Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 30, 2024
The Ole Miss riot of 1962 was a violent disturbance at the University of Mississippi—commonly called Ole Miss—in Oxford, Mississippi, as Segregationist rioters sought to prevent the enrollment of an African American applicant, James Meredith. In the wake of the Supreme Court's 1954 decision Brown v. Board of Education, Meredith applied to Ole Miss in 1961. His admission was delayed and obstructed, including by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett. Barnett even had Meredith temporarily jailed. Multiple attempts by Meredith, accompanied by federal officials, to enroll were physically blocked. A riot erupted on campus when a mob assaulted reporters and federal officers, burned and looted property, and hijacked vehicles. Two civilians were murdered and 160 marshals were injured, including 28 who received gunshot wounds. Kennedy invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807, mobilized more than 30,000 troops, and quelled the riot. A statue of James Meredith on campus commemorates the event. (Full article...)