On This Date in Delta Heritage

January

January 1

Long serving State Representative Charlie Capps, born on January 1, 1925 in Merigold, Mississippi, was a powerful figure in the Mississippi Legislature.  More information available @ http://www.deltastate.edu/pages/1254.asp.

 James Seay, who writes poetry, received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia.  He has taught English at a number of colleges including the University of Alabama and the University of North Carolina.  More information available @ http://www.storysouth.com/winter2005/seay.html.

January 4

Eddie Cusic, singer and bluesman, formed the Rhythm Aces in the 1950s.  His music attracts large crowds and urges them to find out what the Mississippi Delta is truly like. More Information Available @ http://deltaboogie.com/features/jukehouse/cusic.htm and 

http://www.arts.state.ms.us/folklife/artist.php?dirname=cusic_eddie

Elvis Presley, also known as the “King of Rock and Roll,” was born on January 8, 1935.  He was one of the first artists to perform rockabilly, which was a combination of blues and country music.  He also performed other types of music including gospel and pop, and made thirty-three movies.  He is the only artist to have been inducted into three halls of fame; the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.  More information available @ http://www.elvis.com/ and http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/elvis-presley. 

January 5

Sam Phillips named his company “Sun Records” because he believed the sun was a universal power.  He played an important role in the musical careers of Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Howlin’ Wolf, and Carl Perkins.  More information available @ http://www.history-of-rock.com/sam_phillips_sun_records.htm and http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/sam-phillips.

January 6

Stark Young was born in Como, Mississippi on October 11, 1881.  He was a teacher, painter, playwright, painter, novelist, essayist, and literary critic. His valued his heritage which was revealed through his writings.  More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

January 12

Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway started her political career when asked to fill in for her husband, Senator Thaddeus Caraway, after his death.  Aside from being the first woman elected to the Senate, she was also the first woman to preside over the Senate, chair a committee and preside over a Senate Hearing.  Her political career lasted from 1932 until 1945.  More information available @ http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_caraway_hattie.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattie_W._Caraway

January 13

Kent Hull, a Pontotoc, Mississippi native, attended Mississippi State and later played for the Buffalo Bills. He was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1997,  and the Mississippi State University Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.  He also received the Ralph C. Wilson Distinguished Service Award in 2001, and was the 19th inductee to the Wall of Fame at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, New York in 2002.  More information available @ http://www.buffalosportshallfame.com/1997/kent_hull.html,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Hull

January 14

George Wallace was born in Clio, Alabama, on August 25, 1919 and strongly supported segregation.  He served as Alabama’s governor for the years 1962, 1970, 1974, and 1982.  He also ran for President of the United States of America in 1962, 1972, 1976, and 1968.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace

January 15

Martin Luther King Jr. played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement.  His work led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the March on Washington. He received a Noble Peace Prize for his non violent endeavors to end racial discrimination.  After his assassination, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and a Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.  In 1986, Martin Luther King Day was made a national holiday. More information available @ http://www.martinlutherking.org/ and http://www.thekingcenter.org/.

January 16

Hiram Revels was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on September 27, 1822.  As a teenager, he served as his brother’s apprentice as a barber. He later attended Knox College and seminary school.  In 1870 and 1871, he represented Mississippi in the Senate. He also served as the President of Alcorn College until 1882.  As of 2007, he is only one of five African Americans to serve on the Senate.  More information available @ http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000166, and http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/bio/afro/revels.htm.

January 17

James Earl Jones, Emmy and Tony award recipient, grew up on a farm with his grandparents in Mississippi.  At the age of 5, they relocated to Michigan and as a result he began to stutter.  He barely talked to his family and was completely mute in school until encouraged to recite his poetry by his high school teacher.  He has starred in several movies such as Coming to America, Roots, and Star Wars. He also serves as the voice of animated characters like Mufasa in The Lion King.  More information available @ http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Jones,_James_Earl/Biography/, and http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showIndividual&entitY_id=3747&source_type=A

January 18

Beth Jacks, a graduate of Millsaps College and the University of Mississippi, is known for her poetry and short stories for children.  Her work has been published in magazines such as the Delta Magazine, Pockets, Boys Quest, Kids' Highway, Working Writer, Lighthouse Story Collections, and several

others. More information available @ http://usadeepsouth.ms11.net/bethjacksbio.html

January 19

Willie Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on July 1, 1915.  As a teenager he hitchhiked to Chicago and later became a producer for Chess and Checker Records.  He is known for playing an influential part in creating the Chicago Blues and Rock and Roll.  He has worked with  Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, and several others.  More information available @ http://www.bluesheaven.com/ and http://afgen.com/dixon.html

January 21

William Alexander Percy, lawyer, poet, and planter, was born on May 14, 1885 in Greenville, Mississippi.  He served in World War I and was in charge of the relief efforts during the flood of 1927.  More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

Muddy Waters was born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi on April 4, 1915.  He is known for producing several classic songs.  The Rolling Stones even named their group after one of his earlier songs.  More information available @ http://www.muddywaters.com.

Bo Diddley, born Otha Ellas Bates, was born in McComb, Mississippi on December 28, 1928.  In 1955, he became well known for his singing and custom made guitar.  More information available @ http://www.bo-diddley.com.

January 23

The New Madrid Earthquakes occurred near the New Madrid Fault in Missouri.  As a result of these severe earthquakes, the course of the Mississippi River was changed, portions of the land sank, and new lakes were created.  More information available @ http://www.geology.siu.edu/quakes/nmadrid.html  and http://www.olympus.net/personal/gofamily/quake/famous/madrid.html.

Sam Cooke, who was an influential songwriter and performer during the 1950s, helped lay the foundation for soul music.  He grew up singing gospel music with siblings, but later branched out on his own.  He died over forty years ago, and questions still remain about his death.  More information available @ www.history-of-rock.com/cooke.htm.

Dr. James D. Hardy served as the chairman of the Department of Surgery for the University of Mississippi Medical Center from 1955 until 1987.  He is known for performing the first human heart and lung transplant.  He has written over 500 medical articles.  He took great pride in training surgeons for Mississippi.  More information available @ http://surgery.umc.edu/professionals/history/memoriam_hardy.html and http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=161891

Robert Johnson, also known as the “King of the Delta Blues” was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi on May 8, 1911.  As a child, he was always interested in music and played the harp, harmonica, and guitar.  During his career he had written 29 songs but only a few were recorded when he died.  Despite this fact, he is well respected and admired for his work along with his contribution to modern Rock and Roll.   More information available @ http://www.robertjohnsonbluesfoundation.org and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson_%28musician%29.

John Bright Russell was a comedian and songwriter who wrote several hit songs and was also a member of the Grand Ole Opry.  He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001.  He died on July 3, 2001.  More information available @  http://www.johnnyrussell.com/ and    http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

January 27

Elmore James grew up on several farms in Mississippi.  Before he owned a guitar, he would make his own instruments.  One of them consisted of broom wire that had been nailed to his cabin.  He served in the Navy and upon his return began playing the blues around Mississippi.  He later moved to Chicago and formed his band, the Broomdusters.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmore_James and http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/elmore-james.

January 28

Bennie Thompson is presently the US Congressman for the Second district of Mississippi.  He has now held this position for eight terms.  He is also serving his third term as a member of the Homeland Security Committee. He is the first African American elected from Mississippi to have been involved in public service for 39 years.  More information available @ http://benniethompson.house.gov/HoR/MS02/Home.htm.

January 29

The International Blues Challenge is held in Memphis, Tennessee and allows blues artists to perform their music.  More information available @ http://www.vacationsmadeeasy.com/MemphisTN/eventCalendar/InternationalBluesChallengeatBealeStreetinMemphisTN.cfm.

February

February 1

Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee; her exact birthday is not known but is believed to be in 1896, 1989, or 1900. In the 1920s she toured through the south and other northern cities as one of the highest paid black entertainers. She was killed in a car accident in Clarksdale, Mississippi, leaving behind 160 recordings of her work.  More information available @ http://bluesnet.hub.org/readings/bessie.html and http://www.redhotjazz.com/bessie.html.

Amzie Moore served in the United States Army and was responsible for telling the other soldiers that their lives would improve once the war was over.  Upon returning he worked at the post office in Cleveland, Mississippi, but later owned his own gas station, beauty shop, and grocery store on Highway 61.  He was a member of the NAACP, helped start the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, organized a rally of 10,000 blacks, and helped start the first black boy scouts group in Cleveland.  He was a strong supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and even opened up his home for other activists like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis.  Amzie Moore Park was named in his honor.  More information available @ http://www.fannielouhamer.info/amzie_moore.html and http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/filmandmedia/collections/hampton/eyes1/moore.htm.

