22500 total results

Oral history.; Transcript of interview conducted May 29, 2002 in James Gray's office. James Gray, Jr. was born on February 24, 1941, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The family moved to Port Gibson, Mississippi when Gray was three years old, and he has lived there ever since. Gray went to school in Claiborne County and he attended the Archer School and the Claiborne County Training School in Port Gibson. Gray left school during his tenth grade year to work to support his mother, his sister and himself. Some of GrayΓÇÖs jobs include gas station attendant, auto mechanic, auto salesman, service manager and work as a carpenter. Gray has also served as assistant fire chief and was then promoted to county fire chief, where he worked for twenty-five years before he retired in 2004. During the civil rights struggle, Gray attempted to register to vote, but was denied. After the legislature changed how districts would elect officials, Gray decided to run for office. In 1966, his first try for an elected office was unsuccessful, however, he was encouraged to try again. Then, in 1967, he ran for the office of Election Commissioner and he won. Gray has served Claiborne County now approaching forty years, the longest-held elected office in Mississippi.

Oral history.; Transcript for interview conducted with Sallie Blackburn in Port Gibson, Mississippi. She was born in 1910 in Russum, Mississippi. Blackburn recalls what it was like growing up in Mississippi and life, foodways, and society in Port Gibson throughout the twentieth century.

Oral history.; Interview conducted April 24, 2002 in Claiborne County. Brandon describes conditions of sharecropping, including the relationships that developed with local stores. He discusses foodways and describes the process of making syrup. An avid hunter, Brandon also talks about hunting practices he developed growing up. Brandon has worked in a variety of industries, and has held positions as a logger, welder, packer and general factory worker, as well as trailer park manager. In addition, he also served briefly in the US Army.

Oral history.; Interview conducted February 16, 2001 at the home of Anthony Gordon. Anthony Golrdon was born September 7, 1916 in Conway, Arkansas. He attended elementary school at Archers School and he attended Claiborne County Training School through the tenth grade. Gordon later attended both the Southern Christian Institute in Edwards, Mississippi, and the Lexington Theological Institute in Kentucky. Gordon worked as a farmer, logger and school bus driver, but his primary vocation was ministry. He served as minister for First Christian Church of Hermanville, Big Zion in Willows, Little Zion in Blue Hill, and Rose Hill in Lorman. He was also affiliated with the Disciples of Christ and was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Oral history.; Interview conducted May 29, 2002 in James Gray's office. James Gray, Jr. was born on February 24, 1941, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The family moved to Port Gibson, Mississippi when Gray was three years old, and he has lived there ever since. Gray went to school in Claiborne County and he attended the Archer School and the Claiborne County Training School in Port Gibson. Gray left school during his tenth grade year to work to support his mother, his sister and himself. Some of Gray's jobs include gas station attendant, auto mechanic, auto salesman, service manager and work as a carpenter. Gray has also served as assistant fire chief and was then promoted to county fire chief, where he worked for twenty-five years before he retired in 2004. During the civil rights struggle, Gray attempted to register to vote, but was denied. After the legislature changed how districts would elect officials, Gray decided to run for office. In 1966, his first try for an elected office was unsuccessful, however, he was encouraged to try again. Then, in 1967, he ran for the office of Election Commissioner and he won. Gray has served Claiborne County now approaching forty years, the longest-held elected office in Mississippi.

Oral history.; Transcript for interview conducted with Nancy Rie Barland in Port Gibson, Mississippi. Nancy Rie Disharoon Barland was born July 22, 1922 at Bowling Green Plantation, about eight miles east of Port Gibson, Mississippi. Her parents were Florine Levy and George Lindsay Disharoon. Mrs. Barland graduated from Port Gibson High School and attended Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus, Mississippi for two years. She married Charles Edward Barland on August 6, 1949. They have two children, Charles Edward Barland Jr., and Flo Ruth Barland. Mrs. Barland is a lifetime member of Port Gibson's First Presbyterian Church. She discusses memories of childhood, including games, friends, family, and household staff. Barland describes the family plantation and sharecropping arrangements with tenants. Discusses social life in Port Gibson, including dances. She also discusses her grandfather B. H. Levy who owned Levy's Produce, was on the original Board of Directors of the Port Gibson Bank, and also helped to establish the Synagogue in Port Gibson.

