Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders [Hardcover]

Eric Etheridge (Author), Roger Wilkins (Preface), Diane McWhorter (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 23, 2008

A beautifully-produced book that celebrates the Freedom Riders, featuring rare-seen mug shots alongside stunning contemporary portraits.

In the spring and summer of 1961, several hundred Americans—blacks and whites, men and women—converged on Jackson, Mississippi, to challenge state segregation laws. The Freedom Riders, as they came to be known, were determined to open up the South to civil rights: it was illegal for bus and train stations to discriminate, but most did and were not interested in change. Over 300 people were arrested and convicted of the charge "breach of the peace."

The name, mug shot, and other personal details of each Freedom Rider arrested were duly recorded and saved by agents of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, a Stasi-like investigative agency whose purpose was to "perform any and all acts deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi." How the Commission thought these details would actually protect the state is not clear, but what is clear, forty-six years later, is that by carefully recording names and preserving the mug shots, the Commission inadvertently created a testament to these heroes of the civil rights movement.

Collected here in a richly illustrated, large-format book featuring over seventy contemporary photographs, alongside the original mug shots, and exclusive interviews with former Freedom Riders, is that testament: a moving archive of a chapter in U.S. history that hasn't yet closed.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[A] remarkable book. . . . We see a collective portrait marked by a combination of fear, good humor, and above all extraordinary courage and commitment in the face of virulent and sometimes violent racism. [An] absolutely inspirational work--one of the most powerful experiences a reader can have.
” (Library Journal )

“Breach of Peace literally gives faces to the faceless and anonymous heroines and heroes who changed America in 1961.” (Julian Bond, Chairman, NAACP )

“The interview excerpts bring to life the experience these people shared—not just the rides, the arrests, and the beatings but also, in many cases, the weeks or months they spent in jail afterwards....We learn what they were doing before the rides and what they have done since….[Etheridge’s] solid feel for his subject is evident throughout this marvelous, moving book.” (Hendrik Hertzberg - The New Yorker )

About the Author

Eric Etheridge grew up in Carthage, Mississippi. He is a former editor at Rolling Stone, The New York Observer and Harper's. He lives in New York City.


Diane McWhorter is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama—The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution and a long-time contributor to the New York Times.


Roger Wilkins is a journalist whose editorials about the issues leading up to President Richard Nixon's resignation won him a Pulitzer Prize; he is also a distinguished professor of history at George Mason University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Atlas; 1St Edition edition (May 23, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097774339X
• ISBN-13: 978-0977743391
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 9 x 12.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #784,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Etheridge is the photographer and author of Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders. He has worked as an editor at a number of magazines, including Rolling Stone, 7 Days, the New York Observer and Harper's magazine. He has also worked online, creating and running websites for Microsoft, the New York Times and others. A native of Mississippi, he lives in New York City with his wife and their daughter.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, moving, informative, and beautiful May 22, 2008

By D. Levy

Format:Hardcover

Breach of Peace is a great book for several reasons. It is beautifully designed and printed, with very high-quality reproductions of Etheridge's exceptional contemporary portraits of 1961's freedom riders and of their mug shots, recovered from the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, which had been formed in 1956 to protect the state from Federal encroachments like the recent Brown v. Board of Education decision.

The featured freedom riders' pages display their portraits and mug shots, their stories then and now, and a quote from the interviews which Etheridge conducted as he traveled through the United States to meet them. Each story is moving but the accumulated effect of reading all of the stories is almost breathtaking. Courageous in their youth, these exemplary Americans have gone in many directions but all seem to have dedicated their lives to freedom, education, and equality.

You see in the mug shots dozens of youthful citizens who proudly traveled to Mississippi, knowing they would be arrested and imprisoned, staring with heads held high at the police cameras. There was no shame and little apparent fear, just a confidence that they were engaged in a mighty cause. Of course none of them could have imagined that these mug shots would have been preserved and found more than forty years later.

The juxtaposition of the mug shots with Etheridge's modern portraits is fascinating. I might find interesting any collection of portraits of people matched with their younger selves. But Etheridge's multitonal black and white pictures are particularly beautiful, and they work incredibly well next to the stark black and white mug shots of 1961.

Breach of Peace is organized chronologically, so that you see how various groups of freedom riders arrived, week after week, in Mississippi, and how the youth movement, first mostly black, led to the later participation of more young whites and then older, already-engaged progressives. At the end of the book, there are a number of extended interviews.

I think this book would be a cherished gift for many people, including teenagers and college students who may be questioning their innate idealism in the presence of what might appear to them to be a cynical and dystopian culture. There have been few books which so successfully allow us to observe dozens of people, initially attracted to participate in a seemingly impossibly challenging confrontation with racism, who have committed their lives to improving our society.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Portrait: Personal and Provacative June 1, 2008

By Joseph J. McDonald

Format:Hardcover

My review is not in anyway impartial or detached. Forty seven years ago tomorrow (June 2) myself and five fellow Riders were arrested in Jackson. Three members of our group are no longer with us today, with this disclosure in mind I will now review "Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders" by Eric Etheridge.
The book is beautifully printed and the portraits are of outstanding quality. The text is, of course, minimal but to me at least, provacative in the extreme. The interviews Mr. Etheridge was able to conduct and include were the flesh on the bones. Incidently, I spoke with Mr. Ehteridge and was advised that the interviewing connected with his project is continuing and they will eventually show up on the internet.
This book is a perfect complement to Raymond Arsenault's "Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice"(see my review). For primary history enthusiasts, I cannot strongly enough recommend: Mississippi Department Archives and History (MDAH Digital Collection). To get a feel for the real situation in Mississippi of what segregation meant in that state.
Perusing the portraits was like a portal back into time. Bittersweet memories of accomplishment and failure. Yes, we accomplished the immediate objective of integrating interstate travel and in the ensuing years(at the cost of a lot of blood) removed most overt forms of discrimination. But, sadly if one takes the time and energy to peer into her or his surroundings(locally and globally) the idealism of that time is rarely observed.
WE SHALL OVERCOME?

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars inspirational view of real American heroes May 1, 2008

By Jorgia Bordofsky

Format:Hardcover

Captures the youthful optimisim of peole who knew they were doing the right thing and were willing to spend time in jail for their belief in the equality of human beings. The police mug shots, although very impersonal, convey the moral presence of these young people. The contemporary interviews and photos give the reader a glimpse of another era. You can also look at this book as an art book......the black and white photos really draw you into the written text. I think this makes a wonderful coffee table book meant to stimulate conversation and would be a great gift for a graduating student during these times when again it seems like our country has lost it's moral compass.