Photo Albums

Charles McLaurin, "a foot soldier for freedom," was the featured guest of the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies at its annual celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. McLaurin and his life-long friend Tracy Sugarman shared stories of the civil rights movement and of the sharecropper-turned-heroine Fannie Lou Hamer. Said McLaurin, "The only life she knew from birth to 1962 was sharecropping... Her mother taught her reading and writing using the Bible. She owned nothing — no land, no car — but she had God."

Charles McLaurin told stories about his relationship with Fannie Lou Hamer. He said he had been directed to go to Mrs. Hamer's home on a plantation and drive her to Jackson, Mississippi to get qualified to run for U.S. Congress — but he first had to convince her that an African American woman should even try. McLaurin was shocked when Mrs. Hamer responded, "Wait just a minute, I'll be right with you." The two made their way to Jackson, where — despite mountains of paperwork and $500 in fees — they got her registered to run for Congress. McLaurin was tabbed on the spot to be her campaign manager.

Charles McLaurin told the Wabash audience that he was pleased to be invited to campus because it allowed him to recall fond memories, which made him both laugh and cry. He told a lot of funny stories that perhaps softened the cruelty and injustice he suffered in 1963-64. And his funny stories — particularly one about a retired sharecropper named Joe McDonald — had his old buddy Tracy Sugarman cracking up.

Reggie Steele, chairman of the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies, was the emcee of the evening's program.

Wabash alumnus Howard Bailey ’06 returned to campus to sing "Precious Lord" to the delight of the audience.

Tracy Sugarman and Charles McLaurin were the first to get up to give Howard Bailey a standing ovation for his performance of "Precious Lord."

At the end of the evening, two old friends united in the struggle for civil rights and justice in the American south, shared a touching moment as both said how pleased they were to be invited to share their stories at Wabash College.

Charles McLaurin and Tracy Sugarman took part in three classes at Wabash on Friday, including Warren Rosenberg's multicultural literature course.

Tracy Sugarman recalls the Freedom Summer of 1964 in Professor Warren Rosenberg's class.

Two old friends — Charles McLaurin and Tracy Sugarman — in class at Wabash. The two men first met 48 years ago when McLaurin visited Sugarman at his home in Connecticut. A year later, they were part of the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964.

Properly attired: President Pat White made sure Tracy Sugarman and Charles McLaurin received Wabash baseball caps. Here they pose with the MXI's advisors, Horace Turner and Rob Johnson.