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Charlie
Parker - Interview conducted on July 22, 1981
with Mr. Charlie Parker at his home in Laurel, Mississippi.
Parker was born 1890's in Enterprise, Mississippi. After his
family moved to Laurel around the turn of the century, Parker
began working for the Eastman Gardner sawmill at the age of
eleven. He stayed with the mill for nearly thirty years. Parker
began work as a water carrier and worked his way up to the
position of block setter. In 1937, he borrowed money to open
a taxicab company in Laurel, which operated in the city until
1964. Parker discusses race relations in Laurel, Mississippi
in the sixties. |
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Charles
Phillips - Interview conducted
on 06-24-1998 with J.C. Fairley, Mamie Phillips, and Charles
Phillips, who were all active in the NAACP during the civil
rights movement of the 1950's and the 1960's. |
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Mamie
Phillips - Interview conducted on 06-24-1998
with J.C. Fairley, Mamie Phillips, and Charles Phillips, who
were all active in the NAACP during the civil rights movement
of the 1950's and the 1960's. |
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Elizabeth
Price - Interview conducted
on 03-08-1994 with Mrs. Elizabeth Price (born 1897). In the
mid-1960's, Mrs. Price worked for the Civil Rights Commission,
investigating and documenting issues of mistreatment as well
as recruiting sympathizers. She was one of the first involved
in the civil rights movement in Magnolia, Mississippi. |
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Claude
Ramsay - Three interviews conducted on April
28, 30 and May 7, 1981 with Mr. Claude Ramsay at his office
in Jackson, Mississippi. Ramsay was born in 1916 in Ocean
Springs, Mississippi. He served briefly in the Civilian Conservation
Corps camps during the late 1930's until he got a job with
the big International Paper Company plant in Pascagoula. Ramsay
was called to service in World War II from 1942 to 1946. After
the war, Ramsay returned to his job at the paper plant and
began his work in the union movement and the collective bargaining
process. He felt that the racial discrimination experienced
by African Americans in Mississippi was unfair and believed
that a strong labor union movement would be impossible until
minorities had gained their civil rights. Ramsay was elected
president of the Mississippi AFL-CIO in 1959. |
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Reverend
James Randolph - Interview conducted on May
3, 1982 with Reverend James Randolph, former pastor of St.
Paul's Methodist Church, at the parsonage in Hattiesburg,
Mississippi. Randolph was born on April 4, 1949 in Rankin
County, Mississippi, near Brandon. He attended Utica Junior
College in Utica, Mississippi, for one year, and then enrolled
at Tougaloo College, in Tougaloo, Mississippi. Randolph completed
his BA degree in Religion and Philosophy in 1972. In 1976,
he completed his Master of Divinity degree from Emory University
and Gammon Theological Seminary. After completing his theological
studies, Randolph pastored St. Mark's United Methodist Church
in Gulfport, Mississippi. He later moved on to St. Paul's
United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. |
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Sammie
Rash - Interview conducted on
03-30-1977 with the Reverend Sammie Rash (born 1942). Reverend
Rash, the son of sharecroppers, has been very active in both
civil rights activities and Mississippi politics, in addition
to being a minister since graduation from high school in 1963. |
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William
Raspberry - Interview conducted on December
6, 1983 with Mr. William Raspberry in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Raspberry was born on October 12, 1935 in Okolona, Mississippi.
