Mississippi History Timeline

Byron de la Beckwith arrested in Evers’ death.

Clyde Kennard, who had unsuccessfully attempted to enroll in USM, was sentenced to prison on a bogus charge.

James Meredith shot near Hernando during his Walk Against Fear from Memphis to Jackson.

John F. Kennedy elected President.

Freedom Summer volunteers James Chaney, a black Mississippian, and Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, both from New York, were reported missing in Philadelphia after having been arrested and released.

Ben Chester White killed reportedly by Klan trying to lure Dr. Martin Luther King to Natchez.

FBI foils plot to bomb Meridian Jewish businessman Meyer Davidson’s home; Klansman Thomas Albert Tarrants wounded and his accomplice Jackson schoolteacher Kathy Ainsworth killed by law enforcement officials.

Schools in Greenville integrated without court order.

Charles Evers at demonstration in Hattiesburg, 1966

Charles Evers, brother of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, elected mayor of Fayette, first black mayor of bi-racial town since Reconstruction.