Students at East Central Community College are getting an in depth look at the hardships and determination of local Civil Rights workers in the 1960s as two traveling exhibits are being featured this month at the Burton library.
“’Stand Up!’: Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964”, which is owned by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, features photographs, film and documents from “Educating for Democracy,” a collection of documents related to Freedom Summer, to showcase the violence and oppression felt by African Americans in Mississippi.
According to a press release MDAH provided East Central along with the exhibit, the summer of 1964 saw a surge of white students from northern states travel to Mississippi to help black Mississippians register to vote and promote civil rights. During the summer, students were subjected to threats, beatings, bombings, arrests and murder.
“’Stand Up!’: Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964” is accompanied by a second exhibit, “Murder in Neshoba,” which looks at the 1964 disappearance and murder of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County.
On June 21, 1964, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner disappeared shortly after helping black Mississippians register to vote. Their bodies were discovered 44 days later.
The disappearance made national headlines and launched a federal investigation known as “Mississippi Burning,” which in turn inspired the 1988 film with the same title. The deaths of the three civil rights workers, and subsequent outrage from the public, also helped legislators pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In 2005, 41 years after Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were murdered, the state of Mississippi convicted Edgar Ray Killen of three counts of manslaughter and sentenced him to 60-years in prison.
“Murder in Neshoba” highlights the work Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were doing in Neshoba County prior to their deaths, their disappearance, the outrage and the eventual prosecution of Killen at the hands of Attorney General Jim Hood.
The two exhibits will be on display at the Burton Library until Sept. 30. Admission is free, and the public is invited to come view them and learn about the summer of 1964.
The Burton Library is open 7:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Friday and 4-9 p.m. on Sunday.
