Greene Family Civil Rights Papers (Z/2360)
Collection Details:
Collection Name and Number: Greene Family Civil Rights Papers (Z/2360).
Creator/Collector: Greene family members; and others.
Date(s): 1960s; 2011-2013.
Size: 0.33 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH staff, Laura Heller, 2018; 2024.
Provenance: Gift of Angela Greene Johnson of Lawrenceville, Georgia, on July 21, 2018; Z/U/2018.050.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.
Rights and Access:
Access restrictions: Collection is open for research. Phonograph records are restricted due to playback and fragility.
Publication rights: Copyright assigned to the MDAH. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Reference Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the MDAH as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.
Copyright notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).
Preferred citation: Greene Family Civil Rights Papers (Z/2360), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.
Biography:
Dewey Roosevelt Greene, Sr. (b. October 14, 1899 (or June 15, 1900) – d. March 1980) is the second son of Douglas L. Greene (b. ca. 1871) and Haddie Greene (b. ca. 1870) of Leflore County, Mississippi. Douglas and Haddie married about 1896. In his youth, Dewey lived on the farm his parents owned in Leflore County, however by 1920 the family moved into the city of Greenwood where Douglas worked as a janitor for the post office. Dewey worked as a machinist for an auto company and his older brother, McKinley Greene (b. ca. 1897), worked as a mail carrier. By 1930, Dewey is working as a general building painter. By 1940, Dewey R. Greene, Sr., and Freddie Greene were married and living in Greenwood where he worked as farmer on his own land. Their seven children included daughters Alma and Freddie, and sons Wendell H., George, and Dewey, Jr. Dewey R. Greene, Sr., died in March 1980.
Dewey R. Greene, Jr. was born December 16, 1940. After serving three and a half years in the Navy in 1962, Dewey, Jr., attended Mississippi Vocational College and worked as a photographer for the Mississippi Free Press published in Jackson. In 1963, Dewey, Jr. sought admittance into the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Lafayette County. Along with several of his brothers and sisters, he was active in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi, and worked alongside key figures such as Robert ‘Bob’ P. Moses, Medgar W. Evers, and Stokely Carmichael. In 1964 he was a Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delegate to the Democratic Party’s national convention. Dewey and his siblings George and Freddie were especially involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s voter registration efforts in the Delta, while also attending mass meetings and distributing food and clothing to underserved communities. Dewey R. Greene, Jr. died on June 29, 2001.
Malia and Sharena Johnson are the twin daughters of Angela Greene Johnson and granddaughters of Dewey Roosevelt Greene, Jr. (b. December 16, 1940 – d. June 29, 2001) of Greenwood, Leflore County, Mississippi. The twins were involved in the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta when they presented their Family History project about their Greene family’s Civil Rights Movement activism to their troop.
Scope and Content:
The Greene Family Civil Rights Papers encompass a family history scrapbook; Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and Southern Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) publications; correspondence; and legal documents.
Series Identification:
Series 1: Greene Family History Scrapbook. ca. 1960s; 2011.
This series consists of family history essays written by Malia Johnson and Sharena Johnson as part of their Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta project in 2011. The scrapbook also included original Civil Rights era documents published by the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and Southern Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) saved by members of the Greene family in Greenwood, Leflore County, Mississippi.
Box 1, Folders 1-11
Series 2: Lawsuit. 2011; 2013.
This series includes correspondence, a newspaper clipping, and legal complaints. The correspondence includes a letter from Janet Brown-Howard, President of the Gwinnett County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, on behalf of Angela Greene Johnson and her daughters to the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. As for legal documents, one is an official complaint filed against the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., et al., with assigned civil action number, whereas the second one may be an early draft or unofficial copy of the complaint.
Box 1, Folders 12-16
Series 3: Phonograph records. n.d.
This series consists of four phonograph records, including an album by The Freedom Singers titled “We Shall Overcome.” The other two records – one by Theola Kilgore and the other by Otis Redding – have one song on each side.
Box 1, Folder 17 (List; Originals are restricted)
Box List:
Folder 1: Photograph, Malia and Sharena Johnson, 2011; and ephemera.
Folder 2: Project sheet, “My Heritage”, 2011.
Folder 3: Essay on Interview with Freddie Biddle, 2011.
Folder 4: Essay, “My Family Traditions”, by Malia Johnson, 2011.
Folder 5: Essay, “Greene Family Heritage”, by Sharena Johnson, 2011.
Folder 6: Booklet, “Who Said It? Wisdom List” by Malia Johnson and Sharena Johnson, 2011.
Folder 7: Essay, “My Favorite Thing”, by Malia Johnson, 2011.
Folder 8: Essay, “My Favorite Thing”, by Sharena Johnson, 2011.
Folder 9: Brochure, “Mississippi Freedom Summer”, COFO, ca. 1960s.
Folder 10: Booklet, “Mississippi: A Chronology of Violence and Intimidation in Mississippi since 1961” by Jack Minnis, SNCC, 1963.
Folder 11: Booklet, “What is COFO? Mississippi: Structure of the Movement and Present Operations”, COFO Publication #6, n.d.
Folder 12: Letter, Angela Greene Johnson to Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, May 16, 2011.
Folder 13: Letter, Janet Brown-Howard (NAACP) to Sabrina Hagans (Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta), September 5, 2011.
Folder 14: News Clipping, “Mom: Scouts expel girls over cultural project”, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 8, 2011.
Folder 15: Complaint, Angela Greene Johnson vs. Girl Scouts of the USA, et al. (Civil Action # 1 13-CV-1293), April 19, 2013 (Official copy).
Folder 16: Complaint, Angela Greene Johnson vs. Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, Inc., et al. n.d. (Draft or Unofficial copy).
Folder 17: Phonograph records list.
Phonograph Records List
1. Album cover, “We Shall Overcome”, The Freedom Singers, Mercury Records, MG-20879
2. 45rpm phonograph album: “We Shall Overcome”, The Freedom Singers, Mercury Records, MG-20879
Side 1:
1. “Dogs” 2:42
2. “Woke Up” 2:37
3. “I’m a Man of Constant Sorrow” 2:15
4. “Sylvie” 3:01
5. “Pick a Bale of Cotton” 2:02
6. “We Shall Overcome” 3:45
Side 2:
1. “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around” 2:22
2. “We Shall Not Be Moved” 2:31
3. “Cotton-Eyed Joe” 2:24
4. “Get On Board” 2:17
5. “Freedom Train” 3:32
6. “This Little Light of Mine” 2:14
3. 45rpm phonograph album (“We Shall Overcome” The Freedom Singers) Second copy
4. 1 phonograph album: Theola Kilgore; Songwriter Ed Townsend; Arranged by Rene Hall; Produced by Ed Townsend; Serock Records, Record No. 2004
Side A: “The Love of My Man” 2:45
Side B: “I Know That He Loves Me” 2:27
5. 1 phonograph album: Otis Redding; Volt, Distributed by ATCO Records, Record No. 45-109
Side A: “Mary’s Little Lamb” 2:37
Side B: “That’s What My Heart Needs” 2:35