1970 LIFE Magazine CENTREVILLE MISSISSIPPI Article

Updated September 24, 2026

AVAILABLE FOR SHIPPING or LOCAL PICKUP > An original March 13, 1970 issue of LIFE magazine, with extensive coverage devoted to the national struggle over school integration, including a remarkable multi-page feature centered in part on Centreville, Mississippi. The issue presents the article The Bus to Integration Bugs Down, examining resistance to federally ordered school desegregation across the country, with a particularly significant section titled In Mississippi, the whites simply broke and ran. The Centreville coverage documents the immediate aftermath of federal desegregation orders in southwest Mississippi and prominently illustrates the newly organized Centreville Academy. One full-page photograph shows the academy operating from an early temporary location, identified by the large hand-painted CENTREVILLE ACADEMY sign, while accompanying photographs and text document the rapid movement of white students from the public school system into newly established private schools. Centreville Academy had been formally organized in December 1969 and opened for classes on January 19, 1970, only weeks before this LIFE issue appeared. Classes were initially conducted in local churches and other temporary facilities while a permanent campus was being developed. The academy held its first graduation in May 1970, with permanent school buildings completed later that year. Of particular local historical importance, this magazine preserves contemporary national press coverage of Centreville at the exact moment the academy was being established, rather than a later retrospective account. The photographs capture the town, temporary school facilities, students, teachers and local residents during one of the most consequential periods in Mississippi educational and civil-rights history. Additional material within the same issue examines integration disputes in Denver and Los Angeles, includes commentary by Leon Panetta concerning enforcement of federal civil-rights law, and features a sports article on Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, together with period advertising including full-page Marlboro and Coca-Cola advertisements. An unusually strong piece of Centreville, Wilkinson County and Mississippi history, combining original 1970 LIFE photojournalism with direct documentation of the founding period of Centreville Academy. CONDITION REPORT > Perhaps typical and minor elements relative to age, handling and material ~ Overall, a rather well preserved example.

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