JFK SENDS TROOPS TO MISSISSIPPI TO RESTORE ORDER
Oxford, Mississippi (JFK+50) On October 1, 1962, 23,000 United States Army troops arrived on the campus of the University of Mississippi here in Oxford to restore order following rioting that resulted in the deaths of two persons.
President John F. Kennedy gave the order for deployment after rioting began on September 30. The riots were sparked by the attempt of African-American James Meredith to enroll in the all-white state university.
On September 13, 1962, a federal court had ruled that James Meredith must be admitted by the university, but Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett* ordered state police to stand down.
The Governor was declared in contempt of court and Meredith was admitted to "Ole Miss" with the assistance of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy who dispatched 127 U.S. marshals, 316 border patrol agents and 97 Federal Bureau of Prisons officers.
Governor Barnett was forced to give in, but not without a parting shot in a radio address in which he said...
"Gentlemen, you are trampling on the sovereignty of this great state. You are destroying the Constitution...May God have mercy on your souls."
*Ross Robert Barnett (1898-1897) was born in Standing Pine, MS. & educated at Mississippi College & the University of Mississippi. RRB served in WWI & became a member of the Dixiecrats, Southern Democrats supporting racial segregation. He was Governor of Mississippi 1960-1964.
U.S. Army Trucks with U.S. Marshals
Oxford, Mississippi
October 3, 1962
Photo by Jerry Huff, UPI
Library of Congress Image
