Murder of Paul Guihard
Paul Guihard | |
---|---|
Born | 1931 London, England |
Died | 30 September 1962 | (aged 30)
Cause of death | Shot |
Nationality | French |
Paul L. Guihard (1931
Early life
Guihard was born in London in 1931, the son of an English mother and a French father, both of whom worked in the hotel industry. He had a brother, Alain Guihard. He was a dual citizen of France and the United Kingdom. In 1935, his parents purchased London's Rhodesia Court Hotel, and sent the three-year-old Guihard to stay with his grandparents in France while they attended to the new business. He remained in Saint-Malo until the end of World War II, and at fourteen returned to his parents in London. There he attended the French Lycée and the University of London, where he earned a degree in international affairs.[3]
Guihard was always interested in writing and found part-time work with
University of Mississippi assignment and death
On 30 September 1962, AFP assigned Guihard, aged 30,[5][6] to cover the developing story of James Meredith's enrollment at the University of Mississippi, the first time an African-American enrolled at the school. As an editor, Guihard infrequently went out on assignment, and did not regularly cover the Civil Rights beat; in fact Guihard had the day off. However, the agency was short staffed and felt the story needed to be covered, and so called in Guihard and photographer Sammy Schulman to go to Mississippi.[3]
That morning, Guihard and Schulman flew from New York to
Guihard and Schulman then drove north to
Guihard was shot in an unlit area at the southeast corner of the Ward Dormitory between 8 and 9 p.m. His body was found by students just east of the dormitory at 9 p.m. The students attempted to revive him and sought help, but were not immediately certain what had happened to him; they initially believed he had suffered cardiac arrest from the tear gas. The riot exacerbated matters, as ambulances could not get through the crowd to assist. Eventually, the students were able to get a car to the area and took Guihard to Oxford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.[9] The hospital determined that he had been killed by "a gunshot wound to the back that penetrated the heart". The hospital sent Guihard's body to a nearby funeral home, where Schulman made the identification.[10] He was the only journalist murdered during the Civil Rights Era.[11]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation handled the initial investigation with assistance from local authorities.[12] Sheriff Joe Ford surmised that the shooter had attacked Guihard either knowing he was a journalist, or mistaking him as a protester, and had certainly intended to kill him.[13] Guihard may have stood out from the crowd due to his large frame, red hair and distinctive red goatee, and potentially his foreign accent.[14] The investigation never identified a suspect and the case remains unsolved.[15][16]
Memorials
in 1989, Paul Guihard's name was included in the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, memorializing 40 people who lost their lives in the struggle for civil rights.[17] Twenty years later a memorial plaque was unveiled by representatives of the University of Mississippi and from AFP, a short distance from where his body was found. Some 150 students and teachers from the school of journalism participated in the ceremony.[16]
See also
- List of journalists killed in the United States
- List of unsolved murders
Footnotes
- ^ "Florida, U.S., Arriving and Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1898-1963". Ancestry.com. April 16, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ 1963 Edition Of Britannica Cook Of The Year. 1963. p. 870.
- ^ a b c d Wickham, p. 103.
- ^ a b c Wickham, p. 104.
- ISBN 9780816069880.
- ^ Collier's Encyclopedia Year Book. Crowell-Collier Publishing Company. 1962.
- ^ Wickham, pp. 103–105.
- ^ Wickham, pp. 105–106.
- ^ Wickham, pp. 106–107.
- ^ Wickham, pp. 107–108.
- ^ Wickham, p. 102.
- ^ Wickham, pp. 108–109.
- ^ Wickham, p. 108.
- ^ Wickham, pp. 105, 108.
- ^ Wickham, p. 109.
- ^ a b "Hommage à un journaliste AFP assassiné lors d'une émeute raciale aux Etats-Unis", La Dépêche du Midi, April 18, 2009.
- ^ "The 40 Who Fell in the Turbulence Of the U.S. Battles for Civil Rights". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 4, 1989. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
References
- Bryant, Nick (Autumn 2006). "Black Man Who Was Crazy Enough to Apply to Ole Miss". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (53): 60–71.
- Wickham, Kathleen Woodruff (Autumn 2006). "Murder in Mississippi: The Unsolved Case of Agence French-Presse's Paul Guihard". Journalism History. 37 (2): 102–112. S2CID 140820029.
Further reading
- Paul L. Guihard - Notice to Close File, United States Department of Justice, July 16, 2011. Comprehensive description of crime and federal civil rights investigation, and determination to close file and reasons therefor (including expiration of civil rights statute of limitations).
- Wickham, Kathleen (2017). We Believed We Were Immortal: Twelve Reporters Who Covered the 1962 Integration Crisis at Ole Miss. Oxford, MS: Yoknapatawpha Press.