Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number:  Rick Sheviakov Parchman Letters (Z/2404).
Creator/Collector: Rick Sheviakov.
Date(s): August 20 & 27, 1961.
Size: 0.30 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH intern Anastasia Taylor, 2024.
Provenance: Gift of Rick Sheviakov of San Anselmo, California, on April 20, 2018; Z/U/2018.025.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Rights and Access:

Access restrictions: Collection is open for research.

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: Rick Sheviakov Parchman Letters (Z/2404), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Biography:

Rick Sheviakov

Rick Stanley Sheviakov was born 1943, in Chicago, Illinois. His family relocated to Berkley, California, where he graduated from Berkley High School in 1960. He went on to San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University) in 1960. During the Summer of 1961, Sheviakov signed up to be part of the Freedom Riders movement through the organization Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Their goal was to force states to adjust their laws in accordance with Boynton v. Virginia, a U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled that racially segregated travel facilities were unconstitutional in 1960. 

Sheviakov joined a CORE-led Freedom Ride with nine others from Nashville, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi. He was among the youngest Freedom Riders.  Upon his arrival on July 29, 1961, in Jackson, Mississippi, he was arrested at the Jackson Greyhound Bus Station for waiting in the area designated for African Americans. He spent nearly forty-five days in the Mississippi State Penitentiary known as Parchman. While there he roomed with a fellow freedom rider named Byron Baer. His roommate snuck contraband into Parchman, including a re-engineered hearing aid that worked as a radio. Baer also utilized code and invisible ink in his correspondence. 

After returning from Mississippi, Sheviakov transferred to the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he went on to earn three degrees: a Bachelor's, a Master's, and a Ph.D., all in school psychology. After finishing graduate studies, He moved to San Rafael, California, and began working with the Marin County Office of Education from 1970 to 1999, after which he retired.
 

Freedom Riders

The Freedom Rides were a movement started by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), an organization that tested the Boynton v. Virginia U.S. Supreme Court case in which segregated travel facilities were found to be unconstitutional. These rides began with the goal of rallying in New Orleans on May 6, 1961. The first group was met with violence in Alabama; said violence was enacted by angry mobs throughout Birmingham, Anniston, and Montgomery. Activists from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) stepped in to finish the journey by bus, while some of the original riders opted to fly to New Orleans. Federal marshals and state law officials were ordered by U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to protect the freedom rides. This deal was made in exchange for Kennedy’s promise not to intervene in the arrest of Freedom Riders. Due to threats to bomb the bus, it was escorted by highway patrol, FBI, and U.S. Border patrol.  Once the bus arrived and riders attempted to integrate the waiting room, they were arrested by Jackson police. By the end of the summer, over 300 Freedom Riders were arrested and held in the Jackson jail, the Hinds County prison, and the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman). The movement hoped that segregation would become too expensive to keep up. By July 7, 1961, all freedom riders had been released from jail.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection consists of two letters, their envelopes, and the decoded message included in one of the letters.  These letters were written by Rick Sheviakov, while he was imprisoned in the Mississippi State Penitentiary (also known as Parchman) for his activism as a Freedom Rider.  He was one of several arrested on July 29, 1961, in Jackson, Mississippi, for integrating the Jackson Greyhound Bus Station.  While at Parchman, he met Byron Baer, who was his roommate.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Letter, Rick Sheviakov to George Sheviakov, August 20, 1961.

This series consists of one letter dated August 20, 1961, from Rick Sheviakov to his father George Sheviakov.  The letter is on a form letter provided by the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Rick writes in all capital letters.  On top of Rick's letter, his cellmate Byron Baer uses a hidden method to write a message to George: "Rick doesn't know what I am writing. You must be very proud of him.  He is the most unselfish, friendly, helpful, & responsible member of the group. A great asset to the group.  His cellmate, B.B."

On the back of the letter is another hidden message: "Have been moved to 6x9 cell.  Spirits higher than ever! Some guys can get 5 letters a week so write more, and tell friends to write too. Continue to write to public officials.  Love, Rick.  RS/bb"

Box 1, folder 1

Series 2: Letter, Rick Sheviakov to George Sheviakov, August 27, 1961.

This series consists of one letter dated August 27, 1961, from Rick Sheviakov to his father George Sheviakov.  The letter is on a form letter provided by the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Rick writes in all capital letters.  No hidden message is on top of his message.  There is a hidden message on the back of the letter: "Feeling fine. 12 days left.  Scolding at beginning just to get letter thru.  Love, R."  The lower half appears to be a drawing of the layout of part of the prison.

Box 1, folder 2

 
Box List:

Box 1
Folder 1: Letter, Rick Sheviakov to George Sheviakov, August 20, 1961. 
Folder 2: Letter, Rick Sheviakov to George Sheviakov, August 27, 1961.