Pictured are Leslie Burl-McLemore (from left) of Mississippi Freedom Trail Task Force, Evelyn J. Leggette, provost and senior vice president for Academic and Student Affairs at Jackson State University; Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, Robert (Bob) Moses, founding director of Mississippi Council of Federated Organizations; Thomas Calhoun, assistant provost at JSU; City Councilman Charles Tillman, Rico E. Chatman, JSU assistant professor and director of the Fannie Lou Hamer Institute at COFO; Sen. Sollie B. Norwood and Rickey Thigpen, executive vice president of Visit Jackson. PHOTO BY STEPHANIE R. JONES
From Staff Reports
Pictured are Leslie Burl-McLemore (from left) of Mississippi Freedom Trail Task Force, Evelyn J. Leggette, provost and senior vice president for Academic and Student Affairs at Jackson State University; Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, Robert (Bob) Moses, founding director of Mississippi Council of Federated Organizations; Thomas Calhoun, assistant provost at JSU; City Councilman Charles Tillman, Rico E. Chatman, JSU assistant professor and director of the Fannie Lou Hamer Institute at COFO; Sen. Sollie B. Norwood and Rickey Thigpen, executive vice president of Visit Jackson. PHOTO BY STEPHANIE R. JONES
The Fannie Lou Hamer Institute at COFO, located at 1017 John R. Lynch St. in Jackson, unveiled the COFO Freedom Trail Marker Oct. 5, on the campus of Jackson State University.
The Council of Federated Organizations was awarded this historic designation on the Mississippi Freedom Trail. The Mississippi Freedom Trails program is a program of Visit Mississippi (Mississippi Development Authority/Division of Tourism) that celebrates and honors sites in the state of Mississippi that hold historical significance.
This is a special honor for Jackson State University because it is now one of a few institutions serving as the home to two markers. The building on the historic Lynch Street Civil Rights Corridor served as COFO headquarters and was considered the “nerve center” of Mississippi freedom struggle. COFO established a coalition of organizations such as the Congress of Racial Equality, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
COFO was the brainchild of SNCC Field Secretary Bob Moses and an idea championed by Aaron Henry and Medgar Evers. Moses was among those present for the marker’s unveiling.
Bob Moses chats with an attendee after the unveiling of COFO’s Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker. PHOTO BY STEPHANIE R. JONES
JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — Longtime civil rights activist Bob Moses is scheduled to speak Monday at the opening of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s new exhibit “Stand Up!”: Mississippi Freedom Summer 1964.” Moses, […]
February 7, 2014adminNewsComments Off on Civil rights activist wants to strengthen U.S. voting rights, education
JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — Longtime civil rights activist Bob Moses says the United States needs a firmer commitment to voting rights and education, and he’s challenging young people to embrace those issues today to strengthen […]
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