Heritage – James Howard Meredith « The Gentlemen's Standard

James Howard Meredith was born on June 25, 1933 in Kosciusko, Mississippi.
Meredith is a former serviceman in the United States Air Force serving from 1951 to 1960.
He attended Jackson State University from 1960 to 1961.
On October 1, 1962; James Howard Meredith became the first African-American admitted to the University of Mississippi. Meredith was admitted after previously being denied admission three times.
Meredith went on to graduate with a degree in political science in 1963.
From 1964 to 1965, Meredith attended the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and earned a postgraduate degree in economics.
He published his memoir, Three Years in Mississippi, in 1966.
To encourage voter registration amongst African-Americans, Meredith organized a civil rights march, Meredith March Against Fear, extending from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi during which he was shot and wounded by a sniper on June 6, 1966.
Initiated his political career as a Republican, unsuccessfully running against Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
Meredith also received his law degree from Columbia University in 1968.
Amidst controversy, from 1989 to 1991, he became an adviser to southern conservative United States Senator Jesse Helms.
Currently residing in Jackson, Mississippi at the age of 80.