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Clyde Kennard

The Clyde Kennard Story

A Civil Rights Pioneer

Clyde Kennard, a civil rights pioneer, led the way in desegregation in higher education in Mississippi.

Clyde Kennard paved the pathway for aspiring students of color to integrate and graduate from the university. History records that the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission orchestrated tenacious efforts to prohibit his enrollment because he was Black.

 

A CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER

A Measure of Progress: The Clyde Kennard Story



A Measure of Progress: The Clyde Kennard Story
is a documentary produced with the hope to spark an open dialogue about race relations and make Kennard's voice heard, not just at the University, but in the community.

The documentary was produced by Steele, Ji Hoon Heo and Bobby D. Steele Jr., in partnership with the Freedom50 Research Group — Johnson, Jenkins, and USM's Rebecca Tuuri and Loren Saxton Coleman. It was made possible thanks to a generous $7,500 humanities-based racial equity grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. 

Read the story in the Hattiesburg American

"When we started these discussions on the documentary, we wanted something archival. We wanted something where students, the community could have, could go and say this is the Clyde Kennard story."

Cheryl Jenkins, associate director of Center for Black Studies at Southern Miss


Clyde Kennard Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker Unveiling

On February 13, 2018 we celebrated the unveiling of the Clyde Kennard Mississippi Freedom Marker at USM, as he was honored with the 25th marker from The Mississippi Freedom Trail task force. The marker is located on the lawn of Kennard-Washington Hall, the student services building named after Kennard and Walter Washington, the first black student to receive a doctoral degree from Southern Miss.

Photo Collage of the Clyde Kennard Marker Unveiling

Photo Collage of the Clyde Kennard Marker Unveiling

All images © 2018 Sherita L. Johnson. Permissions to use any of these images must be obtained from the creator.
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Hattiesburg, MS  39406

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