IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 802 

Recognizing the historical significance and the 50th anniversary of the ‘‘James 

H. Meredith March Against Fear’’, a 220-mile walk down Highway 

51 from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 5, 2016 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Mr. HARPER) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the historical significance and the 50th anniversary of the ‘‘James H. Meredith March Against Fear’’, 

a 220-mile walk down Highway 51 from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi. 

Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States, in Brown 

v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), ruled that 

separating children in public schools on the basis of race 

violates the 14th amendment to the Constitution of the 

United States; 

Whereas in the years following Brown v. Board of Education, 

347 U.S. 483 (1954), some Southern States, including 

the State of Mississippi, continued to uphold racial segregation; 


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•HRES 802 IH 

Whereas, in 1962, the first African-American integrated the 

University of Mississippi (referred to in this preamble as 

‘‘Ole Miss’’); 

Whereas, in 1965, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

10301 et seq.), which passed Congress with bipartisan 

support and was signed by President Lyndon Johnson, 

prohibited racial discrimination in voting; 

Whereas, in 1966, 4 years after integration, the first AfricanAmerican student at Ole Miss planned a 220-mile march 

from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Meredith March 

Against Fear’’)— 

(1) to challenge the fear that dominated the day-today lives of African-Americans in the Southern United 

States, specifically in the State of Mississippi; and 

(2) to encourage the 450,000 unregistered AfricanAmericans in the State of Mississippi to register to vote 

and to go to the polls; 

Whereas, on June 5, 1966, the historic Meredith March 

Against Fear began at the Peabody Hotel in downtown 

Memphis, Tennessee; 

Whereas the self-reliant and determined leader of the Meredith March Against Fear carried no food, clothing, or 

sleeping bag, and was joined only by a small number of 

African-American supporters and Whites from the North; 

Whereas on reaching the border between the States of Tennessee and Mississippi, the marchers were greeted with 

hostility; 

Whereas, on June 6, 1966, the Meredith March Against Fear 

continued south along United States Highway 51 


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•HRES 802 IH 

through DeSoto County toward the town of Hernando, 

Mississippi; 

Whereas 150 African-American men and women greeted the 

marchers at the town square in Hernando, Mississippi; 

Whereas the visit of the marchers to Hernando, Mississippi, 

embodied the purpose of the Meredith March Against 

Fear, ‘‘to explain [to African Americans] that the old 

order was passing, that they should stand up as men 

with nothing to fear’’; 

Whereas, on June 6, 1966, about 1 mile south of Hernando, 

Mississippi, the leader of the Meredith March Against 

Fear was shot 3 times by an attempted assassin; 

Whereas, on June 7, 1966, national civil rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Floyd McKissick, 

and Stokely Carmichael, resumed the Meredith March 

Against Fear while their leader recovered from the attempted assassination; 

Whereas planning for the resumption of the march took place 

at the Centenary United Methodist Church in Memphis, 

near the historic LeMoyne-Owen College, and was aided 

by the church’s courageous Reverend James M. Lawson; 

Whereas the resumption of march was aided by the Memphis 

chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. and civil rights leaders Maxine 

and Vasco Smith, Jesse Turner, Russell Sugarmon, and 

A.W. Willis, among others; 

Whereas, over the next 3 weeks, the marchers weathered violence and tear gas, but accomplished what the Meredith 

March Against Fear set out to accomplish; 

Whereas voter rallies and drives along United States Highway 51 resulted in more than 4,000 African-Americans 

registering to vote; 


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•HRES 802 IH 

Whereas the Meredith March Against Fear featured many 

African-Americans defying the intimidation of hostile 

Whites; 

Whereas, on June 25, 1966, the leader of the Meredith 

March Against Fear, along with 125 allies, resumed the 

march from the Canton, Mississippi, courthouse, located 

15 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi; 

Whereas the number of marchers doubled to approximately 

250 by the time the Meredith March Against Fear 

reached the city limits of Canton, Mississippi; 

Whereas 1 mile north of Tougaloo College, the marchers were 

met by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and hundreds of additional followers; 

Whereas hundreds of supporters were led through the ironrod gate at the main entrance to the Tougaloo campus 

in Jackson, Mississippi; 

Whereas, on June 26, 1966, the Meredith March Against 

Fear concluded with a walk from Tougaloo College to the 

Mississippi State Capitol building in Jackson, Mississippi; 

Whereas approximately 15,000 individuals attended the climactic conclusion of the Meredith March Against Fear, 

making it the largest civil rights demonstration in the 

history of the State of Mississippi; and 

Whereas the self-sufficiency and resolve that motivated the 

Meredith March Against Fear made its leader a revolutionary and a powerful figure in the history of the United 

States: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 

3 ‘‘James H. Meredith March Against Fear’’; 


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•HRES 802 IH 

1 (2) recognizes the discipline and focus required 

2 to complete the James H. Meredith March Against 

3 Fear during the most contentious decade in the Civil 

4 Rights Movement to encourage African-Americans to 

5 defy intimidation and register voters; and 

6 (3) acknowledges the significance of the James 

7 H. Meredith March Against Fear. 

Æ 


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