Council of Federated Organizations facts for kids

The Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) was a special group of important Civil Rights Movement organizations in Mississippi. COFO started in 1961. Its main goal was to bring together and organize efforts like helping people register to vote. It also helped manage money from a project called the Voter Education Project. COFO was very important in creating the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) were part of COFO.

Early Civil Rights Efforts in Mississippi

The fight for civil rights in Mississippi began to grow after World War II. Soldiers like Medgar Evers, his brother Charles Evers, Aaron Henry, and Amzie Moore came home. They had fought against Nazi Germany. These veterans helped restart local chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) across the state.

After the war, Medgar Evers became an insurance salesman. He saw how poor many families were in rural Mississippi. This made him want to help, so he joined the NAACP in the early 1950s. By 1954, he became the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. His friend, Aaron Henry, a pharmacist and veteran, also became active. He started the first NAACP branch in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Henry's group even managed to get two white men charged for kidnapping and harming two young Black girls. Even though the men were found not guilty, getting them charged was a big step for the young organization.

Evers also found his work challenging in the 1950s. He traveled the state, giving encouraging talks and looking into racially motivated killings. Despite slow progress, different groups sometimes had different ideas. Evers, Henry, and Amzie Moore joined the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL) in 1951. This was even though the national NAACP office didn't want them to. Evers and Henry also went to a meeting in New Orleans for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The national NAACP leader, Roy Wilkins, worried about the SCLC's leader, Martin Luther King Jr.. Evers felt both groups had the same goals. Henry stayed on the SCLC board and became its state president in 1960. This early competition actually made the NAACP pay more attention to its Mississippi chapters.

Student Activism and SNCC

The NAACP was sometimes slow to accept new ideas. This led Amzie Moore to a student meeting in Atlanta in 1960. Moore was a leader in the NAACP but was frustrated with the national office. He admired the energy of the new student movement. In Atlanta, Moore met Bob Moses, a young teacher from New York City. Moses was inspired by student sit-ins that started in February 1960. That summer, he volunteered with the new Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Moses traveled through Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. He was looking for young people to join SNCC. On this trip, Moore shared his idea with Moses. He wanted a statewide effort to help people register to vote, led by students. Moses agreed to return a year later to help with Moore's plan. When Moses returned in 1961, Moore wasn't quite ready. So, Moses went to McComb, Mississippi with NAACP member C.C. Bryant. The McComb movement involved classes on voter registration and student protests. This work didn't bring quick results, but it gave Moses and other SNCC workers valuable training. They then took their new skills to the Mississippi Delta.

CORE and the Freedom Rides

The SNCC and NAACP work in McComb happened at the same time as the first Freedom Rides. These Rides were organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Freedom Riders were a mixed group of students and experienced CORE members. They wanted to challenge local segregation laws. They also tested new federal laws about travel between states. They planned to ride buses together from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans.

The first group of thirteen students faced violence in Alabama. Then, SNCC's Diane Nash recruited students from Nashville, Tennessee, to finish the Rides. After more violence and protests from the Kennedy administration, these new Riders arrived in Jackson, Mississippi, on May 24, 1961. Governor Ross Barnett had promised peace to the Kennedys. He ordered police to enforce the law. The Freedom Riders were quickly arrested, tried, and sent to the state prison in Parchman. More Riders came to Mississippi and were also sent to Parchman. One of these new Riders was Dave Dennis from New Orleans. Dennis's friendship with Moses later became very important for keeping the COFO group together.

Why Unity Was Needed

Several things led to the creation of the statewide COFO group. John Doar from the Justice Department came to Mississippi. He investigated claims of people being stopped from voting. Aaron Henry helped him locally. As Freedom Riders arrived in Jackson, Henry and the Clarksdale NAACP tried to meet with Governor Barnett. When he refused, they formed the Clarksdale Council of Federated Organizations for the meeting. Under this new name, the active middle-class people of Clarksdale continued their voter registration efforts.

