Ross Barnett

Mississippi Creates State Sovereignty Commission for Civil Rights Surveillance and Segregationist Funding

1956-03-29 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

In March 1956, the Mississippi Legislature creates the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (MSSC), a state agency tasked with fighting integration and controlling civil rights activism. Active from 1956 to 1973 and directed by the governor and other top elected officials, the Commission employs …

Mississippi Legislature Ross Barnett Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission White Citizens' Councils massive-resistance government-surveillance state-sovereignty-commission citizens-councils-funding civil-rights-suppression

White Citizens Councils Reach Peak Membership of 300,000 Through Business Elite Coordination

1956-01-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

The White Citizens’ Councils reach peak membership of between 250,000 and 300,000 individuals in 1956, establishing a national body known as the Citizens’ Councils of America. The movement, led by Mississippi Circuit Court Judge Tom P. Brady and first formed on July 11, 1954 in response …

White Citizens' Councils Tom P. Brady Ross Barnett Allen C. Thompson M. Ney Williams segregation white-supremacy business-elite corporate-resistance civil-rights-opposition +1 more