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Oral history.; Reverend Robert James Jamison was born on May 28, 1936, and lived in both St. Louis, Missouri, and the community of Shake Rag in Tupelo, Mississippi. Reverend Jamison earned money in high school from carpentry and upon graduation, he married. He attended Mississippi Industrial College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on an athletic scholarship. After graduating he taught school and then attended several universities to attain advanced degrees including a Master of Divinity degree from Memphis Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee. When he returned to Mississippi, Reverend Jamison became a Head Start director with Lift, Incorporated, and eventually became the first African American to run for alderman of Ward Four. Additionally, he worked to establish the NAACP in Tupelo. Later, he became the assistant vice president of the regional Community Action Agency.