Wading in - 9781496850348

University Press of Mississippi

Wading inDesegregation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast\nAuthor(s): Amy Lemco\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: University Press of Mississippi, United States\nImprint: University Press of Mississippi\nISBN-13: 9781496850348, 978-1496850348\nSynopsis\nWading In: Desegregation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast frames the fight for beach and school desegregation within the history of Black life in Biloxi, beginning with the arrival of slave ships on the Gulf Coast islands in 1721. Detailing the buildup of Back-of-Town businesses, lynchings in the early 1900s, and national and state legislation repressing Black progress, author Amy Lemco contextualizes the regional atmosphere Dr. Gilbert Masona resilient civic leader, humanitarian, and lover of the waterand his family encountered in 1955. Using extensive archival records and interviews with survivors, the book chronicles how Dr. Mason inspired and helped organize local Black activists to peacefully protest the apartheid of Biloxi's beaches. \n\nD.