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So the Heffners Left McComb
On Saturday, September 5, 1964, the family of Albert W. "Red" Heffner Jr., a successful insurance agent, left their house at 202 Shannon Drive in McComb, Mississippi, where they had lived for ten years. They never returned. In the eyes of neighbors, their unforgiveable sin was to have spoken on several occasions with civil rights workers and to have invited two into their home. Consequently, the Heffners were subjected to a campaign of harassment, ostracism, and economic retaliation shocking to a white family who believed that they were respected community members. So the Heffners Left McComb , originally published in 1965 and reprinted now for the first time, is Greenville journalist Hodding Carter's account of the events that led to the Heffners' downfall. Historian Trent Brown, a McComb native, supplies a substantial introduction evaluating the book's significance. The Heffners' story demonstrates the forces of fear, conformity, communal pressure, and threats of retaliation that silenced so many white Mississippians during the 1950s and 1960s. Carter's book provides a valuable portrait of a family who was not choosing to make a stand, but merely extending humane hospitality. Yet the Heffners were systematically punished and driven into exile for what was perceived as treason against white apartheid.
- GenresRaceNonfiction
First published January 1, 1965
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About the author
Hodding Carter
42Ìýbooks8ÌýfollowersWilliam Hodding Carter II (February 3, 1907 â€� April 4, 1972), was a Southern U.S. progressive journalist and author. Among other distinctions in his career, Carter was a Nieman Fellow and Pulitzer Prize winner. He died in Greenville, Mississippi, of a heart attack at the age of sixty-five.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 12, 2011
It was really interesting, if a little bogged down in details. It's about a family that got involved in the Civil Rights movement in McComb, Mississippi, in 1964 and basically got run out of the state. What made it especially interesting to me was the fact that my dad lived in McComb, had just graduated from high school in 1964, and was good friends with the Heffner daughters. Also kind of interesting is that the book was written in the fall of 1964, so it basically had no distance from the incident or from the Civil Rights movement. It was interesting to see it from that point of view.
July 9, 2016
Really eye opening account of a place I spent most of my childhood....human nature is disturbing and I'm thankful that I have learned more about the history of McComb.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
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