On April 26, 2023, Devery S. Anderson discussed his new book A Slow, Calculated Lynching: The Story of Clyde Kennard as part of the History Is Lunch series.
Before James Meredith, there was Clyde Kennard. Years before Meredith became the first Black student at the University of Mississippi, Kennard attempted to desegregate Mississippi Southern College—now the University of Southern Mississippi. The Korean War veteran was rejected, and his second application drew the wrath of the governor, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, and other high-ranking entities determined to keep him out.
Anderson examines the relentless subterfuge against Kennard, including two successful attempts to frame him. This second conviction resulted in a sentence of seven years hard labor at Mississippi State Penitentiary. While imprisoned Kennard developed cancer, was denied care, and died six months after the governor commuted his sentence.
“It’s important for people to know the story of Clyde Kennard, and that it was not always vigilantes who tried to destroy a person,” Anderson said. “In this case, it was government officials and others in positions of trust and leadership.”
William Sturkey, author of Hattiesburg: An American City in Black and White, wrote that “Clyde Kennard was a dreamer and optimist whose courageous struggle to attend his hometown university was halted by actors who were far more committed to racial segregation and white power than any possible measure of merit or justice. Devery S. Anderson has finally given us the Clyde Kennard book that we deserve, well-researched and sympathetic, with a touch of righteous indignation.”
Devery S. Anderson earned a BA in history from the University of Utah and an MA in publishing from George Washington University. His book Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement was published in 2015 by the University Press of Mississippi and is the basis for the ABC TV series Women of the Movement. Anderson is marketing manager for Signature Books in Salt Lake City and the editor or co-editor of four books related to Mormons and the West, two of which won the Steven F. Christensen Award for Best Documentary from the Mormon History Association.
History Is Lunch is sponsored by the John and Lucy Shackelford Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation for Mississippi. The weekly lecture series of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History explores different aspects of the state's past. The hour-long programs are held in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum building at 222 North Street in Jackson and livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
