I was a student at the University of Notre Dame when I was recruited for SCOPE in 1965. I was a resident of McComb, Mississippi and had lived through the terrible events of the COFO summer in McComb, including the church burnings and intensive intimidation of students at Burglund High School. My family was not at all supportive of the events of the summer, but were unwilling to "get involved" in opposing them. Much of this activity convinced me to join SCOPE.
During my summer in Georgia, I attended the SCLC convention in Birmingham, and served first in Savannah and then in Americus, Georgia. After suffering an injury at the hands of the GA State Patrol, I was returned to the SCOPE house in Atlanta, and Hosea [Williams] eventually put me on the payroll (such as it was) and sent me to Hopewell, Virginia, where I worked with Rev Curtis W. Harris.
SCOPE was one of the most formative parts of my entire life; I would not have missed this opportunity for the world — especially for a white boy from rural southern Mississippi, for whom SCOPE changed the entire world!
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