John C. Satterfield presided over the American Bar Association from 1961 to 1962. In 1969, Time described him as “the most prominent segregationist lawyer in the country.” Satterfield represented Governor Ross Barnett against federal obstruction charges in conjunction with the 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi and acted as counsel to the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission. He also served as special counsel for a number of public school districts across Mississippi and the South seeking to delay segregation, a consolidated case that reached as high as the Supreme Court.

The material provided here represents only a fraction of a much larger physical collection whose finding aid is available online. At the moment, the digital collection holds only photographs.

Related Resources: For other civil rights-related holdings at the Archives & Special Collections, see the Civil Rights & Race Relations Subject Guide.

Image from this collection: "John C. Satterfield behind podium" (date unknown)