Reverend Clinton Collier On Olen Burrage

Ms. Faulkner: Then there was the investigation by the FBI and the arrests. Were you surprised at who was arrested or who was not arrested?

Rev. Collier: I was surprised at who wasn't arrested, but I wasn't surprised at who they arrested.

Ms. Faulkner: You think some others should have been arrested.

Rev. Collier: Many more. Olen Burrage, they found that on his place, and I've been reminiscing over that a long time. Why in the world didn't they do something with that guy? Now, they ought to have had him to tell something. He knew something. That was - I don't see how come the family can't sue the hell out of him. He's a rich man.

Ms. Faulkner: And he's still living there in Philadelphia.

Rev. Collier: Still living there.

Ms. Faulkner: And still prospering.

Rev. Collier: Prospering. . . .

(Reverend Clinton Collier, interviewed by Leesha Faulkner for the Mississippi Oral History Program of The University of Southern Mississippi, June 25, 1994.)

Reverend Clinton Collier was born on August 24, 1910 in rural Neshoba County. After completing the eighth grade, which was as high as black schools taught at that time, he went to Tougaloo College. The depression interrupted Collier's education and his teaching career began. He taught in Mississippi until 1940, and then moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked until he was drafted into the Navy in 1942. After two years of service, Collier went back to Washington, D.C. and then on to Detroit until returning to Mississippi in 1956. He returned to public school teaching and entered the United Methodist ministry. During the late 1950's and the 1960's Collier was closely associated with leaders of the civil rights movement and was very active on the state and local level.