Any and all acts deemed necessary

December 5, 2006 9:50 PM

The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission was created in 1956 by the Mississippi Legislature in the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The Commission's express purpose was to "do and perform any and all acts and things deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi, and her sister states." In other words, it was an official tax-funded agency to combat the activities of the Civil Rights Movement. Their records are now online. [MI]
posted by marxchivist (11 comments total)

The search interface is somewhat clunky. The best way I found was to browse the folders by title. A few things I found: newspaper clippings on the Greensboro sit-ins, a list of homicides in Tallahatchie County with Emmett Till's cause of death listed as "other means,", a newsletter from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and a letter speaking of "the invaders coming into Mississippi this summer." There are also photos [page very slow to load].

Hours of browsing if you are into this sort of thing.

A short history of the Commission here.
posted by marxchivist at 9:51 PM on December 5, 2006

Majors represent, whoot whoot!

OK, now that I got that out of the way. The Mississippi State museum and archives has always done a really impressive job at making sure not to cover up the state's ugly past. Slavery, racism, police brutality, government corruption, they are willing to lay it out for anyone to see. It is rare to see a state historical society so willing to let the facts stand for themselves.

I remember one display they had back in my Millsaps days that showed local young whites verbally and physically abusing black soda fountain sit-in participants. The videos and pictures were undoctored and showed every disgusting and embarrassing detail. The captions were sure to include the names of the young white kids, most of whom were still local residents. I liked that.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:08 PM on December 5, 2006

Correction: I shouldn't say the "always" were willing to show everything. I meant to say, in recent years they have been willing.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:11 PM on December 5, 2006

This has been online for years. The "now" makes it sound like the files just went up.
posted by raysmj at 10:22 PM on December 5, 2006

It is rare to see a state historical society so willing to let the facts stand for themselves.

it's called "bragging"
posted by matteo at 1:16 AM on December 6, 2006

related: The Supreme Court just heard a case that's like the bastard child of Brown and Bakke
posted by amberglow at 6:28 AM on December 6, 2006

Is "Mr. Corporation Fellater" Haley Barbour the current head of this "I Hate Black People" commission?
posted by nofundy at 6:28 AM on December 6, 2006

these are the kinds of reasons people have a poor impression of the South.
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 9:38 AM on December 6, 2006

Is "Mr. Corporation Fellater" Haley Barbour the current head of this "I Hate Black People" commission?

What the hell kind of troll is that? The commission was abolished in 1973. Barbour was never a member.

Whatever you don't like about Haley Barbour does not include anything in this post.
posted by dhartung at 10:25 AM on December 6, 2006

and it's Trent Lott (and many many others--in the GOP and in punditry) who are the current heads of that commission now anyway.
posted by amberglow at 3:35 PM on December 6, 2006

StrasbourgSecaucus : "these are the kinds of reasons people have a poor impression of the South."

And there's not much the south can do about it. Hide the info, and you're accused of sweeping it under the rug. Don't hide it, and internet jackasses say:

matteo : "it's called 'bragging'"
posted by Bugbread at 7:24 PM on December 6, 2006