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Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement
The Spies of Mississippi is a compelling story of how state spies tried to block voting rights for African Americans during the Civil Rights era. This book sheds new light on one of the most momentous periods in American history.
Author Rick Bowers has combed through primary-source materials and interviewed surviving activists named in once-secret files, as well as the writings and oral histories of Mississippi civil rights leaders. Readers get first-hand accounts of how neighbors spied on neighbors, teachers spied on students, ministers spied on church-goers, and spies even spied on spies.
The Spies of Mississippi will inspire readers with the stories of the brave citizens who overcame the forces of white supremacy to usher in a new era of hope and freedom—an age that has recently culminated in the election of Barack Obama.
National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
Author Rick Bowers has combed through primary-source materials and interviewed surviving activists named in once-secret files, as well as the writings and oral histories of Mississippi civil rights leaders. Readers get first-hand accounts of how neighbors spied on neighbors, teachers spied on students, ministers spied on church-goers, and spies even spied on spies.
The Spies of Mississippi will inspire readers with the stories of the brave citizens who overcame the forces of white supremacy to usher in a new era of hope and freedom—an age that has recently culminated in the election of Barack Obama.
National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
120 pages, Hardcover
First published December 18, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 126 reviews
January 25, 2010
When kids think of spies the general impression is almost always positive. There's that vague sense that Benedict Arnold was one and that was a bad thing, but generally their spy-knowledge is informed by folks like James Bond, Alex Rider, and other intrepid adventurers. The notion that spying could be used for evil instead of good doesn't get a lot of play in their literature. So when I read the subtitle of this book and saw that it read The True Story of the Spy Network That Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement I was (A) surprised I hadn't run across this story before and (B) I was amazed that we now had a book for kids where we see spies used for the ultimate nefarious purpose. Rick Bowers brings to light a story never before seen in a children's non-fiction publication. It's what went on behind the scenes in Mississippi when racism decided to get organized. In it you'll find both stories of unsung heroes and tales of horrendous crimes. This book is many things. Dull, it is not.
Sometimes you hear talk about the mundane nature of evil and nothing is more mundane than the name "Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission". Its activities, however, were anything but humdrum. In 1956, Mississippi state governor J.P. Coleman signed into law a bill calling for the creation of an agency whose sole purpose would be to protect the state of segregation, as it currently existed at that time. Essentially, this Southern state now had its own publicly funded spy program. Over the course of two decades they would infiltrate civil rights organizations, hire spies, gather information, and do everything in their power to fight the change that was coming. By turns chilling and compelling, Rick Bowers dives into the recently released 134,000 pages of the commission's secret investigative files and supplements them with interviews and additional research to bring to light a dark time in our nation's history. Endmatter includes information on what happened to the key players, selected documents, an extensive Bibliography, Quote Sources, and an Index.
Bowers does do a good job of conveying the horror of what a lot of these Civil Rights activists went through. But the book weighs in at a slim 120 pages, which doesn't allow the author much time to go into people's lives. With that in mind, the author does a deft job of allowing you to get a sense of the book's participants. Enough so that when you read about a man "tied to the back of a garbage truck and forced to load trash in full view of his neighbors" or the student who was placed on a table and beaten with a belt when she was arrested, the demeaning nature of these incidents is not lost on a young reader. And Bowers is adept at plucking out essential details that give you a sense of the whole. When you learn about Governor Ross Barnett, Bowers shows you what a buffoon the fellow is by mentioning, amongst other details, that, "He would become the only governor to name two Miss Americas honorary colonels in the Mississippi National Guard." Mind you, that's a detail that more adults than kids are going to find funny, but I like that it's in there.
