Eddie Brooks was a SNCC field worker in Clay County in the mid-1960s.
Source:
Clay – People/Persons
Brooks, Eddie
Buffington, John
John Buffington was SNCC field worker in Clay County in the mid-1960s, served as chairman of the Clay County Community Development Organization, and was also a member of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
Source:
Buffington, Terry
Terry Buffington was born in West Point, Mississippi, where she attended segregated schools. As a young woman, she became involved with SNCC in Clay County. She studied Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi and later became an anthropologist and civil rights oral historian.
Source:
Thomas, John
John Thomas was a long-time civil rights advocate who was shot and killed in front of a grocery store in West Point, Mississippi, on August 14, 1970. His killer, a white man named Seth Stanley, was later acquitted by an all-white jury.
Source:
Jackson Sr., John W.
Jackson was an organizer and charter member of Clay County Chapter NAACP. Jackson also assisted in organizing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic party and spearheaded the class action suit for desegregation of West Point City School System. Jackson co-founded the Prairie Minority Development Association, which provided assistance to minority businesses in a ten county area. Jackson was the first black to run for city Board of Selectmen and first black to run for State legislature during onset of civil rights movement. He was awarded “The Award of the Decade” by Clay County Chapter NAACP.
Sources:
West Point Hall of Fame
Darley, Dede L. Jackson
Darley was the first black teacher to teach in West Point High School after desegregation in 1969. She taught in the West Point School System for forty-seven years.
Sources:
West Point Hall of Fame
O’Neal, Louis James
O’Neal served as president of the NAACP Clay County Chapter and received the Johnny Jackson NAACP Award.
Sources:
West Point Hall of Fame
Davis, Ernest
Davis was the first black policeman to serve in West Point. Davis was also the first school bus driver for black children.
Sources:
West Point Hall of Fame
Orr, John Nelson (J.N.)
Orr was the first African American elected to the City Board of Selectmen in West Point. He served two terms.
Sources:
West Point Hall of Fame
Robbins, Rev. William Ivory (W.I.)
Robbins began his ministerial work at age twenty-six. He served as pastor of Mt. Herman Baptist Church for twenty-seven years and St. Paul Baptist Church of West Point for twenty-three years. Robbins helped bring stability to the civil rights movement in West Point.
Sources:
West Point Hall of Fame