Legal Defense Fund Breaks U. Mississippi Barrier

Document text

The following text has been generated automatically during the document scanning process. It may contain errors, omissions, or incorrect formatting. Please refer to the PDF document if this text is not usable.

Download

By downloading, publishing, or reusing the Materials outside of the Website, you hereby confirm and attest that you have read and agree to the LDF Archival Collection Terms of Use linked below. We draw your attention to the following:

For those Materials owned by LDF, your use of the Material outside the Site is solely for one or more of the following (the “Permitted Purposes”):

Non-commercial research and private study;
Teaching, scholarship and instruction (including distance learning);
Non-commercial print and non-commercial online use;
Criticism, comment or news reporting; or
For people with visual disabilities (See Section 121 of the Copyright Act).
For those Materials not owned by LDF you understand that:
- It is your responsibility to determine whether the way you plan to use the materials falls within the copyright exception of Fair Use.
- For any use outside of Fair Use, it is your responsibility to seek and obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders.

LDF hereby grants you the right to use LDF owned Materials for the Permitted Purposes without seeking further permission from LDF.

If you publish or redistribute any Materials (including excerpts and quotes), you must include a credit line and/or proper citation to the source of the Material. However, you may not use the name of LDF in any manner which creates any false association between you and LDF or that incorrectly implies any sponsorship or endorsement of you by LDF.

NOTICE: Uses that do not comply with these Terms or that do not fall under Fair Use (or another exception) may make you liable for copyright infringement.

Read the full LDF Archival Collection Terms of Use Here.

I agree to the terms and conditions for use of this content.

If you would like to use this content in other ways, contact us at

This item is featured in:

A color photo of Lani Guinier wearing a red shirt while sitting in front of a bookshelf.

Lani Guinier: The Civil Rights Litigator Who “Dared to Be Powerful”

Collection
- Press Releases
Creator
- LDF
Taxonomy
Identifier
- b3ae2792-bd92-ee11-be37-6045bddb811f

Cite this item

Press Releases, Loose Pages. Legal Defense Fund Breaks U. Mississippi Barrier, 1964. b3ae2792-bd92-ee11-be37-6045bddb811f. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/29a47c78-f165-49ea-9bc4-37e9b8eb93e9/legal-defense-fund-breaks-u-mississippi-barrier. Accessed October 28, 2025.

Copied!

    ~ 10 Columbus Circle 

New York, N.Y. 10019 

JUdson 6-8397 

NAACP 

Legal Defense and Educational Fund 
June 11, 1964 

PRESS RELEASE 
President 

jan Knight Chalmers 

Associate Counsel 

Constance Baker Motley 
LEGAL DEFENSE FUND BREAKS 
U. OF MISSISSIPPI BARRIER 

JACKSON, MISS.--A federal judge this week issued a temporary 

restraining order requiring University of Mississippi officials 

to admit 18-year old Cleveland Donald, Jr., a Negro transfer 

student, for the University's 1964 summer session, which began 

today. Acting on a motion brought by NAACP Legal Defense Fund 

attorneys, Judge William Harold Cox of the Southern District 

of Mississippi enjoined further efforts to block Donald's im- 

mediate admission, thereby opening the door for the third 

Negro to enter that state's university. 

In 1962, James H. Meredith became the first Negro to enter 

a previously segregated Mississippi college after lengthy 

litigation. Meredith graduated in August, 1963. In June, 

1963, Cleve McDowell became the first Negro to enter the Uni- 

veristy of Mississippi Law School, but was expelled in Septem- 

ber after being apprehended with a gun on campus. 

Donald is thus the only Negro in attendance at Ole Miss, 

as Legal Defense Fund attorneys are currently appealing 

McDowell's expulsion to federal court, They contend that 

McDowell had a right under state law to have a gun while tra- 

veling on the state highways. 

Efforts to Continue 

Legal Defense Fund attorney Derrick A. Bell, who appeared 

last week on Donald's behalf, indicated that he was extremely 

pleased with Judge Cox's decision and stated, "We shall con- 

tinue our efforts to convince federal judges at the District 

Court level of the correctness of our position in civil rights 

cases." Mr. Bell was joined in the action by Director-Counsel 

Jack Greenberg and Associate Counsel Constance Baker Motley 

in New York and by Carsie A, Hall, Fund cooperating attorney 

in Jackson. 
(more) 

Jesse DeVore, Jr., Director of Public Information—Night Number 212 Riverside 9-8487 So 



Legal Defense Fund Breaks -2- June 11, 1964 
U. of Mississippi Barrier 

Donald has completed one year at predominantly Negro 

Tougaloo College in Jackson and plans a pre-law course, with 

a major in political science. He applied for transfer in 

February, 1964. His application was provisionally approved 

by University officials in May, but before final admission 

could be obtained, the Board of Trustees of State Institu- 

tions of Higher Learning intervened. 

The Board, a state body whose members are appointed by 

the Governor, ordered the University to defer action on 

Donald's application while they sought an opinion in federal 

court as to whether the Meredith decision required them to 

admit all Negroes who applied. Legal Defense Fund lawyers 

contended that the prior decision had been a "class action," 

requiring the admission of all qualified Negroes, but rather 

than litigate this issue--which would probably have required 

a long time--they brought on June 6th a new action seeking 

immediate relief for Donald, whose education will not be 

delayed. 

In support of their motion, Defense Fund attorneys ob- 

tained affidavits showing that the University officials had 

made careful preparations for Donald's admission and protec- 

tion, and that delaying his entrance would not only be 

detrimental to him scholastically, but would interfere with 

the University's plans to enroll him peacefully at the school. 

They further argued that the Board's action was designed mere- 

ly to perpetuate racial segregation at the University. 

Ruling in favor of the Legal Defense Fund attorneys, 

Judge Cox gave little consideration to the Board's contention 

that the admission of Donald would lead to riots and possible 

bloodshed on campus and elsewhere in Mississippi. The 

Defense Fund had noted that the large number of teachers, 

the high proportion of married students and the scholastic 

pressures of the accelerated summer program made it unlikely 

that Donald's admission would occasion events similar to 

those occurring at Meredith's admission. 

=5c0-e

Copyright notice

This collection and the tools to navigate it (the “Collection”) are available to the public for general educational and research purposes, as well as to preserve and contextualize the history of the content and materials it contains (the “Materials”). Like other archival collections, such as those found in libraries, LDF owns the physical source Materials that have been digitized for the Collection; however, LDF does not own the underlying copyright or other rights in all items and there are limits on how you can use the Materials. By accessing and using the Material, you acknowledge your agreement to the Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Materials.

Additional info

To the extent that LDF includes information about the Materials’ origins or ownership or provides summaries or transcripts of original source Materials, LDF does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy of such information, transcripts or summaries, and shall not be responsible for any inaccuracies.

Legal Defense Fund Breaks U. Mississippi Barrier

This item is featured in:

Collection

Creator

Taxonomy

Identifier

Cite this item

Copyright notice

Additional info

You may also be interested in