Misplaced Pages

#934065

81-607: The society publishes the Journal of Mississippi History, the online publication Mississippi History Now which contains more than 150 essays about topics in Mississippi history, and Heritage of Mississippi Series which is a collection of the history of Mississippi in a 15 volume set of books. The Mississippi Historical Society (MHS) was founded in Jackson on November 9, 1858 by Benjamin L.C. Wailes. The initial incarnation of

162-898: A historically black college founded by the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War . For 20 years, Loewen taught about racism at the University of Vermont , where he was professor emeritus of sociology in 1995. Starting in 1997, he was a visiting professor of sociology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was selected for honoris causa membership in Omicron Delta Kappa in 1997 at SUNY Plattsburgh . Loewen co-edited

243-634: A trading post . It was connected to markets in Tennessee . Soldiers returning to Tennessee from the military campaigns near New Orleans in 1815 built a public road that connected Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana to this district. A United States treaty with the Choctaw, the Treaty of Doak's Stand in 1820, formally opened the area for non-Native American settlers. LeFleur's Bluff was developed when it

324-466: A 2020 population of nearly 600,000, metropolitan Jackson is home to over one-fifth of Mississippi's population. The city sits on the Pearl River and is located in the greater Jackson Prairie region of Mississippi. Jackson is the only city in Mississippi with a population exceeding 100,000 people. Founded in 1821 as new state capital for Mississippi, Jackson is named after General Andrew Jackson ,

405-573: A Mississippi history textbook with Charles Sallis , Mississippi: Conflict & Change (1974), which won the Lillian Smith Book Award for Best Southern Nonfiction in 1975. The book was rejected for use in Mississippi's public schools by the Mississippi Textbook Purchasing Board on the grounds that it was too controversial and placed too much focus on racial matters. Loewen challenged

486-463: A Province, Territory, and State". The society publishes the quarterly Journal of Mississippi History, the monthly Mississippi History Newsletter, and the online journal History Now. In 1973, MHS worked in conjunction with MDAH, the University of Mississippi , Mississippi State University , the University of Southern Mississippi , and the University and College Press of Mississippi to produce

567-404: A Supreme Court challenge in 1898. As 20th-century Supreme Court decisions later ruled such provisions were unconstitutional, Mississippi and other Southern states rapidly devised new methods to continue disfranchisement of most black people, who comprised a majority in the state until the 1930s. Their exclusion from politics was maintained into the late 1960s. The so-called New Capitol replaced

648-483: A consistently high rate of voter registration and turnout. Following the decades of the Great Migration , when more than one million black people left the rural South, since the 1930s the state has been majority white in total population. African Americans are a majority in the city of Jackson, although the metropolitan area is majority white. African Americans are also a majority in several cities and counties of

729-838: A historic First Amendment case and one of the foundations of the "right to read freely." Loewen spent two years at the Smithsonian Institution , where he studied and compared 12 American history textbooks then widely used throughout the United States . He published his findings in Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong (1995), which was republished in 2007 and 2018. He concluded that textbook authors propagate factually false, Eurocentric , and mythologized views of history. Loewen points out in

810-589: A junior, he spent a semester in Mississippi , an experience in a different culture that led him to question what he had been taught about United States history . He was intrigued by learning about the unique place of nineteenth-century Chinese immigrants and their descendants in Mississippi culture, commonly thought of as biracial. Loewen went on to earn a PhD in sociology from Harvard University based on his research on Chinese Americans in Mississippi. Loewen first taught in Mississippi at Tougaloo College ,

891-543: A list of sundown towns . Loewen was born in Decatur, Illinois , on February 6, 1942. His father, David, was a medical director and physician from an immigrant Mennonite community; his mother, Winifred (Gore), was a librarian and teacher. Loewen was raised in Decatur, where he attended MacArthur High School and was a National Merit Scholar as a graduate in 1960. Loewen attended Carleton College . In 1963, as

SECTION 10

#1732793655935

972-404: A new home front . James W. Loewen James William Loewen (February 6, 1942 – August 19, 2021) was an American sociologist, historian, and author. He was best known for his 1995 book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong . A 2005 book, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism, galvanized a national effort to develop

