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_^o__^ei_^flU"^ At 8:0° o'clock began to sort out the material at the Clothing Center
in North Newton to be ready to load onto a truck at 9:00 A.M.  The material that was
loaded on the truck amounted to $,421 pounds.  This consisted of twelve bags of new
and used shoes (845 pounds), twelve bales of new and used clothing (1,036 pounds) and
ten cartons of canned beef (540 pounds).  The y$.ue  of the shoes and the clothes, was
$2,433. We did not leave Newton until approximately 12:00.  The two fellows that came
along with the truck were Art Regier and Mr. Kroeker, both from Inman.   Travelled
until approximately Little Rock where we called Amzie Moore and Titus Bender. Amzie
suggested that we should stop for a little sleep and arrive in Cleveland by about
9:00 or 10:00 on December 1.  Titus said he would meet us in Cleveland that day and
spend two days with me.
^ecjgmbsg>r„,,l./ Arrived in Cleveland at approximately 11:00 A.M. at the home of Amzie
Moore.  Titus Bender was already at Cleveland.  We unloaded some of the material at
Amzie Moore's house and took the remainder to a smaller town approximately ten miles
north of Cleveland to unload the remainder of the material.
The town north of Cleveland at which we unloaded the material is known as Mound
Bayou.  This is a town in which every citizen is Negro except for one white resident
from Massachusetts who. was a COFO worker this past summer.  He is still teaching
voter registration classes to the citizens.  A unique situation exists in Mound
Bayou in that the police of three men are all Negro.  The chief of police is a most
active civil rights worker and has encouraged many of the citizens to register.
^M      He accompanied us and is a man through whom Amzie does much work.  The chiefi of
police is Willy Woodson.  He took Titus Bender, the two truck drivers, and me to
approximately ten different homes in the vicinity who would be receiving relief
during the next days.  The weather was very cold and in spite of the fact that
whenever we got out of the car we would get very cool and chilly and the children
would be playing in bare feet. Many of the parents reported that their children
, ,  were at home because their children did not have clothing or shoes.  Some pictures
of the children in this area are enclosed.  These should be given to the Information
Service for their use but then returned to me at Amzie Moore's address.  These are
pictures of the children in the area where the MCC material will be distributed.
Also enclosed in the mailing is a list of names of families that received some of
the materials sent to Itta Bena last fall. A Xerox copy of the list should be made
for our records and also returned with the pictures.   It simply is impossible to
describe the situation here.  One does not imagine how life could exist for as long
as it has in the situation as it is here.  Some men can only earn approximately
$3 a day.  The families are very large. Most homes that we visited have approximately
ten to fifteen children.  None were below ten. One family had as many as twenty
children. A few of the homes in which we visited where there were approximately
six or seven children did not have a father. When I asked the mother what her husband
was doing she said she didn't have a husband.  This happened in a few instances. It
appears as if the morale is very low.  The people are also simply dressed in rags.
The clothes pictured are descriptive but do not speak as loudly as observing these
children in weather below 30 degrees fahrenheit.
Titus Bender will be staying with me this night and then returning to Meridian
|%  some time tomorrow.
Tomorrow we have arranged to go to Mound Bayou in the morning and open the bales
and bundles of shoes, arrange them so that people can come to the center for
distribution. Everyone recommends that the most unbiased person is the chief of
police. He is also a member of a very poor family. When I went to visit his home      /
/ ' *