“Race Against Time” selected for 2025 Tupelo Reads Program
TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – A community wide reading program that promotes literacy will feature a book that delves into four murders during the civil rights era that went unsolved for decades.
“Race Against Time” by Jerry Mitchell, is the selection for the 2025 ‘Tupelo Reads” program. Mitchell spent years investigating the murders of Medgar Evers, Vernon Dahmer Senior, the four young girls killed in the church bombing in Birmingham, and the murders of the Freedom Summer workers.
His work led to the convictions of those responsible for the crimes that shocked the nation during the early 1960s. Mitchell will be guest at the “Tupelo Reads” event February 26 at the Lee County Library.
Chairperson Lisa Reed said she is hoping many come away with a deeper appreciation for the perseverance and determination by Mitchell in pursuit of the truth.
“I did know about it, I grew up with it, but had no idea. He put himself at personal risk doing a lot of investigative journalism. You will see this on first few pages of the book, it was instigated by seeing the movie “Mississippi Burning” and realizing it had never been solved. And it is an amazing work and he has been all over the country doing talks like this’, said Lisa Reed, chairman of Tupelo Reads.
Mitchell will visit Tupelo High School before the ‘Tupelo Reads” event at the Lee County Library. He will speak with English students about the book and his research.
