22500 total results

Oral history.; Reverend F.T. (Ted) Shepherd was born July 10, 1924, in Greenville, Mississippi. In 1942, he was graduated from Greenville High School. During World War II he served in the armed forces. He graduated from Delta State Teachers College with a B.S. in business administration. His twenty-seven years of experience in the business world included positions in purchasing, sales, and accounting. He entered the Gospel ministry at the age of fifty-two, and he was ordained June 2, 1977. He served on the staff of First Baptist Church, Greenville, Mississippi, for twenty-two years, serving in the area of missions, including pastor of the Chinese Mission. He is the author of three books, past president of the Washington County Baptist Ministerial Association, member of Delta State Alumni Association and the American Legion. In retirement he serves as supply preacher for area Baptist churches, visits shut-ins, nursing homes, and hospitals, and he continues to conduct weddings and funerals.

Oral history.; Viola Brown Sanders was born in Sidon, Mississippi, on February 21, 1921. After Miss Sanders finished her education, she taught school for two years in Glen Allan, Mississippi. In 1943, Miss Sanders joined the United States Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Services). During her twenty-three years in the United States Navy, Miss Sanders was assigned to duties in communications, recruit training, personnel, intelligence, and administration. In her last tour of duty, she was assigned as Director of Women in the Navy (Assistant Chief of Naval Personnel for Women), the only female line captain and senior woman in the Navy at that time. After her retirement from the Navy in 1966, Miss Sanders returned to Sidon and became active in civic affairs in Greenwood and Leflore County. In 1999, she became the fourth person and the only woman to be inducted into the Greenwood-Leflore County Hall of Fame

Oral history.; On April 8, 1927, Dr. Pete Walker was born in Lumberton, Mississippi. When Dr. Walker was four years old, his mother passed away. As a child, Dr. Walker worked in his father's cafes. Dr. Walker attended Jones County Junior College on a football scholarship; he attended Mississippi State on a football scholarship and graduated with an undergraduate degree in physical education. He earned his master's degree in counseling and testing and his doctorate in school administration with a minor in psychology. From 1952 to 1964, he taught and coached in public school. From 1965 to 1986, he was an administrator and teacher at Delta State University. For two years, Dr. Walker was in the Army during the Korean Conflict. He was a U.S. Army corporal and a first lieutenant in the Reserves. He is currently retired and pursues his interests of golf, fishing, and photography. He is a member of the Lion's Club.

Oral history.; Mr. Sank Powe was born in the Delta in Elizabeth, Mississippi, on April 20, 1942. Growing up, Mr. Powe often worked in the cotton fields for meager wages. Mr. Powe attended Mound Bayou High School, Jackson State University and Delta State University from which he earned a B.S. in social studies and completed graduate work in health and physical education. Mr. Powe was a high school and college teacher and coach. He was a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals; he is currently a scout for the Cincinnati Reds. He co-wrote and published a biography, Grits, Guts, and Baseball. Mr. Powe is involved in many civic activities and professional organizations and has been honored as the recipient of the National Baseball Coach of the Year, 1994 as well as other awards. He was the subject of an Ebony Magazine article in 1982, as well as the subject of a Black Entertainment Network documentary in 1994. Powe discusses his career playing, coaching, and scouting for baseball teams; race relations; and the civil rights movement.

Oral history.; Born to Denton and Odelier Jones Sr. on June 8, 1926, Odelier Morgan began her life on a plantation in Bolivar County, Mississippi, one of twelve children. She and her family were sharecroppers, and her parents also did day work to supplement their meager incomes. The children attended school at a local church through eighth grade. After completing the eighth grade, Ms. Morgan stayed at home helping her family make a living. In 1958, Ms. Morgan began working at Delta State University in the laundry, making $19 a week. She has worked at Delta State University for forty-two years at this writing. Ms. Morgan enjoys attending her church and being active in its affairs.

Oral history.; Jack Winton Gunn was born January 14, 1916, in Waco, Texas. His mother died in 1924, and his father remarried in 1925. Jack Gunn graduated from Baylor University and for a brief time worked in Tyler, Texas, and got a private pilot's license. In 1941 he entered the Air Force, graduating as a second lieutenant in May of 1942. He was assigned to Roswell, New Mexico, and he returned to Waco to marry Margaret Ellen Holt. Later, serving as a reconnaissance pilot, Dr. Gunn was sent to the Phillippines. On his return to the United States in 1945, he went to Austin, Texas, for graduate work at the University of Texas. In 1953 he obtained a Ph.D. and was promptly recalled to the Air Force for the Korean War. He was released as a lieutenant colonel. Following the Korean War, Dr. Gunn taught at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi, at Houston Baptist College in Texas, and served as dean at Delta State University. In 1981 he retired and continues to live in Cleveland, Mississippi. Gunn discusses his childhood, education, service in World War II, and tenure at Delta State University. Gunn discusses his childhood, education, service in World War II, and tenure at Delta State University.

Oral history.; Born in 1947, Dr. Story was graduated from Mississippi Valley State University in 1969 where he earned a B.S.; he earned an M.Ed. from Delta State University. During his varied career he has been a sharecropper, a public school teacher in the Shelby School District, and the Leland School District, and a professor and dean at Delta State University, where he is currently employed. In 1977, Delta State University hired Dr. Story as a full-time instructor in guidance and counseling and as a part-time counselor in the Counseling Center. In 1993, he became the dean of counseling and developmental studies and a professor of behavioral sciences. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.

