Mississippi’s Forgotten Son: Billy Barton and his Journalistic Battle for Redemption in the “Closed Society”

 

In the summer of 1960, Billy Barton, a journalism major at the University of Mississippi, worked as an intern at the Atlanta Journal. Barton, a reporter at the university newspaper, the Mississippian, was misidentified by a Citizens’ Council informant as a sit-in participant and a member of the NAACP. As a result, Barton faced a number of damning accusations through a “whisper campaign” perpetuated by Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett, the Sovereignty Commission, and the Citizens’ Council that ruined his reputation within what has been called the state’s “Closed Society.” In an effort to clear his name, Barton took his story to the press, igniting a firestorm of controversy concerning the treatment of the student journalist and challenging the pervasive nature of Mississippi’s white ideology. While Barton’s plight unified the majority of editors in the state, the Closed Society ultimately prevailed.

ENDNOTES

Notes

1 “Will Not Back Down – Barton says,” Mississippian, March 16, 1961, 1. In addition, an examination of the Atlanta Journal from June 1960 through August 1960 showed that Barton didn’t receive a byline or a mention in the paper’s coverage of any sit-ins or other Civil Rights-based protests.

2 Susan Weill, In a Madhouse's Din: Civil Rights Coverage of Mississippi’s Daily Press, 1948–1968 (Greenwood, MS: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002), 109.

3 Michael Vinson Williams, Medgar Evers: Mississippi Martyr (Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 2011), 148. In his volume on Evers, Williams described the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission as a “state-supported entity organized to protect and uphold racial segregation,” and an ideal organization to silence the Civil Rights pioneer and activist.

4 W.J. Simmons to Albert Jones, August 17, 1960, SCR 10#7-0-2-86-111, State Sovereignty Commission files, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS, http://www.mdah.ms.gov/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=images/png/cd07/055233.png&otherstuff=7|0|2|86|1|1|1|54476|.

5 James W. Silver, Mississippi: The Closed Society (New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace, and World, Inc., 1964), 3–10.

6 James “Jimmie” L. Robertson, email interview with author, June 19 and August 8, 2018. When addressing what personally motivated Barton to challenge Barnett and the Closed Society in such a public manner, Robertson said, “I’m sure the lies about Billy hurt him.”

7 “Bill Barton and Mississippi’s Future,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 13, 1961, 4.

8 Weill, In a Madhouse's Din, 254. Weill identified the circulation rate for all of Mississippi’s daily newspapers during the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, the 1962 integration of The University of Mississippi, and the 1964 Freedom Summer movement to register blacks to vote. The averages provided were based upon her figures as calculated by the author. From 1954 through 1964, each newspaper had the following average daily circulation: Clarion-Ledger, 53,239; Jackson Daily News, 46,030; Daily Herald (Biloxi), 27,736; Meridian Star, 21,406; Hattiesburg American, 15,556; Daily Journal (Tupelo), 15,277; Delta Democrat-Times, 12,407; Vicksburg Evening Post, 10,207; and the Enterprise-Journal, 5,771. A number of the aforementioned newspapers were consulted in this examination, as there was likely little variation during the Barton case in 1960 and 1961.

9 David R. Davies, The Press and Race: Mississippi Journalists Confront the Movement (Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 2001) and Weill, In a Madhouse's Din, 256.

10 Charles Eagles, The Prince of Defiance: James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss (Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press Books, 2009), 183–5, 197–8.

11 Neil McMillen, The Citizens’ Council: Organized Resistance to the Second Reconstruction, 1954–1964 (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1971), 253.

12 Joseph Crespino, In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007), 38; and Jenny Irons, Reconstituting Whiteness: The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 2010), 52.

13 For more on the plight of Meredith, see the following: John Dittmer, Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1994); Charles W. Eagles, The Price of Defiance: James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2009); and McMillen, The Citizens' Council.

