

Thought I’d start this with a familiar name; that of Co-Chair of the House January 6th Committee, Congressman Bennie Thompson. But no, this piece is not about Thompson per se, although in a way it is about the background that shaped the making of Bennie Thompson, or the next generation of Bennie – or “Bernice” – Thompsons. You’re see that connection further down.
Now what led me to writing this was my recent, “Mr. Woolworth, tear down those whites only posters!” that chronicled the student lunch counter sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina that led to the desegregation of lunch counters in other cities. But what’s different for me was the fact that the Greensboro protest was personal since one of the protesters, Pattie Jean Ellis, was raised in my hometown and live on my street.
Which brings us to another protest, this one started by “The Tougaloo Nine,” to which I had an altogether different kind of connection than from my growing up with Pattie Jean Ellis. However, unlike sit-ins at lunch counters that were typical in other cities, the Tougaloo Nine launched a “read in” at a segregated library.
But before we learn more about the Tougaloo Nine and the city of Tougaloo, Mississippi, let’s start with my experiences with Tougaloo folks while I lived in Boston and was socially active with Tougaloo College graduates, all students at the prestigious Harvard Medical School.
Now the first thing that impressed me about those hard-working medical students was their commitment to return and practice medicine in the rural south. Second, I was unsure of the reason why but behind their “southernisms” there was something different and unique about those Tougaloo students. Was it their clean-cut demeanor, abundance of confidence, their social consciousness, the way they carried themselves and how naturally “yes ma’am” and “yes sir” flowed from their lips? I couldn’t put a finger on it. Seemed that the only thing they complained about – as we all did – was those bitter cold winters in Boston.
Looking back, had I not already graduated from college at that time I would have applied for admission to Tougaloo College because, like I said, there was something special – and infectious – about those students from Tougaloo College, something that seemed missing from my college experience.
Turning now to the city of Tougaloo, the college and to the Tougaloo Nine.
Known nationally as the “Cradle of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi,” and the site of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Tougaloo is a city of approximately 900 people. Visitors to Tougaloo typically fly into Jackson, to the nearest large airport.
Tougaloo College is a private historically Black institution established in 1869 for the education of freed slaves. Congressman Bennie Thompson, former Flint, Michigan mayor Karen Weaver, Judge Constance Slaughter-Harvey and NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson are among the school’s notable graduates. In its early years, the college served as a teachers’ training school and has an extensive history of civic and social activism, which takes us to the Tougaloo Nine.

The Tougaloo Nine were students who in 1961 while undergraduates at Tougaloo College, staged sit-ins at the all-white main library in Jackson, Mississippi. Prior to the sit-ins, African Americans were prohibited from using the city’s main library. The Nine—Meredith Coleman Anding Jr., James Cleo Bradford, Alfred Lee Cook, Geraldine Edwards, Janice Jackson, Joseph Jackson Jr., Albert Earl Lassiter, Evelyn Pierce, and Ethel Sawyer—were members of the Jackson Youth Council of the NAACP. Medgar Evers, who was who then president of the Jackson branch of the NAACP trained the Tougaloo Nine for the sit-in protest.
On March 27, 1961, the Tougaloo Nine began their protest by entering the Jackson library. Typical of civil rights demonstrators of that era, the women wore dresses, and the men wore shirts and ties. They requested Black themed books they knew would not be in that facility. When told the books were not there, they returned to the library and attempted to stage a “read in” while sitting at different tables across the library quietly reading library books. The Librarian called the Jackson police who arrived and asked them to leave. When they didn’t, they were arrested and charged with a breach of the peace and jailed.
Later, students from Jackson State College organized a prayer vigil in support of the Tougaloo Nine. Hundreds attended the vigil, which was broken up by Jackson State College President Jacob Reddix, who was backed by city police. Three students—Joyce and Dorie Ladner and student body President Walter Williams, who organized the prayer vigil—were expelled from Jackson State College for their support of the Tougaloo Nine.
On March 28, other Jackson State students boycotted classes in protest, held another rally, and marched to the Jackson City Jail where the nine were being held. They were joined by townspeople led by Medgar Evers. Jackson Police used tear gas and dogs against the protesters. Evers’s supporters raised bail for the protesters who were arrested.
The Tougaloo Nine went to trial in 1961, and were all found guilty of breach of the peace. Each student was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $100. The judge, however, suspended the sentences on the condition that there would be no further demonstrations. Tougaloo Nine’s actions led the NAACP to file a class action lawsuit on January 12, 1962, against the Jackson Public Library, calling for its integration. In June 1962 U.S. District Court Judge William Cox ordered the library to desegregate. Although the Tougaloo Nine episode was one of the first desegregation victories in the civil rights campaign in Mississippi, the story was largely ignored at the time. In 2017, the Tougaloo Nine was honored for their contributions with a freedom trail marker in Jackson, Mississippi.
In the end, to high school students who’re wading through an avalance of college applications, if your ambition is to one day become a doctor, attorney, politician, social activist or a career in some other profession, don’t overlook those hidden gems….chief among them Tougaloo College!
Terry Howard is an award-winning writer. He is a contributing writer with the Chattanooga News Chronicle, The American Diversity Report, The Douglas County Sentinel, Blackmarket.com, recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award, and third place winner of the Georgia Press Award.