Richard E. Holmes

Richard E. Holmes (born February 17, 1944) is an American medical doctor who specialized in emergency department medicine. As a third-year college student, in 1965 he enrolled in the previously segregated Mississippi State University. He was one of five black Mississippians who pioneered the effort to desegregate the major state universities of Mississippi as part of the Civil Rights Movement. Following passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his enrollment was the most peaceful of these efforts to that point.

Holmes completed his college degree and graduated from MSU. After service in the United States Army, he also earned a master's degree in related fields, and a medical degree, the latter at Michigan State University. Holmes practiced emergency department medicine in hospitals in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2003 he returned to MSU to become a staff physician at the university's health center. He has received considerable recognition related to the 40th anniversary of his landmark enrollment and graduation from the university.

Early life and education Holmes was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Horace and Minnie Holmes on February 17, 1944. He had three older brothers. When Richard was 18 months old, he and his brothers were taken to Mississippi by their mother when the parents separated. They settled in Starkville, Mississippi, with Eliza Hunter, a family friend Holmes would consider his "grandmother."

It is not documented as to how Holmes became the first black student to enroll at Mississippi State. His decision likely had several origins: himself, perhaps his mentor Dr. Conner, the local NAACP, President Dr. Dean W. Colvard and members of the university administration, and friends and mentors at Wiley. The NAACP had sponsored such efforts before; two months later they supported the enrollments of Raylawni Branch and Gwendolyn Elaine Armstrong at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Holmes enrolled for summer semester in July, when the fewest people would be on campus. He told the admissions office that he had come only for the one summer semester and would return to Wiley in the fall. He was always quiet and courteous, working to prevent any potential objections. He encountered occasional heckling, but said that it did not seem to be personal. "Some befriended me and treated me with dignity and respect. Many just ignored me." The student body, overall, treated Holmes well. 2006, He was named Mississippi State's 2006 National Alumnus of the Year. In 2007 the Mississippi State Legislature officially recognized and commended Holmes for his career and activities at Mississippi State.