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Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission
The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (also called the MSSC or Sov-Com) was a state agency in Mississippi active from 1956 to 1973 and tasked with fighting integration and controlling civil rights activism. It was overseen by the Governor of Mississippi. The stated objective of the commission was to "[...] protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi, and her sister states" from "encroachment thereon by the Federal Government". It coordinated activities to portray the state and racial segregation in a more positive light. Serving governors and lieutenant governors of Mississippi were ex officio members of the commission. The Sovereignty Commission spied on and conspired against civil rights activists and organized pressure and economic retaliation against those who supported the civil rights movement in Mississippi.
The agency was given unusual authority to investigate citizens of the state, issue subpoenas and even exercise police powers, although it was not attached to any law enforcement agency. During its existence, the commission profiled more than 87,000 persons associated with, or suspected to be associated with, the civil rights movement (which it opposed). It investigated the work and credit histories and even personal relations of persons it investigated. It collaborated with local white officials of government, police, and business to pressure African Americans to give up activism, especially by economic pressures, such as causing them to be fired, evicted from rental housing, or to have their businesses boycotted.
After James P. Coleman won Mississippi's gubernatorial election in 1955, he proposed to the Legal Educational Advisory Committee the creation of "a permanent authority for maintenance of racial segregation with a full staff and funds for its operations to come out of tax money." After Coleman took office, the Mississippi House of Representatives proposed House Bill 880, which would create a State Sovereignty Commission. While most legislators and the local media were supportive of the bill, some representatives were skeptical of its power to give funds to private entities, fearing that the body would essentially become a partner of Citizens' Councils, civic groups organized to block desegregation. The House passed the bill over these legislators' objections, though the Mississippi State Senate added an amendment to the measure authorizing the Mississippi State Auditor to review the commission's expenditures. The amended bill was then passed by the House with 107 votes in support and 33 abstentions/absences. Coleman signed it into law on March 30, 1956.
Itself an agency in the executive branch of Mississippi's state government, the State Sovereignty Commission comprised three divisions: executive, public relations, and investigative. The commission was led by a board of twelve members, who determined policy and reviewed its work. It comprised some ex officio members: the governor, lieutenant governor, the Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, and the state attorney general; three members of the House, two members of the Senate, and three others appointed by the governor who served during the governor's term. The governor sat as the chairman of the board and appointed the agency director with the board's approval. The lieutenant governor served as the board's vice-chairman. The commission maintained its offices in the Mississippi State Capitol and retained three secretaries as support staff.
Public relations was originally the main focus of the organization, and from 1956 until 1963 the commission retained a separate director of public relations. The mission crafted for the relations division tasked it with countering negative media attention and perceptions about race relations and segregation in Mississippi. Its investigative division never had more than three full-time investigators, but the commission would sometimes employ part-time investigators or contract work out to private entities. Their job was to "obtain facts which will be of value in protecting the sovereignty of this State and preserving segregation in Mississippi." The Sovereignty Commission's first investigator was Leonard Hicks, who began his position in 1956. In 1958 Zack Van Landingham became an investigator, followed by R.C. "Bob" Thomas, State Representative Hugh Boren, Andy Hopkins, and Tom Scarbrough in 1960. Landingham was a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, and modeled the commission's filing system after the one used by the federal agency. Other principal investigators for the Sovereignty Commission were Virgil Downing, Leland Cole, Fulton Tutor, Edgar C. Fortenberry, and James "Mack" Mohead. Many had worked in law enforcement agencies. Their duties included special assignments from the commission director, but they also carried out routine analyses of racial incidents in the state. They frequently relied upon informants, who were sometimes compensated for their expenses or regularly as much as $500 a month.
The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission served as an organizational template for creation of the Louisiana State Sovereignty Commission (1960–1970), and the Alabama State Sovereignty Commission (1963–1973).
As the state's public relations campaign failed to dampen rising civil rights activism, the commission put people to work as a de facto intelligence organization, trying to identify citizens who might be supporting civil rights initiatives, be allied with communists, or whose associations, activities, and travels did not seem to conform to segregationist norms. Swept up on lists of people under suspicion by such broad criteria were tens of thousands of African-American and white professionals, teachers, and government workers in agricultural and other agencies, churches, and community organizations. The "commission penetrated most of the major civil rights organizations in Mississippi, even planting clerical workers in the offices of activist attorneys. It informed police about planned marches or boycotts and encouraged police harassment of African-Americans who cooperated with civil rights groups. Its agents obstructed voter registration by blacks and harassed African-Americans seeking to attend white schools."
The commission's activities included attempting to preserve the state's segregation and Jim Crow laws, opposing school integration, and ensuring portrayal of the state "in a positive light." Among its first employees were a former FBI agent and a transfer from the state highway patrol. "The agency outwardly extolled racial harmony, but it secretly paid investigators and spies to gather both information and misinformation." Staff of the commission worked closely with, and in some cases funded, the notorious White Citizens' Councils. From 1960 to 1964, the commission secretly funded the White Citizens Council, a private organization, with $190,000 of state funds.