February 3

William Hodding Carter II was born on February 3, 1907 in Hammond, Louisiana.  After completing college and graduate school, he worked as a reporter for the New Orleans Item-Tribune (1929), the United Press in New Orleans (1930), and the Associated Press in Jackson, Mississippi (1931-32).  In 1932, he founded the Hammond Daily Courier.  In 1939, he moved to Greenville, Mississippi and started the Greenville Delta Democrat Times.  In 1946, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his work published about the treatment of the Japanese-American soldiers during World War II.  More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/   and http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-CarterHod.html.

February 5

Minnie M. Cox attended Fisk University and upon graduation began a teaching career.  She also assisted her husband, who was the principal of the Indianola Colored Public School.  President Benjamin Harrison appointed her as postmistress in 1891.  In 1897, she was reappointed by President William McKinley.  In 1902, a petition was written that requested she resign from being postmistress.  In 1903 she resigned but continued to receive her salary.  President Roosevelt believed Cox was mistreated and closed the post office on January 2, 1903, but it later reopened in 1904.  She and her husband also opened up the largest black bank in Mississippi called Delta Penny Savings Bank in Indianola, Mississippi.  Also Cox Street and Cox Park are named in their honor in Indianola.  More information available @ http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2664/Minnie_Cox_a_first_for_Mississippi.

Byron de la Beckwith was a white supremacist and member of the Ku Klux Clan.  He was tried for Medgar Evers murder three times, but only convicted the final time in 1997.  In 2001, he died in prison of heart problems.  More information available @ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20437.

Medgar Evers was a black civil rights activist born in Decatur, Mississippi and attended Alcorn State University.  After graduating he applied to law school at the University of Mississippi but was not accepted.  He was president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership and also the first field officer of the NAACP from Mississippi.  He took part in the desegregations of the University of Mississippi and also openly investigated Emmett Till’s death.  He was buried on June 19, 1963, in Arlington National Cemetery, receiving full military honors.  More than 3,000 people attended his funeral and his death was mourned throughout the world.  More information available @ http://www.africawithin.com/bios/medgar_evers.htm and http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1294360.

February 7

The New Madrid Earthquakes occurred near the New Madrid Fault in Missouri.  As a result of these severe earthquakes, the course of the Mississippi River was changed, portions of the land sank, and new lakes were created.  More information available @ http://www.geology.siu.edu/quakes/nmadrid.html  and http://www.olympus.net/personal/gofamily/quake/famous/madrid.html.

February 8

Before becoming a well known author, John Grisham worked as an attorney in Southaven, Mississippi.  He enjoyed writing so much that he spent time writing during the court recesses.  He has written several bestselling books including A Time to Kill, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Chamber, The Partner, and several others.  More information available @ http://www.randomhouse.com/features/grisham/.    

February 9

Jefferson Davis, born on June 3, 1808 in Kentucky, was the President of the Confederate States of America.  He attended boarding school as a child and later Transylvania College in Lexington, Kentucky, as well as West Point Military Academy.  He served in the United States Army but later devoted his time to his plantation, “Brierfield.”  He was also involved in politics.  Positions he held include: member of Congress and Senate and Secretary of War.  He was a strong supporter of slavery.  More information available @ http://www.jeffersondavis.net/ and http://www.civilwarhome.com/jdavisbio.htm.

February 14

John Wesley Broom served as the assistant superintendent of education and a professor at Mississippi Normal School, now The University of Southern Mississippi before becoming president of Delta State University.  He secured appropriations from the Senate for a girl’s dormitory called Cleveland Hall, a gymnasium and laundromat, and housing for the president and dean.  He died in May 1926.  More information available @ http://www.deltastate.edu/pages/1220.asp.

Steve McNair was raised on a farm in Mt. Olive, Mississippi.  During high school he was an outstanding athlete and received many awards.  He was first drafted by the Houston Oilers and currently plays for the Tennessee Titans. More Information available @ http://www.steveairmcnair.com.

February 18

Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith is a trumpet player, composer and educator.  He has studied several different music cultures, and has created a jazz and world music theory including a notation system called “Ankhrasmation.”   Currently, he is a professor of music at California Institute of the Arts.   More information available @ http://music.calarts.edu/~wls/.

Myrlie Evers-Williams was married to Medgar Evers. After his death she enrolled in college to finish her degree and later became the Director of Consumer Affairs at Atlantic Richfield Company.  She was also the first African American woman to serve as the commissioner for the Los Angeles Board of Public Works.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/evers_myrlie/.

February 19

Clifton Taulbert, author of nonfiction and children’s books, is the founder and president of the Building Community Institute.  In 1992, he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for The Last Train North in 1992.    He is a recipient of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Nonfiction (1993), the NAACP Image award for Literature (1996), and was named an Outstanding Black Entrepreneur by TIME Magazine. More information available @ http://www.cliftontaulbert.com/. 

James Oliver Eastland was born in Doddsville, Mississippi, and raised on a cotton farm.  He served on the House of Representatives during 1928-1930 and the Senate in 1941.  More information available @ http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Painting_32_00040.htm.

Sam Myers had severe cataracts that impaired his vision as a child.  While attending Piney Woods School he discovered his love of music.  He received a scholarship to the American Conservatory School of Music in Chicago.  In 1986, he joined Anson Funderburgh’s band, The Rockets, who were considered to be one of the “best live blues bands.”  He died on July 17, 2006 while recovering from surgery at his home.  More information available at www.sweetsammyers.com/.

February 22

Willie Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 1, 1915.  As a teenager he hitchhiked to Chicago and later became a producer for Chess and Checker Records.  He is known for playing an influential part in creating the Chicago Blues and Rock and Roll.  He has worked with  Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, and several others.  More information available @ http://www.bluesheaven.com/ and http://afgen.com/dixon.html.

February 24

Thomas Lanier Williams was nicknamed “Tennessee” because his father was born there and also his accent.  He attended Missouri State University and Iowa State University.  He has written several plays and received a Pulitzer Prize for A Streetcar named Desire.  The Glass Menagerie and The Night of the Iguana both received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award.  is HIs More information available @ http://www.lambda.net/~maximum/williams.html.

February 25

Hiram Revels was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on September 27, 1822.  As a teenager, he served as his brother’s apprentice as a barber. He later attended Knox College and seminary school.  In 1870 and 1871, he represented Mississippi in the Senate. He also served as the President of Alcorn College until 1882.  As of 2007, he is only one of five African Americans to serve on the Senate.  More information available @ http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000166, and http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/bio/afro/revels.htm.

February 26

Bukka White was born on November 12, 1909 in Houston, Mississippi.  His musical career began when he started playing the fiddle at square dances. He is known for singing the blues and playing national steel guitars.  During the time he spent in Parchman Farm State prison, he recorded Shake ‘Em on Down and Po Boy, which became very well known.  More information available @ http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/bukka_white.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukka_White.

February 27

Wharlest Jackson was an employee of Armstrong Rubber Co., located in Natchez, Mississippi.  He received a promotion that allowed him to mix chemicals, opposed to his old job making tires.  His new job was considered to be a job suitable for a white person.  Shortly after his promotion, a bomb was placed in his truck which exploded a few blocks from his home.  More information @ http://orig.clarionledger.com/news/0302/23/bios.html and http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/print.php?id=7628_0_9_0

Othar (Otha) Turner started playing the fife at 16 years old and began making them from sugarcane.  He started his own band called the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band.  He is the recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Award, the Smithsonian Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Charlie Patton Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival.  More information available @ http://www.othaturner.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Othar_Turner

February 28

Jimmy Travis, member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was shot and almost killed while driving close to Greenwood, Mississippi.   He was trying to increase the number of blacks registered to vote.  More Information available @ http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/nonviolence.html. 

February 29

Hattie McDaniel, also known as “High Hat Hattie” was born in Wichita, Kansas on June 10, 1895.  She was the first African American woman to win an Oscar and sing on network radio.  While working as a maid in a Milwaukee restroom, she was discovered when the owner asked the workers to perform.  She played in movies such as: “The Golden West”, “Saratoga”, “Gone with the Wind,” and “Since You Went Away.”  She suffered from cancer and died on October 2, 1962, and was the first African American to be buried in the Los Angeles’ Rosedale Cemetery.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattie_McDaniel and http://www.classicmoviemusicals.com/mcdaniel.htm.

