Measure of Progress: The Clyde Kennard Story is a documentary film which premiered in 2018.
Clyde Kennard was an African American born in Mississippi in 1927. He was a civil rights activist who played a significant role in the campaign for equal rights, but his name is not well-known in the general public.
Clyde did not live a long life. Sadly, he died of cancer in 1963. In this film, the story of his life is told by people who knew him and by people who have studied his case.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer and director: Alysia Burton Steele
** Writer and director: Bobby D. Steele, Jr.
** Narrator: Ron Chambers
** Run time: 15 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants (listed in alphabetical order):
** Ellie Dahmer – a family friend
** Alvin Eaton – a family friend
** Eddie A. Holloway – Dean of Students, University of Southern Mississippi (USM)
** Bruce Kirkwood – a student at USM
** Ralph Lindsey – a family friend
** Aubrey K. Lucas – President of USM 1975-1997
** Jerry Mitchell – investigative reporter, The Clarion-Ledger
** Gloria Jean Pack – a family friend
Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the talking heads. Archive footage is used when the narrator is talking.
THE STORY OF CLYDE KENNARD
In 1939 at age 12, Clyde followed his older sister to Chicago. He went to school there. In 1945 at age 18, he joined the army. He served for five years in Germany and for two years in Korea.
In 1952 at age 25, he left the army with an honorable discharge and returned to the US. While serving in the army, he had saved up some money. He used some of this money to buy a chicken farm for his mother and her husband (his stepfather) in Mississippi.
In 1952, he began to study political science at a university in Chicago. Until this time, his life was going quite well. But soon his life would become much more difficult.
In 1955, he received a message from his mother: his stepfather had passed away. Now his mother was alone on the farm. When Clyde received this message, he left the university in Chicago, even though he had not yet completed his studies. He returned to Mississippi to help his mother on the farm.
While he was working on the farm in Mississippi, he also wanted to complete his education. Several colleges were available for an African American, but they were far from Hattiesburg where the farm was located.
One college was not far from his home: Mississippi Southern College (since 1962, University of Southern Mississippi). He wanted to study there. His idea was good, but it had one significant flaw: this college had a policy of whites-only.
In 1954, the US Supreme Court had issued a ruling which says that segregation in American schools is a violation of the constitution. Because of this ruling, Clyde hoped he would be accepted and he sent an application. He was wrong: his application was denied!
The administration did not say he was denied because he was black. They used a technicality: he had to find five graduates from the college who were ready to support his application.
Obviously, all graduates from this college were white. Obviously, he could not find five candidates who were ready to support his application. He accepted that he had to wait for a while.
In 1957, there was a conflict over segregation of schools in Little Rock (Arkansas). Nine black students wanted to enter a high school which did not want them to enter because they had the wrong colour. President Eisenhower sent in federal troops to protect the students and the high school was integrated.
Inspired by this episode in Arkansas, Clyde hoped that the time was right for him. In 1958, he tried to register as a student at the college. His application was denied again!
He was upset, but decided to wait for a while. In 1959, he tried for the third time. His application was denied for the third time!
Each time the college denied his application, Clyde wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, The Hattiesburg American. Each time, his letter was published. Readers of the paper knew what was going on.
Clyde’s letters to the editor of the local paper were also read by the administration of the college. They were not pleased to see how Clyde exposed them in his letters.
The administration contacted the authorities, including the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission (MSC), a secret spy agency which had been established in 1956 to monitor and control the members of the emerging civil rights movement.
The authorities wanted to put a stop to what Clyde was doing. When he left the university office after his third attempt to register and walked back to his car, he was arrested by two police officers who accused him of reckless driving (speeding).
While he was in the office, the officers had planted some bottles of alcohol in his car. When he returned, they searched his car and found some bottles of alcohol. Citing this discovery, they accused him of violating a ban on alcohol in the state.
Clyde was not guilty of reckless driving and he did not drink alcohol, but the police officers did not care what he said. He was charged with violating the law and had to pay a fine.
This was a warning to show him that he had to shut up. No more letters to the editor about African Americans who wanted to study at a college which was reserved for whites!
The authorities were not yet done with Clyde. They decided to frame him for a crime he had not committed.
When a guy who worked in a shop was caught stealing some chicken feed worth 25 dollars, the police told him (the thief) to say that Clyde was the mastermind behind the theft.
Clyde was arrested and charged. An all-white jury found him guilty. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for a crime he had not committed!
He was sent to Parchman Farm which was at the time the worst prison in the state, perhaps in the US. Prisoners had to do hard labour.
While he was there, he was taken ill. The prison guards claimed he was just faking, because he was lazy. This was not true.
When he was finally admitted to hospital, it was discovered that he had cancer. He was really sick. Since it was clear that he did not have long to live, he was released from prison, but it was too late. He died a few months after being released.
THE LEGACY OF CLYDE KENNARD
Clyde had been sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. But he was guilty of one thing: he had offended the system when he stated that segregation was wrong. He had applied to study at a white college. And when he was denied access, he had written letters to the editor about being denied.
In the white community, this was seen as a crime. This could not be accepted. This could not be forgiven. They had to teach him a lesson. And they had to make sure that nobody else would try to do the same thing.
The story of what happened to Clyde Kennard is sad. It has with good reason been described as the saddest story of the whole movement for civil rights.
In the 1950s and the 1960s, when all of this happened to Clyde, the people around him knew he was being railroaded. They knew he was being framed. But they did not have any proof. They were unable to prove their suspicion.
Many years later, the situation changed. When secret documents from the spy agency (MSC) were released, it was clear that the state of Mississippi was the bad guy and that Clyde was innocent. In 2006 he was finally exonerated.
CONCLUSION
This film tells the story of Clyde Kennard. It is a short film about a brave man who had a short life. I wish the film had been a bit longer. I wish the film had presented more details about his case, but all the basic facts are there.
If you are interested in the history of the United States – in particular the movement for civil rights – this short film is definitely something for you.
It is highly recommended.
PS. The University of Southern Mississippi was peacefully integrated in 1965 when the institution accepted two black students: Elaine Armstrong and Raylawni Branch. When they were on campus, the two women were protected by six bodyguards!
REFERENCES
# 1. A website
Americans Who Tell the Truth (AWTT)
# 2. A documentary film
Spies of Mississippi (PBS) (2014)
# 3. A book
The Life and Times of Clyde Kennard by Derek R. King (2018)
# 4. Articles available online
** Timothy Minchin and John Salmond, “The Saddest Story of the Whole Movement: The Clyde Kennard Case” The Journal of Mississippi History (2009) (44 pages)
** Jerry Mitchell, “Civil rights pioneer Clyde Kennard honored by Southern Miss,” The Clarion-Ledger, 4 May 2018
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Clyde Kennard
(1927-1963)
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A historical marker about Clyde Kennard
Erected in Hattiesburg, Mississippi
(2018)
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