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Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography
Freedom Rider Diary: Smuggled Notes from Parchman Prison
Arrested as a Freedom Rider in June of 1961, Carol Ruth Silver, a twenty-two-year-old recent college graduate originally from Massachusetts, spent the next forty days in Mississippi jail cells, including the Maximum Security Unit at the infamous Parchman Prison Farm. She chronicled the events and her experiences on hidden scraps of paper which amazingly she was able to smuggle out. These raw written scraps she fashioned into a manuscript, which has waited, unread for more than fifty years. Freedom Rider Diary is that account. Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 to test the US Supreme Court rulings outlawing segregation in interstate bus and terminal facilities. Brutality and arrests inflicted on the Riders called national attention to the disregard for federal law and the local violence used to enforce segregation. Police arrested Riders for trespassing, unlawful assembly, and violating state and local Jim Crow laws, along with other alleged offenses, but they often allowed white mobs to attack the Riders without arrest or intervention. This book offers a heretofore unavailable detailed diary from a woman Freedom Rider along with an introduction by historian Raymond Arsenault, author of the definitive history of the Freedom Rides. In a personal essay detailing her life before and after the Freedom Rides, Silver explores what led her to join the movement and explains how, galvanized by her actions and those of her compatriots in 1961, she spent her life and career fighting for civil rights. Framing essays and personal and historical photographs make the diary an ideal book for the general public, scholars, and students of the movement that changed America.
- GenresNonfictionMemoirHistory
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
6 people are currently reading
469 people want to read
About the author
Carol Ruth Silver
3 books3 followersBio of Carol Ruth Silver:
Freedom Rider, 1961; Law School, JD University of Chicago; Civil Rights Attorney; Attorney and Program Director in OEO Legal Services for the Poor; Elected Official (3 terms on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors); founder of SF ‘s Chinese American International School; Since 2002 working to promote girls’ education in Afghanistan, including co-founding two SF Bay Area organizations; Mother, Grandmother.
www.freedomridersfoundation.org
Facebook / Freedom Rider Diary
Freedom Rider, 1961; Law School, JD University of Chicago; Civil Rights Attorney; Attorney and Program Director in OEO Legal Services for the Poor; Elected Official (3 terms on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors); founder of SF ‘s Chinese American International School; Since 2002 working to promote girls’ education in Afghanistan, including co-founding two SF Bay Area organizations; Mother, Grandmother.
www.freedomridersfoundation.org
Facebook / Freedom Rider Diary
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 3, 2014
Sometimes, people place themselves in harm's way as an act of conscience, to do the right thing.
Carol Ruth Silver did so on 1961, joining the Freedom Riders, reminding us all, then and now, that we're all equal under law.
This is her story, her motivations, brutal treatment, and the results. Very down to earth, from the two inch bugs on the floor of the prison cell to the spiritual experience of violence on a fellow prisoner
Carol Ruth is the real deal, and her story inspires us to similar acts of courage.
Carol Ruth Silver did so on 1961, joining the Freedom Riders, reminding us all, then and now, that we're all equal under law.
This is her story, her motivations, brutal treatment, and the results. Very down to earth, from the two inch bugs on the floor of the prison cell to the spiritual experience of violence on a fellow prisoner
Carol Ruth is the real deal, and her story inspires us to similar acts of courage.
February 13, 2014
I’ve just finished reading an electronic review of Carol Ruth Silver‘s Freedom Rider Diary. The freedom rides too place the summer after I was born (1961), so I obviously don’t remember them from that time, but they were present as “background knowledge” for me during my childhood. Because of my personal interests and teaching responsibilities, I’ve regularly come across freedom riders in my reading—but I’ve always assumed I more or less understood the freedom rider experience and have never looked for detailed account specific to this part of our nation’s history. I am absolutely delighted that Carol Ruth Silver has made my knowledge a bit more specific and has changed my perception of the freedom rides from historical event to individuals’ experiences.
The introduction by historian Raymond Arsenault provides useful context for Silver’s account. He reminds us that
To understand the magnitude of [the Freedom Riders'] achievement, we need to recall what the south and the nation were like in 1961. Rampant racial inequality and overt systematic racial discrimination prevailed in virtually every aspect of American life, from employment, housing, and education to public accommodations, the legal justice system, and politics…. The Freedom Ride was designed to turn the Cold War to the Civil Rights Movement’s advantage, to convince the Kennedy administration and the American public that it was dangerous and counterproductive, and essentially immoral, for the United States to call for democracy and freedom abroad when that same democracy and freedom was denied to millions of black Americans at home.
Carol Ruth Silver’s diary reveals that her decision to become a Freedom Rider was a quick one (though she spent plenty of time mulling things over once she’d volunteered). She’d planned to take a bus during the second half of that summer to visit friends in Mexico City, and felt that it made sense to use her journey through the south to contribute to the greater good. Once she’d volunteered, she began asking questions of herself:
Will something like being sent to jail in Mississippi for flaunting segregation laws keep me from taking my bar exam [she was about to begin law school] three years hence? Or would the university of Chicago refuse me a scholarship or even kick me out of law school if it found out that I had a jail record? Would I be denied a security clearance?… What if the next time I need a security clearance the buraeucrat who is supposed to put on the final stamp is a Klansman from Jackson, Mississippi?
She ultimately answered those questions with one more question: “if I sacrifice my conscience to my career what have I left?”
That attitude is what I found most moving about Silver’s account. Having spent my childhood observing the social struggles of the 1960s from the sideline left me with nostalgia as a teenager for a time that had come just a bit too early for me to participate. As I attended college, I went through ebbs and flows of activism, advocating at different times for abortion rights, gay rights, women’s rights, a boycott of South Africa. Still, I always felt that there had been something purer, truer about the time I’d missed and those who had gone before me, and Silver’s book confirmed this feeling.
Silver wrestles sincerely with the process of non-violent civil disobedience; she expects herself to love those she’s protesting against. She believes deeply in the promises of the Constitution and expects our nation to live up to them. She doesn’t surrender to cynicism, doesn’t even seem to consider that an option.
As I said, while I more or less knew the Freedom Rider story, there were a great many details I didn’t know. I knew the riders spent time in prison. I didn’t know that during most of that time they were denied writing materials, mail, even mattresses. I knew the Freedom riders went to court. I didn’t know that each of them appeared in court three separate times—continually interrupting their lives to return to Mississippi and the legal battle they were fighting.
Silver’s observations are astute. For example, at her third hearing as a black potential juror is quickly removed by prosecution, but told by the judge to report for jury duty again the next day (when he would once again, no doubt, be removed), Sliver says she “noted angrily to myself, [that this process of being repeatedly called without being impaneled] is a for of intimidation to prevent Negroes registering to vote, if they must give up a day or days of work to show up for jury duty, only to be insulted by being excused for being Negro.”
Silver’s diary ends with a note that her conviction, and that of other Freedom Riders, was overturned in 1965 by the U.S. Supreme Court in its Thomas v. Mississippi ruling.
Silver’s diary is followed by additional materials: an excellent collection of photographs from the Freedom Rides; an afterword by Cherie A. Gaines; an account of the experiences of Claude Albert Liggins, another of the Freedom Riders; a broader autobiography of Silver herself; and a list of suggested readings.
I want to note that the author is the Carol Ruth Silver who was on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors when Dan White, a recently resigned Supervisor, shot and killed both Harvey Milk, the city’s first openly-gay supervisor, and Mayor George Moscone. These murders, the not-guilty-due-to-diminished-capacity verdict White received (remember the Twinkie defense?), and the riots that followed the verdict played themselves out over the years that I was coming out as a lesbian and emphasized for me the importance and the risks of being publicly visible. So, in a way I feels as if her diary has brought me full circle by a backwards movement through time.
This is a book worth buying, reading, and rereading. Different parts of it will speak to you at different times: the voice of Silver the young woman; the voice of Silver the experienced politician and activist; the historical background, the photos. I know I’ll be returning to it regularly in the future to see what else I can learn from it.
The introduction by historian Raymond Arsenault provides useful context for Silver’s account. He reminds us that
To understand the magnitude of [the Freedom Riders'] achievement, we need to recall what the south and the nation were like in 1961. Rampant racial inequality and overt systematic racial discrimination prevailed in virtually every aspect of American life, from employment, housing, and education to public accommodations, the legal justice system, and politics…. The Freedom Ride was designed to turn the Cold War to the Civil Rights Movement’s advantage, to convince the Kennedy administration and the American public that it was dangerous and counterproductive, and essentially immoral, for the United States to call for democracy and freedom abroad when that same democracy and freedom was denied to millions of black Americans at home.
Carol Ruth Silver’s diary reveals that her decision to become a Freedom Rider was a quick one (though she spent plenty of time mulling things over once she’d volunteered). She’d planned to take a bus during the second half of that summer to visit friends in Mexico City, and felt that it made sense to use her journey through the south to contribute to the greater good. Once she’d volunteered, she began asking questions of herself:
Will something like being sent to jail in Mississippi for flaunting segregation laws keep me from taking my bar exam [she was about to begin law school] three years hence? Or would the university of Chicago refuse me a scholarship or even kick me out of law school if it found out that I had a jail record? Would I be denied a security clearance?… What if the next time I need a security clearance the buraeucrat who is supposed to put on the final stamp is a Klansman from Jackson, Mississippi?
She ultimately answered those questions with one more question: “if I sacrifice my conscience to my career what have I left?”
That attitude is what I found most moving about Silver’s account. Having spent my childhood observing the social struggles of the 1960s from the sideline left me with nostalgia as a teenager for a time that had come just a bit too early for me to participate. As I attended college, I went through ebbs and flows of activism, advocating at different times for abortion rights, gay rights, women’s rights, a boycott of South Africa. Still, I always felt that there had been something purer, truer about the time I’d missed and those who had gone before me, and Silver’s book confirmed this feeling.
Silver wrestles sincerely with the process of non-violent civil disobedience; she expects herself to love those she’s protesting against. She believes deeply in the promises of the Constitution and expects our nation to live up to them. She doesn’t surrender to cynicism, doesn’t even seem to consider that an option.
As I said, while I more or less knew the Freedom Rider story, there were a great many details I didn’t know. I knew the riders spent time in prison. I didn’t know that during most of that time they were denied writing materials, mail, even mattresses. I knew the Freedom riders went to court. I didn’t know that each of them appeared in court three separate times—continually interrupting their lives to return to Mississippi and the legal battle they were fighting.
