During the Crisis

A mob of some 200-400 Mansfield citizens formed outside the doors of Mansfield high school on August 30th, 31st, and September 4th 1956. This mob gathered in order to make sure that segregation continued at Mansfield High. During the crisis two more effigies were found. One hanging from the flagpole outside the school and one hanging above the entrance to the school. State newspapers continued to cover the violence and court procedings during the days of the crisis.

During the Mansfield Crisis, news coverage by the white newspapers were focused on the events in front of the school, highlighting the tensions and altercations that occured. Several used the clashes in Sturgis, KY and Clinton, TN to draw comparisions to the events in Mansfield. The actions by Governor Shivers and inaction by President Eisenhower were highlighted, some with praise, others with condemmation, by both black and white newspapers. Coverage of the appeals process by J. A. Gooch on behalf of the school board was outlined also by both black and white newspapers. Events in Fort Worth surrounding the integragtion of a black family into an all white neighborhood were also documented by black and white newspapers.