Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Floreline Sawyer

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Emmett Till Some historians consider the brutal murder of fourteen-year old Emmett Till the crime that launched the civil rights movement. Emmett Till, who was from Chicago, came to Mississippi in the summer of 1955 to visit relatives. When he and his cousins went to a local grocery store, he whistled at the white lady who owned the store. A few days later, Till was kidnapped beaten, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Emmett Till Roy Bryant, the husband of the lady that Till had whistled at, and J.S. Milam were charged with murder, but an all- white jury acquitted both men. In January 1956 both men admitted that they murdered Emmett Till. But they could not be tried again because of the double jeopardy clause in the U.S. Constitution that prevents a person from being tried twice for the same crime.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi James Meredith Among the students then enrolled at Jackson State was James Howard Meredith. After graduating from high school in 1951, Meredith enlisted in the United States Air Force and served unit In September 1960, Meredith enrolled at Jackson State University and began making plans for his enrollment at The University of Mississippi.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi James Meredith After his application for admission to The University of Mississippi was denied, Meredith filed suit on May 31, 1961, in the federal court at Meridian. Meredith’s lawyer, Constance Baker Motley, claimed that Meredith had been denied admission to the university solely on the grounds of racial discrimination.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi James Meredith After a long series of judicial delays and postponements, the U.S Supreme Court issued a decree on September 10, 1962, ordering the university to admit James Meredith as a regular undergraduate student. Governor Barnett hinted that he would close the university if that was necessary to prevent its integration. By September 27, Mississippi officials had reached the limits of legal resistance

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi James Meredith Emotion was running high in both the white and the black communities. Many educational and business leaders and some state officials realized that any further resistance might provoke widespread violence. It was agreed that Meredith would register [for enrollment in the university] on Monday morning, October 1, 1962

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi James Meredith Meredith arrived on campus about 5:30 on Sunday afternoon and moved into his dormitory in Baxter Hall. A few of the federal marshals (law enforcement officers of the federal judicial district who carry out court orders) who had accompanied Meredith remained at Baxter Hall. Other marshal surrounded the Lyceum where the registration would take place the next morning.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi James Meredith The appearance of the marshal attracted a large crowd. The unruly crowd slowly and gradually turned into a mob. By 8:00p.m., a full scale (riot) was in progress. Tear gas (a substance that blinds the eyes with tears and is used for dispelling mobs was fired into the riots and the sound of gunshots echoed across the campus.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi James Meredith At 11:00 p.m. about sixty Mississippi national guardsmen were rushed to the campus to quell the riot. By 2:00 a.m. the first detachment of federal troops arrived on campus. On Monday, October 1, 1962 at the 5 a.m. President Kennedy was advised the riot was over and that the campus was secure.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi James Meredith. During the riot two people were killed and many others were wounded. Later that morning, federal marshals escorted James Meredith to the Lyceum and he registered as an undergraduate student. Meredith graduated from The University of Mississippi on August 18, 1963.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Medgar Evers As James Meredith was preparing for his final exams at Ole Miss, Medgar Evers was organizing sit-ins, demonstrations, and boycotts in Jackson.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Medgar Evers In a May 20, 1963, television address, Evers (announced) that the NAACP and its allies, especially young blacks and college students, would use every (legal) means available to bring about racial and social justice in Mississippi. Three weeks after the May 20 television address, Bryon De La Beckwith assassinate) Medgar Evers. Following a late night meeting a New Jerusalem Baptist Church, Evers pulled into his carport and Beckwith shot him[Evers] in the back with a high-powered rifle that had a telescopic sight.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Medgar Evers Ten days after Beckwith assassinated Evers, FBI agent Walser Prospere arrested him at his home in Greenwood. Two weeks later, Hinds County grand jury indicted Byron De La Beckwith for the murder of Medgar Ever. Byron De La Beckwith was first tried in January 1964, but that trial ended in a hung jury ( a jury that is unable to agree on a verdict) on February 7.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Medgar Evers He was tried again, but the second trial also ended in a hung jury on April 17,1964. After the second hung jury, Circuit Judge Leon Hendrick declared a mistrial (a trial that has no legal effect because of some error in the proceedings or because of a hung jury). On October 1, 1989, Jerry Mitchell, the prize-winning reporter for the Clarion Ledger, reported that the State Sovereignty Commission may have tried to influence some jurors in the second Beckwith trial.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Medgar Evers After this article appeared, Myrlie Evers [Ever’s wife] issued a statement calling for a new trial. Hinds County District Attorney Ed Peters ordered an investigation, and Assistant District Attorney Bobby DeLaughter began a search for new evidence that would allow the District Attorney’s office to reopen the case.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Medgar Evers Ironically, Beckwith supplied the evidence. In the years after Beckwith murdered Evers, could not) resist boasting about it. Several people testified [at the new trail] that they heard Beckwith brag about killing Evers. The jury of eight blacks and four whites found Beckwith guilty of murdering Medgar Evers.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Fannie Lou Hamer In the spring of 1964, a group of civil rights leaders established the Freedom Democratic Party. At the national Democratic Convention in 1964, the Freedom Democratic Party challenged the right of the all- white regular Mississippi Democratic Party delegation to represent Mississippi. These challenges eventually forced the Mississippi Democratic Party to accept blacks into the party, which it had not done since 1902.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Fannie Lou Hamer In Atlantic City, at the 1964, National Democratic Party Convention, Fannie Lou Hamer became a household name across America. In an effort to get the delegates from the Freedom Democratic Party seated at the convention, she testified before the credentials committee and told how she was beaten by policemen because she tried to register to vote.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Fannie Lou Hamer In 1964 and 1965, the U.S. Congress passed several major civil rights laws. These laws made it illegal to discriminate against blacks in voting hiring practices, and in public restaurants, motels, swimming pools, and state parks. After the enactment of these laws, Governor Paul Johnson advised that the civil rights legislation was the law of the land. Whether we like it or not, the law would be upheld.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Freedom Summer Civil Rights activity increased dramatically in the summer of 1964 as several hundred college students from across the nation came to Mississippi. Under the sponsorship of the Council of Federated Organizations COFO, the students conducted Freedom Schools and vote registration drives.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Freedom Summer The purpose of the Freedom Schools was to encourage blacks to exercise their rights as American citizens. Blacks were informed about the voter registration procedure and were taught how to answer the tricky questions that had been designed to make it difficult for blacks to register. Most whites Mississippians considered the northern college students as “outsider agitators.”

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Freedom Summer The Ku Klux Klan reappeared, and during the long hot summer of 1964, numerous acts of violence and church burning occurred throughout Mississippi. The most significant act of violence in1964 occurred in Philadelphia, the county seat of Neshoba County. On the morning of June 21, 1964, three Meridian-based COFO workers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman, drove up to Neshoba County to investigate reports that a black church had been burned.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Freedom Summer As they left Neshoba County later that afternoon, they were arrested and placed in the Philadelphia jail. Around midnight they were released and began driving back to Meridian. Somewhere between Philadelphia and Meridian, they were overtaken by a group of the Ku Klux Klansmen, who murdered them and buried them in an earthen dam that was being constructed for a cattle pond.

Civil Rights Participants in Mississippi Freedom Summer Although the most thorough search in the state’s history was conducted, their bodies were not found until August 5, when an FBI informant led federal officials to the dam where the bodies were buried. After Mississippi declined to bring murder charges against any local Ku Klux Klansmen, the federal government filed charges against eighteen suspects.