March

March 1

Blanche Kelso Bruce was the first African American to complete a term as a U. S. Senator.  He represented Mississippi during 1875 through 1881.  His father owned a plantation in Virginia and his mother was a house slave. He was raised and educated with his half brother.   Before being elected to the Senate, he was the sheriff of Bolivar County and the tax assessor for Tallahatchie County.  More information @   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanche_Bruce and http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=b000968.

March 2

Bo Diddley, born Otha Ellas Bates, was born in McComb, Mississippi on December 28, 1928.  In 1955, he became well known for his singing and custom made guitar.  More information available @ http://www.bo-diddley.com.

March 4

Blanche Kelso Bruce was the first African American to complete a term as a U. S. Senator.  He represented Mississippi during 1875 through 1881.  His father owned a plantation in Virginia and his mother was a house slave. He was raised and educated with his half brother.   Before being elected to the Senate, he was the sheriff of Bolivar County and the tax assessor for Tallahatchie County.  More information @   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanche_Bruce and http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=b000968.

Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard was born on March 4, 1908, in Murray, Kentucky.  In 1942, he became the first surgeon at the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. He founded the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL) in 1951 which held several rallies for civil rights.  He worked aggressively with the Emmett Till case by naming his home “the black command center” and keeping witnesses there.  He even spoke at Madison Square Garden concerning the racism and violence in Mississippi.  He founded the Howard Medical Center.  He died on May 1, 1976.  More information available @ http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/24570.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.R.M._Howard.

March 6

Walter “Furry” Lewis, blues guitarist, was born on March 6, 1893 in Greenwood, Mississippi. He was interested in music at a very young age.  He was originally interested in the harmonica, but couldn’t teach himself to play so he made a guitar out of cigar box and screen door wire.  Attempting to jump a train in 1916, he lost his leg.  He first recorded in 1927 on Vocalian Records but the Great Depression slowed his recordings down and he became a street sweeper in Memphis but continued to play his music on street corners.  He was rediscovered in 1959 and released two albums Back on my Feet Again and Done Changed my Mind in 1961.  He was popular at Folk and Blues festivals and also performed with rock and roll groups like The Rolling Stones.  He died of pneumonia on September 14, 1981.  More information available @ http://www.thebluehighway.com/furry.html and http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/furry_lewis.htm.

March 7

Alexander Graham Bell was born in Scotland on March 3 1847.  He was a physicist most known for inventing the telephone (“photophone”) in 1876.  In 1882, he became a U. S. Citizen. Due to his extensive research on speech and hearing he is commonly referred to as the “Father of the Deaf.”  He was also a founder for the National Geographic Society in 1888.  More information available @ http://www.answerconnect.com/articles/alexander-graham-bell and  http://fi.edu/franklin/inventor/bell.html.

March 9

Mary Wilson was the only supreme who remained in the group from its very beginning as The Primettes until The Supremes.  The Supremes disbanded in 1977, forcing her to become a solo artist.  She is the author of Dreamgirl, My Life as a Supreme and Supreme Faith, Someday We’ll be Together.  She has toured and performed in several different places around the world.  More information available @ http://marywilson.com/v1/ and http://www.nndb.com/people/805/000047664/.

March 10

James Earl Ray, convicted for the assassination of Martin Luther King, was born on March 10, 1928.  A few months before Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, James Earl Ray had escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary. He had also been on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives List twice.  He died in prison of liver failure and kidney disease. With the support of the King family, he fought for a new trial because he claimed he did not actually shoot King.   More information available @ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/04/23/national/main7900.shtml, and http://www.cnn.com/US/9804/23/ray.obit/.

March 13

Willie Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on July 1, 1915.  As a teenager he hitchhiked to Chicago and later became a producer for Chess and Checker Records.  He is known for playing an influential part in creating the Chicago Blues and Rock and Roll.  He has worked with  Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, and several others.  More information available @ http://www.bluesheaven.com/ and http://afgen.com/dixon.html.

March 15

William Waller was the governor for Mississippi from 1972-1976.  He attended Memphis State University and received his law degree from the University of Mississippi.  He included blacks and women in government during his administration.  More information available @ http://library.msstate.edu/content/templates/?a=1513&z=335.

March 17

Blanche Kelso Bruce was the first African American to complete a term as a U. S. Senator.  He represented Mississippi during 1875 through 1881.  His father owned a plantation in Virginia and his mother was a house slave. He was raised and educated with his half brother.   Before being elected to the Senate, he was the sheriff of Bolivar County and the tax assessor for Tallahatchie County.  More information @   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanche_Bruce and http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=b000968

March 18

Unita Blackwell, civil rights activist, was born on March 18, 1933, in Lula, Mississippi.  She attended school in Arkansas because education opportunities were very limited for blacks in Mississippi.  After completing the eighth grade, she became a sharecropper like her parents.  She was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and taught Sunday school.  She was also a member of Freedom Summer, a program encouraging blacks to vote.  As the first black female mayor, elected in 1976, she worked to improve the conditions in the black community.  In 1983 she received her master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts- Amherst. More information available @ http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/blackwell-unita-1933 and http://www.blackbookplus.com/barefootin_unita_blackwell_0609610600.asp.

March 19

George A. Morris played college football at Georgia Tech.  He was later drafted to the San Francisco 49ers.  More Information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Morris_(football_player).

March 21

Eddie J. House Jr., also known as “Son”, was a young Baptist preacher before becoming one of the most well known bluesmen.  The church frowned on the blues, but he taught himself to play the guitar anyway.  He played with Robert Johnson, Charley Payton, and Willie Brown.  He recorded with Paramount Records and the Library of Congress.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_House and http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/son_house.htm.

Bo Carter learned about music through his parents.  His father played the fiddle and his mother sang and played the guitar.  He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks and was one of the most popular blues musicians during the 1930s. He started losing his vision around the 1930s but continued to play music.  He moved around Mississippi and eventually ended up in Memphis, Tennessee where he died on September 21, 1964.  More information available @  http://mog.com/music/Bo_Carter/biography and http://www.artistopia.com/bo-carter/biography.

March 22

Martin Luther King Jr. played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement.  His work led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the March on Washington. He received a Noble Peace Prize for his non violent endeavors to end racial discrimination.  After his assassination, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and a Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.  In 1986, Martin Luther King Day was made a national holiday. More information available @ http://www.martinlutherking.org/ and http://www.thekingcenter.org/.

March 23

George "Boomer" Scott was born on March 23, 1944 in Greenville, Mississippi.  He played for the Boston Red Sox (1966-1971) and (1977-1979), Kansas City Royals (1979), New York Yankees (1979), and Milwaukee Brewers (1972-1976).  More information available @ http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/scottge02.php.

March 24

Elvis Presley, also known as the “King of Rock and Roll,” was born on January 8, 1935.  He was one of the first artists to perform rockabilly, which was a combination of blues and country music.  He also performed other types of music like gospel and pop, and made thirty-three movies.  He is the only artist to have been inducted all three halls of fame; the Country Music Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.  More information available @ http://www.elvis.com/ and http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/elvis-presley

March 25

Charles Banks, a Black businessman and founder of Mound Bayou, is born in Clarksdale in 1873. Among many successes, Banks was head of the first bank in Mound Bayou, opened in 1904.  http://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+Chief+Lieutenant+of+the+Tuskegee+Machine:+Charles+Banks+of...-a0129014374

Ida B. Wells was born on July 16, 1862.  After her parents died of yellow fever, she quit high school to take care of her brothers and sisters.  In 1880, they moved to Memphis.  She was a strong supporter of women’s rights and helped lead a campaign against segregation on the trains after she was thrown off for not giving up her seat.  She believed that lynching took place to prevent blacks from progressing economically.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_B._Wells and http://www.idabwells.org/.

March 26

Thomas Lanier Williams was nicknamed “Tennessee” because his father was born there and also his accent.  He attended Missouri State University and Iowa State University.  He has written several plays and received a Pulitzer Prize for A Streetcar named Desire.  The Glass Menagerie and The Night of the Iguana both received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award.  is HIs More information available @ http://www.lambda.net/~maximum/williams.html.

