As the first black to attend the University of Mississippi, James H. Meredith (born 1933) scored one of the earliest important victories against segregation in Mississippi.

Born on June 25, 1933, near Kosciusko, Mississippi; son of Moses "Cap" and Roxie Meredith; married: Mary Jane Wiggins, 1956; children: John Howard, Joseph Howard, James Henry; married: Judy Alsobrooks, 1991; children: Kip and Jessica Howard

Fiercely independent and keenly intelligent, James Meredith was the great iconoclast of the civil rights movement. As the first black to attend the University of Mississippi, Meredith scored one of the earliest important victories against segregation in Mississippi. At the same time, he remained largely aloof from the established civil rights organizations. Medgar Evers and the NAACP helped Meredith win his legal battle to integrate Ole Miss, but as Meredith proudly noted, "Nobody hand picked me. I made the decision myself. I paid my own tuition."

Born on a small farm...