Alcorn State University: Founded in 1871
Subscribe to us on:
Founded in 1871 - Location: Lorman, Mississippi
Alcorn State University was founded in 1871. It sits near the banks of the Mississippi River, in the southeast part of the state—in Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded during Reconstruction, during a period of time where African Americans made educational and political progress, before the door was slammed shut again. For example, 226 Black Mississippians held public office during Reconstruction, compared with just reportedly 20, in Tennessee. (Phillips, 2006).
Hiram Revels, for instance, was the first African American to be seated in the U.S. Congress. He was elected by the state’s legislature, in 1870, to replace the confederate supporters from Mississippi who vacated their seats in the U.S. Senate. Revels became the first African American U.S. Senator and the first African American to serve in the U.S. Congress.
Alcorn State is named after Jame Lusk Alcorn, a white man was a former slave owner and was governor of Mississippi at the time. He reached out to the Republican Party and joined the Republican Party after the war.
Alcorn State enjoyed financial support from the state that many institutions did not enjoy. It has been a beacon of higher learning in a rural area where many African Americans might not have had access to higher education.
Some notable African Americans who were affiliated with or graduated from Alcorn State:
Hiram Revels—the first African American in the U.S. Congress, that we spoke of, became the first president of Alcorn State.
Alex Haley—who is the author of Roots and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, enrolled in Alcorn State for a brief period of time.
But, perhaps one of its most distinguished alumni (in my opinion) is Medgar Evers.
Medgar Evers was born in Mississippi in 1925. Medgar Evers was an intelligent young man who volunteered to fight in World War II, in 1942. He was assigned to a segregated unit that deployed to France. He was discouraged by the racial segregation he experienced during the war and returned home to Mississippi determined to register to vote. He did just that, but on election day white citizens, armed with weapons, prevented him and others from going in to vote and drove them away at gunpoint. This strengthened his resolve and attended Alcorn State from 1948 to 1952, when he graduated. In 1954 he applied for admission to the University of Mississippi’s Law School, but was denied admission.
The NAACP took up Medgar Evers’ case in an effort to try to desegregate the University of Mississippi’s Law School—but was unsuccessful, yet this relationship with the NAACP would grow. Medgar Evers would become the first state field officer for the (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), in Mississippi—a very dangerous position to hold.
Medgar Evers took on this role with an undaunting courage. He worked to organize voter registration drives, he investigated crimes against African American people at a time when no one was willing to stand in certain cases, and he set up boycotts against businesses that did treat African American customers equally.
In 1955, he investigated the murder of Emmett Till, on the ground—looking for people who knew what happened in the time leading up to the murder and who were willing to testify. This was obviously dangerous work.
His efforts helped to double the amount of people in the NAACP in Mississippi and he, himself, became a target.
In 1963 two attempts to kill him were not successful, but he organized a boycott of businesses in Mississippi. On the night of June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy gave an address to the nation from the Oval Office. There he outlined the atrocities African American citizens had to face on a day-to-day basis and asked Congress to address through legislation in a national way. Hours later, Medgar Evers came home from an NAACP meeting caring t-shirts that said, “Jim Crow must go.” As he walked up the driveway toward his front door, his wife and children were still up as they were watching coverage of Kennedy’s historic speech. Just then, a shot rang out and struck Medgar Evers in the back. He was dead about an hour later.
His death meant so much to the people of Mississippi and to freedom fighters around the world—it said that you can be a young person, fighting for truth and that your life could matter, well beyond your death. Despite his death, his life became a rallying cry…so much so that when I was younger I can remember saying “Marcus, Medgar, Martin, Mandela and Me…”
References:
Medgar Evers. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Accessed October 6, 2022. https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/medgar-evers
Notable Alcornites. Alcorn State University. Accessed October 6, 2022. https://www.alcorn.edu/discover-alcorn/notable-alcornites
Pecoraro, Vince. U.S. Army video. Arlington National Cemetery. Medgar Evers - Civil Rights and Segregation Walking Tour. February 28, 2022. Accessed October 6, 2022. YouTube.
Phillips, Jason. Reconstruction in Mississippi, 1865-1876. Mississippi History Now. Mississippi Historical Society. Mississippi Department of Archives & History. Accessed October 6, 2022. https://mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/issue/reconstruction-in-mississippi--1865-1876.
Posey, Dr., Josephine. Against Great Odds: The History of Alcorn State University (1994). History. The History of Alcorn State University. Accessed October 6, 2022. https://www.alcorn.edu/discover-alcorn/history
President John F. Kennedy's Civil Rights Address. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Delivered June 11, 1963, White House Oval Office. C-Span. Accessed October 6, 2022. https://youtu.be/7BEhKgoA86U
Smithsonian Channel. Justice for Medgar Evers Comes 30 Years after His Murder. December 11, 2019. Accessed October 6, 2022. YouTube.