I found the way in which some of the information was laid out to be surprising. To my mind, the most interesting passage in the book is a section in Chapter Eight (The Clandestine War) that lists the five steps Ross Barnett took to fight the Civil Rights Movement. Since Bowers has written the book chronologically, this section comes later in the text, but I would have loved to have run into it earlier on. As far as I can tell, it's a fascinating portion that really drills home how to destroy a movement (though we are fortunate that it ran into enough problems to prevent it from ever meeting its goal). I can see why that section comes as late in the book as it does. Less understandable is Chapter 9 (Never, Never Land). This chapter explains why Mississippi was the way it was. One explanation says, "Mississippi had no major cosmopolitan center like Atlanta, New Orleans, or Memphis, where large newspapers carried competing points of view and major universities debated new ideas." Which is great and all, but why introduce it so late in the game? Seems to me that if you're going to understand why things happened, it would be useful to put things into context earlier rather than later. Perhaps this was a concession made to the child readers. Was there a fear that if you put in statistics like the fact that Mississippians were 55 percent white and 45 percent black at the beginning, kids would get bored early on and put down the book? I dunno but it certainly would have benefited the book if it had been introduced at the start of the story.
Though I initially read a galley copy of this book, I was glad that I waited for the final product before reviewing it. The additional backmatter and photographs in this tome make all the difference. The Epilogue, for example, shows that through meticulous interviews, Bowers discovered that the infamous Agent X who infiltrated Civil Rights meetings could have been one R.L. Bolden, a man who conceded to Bowers that he did send his bosses at the Day Agency information on Freedom Summer training seminars in Ohio. The photographs in the center of the book are also interesting, displaying billboard smear campaigns painting Martin Luther King as attending Communist training camps, and photographs marked up by The Commission identifying protesters to harass. And the selected documents from the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission included at the end are truly fascinating and, in the case of the map of the gravesite of Civil Rights workers, chilling.
Bowers does get a touch overly dramatic in his writing, which may or may not work for his young readers. At one point in the Prologue he says of this story that it is, "usually relegated to a footnote in the history of the civil rights movement. No longer. This is how it happened." Or later, when describing some mug shots (provided quite nicely in the center of the book) he says that they show, "innocence mixed with fear mixed with defiance." He has a taste for the dramatic, this one. Then again, these were dramatic times. And at no point is Bowers more descriptive than the folks he is describing. What author could compete with a group who describes activists as "communists, sex perverts, odd balls, and do-gooders"? The material speaks for itself.
To what extent does Bowers cater to a child audience? As I've mentioned, the book is short and the character studies to the point. The dramatic language that sometimes comes up could be a sign of concessions made to younger folks. As it stands, though, this is just a great book for older kids, teens, and adults. Synthesized down to its most essential parts, Bowers has found a new way to highlight the heroism and the horror of this amazing moment in American history. After reading this, kids may find themselves reassessing their thoughts about spying and what it can be used for. It's hard not to love your civil liberties when you see them so expertly trampled. A good read.
For ages 10 and up.
Sometimes you hear talk about the mundane nature of evil and nothing is more mundane than the name "Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission". Its activities, however, were anything but humdrum. In 1956, Mississippi state governor J.P. Coleman signed into law a bill calling for the creation of an agency whose sole purpose would be to protect the state of segregation, as it currently existed at that time. Essentially, this Southern state now had its own publicly funded spy program. Over the course of two decades they would infiltrate civil rights organizations, hire spies, gather information, and do everything in their power to fight the change that was coming. By turns chilling and compelling, Rick Bowers dives into the recently released 134,000 pages of the commission's secret investigative files and supplements them with interviews and additional research to bring to light a dark time in our nation's history. Endmatter includes information on what happened to the key players, selected documents, an extensive Bibliography, Quote Sources, and an Index.
Bowers does do a good job of conveying the horror of what a lot of these Civil Rights activists went through. But the book weighs in at a slim 120 pages, which doesn't allow the author much time to go into people's lives. With that in mind, the author does a deft job of allowing you to get a sense of the book's participants. Enough so that when you read about a man "tied to the back of a garbage truck and forced to load trash in full view of his neighbors" or the student who was placed on a table and beaten with a belt when she was arrested, the demeaning nature of these incidents is not lost on a young reader. And Bowers is adept at plucking out essential details that give you a sense of the whole. When you learn about Governor Ross Barnett, Bowers shows you what a buffoon the fellow is by mentioning, amongst other details, that, "He would become the only governor to name two Miss Americas honorary colonels in the Mississippi National Guard." Mind you, that's a detail that more adults than kids are going to find funny, but I like that it's in there.
