Oral history with Dr. Michael Smith

              Oral history with Dr. Michael Smith
This oral history is provided through a cooperative project of University of Southern Mississippi Libraries and USM's Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage.
Funding provided by a National Leadership Grant for Libraries from the Institute for Museum and Library Services
The transcript is presented here for reference purposes only. Interviews in this collection are protected by copyright. PERMISSION TO PUBLISH MUST BE REQUESTED from the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. Please call ( 601) 266- 4574 for more information.
Biography
Dr. Michael Smith was born in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1942, and moved with his family to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1954. Dr. Smith attended the University of Mississippi as a journalism student. As a student, he became the Oxford correspondent for the Memphis Commercial Appeal and reported many events of the civil rights era, including the enrollment of James Meredith at Ole Miss. Dr. Smith continued his career in journalism, working as the state house reporter for the Jackson Daily News and as a correspondent for both the United Press International and the Associated Press news gathering services.
Dr. Smith continued his education at the Mississippi School of Law, where he earned his J. D. in 1968. He completed his master's in Social Ethics in 1979, at the University of Detroit, and earned his Doctorate of Ministry from the University of the South in 1984. Dr. Smith also was awarded a doctoral degree in education from West Virginia University in 1986 and recently completed his L. L. M. at Tulane.
Dr. Smith is currently a professor of criminal justice at the University of Southern Mississippi and serves as the minister of St. Luke's Anglican Church in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Table of Contents
I. Family Background
II. Early Career in Journalism and the Civil Rights Movement
A. Attending the University of Mississippi and Experiences as a Journalist during the Civil Rights Era
B. Experience as the State House Reporter for the Jackson Daily News
C. Thoughts on the Civil Rights Movement
D. Paul Johnson and the Enrollment of James Meredith at the University of Mississippi
E. FBI Tactics during the Civil Rights Movement
III. The Paul Johnson Administration
A. The Search for Communists within the Civil Rights Movement
B. Effects of the Civil Rights Movement on Mississippi Politics
C. Impressions of Paul Johnson as Governor mus- coh. smithm. doc Page 1 of 17