WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)

Description

In this series of WSB newsfilm clips from Pearl River County, Mississippi, on May 14, 1959, correspondent Richard Bate reports on the kidnapping and murder of Mack Parker and the subsequent F.B.I. investigation.The clips begin with a shot of reporter Richard Bate. He stands in front of a sign reading, "Poplarville Corp. Limit." Bate says, "About three weeks ago, a masked mob broke into the local jail and seized Mack Parker, a Negro who had been accused of raping a white woman. It was two days before his trial. His body was put in an automobile and taken down this highway. It was later found in the Pearl River nearby." Bate continues speaking as the clips cut to a shot of storefronts and parked cars in a town. He says, "During the past week, the streets of towns in Pearl River County Mississippi have been buzzing with the quiet, prodding questions of the F.B.I. as they continue their painstaking investigation into the Parker kidnap-murder case. Sometimes, they seem to be opening up new avenues of inquiry. Sometimes, they're just covering the same ground repeatedly, hoping that some new bit of evidence will come to light." The clips cut to a shot of two unidentified white males seated on a bench outside of a brick building. Bate continues, "The citizens of this typical small town South are united in at least one feeling: they wish that the case would come to some conclusion so that their area could settle back to...

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia