96-564: The Clarion Ledger is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi . It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi , and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating division of Gannett River States Publishing Corporation, owned by Gannett . The paper traces its roots to The Eastern Clarion, founded in Jasper County, Mississippi , in 1837. Later that year, it
192-769: A Confederate veteran, and the former Virginia Ann Chadwick. He served in the United States Army during World War I , then worked in jobs while earning an undergraduate degree from Mississippi College in Clinton in 1922. Four years later, he followed that with an LL.B. from the University of Mississippi (commonly known as "Ole Miss") at Oxford , where he gave courses to freshmen. In order to save money, he worked as schoolhouse janitor, barber, brass band organizer, and door-to-door salesman for WearEver aluminum products . His first legal case was, while he
288-613: A favorite son candidate. He ran to protest leading candidate John Kennedy's support of the civil rights movement, but lost. Following this, Barnett attempted to establish a third-party movement akin to the Dixiecrat movement of 1948. He aimed to counter the civil rights plank adopted by the Democratic National Convention in 1960, which he found repulsive. However, his efforts to garner support from fellow southern governors failed. Consequently, Barnett proposed
384-525: A "counterfeit confederate...who [might] someday resign from the white race" during a "Patriot's Rally Against Tyranny" on 4 July 1964, and supported Barry Goldwater due to his vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . Shortly after he left office, Barnett's looming presence was evident at the first jury trial of white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith in February 1964. De La Beckwith
480-404: 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
576-563: A case chronicled in the movie Ghosts of Mississippi . On March 18, 1966, former United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy , who frequently conversed by telephone with Barnett during the Meredith crisis in attempts to peacefully secure Meredith's enrollment at Ole Miss , visited the campus. In a speech before more than 6,000 students and faculty, Kennedy discussed racial reconciliation and answered questions, including those about his role in Meredith's enrollment. To much laughter from
672-483: 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
768-612: A distant fourth in the state primary. He then returned to the practice of law, but remained unrepentant about his past, saying, "Generally speaking, I'd do the same things again." He also farmed and spoke before various groups, such as the American Legion . Barnett expressed no remorse for his role in segregation. When he was asked in 1982 about the Ole Miss riot , Barnett said, "'I have no regrets, no apologies to make." Ross Barnett Reservoir , located northeast of Jackson ,
864-584: A group of uncommitted Democratic electors, who triumphed over the Mississippi slate committed to endorsing Kennedy in the November elections. Ultimately, these electors allocated the state's eight electoral votes to Senator Harry F. Byrd . During his first months as governor, the state legislature saw the introduction of 24 new bills advocating segregation, and directives were issued to circuit clerks, instructing them to withhold voter registration data from
960-518: A majority of Jackson's population, the paper increased coverage of blacks and increased the number of its black staff. When Gannett bought the newspaper, the new leadership ramped up efforts to purge the paper's segregationist legacy. Gannett has long been well known for promoting diversity in the newsroom and covering events in communities of racial and ethnic minorities. By 1991, the Clarion-Ledger ' s number of newsroom black professionals
1056-543: A new home front . Ross Barnett Ross Robert Barnett (January 22, 1898 – November 6, 1987) was an American politician and segregationist who served as the 53rd governor of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. He was a Southern Democrat who supported racial segregation . Born in Standing Pine in Leake County, Mississippi , Barnett was the youngest of ten children of John William Barnett,
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#17327874635011152-725: A number of museums and cultural institutions, including 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,
1248-564: 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
1344-605: A population exceeding 100,000 people. Founded in 1821 as new state capital for Mississippi, Jackson is named after General Andrew Jackson , 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
1440-635: 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
1536-535: 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
1632-513: 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
1728-645: 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,
1824-601: 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
1920-531: 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
2016-488: 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
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#17327874635012112-417: Is different because God made him different to punish him. His forehead slants back. His nose is different. His lips are different, and his color is sure different." His song "Roll with Ross", whose tune was later used for the state anthem " Go, Mississippi ", contained the following: Roll with Ross, roll with Ross, he's his own boss For segregation, one hundred percent He's not a moderate like some of
2208-584: 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
2304-413: 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 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
2400-621: 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,
2496-701: 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
2592-504: The Jackson Daily News , were openly and unashamedly racist, supporting white supremacy . In 1890, after Mississippi Democrats adopted a new state constitution designed to disenfranchise black voters by making voter registration and voting more difficult, The Clarion-Ledger applauded the move, stating: "Do not object to negroes voting on account of ignorance, but on account of color. ... If every negro in Mississippi
2688-488: 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 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
2784-712: 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,
2880-509: The Kentucky Wildcats . 41,000 fans cheered at the stadium waving thousands of Confederate flags . At halftime, a gigantic Confederate flag was unveiled on the field. The crowd shouted "We want Ross!". Barnett went to the field, grabbed the microphone at the 50-yard line and said to an enthusiastic crowd: I love Mississippi! I love her people! Our customs. I love and I respect our heritage. Many Mississippians linked segregation to
2976-590: 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
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3072-540: 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
3168-532: 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
3264-507: The siege of Jackson and set the city on fire. During the 1920s, Jackson surpassed Meridian to become 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
3360-496: 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
3456-529: The Bible. Barnett, a Baptist Sunday school teacher, declared " The Good Lord was the original segregationist . He put the black man in Africa. ... He made us white because he wanted us white, and he intended that we should stay that way." Barnett said that Mississippi had the largest percent of black Americans because "they love our way of life here, and that way is segregation." In 1963, Barnett tried to prevent
3552-627: 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
3648-416: 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
3744-586: 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
3840-777: 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
3936-565: The Democratic primary for Governor of Mississippi , in 1951 and 1955. At the time, Mississippi was a one-party state dominated by the Democrats, and the Democratic primary was the only meaningful contest. On his third try in 1959, he won the nomination, in a campaign which mostly ran on segregation, publishing the brochure "Dynamic Leadership – To Keep Segregation and Improve Our Standard of Living" and making statements such as "The Negro
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4032-492: The Freedom Riders were strip-searched, had beds taken away, and were humiliated and brutalized in the prison. Barnett reportedly told the guards to "break their spirits, not their bones". While this approach gained approval in the state, it was done in part to blunt the criticism that he was receiving for multiple reasons: failing to follow through with promises of jobs for office-seekers; filling those jobs with acquaintances, and attempting to wrest control of state agencies from
4128-427: The Jackson metropolitan area held a GDP of 30 billion dollars, accounting for 29% of 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
4224-733: The Justice Department. In his capacity as the chairman of the State Sovereignty Commission, Barnett financially supported the Mississippi Association of Citizens Councils, granting them more than $ 100,000 in state grants 1962. Barnett, a staunch segregationist , became known for his tumultuous clashes with the civil rights movement which dominated his term. Barnett arranged for the arrest of Freedom Riders in 1961 and then imprisoned them at Parchman Farm . While their offenses were minor,
4320-519: 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
4416-418: 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
4512-1002: 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
4608-508: The audience members, he told of a plan in which Barnett had asked that US marshals point their guns at him while Meredith attempted to enroll so that "a picture could be taken of the event." He also drew laughter by recounting another plan where Meredith would go to Jackson to enroll while Barnett remained in Oxford "and when Meredith was registered, he (Barnett) would feign surprise." Both plans were approved by Kennedy and failed only because of
4704-684: The best features of the Daily News . The purchase of both papers by Gannett essentially created a daily newspaper monopoly in Central Mississippi (Gannett also owns the Hattiesburg American in Hattiesburg, Mississippi ), which still operates. Starting Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, the newspaper switched from carrier to mail delivery through the U.S. Postal Service. Historically, both newspapers, The Clarion-Ledger and
4800-508: The challenge of the Republicans Rubel Phillips and Stanford Morse , the first Republican ticket for governor and lieutenant governor to run in Mississippi in decades. Barnett urged his state's Democratic voters to "push out this Republican threat" and added that he was "fed up with these fence-riding, pussy-footing, snow-digging Yankee Republicans", a reference to northern transplants coming into Mississippi. Barnett
4896-537: The development of events. When Kennedy finished his speech and question-and-answer session, he was greeted by a standing ovation. The next day Barnett bitterly attacked Kennedy's version of events: It ill becomes a man who never tried a lawsuit in his life, but who occupied the high position of United States attorney general and who was responsible for using 30,000 troops and spent approximately six million dollars to put one unqualified student in Ole Miss to return to