Silver’s observations are astute. For example, at her third hearing as a black potential juror is quickly removed by prosecution, but told by the judge to report for jury duty again the next day (when he would once again, no doubt, be removed), Sliver says she “noted angrily to myself, [that this process of being repeatedly called without being impaneled] is a for of intimidation to prevent Negroes registering to vote, if they must give up a day or days of work to show up for jury duty, only to be insulted by being excused for being Negro.”
Silver’s diary ends with a note that her conviction, and that of other Freedom Riders, was overturned in 1965 by the U.S. Supreme Court in its Thomas v. Mississippi ruling.
Silver’s diary is followed by additional materials: an excellent collection of photographs from the Freedom Rides; an afterword by Cherie A. Gaines; an account of the experiences of Claude Albert Liggins, another of the Freedom Riders; a broader autobiography of Silver herself; and a list of suggested readings.
I want to note that the author is the Carol Ruth Silver who was on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors when Dan White, a recently resigned Supervisor, shot and killed both Harvey Milk, the city’s first openly-gay supervisor, and Mayor George Moscone. These murders, the not-guilty-due-to-diminished-capacity verdict White received (remember the Twinkie defense?), and the riots that followed the verdict played themselves out over the years that I was coming out as a lesbian and emphasized for me the importance and the risks of being publicly visible. So, in a way I feels as if her diary has brought me full circle by a backwards movement through time.
This is a book worth buying, reading, and rereading. Different parts of it will speak to you at different times: the voice of Silver the young woman; the voice of Silver the experienced politician and activist; the historical background, the photos. I know I’ll be returning to it regularly in the future to see what else I can learn from it.
October 23, 2013
This is not a history of mob violence, beatings and firebombings (although they are a part of it); this is a recounting of the peaceful, non-violent Freedom Rider protest which led to the inevitable and expected jail sentence in which more than 300 Freedom Riders spent a month or more in the Mississippi State penitentiary, often in maximum security, for minor supposed infractions.
Theirs was a strategy to force the American nation to give all its citizens freedom now, not freedom when all were deemed ready, to test the desegregation decisions of the Supreme Court, and it was a thoughtful strategy.
This unique diary shows Carol Ruth Silver's thoughts, fears, and plans, and offers insight into not only the women but also has some of the men's perspectives: a most valuable glimpse into the not-so-distant past.
She considered all the possible consequences of up to 2 months in jail, from losing her new position in law school to forfeiting her potential career as a lawyer to permanent physical injury or even death, and still chose to stand up for her beliefs and prove it with action. She prepared carefully, leaving instructions with her flatmate regarding her scholarship and admissions offers, and telling family what they needed to know. As a Jewish woman seeking entry to law, she could see the moral, social and legal implications of allowing segregation to continue, and chose to say "No".
She tells of how they ended up with 20 women crammed into a segregated cell intended for 4, the infrequent showers, the bugs, the cursory and very delayed medical treatment, the wardens' threats, and the visitors who stared at them like zoo animals. When inspections were due, some would be moved to another area while the remainder - now not overcrowded - would all be clean, with freshly-scrubbed cells. After inspection, conditions would return as before.
But it wasn't all bad. Morale was kept fairly high, at least on the women's side. They taught each other foreign languages, did a daily ballet class for exercise, and reminded each other that hate is a victory for the evil forces they were fighting, no matter how they were treated. Carol Ruth created a chess set out of bread, and they played even remotely, calling out the moves to another player in a different cell. And despite the health and personal sacrifices, they felt it was worth it.
The men were treated worse. At one point the entire cell block of 26 men were dragged into "the hole", a punishment cell designed for just one person, and kept there for hours during a Mississippi summer day, till they almost asphyxiated.
Upon their release on bail, this group were required to return for more court hearings. The hope was that most would default, causing CORE to forfeit the bail money, but out of a group of 200 only 4 failed to respond or could not be located.
Ultimately, as we all know, the Freedom Rides were successful, and their judgements were reversed 4 years later in 1965. Carol Ruth went on to champion social justice for many years, from offering legal aid to prisoners and the poor to helping Afghan women and girls receive education, fulfilling her interpretation of Tikkun Olam: that one must repair the world within one's capabilities. I feel the Freedom Riders did more than their part; I hope that I would have had her strength.
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Theirs was a strategy to force the American nation to give all its citizens freedom now, not freedom when all were deemed ready, to test the desegregation decisions of the Supreme Court, and it was a thoughtful strategy.
This unique diary shows Carol Ruth Silver's thoughts, fears, and plans, and offers insight into not only the women but also has some of the men's perspectives: a most valuable glimpse into the not-so-distant past.
She considered all the possible consequences of up to 2 months in jail, from losing her new position in law school to forfeiting her potential career as a lawyer to permanent physical injury or even death, and still chose to stand up for her beliefs and prove it with action. She prepared carefully, leaving instructions with her flatmate regarding her scholarship and admissions offers, and telling family what they needed to know. As a Jewish woman seeking entry to law, she could see the moral, social and legal implications of allowing segregation to continue, and chose to say "No".
She tells of how they ended up with 20 women crammed into a segregated cell intended for 4, the infrequent showers, the bugs, the cursory and very delayed medical treatment, the wardens' threats, and the visitors who stared at them like zoo animals. When inspections were due, some would be moved to another area while the remainder - now not overcrowded - would all be clean, with freshly-scrubbed cells. After inspection, conditions would return as before.
