Integration Now

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288 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 8 halftones, 1 map, notes, bibl., index

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4696-4855-2
Published: February 2019
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-6874-1
Published: November 2021
E-book EPUB ISBN: 978-1-4696-4856-9
Published: February 2019
E-book PDF ISBN: 979-8-8908-5647-0
Published: February 2019

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Author Podcast

Recovering the history of an often-ignored landmark Supreme Court case, William P. Hustwit assesses the significant role that Alexander v. Holmes (1969) played in integrating the South’s public schools. Although Brown v. Board of Education has rightly received the lion’s share of historical analysis, its ambiguous language for implementation led to more than a decade of delays and resistance by local and state governments. Alexander v. Holmes required “integration now,” and less than a year later, thousands of children were attending integrated schools.

Hustwit traces the progression of the Alexander case to show how grassroots activists in Mississippi operated hand in glove with lawyers and judges involved in the litigation. By combining a narrative of the larger legal battle surrounding the case and the story of the local activists who pressed for change, Hustwit offers an innovative, well-researched account of a definitive legal decision that reaches from the cotton fields of Holmes County to the chambers of the Supreme Court in Washington.

About the Author

William P. Hustwit is associate professor of history at Birmingham-Southern College and the author of James J. Kilpatrick: Salesman for Segregation.
For more information about William P. Hustwit, visit the Author Page.