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 Mis-
sissippi, and Mr. HARPER) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the historical significance and the 50th anniver-
sary of the ‘‘James H. Meredith March Against Fear’’, 
a 220-mile walk down Highway 51 from Memphis, Ten-
nessee, 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 seg-
regation; 
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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 African- 
American student at Ole Miss planned a 220-mile march 
from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi (re-
ferred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Meredith March 
Against Fear’’)— 
(1) to challenge the fear that dominated the day-to- 
day lives of African-Americans in the Southern United 
States, specifically in the State of Mississippi; and 
(2) to encourage the 450,000 unregistered African- 
Americans 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 Mere-
dith 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 Ten-
nessee 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, in-
cluding Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Floyd McKissick, 
and Stokely Carmichael, resumed the Meredith March 
Against Fear while their leader recovered from the at-
tempted 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 vio-
lence and tear gas, but accomplished what the Meredith 
March Against Fear set out to accomplish; 
Whereas voter rallies and drives along United States High-
way 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 ad-
ditional followers; 
Whereas hundreds of supporters were led through the iron- 
rod 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 cli-
mactic 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 revolu-
tionary and a powerful figure in the history of the United 
States: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 
‘‘James H. Meredith March Against Fear’’; 
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•HRES 802 IH 
(2) recognizes the discipline and focus required 
to complete the James H. Meredith March Against 
Fear during the most contentious decade in the Civil 
Rights Movement to encourage African-Americans to 
defy intimidation and register voters; and 
(3) acknowledges the significance of the James 
H. Meredith March Against Fear. 
Æ 
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