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Citizens' Council

The Citizens' Council, founded in Indianola, Mississippi in 1954 following the Brown v. Board decision, was very powerful in working to maintain segregation in Mississippi. 

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Digital Collection

Citizens' Council

The Citizens’ Council, founded in Indianola, Mississippi in 1954 following the Brown v. Board decision, was very powerful in working to maintain segregation in Mississippi. The Citizens’ Council radio Forum ran from 1957-1966 and features dozens of national and Mississippi politicians and covers topics ranging from reaction to the Civil Rights Act to the fear of Communism. Mississippi State University Libraries is the only repository who has the complete run of the Forum; thanks to a $25,000 Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources, the original open reel magnetic audio tapes were digitized by the Northeast Document Conservation Center and are now available to researchers. Transcripts for most of the tapes are also available and searchable in this collection. Mississippi State University alumnus Dr. Stephanie Rolph transcribed the Forum tapes as part of her dissertation and donated them to Mississippi State University Special Collections.