People
Clyde Kennard (1927-1963): the veteran who tried to integrate Mississippi Southern
The life of Clyde Kennard, an Army veteran and farmer who tried to enroll at Mississippi Southern College, was framed for theft, and died of cancer after prison.
In short
Clyde Kennard (June 12, 1927 - July 4, 1963) was a Black Army veteran from near Hattiesburg who tried for years to enroll at all-white Mississippi Southern College, now the University of Southern Mississippi. In 1959 and 1960 he was arrested on charges later shown to be false, convicted by an all-white jury of buying $25 worth of stolen chicken feed, and sentenced to seven years at Parchman. Denied proper care for colon cancer, he was released in early 1963 and died in Chicago at 36. A Mississippi judge declared him innocent in 2006.
- Born
- June 12, 1927, near Hattiesburg, Forrest County
- Died
- July 4, 1963, Chicago (age 36)
- Military
- U.S. Army, 1945-1952; Korean Service Medal
- Applied to
- Mississippi Southern College, 1955-1959
- Convicted
- 1960, stolen chicken feed worth $25; seven years
- Exonerated
- May 12, 2006, by Circuit Judge Robert Helfrich
Who was Clyde Kennard?
Clyde Kennard was born near Hattiesburg in Forrest County on June 12, 1927, one of five children of Will and Laura Kennard. He served in the Army from 1945 to 1952, earned his high school diploma and several medals, including the Korean Service Medal and the United Nations Service Medal, and studied at Fayetteville Teachers College while stationed near Fort Bragg. He then studied at the University of Chicago before returning to Mississippi to help his mother run her chicken farm.
Why did he apply to Mississippi Southern College?
He wanted to finish his degree close to home, and Mississippi Southern, in Hattiesburg, was the nearby college, open only to white students. He first applied in 1955 and was turned down because officials would not give him the names of local alumni he needed for recommendation letters. He applied again in 1958. In early 1959 Governor J. P. Coleman told him it was not the right time. On September 15, 1959, he was refused again over a disputed transcript, and as he left campus he was arrested for speeding and possessing liquor and fined $600.
What happened in 1960?
In September 1960 he was arrested on a felony charge of receiving $25 worth of stolen chicken feed, convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to seven years at Parchman, the state penitentiary in Sunflower County. At Parchman he was forced to work in the cotton fields while seriously ill. Doctors in Jackson found a large mass in his colon, but he was not given proper care.
How did he die?
After public pressure, Governor Ross Barnett released him in early 1963, and he went to Chicago for treatment, but the cancer was too advanced, and he died there on July 4, 1963. He was 36. Medgar Evers had spoken out publicly against the conviction. His case became one of the starkest examples of how Mississippi punished Black citizens who challenged segregation. The story of how he was cleared is on our page about his exoneration.
Questions readers ask
Why was Clyde Kennard arrested?
After he kept applying to Mississippi Southern College, he was arrested in 1959 on speeding and liquor charges and in 1960 on a charge of receiving stolen chicken feed. Documents published in 1991 showed the State Sovereignty Commission had worked to keep him out of the college, and the main witness later said Kennard was not involved.
Was Clyde Kennard pardoned?
On May 12, 2006, Circuit Judge Robert Helfrich of Forrest County declared him innocent of all charges, after a campaign by journalists, students and supporters.
Sources
- Clyde KennardMississippi Encyclopedia
- Victoria Gray AdamsSNCC Digital Gateway (Hattiesburg context)
We checked every date and name on this page against the sources above. If you find an error, write to contact@fannielouhamer.info.
Continue in the archive
- MovementKennard's exonerationHow Sovereignty Commission files, journalists and students helped clear Clyde Kennard's name in 2006, and how the University of Southern Mississippi honors him.
- MovementVeterans and the movementHow Black World War II and Korean War veterans such as Medgar Evers, Amzie Moore, Aaron Henry and Clyde Kennard helped start the Mississippi movement Hamer joined.
- PeopleVictoria Gray AdamsThe life of Victoria Gray Adams of Hattiesburg: SNCC field secretary, Freedom Democratic Party founder, 1964 Senate candidate and 1965 congressional challenger.
- MovementEmancipation to the ballotHow Black Mississippians voted after the Civil War, how the 1890 constitution took the vote away, and why Hamer still faced a literacy test in 1962.