1053-564: A pilot project in 1963, activists rapidly registered 80,000 voters across the state, demonstrating the desire of African Americans to vote. In 1964 they created the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party as an alternative to the all-white state Democratic Party, and sent an alternate slate of candidates to the national Democratic Party convention in Atlantic City , New Jersey, that year. Segregation and

1134-461: A population of 153,701 at the 2020 census , a significant decline from 173,514, or 11.42%, since the 2010 census , representing the largest decline in population during the decade of any major U.S. city . Jackson is the anchor for the Jackson metropolitan statistical area , the largest metropolitan area located entirely in the state and the tenth-largest urban area in the Deep South . With

1215-635: A protest of the Vietnam War included students' overturning and burning some cars. These killings occurred eleven days after the National Guard killed four students in an anti-war protest at Kent State University in Ohio , and were part of national social unrest. Newsweek cited the Jackson State killings in its issue of May 18 when it suggested that U.S. President Richard Nixon faced

1296-535: A road near downtown Jackson, now known as Fortification Street. Because of the siege and following destruction, few antebellum structures have survived in Jackson. The Governor's Mansion , built in 1842, served as Sherman's headquarters and has been preserved. Another is the Old Capitol building, which served as the home of the Mississippi state legislature from 1839 to 1903. The Mississippi legislature passed

1377-592: A secondary school socials studies teacher in Mississippi), "Outstanding Local Historical Society Award," and Merit Awards for the presentation and promotion of history are all allotted by the Mississippi Historical Society. Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi . Along with Raymond , Jackson is one of two county seats for Hinds County . The city had

1458-513: A site on the "Civil Rights Trail" by the National Park Service . The mass demonstrations of the 1960s were initiated with the arrival of more than 300 Freedom Riders on May 24, 1961. They were arrested in Jackson for disturbing the peace after they disembarked from their interstate buses. The interracial teams rode the buses from Washington, D.C. , and sat together to demonstrate against segregation on public transportation, as

1539-586: A straightening and dredging of the Pearl River below Jackson. During Mississippi's extended Prohibition period, from the 1920s until the 1960s, illegal drinking and gambling casinos flourished on the east side of the Pearl River, in Flowood along with the original U.S. Route 80 just across from the city of Jackson. Those illegal casinos, bootleg liquor stores, and nightclubs made up the Gold Coast,

1620-653: A strategic manufacturing and railroad center for the Confederacy. After driving the Confederate forces out of Jackson, Union forces turned west and engaged the Vicksburg defenders at the Battle of Champion Hill in nearby Edwards . The Union forces began their siege of Vicksburg soon after their victory at Champion Hill. Confederate forces began to reassemble in Jackson in preparation for an attempt to break through

1701-531: A strip of mostly black-market businesses that operated for decades along Flowood Road. Although outside the law, the Gold Coast was a thriving center of nightlife and music, with many local blues musicians appearing regularly in the clubs. The Gold Coast declined and businesses disappeared after Mississippi's prohibition laws were repealed in 1966, allowing Hinds County, including Jackson, to go "wet". In addition, integration drew off business from establishments that earlier had catered to African Americans, such as

SECTION 20

#1732793655935

1782-450: A war hero in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 and subsequently the seventh U.S. president . Following the Battle of Vicksburg , which was fought near Jackson during the American Civil War in 1863, Union forces commanded by General William Tecumseh Sherman launched the siege of Jackson and set the city on fire. During the 1920s, Jackson surpassed Meridian to become

1863-488: Is best known for her novels and short stories. The main library of the Jackson/Hinds Library System was named in her honor, and her home has been designated as a National Historic Landmark . Richard Wright , a highly acclaimed African-American author, lived in Jackson as an adolescent and young man in the 1910s and 1920s. He related his experience in his memoir Black Boy (1945). He described

1944-584: Is not located on the Mississippi River , and it did not develop during the antebellum era as those cities did from major river commerce. The construction of railroad lines to the city sparked its growth in the decades following the American Civil War . Despite its small population, during the Civil War, Jackson became a strategic center of manufacturing for the Confederacy . In 1863, during