March 28

William Christopher Handy was called the “Father of the Blues” because he introduced blues to the world.  As a child he was always interested in music, but his family did not approve and he secretly joined a band and saved his money to purchase a guitar.  He wrote and published several songs and started his own quartet called the “Lauzetta Quartet,” and his own company called “Handy Brother’s Music Company.”  He was also a member of “Mahara's Minstrels.”   He taught at what is now known as Alabama A&M University.  He had eye problems since childhood and completely lost his sight after an accident in 1943.  He has written five books and received various honors and awards.  A park and music festival in his hometown, Florence, Alabama, is named after him, a commemorative stamp, and recognition at Carnegie Hall as well as the World’s Fair.  More information available @ http://www2.una.edu/library/handy/biography.htm, http://www.wchandymusicfestival.org/ and http://www.handyblues.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=37.

March 29

The Port Gibson Main Street Heritage Festival is sponsored by the Port Gibson Main Street and is held in March.  More information available @    http://www.portgibsonmainstreet.com/Festival.html.

March 31

Greenwood Leflore was elected chief of the Choctaw tribe before the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.  He had many connections in the state and local governments and used them to help secure the largest amount of Indian territory land for any removed tribe.  Le Flore County in Oklahoma, and Greenwood and Leflore County in Mississippi are named after him. More information available @ http://vaiden.net/malmaison.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood_LeFlore.

April

April 2

Ponce de Leon, soldier and explorer, was born in Spain around 1460.  He accompanied Christopher Columbus on his expedition in 1493 looking for the Americas.  He discovered the Gulf Stream and founded one of the oldest European colonies in Puerto Rico.  While searching for the Fountain of Youth, he was injured by an arrow during an attack by the Native Americans, which led to his death.  More information available @ http://fcit.usf.edu/Florida/lessons/de_leon/de_leon1.htm and http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/ponce_de_leon.htm

April 3

The Pony Express was responsible for communicating important events and carrying mail from Missouri to California.  It was in operation from April 1860 until 1861.  More information available @ http://www.xphomestation.com/ and http://www.ponyexpress.org/.

April 4

William Hodding Carter II was born on February 3, 1907 in Hammond, Louisiana.  After completing college and graduate school, he worked as a reporter for the New Orleans Item-Tribune (1929), the United Press in New Orleans (1930), and the Associated Press in Jackson, Mississippi (1931-32).  In 1932, he founded the Hammond Daily Courier.  In 1939, he moved to Greenville, Mississippi and started the Greenville Delta Democrat Times.  In 1946, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his work published about the treatment of the Japanese-American soldiers during World War II.  More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/   and http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-CarterHod.html.

Martin Luther King Jr. played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement.  His work led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the March on Washington. He received a Noble Peace Prize for his non violent endeavors to end racial discrimination.  After his assassination, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and a Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.  In 1986, Martin Luther King Day was made a national holiday. More information available @ http://www.martinlutherking.org/ and http://www.thekingcenter.org/.

Muddy Waters was born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi on April 4, 1915.  He is known for producing several classic songs.  The Rolling Stones even named their group after one of his earlier songs.  More information available @ http://www.muddywaters.com.

April 8

Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes, who known for playing his guitar with his teeth and tongue, was born in Longwood, Mississippi, on September 25, 1936.  He grew up on a farm raising hogs which caused him to lose part of a finger after being bitten.  When he was eight years old, he starting playing a toy harmonica.  In 1956, he started his own band called the “Swinging Gold Coasters” and began playing the guitar in 1960.  Howlin’’ Wolf was his favorite artist and Howlin’ Wolf even called him “little wolf.”  In April, he died from severe lung cancer.  More information available @ http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/RooseveltBarnes.htm and http://www.answers.com/topic/roosevelt-booba-barnes.

April 9

Rene-Robert Cavalier was born on November 24, 1643 in France.  He was the first European explorer who traveled to the Gulf of Mexico, following the Mississippi.  He called the Mississippi River Basin “the Louisiana Territory.  He was also involved in fur trading and continued exploring along the Mississippi River.  He was killed on an expedition on March 20, 1686 by member of his expedition team.  More information available @ http://www.mariner.org/exploration/index.php?type=explorer&id=32 and

http://library.thinkquest.org/4034/lasalle.html.

Robert E. Lee was born on January 19, 1807 in Virginia.  He graduated second in his class from West Point.  Some of his well known battle victories are the Seven Days Battles, The Second Battle of Bull Run, The Battle of Fredericksburg, and The Battle of Antietam.  In 1870 he had a stroke from which he never recuperated.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee and http://www.robertelee.org/.

April 10

David Halberstam, author and reporter, was born on April 10, 1934.  His father was in the military so he lived in various states including Connecticut and Texas.  He attended Harvard and managed the college’s daily newspaper.  He wrote on a variety of topics like wars, sports, and civil rights.  In 1964, he received a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting of the Vietnam War.  He has also written several books.  He was killed in a car accident in California.  More information available @  http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/printmember/hal0bio-1 and

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/david-halberstam/.

April 11

Governor Henry LewisWhitfield was born on June 20, 1968. In 1907, he became the President of the Industrial Institute and College, now Mississippi University for Women.  He was the governor of Mississippi from 1924 until he died in 1927.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_L._Whitfield and http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=f7630646cf307010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD.

Johnnie Billington received his first guitar as a gift from his father which he learned to play by listening to the King Biscuit Performers.  He lived in Arizona and Chicago but eventually moved back to Mississippi.  Realizing the children in the Clarksdale community had limited opportunities, he began teaching them how to play music.  He received The Blues Foundation’s “Keeping the Blues Alive” Education Award and the Artist Achievement Award.  More information available @ http://www.arts.state.ms.us/crossroads/music/music1.html and  http://www.pbs.org/riverofsong/artists/e3-johnnie.html.

Steve Azar was born on April 11, 1964 in Greenville, Mississippi.  He moved to Nashville, Tennessee to further his music career.  In 1996, he released his album Heartbreak Town.  In 2002, he released the album Waitin’ on Joe.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Azar and  http://www.steveazarlive.com/site.php?content=music.

April 12

George "Boomer" Scott was born on March 23, 1944 in Greenville, Mississippi.  He played for the Boston Red Sox (1966-1971) and (1977-1979), Kansas City Royals (1979), New York Yankees (1979), and Milwaukee Brewers (1972-1976).  More information available @ http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/scottge02.php

April 13

Eudora Welty was a photographer and author whose work has been placed in several literature text books.  After her mother and brothers became ill, she temporarily abandoned her writing to care for them.  She was a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and a recipient of the

Rea Award for the Short Story, the Edward McDowell Medal, the National Medal of Arts, the French Legion of Honor, and several others.  She died in 2001 after being diagnosed with pneumonia.  More information available at http://www.eudorawelty.org/ and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

Walter Sillers

April 14

Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of the United States of America was born in Hardin County, Kentucky.  His presidency lasted from 1861-1865.  He served in the Black Hawk War and was involved in the Illinois Legislature for eight years.  He issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which freed all slaves.  He is also known for the Gettysburg Address that urged Americans to honor those who died in the Civil War by remembering why they were fighting.  He was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865.  More information available @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/al16.html and http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/americanpresident/lincoln/essays/biography/1

April 15

Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee; her exact birthday is not known but is believed to be in 1896, 1989, or 1900. In the 1920s she toured through the south and other northern cities as one of the highest paid black entertainers. She was killed in a car accident in Clarksdale, Mississippi, leaving behind 160 recordings of her work.  More information available @ http://bluesnet.hub.org/readings/bessie.html and http://www.redhotjazz.com/bessie.html.

April 16            

Admiral David Dixon Porter, who was one the first to be called “admiral”, was born on June 8, 1813.  Previously, the highest reached title in the U.S. Navy was commodore.  He is well known for his naval skills demonstrated during the Civil War.  More information available @  http://arlingtoncemetery.net/ddporter.htm and http://blueandgraytrail.com/event/David_Porter.

April 17

Sam Carr first learned about the blues from his father who had his own band.  When he was around 9 years old, he would dance in front of his father’s band as they performed, but would later join and play bass for them.  He formed his own band called the Jelly Roll Kings with Frank Frost.  More information available @ http://deltaboogie.com/deltamusicians/carrs/.