He graduated in 1958 with a BS in history from Indian Central
College. In 1956, Raspberry began his career in journalism
as reporter-editor for the Indianapolis Recorder and, after
a two-year tour of duty in the United States Army, 1960-62,
took a similar position with the Washington Post. Since 1966,
he was worked as the Post's urban affairs columnist, has contributed
articles to a variety of popular magazines on such topics
as race relations and public education, and has appeared as
a television commentator and panelist. Between 1971 and 1973,
Raspberry was an instructor of journalism at Howard University. |
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Joe
Reyer - Two interviews conducted on
August 23 and October 30, 1974 with Mr. Joe Reyer at his home
in Poplarville, Mississippi. Reyer was born in 1893 in the
Pearl River County, Mississippi. He attended an agricultural
high school, now Pearl River College. During his working life
Reyer farmed, built a few houses, worked on road construction,
and lumbered. He drove teams of Oxen hauling lumber from isolated
sawmills to the town of Poplarville. In 1929, Reyer married
his first wife, Miss Edna Varnado, whose mother was former
Governor Theodore G. Bilbo's sister. He touches upon race
relations in the Pearl River County-Poplarville area. |
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Minnie
Ripley - Interview conducted on November
7, 1979 with Mrs. Minnie Ripley on the street named after
her, Ripley Street, in Mayersville, Mississippi. Ripley was
born on August 22, 1900 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. She attended
public schools in Mayersville, Mississippi and the Piney Woods
Institution in Braxton, Mississippi. During the 1960's, Ripley
participated in civil rights activities on a local, state
and national level. She participated in the voter registration
drives and civil rights marches in Jackson, Mississippi. While
marching in Jackson, Ripley was jailed for eleven days with
other civil rights marchers. |
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George
W. Rogers - Interview conducted
on 11-16-1977 with George Rogers (born 1917). Mr. Rogers,
a Rhodes Scholar, was elected to the Mississippi House of
Representatives, where he served for more then twenty years.
He became well known for his dedication to education reform
in Mississippi and served as chairman of the education committee
for many years. He worked closely on the Minimum Foundation
Program, on reforming the leasing laws for sixteenth-section
land. |
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Harvey
T. Ross - Interview conducted
on 12-01-1994 with Judge Harvey T. Ross (born 1920). In the
mid-1960's, Judge Ross was active in laying the groundwork
for Coahoma Opportunities, Inc. (COI), a community action
agency designed to improve the economic position of Coahoma
County Mississippi. |
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Larry
Rubin - Interview conducted
on 11-11-1995 with Larry Rubin (born 1942). In 1961, he helped
to register voters in the South for the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee. In late 1963 and in 1964, Mr. Rubin
worked as a civil rights activist in Marshall County. |
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Iva
E. Sandifer - Interview conducted
on 11-20-1994, with Iva E. Sandifer (born 1918). Ms. Sandifer
taught in the Hattiesburg public school system for thirty-one
years. She served as secretary for her local NAACP chapter
and as president of the Mississippi State Federation for Colored
Women's Clubs. |
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George
Saxon - Interview conducted on June 3, 1993
with Mr. George Saxon, formerly of the Mississippi Highway
Safety Patrol as an investigator, at his home in Gulfport,
Mississippi. Saxon was born on March 30, 1927 in Waynesboro,
Mississippi. After his discharge from the military at the
end of World War II, he began his career with the Mississippi
Highway Patrol as a dispatcher. Saxon graduated from the FBI
National Academy in 1964 and was then assigned as a criminal
investigator with the highway patrol. In 1986, he retired
from the Mississippi Highway Patrol as chief and assistant
commissioner of public safety. After retiring from the Highway
patrol, Saxon served as director of public safety for Biloxi,
Mississippi until 1989. |
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Cecil
Shelton - Interview conducted on July 31, 1981
with Mr. Cecil Shelton at the University of Southern Mississippi
in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Shelton was born on September
1, 1945 in Gore Springs, Mississippi. After graduating high
school in 1965, he attended Grenada's Vocational-Technical
Training Night School, as well as numerous state and national
AFL-CIO labor schools. During his career at Lyons automotive
plant, Shelton became involved in the fledgling labor movement,
as well as being active in civil rights marches in Grenada,
Mississippi. In 1967, he participated in the organization
