These are diary entries that I wrote throughout my ten-day Sojourn to the Past trip on February 14-23. Each entry is posted here two weeks after it was originally written, due to the provision that I didn’t have any computer or internet access during my trip. Be sure to check out my other Sojourn to the Past coverage. Enjoy.

Today was another full day. We started with a 6 AM wake-up call, and jumped right into a lesson in the hotel about the KKK’s murder of Vernon Dahmer and their firebombing of the Dahmer’s house.

Vernon Dahmer had been a voting rights activist in the sixties, and a well-off farmer and grocery store owner. His motto was, “If you don’t vote, you don’t count.” He even used his means to offer to pay the poll tax of those who couldn’t afford it, and so, on January 10, 1966, his home was firebombed. While his family made it to safety, his lungs were irreparably damaged and he died, arousing the response of both blacks and whites who had admired him. His murderer was only recently convicted in 1998.

After the lesson, we got to meet sons Vernon Dahmer, Jr. and George Dahmer, and daughter Bettie Dahmer. Normally, we would also have been joined by another son, Harold Dahmer, and by their mom Ellie Dahmer, but the former had the flu and the latter was recovering from a recent knee replacement. However, they told us a bit about their story and the aftermath and then answered questions.

Afterwards, we left to the hotel and stopped off briefly at the Dahmer’s house, where they shared the area with us and did some show and tell. We then moved on to Vernon Dahmer, Sr.’s final resting place, where we reflected and paid our respects.

We moved on to Jackson, Mississippi. We first went to the offices of the Clarion Ledger, the newspaper where reporter Jerry Mitchell works. Jerry Mitchell uncovered and leaked various information in the 1990s that has helped many of the criminals of the civil rights movement come to justice. We were going to get to meet him, but unfortunately he was not there today, though the editor of the paper did welcome us for a few minutes before we went back to the buses.

Our other spot in Jackson was the home of Medgar and Myrlie Evers (see last Friday). Myrlie wasn’t home (she owns another residence elsewhere in the country), but we sat on the driveway, despite the rain, to reflect on Medgar Evers and pay respects.

Finally, we embarked on the three-hour bus ride to Memphis, Tennessee, during which we had a talent show on the bus, one in which everyone had to participate. (This was evident when one person led us in The Alphabet Song.) I did a comedic monologue about the “chicken crossing the road” joke.

When we got into Memphis and checked into our hotel, we grabbed dinner and then split up for the first time into groups by school. The objective was for students from each school on meet and discuss ways for us to share what we learned and spread a message to our school to help make change on our campus. We didn’t quite have time for our Aragon group to narrow down an idea, but we’ll have the opportunity to meet again back at home to work on this project.

Tomorrow is a day that I’m really looking forward to: the day when we go to Little Rock. I’m in need of sleep now though, so good night.

Tags: Clarion Ledger, Dahmer family, diaries, Hattiesburg, Jackson, Jerry Mitchell, Medgar Evers, Memphis, Mississippi, Sojourn to the Past, talent show, Tennessee, Vernon Dahmer, voting rights

These are diary entries that I wrote throughout my ten-day Sojourn to the Past trip on February 14-23. Each entry is posted here two weeks after it was originally written, due to the provision that I didn’t have any computer or internet access during my trip. Be sure to check out my other Sojourn to the Past coverage. Enjoy.

We had a very long day today, but for once, we spent none of it in the hotel, and all of it on the road.

We started the day by going through the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. They have a HUGE multi-million dollar museum set up showing off the various aspects of the civil rights movement. The museum included a short film on the early history of Birmingham, an exhibit with examples of different types of segregation, an exhibit with examples of the stereotypes that both whites and blacks had, a gallery of exhibits featuring the major events in the movement, and then an exhibit identifying significant milestones from after the end of the movement. It was a great museum that I wished that I had a little more time to see.

We then sat a bit in front of their statue of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Birmingham’s civil rights minister. Normally, Rev. Shuttlesworth would be meeting us in person, but he’s recovering from a recent stroke and could not join us. Late today, though, his wife popped by in his place.

We then walked down the block to Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, and in the sanctuary, we had a final lesson on the aftermath of the bombing and listened to Dr. King’s eulogy for the girls. We then had lunch in the basement of the church–now a kitchen area–which was where those girls were at the time of the bombing.

After that, we had some free time, during which we went to the Civil Rights Institute’s gift shop (I spent $105 there on a poster, two books, and a DVD), and to the historic Kelly Ingram Park across the street, which was where dogs and firehoses were used on protesting children in 1963.

We left at 2:00 en route to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, but we stopped in Meridian, MS along the way to visit the gravesite of James Chaney, who was abducted by the KKK and killed while working on the Freedom Summer project in 1964.

Finally, on the remainder of the bus ride to Hattiesburg, we had a bus lesson on the Dahmer family, who we will be meeting tomorrow. (More about them tomorrow.) We finally arrived in Hattiesburg and checked into our hotel.

Tomorrow, we will have another busy day and get to meet another family…

Tags: Birmingham, bombing, Chaney, Civil Rights Institute, Civil Rights Movement, Dahmer family, diaries, Freedom Summer, Hattiesburg, Kelly Ingram Park, Meridian, Mississippi, museum, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Sojourn to the Past