1. Civil Rights Murder Mystery
September 25, 1961
VICTIMS: Herbert Lee and Louis Allen
ACCUSED: E.H. Hurst
“The Negro had been shot in self-defense as he was trying to attack E.H. Hurst.”
--McComb Enterprise Journal
Your Assignment:
Who else was involved and how?
What motivated their actions?
How did the murders of Herbert Lee and Louis Allen impact the lives of people living in Pike and Amite Counties?

2. Changing Laws/Changing Minds
The Successes and Failures of Civil Rights Legislation

3. Which is more important – changing laws or changing minds?
Compelling Question
Is non-violent civil disobedience effective?
Supporting Question
Which is more important – changing laws or changing minds?

4. Civil Rights Act of 1957
Prohibited any interference with the rights of a person to vote in a federal election
The first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction
Filibustered by Senator Strom Thurmond (SC)
Longest filibuster in U.S. history - over 24 hours
Passed anyway
he began with readings of every state‘s election laws in alphabetical order. Thurmond later read from the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and George Washington's Farewell Address.
Served as a senator until his retirement in 2003 at the age of 100

5. Medgar Evers Field secretary for the NAACP in Mississippi
Lobbied for the investigation of Emmett Till’s murder and James Meredith’s entrance into Ole Miss
Murdered in his own driveway; mourned nationally (1963)
Recruited members, organized voter-registration efforts, demonstrations, boycotts of white-owned companies that practiced discrimination.
Killed by Byron De La Beckwith
Killer charged; all-white male jury deadlocked on his guilt
Convicted based on new evidence in 1994

6. March on Washington (1963)
Organized by civil rights, labor, and religious organizations
Led by Bayard Rustin, A. Philip Randolph, MLK, and John Lewis
“March for Jobs and Freedom”
200,000+ people, musicians, celebrities, etc.
Leaders: Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph (EO 8802, first attempted March on Washington)

7. I Have a Dream! Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty,
we are free at last!

8. Mississippi Civil Rights Workers' Lynching (1964)
James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael “Mickey” Schwerner
Three voting rights activists were threatened by the local Klan in Mississippi after speaking at a church and urging the congregation to register to vote
Later, Klansmen attacked the congregation and burned the church in order to lure the activists back to town
The three men were brutally beaten, shot, and buried by members of the Klan and local police
Resulted in the largest televised search in history
Bodies found 44 days later

9. Civil Rights Act of 1964
Outlawed major forms of discrimination against minorities and women
Ended unequal voter registration requirements and segregation in schools, work, and the public

10. The Selma March Organized by SNCC and the SCLC under MLK
March from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights
"Bloody Sunday“: 600 marchers were attacked by state and local police with billy-clubs and tear gas
The second march was turned around halfway (court injunction)
The third march successfully reached Montgomery under the protection of almost 4,000 U.S. soldiers
"Bloody Sunday“: 600 marchers were attacked by state and local police with billy-clubs and tear gas
The second march was turned around halfway (court injunction)
The third march successfully reached Montgomery under the protection of almost 4,000 U.S. soldiers
2015 – 50th anniversary honorary march across the Edmund Pettus bridge

11. Rock the Vote!
Voting Rights Act of 1965: Outlawed literacy tests, provided federal oversight in voter registration to protect nonwhite voters
24th Amendment: Outlawed poll taxes
Voter Education Project: Developed by RFK, Raised funds for voter education and registration in Southern states, lobbied door-to-door
The act banned the use of literacy tests, provided for federal oversight of voter registration in areas where less than 50 percent of the nonwhite population had not registered to vote, and authorized the U.S. attorney general to investigate the use of poll taxes in state and local elections (in 1964, the 24th Amendment made poll taxes illegal in federal elections; poll taxes in state elections were banned in 1966 by the U.S. Supreme Court).

12. April 4, 1968
Killed by James Earl Ray

13. Effects of MLK’s Death