of Aluminum Workers Local 202 at the plant and in 1968 he
was elected secretary-treasurer of the local. Shelton continued
to have a long and productive career in the Labor movement
through various positions, which include being a member of
the Job Development and Training Labor Advisory Council, president
of both the North Delta Central Labor Council, and vice-president
of the Mississippi AFL-CIO. |
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Jane
Menefee Schutt - Interviews
conducted on 10-03-1994 and 10-10-1994 with Mrs. Jane Menefee
Schutt (born 1913). Mrs. Schutt was appointed to the Mississippi
Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights and
served four years, the last year as chairman. She served on
the board of directors of the Mississippi Council on Human
Relations and worked with the Head Start Program. She received
the Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., Award in
1973 and the Church Women United Valient Award. |
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Joseph
Schwartz - Interview conducted
on 07-24-1999 with Joseph Schwartz (born 1938). Schwartz was
active in Friends of SNCC at Berkeley and went South in the
autumn of 1964. He worked in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, from
September 1964 to March 1965. |
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Terri
Shaw - Interview conducted on
06-07-1999 with Terri Shaw (born 1940). Ms. Shaw graduated
from Antioch College in Yellow springs, Ohio, in 1963, then
went to work for the Buffalo (NY) Courier-Express before spending
the summer in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in 1964. |
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William
J. Simmons - Interview conducted on June 26,
1979 with Mr. William J. Simmons at his office in Jackson,
Mississippi. Simmons was born in 1916 in Utica, Mississippi.
He attended Millsaps College and Mississippi College, graduating
from the latter in 1937. After serving in World War II, Simmons
returned to Jackson, Mississippi and became active in organizing
the Jackson Citizens' Council. He devoted his full-time service
to the Citizens' Council movement. Simmons functioned as editor
and publisher of The Citizen, Administrator of Citizens' Councils
of America, and President of Citizens' Council Forum. As a
Citizens' Council representative, he appeared on local and
network television and spoke before audiences throughout the
United States. Simmons published "Race in America: The
Conservative Stand" in The Search For America. |
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James
C. Simpson - Interviews conducted
on 5-11-1992 and 5-12-1992 with James C. Simpson (1930-1994).
Simpson was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives
from Harrison County in 1964. He served six more consecutive
terms covering more than 20 years. |
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E.
Hammond Smith - Two interviews conducted on
April 8 and 13, 1982 with Mr. E. Hammond Smith at his home
in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Smith was born on December 17,
1894 in Bladen Springs, Alabama. His family moved to Hattiesburg,
Mississippi and Smith attended public school through the eighth
grade. Smith then went on to complete high school at Alcorn
Agricultural and Mechanical College, now Alcorn State University,
in Lorman, Mississippi and then continued on at Alcorn for
four years of college. From there he went to Meharry Medical
College in Nashville, Tennessee, graduating in 1924 as a licensed
pharmacist. Smith returned to Hattiesburg and opened a pharmacy
in 1925, which he operated until 1980. He was an active participant
in the voter registration drives of the 1960's and was one
of the first registered African American voters in the city. |
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Frances
Thornton Smith - Interview conducted
on 2-14-1996 with Frances Thornton Smith (born 1916). In 1971,
the year that elementary schools were integrated, Smith volunteered
to teach at Fair Elementary School, an African-American school
in Pascagoula, Mississippi. |
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Frank
Ellis Smith - Interview conducted on August
27, 1993 with Frank Ellis Smith at his bookstore in Jackson,
Mississippi. Smith was born on February 21, 1918 in Sidon,
Mississippi. He is a six-term US representative from Mississippi
who is best known as the public official who favored James
Meredith's entry to the University of Mississippi. Smith received
an AB degree from the University of Mississippi and took graduate
work for a brief period at the American University in Washington,
DC He is also the author of six books, including The Yazoo
River, Congressman from Mississippi, Look Away from Dixie,
The Politics of Conversation, Mississippians All, and The
Land Between the Lakes. |
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Dr.
Michael Smith - Interview conducted with Dr.
Michael Smith, a professor of criminal justice at the University
of Southern Mississippi and a journalist during the 1960's.