I found the way in which some of the information was laid out to be surprising. To my mind, the most interesting passage in the book is a section in Chapter Eight (The Clandestine War) that lists the five steps Ross Barnett took to fight the Civil Rights Movement. Since Bowers has written the book chronologically, this section comes later in the text, but I would have loved to have run into it earlier on. As far as I can tell, it's a fascinating portion that really drills home how to destroy a movement (though we are fortunate that it ran into enough problems to prevent it from ever meeting its goal). I can see why that section comes as late in the book as it does. Less understandable is Chapter 9 (Never, Never Land). This chapter explains why Mississippi was the way it was. One explanation says, "Mississippi had no major cosmopolitan center like Atlanta, New Orleans, or Memphis, where large newspapers carried competing points of view and major universities debated new ideas." Which is great and all, but why introduce it so late in the game? Seems to me that if you're going to understand why things happened, it would be useful to put things into context earlier rather than later. Perhaps this was a concession made to the child readers. Was there a fear that if you put in statistics like the fact that Mississippians were 55 percent white and 45 percent black at the beginning, kids would get bored early on and put down the book? I dunno but it certainly would have benefited the book if it had been introduced at the start of the story.
Though I initially read a galley copy of this book, I was glad that I waited for the final product before reviewing it. The additional backmatter and photographs in this tome make all the difference. The Epilogue, for example, shows that through meticulous interviews, Bowers discovered that the infamous Agent X who infiltrated Civil Rights meetings could have been one R.L. Bolden, a man who conceded to Bowers that he did send his bosses at the Day Agency information on Freedom Summer training seminars in Ohio. The photographs in the center of the book are also interesting, displaying billboard smear campaigns painting Martin Luther King as attending Communist training camps, and photographs marked up by The Commission identifying protesters to harass. And the selected documents from the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission included at the end are truly fascinating and, in the case of the map of the gravesite of Civil Rights workers, chilling.
Bowers does get a touch overly dramatic in his writing, which may or may not work for his young readers. At one point in the Prologue he says of this story that it is, "usually relegated to a footnote in the history of the civil rights movement. No longer. This is how it happened." Or later, when describing some mug shots (provided quite nicely in the center of the book) he says that they show, "innocence mixed with fear mixed with defiance." He has a taste for the dramatic, this one. Then again, these were dramatic times. And at no point is Bowers more descriptive than the folks he is describing. What author could compete with a group who describes activists as "communists, sex perverts, odd balls, and do-gooders"? The material speaks for itself.
To what extent does Bowers cater to a child audience? As I've mentioned, the book is short and the character studies to the point. The dramatic language that sometimes comes up could be a sign of concessions made to younger folks. As it stands, though, this is just a great book for older kids, teens, and adults. Synthesized down to its most essential parts, Bowers has found a new way to highlight the heroism and the horror of this amazing moment in American history. After reading this, kids may find themselves reassessing their thoughts about spying and what it can be used for. It's hard not to love your civil liberties when you see them so expertly trampled. A good read.
For ages 10 and up.
June 30, 2014
Fear and hate, two of the most dangerous weapons on the planet. And boy did the segregationists use them to manipulate the public. Segregationists in Mississippi were so determined to undermine the civil rights movement and the legal decisions that were increasingly turning against them that they set up the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission to combat it. They recruited spies to check on civil rights workers and anyone they considered a threat. Generally they tried to use more subtle methods to stop the movement, things such as manipulating jobs, white supremacist organizations, etc. All to undermine and stop integration.
Bowers shares the stories of men who worked for both sides, those who worked against integration and those who worked for it. Some of these stories were encouraging and some of them were sad. It just bothered me what these men were willing to do to preserve their way of life, no matter how distorted. A powerful example of how much some people hate change and yet how impossible to avoid.
This is an important book about the dangers of too much power in the hands of a few and how easily it can be misused. It's also an important book about the courage of individuals in making a difference despite the sacrifices that are sometimes required.
Bowers shares the stories of men who worked for both sides, those who worked against integration and those who worked for it. Some of these stories were encouraging and some of them were sad. It just bothered me what these men were willing to do to preserve their way of life, no matter how distorted. A powerful example of how much some people hate change and yet how impossible to avoid.
