Sept. 3, 2019
East Central Community College’s Burton Library will host “Stand Up!” : Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964 Sept. 3-30, 2019, on the campus in Decatur. There is no charge for admission and the public is invited to attend during regular library hours, which are 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays, and 4 to 9 p.m. on Sundays.
The exhibit is a part of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History traveling exhibits program and, according to Leslie Hughes, ECCC dean of learning resources, is being hosted in conjunction with the college’s recognition of Constitution Day, which is Sept. 17, 2019.
A reception provided by Chef Barry Karrh and students in the college’s Culinary Arts Technology program will be held Sept. 10 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the library.
According to a release by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, in 1964, Freedom Summer made Mississippi the central battleground of the Civil Rights Movement. Hundreds of northern students, most of them white, joined black Mississippians to register voters, conduct Freedom Schools, and promote civil rights. Throughout that summer, project staff endured threats, arrests, beatings, bombings, and murder.
“Stand Up” looks at the events of that memorable and violent summer. It is accompanied by an original film incorporating historic film footage taken during the summer of 1954 as well as Educating for Democracy, a collection of primary source documents related to Freedom Summer. The companion exhibit “Murder in Neshoba” examines the disappearance and murder of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County.
