LSU Students Investigate “Cold Case” Murders From the Civil Rights Era

Students at Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communication are seeking to assist investigators on some “cold case” murders from the civil rights era. Students traveled to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., researching cases from rural Louisiana during the 1960s.

Much of the effort was directed on a case involving the murder of Frank Morris, a civil rights activist and owner of a local shoe repair business in Ferriday, Louisiana. Morris died when his business establishment was set on fire, allegedly by members of the Ku Klux Klan. The students found about 800 pages of documents relating to the case in the National Archives.

As a result of this research, the students filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking more than 30,000 pages of FBI investigation files relating to the Morris case and other unsolved murders. The students will return to Washington in the fall and again next spring to begin going over the documents from the FBI cold case files.

Frank Morris' shoe repair business in Ferriday, Louisiana.

 

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

George Mason University’s Philip Wilkerson Named Mentor of the Year

Philip Wilkerson, an employer engagement consultant for career services at George Mason University in Farifax, Virginia, received the Mentor of the Year Award from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Oakwood University Wins 2024 Honda Campus All-Star Challenge

The Honda All-Star Challenge is an annual academic competition for students and faculty at historically Black colleges and universities. This year's top finisher, Oakwood University, received a $100,000 grant for their win.

Eight Black Scholars Appointed to New Faculty Positions

Here is this week’s roundup of African Americans who have been appointed to new faculty positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States. If you have news for our appointments section, please email the information to contact@jbhe.com.

MIT Launches HBCU Science Journalism Fellowship

The new HBCU Science Journalism Fellowship will provide students from Howard University, Hampton University, Florida A&M University, Morgan State University, and North Carolina A&T State University with hands-on training and individualized mentorship to develop their journalistic skills.

Featured Jobs