On August 6, 1964 the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party held a statewide convention to elect 68 delegates to attend the Democratic National Convention later that month.
In 1964, the segregationist white establishment in Mississippi was prepared to use any means necessary to keep African Americans away from the polls and out of elected office.
Freedom Summer volunteers were aware of the danger involved in going to Mississippi—a danger confirmed early in the summer when three volunteers went missing.
When Dave Dennis gave the eulogy at the funeral of James Chaney—who was killed along with two other civil rights workers in the summer of 1964—he offered an emotional plea.
