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HAWKINS AIRFIELD, JACKSON AIRPORT, June 7, 1961, RIDE 11

Updated: Jun 21, 2022

The last 3 pictured below: Gwendolyn Jenkins, Robert Jenkins, and Ralph Washington.




Jackson, Mississippi was high on the list of places to be targeted by the Freedom Riders. It had a reputation as the hard core capital of segregation...The state was a hotbed of white supremacy...To investigate and test these facilities was the mission of the three Freedom Riders who flew into Jackson Municipal Airport on June 7, 1961, the first day of the Fly-In...After disembarking, the Freedom Riders proceeded to the terminal, where they fanned out in different directions in an effort to integrate simultaneously the building's segregated service spaces... (from Jim Crow Terminals: The Desegregation of America's Airports, Anke Ortlepp, 2017)


Definitely a book worth reading over the summer.

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