Leslie-Burl McLemore (born August 17, 1940) is an American civil rights activist and political leader from

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

. He served as interim mayor of Jackson following the death of

Frank Melton Frank Ervin Melton (March 19, 1949 – May 7, 2009) was the mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, United States, from 4 July 2005 until his death on 7 May 2009. Melton, an African American, defeated the city's first black mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr ...

on May 7, 2009 until the inauguration of re-elected mayor

Harvey Johnson, Jr. Harvey Johnson Jr. (born December 21, 1946), is an American politician from Mississippi. He was elected in 1997 as the first African American Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, serving two terms. He was known for his achievements in gaining rein ...

on July 3, 2009.

Biography

Leslie-Burl McLemore was born in

Walls, Mississippi Walls is a town located in northern DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States, near the Mississippi River, part of the larger region known as " The Delta", and known for its rich, dark soil. As it is in the upper northwest corner of Mississipp ...

on August 17, 1940, the son of sharecroppers. In September 1960, McLemore began studies at

Rust College Rust College is a private historically black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Founded in 1866, it is the second-oldest private college in the state. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it is one of ten historically black colleges ...

. It was there that he first became seriously involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Within a month, McLemore participated in a boycott of a theatre in Holly Springs because they would not allow blacks to sit in the downstairs section. While at Rust College, McLemore would continue to be involved in student protests. He also became involved with the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

(NAACP) and

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segrega ...

(SNCC) in various activities including voter registration drives. McLemore served as northern regional coordinator for the

1963 Freedom Ballot The Freedom Vote, also known as the Freedom Ballot, Mississippi Freedom Vote, Freedom Ballot Campaign, or the Mississippi Freedom Ballot, was a 1963 mock election organized in the U.S. state of Mississippi to combat disenfranchisement among Afri ...

campaign. In 1964, McLemore was intimately involved in the formation of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). He was a founding member of the MFDP Executive Committee, an MFDP delegate to the 1964 Democratic National Convention, and Vice Chair of the Party. Previous to the convention, he worked alongside Ella Baker, Frank Smith, Elenore Homes Norton, and Charlies Sherrod as coordinator and lobbyist of the National Office of the MFDP in Washington DC. McLemore graduated from

in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in social science and economics. He is a founding president of Rust College's chapter of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

. He pursued graduate studies at

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Founde ...

, where he obtained a master's degree in political science. Later, McLemore received a doctorate in government from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

. At the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, McLemore helped to found the W.E.B. DuBois Department of African American Studies. He later had post-doctoral fellowships at The Johns Hopkins University and at Harvard University. He then took a position teaching at Jackson State University as the founding Chair of the Department of Political Science, and then Dean of the Graduate School and Founding Director of the Office of Research. McLemore concluded his service at Jackson State as the Interim President of the intuition. He has published in the areas of black politics, southern politics, environmental politics, and the Civil Rights Movement. He is the co-author of, Freedom Summer: A Brief History with Documents. In 1997, McLemore become the founding Director of the Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy. Over the course of more than twenty years, the Hamer Institute conducted numerous summer institutes for K-12 students, K-12 teachers, and Community College and University faculty. Burl-McLemore is married to his wife, Attorney Betty Mallett. They have one child, a son, Leslie II, who is a practicing attorney and writer in Washington DC and is married to Jacinta, a federal employee. They have two children, Harper Anniece-Diane and Harlow-Leslie. Until his retirement, McLemore served on the Jackson City Council, representing the second ward and serving as council president. Upon the death of Mayor

, McLemore also served as acting mayor. McLemore did not seek re-election to his council seat. His term ended in July 2009. While teaching at Jackson State University, McLemore returned to Walls where he is currently serving as a member of the Walls Board of Aldermen. Upon election in 2017, he made history again by serving as one of the two first black elected officials in Walls, Mississippi, the other being Curtis Farmer. In addition to his duties on the city council, McLemore is a professor of political science at Jackson State University and director of the Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLemore, Leslie B. Mayors of Jackson, Mississippi African-American mayors in Mississippi People from Walls, Mississippi University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Living people 1940 births Rust College alumni Mississippi Democrats Mississippi city council members Clark Atlanta University alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people