait collections of late. First it was Kiviat and Heidler's Women of Courage and Logan's Unveiled , both of which offer portraits and brief autobiographical snippets by Afghan women. Then it was Taryn Simon's The Innocents , which profiles 47 people who served time for crimes they didn't commit, before being freed by the Innocence Project. Most recently it was Rosann Olson's This Is Who I Am , in which modern American women discuss their bodies and self-image...
Is this some new trend, or is it just coincidence that I keep running across photography/biography collections of this nature? Whatever the case may be, Breach of Peace is a powerful record, one that made me think about the intersections between national and family history. I recommend that every American citizen take the time to read it - not just for its depiction of a crucial moment in our nation's history, but for the portrait of true heroism and strength that it offers.
April 2, 2010
I knew very little about the Freedom Riders before this book, other than their general role in the grand scheme of the Civil Rights Movement. This is an excellent combination of photos and oral history, two of my favorite media, that gives an intimate portrait (no pun intended) of their contribution to the movement.
August 13, 2018
BREACH OF PEACE, is a powerful book consisting of a preface by Roger Wilkins, foreword by Diane McWhorter and a series of portraits and interviews by Eric Etheridge with many of the Mississippi Freedom Riders of 1961.
As McWhorter explains, "The term 'Freedom Rides' eventually encompassed a campaign that lasted more than seven months, involved over four hundred direct participants, and desegregated dozens of bus depots (plus some train stations and airports) from Virginia to Texas. They galvanized every branch of the civil rights movement, binding its past to its future, its tactics to its soul."
The individuals who boarded buses were greeted with racial slurs, open contempt and a deep-seated violence that eventually shocked the nation into demanding Civil Rights legislation be passed.
As McWhorter points out, "Perhaps the ultimate achievement of the Freedom Riders was that, even as the headlines faded in the summer, and without knowing what the results would be, they kept coming, simply because what they were doing had to be done. The resulting moral clarity, combined with the prodigious organizational and fundraising skills honed in its service, completed the Freedom Rides' evolution from what had arguably been a courageous stunt... to the kind of transformative community-building discipline that would sustain the [Civil Rights] movement into its future."
Most of the Freedom Riders were arrested on the charge of breach of peace. What they did was test a federal law that demanded that public transportation vehicles and facilities be integrated. So, in practice they were arrested as they tried to integrate public waiting areas in the Deep South (mostly in Jackson, Mississippi).
Many of those arrested were transferred to the infamous Parchman penal facility in the country, away from the public eye.
Although Etheridge's photos are exceptional, what the former Freedom Riders had to say was equally powerful.
In referring to the training on non-violent civil disobedience, Pauline Knight-Ofosu said, "That was something I remember - you cannot hate, you cannot hold this person in error. You've got to see them for who they are. They don't know it maybe, but they're God's children too... I wasn't afraid. The training that we had gave everybody the conviction that 'You can kill my body, but you can't kill my soul.' That is a very strong and powerful thing."
Jean Thompson reported, "Then someone bailed [out of jail] and reported that I and others had been hit. They brought the FBI in to investigate. They interviewed me. They interviewed the superintendent, and all the other people. And they concluded that nothing had happened. No one had been beaten.
Well, I must be hallucinating now 'cause I know I felt that man's [jailer] hand on my face. I know I heard other people being whacked. But nothing happened. That said a lot to me about what actually happens in this country. It was very eye-opening."
Speaking of the danger of he faced, Rev. C.T. Vivian noted, "As long as we allow someone else to speak for us. As long as we allow someone else to speak for us... there's not gonna be a breaking of the old order. We're still going to be killed whenever any policeman decides to. And they are always gonna be covered up if they care to cover it up at all.
Who's going to get honest enough to cut through this? This is who we are. We know we can be killed in the process [of demonstrating]. So? We're gonna get killed anyway. But we're not going to do it without being obvious, and we're not going to do it without it being all over the world, and we're not going to do it playing the game of your so-called democracy, which is undemocratic."
And every once in a while, via one of the interviews, a recollection is offered, almost as a tidbit, but it turns into a powerful statement of the time. As Robert Singleton recalled, "A policeman came up on the side and looked in the window [of the paddy wagon] and said to me, 'You're a black son of a bitch, ain't you?' I said to him, 'Isn't that a beautiful color?' And he just froze. He didn't know how to respond to that."
What were the lessons learned from the Freedom Riders of 1961? The power of a non-violent witness in the face of such venomous racism? The power of standing up as a witness to indescribable evil? The simple power of continuing to show up, until the tide turns towards moral justice? Perhaps all of the above.
Meanwhile, as we ponder the significance in the light of history, BREACH OF PROMISE serves as a reminder of what our better selves can accomplish.
As McWhorter explains, "The term 'Freedom Rides' eventually encompassed a campaign that lasted more than seven months, involved over four hundred direct participants, and desegregated dozens of bus depots (plus some train stations and airports) from Virginia to Texas. They galvanized every branch of the civil rights movement, binding its past to its future, its tactics to its soul."
