Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Considered one of the most integral organizations in the 1960s, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced “Snick”) functioned to offer young people a voice during the Civil Rights Movement. SNCC was founded during the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) […]

Dahmer, Vernon

Vernon Dahmer, Sr., (1908-1966) was a businessman and civil rights activist in the Hattiesburg area. He owned several businesses, including a sawmill and store, and he served two terms as president of the NAACP chapter in the local area. Dahmer […]

Goodman, Andrew

Andrew Goodman (1943-1964) was a participant in the Freedom Summer movement of 1964.  He originally got his start in the civil rights movement after graduating from Walden School.  He was from the Upper West Side of New York; however, he […]

Chaney, James

James Chaney (1943-1964) was an activist during the Civil Rights Movement, fighting for voting rights for African Americans. He joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1963 and was part of a campaign for voter registration and desegregation known […]

Lee, Herbert

Herbert Lee, a farmer and the father of nine children, was a charter member of Amite County’s NAACP branch. He remained openly active even after Sheriff E.L. Caston raided the chapter’s membership list and records in 1954. After Robert “Bob” […]

Steptoe, E.W.

E.W. Steptoe, born Eldridge Willie Steptoe from Amite County, was owner of a dairy and cotton farm. He founded Amite County’s NAACP chapter in 1953 and recruited nearly 200 members in less than a year. Because of Steptoe and others who […]

Folsom, Jimmy Crawford

Jimmy Crawford Folsom, Sr., was one of the first black men to vote in Union County in the 1930s. He was born in 1871 to parents who both had been slaves who purchased their freedom and later bought a farm […]