2025-621: The Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 . He was later elected as the seventh president of the United States . The city of Jackson was originally planned, in April 1822, by Peter Aaron Van Dorn in a " checkerboard " pattern advocated by Thomas Jefferson . City blocks alternated with parks and other open spaces. Over time, many of the park squares have been developed rather than maintained as green space . The state legislature first met in Jackson on December 23, 1822. In 1839,

2106-701: The Gulf Coast . Before the damage and losses due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the state ranked second nationally in gambling revenues . During World War II , Hawkins Field (at that time, also known as the Jackson Army Airbase) the American 21st, 309th, and 310th Bomber Groups that were stationed at the base were re-deployed for combat. Following the German invasion of the Netherlands and

2187-712: The Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies , between 688 and 800 members of the Dutch Airforce escaped to the UK or Australia for training and, out of necessity, were eventually given permission by the United States to make use of Hawkins Field. From May 1942 until the end of the war, all Dutch military aircrews trained at the base and went on to serve in either the British or Australian Air Forces. In 1949,

2268-756: The Mississippi Children's Museum , Mississippi Museum of Natural Science , Mississippi Civil Rights Museum , Mississippi Museum of Art , Old Capital Museum , Museum of Mississippi History . Other notable locations are the Mississippi Coliseum and the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium , home of the Jackson State Tigers football team. In 2020, the Jackson metropolitan area held a GDP of 30 billion dollars, accounting for 29% of

2349-590: The Mississippi Delta , which are included in the 2nd congressional district . The other three congressional districts are majority white. The first successful cadaveric lung transplant was performed at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson in June 1963 by Dr. James Hardy . Hardy transplanted the cadaveric lung into a patient suffering from lung cancer. The patient survived for eighteen days before dying of kidney failure . In 1966 it

2430-540: The Pearl River until they reached LeFleur's Bluff in today's Hinds County. Their report to the General Assembly stated that this location had beautiful and healthful surroundings, good water, abundant timber, navigable waters, and proximity to the Natchez Trace . The Assembly passed an act on November 28, 1821, authorizing the site as the permanent seat of the government of the state of Mississippi. On

2511-532: The Summers Hotel . When it opened in 1943 on Pearl Street, it was one of two hotels in the city that served black clients. For years its Subway Lounge was a prime performance spot for black musicians playing jazz and blues. In another major change, in 1990 the state-approved gaming on riverboats. Numerous casinos have been developed on riverboats, mostly in Mississippi Delta towns such as Tunica Resorts , Greenville , and Vicksburg , as well as Biloxi on

Mississippi Historical Society - Misplaced Pages Continue

2592-452: The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and author of the highly critical 2005 book The Hardest Deal of All: The Battle Over School Integration in Mississippi, 1870-1980 . In addition, in 2007 the MHS invited Bolton and James W. Loewen , author of The Mississippi Chinese: Between Black and White , to speak at the annual meeting. Loewen is notable for filing a federal lawsuit against

2673-410: The "white only" public library and were arrested. Founded as a historically black college (HBCU) by the American Missionary Association after the Civil War, Tougaloo College helped organize both black and white students of the region to work together for civil rights. It created partnerships with the neighboring mostly white Millsaps College to work with student activists. It has been recognized as

2754-627: The Confederate forces heading west from Jackson. Upon learning that Vicksburg had already surrendered, the Confederates retreated into Jackson. Union forces began the siege of Jackson , which lasted for approximately one week. Union forces encircled the city and began an artillery bombardment. One of the Union artillery emplacements has been preserved on the grounds of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. John C. Breckinridge , former United States vice president , served as one of

2835-416: The Confederate generals defending Jackson. On July 16, 1863, Confederate forces slipped out of Jackson during the night and retreated across the Pearl River. Union forces completely burned the city after its capture this second time. The city was called "Chimneyville" because only the chimneys of houses were left standing. The northern line of Confederate defenses in Jackson during the siege was located along

2916-586: The Constitution provides for unrestricted public transportation. Although the Freedom Riders had intended New Orleans as their final destination, Jackson was the farthest that any managed to travel. New participants kept joining the movement, as they intended to fill the jails in Jackson with their protest. The riders had encountered extreme violence along the way, including a bus burning and physical assaults. They attracted national media attention to

