JAMES MEREDITH

James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights movement figure. He was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi of Native American (Choctaw) and African American heritage. Meredith enlisted in the United States Air Force and served from 1951 to 1960. On October 1, 1962, he became the first black student at the University of Mississippi after being barred from entering on September 20. His enrollment, opposed by Governor Ross Barnett, sparked riots on the Oxford campus, which required federal troops and U.S. Marshals, which were sent by President John F. Kennedy. The riots led to a violent clash which left two people dead, including a French journalist Paul Guihard, 48 soldiers injured and 30 U.S. Marshals with gun wounds. His actions are regarded as a pivotal moment in the history of civil rights. He graduated on August 18, 1963 with a degree in history. Meredith on on June 6, 1966 led a civil rights march, the March Against Fear from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi. During the march James Howard Meredith was wounded by sniper Aubrey James Norvell. The photograph of Meredith after being shot won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in 1967.

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