As governor of Mississippi, James P. Coleman wrote King in 1956 to discourage him from making a visit to the state.
Coleman was born on 9 January 1914 in Ackerman, Mississippi. He attended the University of Mississippi from 1932-1935 but left before completing a degree. In 1939 he received his LL.B. from George Washington University. After returning to Ackerman, Coleman served as district attorney, circuit court judge, and briefly as a state Supreme Court justice before being elected to a full term as Mississippi attorney general in 1951. He was elected governor of the state in 1955.
In 1956, Coleman sent a telegram to King urging him to postpone a scheduled visit to Mississippi, stating “I feel it my duty as governor of Mississippi to inform you that conditions in our state are now more tranquil than at any time in recent months and in view of your record your appearance here will be a great disservice to our Negro people” (Papers 3:220). The next day, King responded that in fact he was not scheduled to visit Mississippi, but, if he were, he would feel obligated to “come to Mississippi in spite of [Coleman’s] most cautious warning. You stated that in view of my record my coming to Mississippi would be a great injustice to the Negro people. I think if you would observe my record very carefully you would discover that it is more the record of a peace maker than a peace breaker” (Papers 3:221).
After serving a full term as governor, Coleman joined the state legislature in 1959. He attempted to run for governor again in 1963 but was defeated by Paul B. Johnson, a more extreme segregationist. Coleman was criticized for his support of President John F. Kennedy during the 1960 presidential campaign, who later used federal troops to integrate the University of Mississippi. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Coleman to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. As a federal judge Coleman was responsible for implementing desegregation changes that he had opposed as governor. He retired from the court in 1984.