Letter written by John Moody to his parents about the Freedom Rides

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A letter written by John Moody to his parents. The six-page letter is handwritten in red ink on off-white paper. The first page has the date in the upper right corner [May 27, 1961] and begins “Dear Mother + Dad: I suppose you have been reading the papers and you know what I am doing in Jackson, Mississippi.” The letter goes on to describe his participation in the May 1961 Freedom Ride from Montgomery, Alabama to Jackson, Mississippi and his subsequent experience on trial and in jail in Jackson. The handwriting is on the front page of each sheet only, with moderate bleed-through of the ink on the reverse sides. Pages 2 through 6 have been numbered by hand at top center, in the same red ink.

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