But it wasn't all bad. Morale was kept fairly high, at least on the women's side. They taught each other foreign languages, did a daily ballet class for exercise, and reminded each other that hate is a victory for the evil forces they were fighting, no matter how they were treated. Carol Ruth created a chess set out of bread, and they played even remotely, calling out the moves to another player in a different cell. And despite the health and personal sacrifices, they felt it was worth it.
The men were treated worse. At one point the entire cell block of 26 men were dragged into "the hole", a punishment cell designed for just one person, and kept there for hours during a Mississippi summer day, till they almost asphyxiated.
Upon their release on bail, this group were required to return for more court hearings. The hope was that most would default, causing CORE to forfeit the bail money, but out of a group of 200 only 4 failed to respond or could not be located.
Ultimately, as we all know, the Freedom Rides were successful, and their judgements were reversed 4 years later in 1965. Carol Ruth went on to champion social justice for many years, from offering legal aid to prisoners and the poor to helping Afghan women and girls receive education, fulfilling her interpretation of Tikkun Olam: that one must repair the world within one's capabilities. I feel the Freedom Riders did more than their part; I hope that I would have had her strength.
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
November 25, 2013
I think to read this book you have to have an interest in the history of the civil rights movement and the Freedom Ride. The diary itself is somewhat dry; Ms. Silver sticks mainly to the facts. Not much emotion comes through in the diary. I found it interesting that she wrote that there was a culture conflict between the Northern Freedom riders and those from the South; the Freedom Riders from the South, both Black and White, were extremely religious and spiritual. They believed that the power of love to overcome hate. In contrast the Northern Freedom riders were influenced by the ACLU and had a secular orientation.
Ms. Silver providers some missing information regarding her background in the afterwards. However, I still wondered what the impact of being in the Freedom Rides had on her. I was also curious how her fellow law students saw her being in the Freedom Rides. Was she seen as a hero or eccentric? Her style of writing still is very much WHAT she did but there is not much emotion or introspection.
However, I would give five starts to the afterword written by Cherie A Gaines who is a black female lawyer. She writes about how important it was to have white freedom riders and the impact of the civil rights movement on her. She was a woman lawyer in the 1960s at a time there weren't many women lawyers.
The afterward written by Claude Liggins was also very good. He is a black man who took part in the Freedom Rights.
I received an ARC copy of this book in turn for an honest review.
Ms. Silver providers some missing information regarding her background in the afterwards. However, I still wondered what the impact of being in the Freedom Rides had on her. I was also curious how her fellow law students saw her being in the Freedom Rides. Was she seen as a hero or eccentric? Her style of writing still is very much WHAT she did but there is not much emotion or introspection.
However, I would give five starts to the afterword written by Cherie A Gaines who is a black female lawyer. She writes about how important it was to have white freedom riders and the impact of the civil rights movement on her. She was a woman lawyer in the 1960s at a time there weren't many women lawyers.
The afterward written by Claude Liggins was also very good. He is a black man who took part in the Freedom Rights.
I received an ARC copy of this book in turn for an honest review.
February 5, 2014
Carol Ruth forged the direction of her life by taking a Freedom Ride into the deep South in the summer of 1961, which resulted in her being incarcerated for 40 days in maximum security at the infamous Parchman Prison in Mississippi. More than 50 years later, her smuggled diary has been transformed into this riveting account of her days, offering a clear-eyed, first hand contemporary account.
I was so impressed by the non-violent Gandhian stance taken by the Riders against the political establishment and entrenched citizens of the segregated South. This is something that more people today should learn and emulate when addressing current affairs.
For me, reading Freedom Rider Diary was a sobering reminder that we can't forget the hard fought sacrifices made to gain civil rights, and how easily they can be eroded.
I was so impressed by the non-violent Gandhian stance taken by the Riders against the political establishment and entrenched citizens of the segregated South. This is something that more people today should learn and emulate when addressing current affairs.
For me, reading Freedom Rider Diary was a sobering reminder that we can't forget the hard fought sacrifices made to gain civil rights, and how easily they can be eroded.
February 3, 2014
I read this book in two days -- riveting, I could not put it down. The low key, factual narrative has an undercurrent of fear, of stress, of trying to figure out things that are unknown and deliberately made unknowable. How awful, being totally in the power of people who hate you, dependent on them for your food, your toothbrush, your mattress, everything!
November 19, 2014
Richie’s Picks: FREEDOM RIDER DIARY: SMUGGLED NOTES FROM PARCHMAN PRISON by Carol Ruth Silver, University Press of Mississippi, April 2014, 188p., ISBN: 978-1-61703-887-7
“We’ll walk hand in hand, we’ll walk hand in hand
We’ll walk hand in hand someday;
Deep in my heart, I do believe,
We’ll walk hand in hand someday.”
-- from “We Shall Overcome”
Tuesday, June 27, 1961
“...In the next cell down the block from ours, Ruby had said that she was not going to take a shower unless she was given shower clogs, to prevent her from getting athlete’s foot. She was in jail at Rock Hill, South Carolina, last year for the sit-ins, and had gotten a very bad and painful case of it, so was legitimately frightened. She was quite willing to make do with hand baths from the sink in her cell, rather than risk getting it in the shower. When the door to her cell opened, only Shirley went up, with Ruby’s skirt and linen, and told the trusty that Ruby was not taking a shower and why. The trusties tried to convince her to come out, then passed over her and went on to the rest of the cell block.
