Jan. 18, 1962
Officials at Southern University at Baton Rouge, Louisiana — under pressure from the state — closed the doors after students protested those kicked out of school for taking part in sit-ins.
State police occupied the campus to try and end these protests, and when SNCC field secretary Dion Diamond tried to meet with students, police jailed him on charges of criminal anarchy for “attempting to overthrow the state of Louisiana.”
The white guards told Black inmates if they gave Diamond a difficult time, “you may get time off for good behavior,” he recalled . After the guards left, the inmates promised to protect him instead. He wound up serving 60 days in jail before being released…