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

California State University Sacramento Launches Black Honors College

Officially launching for the fall 2024 semester, the Black Honors College will support students from all backgrounds who study Black history, life, and culture by providing them with a specialized curriculum and mentoring opportunities.

Higher Education Gifts or Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

In Memoriam: Norman B. Anderson, 1955-2024

Dr. Anderson was the assistant vice president for research and academic affairs at Florida State University at the time of his death. He had an extensive career in clinical psychology, which led him to become the first African American chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association.

Georgia State University Launches Program to Support Black Women in Tech

While Black women account for roughly 29 percent of the Georgia State University undergradaute student body, they represent only 10 percent of the university's computer science majors and 18 percent of the computer information systems majors.

Featured Jobs