Summer in Mississippi is a Canadian film directed and written by Beryl Fox. Created in 1965, it was funded by the CBC in its fledgling years. It documents the summer of 1964, specifically the social climate in Mississippi after June 21, 1964 when the bodies of three young people were found. Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Schwerner were representatives for COFO, the Council Of Federated Organizations. During summers in the early 1960s COFO organized programs to send young students to the deep south to educate people of colour on how to vote and what their voting rights were. Voter turn out for people of colour in that area, particularly Mississippi were always very low. Because of social pressure from other ethnic groups, geographic barriers, educational deficiencies, and at times physical threats from individuals and groups; voting for Blacks had become almost impossible in this region.
These student volunteers traveled to the south and tried to overcome these barriers.
They were not welcome by those who put the barriers up in the first place though.
Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner were found murdered June 21, 1964; the victims of anonymous individuals who did not want to see them succeed with their mission.
Fox takes us to Mississippi, not to follow the murder trail; but as a follow up on what new student volunteers faced as they headed to Mississippi and the super-heated social climate. Through one-on-one interviews with residents, students, and authorities, she paints a vivid picture of a time in Mississippi where the summer heat reflects the inflamed emotions of the whole state.