Mississippi State Penitentiary - History - Parchman Farm and The Freedom Riders (1961)

Parchman Farm and The Freedom Riders (1961)

In the spring of 1961, Freedom Riders (civil rights activists) went to the American South to work for desegregation of public facilities, including interstate buses. By the end of June, 163 Freedom Riders had been convicted in Jackson and many were jailed in Parchman. On June 15, 1961 the first set of Freedom Riders were sent from Hinds County Prison to Parchman. The first group sent to the farm were 45 male Freedom Riders, 29 blacks and 16 whites.

The prison authorities forced the freedom riders to remove their clothing and undergo strip searches. After the strip searches, Deputy Tyson met the freedom riders and began intimidating them. He began by mocking the Freedom Ride, being quoted saying "y’all all a time wanna march someplace. Well y’all gon’ march right now, right t’yo cells. An’ ahm gon’ lead ya. Follow me. Ah’m Martinlutherking." The guards at Parchman Farm were relentless even after all of this mockery.

When taken to the cells and given clothing, the activists were kept as uncomfortable as possible, with ill-fitting clothing, lack of basic items such as pencils and paper. David Fankhauser, a Freedom Rider at Parchman Farm, said,

“In our cells, we were given a bible, an aluminum cup and a tooth brush. The cell measured 6 × 8 feet with a toilet and sink on the back wall, and a bunk bed. We were permitted one shower per week, and no mail was allowed. The policy in the maximum security block was to keep lights on 24 hours a day.“

Frankhauser described the meals:

"Breakfast every morning was black coffee strongly flavored with chicory, grits, biscuits and blackstrap molasses. Lunch was generally some form of beans or black-eyed peas boiled with pork gristle, served with cornbread. In the evening, it was the same as lunch except it was cold." .

The Governor of Mississippi, Ross Barnett, visited the farm a few times to check on the activists. He reportedly told the guards to, "break their spirit, not their bones". The Governor ordered the activists to be kept away from all other inmates and in maximum security cells. With that order given, the Freedom Riders were stuck in the cell for the most part with not a lot to do.

They sang to keep up their spirits, a tactic used in previous jailing situations. The prisoners sang various songs to irritate Tyson and the other guards. Tyson tried to stop the singing. He ordered the removal of the mattresses and bug screens to force the prisoners to stop singing. The guards flooded the cells and blew large fans into them, creating a draft and freezing temperatures for the Freedom Riders. Next, they tried to barter with the activists. The warden finally apologized to the riders, and returned their belongings, as well as the mattresses and screens. This was already a victory for the Freedom Riders.

As the 45 Riders struggled in prison, many others were heading South to join the Freedom Rides. Winnoh Myers was one of the women who went South and was eventually jailed for her activism. She witnessed the treatment first hand. She was treated just as the men were, with bad living quarters and worse clothing and meals. Although most of the Freedom Riders were bailed out after a month, Myers was the last to leave. She was visited as an activist. Their experience at Parchman gave the Freedom Riders credibility in the Civil Rights Movement.