Significant Events in African-American History in Oktibbeha County

Significant Events in African-American History in Oktibbeha County. Unity Park. , 1830 The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which ceded land from the Choctaw Indians to the U.S.government, ushered in white settlement and slavery., 1869 Mississippi passed a new constitution granting African-American men the right to vote. , 1869-1876 First African-American officials from Oktibbeha County elected to serve in Mississippi Legislature., 1870-1878 First African-American officials elected to countywide offices in Oktibbeha County., 1890 A new state constitution removed African-Americans from political power and participation., 1895-1900 Starkville obtained six acres of land at the site of the present day Henderson School, and until 1970 this was the site for black education, notably known as the Oktibbeha County Training School., 1951 Dr. Douglas L. Conner began his medical practice in Starkville., Late 1950s Medgar Evers, field secretary of the Mississippi NAACP, visited Dr. Conner to encourage the founding of a local branch in Starkville., 1963 The all-white Miss. State University basketball team broke segregation tradition and played in the NCAA tournament against Loyola (Chicgao), a team with African-American players., 1965 Richard Holmes became the first African-American to enroll at Miss. State University., 1969 The local NAACP chapter was organized. Over 1,000 citizens signed a petition, published in the Starkville Daily News, supporting school desegregation., 1970 The Starkville public schools were desegregated by court order 16 years after Brown v. Board of Education., 1970 An economic boycott of Main Street merchants and protest marches led to the arrests and the jailing of marchers, but resulted in the hiring of African-Americans. Starkville passed anti-demonstration laws, which were thrown out in federal court., 1974 Starkville native, "Cool Papa" Bell was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame for his exploits in the Negro Baseball League., 1977-1979 The first African-Americans since Reconstruction were elected to the Starkville Board of Aldermen, the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors and the Mississippi House of Representatives., 1987 Starkville High School held its first integrated prom., 1995 The Race Relations Team, established in 1993, organized the first integrated celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. St. Joseph's Catholic Church hosted a breakfast, and Second Baptist Church hosted a worship service., 1999 Miss. State University began hosting the annual celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day., 2003 Miss. State University hired Sylvester Croom as the first African-American head football coach in the history of the Southeastern Conference., Photo captions: , (Left to right:) , "What the world needs is more blacks and whites working together for our common good." , - Dr. Douglas L. Conner , "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically... Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education." , - Martin Luther King, Jr. , "Poorly educated people translate into poor people. Education is the one thing that will break the cycle of poverty. It is the only thing that will unlock the door of economic opportunity." , - Governor William F. Winter , "You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea.” , - Medgar Evers, In March of 1963, Coach Babe McCarthy led his Mississippi State University basketball team into the NCAA championship tournament. , The Bulldogs defied a state order by playing the integrated Loyola (Chicago) team in the "Game of Change." , The handshake between captains Gerald Harkness (l) and Joe Dan Gold (r) was a historic event for basketball and the state., "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." , - Fannie Lou Hamer, 2018 Honorees , Rosa Stewart 1902-2004 , Sadye Wier 1904-1995, 2019 Honorees , Wilson Ashford Sr. 1923 - 2012 , Adelaide J. Elliott 1921-2010, 2020 Honorees , Dorothy Louise Bishop 1943-2014 , Carole McReynolds Davis 1942-2014, 2022 Honorees , Monica W. Banks 1958-2016 , Clarence Wolf Taylor 1921 - 1999, 2023 Honorees , W. Bernard Crump 1936-2015 , Ava F. Moore 1949-2014