Martin Luther King Jr. briefly visited Jackson to speak for the Freedom Riders. This again worried the national NAACP office. But Evers told them that strong NAACP chapters in Mississippi would stop the student movement from growing too much locally. However, the student movement soon spread through Jackson. Students from Tougaloo College joined SNCC workers. They created the Non-Violent Action Group. This group held workshops on nonviolent ideas and organized local sit-ins and protests. At first, Evers and many Black people in Jackson saw these "outsiders" with some doubt. There were differences between the groups based on age, organization, and ideas.

Evers slowly began to appreciate the young activists' dedication in 1961-1962. He asked the national NAACP office if he could support their direct action activities. These actions were different from the NAACP's usual way of working through court cases and voter registration. His request was quickly turned down. Evers was so frustrated that he thought about leaving the NAACP. Despite national objections, Henry asked King in Atlanta and Tom Gaither of CORE for help with the Clarksdale registration drives and boycotts.

Gaither and Moses then worked together on a memo. They sent it to the national SNCC and CORE offices. It suggested a coordinated voter registration drive across Mississippi. This drive would focus on areas where Black people made up at least 45 percent of the population. Evers and Henry became convinced they needed to work together, not separately. They realized this on a trip to Los Angeles. There, they saw local Jewish groups working well together for a common goal. Soon after, Henry, Evers, Moses, and Dennis met in Jackson. They discussed how they could work together across Mississippi.

Forming COFO

At the national level, many in the Justice Department felt angry at the hostile Southern states after the Freedom Rides. The Southern Regional Council in Atlanta found this new anger helpful. It led to the creation of the Voter Education Project (VEP). VEP provided money for voter registration activities across the South. These activities were watched over by the Justice Department.

Soon after the meeting in Jackson with Evers, Henry, Moses, and Dennis, VEP director Wiley A Branton and James Bevel of the SCLC traveled to Clarksdale. They met with the Jackson planners and other Mississippi leaders. Branton found that the local activists were open to working together and to the money VEP could provide. The main opposition again came from Roy Wilkins of the national NAACP office. He felt Mississippi was NAACP territory. He did not want his organization's money spent through groups like SNCC.

Since the leaders of each national organization could say no to decisions about VEP funds, Branton suggested a "smokescreen" organization. This would let local groups work together. It would also avoid interference from national groups who were not directly involved. This need, and the ideas discussed in the Jackson meeting, led to the creation of the statewide Council of Federated Organizations (COFO).

The new COFO organization had important leaders. Henry was President, Moses was Program Director, Dennis was Assistant Program Director, and Carsie Hall, a Jackson lawyer, was Secretary. The presidency was supposed to rotate among the heads of the main organizations. But Henry kept the role because "no one else seemed interested." COFO included all four national organizations. It also included local groups like the RCNL, Jackson Nonviolent Group, and the Holmes County Voters League. COFO staff members kept their ties to their original organizations. SNCC provided most of the workers.

Most of the work of individual organizations also happened under the COFO umbrella. SNCC and CORE worked especially closely because of the friendship between Moses and Dennis. This made their activities almost impossible to tell apart. This coordinated effort achieved several important things. It made the work of younger students more accepted. It connected them to older, respected leaders. This opened up long-standing networks to SNCC and CORE workers. Also, working together helped overcome differences in age, money, and organization. These differences had stopped large-scale efforts for years.

As COFO's new staff began organizing, they focused mostly on the Mississippi Delta. This area had the largest Black population in the state. Many sharecroppers lived there, which provided a natural group of people to help. The new organization had two main goals. First, it wanted to get more support from the federal government. Second, it wanted to create a movement that truly came from the local people. There would be some direct action protests. But the main focus was on massive voter registration, which was protected by federal law.

The SNCC and CORE workers found mentors in older activists like Henry and Moore. These established leaders helped the new arrivals connect with local communities. They liked that the new workers focused on developing local leaders. A true grassroots movement would also help disprove the idea that "outside agitators" were causing trouble. This was a common claim by the state of Mississippi. Many new recruits were teenagers and young adults. For example, Sam Block, a local student, found the courage to challenge the Leflore County Sheriff. He also gained the discipline to keep challenging him.