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Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission
The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (also called the MSSC or Sov-Com) was a state agency in Mississippi active from 1956 to 1973 and tasked with fighting integration and controlling civil rights activism. It was overseen by the Governor of Mississippi. The stated objective of the commission was to "[...] protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi, and her sister states" from "encroachment thereon by the Federal Government". It coordinated activities to portray the state and racial segregation in a more positive light. Serving governors and lieutenant governors of Mississippi were ex officio members of the commission. The Sovereignty Commission spied on and conspired against civil rights activists and organized pressure and economic retaliation against those who supported the civil rights movement in Mississippi.
The agency was given unusual authority to investigate citizens of the state, issue subpoenas and even exercise police powers, although it was not attached to any law enforcement agency. During its existence, the commission profiled more than 87,000 persons associated with, or suspected to be associated with, the civil rights movement (which it opposed). It investigated the work and credit histories and even personal relations of persons it investigated. It collaborated with local white officials of government, police, and business to pressure African Americans to give up activism, especially by economic pressures, such as causing them to be fired, evicted from rental housing, or to have their businesses boycotted.
After James P. Coleman won Mississippi's gubernatorial election in 1955, he proposed to the Legal Educational Advisory Committee the creation of "a permanent authority for maintenance of racial segregation with a full staff and funds for its operations to come out of tax money." After Coleman took office, the Mississippi House of Representatives proposed House Bill 880, which would create a State Sovereignty Commission. While most legislators and the local media were supportive of the bill, some representatives were skeptical of its power to give funds to private entities, fearing that the body would essentially become a partner of Citizens' Councils, civic groups organized to block desegregation. The House passed the bill over these legislators' objections, though the Mississippi State Senate added an amendment to the measure authorizing the Mississippi State Auditor to review the commission's expenditures. The amended bill was then passed by the House with 107 votes in support and 33 abstentions/absences. Coleman signed it into law on March 30, 1956.
Itself an agency in the executive branch of Mississippi's state government, the State Sovereignty Commission comprised three divisions: executive, public relations, and investigative. The commission was led by a board of twelve members, who determined policy and reviewed its work. It comprised some ex officio members: the governor, lieutenant governor, the Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, and the state attorney general; three members of the House, two members of the Senate, and three others appointed by the governor who served during the governor's term. The governor sat as the chairman of the board and appointed the agency director with the board's approval. The lieutenant governor served as the board's vice-chairman. The commission maintained its offices in the Mississippi State Capitol and retained three secretaries as support staff.
Public relations was originally the main focus of the organization, and from 1956 until 1963 the commission retained a separate director of public relations. The mission crafted for the relations division tasked it with countering negative media attention and perceptions about race relations and segregation in Mississippi. Its investigative division never had more than three full-time investigators, but the commission would sometimes employ part-time investigators or contract work out to private entities. Their job was to "obtain facts which will be of value in protecting the sovereignty of this State and preserving segregation in Mississippi." The Sovereignty Commission's first investigator was Leonard Hicks, who began his position in 1956. In 1958 Zack Van Landingham became an investigator, followed by R.C. "Bob" Thomas, State Representative Hugh Boren, Andy Hopkins, and Tom Scarbrough in 1960. Landingham was a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, and modeled the commission's filing system after the one used by the federal agency. Other principal investigators for the Sovereignty Commission were Virgil Downing, Leland Cole, Fulton Tutor, Edgar C. Fortenberry, and James "Mack" Mohead. Many had worked in law enforcement agencies. Their duties included special assignments from the commission director, but they also carried out routine analyses of racial incidents in the state. They frequently relied upon informants, who were sometimes compensated for their expenses or regularly as much as $500 a month.
The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission served as an organizational template for creation of the Louisiana State Sovereignty Commission (1960–1970), and the Alabama State Sovereignty Commission (1963–1973).
As the state's public relations campaign failed to dampen rising civil rights activism, the commission put people to work as a de facto intelligence organization, trying to identify citizens who might be supporting civil rights initiatives, be allied with communists, or whose associations, activities, and travels did not seem to conform to segregationist norms. Swept up on lists of people under suspicion by such broad criteria were tens of thousands of African-American and white professionals, teachers, and government workers in agricultural and other agencies, churches, and community organizations. The "commission penetrated most of the major civil rights organizations in Mississippi, even planting clerical workers in the offices of activist attorneys. It informed police about planned marches or boycotts and encouraged police harassment of African-Americans who cooperated with civil rights groups. Its agents obstructed voter registration by blacks and harassed African-Americans seeking to attend white schools."
The commission's activities included attempting to preserve the state's segregation and Jim Crow laws, opposing school integration, and ensuring portrayal of the state "in a positive light." Among its first employees were a former FBI agent and a transfer from the state highway patrol. "The agency outwardly extolled racial harmony, but it secretly paid investigators and spies to gather both information and misinformation." Staff of the commission worked closely with, and in some cases funded, the notorious White Citizens' Councils. From 1960 to 1964, the commission secretly funded the White Citizens Council, a private organization, with $190,000 of state funds.