During a dramatic three-day period in March 1961, nine students from historically Black Tougaloo College staged sit-ins at the all-white Main Library in Jackson, Mississippi. The students conducted their protest, were arrested, held in jail overnight, and convicted of "breach of peace"—the first time that charge had ever been brought in a Mississippi courtroom. Meanwhile, students at Jackson State College held sympathy protests, and the police responded harshly on both day one and day two. On day three, police attacked a peaceful crowd of observers awaiting the trial’s outcome, using attack dogs, billy clubs, and tear gas to disperse the crowd, the first known use of police dogs on a peaceful gathering during the civil rights era.

The protests occurred while Mississippi was preparing to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the state’s secession from the Union and the commencement of the Civil War. The library sit-in preempted the state’s Confederate extravaganza which brought more than thirty thousand mostly white observers into the streets of Jackson while the students sat in jail, further inflaming passions on both sides.

In The Tougaloo Nine, M. J. O'Brien delves into Tougaloo College’s culture of resistance, Mississippi’s determination to preserve segregation, and the early stirrings of the student movement in Jackson. Through numerous interviews and years of detailed research, O'Brien tells the stories of these courageous African American students. He also explores the personalities leading the charge on both sides, including Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers, Tougaloo professors and administrators Ernst Borinski, Reverend John Mangram, and Adam Beittel; as well as Governor Ross Barnett, Citizens’ Council leader William Simmons, and Jackson Mayor Allen Thompson. Altogether, The Tougaloo Nine presents the stunning picture of those who risked their lives and future livelihoods to fight for full social and political equality.

Table of Contents:

Foreword
Introduction
Prologue
Part I—The Setup
Chapter 1—America’s Dilemma
Chapter 2—Mississippi, USA
Chapter 3—The Oasis
Part II—Introducing the Tougaloo Nine
Chapter 4—The Memphis Contingent
Chapter 5—Children of the Delta and Riverside
Chapter 6—Central and South Mississippi Offspring
Part III—Culture Clash
Chapter 7—Tougaloo’s Culture of Resistance
Chapter 8—College-Bound
Chapter 9—Commemorating a Woe-Begotten War
Part IV—Gettin’ Ready
Chapter 10—Freedom’s Early Stirrings
Chapter 11—A Change Is Gonna Come
Chapter 12—Mississippi Prepares for a Raucous Celebration
Chapter 13—"We’re Not Sitting Still"
Part V—Three Days of Conflict
Chapter 14—Day 1: The Students Take Charge
Chapter 15—Day 2: Secession Day
Chapter 16—Day 3: The Trial, the Dogs, the Beat Down
Part VI—Aftershocks
Chapter 17—Reactions Pro and Con
Chapter 18—Rise Up
Chapter 19—History Marches On
Part VII—Leaving the Nest
Chapter 20—The First to Graduate
Chapter 21—The Follow Ons
Chapter 22—The Émigrés
Part VIII—Where This Story Ends
Chapter 23—The End of an Era
Chapter 24—The Old Guard Dies but Never Surrenders
Chapter 25—Coming Full Circle
Epilogue—The Legacy of the Tougaloo Nine
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index