14 Peter Wallenstein, Higher Education and the Civil Rights Movement: White Supremacy, Black Southerners, and College Campuses (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2008), 123; Ted Ownby, The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2013), 106–7; Raymond Arsenault, Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006), 2–3; and M.J. O’Brien, We Shall Not Be Moved: The Jackson Woolworth Sit-In and the Movement it Inspired (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2013), 22.

15 James Max Fendrich, Ideal Citizens: The Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement (New York, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993), 43.

16 Robert A. Pratt, We Shall Not Be Moved: The Desegregation of the University of Georgia (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2002), 29–34.

17 Jeffery A. Turner, Sitting In and Speaking Out: Student Movements in the American South, 1960–1970 (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2010), 113.

18 L. Anne Willis and Susan L. Brinson, “Press Control During Auburn University’s Desegregation,” Journalism History 33, no. 2 (Summer 2007): 72–3.

19 E. Culpepper Clark, The Schoolhouse Door: Segregation’s Last Stand at The University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2007), 160–2.

20 Henry H. Lesesne, A History of the University of South Carolina, 1940–2000 (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2002), 119.

21 For more on the press in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement, see: Davies, The Press and Race; James Dickerson, Dixie’s Dirty Little Secret: The True Story of How the Government, the Media, and the Mob Conspired to Combat Integration and the Vietnam Antiwar Movement (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1998); Dittmer, Local People; Eagles, The Price of Defiance; Erle Johnston, Mississippi's Defiant Years, 1953–1973 (Forest, MS: Lake Harbor Publishers, 1990); Yasuhiro Katagiri, The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission: Civil Rights and States’ Rights (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2007); Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff, The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation (New York, NY: Knopf, 2006); Julius Eric Thompson, The Black Press in Mississippi, 1865–1985 (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1993); Maryanne Vollers, Ghosts of Mississippi (Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1995); and Weill, In a Madhouse's Din.

22 Dittmer, Local People, 65.

23 Thompson, The Black Press in Mississippi, 64–6.

24 Vollers, Ghosts of Mississippi, 99; and Davies, The Press and Race, 8–9.

25 David R. Davies, The Postwar Decline of the American Newspaper, 1945–1965 (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006), 63–6.

26 Joseph B. Atkins, The Mission Journalism: Ethics and the World (Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 2000), 52–3; and Dr. Douglas Starr, interview with author, July 30, 2009.

27 Curtis Wilkie, Dixie: A Personal Odyssey Through Events That Shaped the Modern South (New York, NY: Scribner, 2001), 95. King tried to integrate the University of Mississippi in 1958 but was considered insane and committed to a mental institution. Kennard tried to enroll at Mississippi Southern College, now the University Southern Mississippi in 1959. Upon meeting with university officials, Kennard was arrested for the bootlegging after members of the local Citizens’ Council planted alcohol in his car. Kennard was eventually framed for the theft of chicken feed and sentenced to eight years in prison.

28 James “Jimmie” L. Robertson, email interview with author, June 19 and August 8, 2018. When asked about Barton’s belief in segregation, Robertson said that he didn’t recall any specific conversations with his friend regarding the matter, but both were “unopposed” to Meredith addition to Ole Miss.

29 Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922), 330, 355; Maxwell McComb and Donald Shaw, “The Agenda Setting Function of Mass Media,” Public Opinion Quarterly 36, no. 2 (1972): 176–7; Richard Lentz, Symbols, the News Magazines, and Martin Luther King (Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press, 1990); and Richard Lentz and Karla Glover, The Opinions of Mankind: Racial Issues, Press, and Propaganda in the Cold War (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2011).

30 W.J. Simmons to Albert Jones, August 17, 1960, SCR 10#7-0-2-86-111, State Sovereignty Commission files, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS., http://www.mdah.ms.gov/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=images/png/cd07/055233.png&otherstuff=7|0|2|86|1|1|1|54476|.