2997-777: The Democratic Party" to take back political power from the Republicans and to drive black people from the polls ( Mississippi Plan ). Democrats regained control of the state legislature in 1876. The constitutional convention of 1890, which produced Mississippi's Constitution of 1890, was held at the capitol. This was the first of new constitutions or amendments ratified in each Southern state through 1908 that effectively disenfranchised most African Americans and many poor whites, through provisions making voter registration more difficult: such as poll taxes , residency requirements, and literacy tests . These provisions survived

3078-430: The Mississippi Historical Society. He is renowned for his original and creative work on the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction. His ascendancy to the presidency of the society is notable considering that he is one of the few northern-born members to serve in that position. During the early 2000s, the MHS repeatedly honored historians for their work on Mississippi history, notably Charles C. Bolton—Department Chair at

3159-590: The Mississippi Historical Society. Riley's attempt to restore MHS began in 1897 as a response to the failing attempt being made at the time where MHS only had nine members. The creation of the Proceedings of the Mississippi Historical Society was a result of Riley's campaign to up membership and incentivize due-paying members to stay. Riley published historical research books through MHS and some of those works contained contributions from Civil War veterans like Confederate general Stephen D. Lee . Beginning in 1898,

3240-519: The Mississippi Legislature passed the first state law in the U.S. to permit married women to own and administer their own property. Jackson was connected by public road to Vicksburg and Clinton in 1826. Jackson was first connected by railroad to other cities in 1840. An 1844 map shows Jackson linked by an east–west rail line running between Vicksburg, Raymond , and Brandon . Unlike Vicksburg, Greenville , and Natchez , Jackson

3321-565: The Phil Hardin Foundation, The Heritage of Mississippi Series to celebrate Mississippi’s bicentennial. The goal of this series is to publish fifteen books covering the heritage of Mississippi in sections and eras relevant to the history of the state for the purpose of educating readers on the history and culture of Mississippi. So far eight of the fifteen have been produced. In 2007, Mississippi State University history professor emeritus John F. Marszalek served as president of

Mississippi Historical Society - Misplaced Pages Continue

3402-579: The USA. A review in The Washington Post argued that even though Loewen dedicated an entire chapter to research methodology, his statements regarding the number of communities that supported racial exclusion policies were widely variable and vague. "This vagueness, along with Loewen's almost evangelical passion for his material, raises questions of credibility – or at least of potential overstatement." In 2010, Loewen and Edward H. Sebesta co-wrote

3483-418: The Union lines surrounding Vicksburg and end the siege. The Confederate forces in Jackson built defensive fortifications encircling the city while preparing to march west to Vicksburg. Confederate forces marched out of Jackson in early July 1863 to break the siege of Vicksburg. But, unknown to them, Vicksburg had already surrendered on July 4, 1863. General Ulysses S. Grant dispatched General Sherman to meet

3564-692: The United States for young readers, makes Lies My Teacher Told Me accessible for younger readers in Lies My Teacher Told Me: Young Readers Edition (2019). Loewen built on Lies My Teacher Told Me in Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks & Get Students Excited About Doing History (Teachers College Press, 2009). The first four chapters lay out an argument for how history should be taught at

3645-1002: The United States. In January 1973, Paul Simon recorded the songs "Learn How to Fall" and "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", found on the album There Goes Rhymin' Simon , in Jackson at the Malaco Recording Studios. Many well-known Southern artists recorded on the album, including the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, Roger Hawkins, Barry Beckett), Carson Whitsett , the Onward Brass Band from New Orleans, and others. The label has recorded many leading soul and blues artists, including Bobby Bland , ZZ Hill , Latimore , Shirley Brown , Denise LaSalle , and Tyrone Davis . On May 15, 1970, Jackson police killed two students and wounded twelve at Jackson State College after

3726-496: The board decision in a lawsuit , Loewen v. Turnipseed (1980). Judge Orma R. Smith of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi ruled that the rejection of the textbook was not based on "justifiable grounds", and that the authors were denied their right to free speech and press. The American Library Association considers Loewen v. Turnipseed , 488 F. Supp. 1138 ( N.D. Miss. 1980),

3807-487: The book The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The Great Truth about the Lost Cause , an anthology containing a wide array of primary source documents pertaining to the Confederacy from the time of the American Civil War . Loewen's last published book, Up a Creek, With a Paddle: Tales of Canoeing and Life , is a memoir in which he returned to his life’s work and addressed the origins of racism and inequality,

