Neshoba County Fair 2018

Neshoba County—once the heart of the Choctaw nation—has a knack for being the crucible from which Mississippi births history. It was here, in the summer of 1964, that the murders of three young Civil Rights workers—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner—aroused the nation’s anger and helped secure the passage of the Civil Rights Act. It was also here, 16 years later, that Ronald Reagan became the first presidential candidate to ever speak at the Neshoba County Fair, where he promised to usher in a new era of “state’s rights” to a mostly white crowd for whom “state’s rights” meant a rebuke of the advancements of the Civil Rights era. In 2009, it was here, in the same year America inaugurated its first black president, that Philadelphia made James Young—a Pentecostal preacher who was 8 years old at the time of the infamous slayings – its first black mayor. For two days during the Neshoba County Fair’s 2018 season, the Jackson Free Press documented the politics and the people who are still wrestling with the past and writing the history of the fair, the town, the state and the nation in ways big and small. In these photos, the marks of Mississippi’s progress can be discerned, and glimpses of our future seen in a new generation of fairgoers, but the ghosts of our past never linger far outside the frame. They hide not only in the still-coded—if repackaged—speeches some politicians continue to give, but behind the haunted stars and in the very fabric of a state flag countless attendees carry.

Two fairgoers rest on the steps of the Neshoba County Fair Post Office in Philadelphia, …

As political speeches get underway on Wednesday morning, a woman takes refuge from the sun …

Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson (left) talks to Kennedy Guest, while his …

More than 600 cabins of all colors, shapes and sizes sit on 60 acres of …

Two boys at the Neshoba County Fair carry replicas of the embattled Mississippi state flag, …

Rocking chairs are a staple of the cabins at the Neshoba County Fair—as are children’s …

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood—a Democrat who is widely expected to run for governor in …

Mississippi Sec. of State Delbert Hosemann waves with outstretched arms at fairgoers at the Neshoba …

Outside the festivities, attendees purchase tickets to the 129th Neshoba County Fair. The fair began …

On Aug. 2, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel speaks at the Neshoba County Fair, …

Supporters hold up signs and state flags as Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel talks to …

Former U.S. Sec. of Agriculture and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mike Espy speaks at the …

After Republican U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel's speech at the Neshoba County Fair, supporters surround …

Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy is flanked by supporters of his U.S. Senate …

Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith bows her head silently moments before taking the stage, where …

"Tough crowd," Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant muttered to himself, as he watched Republican Sen. Roger …

Supporters of Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith greet her at the Neshoba County Fair.

The William Harmony House, seen here on Aug. 2, 2018, is one of dozens of …

Sydni Tangle Pine of the Standing Pine community in Carthage, Miss., was crowned the 2018-2019 …

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Jackson Free Press

Neshoba County Fair 2018

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