News

Miss. in 2014 to remember Freedom Summer of 1964

Mississippi civil-rights activists are preparing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer in 2014. Some say race relations might’ve improved, but people must remain vigilant to protect voting rights.

“The struggle to make democracy work still continues,” Frank Figgers, vice chairman of the Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement Inc., said Friday at Tougaloo College in Jackson.

In 1964, thousands of people descended on Mississippi to help with voter registration and to provide education programs for black residents who had been systematically denied full rights as citizens. The work was dangerous. […]

Obituaries

Olen Burrage, suspect in 1964 Klan slayings, dies

Olen Burrage, who was acquitted in the case of three civil rights workers killed by Ku Klux Klansmen in Mississippi in the 1960s, has died. He was 82.

Burrage died Friday March 8 at a hospital, the McClain-Hays Funeral Home Chapel said. The funeral home did not release a cause of death.

Burrage owned land in Neshoba County in central Mississippi where the three civil rights workers were buried under an earthen dam after members of the white supremacist KKK killed them in 1964. He said he knew nothing about the killings and was acquitted of conspiracy in 1967. […]

News

Former governor receives FBI community leadership award

Former Mississippi Governor William F. Winter has been awarded the 2012 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award. Daniel McMullen, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI in Mississippi, presented the award to Governor Winter during the Jackson Field Office All-Employee Conference on Dec. 7.

Since 1990, the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA) has been a principal means by which the FBI has publicly recognized the achievements of individuals and organizations who have worked diligently to prevent crime, drug and gang violence, and to promote education in their community. Each of the FBI’s field offices selects one individual or organization each year to receive this award. […]