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James Meredith
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James Meredith James Meredith, wearing a suit, walks toward a building entrance at the University of Mississippi, flanked by federal marshals and officials, with onlookers behind them.
At a Glance
Martin Luther King, Jr. (center), with other civil rights supporters lock arms on as they lead the way along Constitution Avenue during the March on Washington, Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963.
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Martin Luther King, Jr. (left of centre) and Malcolm X (right) waiting for a press conference, 1964.
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James Meredith
James Meredith James Meredith (center) with federal marshals, University of Mississippi, October 1, 1962.

James Meredith

American civil rights activist
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History

James Meredith (born June 25, 1933, Kosciusko, Mississippi, U.S.) is an American civil rights activist who gained national renown at a key juncture in the civil rights movement in 1962, when he became the first African American student at the University of Mississippi. State officials, initially refusing a U.S. Supreme Court order to integrate the school, blocked Meredith’s entrance, but, following large campus riots that left two people dead, Meredith was admitted to the university...

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