A Mississippi Freedom Trail marker has been unveiled where a historic student sit-in took place at Delta State University during the Civil Rights Movement.
The marker was unveiled at the university in Cleveland on Tuesday, commemorating the 1969 student sit-in – a pivotal moment in the university’s history and in the broader Civil Rights Movement in the Mississippi Delta. The ceremony, held in front of Kethley Hall on the 57th anniversary of the demonstration, brought together students, alumni, community members, and several participants from the original sit-in.
In February 1969, members of the Black Student Organization (BSO) presented university leadership with a list of 10 demands addressing concerns that included the need for faculty and counselors of color, fair grading practices, an end to racial slurs in the classroom, and greater academic and cultural representation on campus. When students believed their concerns were not being adequately addressed, they organized a peaceful sit-in at Kethley Hall, formerly the university’s administration building.
On March 10, 1969, 52 students were arrested following the demonstration and transported to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, where they were held overnight. Central District Mississippi Department of Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons, a Delta State alumnus, thanked those who went before him in moving civil rights forward at the university.
“Thanks to you all for what you did in the late 1960s, and today, Delta State University, we are proud to say, has some 3,000 students, and approximately 45% of those are Black. [The university] has 300 staff persons and approximately 45% of those are Black,” Simmons said. “So, thank you for your commitment, for your challenges, and for what you did that allowed us to be who we are today.”
Maggie Crawford, a participant of the 1969 sit-in, recognized her peers who were by her side during the pivotal event, one of whom was pregnant at the time and later lost her child.
“We had about 80 plus [BSO] students, but we had 52 that participated in the sit-in,” Crawford said. “Some were not able to be here today, others have come from the north, the south, the east, and the west, some of us coming in wheelchairs, but we are here.
“And I want to just mention one person that’s not here, and if anybody deserves to be here, it’s this one person. Her name is Joanne Anderson Wynne. Joanne participated, and she was a newlywed person, and she was pregnant at the time, and she lost her baby in this struggle. So, I’d like to just say her name. Will you say it with me? Joanne Anderson. Joanne Anderson.”
The Mississippi Freedom Trail commemorates pivotal people and locations from the Civil Rights Movement across the state.