April 18

William Faulkner, poet and novelist, was born on September 25, 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi.  His life in Mississippi was the inspiration for most of his work.  He wanted to join the United States Army but was not accepted because of his height so he joined the Royal Air Force in Canada, but did not participate in WWII.  He worked several other jobs including a bookstore clerk, postmaster, and a scoutmaster for the Boys Club.  Although he never received a high school diploma or college degree he excelled as a writer.  He is referred to as one of the most influential writers during the twentieth century and is also viewed as an important “Southern Writer.”  His awards include a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949, Pulitzer Prizes for A Fable in 1954, The Reivers in 1962, and two National Book Awards for Collected Stories in 1951 and A Fable in 1955.  He died on July 6, 1962.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_william/ and http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-bio.html

April 20

Sank Powe was born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi.  He grew up during segregation and had childhood dreams of playing professional baseball.  He attended college and played baseball for Jackson State and was invited to the St. Louis Cardinal’s training camp.  He ended up quitting camp because his arm was injured and he wanted to graduate.  He became the baseball coach for Cleveland High School.  Beth Boswell, whose son played for Powe, has written a book about his life entitled Grit, Guts & Baseball.  More information available @ http://www.lib.usm.edu/~spcol/coh/cohpowes.html and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

April 21

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, called the “Father of America Literature” by William Faulkner, was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835.  He was a writer, lecturer, and American humorist who wrote under the pen name Mark Twain.  He is most known for the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the Adventures of Tom Sawyer.  More information available @ http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/projects/price/atwain.htm and http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/twainver.htm.

April 23

James Earl Ray, convicted for the assassination of Martin Luther King, was born on March 10, 1928.  A few months before Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, James Earl Ray had escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary. He had also been on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives List twice.  He died in prison of liver failure and kidney disease. With the support of the King family, he fought for a new trial because he claimed he did not actually shoot King.   More information available @ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/04/23/national/main7900.shtml, and http://www.cnn.com/US/9804/23/ray.obit/.

April 24

John Francis Hamtranck Claiborne attended school in Mississippi and Virginia.  He started out practicing law but later began a career in politics.  He was a member of Congress from 1835-1837.  He was well known for his newspaper editing and forceful writing style.  He wrote two series of essays that described the people he met and his encounters while traveling through Mississippi and Louisiana.  Two of these essays are published in An Anthology of Mississippi Writers.  His major work was entitled Mississippi as a Province, Territory, and State, with Biographical Notices of Eminent Citizens in 1880.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/claiborne_jfh/index.html.

April 25

Lynn Hamilton was an African American actress who starred in Sanford and Son as “Donna Harris” and also “Verdie” on “The Waltons”.  She also had a role in the movie, Roots: the Next Generations.  More information available @ http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/2792/guest9.htm and http://www.filmreference.com/film/62/Lynn-Hamilton.html.

On February 24, 1959, Mack Charles Parker was arrested for raping and kidnapping a white, pregnant woman, June Walters.  On the night of April 24, 1959, three days before his trial was scheduled to take place, he was beaten and taken from his cell and later shot by a group of men.  His body was found in the Pearl River 10 days later.  A few of his attackers confessed and others were suspected, but none of them were indicted.  His murder trial was repeatedly postponed by Jams P. Coleman, governor of Mississippi, who promised to maintain segregation during his campaign.  More information available @ http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/parker.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_Charles_Parker.

Albert King, known as one of the “Three Kings of the Blues Guitar” and “The Velvet Bulldozer,” began his career singing in a church group as a child.  He played the guitar with his left hand, which meant he played a right handed guitar upside down.  His second album, Born Under a Bad Sign, named for a song on the album was one of his most known songs.  He died from a heart attack on December 21, 1992.  More information available @ http://shs.ee.msstate.edu/mswm/MSWritersAndMusicians/musicians/King.html amd http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/AlbertKing.htm, and http://staxrecords.free.fr/king.htm.

April 26

Barry Lyons was born on April 3, 1960 in Biloxi, Mississippi.  He was drafted by the New York Mets in 1986.  He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1990-1990), California Angels (1991), and the Chicago White Sox (1995).  More information available @ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=lyonsba01.

April 28

Charley Patton is known as the “Father of the Delta Blues.”  At 19, he had written “Pony Blues” and was already a talented composer and performer.  He learned to play the guitar at a young age and later made a living playing along towns of the Mississippi River.  He is known for his harsh, loud voice he used to sing about African American life in the south.  More information available @ http://www.southernmusic.net/charliepatton.htm and http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/charley_patton.htm.

April 29

John Luther Jones was known as “Casey” because he was from Cayce, Kentucky.  He was a locomotive engineer for Illinois Central who volunteered to operate another engineer’s train but was killed in a train accident.  When he realized that the accident was going to occur, he commanded Sim Webb who accompanied him to jump off the train.  Casey stayed aboard and tried to slow the train down and lessen the impact of the crash.  As a result, he was the only fatality but saved several other passengers.  Wallace Saunders, African American engineer wiper for Illinois Central was a very good friend of Casey’s and was heard singing a tribute to his friend by a song writer, who made a few changes but kept the name Casey Jones.  More information available @ http://www.watervalley.net/users/caseyjones/casey.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Jones.

April 30

Muddy Waters was born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi on April 4, 1915.  He is known for producing several classic songs.  The Rolling Stones even named their group after one of his earlier songs.  More information available @ http://www.muddywaters.com.

                                                                           May                                                                

May 1

Charley Patton is known as the “Father of the Delta Blues.”  At 19, he had written “Pony Blues” and was already a talented composer and performer.  He learned to play the guitar at a young age and later made a living playing along towns of the Mississippi River.  He is known for his harsh, loud voice he used to sing about African American life in the south.  More information available @ http://www.southernmusic.net/charliepatton.htm and http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/charley_patton.htm.

Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard was born on March 4, 1908, in Murray, Kentucky.  In 1942, he became the first surgeon at the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. He founded the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL) in 1951 which held several rallies concerning civil rights.  He worked aggressively with the Emmett Till case by naming his home “the black command center” and keeping witnesses there.  He even spoke at Madison Square Garden concerning the racism and violence in Mississippi.  He founded the Howard Medical Center.  He died on May 1, 1976.  More information available @ http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/24570.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.R.M._Howard.

May 1

Glen Ballard

May 2

Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee were kidnapped, beaten, and killed by members of the Klu Klux Klan because they believed African American Muslims were planning an uprising.  Their bodies were found in the Mississippi River during a search for missing civil rights workers.  On June 14, 2007, James Ford Seale received 3 life sentences for their murders. More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ford_Seale and http://crime.about.com/od/history/a/seale.htm.

May 4

Tyrone Davis

May 7

Rev. George Wesley Lee was a Baptist pastor from Belzoni, Mississippi.  He was an official of the NAACP and encouraged his congregation to register to vote.  He ran a grocery store and was visited by two white men on two separate occasions.  One day he closed the store early after their second visit and told his wife he was going to the cleaners.  On the way he was shot, causing him to lose control of his car and was killed.  The county coroner declared his death was caused by the accident, not the gun shots.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Lee and http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis55.htm.

May 8

Dean Acheson, born on April 11, 1893, served as the Secretary of State during 1949-1953.  He helped draft the American foreign policy and helped establish the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO.  He defended the state department employees in the anti-communist investigations with Senator McCarthy, and President John F. Kennedy consulted him for advice during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  More information available @ http://www.library.yale.edu/un/papers/acheson.htm and http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAacheson.htm

Hernando de Soto, conquistador and Spanish explorer, discovered the Mississippi River while searching for what is now the United States of America.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto_(explorer) and http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/d/desoto.shtml

Robert Johnson, also known as the “King of the Delta Blues” was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi on May 8, 1911.  As a child, he was always interested in music and played the harp, harmonica, and guitar.  During his career he had written 29 songs but only a few were recorded when he died.  Despite this fact, he is well respected and admired for his work along with his contribution to modern Rock and Roll.   More information available @ http://www.robertjohnsonbluesfoundation.org and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson_%28musician%29.

May 10

Walker Percy was born on May 28, 1916 in Birmingham, Alabama, and was raised by William Alexander Perry after the death of his parents.  His father shot himself and his mother was in an accident that ended with her car in a bayou.  Perry introduced him to poets and writers.  He attended medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated in 1941.  During his internship he contracted TB performing an autopsy.  He is most known for his philosophical novels.  In 1962, he won the National Fiction Award for The Moviegoer.  More information available @ http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/who.html and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

May 16

Jim Henson was born in Greenville, Mississippi on September 24, 1936.  He was a puppeteer, film director, and movie producer.  He created The Muppets which led to Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.  His films include The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Dark Crystal (1982).  He was nominated for an Oscar and won three Emmy Awards for his television production, Sesame Street.  He founded The Jim Henson Company, The Henson Foundation, and The Jim Henson Creature Shop.  On May 16, 1990 he died from organ failure.  More information available @ http://www.jimhensonlegacy.org/ and http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Jim_Henson.