Women, like Fannie Lou Hamer, were also a big part of this new wave of leadership. Traditionally, the NAACP and SCLC put women in office jobs or background roles. But mentors like Ella Baker had a lasting impact on SNCC workers. This influence extended to the local women they met. The increased use of women and young people caused some tension among COFO's groups. But it was just one of many disagreements to come.

New workers and registration activities across the state caused a stir among white people. This created fear among local Black people and civil rights workers. But it did not slow down the activities. Violence continued as boycotts of businesses began in Jackson, Clarksdale, and Greenwood. Owning guns was common in rural Mississippi. The nonviolent "outside" organizers had to learn to deal with this fact. They also had to decide if it fit with their nonviolence beliefs.

After brutal attacks on workers, including the well-known Hamer and Ed King (a white chaplain at Tougaloo College), those who believed in nonviolence came to accept armed self-defense. They saw it as necessary and even compatible with nonviolent ideas. An NAACP newsletter in 1963 stated, "We will never strike the first violent blow. We point out to our white attackers that in the future… you are going to get your lick right back."

The violence grew worse and again gained national attention on June 12, 1963. Shortly after midnight, Medgar Evers was killed in his driveway. He had just returned from a rally. For many, he represented the Mississippi movement. Small riots followed his funeral. Then, more sit-ins and protests happened across the state. White people responded with more violence.

To avoid frustration, COFO workers organized the Freedom Vote. This happened at the same time as Mississippi's gubernatorial elections. This gave Black people a focus. It also showed the federal government that local Black people would vote if allowed. A meeting for this large mock election was held in Jackson. Henry and Ed King were chosen as candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. About seventy white students from Stanford and Yale came for a week to "register" "voters." Many of these students were bothered, but there were no major violent events. There was ongoing debate about using white volunteers. But many believed these outside workers were helpful and needed. Dennis felt that after the Freedom Vote, "there was less fear in the Negro community in taking part in civil rights activities."

This new courage led to two different actions. COFO planners began to talk about a large number of volunteers coming for actual voter registration in the summer of 1964. In response to these activities and rumors of more actions, the Ku Klux Klan grew stronger in late 1963 and early 1964. To make planning easier, steps were taken to make COFO a stronger organization. A constitution was adopted, and monthly meetings were held in Jackson. Moses, Dennis, and others discussed plans to turn their leadership roles over to local leaders.

SNCC's national office was against a stronger COFO. This was linked to competition for money with the NAACP. It became more intense after VEP stopped its funding. VEP did not see the importance of the Freedom Vote, even though it was popular in the state. Moses confirmed his loyalty to the SNCC executive committee. Lawrence Guyot defended him, saying that "in Mississippi SNCC is COFO." COFO also made sure it had control over recruiting volunteers for the summer. Allard Lowenstien, a white activist from the North, thought he could use his contacts from the Freedom Vote to recruit for the summer project. Moses and others quickly told him that "all decisions on volunteers would be made in Jackson."

Freedom Summer

Violence from white people became more intense as the summer got closer. Volunteers were recruited mostly from northern, white colleges. They became people who went door-to-door to register voters. They also became teachers in Freedom Schools. CORE staff members Michael Schwerner and his wife Rita arrived in Meridian, Mississippi, in the spring. They came to prepare for the new volunteers. Schwerner became friends with James Chaney, a local Black activist. Chaney and Schwerner spoke at Mt. Zion Methodist Church in Neshoba County. This was just a few days before they traveled to Oxford, Ohio, with other COFO workers to train the volunteers. During this training, the Klan burned Mt. Zion Church. When they heard this news, Chaney and Schwerner decided to return to Mississippi early. They took six of the volunteers with them to Meridian, including Andrew Goodman. Schwerner had personally recruited Goodman for the project.

