Florence Mars’ Typewriter and Lunchbox

2013.17.7,10 – Florence Mars used this typewriter while writing the book Witness in Philadelphia about the murders of three civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, in her hometown of Philadelphia in 1964. An outspoken critic of the murders and other violence perpetrated against African Americans and civil rights workers, Mars became a target of the KKK as well. Mars used this lunchbox in the promotion of the book. Donated by her relative, William Montgomery Mars, both the typewriter and lunchbox are displayed in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.