John C. Stennis papers, Series 029: Civil Rights

This series contains information about the Civil Rights era. Specific subjects include the James Meredith case, the Freedom Riders, Hospital desegregation, the Voting Rights Act, busing, and education, ranging from the years 1947-1972. The material is arranged chronologically or by subject.

The Correspondence Sub-Series is composed of General Correspondence, Memos and Topical Correspondence. General Correspondence includes letters sent and received by Senator Stennis and his staff during the period 1947-1977. Significant correspondence are listed in the comprehensive index to the Civil Rights Series.

Memos consist of inter-office correspondence among Stennis and his staff. They include notations and summaries of telephone calls, requests for information, informational data and reports. Topical Correspondence is correspondence compiled on specific subjects and arranged alphabetically by subject title. Each subject folder contains memos, informational data, published items, and other material relevant to the subject in addition to correspondence. However, researchers should be aware that there may be additional items in General Correspondence relative to subjects in Topical Correspondence.

The James Meredith Cause Sub-Series contains material on the enrollment of James H. Meredith as the first black student at the University of Mississippi. The material covers the enrollment and subsequent riot and aftermath. Also included is a small number of items on the 1966 shooting incident during a Meredith march through Mississippi. The Meredith files consist of General Correspondence, Memos, and Topical Correspondence. The General Correspondence covers the period October 1962-1963, 1966. Part of the correspondence was sorted by Stennis’ staff into letters to received personal replies, and letters to receive form letter replies. This system has been retained and is filed separately from other general correspondence.

Memos comprise only one folder, mainly because those memos related to specific topics have been interfiled with Topical Correspondence. Topical Correspondence is composed of correspondence, memos, and informational data related to specific subjects.

The Organizations Sub-Series consists of correspondence, memos, informational data, publications, etc., of organizations that played major roles in the civil rights movement in Mississippi. The Sub-Series includes files on the following organizations: Child Development Group of Mississippi (CDGM), Christian Conservative Leadership Council, Citizen’s Council, Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) Ku Klux Klan, Leflore County Community Action Committee, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), National Conference for New Politics, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. There is also one miscellaneous folder containing a small number of items on other organizations.

The School Cases Sub-Series consists of material relating to the integration of public school systems in Mississippi. The files contain correspondence, memos, and court documents relative to legal proceedings against the districts. The files are arranged alphabetically by district name. See also topical correspondence in Correspondence Sub-Series.

The Information Files Sub-Series contains background, research, and reference material on civil rights legislation, school desegregation, and public political statements. The material was compiled for use by Senator Stennis and his staff.

The remaining foldders consist of a variety of published material, documents, and notes related to the civil rights movement. Included are transcripts of testimony by Ross Barnett and Joe Patterson in opposition to civil rights legislation before the Senate Commerce Committee, a large collection of pamphlets and other propaganda materials distributed by opponents and proponents of integration, interposition clippings, miscellaneous handwritten notes by Senator Stennis, and several bound volumes of material related to education and civil rights. See folder list for titles.