I became intrigued with Kathy while browsing through the Intelligence Report put out by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  I came upon Kathy's photo and wanted to trace the story. Ainsworth grew up in Coral Gables, Florida and was a high school honors graduate.  She left the sunshine state to attend school at Mississippi College.  The college is a Baptist school funded by Southern Baptist money.  It made recent history when it was on the receiving end of millions of dollars my one time acquaintance, Bernie Ebbers , helped raise for the school.  Bernie, who rivaled Ken Lay for money scams, was also connected to the school as a graduate.  He was probably in school there around the time Kathy was.  She used to teach Sunday school classes in Florida.
     While in Clinton at the college, she was influenced by professor Dr.W. M. Caskey.  He schooled Kathy on racism.  He worked closely with governor Ross Barnett teaching the governor the finer points of Biblical segregation.  In the Ole Miss archives there are records of Caskey introducing Dr. A.E. Kitchens to a white supremacy organization who delivered a message on "The Bible and Segregation."  
     Kathy took seriously her professor's theories about Jews, segregation and civil Rights.  It was believed in the South that Jews were behind Communism and they were using integration to bring about a Communist America.  One site claims she honey mooned at the famous Christ of the Ozarks theme park according to metapedia.com  This was the park set up by Gerald Smith who was a strong anti-Semite and segregationist.  Smith ran for President under the platform of,  we need to do something about the Jews. Kathy lived a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde life.  During the day she would teach affluent, segregated,  fifth grade, white students, at night she was known to engage in Klan activities.  It was significant that she was active in the Klan which was known as a man's club.  She was married to a husband who knew of these actions but tended to believe it was not as serious as it became.  
     Records reveal Kathy participated in a bombing of a synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi.  The Klan next ordered a bomb to be placed at a prominent Jewish citizen's home, Meyer Davidson, in Meridian, Mississippi.  A sting was set up with money funded by Jews  to pay off informants.  Informants were found who were interesting figures.  Both informants were in the Klan and had participated in the slaying of Schwerner, Chacey, and Goodman, the three civil rights workers found buried in a Mississippi dam.  It turns out the movie Mississippi Burning's character, played by Gene Hackman, had some historical backing.  Money and intimidation were used during these times to entrap suspects.  The FBI was to be embarrassed by the findings in this case.  Snipers were told to shot to kill.
     Kathy and her male companion were headed into a trap when Kathy drove the car with Klan activist Thomas Tarrrant III. Thomas had the bomb and Kathy sat in the car.  Snipers opened fire on the pair.  Different versions exist on what happened.  Law enforcement types claim Cathy was going for a gun.  Other records say Thomas was armed.  Most accounts I read said the sting had one motive,  that was to kill whoever showed up at the home.  Several police officers were present.    Kathy was three months pregnant at the time.  
     Critics and some journalists claim the two were a couple and had an affair.  There is no evidence to back that up.   Regional newspapers had her wearing hot pants. She was slain on June 30, 1968.  This was the same year that M.L King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated.  Her death is the topic of some books which connected the three deaths and their significance in the period.  Conspiracy theorist with little backing claim Kathy schooled Bobby's killer and is in some photos just before the slaying.  Some claimed she was in Memphis jamming the police radios after King was shot.  Such stories are more folklore and not related to historical backing.  Some reports claim the child she was carrying was Tarrant's.  There was no evidence of such.
     There are as many stories about Kathy as there are political viewpoints.  Sites like the right wing, Stormfront, consider her a heroine and martyr slain by Jewish money.  Some groups in the far right honor her death and repeat her  legacy.  Web sites abound with her story.  The drama of a beautiful, young, white school teacher being slain by the FBI makes for interesting inquiry.  Some suggested there needs to be a movie made about her life. She certainly represents the turbulent sixties and particularly 68.  
     Her connection to Meridian is interesting and few know her story outside of a few historians.  Kathy's husband was quoted as saying she "was just an angel."  He never believed it would get this far in her late night ventures.  Mississippi College taught the young lady from Florida and should bear some responsibility for the influence they had on her.  
     The late New York Times award winning author Jack Nelson spoke of her.  He broke the story about the entrapment used to get Kathy. Nelson wrote he had some meetings with her and thought he could sway her away from her extremism.  He said he had mixed feelings about her death.  On the one hand there was a death of a young mother, on the other hand she was there as an accomplice.  It was never mentioned that Kathy ever desired to harm anyone with the bombings, she just wanted to send  a message. The L.A. Times wrote that the sting was not legal and an example of Hoover's FBI.  The newspaper noted this action was typical of the law enforcement organization.
     One note of interest is the story of Thomas Tarrant III. He was almost killed with Kathy and sustained many gunshot wounds. He is taken to prison in Mississippi and escapes. Again he is in a gunfight with authorities.  Some of his accomplishes are killed but he is only wounded.  He later noted that the bomb should have exploded in Meridian when he dropped it.  Thus, he escaped death three times.  He is sent to solitary confinement.  While in isolation he read the Bible and came to a new understanding of the Christian faith.  He was paroled, attended Ole Miss and eventually worked on a doctorate at Fuller Seminary.  He is a minister today and is president of the C.S. Lewis Institute in Washington D.C.  He was a troubled youth who was vulnerable. He read the Protocols and listened to Wesley Swift, the avid Christian Identity leader.   While in prison he found  their version of the Christian faith was lacking in truth.  He would have a dramatic conversion experience and  eventually write a book about his life.  For Kathy, she never got that chance.