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#17327874635014992-606: 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,
5088-431: The fact that Beckwith had lived in Mississippi almost his entire life. In the mid-1970s, Rea S. Hederman, the third generation of his family to run the paper, made a concerted effort to atone for its terrible civil rights record. Hederman expanded the staff and new budget. Editors began to pursue promising young reporters, including from other states. To help rehabilitate the paper's image among blacks, who gradually became
5184-590: The federal authorities, Joe Wroten and Karl Wiesenburg . On September 13, he said that "There is no case in history where the Caucasian race has survived social integration. We will not drink from the cup of genocide." On the night before the Ole Miss riot of 1962 protesting Meredith's entry to the university, Barnett gave his sixteen-word "I Love Mississippi" speech at the University of Mississippi football game in Jackson . The Ole Miss Rebels were playing
5280-706: The four black players in an effort to scare the Bulldogs from playing the Ramblers. At the time, longstanding state policy forbade state collegiate athletic teams from playing in integrated events. The ploy backfired, as the Bulldogs ignored the threat and defied an order from Governor Ross Barnett to withdraw. Their competing with the Ramblers, the eventual national champion that year, is a significant, but often overlooked, milestone of progress in race relations in sports. The paper often referred to civil rights activists as "communists" and "chimpanzees." The paper's racism
5376-495: The gents He'll fight integration with forceful intent. No Republican even filed, and Barnett was unopposed in the November general election. His inauguration was on January 19, 1960. During his term in office, he celebrated the centennial of the American Civil War . Barnett traveled to Civil War sites to pay homage to fallen "sons of Mississippi". In 1960, Barnett ran in the Democratic Party presidential primaries as
5472-542: 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
5568-452: The late 18th century and early 19th century, this site had 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
5664-446: 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
5760-445: The legislature. Barnett was a member of the white supremacist Citizens' Councils movement. In 1962, the state agency in charge of universities and colleges, the Institutions of Higher Learning, appointed Barnett the registrar in order to oppose James Meredith 's efforts to desegregate Barnett's alma mater , the University of Mississippi . With the accreditation of the state's medical school and other universities in jeopardy due to
5856-416: The litter-clearance effort the next day under the headline, "Washington is Clean Again with Negro Trash Removed". Earlier that year, when the Mississippi State University basketball team was scheduled to play the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers in the NCAA tournament, they learned that its starting lineup featured four African-American players. The Jackson Daily News prominently featured pictures of
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#17327874635015952-417: 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
6048-459: The men's basketball team of Mississippi State University from playing an NCAA Tournament game against the racially integrated team from Loyola of Chicago . The team defied Barnett by sneaking out of the state and playing the game, which they lost to the eventual national champions. Barnett's term as governor officially expired on January 21, 1964, with the swearing-in of his successor, the outgoing lieutenant governor , Paul B. Johnson . Barnett
6144-436: 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,
6240-483: The name to the Jackson Daily News , keeping it as an evening newspaper. Thomas and Robert Hederman bought the Daily Clarion-Ledger in 1920 and dropped "Daily" from its masthead. On August 24, 1937, The Clarion-Ledger and Jackson Daily News incorporated under a charter issued to Mississippi Publishers Corporation for the purpose of selling joint advertising. On August 7, 1954, the Jackson Daily News sold out to its rival, The Clarion-Ledger , for $ 2,250,000. This
6336-449: The next quarter century, Barnett became one of the state's most successful trial lawyers, earning more than $ 100,000 a year with specialty in damage suits against corporations. Most of his clients were poor whites and blacks, and tales were told about an elderly black man being injured in a traffic accident and asking for "Doctor Ross Barnett" when asked which doctor to call. Ole Miss Law School Dean Robert Farley described him as such: "He
6432-434: 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
6528-465: 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
6624-591: 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
6720-592: 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
6816-507: The political interventions, the IHL board reversed their action after the riots on the campus. Barnett was fined $ 10,000 and sentenced to jail for contempt but never paid the fine or served a day in jail. This was because the charges were terminated (civil) and dismissed (criminal) by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals because of "substantial compliance with orders of the court," and "in view of changed circumstances and conditions." Only two Mississippi legislators opposed Barnett's efforts to defy
6912-633: 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
7008-413: 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
7104-531: 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
7200-448: The scene of this crime and discuss any phase of this infamous affair. ... I say to you that Bobby Kennedy is a very sick and dangerous American. We have lots of sick Americans in this country but most of them have a long beard. Bobby Kennedy is a hypocritical, left-wing beatnik without a beard who carelessly and recklessly distorts the facts. Barnett attempted a political comeback by running for governor again in 1967 but lost, finishing
7296-469: 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
7392-568: 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
7488-448: 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
7584-569: 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
7680-546: 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
7776-470: Was Walter Giles Johnson, Sr. He survived the other three to grow the paper later known as the "Jackson Daily News" . Johnson served as General Manager and Publisher alongside Editor Frederick Sullens until his death in October 1947. His son Walter Giles Johnson, Jr. assumed the duties of General Manager. In 1907, Fred Sullens purchased an interest in the competing The Jackson Evening Post. He soon changed
7872-576: Was a class graduate of Harvard, and had been elected class orator ... he would not be as well fitted to exercise the rights of suffrage as the Anglo-Saxon farm laborer." In August 1963, when 200,000 people joined the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , and Martin Luther King Jr. gave his now-famous " I Have A Dream " speech, The Clarion-Ledger made short note of the rally. It reported
7968-399: 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
8064-536: 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
8160-472: Was despite a recent court ruling that blocked The Clarion-Ledger owners from controlling both papers. The Hederman family consolidated the two newspaper plants. In 1982, the Hedermans sold the Clarion-Ledger and Daily News to Gannett, ending 60 years of family ownership. Gannett merged the two papers into a single morning paper under the Clarion-Ledger masthead, with the Clarion-Ledger incorporating
8256-556: Was developed when it 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
8352-513: 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
8448-470: Was expected by some to run in the 1964 Democratic presidential primaries as a segregationist candidate against incumbent U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson , but he did not. Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama subsequently assumed this role in part, not running openly against Johnson but rather testing his popularity in Wisconsin , Indiana , and Maryland . Barnett opposed Johnson, whom he called
8544-399: 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
8640-439: Was known for his strong opposition to the development of the two-party system in the former Democratic stronghold of Mississippi. Along with state Democratic chairman Bidwell Adam , Barnett campaigned strongly for his state Democratic ticket , including Paul Johnson for governor to succeed Barnett and Carroll Gartin for lieutenant governor, the man that Barnett had defeated for governor four years earlier. Johnson and Gartin faced
8736-560: Was not a brilliant lawyer, he was a brilliant jury manipulator, but I don't think anybody ever accused Ross of knowing much law". He often donated his skills to causes and served as president of the Mississippi Bar Association for two years beginning in 1943. In 1929, he married Mary Pearl Crawford, a school teacher; the couple had two daughters and a son. Using the income derived from his legal fees, Barnett sought to enter politics, unsuccessfully running twice in
8832-427: Was on trial for the murder of African American civil rights activist Medgar Evers , but an all-white jury was unable to agree on a verdict in both this and a subsequent re-trial. In the second subsequent re-trial, former Governor Ross Barnett interrupted the proceedings, while Myrlie Evers was testifying, to shake hands with Beckwith. De La Beckwith was eventually convicted at a subsequent trial three decades later,
8928-527: Was so virulent that some in the African-American community called it "The Klan-Ledger", after the Ku Klux Klan . When violence, aided by such rabble-rousing, took place in Mississippi, the paper sought to put the blame somewhere else. When Byron De La Beckwith was arrested for killing NAACP leader Medgar Evers , the headline read, "Californian Is Charged With Murder Of Evers", overlooking
9024-559: Was sold and moved to Meridian, Mississippi . After the American Civil War , it was moved to Jackson, the capital, and merged with The Standard . It soon became known as The Clarion . In 1888, The Clarion merged with the State Ledger and became known as the Daily Clarion-Ledger . Four employees who were displaced by the merger founded their own newspaper, The Jackson Evening Post , in 1892. One of those four
9120-480: Was still at Ole Miss, over a replevin case about a cow , which he won and for which he received a $ 2.50 fee; his first real case as a lawyer was about representing a black woman suing her ex-husband over the value of a sidesaddle , losing this case in the justice court but winning it in the county court, earning himself $ 7.50. After trying and failing to join an existing law firm, he rented space near Charles Crisler's office, and soon founded his own law firm; over
9216-492: Was three times the national average, and the paper had one of the few black managing editors in the U.S. Ronnie Agnew became the Managing Editor in February 2001. In October 2002, he became the paper's first black Executive Editor. In 1983, The Clarion-Ledger won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for a package of stories on Mississippi's education system. Jackson, Mississippi Jackson
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