May 17

John Francis Hamtranck Claiborne attended school in Mississippi and Virginia.  He started out practicing law but later began a career in politics.  He was a member of Congress from 1835-1837.  He was well known for his newspaper editing and forceful writing style.  He wrote two series of essays that described the people he met and his encounters while traveling through Mississippi and Louisiana.  Two of these essays are published in An Anthology of Mississippi Writers.  His major work was entitled Mississippi as a Province, Territory, and State, with Biographical Notices of Eminent Citizens in 1880.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/claiborne_jfh/index.html.

John Wesley Broom served as the assistant superintendent of education and a professor at Mississippi Normal School, now The University of Southern Mississippi before becoming president of Delta State University.  He secured appropriations from the Senate for a girl’s dormitory called Cleveland Hall, a gymnasium and laundromat, and housing for the president and dean.  He died in May 1926.  More information available @ http://www.deltastate.edu/pages/1220.asp.

Governor Henry LewisWhitfield was born on June 20, 1968. In 1907, he became the President of the Industrial Institute and College, now Mississippi University for Women.  He was the governor of Mississippi from 1924 until he died in 1927.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_L._Whitfield and http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=f7630646cf307010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD.

May 17

William Marion Kethley became president of Delta State University in 1926 and he was the youngest college president during this time.  During his presidency, the Delta Council was established, and the college became members of the American Association of Teachers Colleges and The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.  He also beautified the scenery of the campus by planting oak and dogwood trees.  More information available @ http://www.deltastate.edu/pages/1220.asp.

May 18

William Alexander Percy, lawyer, poet, and planter, was born on May 14, 1885 in Greenville, Mississippi.  He served in World War I and was in charge of the relief efforts in Greenville during the flood of 1927.  More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

May 19

Aaron Henry was born on July 2, 1922 in Dublin, Mississippi.  He attended Xavier University and graduated with a pharmacy degree.  In 1954, he joined the NAACP and became president in 1959.  He was very successful in uniting blacks throughout Mississippi.  He helped form the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the Council of Federated Organizations.  He served on the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1992-1996.  More information available @  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Henry and http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5221/is_2005/ai_n19137260.

May 21

Hernando de Soto, conquistador and Spanish explorer, discovered the Mississippi River while searching for what is now the United States of America.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto_(explorer) and http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/d/desoto.shtml.

Isaiah T. Montgomery was born on May 21, 1847.  Despite the fact he was a slave, he received very good education. His dream was to build the “largest Negro town, and in 1887, he and his cousin Benjamin T. Green founded Mound Bayou.  In 1890, he was the only African American delegate to be appointed to the Mississippi Constitutional Convention.  In 1892, he was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to be the receiver of public money for the United States Land Office.  More information available @ http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhermannIT.htm and http://www.rootsweb.com/~msgenweb/xslaves/montgomery-isaiah-xslave.htm.

May 24

Elmore James grew up on several farms in Mississippi.  Before he owned a guitar, he would make his own instruments.  One of them consisted of broom wire that had been nailed to his cabin.  He served in the Navy and upon his return began playing the blues around Mississippi.  He later moved to Chicago and formed his band, the Broomdusters.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmore_James and http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/elmore-james.

May 25

John Crews has had six of his poems published in journals and the third volume of Mississippi Writer’s: Reflections of Childhood and Youth.  He has also written four plays.  More information available @   http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/crews_john/index.html.

May 27

Junior Parker’s real name was Herman Parker Jr.  As a child he began singing in gospel groups.  As he became older, he played the harmonica and joined the Beale Streeters.  In 1951 he started his own band called the Blue Flames. Ike Turner gave him his first recording opportunity.  He attracted fans of all ages and was recognized by his velvet smooth voice.  More information available @  http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1424/Junior_Parker_Mr_Blues and http://music.aol.com/artist/junior-parker/112422/biography.

May 28

Walker Percy was born on May 28, 1916 in Birmingham, Alabama, and was raised by William Alexander Perry after the death of his parents.  His father shot himself and his mother was in an accident that ended with her car in a bayou.  Perry introduced him to poets and writers.  He attended medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated in 1941.  During his internship he contracted TB performing an autopsy.  He is most known for his philosophical novels.  In 1962, he won the National Fiction Award for The Moviegoer.  More information available @ http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/who.html and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

May 29

Harald “Hardface” Clanton ran The Barn, a night club in Tunica and also owned a farm.  http://www.blueshighway.org/registry.htm

June

June 1

Morgan Freeman is a well known author who was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but lived in various places during his childhood including Greenwood, Mississippi.  During high school, he was active in drama, but turned down a scholarship to join the Air Force.  He has played in several movies including Driving Miss Daisy, Glory, Deep Impact, Amistad, Along Came a Spider, Million Dollar Baby and others.  He has won several awards including an Oscar, Golden Globes, Image Awards, and a host of others.  More information available @ http://www.westlord.com/morganfreeman/.

Robert Johnson, also known as the “King of the Delta Blues” was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi on May 8, 1911.  As a child, he was always interested in music and played the harp, harmonica, and guitar.  During his career he had written 29 songs but only a few were recorded when he died.  Despite this fact, he is well respected and admired for his work along with his contribution to modern Rock and Roll.   More information available @ http://www.robertjohnsonbluesfoundation.org and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson_%28musician%29.

June 2

Othar (Otha) Turner started playing the fife at 16 years old and also began making them from sugarcane.  He started his own band called the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band.  He is the recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Award, the Smithsonian Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Charlie Patton Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival.  More information available @ http://www.othaturner.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Othar_Turner.

June 3

Greenwood Leflore was elected chief of the Choctaw tribe before the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.  He had many connections in the state and local governments and used them to help secure the largest amount of Indian territory land for any removed tribe.  Le Flore County in Oklahoma and Greenwood and Leflore County in Mississippi are named after him. More information available @ http://vaiden.net/malmaison.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood_LeFlore.

Memphis Minnie, born as Lizzie Douglas, was one of the well known female blues musicians that recorded for forty years.  She learned to play the guitar and banjo at an early age and ran away at thirteen, eventually joining the circus.  Afterwards, she joined several other bands in Memphis before moving to Chicago and getting married.  She was one of the first musicians to use the electric guitar to create her style of country blues, and is known as one of the greatest female county blues singers.  More information available @ http://www.southernmusic.net/minnie.htm and http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/memphis_minnie.htm.

Barry Lyons was born on April 3, 1960 in Biloxi, Mississippi.  He was drafted by the New York Mets in 1986.  He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1990-1990), California Angels (1991), and the Chicago White Sox (1995).  More information available @ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=lyonsba01.

June 5

Conway Twitty was born Harold Jenkins, but changed his name in 1957.  His father taught him how to play the guitar when he was four years old.  His band was called the “Phillips Country Ramblers.”  He loved to play baseball, but turned down an offer to play professionally with the Philadelphia Phillies to join the army.  After his return, he pursued a music career.  He worked with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and several others.  He recorded with MCA/Decca Records and Warner Bros.  He died from an aneurysm on April 5, 1993. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.  More information available @ http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/twitty_conway/bio.jhtml and http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/inductees.aspx?cid=194#.

June 6

James Meredith attended Jackson State University from 1960-1962.  He wanted to be the first African American to be admitted to the University of Mississippi.  He had previously been rejected twice in 1961, but was finally admitted after he made an appeal to the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court.  He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1964.  On June 5, 1966, Meredith started the March Against Fear and was shot by a sniper.  After receiving treatment, he joined the March again on June 25, 1966. He became a stockbroker in the late 1960s.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Meredith and http://www.jfklibrary.org/meredith/jm.html.

Catherine Anne Warfield, poetry and fiction writer began writing poetry with her sister, Eleanor, after their mother was hospitalized.  In 1849, Eleanor died and Catherine stopped writing until encouraged by family members to continue writing.  In 1860, she began writing again and was praised as “Shakespearean.”  Her most known novels are Ferne Fleming and its sequel The Cardinal’s Daughter. More information available @  http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/warfield_catherine/ and http://www.answers.com/topic/catherine-anne-warfield.

June 6

Marian Wright Edelman was born in Bennettsville, South Carolina.  Her father was a pastor who influenced her to get an education.  She graduated from Spellman College and Yale Law School.  She has worked as the director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and founded the Washington Research Project, which later became the Children’s Defense Fund.  She was also the first African American woman to serve on the board of directors for Yale University.  She has written several books and articles.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Wright_Edelman and http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageNavigator/People_MWE.

