22500 total results

Oral history.; Dr. Richard McGinnis, a faculty member at Tougaloo College, first came to Mississippi as a graduate student participating in a joint Harvard, Yale, and Columbia universities recruitment effort directed at African American students in Mississippi. Dr. Ernst Borinski recruited McGinnis and Dr. John Dittmer hired him as a member of the science faculty in 1969. McGinnis married an African American woman in the late 1970s, and he and his wife lived in Edwards, Mississippi, a community that was 75 percent black in the early 1980s, and discusses their lives as an interracial couple in the Deep South. McGinnis discusses transitions in higher education, as well as unintended consequences of the integration of the public school system in Mississippi. He also explores racial relations among the faculty at Tougaloo, as well as student militancy.

Oral history.; Interview conducted March 11, 2003. Joseph Stephen Zuccaro Jr. was born November 24, 1923, in Natchez, Mississippi. In 1941, Zuccaro graduated from St. Joseph's High School in Natchez. He volunteered for service in World War II, joining the Marine Corps at the age of nineteen. He later attended the University of Mississippi School of Law, earned his JD degree in 1949 and began practicing law in Natchez. He was attorney for the Natchez mayor and Board of Aldermen, attorney for the Adams County Board of Supervisors, and also for the Claiborne County Board of Supervisors. He represented the Board of Trustees of Natchez Regional Medical Center, served as Chancery Judge for the counties of Claiborne, Jefferson, Adams, and Wilkinson, and served as a Justice of the Mississippi State Supreme Court from 1987 to 1989. In addition, he served as member and chair of the Mississippi Oil and Gas Board.

Oral history.; Interview conducted on December 14, 1995 with Allie Jane Beck at her home in Lamar, Mississippi. Beck was born August 12, 1919. She discusses sharecropping, registering to vote in 1964, and seeking employment at the local shirt factory.

Oral history.; Transcript of interview conducted with Louise Kennedy. Mary Louise Kennedy was born to David Jefferson Lewis and Maudie Mae Kennedy in Magee, MS in May 1919. Her father worked for multiple oil companies, including Texaco and the Loreco Oil Company. Kennedy's family moved to D'Lo when she was young. She married Paul Dalton Kennedy in October 1934. They had four children together, two boys and two girls. Paul Kennedy performed various jobs early in their marriage, including employment at a chicken-feed store, carpentry, and as a seismographer. Louise worked in the ladies department at McCalpren's Department Store, ordering inventory. Later in life, Kennedy assisted teachers with handicapped children at Magee High School for four years. She retired at the same time as her husband. Paul retired as the chief of police after serving in the department for twenty years. Louise even worked dispatch for a brief period. After retiring, Louise and Paul bought a farm. They have nine grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.

Oral history.; Interview conducted October 17, 2001 with Chude Pamela Allen in San Francisco, California. Chude Pamela Allen was born into an Episcopal family in eastern Pennsylvania. Though her parents were republicans, their Christian ideology contributed to Allen's liberal foundation, as did exposure to children from more progressive families in school. Allen went to Spellman College, where she became politically active in her freshman year, and was recruited to volunteer for Freedom Summer by SNCC. She trained in Oxford, OH before being sent to Holly Springs, MS in 1964, where Allen became a teacher at the Freedom school in Holly Springs. During the summer, Allen encountered both racial violence and sexism. After Freedom Summer, Allen continued her political activism as part of the secular Left. She became active in the women's liberation movement in the mid-1960s and moved to San Francisco, CA in 1968 where she would organize women's liberation groups. Allen worked for The Guardian and continued her activism throughout the 1970s. Despite a decline in her political activity in the early 80s, Allen began writing about her experiences as a volunteer during Civil Rights Movement. She helped organize the 25th anniversary reunion for Freedom Summer in 1989, as well as the 30th anniversary reunion in 1994. Allen has since then worked to help volunteers of the Movement cope with any trauma they may have endured.

Oral history.; Reuben V. Anderson was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1942. As a student Anderson excelled academically and athletically, ultimately earning an athletic scholarship to Tougaloo College. At Tougaloo, Anderson met many people who influenced his life and career, including professor Ernst Borinski, and civil rights leader, Ed King. He was involved with the desegregation of the Jackson Public Library. He was the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi Law School. After graduation, he began practicing civil rights law. He was successful at overseeing the integration of the schools in Mississippi. Anderson was drafted during the conflict in Vietnam, but his service to the Legal Defense Fund helped him to earn a draft deferment to stay in the United States and practice law. Mayor Russell C. Davis appointed Anderson to serve as the first African American municipal court judge, and he was later appointed to Hinds County Court (by Gov. Cliff Finch) and 7th Circuit Court (by Gov. William Winter). He eventually came to the Mississippi Supreme Court, where he served from 1985-1990. After retiring from the Court, Anderson returned to private practice and resumed his involvement with the business sector. Judge Anderson is married to Phyllis Wright Anderson, and has three children.

Oral history.; Mr. Palmer E. Foster was born in Jackson, Tennessee, and moved with his family to Ripley, Mississippi. After his high school graduation, he spent four years in the Army during World War II. Then he entered Rust College and in 1949 began teaching biology and chemistry, as well as coaching football in the Columbus City School System. In 1951 he became a full-time Boy Scout Executive, covering several counties where he has been working for thirty-six years until his retirement in 1987. Mr. Palmer has been active in the NAACP, Phi Beta Sigma, and the American Legion. He was Citizen of the Year, City of Tupelo in 1995, a deacon of Springhill M.B.C., and Trustee of the Springhill District Association.

Oral history.; James Madison Johnson was born on March 17, 1955, in Laurel, Mississippi. He earned a B.S. degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and served in the Navy both full-time and in the reserves. In Biloxi, he acquired real estate and built his own business, Johnson Properties, as well as working as a teacher and coach.

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.

From the Oral History Collection. A photograph of five women on stage at the Hattiesburg Saenger Theater for the Roots Reunion.

Oral history.; Interview conducted with Lola Berry. Lola Wilson Durr Berry was born in 1926 near Mendenhall, MS to Charlie Walker and Roberta Wilson. Berry began sharecropping in cotton fields at the age of seven. Berry left school after fifth grade in order to work. In 1942 Berry married Clarence Durr, with whom she had thirteen children, ten of whom survived. Clarence was killed in a car accident in 1975; a year later she remarried to Oscar Berry. Ms. Berry has worked as a domestic employee in private homes in the Mendenhall area, at the Universal Plant for thirteen years, and as a cook at Genesis One School for twelve years.

Oral history.; Mr. Jesse Benjamin Richmond Jr. grew up in Jefferson Davis County, where he attended school. Mr. Richmond graduated from the Commonwealth College of Funeral Service in Houston, Texas and served an apprenticeship at Cook-Richmond Funeral Home in Bogalusa, Louisiana. While working there Mr. Richmond was drafted into the United States Army; he served in Vietnam as an embalmer. When Mr. Richmond returned to the United States, he settled on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where he worked at various jobs until he went to work for Mr. W. B. McDaniel in his funeral home. He eventually bought the business. In 1983, Mr. Richmond opened the Richmond Funeral Home in Gulfport, Mississippi. He is a member of the Little Rock Baptist Church and other organizations.

From the Oral History Collection. A digital photograph from the Mississippi Oral History Project 10th Anniversary. Photo shows a speaker addressing attendees. Photo is blurred.

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.