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Frank Arthur Nelson

Released
Date of birth:1938
Gender:Male
Era:1960s
State:Mississippi
Support
Civil Rights
Frank Arthur Nelson

Biography

Frank Arthur Nelson was arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, on June 25, 1961, for participating in the Freedom Rides and challenging segregation in interstate transportation — one of the arrests recorded by the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission and preserved in the Civil Rights Digital Library. The catalog establishes the arrest, the participation, and the individually identified police photograph, but not the court disposition, any transfer to Parchman, or the physical release date; those fields are unresolved pending county-jail, court, or penitentiary records.

Cases

Arrested: Jun 25, 1961
Incarcerated: Jun 25, 1961
Sentence: Sheila Michaels recounts his jailing in Jackson following the Freedom Ride. The individual release date remains unverified; later New Orleans and Poplarville arrests require separate case records.
Charges: No visible means of support; subsequent battery and attempted-escape allegations following the New Orleans arrest
Arrested: August 1961
Incarcerated: August 1961
Sentence: Detained in New Orleans in August 1961. Nelson described police beatings and jail confinement; the vagrancy charge ended in acquittal, with other charges and $1,000 bond reported. Exact custody dates remain unresolved.