31 Billy Clyde Barton v. Ross R. Barnett, William J. Simmons, Mrs. John Aldridge, Mrs. Sara McCorkle, Albert Jones, W.A. Lufburrow, Citizens’ Council Inc., Citizens’ Council of Mississippi, and Association of Citizens’ Councils of Mississippi, United States District Court N.D. Mississippi, W.D., Box 1, Allen Eugene Cox Papers, Special Collections, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS.

32 Monthly Report from Sara McCorkle, December 1960, Box 1, Allen Eugene Cox Papers, Special Collections, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS.

33 Billy Clyde Barton v. Ross R. Barnett, William J. Simmons, Mrs. John Aldridge, Mrs. Sara McCorkle, Albert Jones, W.A. Lufburrow, Citizens’ Council Inc., Citizens’ Council of Mississippi, and Association of Citizens’ Councils of Mississippi, United States District Court N.D. Mississippi, W.D., Box 1, Allen Eugene Cox Papers, Special Collections, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS.

34 Malcolm S. Dale to Ross Barnett, December 6, 1960, SCR 10#7-0-2-22-1-1-1, State Sovereignty Commission files, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS, http://www.mdah.ms.gov/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=images/png/cd07/055115.png&otherstuff=7|0|2|22|1|1|1|54359|.

35 Albert Jones to Malcolm S. Dale, December 9, 1960, Box 1, Allen Eugene Cox Papers, Special Collections, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS.

36 Malcolm S. Dale to Albert Jones, December 10, 1960, 10#7-0-2-20-2-1-1, State Sovereignty Commission files, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, MS, http://www.mdah.ms.gov/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/result.php?image=images/png/cd07/055111.png&otherstuff=7|0|2|20|2|1|1|54352|.

37 Barton was identified by various newspaper accounts as being a junior and a senior. Barton would spend another year on the Mississippian’s staff under eventual editor Jimmie Robertson. Therefore, in an effort to avoid confusion, the author took a concerted effort to limit the number of times Barton was referenced by his status as a student.

38 Billy Clyde Barton v. Ross R. Barnett, William J. Simmons, Mrs. John Aldridge, Mrs. Sara McCorkle, Albert Jones, W.A. Lufburrow, Citizens’ Council Inc., Citizens’ Council of Mississippi, and Association of Citizens’ Councils of Mississippi, United States District Court N.D. Mississippi, W.D., Box 1, Allen Eugene Cox Papers, Special Collections, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS.

39 Billy Barton to Ross Barnett, January 9, 1961, Box 1, Allen Eugene Cox Papers, Special Collections, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS.

40 Ross Barnett to Billy Barton, January 18, 1961, Box 1, Allen Eugene Cox Papers, Special Collections, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS.

41 Billy Clyde Barton v. Ross R. Barnett, William J. Simmons, Mrs. John Aldridge, Mrs. Sara McCorkle, Albert Jones, W.A. Lufburrow, Citizens’ Council Inc., Citizens’ Council of Mississippi, and Association of Citizens’ Councils of Mississippi, United States District Court N.D. Mississippi, W.D., Box 1, Allen Eugene Cox Papers, Special Collections, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS.

42 Bill Barton, “Rebel Students Increase,” Mississippian, September 18, 1960, 1; Bill Barton, “The Challenge,” Mississippian, September 18, 1960, 1; Bill Barton, “Factions Set for Debate,” Mississippian, October 13, 1960, 1; Bill Barton, “Forum Series Starts Well,” Mississippian, October 13, 1960, 4; and Bill Barton, “Commission checkpoints,” Mississippian, October 6, 1960, 4.

43 Bill Barton, “Shadow on the Ballot,” Mississippian, October 20, 1960, 4.

44 Bill Barton, “That Amendment Again,” Mississippian, October 27, 1960, 4.

45 Bill Barton, “Close Election Expected for Mississippi Tuesday,” Mississippian, November 3, 1960, 1.

46 Bill Barton, “Out Front Again,” Mississippian, November 10, 1960, 4.

47 Bill Barton, “Sportsmanship Program Asked,” Mississippian, January 12, 1961, 1; and Bill Barton, “Campus Senators Okay Pageant Bill,” Mississippian, February 23, 1961, 1.

48 “Barton ‘Gives Up’ Campaign,” Jackson State Times, April 13, 1961, 1, 4; and “Barton Drops Campaign For Campus Editor,” Daily Journal (Tupelo), April 13, 1961, 1.

49 Ole Miss Student Rips Pro-Segregation Units,” Clarion-Ledger, March 11, 1961, 1, 3; “Student Editor Denies Integration Activities,” Vicksburg Evening Post, March 11, 1961, 1; “Ole Miss Senior Denies Activity of Integration,” Daily Herald (Biloxi), March 11, 1961, 1; and “University Student Denies Mix Charges,” Hattiesburg American, March 11, 1961, 1, 3.

50 “Ole Miss Student Hits Citizens’ Council,” Jackson State Times, March 11, 1961, 1.

51 Ibid.

52 “Ole Miss Student Fights CC Charges,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 12, 1961, 1; “Ole Miss Senior Says Slandered By CC,” Jackson Daily News, March 11, 1961, 1, 3; “Slander Claim Voiced by Ole Miss Student,” Meridian Star, March 11, 1961, 1, 2; and “Pontotoc Youth Charges ‘Smear’,” Daily Journal (Tupelo), March 11, 1961, 1.

53 “Ross Told of Barton, Bryant Says,” Jackson Daily News and Clarion-Ledger, March 12, 1961, 1; “Lawmaker ‘Cautioned’ of Student,” Jackson State Times, March 12, 1961, 1, 7; and “Solon Says Ross Against Student,” Vicksburg Evening Post, March 12, 1961, 1.

54 “Solon Says Sovereignty Commission Should Halt its Sleuthing Activities,” Enterprise-Journal, March 14, 1961, 1; “‘Slander’ Lashed; Governor Linked,” Jackson State Times, March 14, 1961, 1; “Legislator Wants State Agency to Halt Attacks,” Hattiesburg American, March 14, 1961, 15; and “State Solon Raps Commission Work,” Vicksburg Evening Post, March 14, 1961, 12.

55 “Barnett Says Barton Can Defend Self,” Jackson Daily News, March 14, 1961, 1; Douglas Starr, “Barnett Says Student Can Defend Himself,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 14, 1961, 1; and “Says Student Will Have Chance To Defend Himself,” Vicksburg Evening Post, March 14, 1961, 1.

56 “Barnett Assures Barton Chance To Defend Self,” Clarion-Ledger, March 15, 1961, 1.

57 “Silent On How Ole Miss Senior To Defend Self,” Daily Herald (Biloxi), March 15, 1961, 1; “Officials mum on Student,” Vicksburg Evening Post, March 15, 1961, 1.

58 “Youth Promised Opportunity to Defend Himself,” Hattiesburg American, March 14, 1961, 1.

59 Roberts and Klibanoff, The Race Beat, 84–5; and James T. Sellers, A History of the Jackson State Times: An Agent of Change in a Closed Society (PhD diss., University of Southern Mississippi, 1992), 244–7.

60 Thatcher Walt, “Barton Wants State To Clear His Good Name,” Jackson State Times, March 15, 1961, 1, 2.

61 “Accused Ole Miss Student Passes Lie Detector Test,” Enterprise-Journal, March 15, 1961, 1.

62 “University Candidate Passes Lie Test,” Meridian Star, March 15, 1961, 1; “Barton Supported By Lie Detector,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 15, 1961, 1.

63 Bob Pittman, “Barnett Explains Barton Incident,” Jackson Daily News, March 16, 1961, 1, 12.

64 Charles M. Hills, “Barnett Denies Charge of Student At Ole Miss,” Clarion-Ledger, March 16, 1961, 1, 14.

65 “Counter Denials Are Exchanged in Ole Miss Row,” Meridian Star, March 16, 1961, 1, 2; and “Barton Charges Governor, Jones Involved In Slanderous Rumors,” Daily Journal (Tupelo), March 17, 1961, 1.

