The Ole Miss riot forced federal intervention to desegregate a Mississippi public university, marking the end of the segregationist strategy of massive resistance.
Key Facts
- Date of riot
- September 30 – October 1, 1962
- Troops mobilized
- 30,000 troops
- Marshals injured
- 160 persons
- Marshals shot
- 28 persons
- Civilians killed
- 2 persons
- First integration of
- Any public educational facility in Mississippi
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, James Meredith applied to the University of Mississippi in 1961. His admission was obstructed by university officials and Governor Ross Barnett, who had Meredith temporarily jailed and physically blocked multiple federal-escorted enrollment attempts, while Kennedy administration negotiations with Barnett proved fruitless.
On September 30, 1962, as federal marshals accompanied Meredith for another enrollment attempt, a white supremacist mob incited partly by former General Edwin Walker rioted on campus. Rioters assaulted reporters and federal officers, burned property, and looted vehicles. Marshals defending the Lyceum used tear gas and bayonets; President Kennedy ultimately invoked the Insurrection Act and deployed over 30,000 troops to suppress the riot.
James Meredith successfully enrolled, making Ole Miss the first integrated public educational institution in Mississippi. The riot discredited massive resistance as a segregationist tactic, clarified the federal government's authority to enforce court-ordered desegregation, and prompted subsequent Southern universities to integrate with less direct confrontation. The riot site is now a National Historic Landmark and a statue of Meredith stands on campus.
Political Outcome
James Meredith enrolled at the University of Mississippi, achieving the first integration of a public educational facility in Mississippi after federal troops suppressed the riot.
Mississippi state authorities, led by Governor Ross Barnett, actively defied federal court orders mandating desegregation.
Federal authority over court-ordered desegregation was firmly established, ending the viability of massive resistance by state governments.