SouthTalks: Lawrence Guyot Jr., the Atypical Activist

Overview

In this SouthTalk, Chris Danielson will discuss the life of Lawrence Guyot Jr. of Pass Christian, who rose to become the head of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and who challenged the all-white segregationist Democratic Party in 1960s Mississippi. Danielson will examine Guyot’s origins and how he became an activist who was crucial to movement organizing in the state, even though his life experiences were different from many of his fellow Mississippi activists.
Chris Danielson is a historian specializing in the civil rights movement. He received his PhD in American history from the University of Mississippi in 2006 and was a Fulbright Scholar in Hungary in 2024. His books on Mississippi include After Freedom Summer: How Race Realigned Mississippi Politics, 1965–1986 and Brother Outsider, Brother Insider: A Political Biography of Lawrence Guyot Jr. Danielson currently resides in Butte, Montana.