Browse Items (39 total)

Kenneth Pressley discusses his memories of the scene at Mansfield High School in 1956, including the hanging effigy. "It was a different world back then," Pressley said.

Kenneth Pressley discusses the events he witnessed at Mansfield High School in 1956 during the attempt to integrate the school. He says now it seems like "it's just a part of history."

Kenneth Pressley discusses why he thinks some Mansfield residents were upset about the integration efforts of 1956 during an oral history interview.

The excerpt discusses part of what led to integration efforts in Mansfield. Deacons of the Bethlehem Baptist Church thought if they were paying taxes in the town and had to pay for their children to ride the buses to Fort Worth to school, there must…

On August 31, 1956 segregationists gathered at the Mansfield High School to prevent African American students from registering for the upcoming school year. The same day Governor Allan Shivers dispatched Texas Rangers to Mansfield as a sign to…

Governor Allan Shivers ordered Texas Rangers to be dispatched in an effort to maintain order at the school as segregationists gathered to protest the federal court order to integrate students in 1956. The National Association for the Advancement of…

Shivers philosophy on states’ rights stressed the need to assert the power of the people in contrast to the growth of the federal government. The federal government had been acting against the wishes of many Texans which pressured Shivers to reaffirm…

Shivers reaffirming his support for the interposition proposal and an amendment to the U.S Constitution clarifying and strengthening the Tenth Amendment.

Shivers proposed a referendum to Texas voters on the question of interposition by means of a constitutional amendment.

Continued coverage of the mob at Mansfield and offers a picture of the effigy hanging above the front doors of the high school.