Clyde Kennard (died July 4, 1963) was an African-American in Mississippi who attempted several times to enroll in the state's public institutions of higher learning during the 1950s. Instead, he became a victim of the endemic racism of the era when his efforts resulted in false criminal charges that sent him to prison. July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 180 days remaining. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959. ...

Early Years

Kennard was born in Mississippi in 1927, moving to Chicago at the age of 12 to aid his injured sister, Sarah. He then stayed and graduated from Wendell Hayes High School, then entered the U.S. Army. After serving as a paratrooper during the Korean War, he returned to the United States, and in 1955, at the end of his junior year at the University of Chicago, Kennard's stepfather became disabled, forcing him to take over operation of the family's chicken farm. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee Chung Il Kwon Douglas MacArthur Mark W. Clark Matthew Ridgway Kim Il-sung Choi Yong-kun Peng Dehuai Strength Note: All figures may vary according to source. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ...

The Fight for Education

On three separate occasions (1956, 1957 and 1959), Kennard sought to enroll at Mississippi Southern College, one of Mississippi's premier educational institutions and whose student body was exclusively white. Despite offers from Mississippi governor James P. Coleman to pay for his tuition anywhere else in the state where he could gain acceptance, Kennard declined, stating that the school was closest to his home, a major factor given his family situation. 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A governor is a governing official, usually the executive (at least nominally, to different degrees also politically and administratively) of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the Head of state; furthermore the title applies to officials with a similar mandate as representatives of a chartered company which has... James Plemon J.P. Coleman (January 9, 1914 – September 28, 1991) was a politician from the state of Mississippi. ...

J. H. White, a fellow African-American and president of Mississippi Vocational College (at the behest of Zack Van Landingham of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission), tried to persuade Kennard to end his quest to break the color barrier at M.S.C. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Mississippi Valley State University is a historically black university located in Itta Bena, Mississippi. ... The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission was a Mississippi state agency that existed from 1956 to 1977. ...

After Kennard could not be dissuaded, Van Landingham and Hattiesburg, MS lawyer Dudley Connor worked together to exact revenge on him for his stand. Files from the Sovereignty Commission that were released in 1998 showed that members considered a variety of options, including bombing Kennard's car or forcing him into an accident. Hattiesburg is a city located in Forrest County in Mississippi, a state of the United States of America. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Imprisonment

The Sovereignty Commission instead conspired to have him framed for a crime. On September 15, 1959, Kennard was arrested for reckless driving upon returning to his car from a meeting with Mississippi Southern College President William D. McCain. After he was jailed, police officers claimed to have found five half pints of whiskey, along with other liquor, under the seat of his car. Kennard was subsequently cited for illegal liquor possession. September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

He was convicted and fined $600 for the latter offense, and soon became the victim of an unofficial local boycott whereby his credit cut off. He was then arrested again on September 25, 1960 with an alleged accomplice for the theft of $25 worth of feed from the Forrest County Cooperative warehouse. Kennard went to trial, with the accomplice, Johnny Lee Roberts, testifying that Kennard paid him to steal the feed. On November 21, 1960, an all-white jury deliberated only 10 minutes before finding him guilty, and Kennard was sentenced to seven years in prison to be served in Parchman Penitentiary, a high-security facility. Despite his alleged role in the crime, Roberts was given five years probation and freed. September 25 is the 268th day of the year (269th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... November 21 is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, is the oldest prison and the only maximum security prison in the state of Mississippi, USA. It is located on 18,000 acres (73 km²) in Parchman, Mississippi, and was built in 1904. ...

Just after the conclusion of the trial, Mississippi NAACP official Medgar Evers was cited for contempt after issuing a statement stating that the conviction was "a mockery of judicial justice." Evers was fined $100 and sentenced to 30 days in jail, but on June 12, 1961, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned the conviction. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential hate organizations in the United States. ... Medgar Wiley Evers (July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963) was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi. ... June 12 is the 163rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (164th in leap years), with 202 days remaining. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. ...

Cancer and Death

While imprisoned in 1961, Kennard contracted colon cancer and taken to the University of Mississippi hospital for surgery. The medical staff recommended that Kennard either be put in their custody or allowed to make regular visits to check on his condition. Instead, authorities sent him back to Parchman Prison, where he was used as a laborer. 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Diagram of the stomach, colon, and rectum Colorectal cancer includes cancerous growths in the colon, rectum and appendix. ... The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. ...

Civil rights leaders in Hattiesburg, Miss., then embarked on a campaign to secure Kennard's release, and after the story gained national attention in 1963, Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett gave Kennard an "indefinite suspended sentence." Hattiesburg is a city located in Forrest County in Mississippi, a state of the United States of America. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Ross Robert Barnett (January 22, 1898 – November 6, 1987) was the Democratic Governor of the U.S. state of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. ...

