MS SC574

Commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement in Holmes County, Mississippi, with a Black History Month Program on February 23, 2014, at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Tchula.

Recognizes 17 Black candidates who ran for county offices in the 1967 Holmes County General Election, the first time since Reconstruction that Black candidates sought elected positions.

Honors Griffin McLaurin, Sr., elected as the first Black county official in Mississippi (Constable), and Robert G. Clark, elected as the first and only Black representative in the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1967.

Acknowledges the role of 800 Black independent farmers in Holmes County who owned 50% of the county's land and served as catalysts for the Civil Rights Movement beginning in 1963.

Notes the significant contributions of young people and national civil rights organizations (SNCC, NAACP, CORE, SCLC) during the Freedom Summer of 1964 and school integration efforts in 1965.