Biography/History:
Civil Rights Movement in Bolivar County

In the summer of 1964, several organizations embarked upon a collaborative effort known as Freedom Summer that served as a statewide initiative – with emphasis on the Mississippi Delta – for the purpose of raising awareness of the social injustices inflicted upon Mississippi’s black population. During this period, Shaw, Bolivar County, Mississippi, was a point of convergence for several organizations engaged in the Civil Rights Movement. Spearheaded by the National Council of Churches (NCC), this collaborative effort included the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO); the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). Through the implementation of a series of direct actions, the Freedom Summer initiative in Shaw, served to encouraged local participation in the Civil Rights Movement, as well as developing local leadership. Viewed as confrontational by proponents of white supremacy in Bolivar County, the direct actions initiated by Civil Rights workers brought attention to the systematic racism that blacks experienced throughout the Mississippi Delta.

Sentiments expressed through the local press framed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as federal punishment against the values upheld by white Mississippians. Weekly editorials often characterized the Civil Rights Movement and its participants as outside agitators, with a communist agenda, concerned with destabilizing relations between black and white Mississippians. Local editorials in the Bolivar Commercial often published the names of local participants and the efforts performed by Civil Rights workers. Despite these and other efforts of intimidation, the Civil Rights Movement in Bolivar County was influential in ensuring that the proponents of white supremacy adhered to the newly crafted federal legislation. This was achieved by increasing voter participation among blacks and filing suit against the Bolivar County school district for its unwillingness to desegregate local schools. Moreover, this collaborative effort was responsible for impacting the local economy through its call for boycotts targeting domestic workers and farm laborers.

Joseph Canonici

Joseph Canonici was born November 5, 1919, in Shaw, Bolivar County, Mississippi, to Italian immigrants – Alexander Canonici (b. December 25, 1876) and Rosa Cacichecaci Canonici (b. April 28, 1882 – d. August 18, 1965). In 1941, Joseph Canonici married Louise Gainspoletti (b. October 23, 1918 – d. September 26, 2007). Joseph and Louise Canonici’s children included: John (b. June 24, 1944 – d. August 12, 2010), David (b. October 26, 1947), Elizabeth (b. ca. 1949), Patricia (b. ca. 1951), Monica (b. September 21, 1952), and Michael (b. October 29, 1958).

Joseph Canonici enlisted in the United States Army on January 20, 1945. After returning from World War II, Canonici worked as a farmer until 1957. Canonici retired from farming that same year and went into business as a grocery and liquor store owner in Shaw, Bolivar County, Mississippi. As a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in Shaw, Bolivar County, Mississippi, Joseph Canonici was targeted by those opposing the Civil Rights Movement due to his willingness to cash the checks of Civil Rights workers.

Joseph Canonici died on December 6, 2012 at Cleveland Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. He was buried at Shaw Cemetery in Shaw, Bolivar County, Mississippi.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection consists of correspondence addressing the desegregation of the Bolivar County School District and a piece of correspondence from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to Joseph Canonici signed by Martin Luther King, Jr. Other items of interest are undated photocopies of newsletters condemning the actions of Civil Rights workers throughout Bolivar County, Mississippi. Of note is a newsletter advocating for the boycott of a local grocer deemed as being supportive of Civil Rights workers in Bolivar County.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Correspondence. 1965-1967

This series includes two pieces of correspondence. The first piece is a letter addressed to parents – with an attached public notice – from R.L. Thorn, Superintendent of Bolivar County School District No. 5 providing details of the desegregation of Bolivar County, Mississippi school district. The second piece is a letter addressed to Joseph Canonici from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and signed by Martin Luther King, Jr., inviting Joseph Canonici to the 10th Annual Convention held in Atlanta, Georgia from August 14-17, 1967.

Folder 1

Series 2: Printed and published materials. ca. 1965-1967

This series includes four photocopies of anti-civil rights newsletters condemning local efforts such as voter registration efforts, school desegregation, and the operating of a Freedom School by Civil Rights workers in Bolivar County, Mississippi. Of particular note is a newsletter condemning the business practices of a local grocer, sympathetic to the Civil Rights Movement. The last item in this series is an undated flyer, announcing a voter registration and anti-discrimination rally at COFO headquarters.

Folder 2