[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 7990]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING MRS. BIRDIA BEATRICE CLARK KEGLAR

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 4, 2013

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
remarkable woman who was a champion against human oppression, 
discrimination, and injustice in Mississippi, Mrs. Birdia Beatrice 
Clark Keglar. Mrs. Keglar and her family lived in Charleston, MS 
located in Tallahatchie County, which is one of many counties in the 
state known by the name ``Free State of . . .''
  That caliber of courage and stance warrants recognition. Mrs. Keglar 
was a tiny woman in stature, standing about 4 feet 9 inches and her 
biggest fear wasn't her height or those she stood up against but rather 
the negative impact of injustice on African-Americans and society if 
nothing was done to change things. The constant threats on her life and 
acts of violence didn't stop her either.
  Mrs. Keglar's fight for equality and empowerment has a place of 
longevity in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. The Fox Funeral Home 
where Mrs. Keglar worked until her death became the location where many 
of her plans would evolve and manifest. Her journey included but is not 
limited to:
  A march with Dr. Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery Alabama 
for the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and
  The organizing of the first local chapter of the NAACP in 
Tallahatchie County; and
  Leading the fight which helped her son, James, become one of the 
first Black bus drivers in the county; and
  When citizens living in the community needed a place to host Sunday 
school classes, Mrs. Keglar allowed them to be held in her local store; 
and
  The establishing of the first African-American Business and 
Professional Women's Club in the county; and
  When the need came, she crossed county lines helping to lend a hand 
to secure housing for elderly citizens living in Grenada, Mississippi; 
and
  On January 11, 1966 Mrs. Keglar and Ms. Adlena Hamlett were killed as 
they traveled back from Jackson, Mississippi after testifying before a 
Joint Committee chaired by Senator Robert Kennedy. Mrs. Keglar's 
testimony was about voting discrimination in the State of Mississippi 
against African-Americans.
  It saddens me to report Mr. Speaker that the untimely death of Mrs. 
Birdia Beatrice Clark Keglar and Ms. Adlena Hamlett are among those 
unsolved murder cases from the 1960s civil rights era.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mrs. 
Birdia Beatrice Clark Keglar for her dedication to fighting oppression, 
discrimination, and injustice in Mississippi.

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