The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission and Beach Integration, 1959-1963: A Cotton-Patch Gestapo?

Abstract

ON APRIL 24, 1960, THE SEGREGATED BEACHES OF HARRISON COUNTY became the first battleground for integration in Mississippi when nearly 125 black men, women, and children walked upon the sand with the intention of holding a peaceful wade-in demonstration in the Gulf of Mexico. A large group of agitated whites met the protesters at the beach and attacked them with pool sticks, clubs, chains, lead pipes, blackjacks, and a wire cable fashioned into an eighteen-inch-long whip. The assault began what the New York Times called the worst racial riot in Mississippi history, as at least fifteen African Americans sustained serious injuries inflicted by the white mobs who patrolled the area into the next morning. (1) While historians have focused on other segregation protests in Mississippi during the civil rights era, they have paid virtually no attention to the integration of its coastal beaches. Yet beach desegregation in Mississippi is an especially compelling topic, not only as an example of grassroots black protest, but also due to the role played by the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission in the episode. A cloud of secrecy has surrounded the commission since state legislators created it in 1956 to defend segregation throughout Mississippi. Its reticence regarding its activities during the civil rights era has been compounded by the fact that commission files remained sealed until 1998; scholars have consequently written little concerning the agency. (2) Since the coastal protests provide insight into the commission's operation, tactics, successes, and failures in suppressing black equality during the late 1950s and 1960s, the process of Harrison County beach integration significantly illuminates the nature of white resistance in Mississippi during the civil rights movement. (3) The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case played a crucial role in the solidification of white southern resistance to racial change. As Michael J. Klarman has argued, Brown produced a southern political climate in which racial extremism flourished, catapulting into public office politicians willing to use any necessary means to preserve Jim Crow. This proved particularly true in Mississippi, where the decision instigated a new phase of organized white resistance characterized by an increased level of state-subsidized support. Public reaction to the case certainly influenced the 1955 Mississippi gubernatorial election's outcome, as candidate James P. Coleman's vocal opposition to forced integration attracted many voters. Shortly after his election, Coleman promised to release a bombshell measure to fight integration that could be heard `from the Atlantic to the Pacific.' (4) In 1956 Coleman sent a bill to the legislature to create an official bureau, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, dedicated to the preservation of segregation in the state. The commission had the ambiguous power to perform any and all acts and things deemed necessary and proper to protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi, and her sister states, from encroachment thereon by the Federal Government if it forced civil rights legislation and court decisions, such as Brown, on the state. To fulfill these vaguely defined goals, the commission possessed extensive investigative and subpoena powers, the use of fines and imprisonment to enforce obedience to and cooperation with Mississippi's segregation policies, a public relations department, and a two-year state appropriation of $250,000. The governor served as the agency's ex-officio chairman, while the senate president, attorney general, and house speaker held honorary positions. Coleman's bill passed through the lower house with a resounding 130-2 victory, with only 8 abstentions. Despite substantial approval, the commission's broad power and public funding nevertheless aroused misgivings in some state legislators, who pushed for another vote. The bill passed its second consideration with a closer 91-23 vote, as 26 representatives refused to participate. …