History
The U.S. Marshals and the Integration of the University of
Mississippi:
40 years ago, deputy marshals
safeguarded a man’s education goals and carried out a president’s
orders
History is often made when one person stands his ground and demands his
dream. But history needs its enforcers. And when James
Meredith sought
to legally become the first black person to attend the University
of Mississippi 40 years ago, the duty of upholding the federal law
allowing him to do so fell upon the shoulders of 127 deputy marshals
from all over the country who risked their lives to make his dream a
reality.
A bold challenge Race relations in the United States were plenty
tumultuous in 1962. While the landmark case of Brown v. Board of
Education of 1954 made public school segregation illegal, some states
resisted the change, and the federal government did little to interfere.
That changed when Meredith set his sights on becoming the first black
person to attend Ole Miss. According to one biographer, Meredith
was dissatisfied with race relations in the South, and in a calculated
move he applied for admission.
However, the university, citing administrative technicalities, refused
his application numerous times over the course of the next several
months. This prompted the would-be student to write a letter to Thurgood
Marshall, then head of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People’s
Legal Defense Fund.
In the letter, Meredith wrote that he knew the “probable difficulties
involved in such a move as I am undertaking and I am fully prepared to
pursue it all the way.” Marshall and his organization backed Meredith
wholeheartedly. In his book, “An American Insurrection: The Battle of
Oxford, Mississippi,” author William Doyle stated that the NAACP’s
backing was a key component in Meredith’s eventual success. Doyle
also noted that two other factors were equally important: John F.
Kennedy, seen as the first president to support civil rights, took
office in January 1961; and the Brown ruling was still the official law
of the land.
Kennedy, who scored a narrow election victory with the help of many
black voters, would indeed turn out to be sympathetic to Meredith’s
cause, but the same could not be said of Mississippi’s governor,
Ross Barnett. In a statewide television broadcast, Barnett stated,
“[Mississippi] will not surrender to the evil and illegal forces of
tyranny ... [and] no school will be integrated in Mississippi
while I am your governor.” Later, the Supreme Court ruled in favor
of Meredith attending classes. But Barnett was still defiant. He went on
to call Meredith’s attempt to enter Ole Miss “our greatest crisis since
the War Between the States.” Photo above right: Chief Marshal J.P. McShane (right),
Assistant Attorney General John Doar (left) and Deputy Cecil Miller (in
Background) escort James Meredith to classes at the University of
Mississippi .
The job of seeing to it that Meredith was safely admitted to the school
clearly fell upon the federal government, and soon enough, President
Kennedy sent deputy marshals into the fray.
Three times, Chief U.S. Marshal J.P. McShane led a small contingent of
deputies — without loaded guns — to register Meredith. But in each
instance, they were stopped by state politicians and state troopers who
were taking orders from Barnett. Finally, President Kennedy escalated
matters by ordering a much larger group of deputies — 127 — to get the
job done. To
increase the numbers even more, McShane swore in over 300 U.S. Border
Patrol agents and close to making them special deputy marshals and
bringing the total number of federal law enforcement officers for this
assignment to 538. The stage was set.
 Meredith was the first
black student to attend 'Ole Miss' and was registered at the school
after a violent confrontation between students and Deputies. One
hundred and sixty Deputies were injured - 28 by gunfire. For the
next year, Deputy Marshals provided Meredith with 24 hour protection,
going everywhere he went on campus, enduring the same taunts and jibes,
the same heckling, the same bombardment of cherry bombs, water balloons,
and trash, as Meredith did. They made sure that Meredith could
attend the school of his choice. Continued: Page
One | Two | Three
| Four | Five |
Six | Seven |
Eight
Read about the past |
Trouble Brewing | Holding Firm
| Continued Protection |
Robert Kennedy's Statement
The Present: 40 Years Later
| The 40th Year Commemoration |
Message from Director Benigno Reyna |
