Near this spot on April 17 and April 24, 1960, Gulfport NAACP president Dr. Felix Dunn and his family joined peaceful wade-in demonstrations to challenge laws denying African Americans use of the beach. Gulfport police officers removed the protestors but filed no charges. In Biloxi, similar protests led to arrests and white mob violence. These protests prompted the first intervention of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department challenging Mississippi's segregationist laws and practices.