— leads to nowhere . The web posting says only that the page is not found .
But that video is not the only link to summer 1964 missing in Meridian . The old Fielder & Brooks Drugstore , once located at the corner of Fifth Street and 25th Avenue , was demolished in 2014 . To many , the drugstore was known as the COFO Building , or the headquarters of the Council of Federated Organizations . COFO was a coalition of civil rights groups , including the NAACP , Congress of Racial Equality , the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee — the four groups largely responsible for Freedom Summer .
The lost history
Sue Brown , who was deeply entrenched as a teenager in the Freedom Summer project , said it is sad when she returns to Meridian and witnesses history being lost .
“ I don ’ t recognize the neighborhoods , you know , the institutions . Fifth Street , which was the center of Black economic development and the social outlet for Black people , Fifth Street doesn ’ t exist anymore . All the landmarks are gone . There is nothing that earmarks the landmarks ,” Brown said in a phone interview from her home in the Washington , D . C ., area .
Brown expressed concern about what the loss of this history means for children and young adults who are unfamiliar with the struggles Black Meridianites endured decades ago just to be able to vote , attend non-segregated public schools and eat at lunch counters alongside their white peers .
“ They know nothing about the history of Meridian ,” she said . “ They know nothing about the sacrifices that their own relatives made in order for them to be able to live the life that they are living today , even though it is a life , in many cases , that we don ’ t agree with . They have no appreciation for it . … You have some that do , but not enough to carry on the legacy .”
Brown , who as a 17-year-old senior at T . J . Harris High School , led the NAACP youth council back in 1964 . She also was a staff member for the Congress of Racial Equality , more commonly known as CORE , and helped two young
CORE grassroots organizers from New York , Mickey and Rita Schwerner , set up the Freedom Summer Project headquarters office on the second floor of the Fielder drugstore , alongside James Chaney , a 20-year-old Meridianite who also was a CORE staff member .
Another high school student she worked with was Roscoe Jones , who worked tirelessly as a student organizer in the COFO building , as a student leader in the Meridian Freedom School and as co-chair of the Mississippi Freedom Summer Youth Convention in August of 1964 . Jones played an integral part in helping lead the Freedom School and community center and recruiting students to attend .
Jones said he became involved in the social justice fight early in his teenage years , but really got involved after the assassination of Medger Edgars , the NAACP ’ s first field secretary in Mississippi , in June 1963 .
Impact of Evers
“ Mr . Evers brought to the table for young people , the involvement of young people with direct action ,” Jones said of the sit-ins , boycotts and protests . “ Because prior to that , the NAACP was all about legal . They were not about direct action , and we wanted to demonstrate because we had seen that all over the country and we wanted to do that . And , Mr . Evers offered us that opportunity .”
Because Jones and Brown were still in high school , they oftentimes felt repercussions for their civil rights work and worried they could be expelled , even though they attended all-Black T . J . Harris . After Brown graduated in May 1964 , they attempted a lunch counter sit-in at one downtown store but were arrested and spent the weekend in jail . Attempts to visit one of the prominent white churches in town on a Sunday morning were blocked on the church steps . They worked diligently to encourage Black residents to register to vote and were helped in their efforts by the Schwerners and Chaney .
Brown said her mother was supportive of her civil rights work and never really tried to dissuade her . Likewise , Jones , who lived with his grandmother , said she also supported his civil rights work .
Photos of the Meridian Freedom School by Mark Levy from Mark Levy Papers held in the Special Collections and Archives at Queens College , City University of New York .
14 • MERIDIAN LIFE