Kennard was released on January 30, with comedian Dick Gregory paying for his flight back to Chicago. He twice underwent surgery at Billings Hospital on the University of Chicago campus over the next five months, but succumbed to the disease just 10 days after the latter procedure. January 30 is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ...

On July 7, a funeral service for Kennard was held at Metropolitan Funeral Parlor in Chicago, with an April 16, 1962 poem written by Kennard read to the congregation. Sensing his limited lifespan, he titled the poem, "Ode to the Death Angel": July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... Nickname: The Windy City, The Second City, Chi Town Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in Chicagoland and Illinois Coordinates: Country United States State Illinois Counties Cook, DuPage Incorporated March 4, 1837 Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area    - City 606. ... April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ...

Oh here you come again

Old chilly death of Ol'

To plot out life

And test immortal soul

I saw you fall against the raging sea

I cheated you then and now you'll not catch me

I know your face

It's known in every race

Your speed is fast

And along the way

Your shadow you cast

High in the sky

You thought you had me then

I landed safely

But here you are again

I see you paused upon that forward pew

When you think I'm asleep

I'm watching you

Why must you hound me so everywhere I go?

It's true my eyes are dim

My hands are growing cold

Well take me on then, that

I might at last become my soul

Three days later, he was buried in the family's plot at Mary Magdelene Cemetery in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Hattiesburg is a city located in Forrest County in Mississippi, a state of the United States of America. ...

Pardon Efforts

In an interview with Jerry Mitchell published December 31, 2005, the informant Roberts asserted that his testimony in 1960 was false, and Kennard had no connection to the crime. [1] December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 2006, three high school students from Illinois: Mona Ghadiri, Agnes Mazur, and Callie McCune, working with their teacher, Barry Bradford (famous for previously helping reopen the Mississippi Burning Case) and Steven A. Drizin of the Northwestern University Law School, spearheaded a movement to convince Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour to issue Kennard a full pardon. 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Haley Reeves Barbour (born October 22, 1947) is the current governor of Mississippi, and a Republican. ...

Standing alone gainst the advice of leading Mississippi politicians, academics, and media outlets, Barbour declined the opportunity to do so, stating that there was no precedent for a posthumous pardon. He ignored the fight led by U.S. Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) which resulted in a posthumous pardon for Jefferson Davis. In addition, he ignored the precedent set in almost two dozen other states and by the Federal Government. He thus became the only Governor in the history of the United States to refuse to pardon a falsely convicted man whom the Governor stated was innocent. He instead designated March 30 as "Clyde Kennard Day," saying that it was the appropriate way to honor Kennard.

Joining this fight were African-American students from the University of Southern Mississippi, who collected more than 1,500 signatures in support of the pardon. The students noted that the school now has more than 2,000 blacks attending.

On May 10, 2006, the Mississippi State Parole Board refused to recommend a pardon, despite pleas from four former Mississippi governors. Tellingly, the Board's vote was split according to racial lines, with all of the white members voting to oppose a pardon recommendation. Every major newspaper in Mississippi denounced the decisions of the Governor and the Board. Kennard's brother-in-law, Rev. Willie Grant, expressed disappointment over the decision, saying that it was based on the premise that the state was looking to avoid any potential litigation damages over wrongful imprisonment. However, the Kennard family had already publicly stated that they had no interest in seeking money. May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Resolution

Faced with the a setback on the pardon request, Bradford and the students from Illinois shifted their efforts to using the courts to secure a reversal of the conviction. They contacted controversial former Federal Judge Charles Pickering and former Mississippi Governor William Winter, who fashioned precedent making legal strategy. Using the historical research conducted by the high school students and the exhaustive legal research prepared by Prof. Drizin and Bobby Owens, a Northwestern University law student from Mississippi, the effort to clear Kennard's name finally paid off. After arguments by Pickering and Winter, heading a blue-ribbon legal team, on May 17, 2006, Judge Bob Helfrich threw out Kennard's original burglary conviction, stating that "To me, this is not a black and white issue; it's a right and wrong issue. To correct that wrong, I am compelled to do the right thing." [2] May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Even with this seemingly final act, the Kennard case still stirs emotions on both sides of the issue. Six days after Helfrich's decree, white supremacist Richard Barrett filed documents to throw out the decision. Barrett, who believes that all black Americans should be deported and returned to Africa, was a vocal supporter of Edgar Ray Killen, the man convicted in June 2005 of manslaughter in the killing of three civil rights workers in 1964. Barrett's motion was later summarily dismissed by Judge Helfrich. Richard Barrett (born 1943) is an American lawyer, White nationalist and self-proclaimed leader in the nationalist Skinheadz (not to be confused with skinhead) movement. ... Killen in middle age Edgar Ray (Preacher) Killen (born 1925) is an American former Ku Klux Klan organizer who conspired to kill several civil rights activists in 1964. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ...

See also

http://www.clydekennard.org