Oral history.; Born on January 19, 1958, in Greenwood, Mississippi, Jon Levingston grew up in a Jewish family in Cleveland, Mississippi. Mr. Levingston attended a boarding school in Rome, Georgia and then the University of Georgia and the Virginia Commonwealth University for postgraduate study. In 1989, he was a member of the Governor's Speaker Bureau on Education; in 1991, he was a delegate to the American / German Young Leaders Conference, the American Council on Germany. He returned to Mississippi to manage the family business, and he is president of Levingston Furniture Companies of Cleveland and Clarksdale. He is also president of Radio Cleveland Corporation and has held several civic posts as well as being active in a variety of organizations.

Oral history.; Mrs. Alyce West Richardson was born on August 2, 1930, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. She graduated from Cleveland High School and Delta State Teachers College and worked as the secretary-treasurer of West Implement Company, Inc., and West Machine Shop, Inc.. Mrs. Richardson is a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, Mississippi, the Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce, the Mississippi Economic Council, the Crosstie Arts Council, the Bolivar County Historical Society, the Mississippi Historical Society, the Cleveland Junior Auxiliary, the Cleveland Kappa Delta Alumnae Association, the Delta Council, and Amici. She was the director of The Valley Bank for seventeen years, the director of the Delta State University Foundation, Mid-South Farm Equipment Association, and the Inter-Alumni Council. Mrs. Richardson has many civic honors and awards.

Oral history.; Dr. Forest Kent Wyatt was born on May 27, 1934, in Berea, Kentucky. He graduated from Delta State College (now Delta State University) with a double degree in mathematics and health, physical education, and recreation. He then began a teaching career that included work for the University Military School in Mobile, Alabama and at his high school alma mater, Cleveland High School. Dr. Wyatt became Delta State College's first alumni secretary and he also completed his doctoral degree from the University of Mississippi. Having served Delta State University as alumni secretary for four years, Dr. Wyatt worked as the administrative assistant before becoming the fifth president of Delta State University in 1975. Dr. Wyatt served in that capacity for twenty-four years, retiring in 1999.

Oral history.; Dr. John Paul Quon was born June 11, 1942, in Moorhead, Mississippi. His parents emigrated from China to Mississippi to participate in a family-owned grocery store. Dr. Quon was in the first public school class in Mississippi that allowed the Chinese students to attend; prior to that, the Chinese students were kept out of public schools. Dr. Quon earned his degrees from the University of Mississippi and he has held a CPA license from the state of Mississippi since 1985. Dr. Quon was a general partner in the family farm and retail grocery store and an instructor at community colleges and the University of Mississippi. From 1971 to the present he has been an assistant professor at Delta State University. Dr. Quon is a member of several professional bodies and organizations. In 1964, he married Frieda Seu; they are still married, and the proud parents of both children and grandchildren

Oral history.; Billie Rossie Tonos was born November 12, 1924, in Shaw, Mississippi, to Nazira Hallal Rossie and Sam Rossie, Americans of Lebanese descent. In May of 1942, she graduated from Shaw High School and enrolled at Delta State Teachers College where she was involved in a choral group known as ";The Little Foxes,"; Delta Singers, Delta Playhouse, and its fraternity Alpha Psi Omega. She was editor of the annual The Broom and was selected to Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities in her junior and senior years. She graduated with honors in 1946. Miss Rossie taught in public schools and then at St. Joseph's Catholic School in Greenville. In July, 1951, she married John Michael Tonos and had four children, all of whom graduated from St. Joseph's School. In 1971, she resumed her teaching career at St. Joseph's until she retired in 1990. A member of St. Joseph's Choir, she also sings with the Red Cross Chorus. At Delta State University, she is active in the Alumni Association, a member of the Golden Circle, and an ambassador at the Bologna Arts Center. She is also a member of the King's Daughters Senior Circle and the Cedars of Lebanon Club. Recently she was honored as Alumnus of the Year for the Washington County Alumni of Delta State University.

Oral history.; Mr. Alton G. Bankston was born outside of Laurel, Mississippi on June 5, 1941. Mr. Bankston majored in political science and history at Jones County Junior College and attended the University of Southern Mississippi. In 1963 he moved to the Gulf Coast to pursue a career in teaching. Seven years later, Mr. Bankston opened Bankston's Paint Store in Biloxi. Mr. Bankston has played an active role in his community and is a member of many local groups.

Oral history.; Charles C. Jacobs Jr. was born in Greenville, Mississippi, on January 13, 1921. Mr. Jacobs attended the University of Mississippi and returned to its law school after serving as a Marine during World War II. During his career, he was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Mississippi, the U.S. District Courts, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. He has been active in the local community and later served as a member of the Mississippi Legislature. Beginning in 1976, Mr. Jacobs served as a member of the Board of Trustees, Institutions of Higher Learning for the State of Mississippi which service was for a twelve-year term ending in 1988. He was the president of the College Board in the year 1985. Mr. Jacobs retired from his law practice in 1999 after over fifty years of service, and since his retirement, he has served as a member of the Foundation Board for Mississippi Delta Community College.

Oral history.; Mrs. Frances Ryals Terry was born July 30, 1923, in Greenville, Mississippi. She was a child during the Depression and during the flood of 1927. Mrs. Terry grew up near Hollandale, Mississippi. She graduated from Delta State Teachers College where she met her husband Harold E. Terry; they were married in 1947. Mrs. Terry was the recipient of the first B.S. degree that Delta State awarded. Mrs. Terry taught mathematics at Shaw, Mississippi, Boyce, Mississippi, Minter City, Mississippi, and Sunnyside, Mississippi. Additionally she served as math supervisor for Leflore County Schools until her retirement in 1985. She is a charter member of the Mississippi Council of Mathematics and served as the president in 1977. She is a member of St. John's United Methodist Church in Greenwood, Mississippi.