More than thirty years after the murder of Viola Liuzzo by the Ku Klux Klan, she remains an enigma.
Elizabeth in New Jersey, and Rutgers University..
She has taught at the University of Idaho, the College of St.
About the Author: MARY Stanton is the author of From Selma to Sorrow: The Life and Death of Viola Liuzzo and Journey toward Justice: Juliette Hampton Morgan and the Montgomery Bus Boycott (both Georgia); and Freedom Walk: Mississippi or Bust .
In From Selma to Sorrow Mary Stanton searches for the truth about Liuzzo\'s life and death, using extensive interviews, public records, and FBI case files to tell a startling story of murder, betrayal, and passion.
The years of unrelenting accusations, innuendos, and lies nearly destroyed her husband and five children.
Edgar Hoover crafted a malicious public relations campaign that unfairly portrayed Liuzzo as an unstable woman who abandoned her family to stir up trouble in the South.
To deflect attention and to cover up his recklessness in permitting a known violent racist to work undercover during the march, J.
Because this group of Klansmen included an FBI informant, Liuzzo lost her life in more ways than one.
Liuzzo was killed instantly and Moton, covered with her blood, escaped by pretending to be dead when the killers returned.
Klansmen followed Liuzzo\'s car along Highway 80 for twenty miles, then pulled alongside and fired shots.
On March 25, 1965, Liuzzo and a young black man named Leroy Moton were on their way From Selma to Montgomery after the march.
While a part-time student at Wayne State University she became involved in civil rights protests and decided to participate in a voting rights march in Selma, Alabama.
At the time of her death she was married to a high-ranking Teamster and had five children.
Born and reared in the South, Liuzzo moved to Detroit as an adult.
From Selma to Sorrow is the first full-length biography of the only white woman honored at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery.
Some thought she was a victim of random violence and government conspiracy, while others thought she was an unfit mother who got what she deserved.
Some saw her as a dedicated civil rights worker, others as a troubled housewife.
More than thirty years after the murder of Viola Liuzzo by the Ku Klux Klan, she remains an enigma
