Nov. 29, 1961 - A Mississippi Citizens Council leader said today that several Southern communities were forming “minutemen” organizations to meet integration attempts. Robert B. Patterson of the Association on Citizens Councils of Mississippi said the groups were being formed throughout the South. “Their purpose is to peacefully assemble on short notice at any given point within their community to demonstrate a citizens protest against any invasion of our institutions,” Mr. Patterson said. He said the minutemen “are made up of a cross-section of the finest white citizenry in each community.” He said they would lend moral support to law enforcement officers who might be outnumbered “by the invaders.”