June 9

Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James was a singer, songwriter, pianist, and guitarist.  His first song Illinois Blues was written based on experiences he had while working on road construction and levee building crews.  He later made a living by sharecropping and making bootleg whiskey.  He developed a three finger picking technique that gave his recordings a distinct sound.  More information available @ http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/skip_james.htm and http://physics.lunet.edu/blues/Skip_James.html.

June 10

Chester “ Howlin’” Wolf Burnett was a guitarist, singer, and harmonica player who helped form rock and roll.  He was named after the 12^th president of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, and was called “Big Foot” and “Bull Cow” as a child because of his size.  He got the name “Howlin’ Wolf” from his grandfather who would tell him that the wolves he heard around their home would get him if he misbehaved.  He ran away at 13 and began working on a plantation with his father; this is where he met Charlie Patton who introduced him to the guitar. In West Point, Mississippi, The Howlin’ Wolf Memorial Blues Festival is held annually in his honor.  More information available @ http://www.Howlin’wolf.com/articles/bio_1.htm and  http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=631.

June 11

Henry Clay Anderson opened Anderson Photo Service in 1947 in Greenville, Mississippi after laws enforced separate but equal accommodations for whites and African Americans.  He stayed in business over thirty years taking pictures of many different events such as weddings, funerals, proms, and church events.  He photos show the true African American community.  More information available @ http://www.andersonphotoservice.org/.

June 12

Medgar Evers was a black civil rights activist born in Decatur, Mississippi and attended Alcorn State University.  After graduating he applied to law school at the University of Mississippi but was not accepted.  He was president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership and also the first field officer of the NAACP from Mississippi.  He took part in the desegregations of the University of Mississippi and also openly investigated Emmett Till’s death.  He was buried on June 19, 1963, in Arlington National Cemetery, receiving full military honors.  More than 3,000 people attended his funeral and his death was mourned throughout the world.  More information available @ http://www.africawithin.com/bios/medgar_evers.htm and http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1294360.

June 14

Eddie Tucker was born on November 18, 1966 in Greenville, Mississippi.  He played catcher for the Boston Astros in ‘92, ‘93, and ’95 and the Cleveland Indians in ’95.  More information available @ http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/tuckeed01.php.

June 17

Stokely Carmichael was born in the Port of Spain, Trinidad on June 29, 1941.  In 1952, he moved to the United States and attended high school in New York City.  After graduation, he attended Howard University and later joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, becoming chairman in 1966 and the Freedom Riders. He had previously been arrested 27 times and when released on June 16, 1966 he made his “black power” speech in Greenwood, Mississippi during James Meredith’s March Against Fear.  More Information Available @ http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/carmichael_stokely.html and http://www.interchange.org/Kwameture/nytimes111698.html.

June 18

Hernando de Soto, conquistador and Spanish explorer, discovered the Mississippi River while searching for what is now the United States of America.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto_(explorer) and http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/d/desoto.shtml.

June 20

Ben Peters grew up picking cotton and became interested in music when he discovered an old saxophone and taught himself to play.  He attended the University of Southern Mississippi and subsequently joined the navy.  After serving in the Navy, he worked various jobs and was about to give up a career in music but was offered to join SSS International by Shelby Singleton.  He wrote number one hits for several artists including Eddy Arnold, Charley Pride, Freddy Fender, Kenny Rogers, and others.  In 1972, he received a Grammy Award for writing “Kiss an Angel Goodbye for Charley Pride.” In 1973, he was named Billboard’s “Best Male Country Writer.”  More information available @ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_May_26/ai_n13783054 and http://www.answers.com/topic/ben-peters.

June 21

James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Micheal Schwerner were civil rights workers who were arrested while working for the Congress of Racial Equality.  They were arrested for a traffic violation and taken to jail in Neshoba county.  After their release, they were stopped on their way home to Meridian by two carloads of Klu Klux Klan members who shot and killed them.  It is believed that if Goodman and Schwerner were not white and Cheney had only been involved, the case would not have been handled the way it was.  Edgar Ray Killen was found guilty of three counts of manslaughter exactly 41 years after their murders, even though he was previously indicted for murder.  More information available @   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Civil_Rights_Workers_Murders and http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmjustice4.html.

John Lee Hooker, blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist, was born on August 22, 1917 near Clarksdale, Mississippi.  He was the youngest of eleven children.  After his parents separated, he was introduced to the guitar and the blues by his stepfather.  He ran away from home at age 15 and worked various jobs in Memphis.  In 1948, his recording career began. In 1980, he sang and appeared in the movie, The Blues Brothers.  His most known songs are Boogie Chillen and Boom Boom.  His awards include a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and being an inductee into the Blues Hall of Fame (1980) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1981).  More information available @ http://www.johnleehooker.com/home.htm and http://www.rosebudus.com/hooker/.

June 23

Milton Hilton was known as “The Judge” and the “Dean of Jazz Bass Players.”  He played the double bass and was also a photographer.  During his career, he took several pictures that documented the careers of other well know jazz musicians.  More information available @ http://www.milthinton.com/html/bio.html.

June 25

James Meredith attended Jackson State University from 1960-1962.  He wanted to be the first African American to be admitted to the University of Mississippi.  He had previously been rejected twice in 1961, but was finally admitted after he made an appeal to the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court.  He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1964.  On June 5, 1966, Meredith started the March Against Fear and was shot by a sniper.  After receiving treatment, he joined the March again on June 25, 1966. He became a stockbroker in the late 1960s.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Meredith and http://www.jfklibrary.org/meredith/jm.html.

June 26

Henry Clay Lewis was a medical doctor and short story writer.  He published a book entitled Odd Leaves from the Life of a Louisiana Swamp.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/lewis_henry_clay/.

William Lee Conley "Big Bill" Broonzy was one of seventeen children.  As a child, he played his fiddle at church and social events.  During 1917 and 1919 he served in the United States Army.  After his return he started playing the guitar.  His music style was a combination of ragtime, country and hokum blues.  He became a key figure on the Chicago Blues scene in 1938 when he filled in at Carnegie Hall for Robert Johnson who died unexpectedly.  His autobiography, Big Bill Blues, was published in 1955.  In 1980, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation of Hall of Fame.  He died of throat and lung cancer on August 14, 1958.  More information available @ http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9016655/Big-Bill-Broonzy#133604.hook and http://www.broonzy.com/.

June 27

Shelby Dade Foote Jr. was born on November 17, 1916 in Greenville, MS.  As a child, he enjoyed reading and later became the editor of his high school paper.  He attended the University of North Carolina and submitted fiction pieces to their literary magazine.  Before the United States joined WWII, he joined the National Guard and spent time writing while waiting for his unit to be deployed.  In 1946, he decided to pursue his writing career full time.  He is most known for The Civil War: A Narrative, which consists of three volumes, but published several other novels including: Shiloh, Tournament, Follow me Down, and others.  He died in 2005 of a heart attack.   More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/mswriters/dir/foote_shelby/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_Foote.

June 28

David “Honeyboy" Edwards, Delta blues singer and guitarist, taught himself how to play the guitar by listening to other blues artists.  He was close friends with musician Robert Johnson.  At the age of 84, he still performs his music.   He wrote The World Don’t Owe Me Nothing, which describes his childhood and experiences in the South and Chicago, was published in 1997 by the Chicago Review Press.   His awards include induction into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1996, Acoustic Blues-Artist of the Year (26th W.C. Handy Blues Awards) in 2005, and Acoustic Artist of the Year (The Blues Music Awards) in 2007.  More information available @ http://www.davidhoneyboyedwards.com/ and http://www.centerstage.net/music/whoswho/HoneyboyEdwards.html.

June 29

Jo Bailey was born on July 14, 1918 in Corinth, Mississippi.  She was raised in the Mississippi Delta and Oxford.  She paints with watercolors and oils and her work is displayed all over the country.  More information available @ http://www.jobaileyportraits.com/.

June 30

Ben Peters grew up picking cotton and became interested in music when he discovered an old saxophone and taught himself to play.  He attended the University of Southern Mississippi and subsequently joined the navy.  After serving in the Navy, he worked various jobs and was about to give up a career in music but was offered to join SSS International by Shelby Singleton.  He wrote number one hits for several artists including Eddy Arnold, Charley Pride, Freddy Fender, Kenny Rogers, and others.  In 1972, he received a Grammy Award for writing “Kiss an Angel Goodbye for Charley Pride.” In 1973, he was named Billboard’s “Best Male Country Writer.”  More information available @ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_May_26/ai_n13783054 and http://www.answers.com/topic/ben-peters.