66 Dave Maddux, “Barnett, Student’s Reports in Conflict,” Jackson State Times, March 16, 1961, 1, 7.

67 Cliff Sessions, “Barton Takes on Two Powerful Officials in Clear Challenge,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 16, 1961, 1; “Governor Makes Statement on Ole Miss Senior,” Daily Herald (Biloxi), March 16, 1961, 1; “Barnett Thinks Charges against Student False,” Hattiesburg American, March 16, 1961, 8; “Barnett, Commission Disclaim Opposition to Pontotoc Student,” Daily Journal (Tupelo), March 16, 1961, 1.

68 Johnny Gregory, “Barton Defended By His Opponent,” Clarion-Ledger, March 16, 1961, 1A, 12A. Similar commentary can be found in “Barton Says Governor Fed Rumor Mill,” Jackson Daily News, March 16, 1961, 1A, 12A.

69 Ibid.

70 Cliff Sessions, “Barton Takes on Two Powerful Officials in Clear Challenge,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 16, 1961, 1; “Governor Makes Statement on Ole Miss Senior,” Daily Herald (Biloxi), March 16, 1961, 1; “Barnett Thinks Charges Against Student False,” Hattiesburg American, March 16, 1961, 8; “Barnett, Commission Disclaim Opposition To Pontotoc Student,” Daily Journal (Tupelo), March 16, 1961, 1; “Students Support Barton,” Jackson State Times, March 16, 1961, 1, 7; “Four Ole Miss Campus Leaders Support Barton,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 16, 1961, 1; and “Barnett Says He Presumes Barton Clear of Charges,” Enterprise-Journal, March 16, 1961, 1.

71 James “Jimmie” L. Robertson, email interview with author, June 19 and August 8, 2018.

72 “Will Not Back Down – Barton says,” Mississippian, March 16, 1961, 1.

73 “Yerger Blasts Ross About Barton Smear,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 19, 1961, 1; “Barnett Action Termed Dictatorial By Yerger,” Jackson State Times, March 18, 1961, 1; “Label Barnett As ‘Dictator’,” Daily Journal (Tupelo), March 20, 961, 7; James Saggus, “Citizens’ Councils Becoming Closer Tied To State Politics,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 19, 1961, 5; James Saggus, “Keep Records Secret,” Daily Herald (Biloxi), March 18, 1961, 1; James Saggus, “Citizens’ Councils are Forging Political Links,” Hattiesburg American, March 18, 1961, 2; and James Saggus, “Citizens’ Councils in Politics,” Vicksburg Evening Post, March 18, 1961, 4.

74 “Controversial Rebel Quits Editor’s Race,” Enterprise-Journal, April 13, 1961, 1; “Barton Quits Race For Editor’s Post But Students Object,” Delta Democrat-Times, April 13, 1961, 1; “Ole Miss Student Drops His Campaign for Editorship,” Meridian Star, April 13, 1961, 20; “Withdraws As Candidate For Campus Paper,” Daily Herald (Biloxi), April 13, 1961, 11; and “Barton Withdraws, says he will sue,” Hattiesburg American, April 13, 1961, 5.

75 Johnny Gregory, “Billy Barton ‘Quits’ Race,” Clarion-Ledger, April 13, 1961, 1, 16.

76 “‘Volunteers’ Press Barton Campaign,” Jackson Daily News, April 13, 1961, 8.

77 “Barton ‘Gives Up’ Campaign,” Jackson State Times, April 13, 1961, 1, 4.

78 “Ole Miss Will Use Voting Machines Today,” Clarion-Ledger, April 18, 1961, 1.

79 “Ole Miss Students Electing Officials,” Jackson Daily News, April 18, 1961, 20.

