He and his wife were still dressing when they heard a knock at the door. It was Gray, who lived nearby. Years later, Schlager recalled, “My friend appeared to try to speak but words did not come. Only a profusion of tears. “I had never seen tears flow in a rushing stream like that before. […]

Much of this violence passed unnoticed by most Mississippians, but not so with the Grays. Gray was president of the Lauderdale County Head Start board and Ruthie Gray taught music in one of the Head Start centers that was bombed. Daughter Anne says, “Probably one of the most vivid memories I have of that time […]

He [Gray] concluded, “In short, as regrettable as the cause may be, the fact remains that the violent reaction precipitated by the COFO program [Congress of Federated Programs] among one element of white Mississippians has in turn produced the first signs of a creative and constructive approach on the part of many responsible whites to […]