Oral history.; Interview conducted with Carl Boren at the Boren residence on May 29, 2001. Boren discusses his family history, folkways, and conditions growing up in Claiborne County, Mississippi. From a family of sharecroppers, he describes what life was like both working and living in a society centered around this labor system.

Oral history.; Transcript of interview conducted April 24, 2002 in Claiborne County. Brandon describes conditions of sharecropping, including the relationships that developed with local stores. He discusses foodways and describes the process of making syrup. An avid hunter, Brandon also talks about hunting practices he developed growing up. Brandon has worked in a variety of industries, and has held positions as a logger, welder, packer and general factory worker, as well as trailer park manager. In addition, he also served briefly in the US Army.

Oral history.; Interview conducted with Nancy Rie Barland in Port Gibson, Mississippi. Nancy Rie Disharoon Barland was born July 22, 1922 at Bowling Green Plantation, about eight miles east of Port Gibson, Mississippi. Her parents were Florine Levy and George Lindsay Disharoon. Mrs. Barland graduated from Port Gibson High School and attended Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus, Mississippi for two years. She married Charles Edward Barland on August 6, 1949. They have two children, Charles Edward Barland Jr., and Flo Ruth Barland. Mrs. Barland is a lifetime member of Port Gibson's First Presbyterian Church. She discusses memories of childhood, including games, friends, family, and household staff. Barland describes the family plantation and sharecropping arrangements with tenants. Discusses social life in Port Gibson, including dances. She also discusses her grandfather B. H. Levy who owned Levy's Produce, was on the original Board of Directors of the Port Gibson Bank, and also helped to establish the Synagogue in Port Gibson.

Oral history.; Transcript of interview conducted May 27, 2002 at the Jones home in Port Gibson, Mississippi. Nathaniel Hawthorne Jones was born April 17, 1914, in Claiborne County to Alonzo Jones and Emma Harden Jones. When he was seven years old, his mother passed away. His father later married Emma Duffin Jones, and the two had five children, so Jones grew up in a family of fifteen children altogether. At the age of twenty-two, Jones married his wife, Julia Coleman Jones. The two farm together, and Jones also does logging work and has managed Our Mart Store for thirty years.

Oral history.; Interview conducted April 15, 2001 in Claiborne County, Mississippi. Joseph Smith was born in 1910 in Willows, Mississippi, to Ben Smith and Missy January Smith. He was educated at Mount Pilgrim School in Rocky Springs. He married Gertrude Perry in 1935 in Willows. Throughout his lifetime, Smith worked as a farmer, operated a sawmill, and worked in the logging industry. He was a member of Campbell Chapel, a Baptist church in Claiborne County.

Oral history.; Transcript of interview conducted April 19, 2002, in the McCarley home in Port Gibson, Mississippi. McCarley was born October 19, 1919 in Port Gibson. She discusses growing up, sharecropping and tenancy, her education at Port Gibson High School and later, Randolph Macon; and her married life.

Oral history.; Transcript of interview conducted May 21, 2002 at the Dotson home in Port Gibson, Mississippi. Essie Lee Dotson was born February 1, 1933 in Grand Gulf, Mississippi. She completed her education at the Allen School and at Claiborne County Training Academy. Dotson held a variety of jobs throughout her career, including work as a waitress in several cafés on Fair Street, owning and operating the Grand Gulf Store, making dishes for National Plastic, and working as a janitor and gardener for the Grand Gulf Nuclear Plant. She was also a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Oral history.; Interview conducted April 17, 2001 in Claiborne County. O'Neal Chambers was born July 30, 1910 in Lorman, Mississippi. He completed his education at Rosenwald School and Watson Chapel. Throughout his career, Chambers worked as a farmer, as a deck hand for the box factory, and in the logging industry. He also served as a medic in the US Army from 1941 to 1945, reaching the rank of corporal.

Oral history.; Interview conducted May 23, 2002 in Claiborne County. Ethel Patton D'Anjou was born March 6, 1939 in Alcorn, Mississippi. She attended school at St. Mary's Academy in New Orleans, Louisiana, and at Tolleston High School in Gary, Indiana. D'Anjou attended both Notre Dame College in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Catholic University in Washington, D.C., before earning a B.A. and M.A. from Wayne State University. Throughout her career, D'Anjou has worked as a reading supervisor, teacher, merchant, and drug and alcohol counselor. She is a member of the National Education Association and the Mississippi Foreign Language League, and has also been given several foreign language awards.