3888-534: The book that many of the distortions found in American history texts are "not even by the authors whose names grace the cover." In March 2012, the book's publisher, The New Press , listed Lies My Teacher Told Me as their top all-time bestseller. The book reflects Loewen's belief that history should not be taught as straightforward facts and dates to memorize, but rather as analysis of the context and root causes of events. Rebecca Stefoff , known for her adaptation of Howard Zinn's bestseller A People's History of

3969-672: The disfranchisement of African Americans gradually ended after the Civil Rights Movement gained Congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. In June 1966, Jackson was the terminus of the James Meredith March, organized by James Meredith , the first African American to enroll at the University of Mississippi . The march, which began in Memphis , Tennessee,

4050-479: The elementary and secondary levels, while chapters 5–10 address teaching specific issues in history. Continuing his interest in racism in the United States, Loewen wrote Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism , which was released in 2005. The book documents the histories of sundown towns , which are towns where African Americans , Jews , and other minority groups were forced (or strongly encouraged) to leave before sundown to avoid racist violence by

4131-542: The harsh and largely terror-filled life most African Americans experienced in the South and Northern ghettos such as Chicago under segregation in the early 20th century. Jackson had significant growth in the early 20th century, which produced dramatic changes in the city's skyline. Jackson's new Union Station downtown reflected the city's service by multiple rail lines, including the Illinois Central . Across

SECTION 50

#1732793655935

4212-446: The legislators who represented Hinds County in the legislature. African Americans also served in local offices, as judges, and as marshalls. Mississippi had considerable insurgent action, as whites struggled to maintain white supremacy. Jackson's appointed mayor Joseph G. Crane was stabbed to death in 1869. The assailant, Edward M. Yerger , was arrested by military authorities but, after a U.S. Supreme Court case ( Ex parte Yerger ), he

4293-549: The march, addressed a large rally of some 15,000 people in Jackson. In September 1967 a Ku Klux Klan chapter bombed the synagogue of the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, and in November bombed the house of its rabbi, Dr. Perry Nussbaum . He and his congregation had supported civil rights. Gradually the old barriers came down. Since that period, both whites and Black Americans in the state have had

4374-436: The military campaign which ended in the capture of Vicksburg , Union forces captured Jackson during two battles—once before the fall of Vicksburg and once after the fall of Vicksburg. On May 13, 1863, Union forces won the first Battle of Jackson , forcing Confederate forces to flee northward towards Canton . On May 14, Union troops under the command of William Tecumseh Sherman burned and looted key facilities in Jackson,

4455-455: The most populous city in the state following a speculative natural gas boom in the region. The current slogan for the city is "The City with Soul". It has had numerous musicians prominent in blues , gospel , folk , and jazz . The city is located in the deep south halfway between Memphis and New Orleans on Interstate 55 and Dallas and Atlanta on Interstate 20 . The city has a number of museums and cultural institutions, including

4536-434: The oil and natural gas profits] properly safe-guarded would soon pay the state's entire bonded indebtedness and even be great enough to defray all the state's expenses and make our state tax free so long as obligations are concerned. This enthusiasm was subdued when the first wells failed to produce oil of a sufficiently high gravity for commercial success. The barrels of oil had considerable amounts of saltwater, which lessened

4617-644: The older structure upon its completion in 1903. Today the Old Capitol is operated as a historical museum. Author Eudora Welty was born in Jackson in 1909, lived most of her life in the Belhaven section of the city, and died there in 2001. Her memoir of development as a writer, One Writer's Beginnings (1984), presented a picture of the city in the early 20th century. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for her novel, The Optimist's Daughter , and

4698-591: The ordinance of secession from the Union there on January 9, 1861, becoming the second state to secede from the United States. The Jackson City Hall , built in 1846 for less than $ 8,000, also survived. It is said that Sherman, a Mason , spared it because it housed a Masonic Lodge , though a more likely reason is that it housed an army hospital. During Reconstruction , African Americans were granted civil rights. Schools were established and African Americans held political offices. Eugene Welborne , Charles Reese , Weldon Hicks , and George Caldwell Granberry were among