This is an important book about the dangers of too much power in the hands of a few and how easily it can be misused. It's also an important book about the courage of individuals in making a difference despite the sacrifices that are sometimes required.
January 14, 2011
Some interesting tidbits, in several short chapters, about some lesser known incidents of the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi.
I felt as if the book lacked some cohesion, and despite the subitle, the spies are only part of this story.
Interesting, easy to read, well researched, but somehow slight at the same time.
I felt as if the book lacked some cohesion, and despite the subitle, the spies are only part of this story.
Interesting, easy to read, well researched, but somehow slight at the same time.
December 19, 2010
Read for Mock Printz.
A very brief history of a dark time in US History. The book traces the creation and activities of a state-sponsored agency created to spy on and defeat any integration or Civil Rights efforts in the state of Mississippi. I was about halfway through when the facts of the book suddenly hit me. Wow! The state of Mississippi set up and recruited spies as well as investigated people who had not committed any crime. They then attempted to discredit these people in any way possible. Holy Crap! The fact that some of the people who worked for the commission are still living makes it even more remarkable.
The book is perfect for young adult readers, hitting on the horrors of the Jim Crow/Civil Rights era without being too graphic. For example, it describes in pretty clear detail the beating that a civil rights worker received, but when discussing the murders of the three civil rights workers it only mentions the burned out car and the fact their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam. It does not go into details of how they were killed.
A very brief history of a dark time in US History. The book traces the creation and activities of a state-sponsored agency created to spy on and defeat any integration or Civil Rights efforts in the state of Mississippi. I was about halfway through when the facts of the book suddenly hit me. Wow! The state of Mississippi set up and recruited spies as well as investigated people who had not committed any crime. They then attempted to discredit these people in any way possible. Holy Crap! The fact that some of the people who worked for the commission are still living makes it even more remarkable.
The book is perfect for young adult readers, hitting on the horrors of the Jim Crow/Civil Rights era without being too graphic. For example, it describes in pretty clear detail the beating that a civil rights worker received, but when discussing the murders of the three civil rights workers it only mentions the burned out car and the fact their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam. It does not go into details of how they were killed.
January 14, 2011
I would give this book 3.5 stars...it chronicles the unbelievable efforts by the Mississippi state government to undermine the entire Civil Rights movement and maintain their culture of "separation". I found my jaw dropping again and again at the lengths these individuals went to uphold incredible evils...and these were the elected officials meant to protect and defend our liberties. I was also horrified at what people, black and white, and institutions were willing to do for money. Very eye-opening...makes you question the validity and truth of what the media feeds the public. This is definitely a book meant to be read by high school age and older...not only because of content but just plain reading level and comprehension.
February 13, 2011
Using the documents of the Sovereignty Commission of Mississippi, Bowers details the spy activities of the state government during the Civil Rights movement. Kind of fascinating and appalling, all at the same time. Thoroughly researched and well-presented. My only complaint is since the book was intended for a children and teen audience, it could have used more pictures. I really liked the short chapters, though.
December 22, 2015
"In fact, there is evidence that the bad old days are poised for a comeback. For the past two decades, public schools have been gradually resegregating as federal and state courts back off enforcement of integration laws and legislatures sidestep the issue."
December 12, 2018
I recently read Spies of the Mississippi wrote by Rick Bowers. This is a book I would not recommend unless you are doing research or are a very high level reader and would like to learn about this topic. Also the book was not very interesting unless you are into learning about segregation, then it would probably be interesting to you. I'm not saying it was a bad book but I did not enjoy reading it.
This book was mainly about segregation and how Civil War spies were trying to destroy apartheid. This book was based on the true story of the long winded and hard process of ending apartheid and general racism. The spies were from the state of Mississippi. They spied the state of Mississippi to make sure there was white supremacy. But all together i did not like the book very much and I would not recommend it to younger ages, Because it is confusing and hard to understand.
This book was mainly about segregation and how Civil War spies were trying to destroy apartheid. This book was based on the true story of the long winded and hard process of ending apartheid and general racism. The spies were from the state of Mississippi. They spied the state of Mississippi to make sure there was white supremacy. But all together i did not like the book very much and I would not recommend it to younger ages, Because it is confusing and hard to understand.