Smith was born in 1942 in Waterloo, Iowa. After his family's
move to Jackson, Mississippi in 1954, Smith attended the University
of Mississippi. As a student, he became the Oxford correspondent
for the Memphis Commercial Appeal and reported many events
of the civil rights era, including the enrollment of James
Meredith at Ole Miss. Smith worked as the state house reporter
for the Jackson Daily News and as a correspondent for both
the United Press International and the Associated Press newsgathering
services. He continued his education for many years obtaining
several degrees including a master's in Social Ethics and
a Doctorate of Ministry. |
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Eberta
Spinks - Interview conducted
in the spring of 1995 with Eberta Spinks (born 1914). In 1964,
Mrs. Spinks became active in the civil rights movement. She
housed the civil rights workers in her home, integrated the
restaurant of the Pinehurst Hotel (for which she was jailed),
and held civil rights education sessions in her home to teach
people how to register to vote. She was a member of both COFO
and the NAACP. Although her very life was threatened as a
result of this work, Mrs. Spinks was steadfast in her struggle
for equal rights. |
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Eldridge
W. Steptoe, Jr. - Interview
conducted on 11-14-1995 with Eldridge W. Steptoe, Jr. (born
1936). Mr. Steptoe witnessed his father's involvement in the
McComb movement of the early 1950's and in the establishing
of a local chapter of the NAACP in Amite County shortly after
the incident. |
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Peter
H. Stewart - Two interviews
conducted on 8-20-1997 and 8-28-1997 with Peter H. Stewart
(born 1934). He began teaching school in Edwards, Mississippi,
in the fall of 1961. In August 1969, he worked for Friends
of Children, a Head Start agency. In 1970, he was executive
director of the committee to oversee integration of the city
of Jackson, Mississippi. In 1973, he became director of minority
affairs for the University of Mississippi Medical Center. |
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Jimmy
Swan - Interview conducted on March 23, 1977
with Mr. Jimmy Swan. Swan was born in Cullman County, Alabama.
He ran away from home when he was thirteen or fourteen and
ended up in Wayne County, Mississippi. Swan sang in nightclubs
and wrote songs until he became one of the earliest disc jockeys
in the country. He joined with several others in founding
the Country Music Disc Jockeys Association. Swan performed
for many years with his own radio program, and eventually
became part owner and manager of a radio station. In the 1960's,
he became deeply concerned over the developments in the United
States and especially the state of Mississippi. In 1967 and
1971, Swan unsuccessfully ran for governor of Mississippi. |
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Mayor
Bennie G. Thompson - Interview conducted on
February 13, 1974 with Mayor Bennie G. Thompson at his office
in Bolton, Mississippi. Thompson was born on January 28, 1948
in Bolton, Mississippi. He received a BA in political science
from Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi in 1968. In
1972, Thompson received an MS in educational administration
from Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. He
taught in public schools from 1968-1970 and was elected mayor
of Bolton, Mississippi, in 1973. Thompson has been honored
among Outstanding Young Men of Mississippi by the NAACP, named
among Outstanding Personalities of the South in 1971 and recognized
as Politician of the Year by Jackson State University in 1973. |
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Dr.
W. B. Thompson - Interview conducted on October
7, 1976 with Dr. W. B. Thompson at his office at Mississippi
College in Clinton, Mississippi. Thompson was born on November
5, 1920 in Columbus, Mississippi. After returning from service
in World War II, he attended the University of Mississippi
and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1947 and
a Master of Science degree in 1950. After Thompson earned
his doctorate in education from Ole Miss in 1968, his teaching
career began. By 1965, Thompson became superintendent of the
Greenville public school system in Greenville, Mississippi.
In 1976, he became the dean of Mississippi College's School
of Education where he served until his retirement in 1986. |
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P.
