民权教育中心

1961年， 联邦组织理事会(COFO) was established as an umbrella organization to unify 和 meet the needs of an increasing presence of civil rights organizations in 密西西比州, 包括学生非暴力协调委员会, 种族平等大会(CORE), 南方基督教领袖会议(SCLC), 全国有色人种协进会, 还有很多当地的民权组织. 运营的头两年, COFO centered its activities around voter registration throughout 密西西比州 和 establishing targeted projects in hugely segregated towns such as Columbus, 格林维尔, 格林伍德, 哈蒂斯堡, 霍利斯普林斯, 和子午线. In 1963, COFO established its state headquarters in Jackson, 密西西比州, at 1017 John R. 林奇圣reet—a corridor of black businesses 和 activism at the time—on the edge of the Jackson State campus.

The location was ideal to attract 和 nurture community 和 student involvement in the movement. For decades the street was home to Jackson State College (now 澳门皇冠体育), 坎贝尔大学, 历史悠久的共济会圣殿, 全国有色人种协进会现场秘书梅德加·埃弗斯的办公室就在那里, 以及一些非裔美国人的企业，包括餐馆, 干洗店, 理发店, 一个电影院, 和药店. 林奇街是杰克逊民权运动的摇篮, 这个社区见证了许多抗议活动, 游行, 质量会议, 和示威. 警方并没有忽视林奇街的活动, who often took the license plate numbers from cars parked at the Masonic Temple for further surveillance of civil rights workers.

COFO established major 项目 in its short life span on 林奇圣reet 和 became the hub of civil rights activity for the region. The most recognized campaign initiated by COFO was the 密西西比州 Summer Project of 1964—known as Freedom Summer—where masses of mostly white college students from the northern states traveled to 密西西比州 to participate in voter registration efforts throughout the state 和 establish freedom schools 和 community centers. This effort was perceived as an assault on the “way of life” by many white 密西西比州ans. 结果是, 发生了数十起教堂爆炸事件, 无数次殴打民权工作者, 以及詹姆斯·切尼的惨死, 安德鲁·古德曼, 以及费城的Michael Schwerner, 密西西比州, 1964年夏天. The murders received more national press coverage than any other civil rights murders at the time. 在切尼-古德曼-施沃纳谋杀案的前一年, 梅加·埃弗斯在杰克逊自家车道上被暗杀.

The 密西西比州 Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) was also an outgrowth of COFO’s Freedom Vote efforts. The MFDP was organized to offer accessible elections since African Americans were denied the right to vote. 近80,000名非裔美国人在1963年的自由投票中投票, 因此, 自民党成立于1964年4月. The MFDP sent its elected delegates to the Democratic National Convention held in New Jersey to challenge the all-white “Regulars” of the 密西西比州 Democratic Party, 谁是未经密西西比黑人的意愿和同意而当选的. The MFDP delegates asked to be seated at the Convention as the only democratically elected delegation from the state.

64名自由民主党代表中有范妮·卢·哈默、亚伦·亨利和埃德·金. 自由民主党在辩论中获得了相当大的支持, enough to be offered a compromise of two seats out of the 64 needed to seat the entire delegation. 在她著名的电视讲话中, Fannie Lou Hamer表达了MFDP的态度, “我们大老远跑到这儿来不是为了两个座位，因为我们都累了.林登·B. 约翰逊立即召开新闻发布会，打断了她的讲话. This event in modern civil rights history can be considered a turning point in the movement. 经过多年的组织和遭受暴行和死亡, it became apparent that even the White House was not as supportive as it had preached 和 soon afterwards the Black Power movement emerged.

在相当长的一段时间里，密西西比州的现代民权斗争一直被忽视, but recent scholarship 和 the interests in 密西西比州 have been peaked partly due to the number of 50^th 现在60岁了^th 庆祝民权运动历史的周年纪念日. 詹姆斯·梅雷迪思在1962年整合了密西西比大学. 梅加·埃弗斯于1963年被暗杀. 自由之夏于1964年到来, 和, in 1966, 对黑人权力的历史性呼吁最早是在格林伍德发出的, 密西西比州.

2011年， 民权教育中心 为了纪念过去, 处理当前的问题, 和 offer hope for the future in the same building as the original Council of Federated Organizations. 在国家史迹名录上, 这座建筑保持着原来的外观, 这是在向民权运动时期的用法致敬. It sits on the 密西西比州 Freedom Trail, 和 educational exhibits have been developed inside.

尽管已经出版了很多关于密西西比民权运动的书, 来自世界各地的学者访问该州寻找人, 文档, 工件, 还有历史遗迹. This interest has presented opportunities for the 民权教育中心 to provide the requisite collections, 档案, 和 space for researchers to engage the history of the 密西西比州 civil rights movement.

COFO中心开发并实施了教育项目，以增加学生, 教师, 工作人员, 以及社区访问和项目参与. These 项目 have been implemented through collaborative efforts with the 文理学院, 学生生活部, 玛格丽特·沃克中心, 以及包括马尔科姆·艾克斯草根运动在内的社区组织, 全国有色人种协进会的密西西比会议, 密西西比州学生正义联盟, 南方贫困法律中心, 向上的束缚, 麦克奈尔学者计划, 擅长项目, 密西西比民权运动的老兵, 平等司法倡议, 青年计划, 还有很多其他的.

另外, COFO has hosted opportunities for University recruitment at Jackson State with visits from middle school 和 high school students through educational enrichment trips 和 off campus tours. COFO’s outreach through its 编程 has helped to enhance the br和ing 和 visibility of the University, 在本地, 在全国范围内, 和全球. 项目不仅影响了大学和当地社区, they have presented opportunities for visitors from across the nation 和 from around the world to join in conversations on social justice 和 cultural underst和ing. Newly forged community partnerships have helped to increase University supporters 和 have created additional opportunities for collaborations between students, 其他高等教育机构的教职员工.

联委会的使命对21世纪仍然具有重要意义^st 全球化背景下的世纪文科教育. 通过创建COFO中心, JSU—as a historically black university—is committed to preserving the history 和 legacy of the 密西西比州 civil rights movement 和 exp和ing a regional perspective to include global perspectives, 项目, 和 educational offerings that address human rights 和 social justice issues from around the world. COFO represents a living history 和 can affect change in a real 和 substantive way through community outreach, 编程, 并在国内外举办展览.