“After everyone else had had a shower, the hall bars opened and down the hall came Sgt. Storey with three hefty female trusties. One of them was holding a floor brush, and the other two had a kind of pressure handcuff with a gadget that twisted in. The following drama I shall never forget: Sgt. Storey: ‘Is this the girl who wouldn’t take a shower?’ A nod from the trusty. ‘Open four!’ The cell door opened.
“Ruby: ‘Well, if that’s the way you feel about it, I guess I will have to take a shower.
“Sgt. Storey: ‘Go in there and get her.’
“Ruby at this point walked out herself into the hall of the cell block. The trusties put the handcuffs on her. She was wearing only her blouse and a pair of underpants, since they had not given Shirley a fresh skirt or returned her old skirt. The three women walked Ruby past our cell to the shower, one on each side and one in front.
“When they brought her back, she was stumbling a little. They pushed her into the cell, the door closed, and, when they had all left, we asked Ruby’s cell mate to tell us what had happened to her.
“Shirley told us that they had taken her into the shower, turned the water on a couple of times, and scrubbed her down with the floor brush, concentrating especially on the sensitive areas of the skin and between her legs. They had also knocked her down a couple of times, while they continued to hold on to the pressure cuffs. (Ruby was having her period at the time and was also suffering from a bad case of ulcers-she had vomited after every meal we had since we had been in jail.) They did not bother to use soap, nor to undress her.
“We were all, especially Terry and I who had seen the dark welts on Ruby’s wrists as she passed by our cell, burning with anger and frustration. Our subdued comments to each other and up and down the cell block were distinctly unprintable and well as unforgiving, uncharitable and unnonviolent.
“But then from Ruby, lying on the top bunk in her cell, in her soft drawl began a lecture of Christian brotherhood, and love, and how we must not hate because that is a victory for the evil forces which we are fighting. She talked of mental nonviolence--of returning love for hate, sympathy for oppression. These women were not evil, only their actions were evil, and what we must do is to hate the sin and love the sinner.
“I had never been so close before to this kind of religious feeling, and in a sense I felt I could not really understand it. But for the rest of the day I lay on my stomach thinking about Ruby’s lecture, and very late, after everyone else seemed to be asleep, I began to feel finally that I did not hate the women who had done it, and, maybe, I did not hate Sgt. Storey.”
FREEDOM RIDER DIARY is Carol Ruth Silver’s powerful and thought-provoking account of participating in the 1961 Freedom Rides, being arrested, and spending 39 days in a Mississippi prison.
Much of the time that she was imprisoned, she was crowded tightly into a cell with a score of other Freedom Riders. Their treatment was Mississippi’s revenge for their nonviolent attempts to overturn Jim Crow laws.
A well-educated young white woman from Boston who became an activist, Silver maintained her secret diary on scraps of paper that she managed to smuggle out of prison. Her diary entries recount the camaraderie among the incarcerated Freedom Riders, who sang, argued, and organized informal classes to keep themselves engaged.
This valuable opportunity to read raw material from American history is one not to miss. Silver’s account provides details that illustrate not only the evils of segregation but also many ways in which the early 1960s was a time of inequality for most anyone in America who was not a white Christian male.
As one of Silver’s fellow inmates noted: “‘I’m a paying passenger, and I’m tired of being treated like a hitchhiker.’”
Fortunately for young students of American history, Carol Ruth Silver--who went on to graduate from law school and played a role in the history of San Francisco’s city government--was able to sneak her notes out of Parchman Prison. This diary is a perfect accompaniment to Ann Bausum’s 2006 book about the Freedom Rides.
Richie Partington, MLIS
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“We’ll walk hand in hand, we’ll walk hand in hand
We’ll walk hand in hand someday;
Deep in my heart, I do believe,
We’ll walk hand in hand someday.”
-- from “We Shall Overcome”
Tuesday, June 27, 1961
“...In the next cell down the block from ours, Ruby had said that she was not going to take a shower unless she was given shower clogs, to prevent her from getting athlete’s foot. She was in jail at Rock Hill, South Carolina, last year for the sit-ins, and had gotten a very bad and painful case of it, so was legitimately frightened. She was quite willing to make do with hand baths from the sink in her cell, rather than risk getting it in the shower. When the door to her cell opened, only Shirley went up, with Ruby’s skirt and linen, and told the trusty that Ruby was not taking a shower and why. The trusties tried to convince her to come out, then passed over her and went on to the rest of the cell block.
“After everyone else had had a shower, the hall bars opened and down the hall came Sgt. Storey with three hefty female trusties. One of them was holding a floor brush, and the other two had a kind of pressure handcuff with a gadget that twisted in. The following drama I shall never forget: Sgt. Storey: ‘Is this the girl who wouldn’t take a shower?’ A nod from the trusty. ‘Open four!’ The cell door opened.
“Ruby: ‘Well, if that’s the way you feel about it, I guess I will have to take a shower.
“Sgt. Storey: ‘Go in there and get her.’
