The Philadelphia Coalition is a multiracial group of concerned local citizens that was formed around a call for justice in the case of three civil rights workers—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael “Mickey” Schwerner—who were murdered here in Neshoba County, Mississippi, in 1964.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 12:00 noon, at Rock Cut Road (Road 515 off Highway 19 South): The Philadelphia Coalition unveiled a commemorative marker issued by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, to mark the site of the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.
Click here to download a pdf file of the press release for this event. This 2-page document requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.
Text of the Marker
Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner Murder Site
On June 21, 1964, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were murdered near here by members of the Ku Klux Klan and local law enforcement. They were volunteers for Mississippi Freedom Summer, a drive to register black voters. While investigating the burning of nearby Mount Zion Church, they were arrested and shot. Their bodies were found August 4, 1964. Though no one was indicted for their murder until 2005, the crime sparked national outrage that helped spur passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.