The individuals who boarded buses were greeted with racial slurs, open contempt and a deep-seated violence that eventually shocked the nation into demanding Civil Rights legislation be passed.
As McWhorter points out, "Perhaps the ultimate achievement of the Freedom Riders was that, even as the headlines faded in the summer, and without knowing what the results would be, they kept coming, simply because what they were doing had to be done. The resulting moral clarity, combined with the prodigious organizational and fundraising skills honed in its service, completed the Freedom Rides' evolution from what had arguably been a courageous stunt... to the kind of transformative community-building discipline that would sustain the [Civil Rights] movement into its future."
Most of the Freedom Riders were arrested on the charge of breach of peace. What they did was test a federal law that demanded that public transportation vehicles and facilities be integrated. So, in practice they were arrested as they tried to integrate public waiting areas in the Deep South (mostly in Jackson, Mississippi).
Many of those arrested were transferred to the infamous Parchman penal facility in the country, away from the public eye.
Although Etheridge's photos are exceptional, what the former Freedom Riders had to say was equally powerful.
In referring to the training on non-violent civil disobedience, Pauline Knight-Ofosu said, "That was something I remember - you cannot hate, you cannot hold this person in error. You've got to see them for who they are. They don't know it maybe, but they're God's children too... I wasn't afraid. The training that we had gave everybody the conviction that 'You can kill my body, but you can't kill my soul.' That is a very strong and powerful thing."
Jean Thompson reported, "Then someone bailed [out of jail] and reported that I and others had been hit. They brought the FBI in to investigate. They interviewed me. They interviewed the superintendent, and all the other people. And they concluded that nothing had happened. No one had been beaten.
Well, I must be hallucinating now 'cause I know I felt that man's [jailer] hand on my face. I know I heard other people being whacked. But nothing happened. That said a lot to me about what actually happens in this country. It was very eye-opening."
Speaking of the danger of he faced, Rev. C.T. Vivian noted, "As long as we allow someone else to speak for us. As long as we allow someone else to speak for us... there's not gonna be a breaking of the old order. We're still going to be killed whenever any policeman decides to. And they are always gonna be covered up if they care to cover it up at all.
Who's going to get honest enough to cut through this? This is who we are. We know we can be killed in the process [of demonstrating]. So? We're gonna get killed anyway. But we're not going to do it without being obvious, and we're not going to do it without it being all over the world, and we're not going to do it playing the game of your so-called democracy, which is undemocratic."
And every once in a while, via one of the interviews, a recollection is offered, almost as a tidbit, but it turns into a powerful statement of the time. As Robert Singleton recalled, "A policeman came up on the side and looked in the window [of the paddy wagon] and said to me, 'You're a black son of a bitch, ain't you?' I said to him, 'Isn't that a beautiful color?' And he just froze. He didn't know how to respond to that."
What were the lessons learned from the Freedom Riders of 1961? The power of a non-violent witness in the face of such venomous racism? The power of standing up as a witness to indescribable evil? The simple power of continuing to show up, until the tide turns towards moral justice? Perhaps all of the above.
Meanwhile, as we ponder the significance in the light of history, BREACH OF PROMISE serves as a reminder of what our better selves can accomplish.
August 3, 2020
This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in civil rights history. Black and white activists, including the late congressman John Lewis, sat together on buses and in station waiting rooms to challenge state segregation laws. More than 300 were arrested in Mississippi in 1961 and Eric Etheridge had the brilliant idea of reproducing their booking photos, along with his own more recent portraits and the riders' words about their experience.
Fortunately for Etheridge, many of the Freedom Riders were young people in 1961, and were still living when he began photographing them in 2005. The portraits are stunning. You really have to admire the courage of these people, most of whom were imprisoned as a result.
This hardcover book was published in 2008, and Vanderbilt University Press reissued an updated paperback version in 2018.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/le...
Fortunately for Etheridge, many of the Freedom Riders were young people in 1961, and were still living when he began photographing them in 2005. The portraits are stunning. You really have to admire the courage of these people, most of whom were imprisoned as a result.
This hardcover book was published in 2008, and Vanderbilt University Press reissued an updated paperback version in 2018.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/le...
February 23, 2019
This is an excellent book documenting the Freedom Riders. It is important to note at no time did the Freedom Riders break the law, still they were arrested and jailed. The US Supreme Court ruled in Boynton v. Virginia, 364 U.S. 454 (1960) that the Freedom Rider's actions were lawful.
If you have an interest in civil rights. Read the US Supreme Court case, Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547 (1967). It involves Freedom Riders. First read the majority opinion, then read the lone dissent of Justice Douglas. I believe it is the most important case ever decided and it was decided wrongly as you will see.
If you have an interest in civil rights. Read the US Supreme Court case, Pierson v. Ray, 386 U.S. 547 (1967). It involves Freedom Riders. First read the majority opinion, then read the lone dissent of Justice Douglas. I believe it is the most important case ever decided and it was decided wrongly as you will see.
August 12, 2023
Beautiful portraits of beautiful people. Such inspiring stories, and such a range of perspectives, from those who thought they were cowards for not truly risking their lives, to those who think they risked their lives to change history. Makes me want to do better.
August 5, 2017
Thank you Eric Etheridge. Wonderfully done. The Freedom Riders are heroes. Thank you Freedom Riders.
September 14, 2019
Loved this book....brought me to tears many time.
July 9, 2025
This is a coffee table style book with personal interviews and information about the Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson, MS. It is a wonderful book, but it does not read like a standard book
October 31, 2014
I'm a little ashamed to say that I had never heard of the Freedom Riders before. Freedom Summer, yes, but the Freedom Riders? No.
In 1961 hundreds of Americans from diverse backgrounds went in to the South to challenge the segregation laws. It was illegal for bus and train stations to discriminate but they did anyway and in order to draw attention to it the Freedom Riders were riding the bus into these places, putting their lives on the line and getting arrested for Breach of Peace, hence the title of the book.
Told through the mugshots of each of the riders this story is compelling. The individual stories add up to a powerful chapter in the Civil Rights struggle.
I think I may have to add this one to my home library...it's the kind of thing you will pick up again and again.
And for those interested in learning more about the Freedom Riders American Experience over on PBS produced a fantastic documentary called Freedom Riders. Watch it.
July 7, 2014
I am completely overwhelmed. The stories of real people going through the worst an era has to offer, in a bid to bring change. I can't help but contrast that with our current political climate, and this has the potential to be depressing as hell. But, just as these people grew up, so did those who were raised with the attitudes that necessitated these actions, and I just worry that they're getting bigger and more hateful
As far as the book goes, this is excellent for the coffee table, and as a reminder of what personal sacrifices some made, and accounts of truly being in the lion's den. Some people don't view themselves as heroes at all. Some feel good about what they did, but remember being scared shitless. All sorts of people, and to give an account for their humanity then and now was very refreshing and deserved.
As far as the book goes, this is excellent for the coffee table, and as a reminder of what personal sacrifices some made, and accounts of truly being in the lion's den. Some people don't view themselves as heroes at all. Some feel good about what they did, but remember being scared shitless. All sorts of people, and to give an account for their humanity then and now was very refreshing and deserved.
January 6, 2011
I was going to give this four stars. After I finished reading it (at about 1:30 am, right before bed)I thought "That was an interesting look at all the different kinds of people who participated, but it didn't tell me that much." 45 minutes later I was still thinking about, so I got out of bed to go review some anecdotes. This morning I ordered one of the books used a source of information to get a more in-depth overview of this time period.
Basically, this book is like a gateway drug. It is full of interesting personalities relating their personal experiences, plus a brief overview of the terrible times that bought about the need for Freedom Riders. I'd definitely recommend checking this book out, or at the very least heading over to the website: www.breachofpeace.com.
Basically, this book is like a gateway drug. It is full of interesting personalities relating their personal experiences, plus a brief overview of the terrible times that bought about the need for Freedom Riders. I'd definitely recommend checking this book out, or at the very least heading over to the website: www.breachofpeace.com.
September 9, 2012
Absolutely wonderful book. Photos of the Freedom Riders then, and many of them now, with biographical notes from interviews about how the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA intersected with their personal histories. Beautiful contemporary portraits side by side with '60s mug shots – incredible.
April 5, 2014
I'm a big fan of books that tell history through the lives of ordinary participants, and the Civil Rights movement is one of the subjects I find most compelling, so this book grabbed my attention right away. It was wonderful. My only complaint is that I wanted to know more. Many of them died young. Why? Some had identical last names. What were their relationships to each other? And on and on.
July 13, 2008
I admit I didn't know the specifics of the Freedom Riders, just its connection to the civil rights movement, before reading this book. This book is brilliant as both reference and documentary. Fascinating interviews and photographs.
February 12, 2010
I've been waiting to buy this one for a while, ever since I saw it in one of the museum shops at the Smithsonian. It's incredible- so moving. Just picked it up at Powell's last weekend, now I need a coffee table to set it on :)
Want to read
December 16, 2016* Understanding Oppression: African American Rights (Then and Now)
Using police mug shots from 1961 and contemporary photos, the stories of protesters, black and white, who came from across the USA to challenge segregation laws. #civilrightsmovement
Using police mug shots from 1961 and contemporary photos, the stories of protesters, black and white, who came from across the USA to challenge segregation laws. #civilrightsmovement
May 16, 2008
Saw and excerpt in O magazine and can't wait to get my hands on the book.
Read
August 29, 2008Recommended; fascinating look at some of the so very young people who took great risks to fight racism.
October 8, 2008
This book is an absolutely fascinating history. I encourage everyone to at least flip through it once.
December 15, 2013
Such a wide variety of people who participated as Mississippi Freedom Riders. I loved reading about them, and seeing such passion!
June 22, 2017
Very moving book; lovely photos (both the mugshots and the current pictures) and wonderful interviews. Wanted more of both.
August 25, 2010
Examples of true courage in ordinary people. Excellent book
June 11, 2011
Read this on Memorial Day and cried almost the whole time. Fucking great book. Everyone who's a teacher should bring this one out to inspire the kids.
January 3, 2017
I loved this.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews