Oral history with John M. Perkins transcript; 2003

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Oral history with John M. Perkins transcript; 2003

Identifier: mus-coh_perkinsj

Description: Oral history.; Interview conducted on April 23, 2003 with John M. Perkins. Reverend John M. Perkins was born in New Hebron, in Lawrence County, Mississippi in June 1930. His family were sharecroppers. Perkins' grandmother had nineteen children; his grandfather was a bootlegger. Perkins had two sisters and three brothers. His mother died when he was seven months old. As Mississippi was a dry state until 1964, members of Perkins' family ran a profitable bootlegging racket throughout the state, selling home brew and moonshine. He dropped out of school at around the age of twelve. Perkins left Mississippi for California at the age of seventeen. Perkins married Vera Mae Buckley two weeks before being deployed overseas. Together they had eight children. Perkins and his family later returned to Simpson County where he began traveling from school to school and telling Bible stories. He later established the Voice of Calvary in Jackson and in Mendenhall (which became known as Mendenhall Ministries). His association of ministries includes seven hundred organizations around the United States and is known as the Perkins Foundation. Perkins was arrested in December 1969 after protesting the arrest of Garland Young and the brutality of the police force after Young's arrest. This event triggered what is considered the first event of the Civil Rights Movement in Simpson County. After boycotts and protests, Perkins was arrested again in 1971 and was sent to jail in Brandon, Mississippi, where he was subjected to extreme brutality. Perkins devoted the rest of his life to his ministries and to racial reconciliation.

Creator: Perkins, John M.; White, Joe

Date: 2003-04-23

Format: Digital reproduction of a 26-page transcript.

Rights Statement: IN COPYRIGHT; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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Collection: Mississippi Oral History Project: Simpson County Historical & Genealogical Society

Finding Aid:

Source: F341.5 .M57 vol. 1217

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