80 “Vote Foe Ole Miss Editor Today,” Delta Democrat-Times, April 18, 1961, 2; and “Editor At Ole Miss Being Elected Today,” Jackson State Times, April 18, 1961, 1, 8.

81 “Student Vote Today on Touchy Issue,” Meridian Star, April 18, 1961, 1, 2.

82 Johnny Gregory, “Robertson Elected ‘U’ Student Editor,” Clarion-Ledger, April 19, 1961, 1.

83 Ibid; “Barton is Loser in Election,” Enterprise-Journal, April 19, 1961, 1; and “Robertson Is Winner as Ole Miss Editor,” Jackson State Times, April 19, 1961, 1, 8.

84 “Barton Beaten in Ole Miss Election,” Delta Democrat-Times, April 19, 1961, 1; “Bill Barton Defeated for Campus Editorship,” Meridian Star, April 19, 1961, 1; and “Robertson Wins,” Vicksburg Evening Post, April 19, 1961, 1.

85 “Robertson Win U.M. Election,” Jackson Daily News, April 19, 1961, 14.

86 “Barton Joins Staff,” Mississippian, February 13, 1962.

87 Jimmie Robertson, “Sovereignty Commission violates Bill of Rights,” Mississippian, January 10, 1962, 4.

88 Bill Barton, “Senate Opposes Editor,” Mississippian, February 21, 1962, 1.

89 “Ross Declines Comment on Libel Suit,” Jackson Daily News, May 24, 1962, 13; “Governor Silent on Suit Filed By Ole Miss Student,” Daily Herald (Biloxi), May 24, 1962, 1; “Barnett Sued By Students,” Delta Democrat-Times, May 24, 1962, 1, 2; and “Barton Charges Barnett with Libel, Slander,” Daily Journal (Tupelo), May 24, 1962, 1, 21.

90 Ibid.

91 “Ole Miss Student Sues Barnett For Defamation,” Clarion-Ledger, May 24, 1962, 1, 12; and “Student to File Slander Suit,” Vicksburg Evening Press, April 13, 1961, 1.

92 “Billy Barton to Revise Suit Against Governor,” Enterprise-Journal, July 3, 1962, 8; “Judge Squelches Libel Suit Against Barnett,” Delta Democrat-Times, July 3, 1962, 1; “Suit Against Gov. Barnett Is Thrown Out,” Meridian Star, July 3, 1962, 1; “Judge Rules Student’s Suit Against Governor Defective,” Clarion-Ledger, July 3, 1962, 1, 5; “Barton Adds Charges To Barnett Suit,” Daily Herald (Biloxi), July 3, 1962, 1; and “Barton’s Libel Suit Thrown Out of Court,” Daily Journal (Tupelo), July 3, 1962, 1.

93 Billy Clyde Barton v. Ross R. Barnett, William J. Simmons, Mrs. John Aldridge, Mrs. Sara McCorkle, and Albert Jones, 226 F. Supp. 375 (1964), United States District Court N.D. Mississippi, W.D., No. W-C-38-62.

94 Robert Luckett, Joe T. Patterson and the White South’s Dilemma: Evolving Resistance to Black Advancement (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2015), 98. Patterson served as Mississippi’s Attorney General from 1956 to 1969 and was both a member of the Sovereignty Commission and the state Citizen’s Council. According to Luckett, it was Patterson who was charged with enforcing the state’s Jim Crow laws during the heights of the Civil Rights Movement.

95 James “Jimmie” L. Robertson, email interview with author, June 19 and August 8, 2018.

96 Dittmer, Local People, 65; and Roberts and Klibanoff, The Race Beat, 271.

97 Ibid.

98 “The Case of Billy Barton,” Jackson Daily News, March 17, 1961, 8.

99 McMillen, The Citizens' Council, 258. Howie was a segregationist and part-time cartoonist for the Citizens’ Council’s newspaper, although he never left his signature on his work for the white-only organization.

100 “Hinny,” Jackson Daily News, March 15, 1961, 1.

