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James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

General

Mississippi

Basic Information

Type of Place
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Unions, Organized Labor?

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Was there an ordinance?
Sign?
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

Main Ethnic Group(s)

Group(s) Excluded

Comments

Although I (Jim Loewen) lived in MS for eight years in the 1960s and 1970s, I was not researching sundown towns then. However, I did make an exhaustive search and think I have located every potential sundown town of any size. Most famous is Mize, and its fame for this policy is quite interesting, considering it is a small hamlet. That such a small sundown town would be known for it shows how unusual these communities are in the traditional South. In the Midwest, West, etc., towns of 50,000 to >100,000 could have such policies and not be as known for it as Mize.

Briefly (c.1945-70), two or three suburbs (of Jackson and on the Gulf Coast) were apparently sundown towns, although I have not yet obtained details or confirmation.

Two towns in the far NE corner were all-white for decades, so I suspect they too were sundown, but I realize that that part of Mississippi has only a small black population anyway.