“Ruby at this point walked out herself into the hall of the cell block. The trusties put the handcuffs on her. She was wearing only her blouse and a pair of underpants, since they had not given Shirley a fresh skirt or returned her old skirt. The three women walked Ruby past our cell to the shower, one on each side and one in front.
“When they brought her back, she was stumbling a little. They pushed her into the cell, the door closed, and, when they had all left, we asked Ruby’s cell mate to tell us what had happened to her.
“Shirley told us that they had taken her into the shower, turned the water on a couple of times, and scrubbed her down with the floor brush, concentrating especially on the sensitive areas of the skin and between her legs. They had also knocked her down a couple of times, while they continued to hold on to the pressure cuffs. (Ruby was having her period at the time and was also suffering from a bad case of ulcers-she had vomited after every meal we had since we had been in jail.) They did not bother to use soap, nor to undress her.
“We were all, especially Terry and I who had seen the dark welts on Ruby’s wrists as she passed by our cell, burning with anger and frustration. Our subdued comments to each other and up and down the cell block were distinctly unprintable and well as unforgiving, uncharitable and unnonviolent.
“But then from Ruby, lying on the top bunk in her cell, in her soft drawl began a lecture of Christian brotherhood, and love, and how we must not hate because that is a victory for the evil forces which we are fighting. She talked of mental nonviolence--of returning love for hate, sympathy for oppression. These women were not evil, only their actions were evil, and what we must do is to hate the sin and love the sinner.
“I had never been so close before to this kind of religious feeling, and in a sense I felt I could not really understand it. But for the rest of the day I lay on my stomach thinking about Ruby’s lecture, and very late, after everyone else seemed to be asleep, I began to feel finally that I did not hate the women who had done it, and, maybe, I did not hate Sgt. Storey.”
FREEDOM RIDER DIARY is Carol Ruth Silver’s powerful and thought-provoking account of participating in the 1961 Freedom Rides, being arrested, and spending 39 days in a Mississippi prison.
Much of the time that she was imprisoned, she was crowded tightly into a cell with a score of other Freedom Riders. Their treatment was Mississippi’s revenge for their nonviolent attempts to overturn Jim Crow laws.
A well-educated young white woman from Boston who became an activist, Silver maintained her secret diary on scraps of paper that she managed to smuggle out of prison. Her diary entries recount the camaraderie among the incarcerated Freedom Riders, who sang, argued, and organized informal classes to keep themselves engaged.
This valuable opportunity to read raw material from American history is one not to miss. Silver’s account provides details that illustrate not only the evils of segregation but also many ways in which the early 1960s was a time of inequality for most anyone in America who was not a white Christian male.
As one of Silver’s fellow inmates noted: “‘I’m a paying passenger, and I’m tired of being treated like a hitchhiker.’”
Fortunately for young students of American history, Carol Ruth Silver--who went on to graduate from law school and played a role in the history of San Francisco’s city government--was able to sneak her notes out of Parchman Prison. This diary is a perfect accompaniment to Ann Bausum’s 2006 book about the Freedom Rides.
Richie Partington, MLIS
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May 8, 2014
Carol Ruth Silver's Freedom Rider Diary: Smuggled Notes from Parchman Prison is a definite must read. She was young, determined, and thought it was the right thing to do, despite possibly putting off her education to become a lawyer, despite the financial hardship, and despite having the threat of possible prison time on her record. Having been raised with the Jewish ethical tradition of Tikkun Olam ("the notion of social action the pursuit of social justice, including in particular the responsibility for the active participation in creating justice and righteousness." p. 158),
the author starts her journey to become Freedom Rider in the summer of 1961. She experiences first hand the hardships she and her fellow cellmates and Freedom Riders had to deal with. And she leaves nothing out. Carol Ruth Silver describes the difference between being a Freedom Rider from the north and a Freedom Rider from the south. She describes the overcrowding, lack of showering, removal of basic necessities such as a mattress to sleep on, censorship and more while in prison.
Carol Ruth Silver tells a very important part of American History that one cannot find in any history book. This first hand account of the realities faced by Freedom Riders and others who took part of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's definitely gives greater insight as to what the fight for civil rights was all about. I am glad Carol Ruth Silver shared her story.
***this book was received free from Goodreads Firstreads Giveaway."
the author starts her journey to become Freedom Rider in the summer of 1961. She experiences first hand the hardships she and her fellow cellmates and Freedom Riders had to deal with. And she leaves nothing out. Carol Ruth Silver describes the difference between being a Freedom Rider from the north and a Freedom Rider from the south. She describes the overcrowding, lack of showering, removal of basic necessities such as a mattress to sleep on, censorship and more while in prison.
Carol Ruth Silver tells a very important part of American History that one cannot find in any history book. This first hand account of the realities faced by Freedom Riders and others who took part of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's definitely gives greater insight as to what the fight for civil rights was all about. I am glad Carol Ruth Silver shared her story.
***this book was received free from Goodreads Firstreads Giveaway."
May 6, 2014
Very compelling first- person account by Carol Ruth Silver, who was 22 in the summer of 1961 when she joined the Civil rights movement by volunteering to be a Freedom Rider. She turned the notes and diary that she wrote on scraps of paper while in prison for two months into this amazing book. I didn't have much previous knowledge of the Freedom Riders, and this book was a great start that made me want to learn more. I was especially intrigued by the ways that the "girls and boys" as she called them, kept entertained while behind bars. Since they were mostly college- educated students and recent graduates, the Freedom Riders taught each other French and Greek, recited poems, and even held ballet lessons. Silver doesn't gloss over the bad parts of prison, including the monotonous, starch-heavy food, the overcrowded conditions, bugs and sickness. But, probably because of her gender and race, she personally didn't experience beatings or physical abuse the way some of the others (especially the black men) did. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a clear-eyed account of this era of American history. I won a copy of this book through the first reads program.
