University of Mississippi Special Collections-African American exhibit-history4

"We Cannot Walk Alone:" Images and History of the African-American Community.
Lafayette County, Mississippi. An "Open Doors Exhibition." April through August 2003.

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History, The Civil Rights Era
Written by Mrs. Susie Marshall

“From the 1950s through the 1970s, many things changed for African-Americans on both the national and local level. In Oxford, organizations such as the Oxford Improvement Association, the Oxford Development Association and the North Mississippi Rural Legal Services were founded. Schools were integrated resulting in the combined schools such as Bramlett Elementary, Oxford Junior High School, and Oxford High School.

With the entry of James Meredith into the University of Mississippi in 1962, many things changed. Local African-Americans had a mixed reaction to the changes in the traditional white-black relationships. Other African-Americans participated actively in the 1960s Civil Rights activities including housing northern Civil Rights workers in their homes, participating in Civil Rights marches, praising the work of Martin Luther King, Jr., and helping organize new improvement programs for their communities.”

History, page one