Senate Concurrent Resolution 527

(As Adopted by Senate and House)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE SYMPATHY OF THE LEGISLATURE ON THE DEATH OF RETIRED NEWSPAPER EDITOR AND PULITZER PRIZE-WINNER IRA B. HARKEY, JR., AND CELEBRATING HIS LIFE AND LEGACY.

WHEREAS, retired newspaper Editor and Pulitzer Prize-winner Ira B. Harkey, Jr., Mississippi Civil Rights "Conscience," passed away on Sunday, October 8, 2006 in Kerrville, Texas; and

WHEREAS, Harkey, 88, had been a Journalist and Editor in New Orleans, Louisiana and Pascagoula, Mississippi, where he worked at The Times-Picayune and was Editor and Publisher of The Chronicle Star, predecessor of The Mississippi Press, for 14 years; and

WHEREAS, Harkey, Jr., won the Pulitzer Prize in 1963 for his editorials calling for a peaceful 1962 integration of the University of Mississippi, where James Meredith became the first black student. At the time, he was vilified for his editorials, his life was threatened, and The Chronicle Star was boycotted as well as its advertisers. Harkey detailed these events in his autobiography, "The Smell of Burning Crosses," in 1967; and

WHEREAS, Jerry St. Pe, who was a young reporter at The Chronicle Star during the Civil Rights era, nominated Ira Harkey for Ole Miss' Silver Em Journalism Award. He said Harkey was a mentor and friend and had a tremendous influence on his life personally and professionally over the years. "This is a tremendous loss to all of us who have benefited so much by Ira. He was a great journalist who stood tall when Mississippi needed to have a check put on our conscience. He was the conscience of Mississippi"; and

WHEREAS, Harkey came from New Orleans and bought the Pascagoula paper in 1949. After expanding The Chronicle from a weekly to a twice-a-week paper and then five-day publication, he sold it. He went on to teach journalism at Ohio State University, then to the University of Alaska, and joined the staff at Columbia University; and

WHEREAS, four of Ira Harkey's children remain in Jackson County, including Circuit Court Judge Dale Harkey; one lives in Columbia, Mississippi; one lives in Beaumont, Texas; and one in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Harkey and his wife, Virgie, had retired to Kerrville, Texas; and

WHEREAS, the State of Mississippi has lost a journalist and leader whose inspiration was to change America and the world. May he rest in peace and may we all do our part to honor his life and legacy with our words and actions:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby express the sympathy of the Legislature on the death of retired newspaper Editor and Pulitzer Prize-winner Ira B. Harkey, Jr., and celebrate his life and legacy as an unwavering advocate of civil and human rights and a champion of nonviolence which is to be admired and emulated.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the surviving family of Ira B. Harkey, Jr., and be made available to The Sun Herald and to members of the Capitol Press Corps.