Mississippi Conviction: Betrayal, Brotherhood, and the Fall of the Klan recounts a remarkable and underreported story of conscience, courage, and moral reckoning at the height of the civil rights era in Mississippi. On Father's Day, June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers were murdered by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan after visiting a burned church in Neshoba County. The brutal killings shocked the nation and launched a major FBI investigation into Mississippi's "closed society." Amid the search for justice, federal agents turned to an unlikely ally: Reverend Delmar Dennis, a Methodist minister and chaplain for the WKKKK. Dennis's decision to become an FBI informant came after a pivotal conversation with his friend and mentor, Reverend Carl McArn, a civil rights supporter and advocate for church integration. Their friendship-and the ideological divide it represented-mirrored the broader split within Mississippi's white churches over race and justice. Coauthored by novelist Stephen J. Gordin and Carl E. McArn II, son of Reverend McArn, this gripping narrative explores the power of moral influence and personal transformation. Drawing on extensive interviews and archival research, Mississippi Conviction reveals how one man's betrayal of the Klan became a critical turning point in dismantling a violent domestic terrorist network-and how another's quiet mentorship helped make that decision possible.
Stephen J. Gordin is a former editorial writer and a freelance author of several novels, children's books, and nonfiction professional articles. He is a native and current resident of South Carolina. Carl E. McArn II is a native of Mississippi and the son of one of the main subjects of this work, Reverend Carl McArn. He currently lives in the upstate of South Carolina.
Preface Chapter 1: The Straight and Narrow Chapter 2: Delmar and Carl Chapter 3: The 1950s Chapter 4: The Methodist Church Chapter 5: Ole Miss and Born of Conviction Chapter 6: The Falling Out Chapter 7: The Consequences Chapter 8: The Muscle Chapter 9: The Klan Chapter 10: The Red Scare Chapter 11: Violence Chapter 12: A Changing Political Scene and the Disappearance of Three Civil Rights Workers Chapter 13: The Dilemma Chapter 14: Delmar's Decision Chapter 15: The Dual Life Chapter 16: 1967 Chapter 17: The Trial Epilogue Authors' Note Acknowledgments Notes Index
"I highly recommend this book, which highlights lesser-known players within the civil rights movement. The story is engaging, and the authors add layers of information to familiar stories, such as Freedom Summer and the deaths of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, where we learn of Delmar Dennis's role as an FBI informant in greater detail than ever." - Devery S. Anderson, author of Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement
