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.
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.
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.
They called it "a campaign that may have no parallel since the days of Reconstruction." In 1964, more than 700 civil rights workers focused their efforts on Mississippi.
