News and Events

 

UPCOMING PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Mr. Jerry Mitchell Talk and Book Signing Thursday, March 26, 5:30 p.m. Historic Eureka School, 410 E. 6th St. Hattiesburg, MS 39401	Investigative journalist Mr. Jerry Mitchell will be talking about and signing copies of his recent book, Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era.
Dr. Sherita Johnson Center for the Study of the Gulf South Research Fellow lecture Wednesday, April 29, 5:30 p.m. Liberal Arts Building 101	Dr. Sherita Johnson will be delivering a talk entitled "Contrabands at Corinth" that draws on her research while a CSGS fellow.

 

 

 

RECENT PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Panel on Violence against Prisoners in Jail, October 30, 2019, Biloxi Visitors Center

Americans in prison are entitled to their civil rights, yet inmates are often defenseless against physical and sexual assaults by correctional officers.  In February 2006, police officers in Gulfport, Mississippi arrested Jessie Lee Williams, Jr. on misdemeanor charges. When Williams was brought to the Harrison County Adult Detention center, he was beaten unrelentingly by jailer Ryan Teal and others. Williams died two days afterwards.  Eighteen months later, Teel was tried in federal court, convicted of using excessive force against Williams, and sentenced to a term of life in prison.  This case puts a spotlight on the state and local facilities that hold the vast majority of U.S. prisoners.  At the end of 2015, 730,000 people were locked up in local jails such as the Harrison County Adult Detention Center.  Consequently, the beating death of Jessie Lee Williams, Jr. and the conviction of Ryan Teel raise troubling questions about conditions in Mississippi jails and draw attention to opportunities for reform.

Panel moderated by Dr. Deanne Stephens, CSGS member.

Panelists include Robin Fitzgerald, retired reporter, Sun-Herald; James Crowell, President, Biloxi NAACP; Michael Crosby, Esquire, attorney representing families of abused prisoners; and USM professors, Mike Wiggington (Criminal Justice, Forensic Science and Security), Vincenzo Mistretta (Film Studies) and Dr. Douglas Bristol, CSGS member. 

Annual Baird Fellow Lecture, Monday, February 17, 2019, 6:00 p.m., Liberal Arts Building, room 101

Ms. Olivia Moore, 2019-2020 Baird Fellow, “‘Divided and Directionless’: Conflicts within Hattiesburg’s Civil Rights Community”