HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Marches, sit-ins, Freedom Summer Schools, non-violent resistance – all of these were tools used in the Civil Rights Movement to bring about racial justice.

But University of Southern Mississippi graduate Vanessa Murphree shows how public relations tactics were also crucial to the success of the movement in her recent book “The Selling of Civil Rights: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Use of Public Relations.”

The book details how community-oriented and grass roots communication efforts, similar to classic public relations tactics, can be used for social reform.

“Some may raise an eyebrow when you say ‘public relations campaign’ when talking about the civil rights movement, but I believe public relations were central to everything they did,” said Murphree, now an assistant professor at the University of South Alabama where she teaches public relations. She graduated from Southern Miss in 2002.

“I believe we think more about public relations as being central to business and corporations, but it’s much broader than that,” she said. “That’s the point I wanted to make in the book - that it can be an important element of social change, as it was in the work of SNCC. In most social movements, you would find that these organizations use a great number of public relations tactics.”

Murphree said it didn’t take long into her research to see how integral classic public relations tactics were to work of the SNCC. “They had what was called a communications section, a communications director, communications assistants – those essentially are public relations jobs,” she said.

SNCC also maintained a list of media contacts, arranged special events, conducted fundraising, produced brochures and used photography – all typical activities of a public relations effort.

Dr. Chris Campbell, director of the Southern Miss School of Mass Communication and Journalism, said Murhpree’s work is an extension of what he says is an impressive body of research related to civil rights and the media that has come out of Southern Miss. 

"Vanessa's examination of the use of public relations techniques in the civil rights movement is useful in showing how these communication strategies were used to advance social justice,” he said. “It's an important work that I hope practitioners will take the time to read, and see how their work can improve the lives of people in their communities."

Along with her recent book, Murphree has written about crisis communication and historical perspectives of public relations. She is a member of the American Journalism Historians Association, which awarded her an honorable mention for "Best Dissertation" and an award for "Best Article" in the organization's journal.

Murphree is also a member of the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the Public Relations Council of Alabama and the Public Relations Society of America.

Click to enlarge

About The University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi, founded in 1910, is a comprehensive doctoral and research-extensive university fulfilling its mission of being a leading university in engaging and empowering individuals to transform lives and communities. In a tradition of leadership for student development, Southern Miss is educating a 21st century work force providing intellectual capital, cultural enrichment and innovation to Mississippi and the world. Southern Miss is located in Hattiesburg, Miss, with an additional campus and teaching and research sites on the Mississippi Gulf Coast; further information is found at www.usm.edu .