MAY 28, 1963

The nation’s most violent reaction to a sit-in protest took place when a mob attacked Black and white activists at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi. 

One of them, Tougaloo College professor John Salter, said, “I was attacked with fists, brass knuckles and the broken portions of glass sugar containers, and was burned with cigarettes. I’m covered with blood, and we were all covered by salt, sugar, mustard, and various other things.” 

Salter and fellow protesters Joan Trumpaeur and Anne Moody, who were both Tougaloo students, can be seen in the famous picture of the event. The protest came eight days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state enforcement of restaurant segregation is a violation of the 14th Amendment. 

M.J. O’Brien’s book, “We Shall Not Be Moved: The Jackson Woolworth’s Sit-In and the Movement It Inspired”, describes that event.

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The stories of investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. His stories have also helped free two people from death row, exposed injustices and corruption, prompting investigations and reforms as well as the firings of boards and officials. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a longtime member of Investigative Reporters & Editors, and a winner of more than 30 other national awards, including a $500,000 MacArthur “genius” grant. After working for three decades for the statewide Clarion-Ledger, Mitchell left in 2019 and founded the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.



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