June 18, 2020
An accurate and well-researched depiction of a tumultuous era in American history. The spy element is an interesting hook to draw in young readers (also, something I was unfamiliar myself). Quick read, informative, but since it’s for young readers readers perhaps not as in-depth as an adult reader might be seeking.
October 26, 2022
This small book tells of the struggles for civil rights in Mississippi.
November 29, 2016
My book was Spies of Mississippi. The author of this great book is Rick Bowers. I like this book so much that I would recommend reading this. It was about these spies who went to Mississippi to spy on the enemies. They spied on the enemies so that they could find out what the enemy was planning on doing to whoever they were trying to kill, hurt, or attack. They did this so that they could protect the people the enemy was going to try and hurt, kill, or plan on doing any of those things. They did this so that they could try and save the lives of all the other innocent people that the enemies were trying to kill.
November 23, 2015
I read this to teach. I have been spoiled by other history books for adults that do a much better job of recreating the era.
December 18, 2020
I'm not the target audience for this book, so at first I thought that my reason for thinking it was so-so was because I already knew a fair amount about the Civil Rights movement but that it might be better as an introduction. I had expected more about the actual spying, but basically what I learned was that Mississippi had its own state-level version of COINTELPRO and that the government paid informants to report on who attended NAACP meetings. I also learned that Fannie Lou Hamer was beaten while in prison. (I already knew about Medgar Evers, James Meredith, the Freedom Riders, and the killing of activists Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney.)
The book is divided into very short chapters. Each focuses on a specific person. Some are the segregationist politicians, some are the civil rights fighters, some are the "moderates". This may make it easier reading for children/teenagers, but it cuts the struggle up into vignettes and doesn't have much of an explanation about how the civil rights movement developed.
Several of the reviews on Goodreads seem to be from students who were assigned to read this book and didn't understand it (or possibly didn't actually read it). One of the reviews on the first page says they were "Civil War" spies who fought against apartheid. Another says that the spies were caring people who helped fight segregation. I don't know whether I can really blame the book for these misunderstandings, but reading these reviews certainly didn't make me feel that it was better for the target audience than it was for me.
The book is divided into very short chapters. Each focuses on a specific person. Some are the segregationist politicians, some are the civil rights fighters, some are the "moderates". This may make it easier reading for children/teenagers, but it cuts the struggle up into vignettes and doesn't have much of an explanation about how the civil rights movement developed.
Several of the reviews on Goodreads seem to be from students who were assigned to read this book and didn't understand it (or possibly didn't actually read it). One of the reviews on the first page says they were "Civil War" spies who fought against apartheid. Another says that the spies were caring people who helped fight segregation. I don't know whether I can really blame the book for these misunderstandings, but reading these reviews certainly didn't make me feel that it was better for the target audience than it was for me.
November 1, 2019
¨The spies of Mississippi is a book about agency of people working together to stop racial segregation
the spies are very caring and are willing to help out the black/ colored towns of the segregated deep south of America. The spies of Mississippi lived during 1956 and at that time segregation was evolving around the south. And it was the spies jobs to destroy it. It was also the time of the Civil Rights Movement where many African Americans were trying there hardest to get jobs since it was so rare at that point of time.
The reason why I like this book is because of the showing of compassion of the spies of Mississippi and how they care about the justice of the society their living in and want to stop it no matter what. I also like the braveness of the spies and their great planning skills they brought up with by showing Bennetts 5 steps.
I think people who love biography would enjoy this novel and find it very pleasing to read with the spare time they have. I also think people who would love to know about the Civil Rights Movements and what segregation can harm the society.
the spies are very caring and are willing to help out the black/ colored towns of the segregated deep south of America. The spies of Mississippi lived during 1956 and at that time segregation was evolving around the south. And it was the spies jobs to destroy it. It was also the time of the Civil Rights Movement where many African Americans were trying there hardest to get jobs since it was so rare at that point of time.
The reason why I like this book is because of the showing of compassion of the spies of Mississippi and how they care about the justice of the society their living in and want to stop it no matter what. I also like the braveness of the spies and their great planning skills they brought up with by showing Bennetts 5 steps.
