Witness in Philadelphia - (Southern Literary Studies) by Florence Mars (Paperback)

About the Book

"An eyewitness account of the troubled summer of 1964, when three young civil rights workers were murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi"--Cover.

Book Synopsis

On June 21, 1964, three young civil rights workers--James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner--were murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Florence Mars, a native of Philadelphia, recounts the grim circumstances of the killings and describes what happened to a community confronted by a challenge to long-held beliefs.

From the Back Cover

On June 21, 1964, three young civil rights workers- James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner- were murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Florence Mars, a native of Philadelphia, recount the grim circumstances of the killings and describes what happened to a community confronted by a challenge to long-held beliefs.

Review Quotes

Witness in Philadelphia is a detailed, documented, yet personal account of the upheaval that shook Neshoba County, Mississippi, when the civil rights movement began to make itself felt in the 1960s.-- "The Nation"

[Florence Mars] spoke out at a time, when it was physically dangerous to do so, and she speaks out now to make a record before history. . . . [Witness in Philadelphia] should be in every school in the country, to teach young people what the unmasked face of bigotry looks like and about the quiet, difficult courage of ordinary people like Florence Mars.-- "New York Times"

Florence Mars is both a symbol and a living practitioner of the belief that people who are willing to challenge injustice can prevail.--Andrew Young

Florence Mars's moving account of how she stood against her town and the county in which eight of her great-grandparents were buried helps to explain why it was possible in the 1960s for the Old South to become the New South.-- "The Wilson Quarterly"

About the Author

Florence Mars, who has spent most of her life in Neshoba County, Mississippi, has also lived in Atlanta and New Orleans. A freelance photographer, many of whose photographs illustrate this book, Mars has had pictures of Mississippi rural scenes and New Orleans architecture, parades, and jazz bands in such publications as the New York Times and Time.