James Meredith T-Shirts

INTERTWINED

T-SHIRT COLLECTION

Collect all the t-shirts from the historic show INTERTWINED. Be apart of the MOVEMENT that is changing the face of history.

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JAMES MEREDITH

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James Meredith
He graduated from high school in 1951. Then, Meredith enlisted in the United States Air Force. He served from 1951 to 1960. Afterward Meredith attended Jackson State University for two years, achieving good grades. On September 13, 1962, the District Court entered an injunction directing the members of the Board of Trustees and the officials of the University to register Meredith. The Democratic Governor of Mississippi, Ross Barnett, declared "no school will be integrated in Mississippi while I am your governor".

James Meredith
n 1961, inspired the day before by President John F. Kennedy, Meredith started to apply to the University of Mississippi, intending to insist on his civil rights to attend the state-funded university. It still admitted only white students under the state's culture of racial segregation, although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional, as they are supported by all the taxpayers. Nobody handpicked me...I believed, and believe now, that I have a Divine Responsibility... I am familiar with the probable difficulties involved in such a move as I am undertaking and I am fully prepared to pursue it all the way to a degree from the University of Mississippi.

James Meredith
Those in the state had unions with European Americans and African Americans (some of whom were enslaved), adding to the multi-racial population in the developing territory. Meredith completed the 11th grade at Attala County Training School (which was segregated as "white" and "colored" under the state's Jim Crow laws) and he completed the 12th grade at Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, Florida. He graduated from high school in 1951. Then, Meredith enlisted in the United States Air Force. He served from 1951 to 1960. Afterward Meredith attended Jackson State University for two years, achieving good grades.

James Meredith
He graduated with a history degree in 1966, becoming the second black graduate. After serving as a professor at universities, in 1978 he returned as an academic to help establish a black studies program at "Ole Miss" (as the University of Mississippi is colloquially known). Meredith continued his education, focusing on political science, at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. He returned to the United States in 1965. He attended law school through a scholarship at Columbia University and earned an LL.B (law degree) in 1968.

James Meredith
James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) was the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated University of Mississippi. He is also is an American civil rights movement figure, writer, political adviser, and Air Force veteran. It was in 1962 that Meredith became the first African-American student admitted to the theretofore segregated University of Mississippi, after the intervention of the federal government, an event that was a flashpoint in the civil rights movement.

James Meredith
In 1966, Meredith organized and led a solo, personal March Against Fear for 220 miles from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, beginning on June 6, 1966. Inviting only black men to join him, he wanted to highlight continuing racial oppression in the Mississippi Delta, as well as to encourage blacks to register and vote following passage of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, which authorized federal oversight and enforcement of rights. Governor Paul Johnson promised to allow the march and provide State Highway Police protection. Meredith wanted blacks in Mississippi to overcome fear of violence.

James Meredith
He was twice denied admission. During this time, he was advised by Medgar Evers, who was head of the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). On May 31, 1961, Meredith, with backing of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, alleging that the university had rejected him only because of his race, as he had a highly successful record of military service and academic courses. The case went through many hearings, after which the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Meredith had the right to be admitted to the state school. The state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which supported the ruling of the appeals court.

James Meredith
The state legislature quickly created a plan. They passed a law that denied admission to any person "who has a crime of moral turpitude against him" or who had been convicted of any felony offense or not pardoned. The same day it became law, Meredith was accused and convicted of "false voter registration," in absentia, in Jackson County. The conviction against Meredith was trumped up: Meredith both owned land in northern Mississippi and was registered to vote in Jackson, where he lived. "Later the clerk testified that Meredith was qualified to register and vote in Jackson [where he was registered]." On September 20, the federal government obtained an injunction against enforcement of this Act and of the two state court decrees that had barred Meredith's registration. That day Meredith was rebuffed again by Governor Barnett in his efforts to gain admission, though university officials were prepared to admit him. On September 28, the Court of Appeals, en banc and after a hearing, found the Governor in civil contempt and ordered that he be arrested and pay a fine of $10,000 for each day that he kept up the refusal, unless he complied by October 2. On September 29, Lieutenant Governor Johnson was found in contempt by a panel of the court, and a similar order was entered against him, with a fine of $5,000 a day. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy had a series of phone calls with Governor Barnett between September 27 to October 1. Barnett reluctantly agreed to let Meredith enroll in the university, but secretly bargained with Kennedy on a plan which would allow him to save face.

James Meredith
The next day on October 1, 1962, after federal and state forces took control, Meredith became the first African-American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Meredith's admission is regarded as a pivotal moment in the history of civil rights in the United States. He persisted through harassment and extreme isolation to graduate on August 18, 1963, with a degree in political science. Many students harassed Meredith during his two semesters on campus, but others accepted him.

James Meredith
In 1966, Meredith planned a solo 220-mile March Against Fear from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi; he wanted to highlight continuing racism in the South and encourage voter registration after passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He did not want major civil rights organizations involved. The second day, he was shot by a white gunman and suffered numerous wounds. Leaders of major organizations vowed to complete the march in his name after he was taken to the hospital. While Meredith was recovering, more people from across the country became involved as marchers. He rejoined the march and when Meredith and other leaders entered Jackson on June 26, they were leading an estimated 15,000 marchers, in what was the largest civil rights march in Mississippi.

James Meredith
In the next two years, additional African-American students enrolled at the university. In early June 1963, Cleve McDowell enrolled in the law school and became the second black student to attend the University of Mississippi. He was Meredith's roommate. After Meredith finished classes in July, the federal marshals left campus. McDowell was concerned for his safety, and asked for permission to carry a concealed weapon, but it was denied. He carried one anyway, and when it was discovered, he was expelled. He completed his law degree and became a civil rights lawyer and public defender in Mississippi. McDowell was shot and killed in 1997; a 19-year-old client was charged in his death. Cleveland Donald Jr. enrolled at the University in 1964, under a federal protection order.

James Meredith
On the evening of September 29, after State Senator George Yarbrough withdrew the State Highway Police, a riot broke out the following day. Whites opposing integration had been gathering at the campus and began fighting with the federal agents. Despite the Kennedy administration's reluctance to use force, it ordered the nationalized Mississippi National Guard and federal troops to the campus. In the violent clashes which followed, two civilians were killed by gunshot wounds, and white rioters burned cars, pelted federal agents and soldiers with rocks, bricks and small arms fire, and damaged university property.

James Meredith
During the march, more than 4,000 African Americans registered to vote, and it was a catalyst to continued community organizing and additional registration. In 2002 and again in 2012, the University of Mississippi led year-long series of events to celebrate the 40th and 50th anniversaries of Meredith's integration of the institution. He was among numerous speakers invited to the campus, where a statue of him commemorates his role. The Lyceum-The Circle Historic District at the center of the campus has been designated as a National Historic Landmark for these events.

James Meredith
Inspired by President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, Meredith decided to exercise his constitutional rights and apply to the University of Mississippi. His goal was to put pressure on the Kennedy administration to enforce civil rights for African Americans. Meredith was born in 1933 in Kosciusko, Mississippi, the son of Roxie (Patterson) and Moses Meredith. He is of African-American, British Canadian, Scots and Choctaw heritage. His family nickname was "J-Boy". European traders intermarried with some Choctaw during the colonial period. In the 1830s, thousands of Choctaw chose to stay in Mississippi and become United States citizens when most of the tribe left their traditional homeland for Indian Territory during the federally imposed removal.