Jerry Mitchell

Jerry Mitchell, an investigative reporter, is the founder of the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting. His stories have helped lead to convictions of Klansmen guilty of some of the nation’s most notorious crimes — the 1963 assassination of Mississippi NAACP official Medgar Evers, the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church that killed four girls, and the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andy Goodman and Mickey Schwerner. His work also led to the 2016 conviction of Felix Vail — the oldest conviction in a serial killer case in U.S. history. For more than 30 years, his stories have exposed injustices, corruption, and abuse of power. His work has prompted prosecutions, spurred reforms of state agencies, and led to the firings of state board officials. He's a winner of a $500,000 MacArthur “genius” grant and more than 30 other national awards, including being named a Pulitzer Prize finalist. His memoir about his pursuit of civil rights cold cases, Race Against Time for Simon & Schuster, was released in 2020.