101 Charles M. Hills, “Affairs of State,” Clarion-Ledger, March 14, 1961, 8.

102 Charles M. Hills, “Affairs of State,” Clarion-Ledger, March 17, 1961, 9.

103 Dittmer, Local People, 179.

104 “Everybody Loses,” Hattiesburg American, March 20, 1961, 10.

105 Mary Cain, “The Radical Right-Winger,” Summit Sun, April 13, 1961, 2.

106 Wilkie, Dixie, 55, 61.

107 Richard Iton, In Search of the Black Fantastic: Politics and Popular Cultural in the Post-Civil Rights Era (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2008), 9.

108 Davies, The Press and Race, 112, 113.

109 J. Oliver Emmerich, “Mississippi Must Not Whitewash This Obligation,” Jackson State Times, March 12, 1961, 1.

110 J. Oliver Emmerich, “Mississippi Must Not Whitewash This Case,” Enterprise-Journal, March 14, 1961, 2.

111 J. Oliver Emmerich “There Must Be No Whitewash,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 15, 1961, 4; and “Urges Hearing on Accusations Against Barton,” Daily Journal (Tupelo), March 13, 1961, 1.

112 J. Oliver Emmerich, “The Concept of Freedom is Now Tested in Mississippi,” Jackson State Times, March 16, 1961, 6; and “Mississippi Must Set the Record Straight,” Enterprise-Journal, March 16, 1961, 2.

113 J. Oliver Emmerich, “Proud Moments, Moments of Which We Are Ashamed,” Jackson State Times, March 19, 1961, 2B; and “Occasions for Pride, Occasion for Shame,” Enterprise-Journal, March 20, 1961, 2.

114 Davies, The Press and Race, 287.

115 “Bill Barton and Mississippi’s Future,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 13, 1961, 4.

116 “Democracy Is At Stake,” Delta Democrat-Times, March 19, 1961, 4.

117 “A Fine Choice,” Delta Democrat-Times, April 19, 1961, 4.

118 “Is Simmons Our Spokesman?” Delta Democrat-Times, June 22, 1961, 4.

119 Jan Whitt, Burning Crosses and Activist Journalism: Hazel Brannon Smith and the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2010), 1–3; and Davies, The Press and Race, 244, 250.

120 “State Sovereignty Commission Should Be Abolished,” Lexington Advertiser, March 16, 1961, 3.

121 Hazel Brannon Smith, “Through Hazel Eyes,” Lexington Advertiser, March 16, 1961, 1.

122 Hazel Brannon Smith, “Through Hazel Eyes,” Lexington Advertiser, March 30, 1961; and Hazel Brannon Smith, “Through Hazel Eyes,” Lexington Advertiser, April 27, 1961, 1.

123 “We Don’t Want Censorship of News,” Lexington Advertiser, April 6, 1961, 2.

124 Davis Houck and David Dixon, Rhetoric, Religion and the Civil Rights Movement, 1954–1965, Volume 1 (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2006), 209.

125 P.D. East, “A Misguided Mississippian,” Petal Paper, April 6, 1961, 1, 2. The column was published again in the Petal Paper verbatim on June 29, 1961.

126 Thatcher Walt, “Assignment: Mississippi,” Jackson State Times, March 15, 1961, 14.

127 Thatcher Walt, “Assignment: Mississippi,” Jackson State Times, March 27, 1961, 16.

128 “American Fairness Call For Barnett Action,” Daily Journal (Tupelo), March 16, 1961, 19.

129 “It Could Happen To You,” Mississippian, March 16, 1961, 4.

130 Mississippian, March 16, 1961, 4.

131 W.F. Minor, “Tragedy Marked Newsman’s Life,” Times-Picayune, February 27, 1972, page unknown.

132 Dickerson, Dixie’s Dirty Little Secret, 52–3.

133 W.F. Minor, “Tragedy Marked Newsman’s Life,” Times-Picayune, February 27, 1972, page unknown.