On this 50th-year anniversary of "Alexander v. Holmes Board of Education" (1969) nationally enforcing school desegregation in fall 1970, Mississippi is being sued for racial disparities in public education between Black students and White students in Williams et al. v. Bryant et al. (2017). Using quantitative and qualitative primary…

This paper focuses on how shifting conceptions of youth underpinned young people's activism in the 1950s and 1960s. This paper specifically examines conceptions of youth as it changed throughout the twentieth century. G. Stanley Hall articulated a distinct notion of "adolescence" in the early twentieth century. But the "Scottsboro…

In 1956, southern Congressmen signed the Southern Manifesto, rejecting the Supreme Court's "Brown v. Board of Education" ruling. This moment, in the general American consciousness, marked the rise of White massive resistance to Black advancement, a racist foray doomed to be swept aside by civil rights forces and a determined federal…

The Mississippi Association of Independent Schools was born out of the turbulent years of the Civil Rights Era. "Plessy v. Ferguson" in 1896 had established the doctrine of separate but equal facilities, including schools. While the decision in "Brown v. Board of Education," handed down by the Supreme Court in 1954, ruled that…

In this study, I employ geospatial techniques to assess the impact of school attendance zone "gerrymandering" on the racial/ethnic segregation of schools, using a large national sample of 15,290 attendance zones in 663 districts. I estimate the effect of gerrymandering on school diversity and school district segregation by comparing the…

The purpose of this study was to explore the learning experiences and teachers' behaviors valued by students who attended southern rural segregated schools during the 1940s-1960s, The qualitative data yielded four themes: (a) memories of caring teachers, (b) memories of teachers as professionally, (c) memories of teachers as participants of the…

In this article, the author talks about the disaster in the United States that reignited a debate about poverty and the responsibility of government--and government schools--that had never really gone away in the first place. Hurricane Katrina was one of the biggest natural disasters in the U.S. that swept through four states, killed more than…

The Brown Decision, whose 50th Anniversary was observed in 2004, was a landmark case that ended the doctrine of separate but equal. During the observation of the anniversary, many pundits reflected on the political, social, and historical significance of Brown. This article takes a different approach in reflecting on the importance of Brown. A…

Schools in Mississippi have undergone phases of change in which racial segregation and patterns of resistance to change have been influenced significantly by residential segregation at the local level and by racial composition of the population at broader scales. The fifth phase is likely to be a return to some form of dual school system.…

Describes a study of the achievement of four hundred and fifty first graders in the Gulfport, Mississippi Separate School District in connection with a federally financed project to study the effect of improved Educational conditions. (JM)

The geography of schools in Mississippi have undergone many phases of change during the past three decades. Racial segregation in schools and patterns of resistance to change have been influenced signigicantly by residential segregation at the local level and by the racial composition of the population at broader scales. (RJ)

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) State of American Business: U.S. Chamber of Commerce Says U.S. Could Face a "Severe Worker Shortage" Unless…

Examines the foundation of private segregationist academies across Mississippi counties following court-ordered desegregation, 1969-71. Argues that the establishment of academies was a countermovement strategy emerging from the prior history of organized white resistance to the civil rights movement, and was a response to the social-movement…

During a two-week period from September 14-26, 1970, the National Education Association Task Force visited a total of 70 school districts in Mississippi and Louisiana. Team members met with teachers, principals, parents, lay citizens, and civil rights and other community groups, and, wherever possible, they visited schools and conferred also with…

Argues that Mississippi has used every effort to block the higher education aspirations of its black citizens and describes the state's latest effort that involves setting higher admissions standards at the state's predominantly black universities. The history of unequal funding of higher education in the state is highlighted, as well as political…