Mississippi liberal : a biography of Frank E. Smith / Dennis J. Mitchell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mitchell, Dennis J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Smith, Frank E. (Frank Ellis), 1918-1997.

Smith, Frank E.

United States. Congress. House.

Legislators--United States--Biography.

Legislators.

African Americans--Civil rights.

History.

Liberalism.

United States.

Mississippi.

United States. Congress. House--Biography.

Legislators--Mississippi--Biography.

Mississippi--Politics and government--1951-.

Politics and government.

Liberalism--Mississippi--History--20th century.

Liberalism--United States--History--20th century.

African Americans--Civil rights--Mississippi--History--20th century.

African Americans.

Civil rights movements--Mississippi--History--20th century.

Civil rights movements.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xvii, 292 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi for the Mississippi Historical Society, [2001]

Summary:

Instead of turning toward hatred after his father was murdered by a black man in 1926, Frank E. Smith committed himself to helping his racist state move toward integration and racial harmony. He was an anomaly in his heyday, a white politician who staunchly supported the civil rights movement at home. As a young man growing up in the Mississippi Delta, arguably one of the most segregated and violent regions in America during the Jim Crow era, Smith (1918-1997) made the decision to work for political and social change in Mississippi.

After serving in World War II, he returned to the Delta to assist in founding a liberal newspaper in Greenwood. To heighten his chances for winning a seat in the state senate, he lied about his liberal views on race. After being elected to the U.S. Congress, he worked quietly for integration during six terms.

For openly supporting John F. Kennedy's bid for the presidency, Smith lost the congressional seat he had held for thirteen tumultuous but productive years. After the election in 1960, Kennedy appointed him to the governing board of the Tennessee Valley Authority, on which Smith served until 1972. In this position he clashed with the growing environmental movement outside the TVA. At the same time, he worked with the Southern Regional Council and the Voter Education Project to register black voters throughout the South.

As he struggled for racial progress and understanding, Smith rejected Black Power, which he denounced as racism. That position, and his refusal to support environmental extremists in the left-wing branches of the Democratic Party, put him at odds with his liberal base. He suffered exile from Mississippi and accepted academic posts around the country until an ally won the governor's office in Mississippi. Smith ended his political career as a special assistant to Governor William F. Winter.

As this biography details the conflicting political terrains in Smith's life, it reveals the complexities of his political and social views and shows Smith as a man at odds both with the conservative establishment of the 1960s and the left wing of his own party.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Birth and Death in the Delta 3

Chapter 2 An Intellectual Journey 19

Chapter 3 Moorhead 29

Chapter 4 Private Smith Goes to War 40

Chapter 5 Newspapers and Politics 53

Chapter 6 Election to Congress 73

Chapter 7 Congressman Smith 86

Chapter 8 National Democrat 109

Chapter 9 Cloud Riding 120

Chapter 10 Leaving Mississippi 143

Chapter 11 Distant Battles 168

Chapter 12 The Bands Don't Play 186

Chapter 13 TVA and the Death of New Deal Liberalism 205

Chapter 14 Exile and Return 233.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1578063434

1578063426

OCLC:

45162063