In June 1964, civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were chased down, tortured, and murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

[3] Initially treated as a missing persons case, their disappearance provoked national outrage and contributed significantly to the July enactment of the Civil Rights Act by President Johnson.

[4] The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI), a federally recognized tribe, is based here and has developed one of the largest casino complexes in the state on their reservation, the Pearl River Resort.

At the time of European encounter, this was part of the territory of the historic Choctaw people, who occupied most of what later was defined as Mississippi.

They lived in relatively distinct communities and reorganized in the 1930s, gaining federal recognition as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

The white-dominated state legislature passed a new constitution in 1890, that effectively disenfranchised most freedmen and other non-whites, such as Native Americans.

[5] Neshoba County is known as the site of the lynching murder of three young activists in July 1964 during Freedom Summer in Mississippi, a period of education and a voter registration drive to prepare African Americans for voting.

White supremacists were found to have murdered three civil rights activists: James Cheney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner near Philadelphia, the county seat.

[6] Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price was implicated and charged with being part of the group that lynched the three young men and buried them in an earthen dam 15 miles northeast of Philadelphia.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan launched his presidential campaign at the Neshoba County Fair to deliver a speech on economic policy and refer to states' rights.