"I have hoped and prayed for over 40 years for justice including full disclosure and the complete prosecution of all those involved in the murder of my son James, and his companions, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner." (Fannie L. Chaney, August 1, 2006)
Last night, Fannie Lee Chaney's soul left her body. She was the mother of slain civil rights worker James Earl Chaney.
Today (5/24) the soul of Henry Dee drew a little more near. The one known image of him came to light, after having been lost for 43 years.
In life Henry Dee and Charles Moore from southwest Mississippi had nothing to do with James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman. Circumstances following their violent deaths at the hands of Klansmen brought them close together.
On July 12, 1964, at 8:00 PM, phone calls started coming across the Council of Federated Organizations' (COFO) WATS line. A body had been found in the Mississippi River earlier that day, mid-state on the Mississippi-Louisiana state line. It was only the lower half of a body. It had a belt with a "buckle and letter M . . . like one Mickey [Schwerner] is supposed to have had, also [a] gold watch." By about 8:55 PM they heard back from Mickey's widow, Rita. The information did not check. By 6:45 PM the next day, the word was out that there were two bodies and their names were Charles Moore and Henry Dee.
The bodies of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were found almost a month later, on August 4, buried in an earthen dam, in Neshoba County, on the property of Olen Burrage. They had been missing since June 21.
In 2005, Mrs. Chaney saw a small measure of justice in her son's case, when Edgar Ray Killen was indicted on state murder charges and convicted for manslaughter.
[T]he 82-year-old mother of five returned [to Mississippi] from New Jersey to testify in the trial of Edgar Ray Killen, sharing her last encounters with her son, whom she called J.E., at her Meridian home on the morning of June 21, 1964.
She fixed breakfast for J.E. and his friends, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, "but J.E. never come back," she said....
Before another year passed, Fannie Lee Chaney left Mississippi after a series of threats, including one to dynamite her house and another to put her "in a hole like James was."
In 1967, a U.S. District Court jury in Meridian convicted Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers, Neshoba County Deputy Cecil Price and five others on federal conspiracy charges, but the other suspects walked free.
No one was ever charged for murder in the case until 2005 when Killen was charged. (Clarion Ledger)
Schwerner's widow, Rita Schwerner Bender of Seattle, said Wednesday that she and her late husband visited the Chaney home for meals and fellowship in the months before the killings. She said the 2005 trial was the last time she saw Fannie Lee Chaney.
"It sounds trite when you say it; she loved her children dearly. She was devastated by J.E.'s death." (AP)
A full measure of justice has yet to be rendered. There was sufficient evidence to arrest and/or indict on federal charges related to the murders eight men in the 1960s, who are still alive today, in addition to Edgar Ray Killen. The Neshoba County Grand Jury has met at least four times since the Killen trial, most recently on April 30, but has indicted no one else for the murders of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman.
The trial of James Ford Seale begins next week. He has been charged with two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy leading to the deaths of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee.
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Photo: Fannie L. Chaney testifying at the trial of Edgar Ray Killen, June 18, 2005. (AP)
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My condolences go out to Ben and his sisters, Barbara, Julia, and Janice. I met Ms. Chaney at the Killen trial in 2005. I was struck by both her quiet strength and her humor. She told Sheryl, Ash-Lee, and myself that she was supposed to accompany us on the 2004 Freedom Ride for Justice, but that her son Ben had left her sitting on her front porch with her bags packed. She suggested we should take him outside and give him a good whoopin’ for forgetting to pick her up.
What inspired me the most about Ms. Chaney was that, during her testimony, she was determined not only to tell the story of her son and his companions, but to let the world know that nine other bodies of black men had been found during the search for Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner. When asked by the prosecution how she learned that her son’s body had been found, she made a point to detail each of the several phone calls she received describing the features or clothing of a body or bodies that had been found. I wish I could find the exact transcript. Ms. Chaney deserved a standing ovation–I know I was not the only person in the courtroom both saddened at the reality of what she was saying, but beaming at her boldness. May she rest in peace. I know she is rejoicing with James at her side now.
As a former Freedom Rider, I am so sorry that Fannie Lee Chaney has passed away without seeing justice done for her son James Earl Chaney.
We must continue to “overcome” and to be “delivered from” evil.
I find it interesting that, while papers all over the country have picked up the A.P. story about Ms. Chaney’s death, neither the Neshoba Democrat nor the Meridian Star (at least in their online manifestations) are carrying the story of Ms. Chaney’s death.
Jared and Edward, thank you both for your comments. I apologize for how long it took me to let them through. Subsequent comments will appear publish in real time, when you post them.
Jared, your point about the Neshoba Democrat and the Meridian Star is very well taken. I would add that the silence of the Jackson Free Press is similarly curious. In the latter case I also would have thought the story of the newly discovered photo of Henry Dee would be major news, given all of the other coverage they have given the Dee-Moore case.