October 6, 2013
ARC provided by NetGalley:
Freedom Rider Diary is the first person account of a young woman named Carol Silver. Her story takes place at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. This book chronicles her role as a Freedom Rider and her attempt to help change the segregated south. Carol went into her role as a Freedom Rider fully aware that she would in all likelihood be arrested. While in jail she kept a diary of her experiences on small scraps of paper smuggled in and kept her recordings hidden from the authorities. As the author, Carol does an excellent job of accurately describing conditions inside the jail as well as the prevailing attitudes of that time. However, I felt that as a diary many of her entries were devoid of emotion. It's hard for me to believe that, as a young white woman involved in the Civil Rights Movement at such a violent time, she didn't feel more fear than was written in her diary. Still, this book is a good account of a difficult time in our nation's history.
Freedom Rider Diary is the first person account of a young woman named Carol Silver. Her story takes place at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. This book chronicles her role as a Freedom Rider and her attempt to help change the segregated south. Carol went into her role as a Freedom Rider fully aware that she would in all likelihood be arrested. While in jail she kept a diary of her experiences on small scraps of paper smuggled in and kept her recordings hidden from the authorities. As the author, Carol does an excellent job of accurately describing conditions inside the jail as well as the prevailing attitudes of that time. However, I felt that as a diary many of her entries were devoid of emotion. It's hard for me to believe that, as a young white woman involved in the Civil Rights Movement at such a violent time, she didn't feel more fear than was written in her diary. Still, this book is a good account of a difficult time in our nation's history.
October 25, 2025
Carol Ruth Silver has led a long and interesting life- I know her as the founder of the school where I teach, but she has also been a Supervisor in San Francisco, and a freedom rider, among other things. It’s really amazing to read her contemporaneous thoughts during the Freedom Rides and her incarceration, and incredible that she was able to smuggle her notes out of prison. Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the civil rights movement who would be interested in a primary source document from a White freedom rider to deepen their understanding of the movement.
June 15, 2024
This book was so interesting. Ms. Silver was one of the courage Freedom Riders, jailed for her attempt to desegregate transit in Jackson, MS.I work at the Freedom Rides Museum and we read this as part of our monthly book club. This is the only existing first person perspective written from inside Parchman Prison, the infamous maximum security prison that regularly utilized forced labor as a means of punishment.
March 24, 2019
Not a really deep book, but a readable report on an important time.
March 28, 2023
Many thanks to Carol Ruth & all the Freedom Riders for putting themselves on the line to help achieve civil rights for all.
April 11, 2014
Book fans wanting more fact than fiction in their summer reading material will enjoy "Freedom Rider Diary: Smuggled Notes from Parchman Prison" by Carol Ruth Silver.
In 1961, the Jewish Northerner was arrested for violating Jim Crow laws and spent 40 days in Mississippi jails and Parchman after she joined the Freedom Riders. Hundreds of civil rights activists, black and white, rode buses into segregated Southern states, including Mississippi, to test the U.S. Supreme Court rulings banning segregation on buses and in terminals. Upon their arrival, they were arrested for trespassing, unlawful assembly and other alleged offenses or were attacked by white mobs while law enforcement officers looked on.
“The Rides seem to be about the most direct ‘direct action’ that has yet been attempted on the civil rights front, primarily because they hit at the heart of the segregationist South,” Silver writes early in her book. The Freedom Ride was physical hard and emotional draining, but it was for a just cause. As she recounts in her memoir of the last 50 years, Silver’s fight for equality didn’t end with her arrest. She has continued as an activist, speaker and leader to benefit minorities, prisoners and others she felt were slighted by governmental and societal barricades.
Silver’s detailed recollections and her passion for others make for a compelling read that lets readers feel the energy of the civil rights movement. It is one of the few books that feature a detailed diary, smuggled out on hidden scraps of paper, from an actual Rider. Silver’s personal perspective and involvement in CORE (Congress for Racial Equality) gives a glimpse of why someone would take on the law in pursuit of equality. She salutes those who tried to make a difference, particularly in Mississippi.
The book includes photos ranging from arrest shots to long-after reunions, speaking engagements and memorial dedications. The book is published by the University Press of Mississippi as part of its Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography collection.
As for Silver, the spunky retired lawyer continues to fight for others, including opposing U.S. drug policies and striving to educate women and girls in Afghanistan.
In 1961, the Jewish Northerner was arrested for violating Jim Crow laws and spent 40 days in Mississippi jails and Parchman after she joined the Freedom Riders. Hundreds of civil rights activists, black and white, rode buses into segregated Southern states, including Mississippi, to test the U.S. Supreme Court rulings banning segregation on buses and in terminals. Upon their arrival, they were arrested for trespassing, unlawful assembly and other alleged offenses or were attacked by white mobs while law enforcement officers looked on.
