A Symbol to the Resistance to Integration: Loewen v. Turnipseed and Guarding Historical Knowledge in Mississippi, 1963–81

In 1969, the Alexander mandate shocked white Mississippians, decrying the “bedlam” that would ensue when black and white students assembled in the same classrooms. Administrators requested emergency federal funds for “integrating” the curriculum while two scholars guided the production of a controversial state history textbook, Mississippi: Conflict & Change, thereby directly challenging the state’s deplorable history standards and instructional practices. Educators employed as textbook screeners guarded subversive ideas from reaching students via instructional materials, and they rejected the text co-edited by James W. Loewen and Charles Sallis. This paper argues that the Loewen v. Turnipseed (1980) case represented a last-ditch effort at state control of historical knowledge, and it examines how reformers faced an arduous task of dislodging state-level curriculum standards. Education professionals and the general public believed honest and critical treatment of Mississippi history would erode parents’ confidence in the public school system, and jeopardize federal mandates requiring integration.