The next day, Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman went to Neshoba County to investigate the church fire. The three were stopped by police outside Philadelphia, Mississippi, for speeding. They were taken to the local jail and held for several hours. As they left town in their car after being released, they were followed by law enforcement and others. Before leaving Neshoba County, their car was stopped. They were taken to another place and shot. Their bodies were then taken to an earthen dam and buried. They were found two months later because of a tip. During the investigation, it became clear that members of the local White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Neshoba County Sheriff's Office, and the Philadelphia, Mississippi Police Department were involved. Their arrest, kidnapping, and murder were meant to scare the new volunteers. Instead, it made the already determined "outside agitators" even more resolved. It also brought international attention to Mississippi.

The summer newcomers included experienced activists like Stokely Carmichael. He became the head of the Greenwood summer project. Summer projects in Greenwood and other parts of the state created Freedom Schools. These schools were mostly held in local people's homes. They helped make up for the lack of good schools for Black children in the area. It was believed that education would create more and better-informed voters. Forty-one Freedom Schools, with over 2100 students, were held around the state. In these schools, teachers talked about current events with their students. The students, in turn, produced newspapers. In many parts of the state, these "Freedom Papers" were the only source of civil rights news.

Besides the debate over white volunteers, there was another friendly competition among the volunteers. Voter registration was seen as the most important job. Many of these "lucky" workers thought Freedom School teachers were doing less important work. Some even saw teaching jobs as "woman's work." These small rivalries added to already tense feelings, made worse by the ongoing violence.

The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)

Before the Freedom Vote, COFO leaders decided that the Democratic Party was their best way to gain political power. At a meeting on March 15, 1964, they decided to form an alternate party. This new party would challenge the regular state delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. This convention was to be held on August 24. This was the start of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).

By July, the summer project's focus began to shift. It moved toward getting ready for the convention. Moses sent a message to workers across the state. He said that "everyone who is not working in Freedom Schools ... devote all their time organizing for the convention challenge." On August 6, the MFDP held a statewide meeting in Jackson. This was two days after the bodies of Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman were found.

A group of sixty-eight delegates was formed. Henry was chairman, and Ed King was vice-chair. Their goal was to convince the Credentials Committee that the regular state delegation used unfair practices. They wanted the committee to see that the MFDP was the true Mississippi delegation. Moses felt that the mostly middle-class representatives from Jackson looked down on Fannie Lou Hamer and the delegation's poorer, rural members.

Former Governor Barnett was the first member of the regular Democratic Party to show his concerns. He said that Black people were "unqualified to vote." He also said, "we don't believe in having ignorant people elect our officials." Delegations from other Southern states threatened to leave the convention if the MFDP was taken seriously. President Lyndon Johnson was trying to please different groups within the party. He reached out to Wilkins. Wilkins told Johnson that the NAACP's involvement in the challenge was just for show. He said it was a way to save face within the state.

When they arrived in Atlantic City, the MFDP held various protests. These happened inside and outside the convention hall. The most famous was Hamer's "Is this America?" speech. Johnson was so angry and embarrassed by the incident that he interrupted the end of her speech. He did this to update the nation on Vietnam. Hubert Humphrey, whose chance to become vice-president depended on how he handled the MFDP, brought a compromise offer from the Credential Committee. He brought it to Moses, Henry, Ed King, and Martin Luther King Jr. (who had come to support the MFDP).

Henry and Ed King were offered two "at-large" seats on the convention floor. Also, rules against discrimination were put in place for the 1968 convention. Ed King offered to give his seat to a more representative farm worker. Humphrey, fearing he meant Hamer, replied that "the President will not allow that illiterate woman to speak from the floor of the convention." This made Moses against any compromise. But the group took the proposal back to the MFDP delegation. Henry, Ed King, and most of the delegation's middle-class members were in favor of the compromise. The delegation's rural members, supported by SNCC workers, voted with Hamer. She responded, "We didn't come all this way for no two seats." When he heard they rejected the offer, Wilkins told Hamer, "You people are ignorant, you don't know anything about politics ... Why don't you pick up and return to Mississippi?" After more protesting, that is exactly what the delegation did. But not before one last appeal by Congressman William L. Dawson of Chicago to accept the compromise and "follow leadership."

