Wickliffe Draper - Funding of The Mississippi Sovereignty Commission

Funding of The Mississippi Sovereignty Commission

Draper was one of the primary out-of-state benefactors of the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission (MSC) during 1963 and 1964. Attorney John Satterfield of the MSC identified Draper's contributions, totaling over $250,000 as originating from "The Wall Street Gang" from the North. Doug Blackmon of the Wall Street Journal uncovered evidence of these contributions via Draper's J. P. Morgan trust account and published his results on June 11, 1999 in the Wall Street Journal.

The Reverend Gerald L. K. Smith also received $1,000,000 in the Spring of 1964 to build his "Christ of the Ozarks" shrine and tourist attraction in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Smith's Cross and the Flag periodical advanced and promulgated Draper's positions and attitudes for three decades, from 1942 to 1972 when Smith died.

Draper opposed FDR's efforts to implement the Social Security Act, expanded child labor laws, and early attempts to pass the equivalent of OSHA-styled regulations. He disliked JFK for currying favor with labor unions, for promoting civil rights advances, and for his failure to pass tariff barriers to prevent the import of foreign textiles and cotton. Draper blamed the actions of both presidents for the demise of the domestic textile industry that eventually caused the Draper Company to be dissolved by Rockwell International as an insolvent entity. But Draper had successfully converted an ever-diminising equity in The Draper Company into a $100,000,000 windfall investment in Rockwell International Preferred Stock when Rockwell began attaining new levels of profitability as the Vietnam War expanded. New York Times March 22, 1967 p. 61 Column 1. Rockwell acquires North American Phillips and Draper Company Rockwell International