A. Tims - Interview conducted on July 7, 1976
with Mr. P.A. Tims of Poplarville, Mississippi. Tims was born
on October 20, 1890 in Ethel, Mississippi. In 1912, he enrolled
in the first class to convene on the campus of the newly established
Mississippi Normal College (now the University of Southern
Mississippi) in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Tims managed the
newspaper, the Free Press in Poplarville, Mississippi until
he set up his own paper, the Weekly Democrat. After selling
his paper in 1940, he opened a mercantile in Poplarville,
which he owned and operated until 1961. Tims also owned a
farm on which he grew tung oil trees and raised beef cattle.
He was elected to the Poplarville City Council and served
a total of 16 years as an alderman. |
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Thomas
Jefferson Tubb - An interview
conducted on 8-30-1978 with Thomas Jefferson Tubb (born 1899).
Mr. Tubb served as chairman of the Clay County Executive committee
for 47 years from 1928 to 1975 and during the Dixiecrat movement
from 1950 to 1956. He was serving as President of the board
of trustees of the Institution of Higher Learning from 1955
to 1964 when Ole Miss was forced by the federal government
to admit James Meredith. |
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Hollis
Watkins - Three interviews conducted
on 10-23-1996, 10-29-1996, and 10-30-1996 with Hollis Watkins
(born 1941), the twelfth child of sharecroppers. Mr. Watkins
was jailed for participating in the Woolsworth's lunch counter
sit-in in McComb and a walk-out at the McComb high school.
He also worked with Vernon Dahmer for voter registration and
later started the Holmes County Project. He was president
of Southern Echo at the time of the interview. |
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Phillip
West - Interview conducted on
09-18-1980 with Phillip West (born 1946). He has served as
president of the NAACP of Adams County and as second vice-president
for the state. |
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Kenneth
O. Williams - Interview conducted on October
13, 1993 with Mr. Kenneth O. Williams at the new state capitol
building in Jackson, Mississippi. Williams was born on January
18, 1924 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He received a BA in political
science from Vanderbilt University. Williams was awarded the
Bronze Star for his service in the US Army during World War
II. He was a state representative from 1960 until 1984 and
served in the state senate from 1988 until 1993. Williams
served as director of the Delta Wholesale Hardware Co., Jonestown
Peanut Corporation, Jonestown Elevator, Inc., and United Southern
Bank. He is also a partner in the farming business of P.F.
Williams and Sons. |
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Fred
Winyard -
Interview conducted on 10-21-1995 with Fred Winyard (born
1944), a civil rights activist recruited from Reed College
in Oregon by the student nonviolent coordinating committee
to work in Mississippi. He helped to organize the Freedom
Libraries during the 1964 Freedom Summer. |
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Joseph
E. Wroten - Interview
conducted on 11-04-1993 with Joseph E. Wroten (born 1925).
Mr. Wroten became famous as one of only two Mississippi House
Representatives who voted in favor of allowing blacks to enroll
at the University of Mississippi. |
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Honorable
George W. Yarbrough - Interview conducted on
February 21, 1980 with the Honorable George M. Yarbrough at
his home. Yarbrough was born on August 15, 1916 at Red Banks,
Mississippi. Yarbrough served in the US Army during World
War II, achieving the rank of master sergeant. In 1958, he
purchased a controlling interest in a local paper, The South
Reporter, eventually assuming full control as editor and publisher.
Yarbrough was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives
in 1952 and in 1956 was elected to the Mississippi Senate,
where he served until 1968. He gave up his seat in 1968 but
was returned to the Senate in 1972 and served until 1980,
when he lost his bid for re-election. Yarbrough was President
Pro Tempore of the Senate, 1960-1968, and was active Lieutenant
Governor from 1966 to 1968. |
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Zoya
Zeman - Interview conducted on 04-18-1996 with
Zoya Zeman (born 1943). Ms. Zeman was a civil-rights activist
who worked on the Mississippi Summer Project in Clarksdale,
where she worked at the community center, organizing classes
and doing health education and literacy work. |
