EYE ON HISTORY: JFK sends 3,000 troops to Univ. of Mississippi to quell riots
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - On September 30, 1962, President John F. Kennedy sent 3,000 federal troops to the University of Mississippi to quell riots protesting desegregtation.
The violent disturbance on the university was also known as "the Battle of Oxford," as the university resides in Oxford, Mississippi.
Segregationist rioters tried to prevent the enrollment of African American applicant James Meredith. Meredith applied to the university in 1961, following the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.
When the university found out he was African American, his admission was delayed and obstructed by both school officials and then-Governor Ross Barnett, with Barnett even having Meredith temporarily jailed.
Multiple attempts by Meredith, accompanied by federal officials, to enroll were physically blocked. Hoping to avoid violence and ensure Meredith's enrollment, President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy had a series of unproductive telephone negotiations with Barnett.
Into the late morning of October 1, 160 marshals were injured including 28 marshals who received gunshot wounds, and two civilians were killed.
Unaware of the riot, President Kennedy made an Oval Office address, saluting Mississippi's help in registering Meredith. Once informed, Kennedy invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807 and had U.S. Army units, under Brigadier General Charles Billingslea, quell the riot.
The riot and the federal crackdown were a major turning point in the civil rights movement and resulted in the desegregation of Ole Miss—the first integration of any public educational facility in Mississippi.
The final time troops were deployed during the civil rights movement, it is regarded as the end of the segregationist tactic of massive resistance.
A statue of James Meredith now commemorates the event on campus, and the site of the riot is designated as a National Historic Landmark.
