Voting-rights organizer Lamar Smith is shot dead in broad daylight on the courthouse lawn in Brookhaven, Mississippi.
At a Glance
- Date
- 13 August 1955
- Location
- Brookhaven, Mississippi
- Key people
- Lamar Smith
- Category
- Civil Rights Movement
- Source
- Contemporary press; NAACP records (1955) · NAACP
What It Meant Then
No one was prosecuted despite the killing occurring before witnesses.
What It Means Now
Smith is remembered among the martyrs of the voting-rights struggle.
Cite this page
- MLA
- “The Rev. Lamar Smith Is Assassinated.” Black-History.com, 30 Sept. 2026, https://black-history.com/on-this-day/the-rev-lamar-smith-is-assassinated/.
- APA
- Black-History.com Editors. (2026, September 30). The Rev. Lamar Smith Is Assassinated. Black-History.com. https://black-history.com/on-this-day/the-rev-lamar-smith-is-assassinated/
- Chicago
- Black-History.com Editors. “The Rev. Lamar Smith Is Assassinated.” Black-History.com. September 30, 2026. https://black-history.com/on-this-day/the-rev-lamar-smith-is-assassinated/.
Editorial Note
By the Black-History.com editors. Last reviewed 30 September 2026. To suggest a primary source or a correction, write to editors@black-history.com or use our corrections form.