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Meredith Anding Jr., member of the ‘Tougaloo Nine,’ dies

FILE - This Aug. 17, 2017 file photo shows Meredith C. Anding Jr. in Jackson, Miss. Anding, one of the "Tougaloo Nine" college students who participated in a library "read-in" in segregated Mississippi on March, 27, 1961, died Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. He was 79. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A member of the “Tougaloo Nine” college students who famously participated in a library “read-in” in segregated Mississippi 60 years ago has died. Meredith C. Anding Jr. was 79.

His son Armaan Anding says his father was diagnosed with leukemia. He had been sick since March. He died Friday in Brandon, Mississippi.

The Tougaloo Nine were students at the historically Black institution Tougaloo College. Their peaceful sit-in took place on March, 27, 1961. It is widely considered the first student protest of segregation at a public institution in Mississippi.