I think people who love biography would enjoy this novel and find it very pleasing to read with the spare time they have. I also think people who would love to know about the Civil Rights Movements and what segregation can harm the society.
February 6, 2018
It was a good educative book about secretive organization to keep blacks from their civil rights. What I found really shocking about the book, was that their were some blacks who put himself higher then others, and worked for the organization for money! Can you believe that? Mississippi is a state that believes in slavery and has done about everything to keep it that way, even after blacks had their own freedom. It was wierd to view it in a perspective of the white organization called the Comission. They did everything to try to destroy the Civil Rights movement. With the governor as the head, they had a lot of power, but that didn’t stop form blacks and other people from coming to protest. Overall, I thought it was interesting to learn something you wouldn’t hear in a history class.
October 22, 2019
The Spies of Mississippi is a book that takes place during the civil rights movement. The spies were trying to destroy the civil rights movement which was the whole point of the book.
I gave this book a 1 star because I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The genre is under literacy nonfiction but I think it should be under nonfiction considering it did not follow a story as it was suppose to do. I also did not enjoy this book because of the amount of details it gave made it confusing on how to follow. There was also way too many characters and that made it hard to follow as it got a lot farther in the book.
I gave this book a 1 star because I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The genre is under literacy nonfiction but I think it should be under nonfiction considering it did not follow a story as it was suppose to do. I also did not enjoy this book because of the amount of details it gave made it confusing on how to follow. There was also way too many characters and that made it hard to follow as it got a lot farther in the book.
February 26, 2019
Although there were some interesting tidbits, it was more of a series of unrelated anecdotes than anything else. As another reviewer mentioned, it lacked cohesion. I can tell that the author is well educated on the subject and I did learn from the book -- but he probably could have benefited from having a second author to help with establishing the overall narrative, rather than just having several essays on the same topic.
It was a quick, easy read, though.
It was a quick, easy read, though.
March 11, 2018
Interesting history of the machinations ofthe racist governments against the Civil Rights Movement.
People that believe that Government of the people, by the people, for the people, should be the norm have to read this short historical narrative and wonder how much of this is currently going on.
Sobering
People that believe that Government of the people, by the people, for the people, should be the norm have to read this short historical narrative and wonder how much of this is currently going on.
Sobering
January 31, 2021
This book was interesting, the subject matter distasteful but important. The sad thing is that there is still so much of the crap still going on. This book is short, and I did feel like many of the chapters left you hanging. The next chapter would start another topic or investigation and sometimes the author would circle back to let the reader know what happened, but not always.
May 14, 2025
Ugh! No wonder they wanted to keep the Commission and its activities a secret. This really should be a bigger part of U.S. History, and it's unfortunate that more people don't know about all of this. I'd never heard of any of it until I ran across this book - and I lived in Mississippi for several years as a little girl.
January 21, 2019
A concise and compelling account of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, which was an official state organization that worked behind the scenes and in the media to fight integration and voting rights in Mississippi and beyond during the Civil Rights Movement.
March 8, 2019
First, this is a book meant for young readers, though the subject matter is disturbing. It does a decent job within its scope, which is limited. I did learn a few things, and am glad the author is trying to bring to light some true history from the Civil Rights era.
May 6, 2019
The book didn’t really get much into detail about the spies as I thought it would.. it is more of a broad summary of the civil rights movement with addition of what some spied did.. but I did learn quite a bit so honestly not complaining!
January 27, 2021
An excellent bit of short history that gives insights into the almost totalitarian state of white rule in Mississippi during the civil rights movement. I think most history should be written in such a simple, direct, and easy to follow format.
June 6, 2017
Short and concise. Good primer for anyone interested in the civil rights movement.
December 18, 2017
This is a really interesting period of history, and something I wasn't aware of. The writing is really dry though, and gets long to read, although my students seem to be enjoying it.
August 4, 2018
Powerful and eye opening.
September 11, 2018
2011 YALSA Nonfiction Finalist
October 21, 2019
This book has opened my eyes and impacted me in ways I never imagined. There is a lot to digest here.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 126 reviews