4779-592: The poet Margaret Walker began teaching at Jackson State University , a historically black college . She taught there until 1979 and founded the university's Center for African-American Studies. Her poetry collection won a Yale Younger Poets Prize . Her second novel, Jubilee (1966), is considered a major work of African-American literature. She has influenced many younger writers. The civil rights movement had been active for decades, particularly mounting legal challenges to Mississippi's constitution and laws that disfranchised black people. Beginning in 1960, Jackson as

4860-402: The public to comment on what towns and historical sites should be included in terms of presenting history right. Loewen married his first wife, Patricia Hanrahan, in 1968. Together, they had two children. They divorced in 1975. In 2006, he married Susan Robertson, and they remained married until his death. Loewen died on August 19, 2021, at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland . He

4941-567: The quality. The governor's prediction was wrong in hindsight, but the oil and natural gas industry did provide an economic boost for the city and state. The effects of the Great Depression were mitigated by the industry's success. At its height in 1934, there were 113 producing wells in the state. The overwhelming majority were closed by 1955. Due to provisions in the federal Rivers and Harbors Act , on October 25, 1930, city leaders met with U.S. Army engineers to ask for federal help to alleviate Jackson flooding. J.J. Halbert, city engineer, proposed

SECTION 60

#1732793655935

5022-583: The rejuvenated MHS began a series of 14 annual volumes entitled Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, containing significant scholarship on the history of the state. This was continued in 1916 with the publication of a new series of five additional volumes under the editorship of historian Dunbar Rowland . The society contributed to the creation of The Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 1902. The two organizations worked in close cooperation until MHS fell dormant once again in 1925. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History produced

5103-413: The rights when courts determined that the asylum did not have the right to lease the state's property.) Businessmen jumped on the opportunity and dug wells in the Jackson area. The continued success of these ventures attracted further investment. By 1930, there were 14 derricks in the Jackson skyline. Mississippi Governor Theodore Bilbo stated: It is no idle dream to prophesy that the state's share [of

5184-423: The same day, it passed a resolution to instruct the Washington delegation to press Congress for a donation of public lands on the river for improved navigation to the Gulf of Mexico . One Whig politician lamented the new capital as a "serious violation of principle" because it was not at the absolute center of the state. The capital was named for General Andrew Jackson , to honor his January 1815 victory at

5265-434: The scholarly publication The Journal of Mississippi History , in 1939 with the cooperation of MHS. The Mississippi Historical Society was relaunched for a third time in 1952 and has maintained itself in continuous operation ever since. For a brief year between 1952 and 1953 MHS was active, falling once more into dormancy until its most successful upstart in 1964 with the production of J. F. H. Claiborne’s book "Mississippi as

5346-484: The society was short-lived, expiring after only two years owing to the outbreak of the American Civil War . After a thirty-year hiatus, MHS was restarted in 1890 on the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford . On the campus, the society had closed meetings and it suffered from lack of resources for years until history professor Franklin Lafayette Riley Jr. , with counsel from his academic mentor, Herbert Baxter Adams and other state educators, made efforts to revive

5427-469: The state capital became the site for dramatic non-violent protests in a new phase of activism that brought in a wide variety of participants in the performance of mass demonstrations. In 1960, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Jackson's population as 64.3% white and 35.7% black. At the time, public facilities were segregated and Jim Crow was in effect. Efforts to desegregate Jackson facilities began when nine Tougaloo College students tried to read books in

5508-413: The state of Mississippi in 1975 over the state's rejection of his textbook, Mississippi: Conflict & Change, co-authored by historian Charles Sallis, from use in the state's public schools. MHS presents writing awards to those with especially notable master's thesis and dissertations biennially. Each year awards for the "Lifetime Achievement for Contributions to Mississippi," "Teacher of the Year" (for

5589-399: The state's total GDP of 104.1 billion dollars. Located on the historic Natchez Trace trade route, created by Native Americans and used by European American settlers, and on the Pearl River, the city's first European American settler was Louis LeFleur, a French-Canadian trader. The village became known as LeFleur's Bluff . During the late 18th century and early 19th century, this site had