Challenges and End of COFO

After the convention, there was a lot of disappointment. The middle class felt even more upset with their poorer representatives in the COFO leadership. Many workers later saw the convention as the start of a split. This was between the political side of the movement and the more active, direct action activists. SNCC worker Cleveland Sellers noted that after the convention, the "movement was not for civil rights, but for liberation." Moses especially grew to dislike the Democratic Party. He felt it was willing to let poorer Black people get benefits from civil rights laws, but not let them help make decisions.

Even though many saw the Atlantic City convention as a failure, the MFDP continued to gain support in Mississippi. Many middle-class and "established" Black leaders blamed SNCC (which they saw as the same as COFO) for the lack of compromise. Northern liberals, who were a key source of money, shifted their support to the now independent MFDP. Closter Current, director of branches for the NAACP, complained to Wilkins that COFO was taking over NAACP's areas. He also said that SNCC was turning young people against them. In November, the state NAACP branch stopped supporting COFO.

Henry remained COFO president. He was confronted at the state convention the next month. He complained that the NAACP had been left out of planning many activities. He said they were "only called after people were in jail." He also stated that the casual clothes and attitude of the COFO staff were offensive to traditional leaders. Hamer responded that local decision-making had been a priority. She also said that the casual dress was what attracted young people.

Moses was very disappointed after the convention. The success of the MFDP did not encourage him. He felt that the party was "following national programs" (like continued voter registration and party conventions). He also felt it was pushing away the poorer parts of the population. He resigned from COFO in late 1964 and left the state in early 1965. Dennis also became bitter after the convention and the deaths of Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman. He began to wonder if COFO's methods were working, given the high costs and small gains. He returned to New Orleans in early 1965. There, he tried to continue working with CORE. He soon quit and started his own law practice.

With the MFDP taking over most political activities, the remaining COFO staff began to offer medical services. They also provided legal help in rural areas. This stretched their already limited money even more. The ongoing SNCC debate about the role of white volunteers and staff weakened its organization in the state. This, in turn, weakened an already splitting COFO. At a SNCC executive committee meeting, Jim Foreman called for COFO to be ended. He mentioned the NAACP's withdrawal and the MFDP's growing political influence. He also worried about low morale, and the lack of active projects and strong leadership after Moses left. COFO's state meeting in Tougaloo in July was its last. Members voted to end the organization. Staff members were offered jobs with the MFDP, which would also take over the remaining projects. CORE and SNCC became less active in the years after COFO ended. Disagreements, though present from the beginning, seemed to get most of the attention after the MFDP delegation returned. Like Moses, many workers believed that ending the COFO group was a mistake. He felt that it was the only organization that truly represented the entire Black community in Mississippi.

Understanding COFO's Role

Historians and researchers have two main views about COFO's role in Mississippi: the "national" view and the "local" view. The national view is shown in Taylor Branch's book Parting the Waters. In his account, Wiley Branton suggests the idea of COFO at the VEP Clarksdale meeting only to help distribute money. This explains why COFO as an organization was sometimes overlooked in the early 1960s. Most historical accounts focus on SNCC's work and the MFDP's trip to the Atlantic City convention. Others have recognized COFO's existence but simply said that SNCC and CORE worked together under COFO's guidance.

In the mid-1990s, two important books were written about the efforts in Mississippi. John Dittmer's Local People and Charles Payne's I've Got the Light of Freedom highlighted the contributions of local activists and leaders. Dittmer acknowledges the traditional view. But he makes it clear that many participants disagreed with it. Moses and Dennis, in particular, felt that COFO's main job was to give native Mississippians their own organization, something they could control. Payne focuses so much on the "local view" in his work that he barely mentions the influence of VEP funds in COFO's creation or upkeep. Similarly, in their own stories, Henry and Moses see COFO's founding as an effort to unite all the organizations in the state. They do not mention outside influences. In the bigger picture of the Mississippi Movement, COFO can be seen as a logical and necessary step toward reaching common goals. Like the entire Civil Rights Movement, COFO's overall success is debated. But for a time, it brought together different groups and people with different ideas to build a better society.