[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 97 (Tuesday, June 9, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                   HONORING MRS. MARY SMITH-BLACKMON

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 9, 2026

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
and honor Mrs. Mary Smith-Blackmon of Canton, Mississippi, whose 
courage and perseverance helped shape the story of school desegregation 
in our State of Mississippi.
  In 1965, Mary Smith-Blackmon made history by transferring from Rogers 
High School, an all-Black school, to Canton High School which had 
previously been all white. Her courage marked a significant turning 
point in the fight to desegregate public education in Mississippi and 
helped pave the way for greater education equity across the state.
  From the moment she stepped onto campus at Canton High School, Mrs. 
Smith-Blackmon was met with open hostility. Alongside her peers, she 
faced harassment from the students, isolation within classrooms, and a 
school environment designed to make them feel unwelcome. Despite being 
targeted, ridiculed, and humiliated, she returned each day with 
strength and determination, refusing to let adversity stand in the way 
of her education.
  Eventually, she became the only one of the three black students to 
remain at Canton High School, carrying the weight of integration 
largely on her own. In May 1966, she graduated with honors, becoming 
the first African American student to graduate from an all-white Canton 
High School.
  Her accomplishment in Canton, Mississippi, was not only a personal 
victory, but a milestone in the long struggle for educational equity in 
our State. It reflected both the painful realities of integration and 
the extraordinary strength required of those who led it.
  After graduation, Mrs. Smith-Blackmon continued her education at 
Tougaloo College and Jackson State University, where she studied 
education. She returned home to Canton, Mississippi, and devoted more 
than 30 years to teaching, mentoring, and uplifting generations of 
students in the very community where she once endured such hardship. 
Her story reminds us that progress in Mississippi did not come easily 
or without sacrifice. It came through resilience.
  Mr. Speaker, today we honor Mrs. Mary Smith-Blackmon for her historic 
achievement, lifelong dedication to education, and her enduring legacy 
as a pioneer of school desegregation in our State of Mississippi.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing her remarkable life and 
contributions to Mississippi.

                          ____________________