5670-402: The store, but they wanted them to shop in their stores. In Jackson, shortly after midnight on June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers , civil rights activist and leader of the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP , was assassinated by Byron De La Beckwith , a white supremacist associated with the White Citizens' Council . Thousands marched in Evers' funeral procession to protest the killing. Two trials at

5751-448: The street, the new, luxurious King Edward Hotel opened its doors in 1923, having been built according to a design by New Orleans architect William T. Nolan . It became a center for prestigious events held by Jackson society and Mississippi politicians. Nearby, the 18-story Standard Life Building , designed in 1929 by Claude Lindsley, was the largest reinforced concrete structure in the world upon its completion. Jackson's economic growth

5832-569: The struggle for constitutional rights. After the Freedom Rides, students and activists of the Freedom Movement launched a series of merchant boycotts , sit-ins and protest marches, from 1961 to 1963. Businesses discriminated against black customers. For instance, at the time, department stores did not hire black salesclerks or allow black customers to use their fitting rooms to try on clothes, or lunch counters for meals while in

5913-627: The theory of history, and the ties between the two. Before his death, Loewen began researching for a new book, Surprises on the Landscape: Unexpected Places That Get History Right . The book was planned as a follow-up to Lies Across America , which noted historically inaccurate or misleading historical markers and sites across the United States . Surprises was planned to call attention to historical sites that are accurate and provide honest representations of events. His official website invited

5994-546: The time both resulted in hung juries . A portion of U.S. Highway 49 , all of Delta Drive, a library, the central post office for the city, and Jackson–Evers International Airport were named in honor of Medgar Evers. In 1994, prosecutors Ed Peters and Bobby DeLaughter finally obtained a murder conviction in a state trial of De La Beckwith based on new evidence. During 1963 and 1964, civil rights organizers gathered residents for voter education and voter registration . Black people had been essentially disfranchised since 1890. In

6075-686: The towns' white residents. Loewen wrote about sundown towns throughout his career, including in Lies Across America , in which he called the affluent suburb of Darien, Connecticut , a modern-day de facto sundown town. Sundown Towns won the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award. It also gained excellent reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist . The book inspired a nationwide online initiative to monitor and list sundown towns across

6156-465: The two-volume set "A History of Mississippi," edited by R. A. McLemore which was the most recent comprehensive history of Mississippi published since the 1920's. In 1987, MHS sponsored the creation of Mississippi: An Illustrated History by Edward Akin. In 1997, MHS announced the upcoming book series, published jointly with MDAH and the University Press of Mississippi and through funding by

6237-399: Was an attempt to garner support for full implementation of civil rights in practice, following the legislation. It was accompanied by a new drive to register African Americans to vote in Mississippi. In this latter goal, it succeeded in registering between 2,500 and 3,000 black Mississippians to vote. The march ended on June 26 after Meredith, who had been wounded by a sniper's bullet earlier on

6318-536: Was bonded out, moved to Baltimore and was never tried. The economic recovery from the Civil War was slow through the start of the 20th century, but there were some developments in transportation. In 1871, the city introduced mule-drawn streetcars which ran on State Street, which were replaced by electric ones in 1899. In 1875, the Red Shirts were formed, one of the second waves of insurgent paramilitary organizations that essentially operated as "the military arm of

6399-534: Was chosen as the site for the new state's capital city . The Mississippi General Assembly decided in 1821 that the state needed a centrally located capital (the legislature was then located in Natchez ). They commissioned Thomas Hinds , James Patton, and William Lattimore to look for a suitable site. The absolute center of the state was a swamp, so the group had to widen their search. After surveying areas north and east of Jackson, they proceeded southwest along with

6480-513: Was estimated that recurring flood damage at Jackson from the Pearl River averaged nearly a million dollars per year. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent $ 6.8 million on levees and a new channel in 1966 before the project completion to prevent a flood equal to the December 1961 event plus an additional foot. Since 1968, Jackson has been the home of Malaco Records , one of the leading record companies for gospel , blues , and soul music in

6561-399: Was further stimulated in the 1930s by the discovery of natural gas fields nearby. Speculators had begun searching for oil and natural gas in Jackson beginning in 1920. The initial drilling attempts came up empty. This failure did not stop Ella Render from obtaining a lease from the state's insane asylum to begin a well on its grounds in 1924, where he found natural gas. (Render eventually lost

#934065