Mississippi Harmony: Memoirs of a Freedom Fighter

In 1963, Winson Hudson finally registered to vote in Leake County, Mississippi, when she interpreted part of the state constitution by saying, “It meant what it said and it said what it meant.” Her first attempt had been in 1937. A lifelong native of the rural, all-black community of Harmony, Winson has lived through some of the most racially oppressive periods in her states history--and has devoted her life to combatting discrimination. With her sister Dovie, Winson filed the first lawsuit to desegregate the public schools in a rural county. Helping to establish the county NAACP chapter in 1961, Winson served as its president for 38 years. Her work has included voting rights, school desegregation, health care, government loans, telephone service, good roads, housing, and childcare--issues that were intertwined with the black freedom struggle. Winsons narrative, presented in her own words with historical background from noted author and activist Constance Curry, is both triumphant and tragic, inspiring and disturbing. It illustrates the virtually untold story of the role that African American women played in the civil rights movement at the local level in black communities throughout the South.

The story of Winson Hudson, an extraordinary woman who led her rural community in its fight for racial equality during the 20th century.

Winson Hudson was born in Carthage, Mississippi in 1916. Her many honors include the NAACP's Freedom Award for Outstanding Community Service and inclusion in Brian Lanker's book of photographs of black women who changed America, I Dream a World. Constance Curry is an activist, attorney, and professor of women's studies at Emory University. She has written several books on the the civil rights movement, including Deep in Our Hearts and the award-winning Silver Rights.