On June 21, 1964 three civil rights workers - Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman - disappeared after visiting a church torched by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). After their car was discovered burned, a massive investigation was launched that the FBI called MIBURN (for "Mississippi Burning").
During this time, President Lyndon Johnson told Director J. Edgar Hoover that the FBI should have a stronger official presence in Mississippi. Hoover ordered the Memphis special agent in charge to scout out potential rentals for a new office in Mississippi and to begin putting everything together to open one. The preparations were completed on July 10, 1964, and the Director himself attended the re-opening of the Jackson Division to demonstrate the Bureau's commitment to its civil rights and other investigative work in the state.
