MARCH 12, 1956

Nineteen senators and 77 congressmen signed the “Southern Manifesto,” denouncing the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court desegregation decision, Brown v. Board of Education, as an “abuse of judicial power” and called for resistance to integration by “any lawful means.” Only three Southern Senate Democrats refused to sign: Albert Gore Sr., Lyndon B. Johnson and Estes Kefauver. Two years later, justices revisited the Brown decision in Cooper v. Aaron, affirming that states were indeed bound by the ruling.

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The stories of investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. His stories have also helped free two people from death row, exposed injustices and corruption, prompting investigations and reforms as well as the firings of boards and officials. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a longtime member of Investigative Reporters & Editors, and a winner of more than 30 other national awards, including a $500,000 MacArthur “genius” grant. After working for three decades for the statewide Clarion-Ledger, Mitchell left in 2019 and founded the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.