The year 1964 produced a watershed in American race relations. In one of the civil rights movement's most dramatic initiatives, thousands of Northern white college students were recruited to come south that summer in an effort to "break" Mississippi and secure voting rights for its black citizens. Nicolaus Mills traces the history of this Summer Project, including its origins and aftermath, and shows in detail how its consequences involved not only great victories but also violence (the murders of Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman, among other events) and disillusion. His persuasive argument is that the noble quest for racial solidarity turned bitter and divisive in practice, climaxed by the Democratic party's rejection of the Mississippi Freedom Democrats at the 1964 national convention. In the rush of black anger that followed, the gains of the summer were forgotten and Black Power was born—and blacks went their separate way in trying to achieve equality in America. Relations between whites and blacks took a crucial turning which continues powerfully to influence our politics and social well-being today.

Like a romance novel of the 'had I but known' variety, this overview of the development, operation, and aftermath of the Mississippi Summer Project in 1964 is a 'had they but known' history. Mills...declares his purpose ('to see what meaning the Summer Project has for us at a time when conservatives and liberals seem united in their gloom about race relations') and his conviction that 'the real tragedy of the Mississippi SUmmer Project is not that it failed but that so many of its participants gave up on it before its triumphs became clear.' As they planned for the movement of 1,000 white, northern college students to Mississippi; trained volunteers; coped with the sudden disappearance of Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner; set up Freedom Schools, voter registration programs, and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party; and evaluated the project's effectiveness, the SNCC members who staffed it were driven by events. With the benefit of hindsight, they (and the volunteers, and even the Democratic Party)might have made some decisions differently. A thoughtful and fascinating addition to larger 1960s and race relations collections. * Booklist *
Mills has written a readable, compelling account of Mississippi Freedom Summer. He argues convincingly that the summer of 1964 was a turning point in the Civil Rights movement in two senses. First, the combination of interracial cooperation and white violence helped speed the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and create widespread Northern support for the movement. Secondly, and ironically, the Democratic Party's failure to fully seat black Mississippi delegates at the 1964 convention confirmed and exacerbated many black civil rights workers' suspicions of whites. This marked the real beginning of a split between white liberals and black activists. Still, the coalition between blacks and whites that summer serves as an example of racial common ground. An excellent work; highly recommended for all libraries. * Library Journal *
Mills has shunned the comfort of the myth and reminded us that the struggle was terrifying, ugly, magnificent and confusing...a moving account. * Chicago Tribune *
Extremely readable and fair-minded. * The New York Times *
Mills traces the history of the Mississippi Summer PRoject of 1964, from its origins to its aftermath, and shows in detail how its consequences involved not only great victories but also violence. . .and disillusion. * Reference and Research Book News *
Mills tells the story of a pivotal time in the Civil Rights Movement, the Mississippi Summer Project where blacks and whites together risked their lives in order to force the issue of equal civil rights. Mills tells this courageous story so we will not forget what important gains were won with such cooperation. Trade, recent history, civil rights, libraries. Rating: Fine. * Reader's Review *
A stirring and saddening book...Mills has given us a usable model for heroism. -- Samuel G. Freedman * Newsday *
A clear and marvelously evocative account of one of modern America's most courageous and inspiring undertakings. -- David J. Garrow
A strong and vivid account...in these pages, history comes alive...a very fine book. -- Irving Howe

Nicolaus Mills’ other books include Culture in an Age of Money (also published by Ivan R. Dee), The New Journalism, and The Crowd in American Literature. He teaches American Studies at Sarah Lawrence College.