James Chaney (1943 - 1964)

Sun May 30, 1943

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James Earl Chaney, born on this day in 1943, was a young member of the Congress of Racial Equity (CORE) who, along with Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, was assassinated by white supremacists for his activism in Mississippi.

In 1962, Chaney participated in a Freedom Ride from Tennessee to Greenville, Mississippi, and in another from Greenville to Meridian. Chaney started volunteering in late 1963, joining the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in Meridian. He organized voter education classes, introduced CORE workers to local church leaders, and helped CORE workers get around the counties.

Chaney and fellow civil rights workers Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were killed near the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi while investigating the burning of Mt. Zion Methodist Church, which had been a site for a CORE Freedom School.

Arrested by the local sheriff, the trio was released that evening without being allowed to contact anyone. On the road, they were stopped by patrol lights and two carloads of KKK members, kidnapped, tortured, and killed.

The sheriff, along with six others, were indicted and convicted for depriving the three men of their civil rights. No one was held accountable for Chaney’s murder until 2005, when outspoken white supremacist Edgar Ray Killen was convicted on three counts of manslaughter.