“The Rides seem to be about the most direct ‘direct action’ that has yet been attempted on the civil rights front, primarily because they hit at the heart of the segregationist South,” Silver writes early in her book. The Freedom Ride was physical hard and emotional draining, but it was for a just cause. As she recounts in her memoir of the last 50 years, Silver’s fight for equality didn’t end with her arrest. She has continued as an activist, speaker and leader to benefit minorities, prisoners and others she felt were slighted by governmental and societal barricades.
Silver’s detailed recollections and her passion for others make for a compelling read that lets readers feel the energy of the civil rights movement. It is one of the few books that feature a detailed diary, smuggled out on hidden scraps of paper, from an actual Rider. Silver’s personal perspective and involvement in CORE (Congress for Racial Equality) gives a glimpse of why someone would take on the law in pursuit of equality. She salutes those who tried to make a difference, particularly in Mississippi.
The book includes photos ranging from arrest shots to long-after reunions, speaking engagements and memorial dedications. The book is published by the University Press of Mississippi as part of its Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography collection.
As for Silver, the spunky retired lawyer continues to fight for others, including opposing U.S. drug policies and striving to educate women and girls in Afghanistan.
January 8, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of the memoir Coming of Age in Mississippi but from the perspective of an outsider coming to town and experiencing the racism of that area. Carol Ruth Silver was only 22 years old when she volunteered to join the Freedom Riders and accepted the fact that she was likely to be arrested.
I was amazed that she was able to smuggle notes out of the prison. I have been in jail for civil disobedience myself so I know it is not easy to get anything in or out. I really appreciated the story of how the notes languished for years and how she and her sister painstakingly typed up the handwritten notes. Her handwriting was quite tiny, to fit on little scraps of paper, and I know it was quite a project to transcribe.
The story of her going back there and staying in touch with many people who had been in prison with her was also very inspiring.
In the 1970's, Carol Ruth Silver was a major figure in politics in San Francisco. She was a supervisor at the same time as Harvey Milk, during the Golden Age here. That's when I first became aware of her. I had no idea that she started to do political work so many years before that.
Anyone interested in grass roots activism will enjoy this memoir.
I was amazed that she was able to smuggle notes out of the prison. I have been in jail for civil disobedience myself so I know it is not easy to get anything in or out. I really appreciated the story of how the notes languished for years and how she and her sister painstakingly typed up the handwritten notes. Her handwriting was quite tiny, to fit on little scraps of paper, and I know it was quite a project to transcribe.
The story of her going back there and staying in touch with many people who had been in prison with her was also very inspiring.
In the 1970's, Carol Ruth Silver was a major figure in politics in San Francisco. She was a supervisor at the same time as Harvey Milk, during the Golden Age here. That's when I first became aware of her. I had no idea that she started to do political work so many years before that.
Anyone interested in grass roots activism will enjoy this memoir.
July 27, 2014
Given To Me For An Honest Review
This book is about a young northern girl who got involved with the civil rights fight in the 60s. She was arrested with others. While in prison she began writing things on small scraps of paper and was able to sneak them out of the prison when she was released. Those scraps of paper became her Freedom Rider Diary.
I lived that time period and her book gives the information right on. Although she is very direct with the information she does not show any emotion thoughout. Other than that, it is a book that should be shared with young people who love history. Because that is a vital part of our history. I give it 5 stars and highly recommend it to all.
This book is about a young northern girl who got involved with the civil rights fight in the 60s. She was arrested with others. While in prison she began writing things on small scraps of paper and was able to sneak them out of the prison when she was released. Those scraps of paper became her Freedom Rider Diary.
I lived that time period and her book gives the information right on. Although she is very direct with the information she does not show any emotion thoughout. Other than that, it is a book that should be shared with young people who love history. Because that is a vital part of our history. I give it 5 stars and highly recommend it to all.
August 9, 2016
Harrowing, unforgettable experiences which the writer has allowed the reader to experience with her, being a civil rights activist we are allowed to bear witness to atrocities used against the freedom riders, brutality, violence, disregard of the law. How one woman spent her life fighting for civil rights, using both historical and personal photographs within the context of the book.
Read
July 21, 2018My students will say that they've heard of the Freedom Writers, not the Freedom Riders. Perhaps I selected this work because of a Freudian mental slip at the initial meeting last May.
I found this work to be informative in its education about the culture and the ongoing struggle for truth that we experience. It is very easy for (teacher) educators to prompt students' reading, writing, and discussion about topics to make them feel good about themselves. This text provides a first hand account of a person who deliberately challenged the social order for the welfare of those in need. In the process, she learned that communities of compassion and justice require perseverence to endure a system of selfishness and greed.
I wonder to what extent we, as members of a higher education community might encourage students' critique of the values that define our society by resisting fear and embracing care - promoting those less fortunate, rather than ourselves.
I found this work to be informative in its education about the culture and the ongoing struggle for truth that we experience. It is very easy for (teacher) educators to prompt students' reading, writing, and discussion about topics to make them feel good about themselves. This text provides a first hand account of a person who deliberately challenged the social order for the welfare of those in need. In the process, she learned that communities of compassion and justice require perseverence to endure a system of selfishness and greed.
I wonder to what extent we, as members of a higher education community might encourage students' critique of the values that define our society by resisting fear and embracing care - promoting those less fortunate, rather than ourselves.
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