Ellington

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi State University is holding a conference later this month about Freedom Summer, the 1964 effort to expand voting rights and education programs to black citizens in Mississippi.

The conference is Oct. 20-21 on the university campus in Starkville.

One session on Oct. 20 will feature several people who organized or participated in the civil rights activities 50 years ago, including activists Dave Dennis and Hollis Watkins. Another session that day features the current Tougaloo College president, Beverly Wade Hogan, and former Gov. William Winter.

An Oct. 21 panel discussion will focus on using the lessons of Freedom Summer to build a better future.