July

July 1

Willie Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on July 1, 1915.  As a teenager he hitchhiked to Chicago and later became a producer for Chess and Checker Records.  He is known for playing an influential part in creating the Chicago Blues and Rock and Roll.  He has worked with  Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, and several others.  More information available @ http://www.bluesheaven.com/ and http://afgen.com/dixon.html.

Coach Lloyd Clark, Drew, a Mississippi native, became the head coach for the Lady Statesmen in 1983.  He believed in defense, ball control, and smart play.  More information available @ http://gostatesmen.netfirms.com/sports/wbasketball/lloydclark.html

Dr. Lester C. Newman became the president of Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU) in 1998.  Under his leadership student enrollment increased and MVSU was recognized as a respected, fast-growing university in the Southeast.  He called MVSU “the valley of scholars.”  In 1999, he began a $25 million fundraising program with Morgan Freeman as the chairman and B. B. King served as the honorary chair.  Its purpose was to better the university by making improvements to the campus, creating scholarships, etc.  His is a recipient of several awards which include Shelby State Community College, Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service;  Greenwood-Leflore Retired Teacher's Association, Educator of the Year; Miller Brewing Company, Gallery of Greats; and Delta Business Journal, Profiles in Leadership Award.  He resigned on July 15, 2007. More information available @ http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2664/Newman-Lester-C-Left-Alma-Mater.html and http://www.ihl.state.ms.us/system_review_newsletter/system_review_06_22_07.html#news1.

July 2

John Hurt, guitarist and blues singer, grew up in Avalon, Mississippi and learned to play the guitar when he was nine years old.  He often filled in for Willie Narmour when his regular partner could not accompany him.  His musical style was a mix of country and blues.  More information available @ http://www.msjohnhurtmuseum.com/mjhbio.html and http://www.mindspring.com/~dennist/#Biographical%20Information.

Aaron Henry was born on July 2, 1922 in Dublin, Mississippi.  He attended Xavier University and graduated with a pharmacy degree.  In 1954, he joined the NAACP and became president in 1959.  He was very successful in uniting blacks throughout Mississippi.  He helped form the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the Council of Federated Organizations.  He served on the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1992-1996.  More information available @  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Henry and http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5221/is_2005/ai_n19137260.

Medgar Evers was a black civil rights activist born in Decatur, Mississippi and attended Alcorn State University.  After graduating he applied to law school at the University of Mississippi but was not accepted.  He was president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership and also the first field officer of the NAACP from Mississippi.  He took part in the desegregations of the University of Mississippi and also openly investigated Emmett Till’s death.  He was buried on June 19, 1963, in Arlington National Cemetery, receiving full military honors.  More than 3,000 people attended his funeral and his death was mourned throughout the world.  More information available @ http://www.africawithin.com/bios/medgar_evers.htm and http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1294360.

July 2

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on August 27, 1908.  He was the thirty sixth president of the United States of America.  He believed in creating “A Great Society” for everyone in all parts of the world.  His presidential term was 1963-1969.  More information available @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/lj36.html and http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/biographys.hom/lbj_bio.asp.

July 4

Jo Bailey was born on July 14, 1918 in Corinth, Mississippi.  She was raised in the Mississippi Delta and Oxford.  She paints with watercolors and oils and her work is displayed all over the country.  More information available @ http://www.jobaileyportraits.com/.

July 5

Dustin Eli Whiteside was born on October 22, 1979 in New Albany, Mississippi.  He attended Delta State University and was a member of the Statesmen baseball team.  He currently plays catcher for the Baltimore Orioles.  More information available @ http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=434630.

July 6

William Faulkner, poet and novelist, was born on September 25, 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi.  His life in Mississippi was the inspiration for most of his work.  He wanted to join the United States Army but was not accepted because of his height so he joined the Royal Air Force in Canada, but did not participate in WWII.  He worked several other jobs including a bookstore clerk, postmaster, and a scoutmaster for the Boys Club.  Although he never received a high school diploma or college degree he excelled as a writer.  He is referred to as one of the most influential writers during the twentieth century and is also viewed as an important “Southern Writer.”  His awards include a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949, Pulitzer Prizes for A Fable in 1954, The Reivers in 1962, and two National Book Awards for Collected Stories in 1951 and A Fable in 1955.  He died on July 6, 1962.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_william/ and http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-bio.html.

July 7

Margaret Walker Alexander was an African American poet and writer. Her parents taught her about philosophy as a child. In 1935 she graduated from Northwestern University in Chicago.  She received her bachelors and Ph. D. from the University of Iowa.  She worked with the Federal Writers Project, part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Project Administration.  She was most known for her poem For My People and novel Jubilee.  More information available @ http://www.edwardsly.com/walkerm.html and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

Joe “Willie Pinetop” Perkins began his career as a blues musician playing the guitar.  During a fight tendons in his left arm were injured which forced him to play the piano.  During the 1950s he toured with Earl Hooker and recorded Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie by Pinetop Smith, which gave him the nickname “Pinetop.”  In 1969 he joined Muddy Waters band when he replaced Otis Spann.  In 1980, he and a former member of Muddy Waters’ band formed the Legendary Blues Band, which he later left to pursue a solo career that was very successful.  He lives in Texas and still performs at the age of 94.  More information available @ http://www.pinetopperkins.com/ and http://www.blues-festival.com/1998/PinetopPerkins.htm.

William Hodding Carter II was born on February 3, 1907 in Hammond, Louisiana.  After completing college and graduate school, he worked as a reporter for the New Orleans Item-Tribune (1929), the United Press in New Orleans (1930), and the Associated Press in Jackson, Mississippi (1931-32).  In 1932, he founded the Hammond Daily Courier.  In 1939, he moved to Greenville, Mississippi and started the Greenville Delta Democrat Times.  In 1946, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his work published about the treatment of the Japanese-American soldiers during World War II.  More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/   and http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-CarterHod.html.

July 8

Lloyd Bryant Clark, Jr coached the Lady Statesmen to win three national titles and was inducted into the Mississippi Hall of Fame in 2006.  More information available @ http://www.msfame.com/artman/publish/article_280.shtml.

July 10

Ben Chester White was killed by three Klansmen in an effort to lure Martin Luther King Jr to Natchez in order to assassinate him.  White worked diligently on the same farm he was born on and had never participated in any civil right activities.  The Klansmen came to the farm and asked White if he would go with them into the woods to help them find their dog and offered him a red pop and two dollars.  They stopped on a bridge and shot him more than 15 times and threw his body over the bridge.    Ernest Avants, the only remaining Klansmen who participated in the murder, was convicted in 2003.  More information available @ http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2000/LAW/06/08/henry.avants/index.html and  http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9802E3DE113CF932A35750C0A9659C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Organizations/K/Ku%20Klux%20Klan.

Sarah Mary Taylor, well known folk artist, was born on July 16, 1916 in Anding, Mississippi.  She has worked as a nanny, cook, field hand, and housekeeper.  After becoming ill, quilting became her main source of income.  She starting making quilts with her mother when she was nine years old.  Her work has been showcased around several states including Texas, Connecticut, New York, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.  One of her most famous quilt designs was used in the movie The Color Purple.  More information available @ http://www.yazoo.org/website/famous/famous_taylor.htm.

July 11

Robert "Tut" Paterson founded the White Citizens Council in Indianola, MississippHe i, which consisted of business and shop owners, community leaders, and mayors.  They considered themselves to be the “Uptown Klan” and harassed and threatened anyone who favored segregation or civil rights.  This organization is believed to still be in existence all over the United States.  More information available @ http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=360 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Citizens'_Council.

July 13

Edward Riley Boyd was born on a plantation in Clarksdale, Mississippi on November 25, 1914.  He taught himself to play the guitar and piano at an early age.  As he got older he made a living playing in juke joints around Mississippi, but later moved to Memphis in 1936 where he played with his band “Dixie Rhythm Boys.”  In 1941, he moved to Chicago and worked with Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson.  In 1952, he achieved great success when he released three hit songs within a year.  During the 1960s he moved to Europe and eventually settled in Finland.  More information available @ http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/eboyd.html and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

July 14

Riley Smith played football for the University of Alabama where he demonstrated he was capable of playing almost any position.  He joined the Washington Redskins during the first pro draft in 1936.  An injury led to the end of his professional football career. He served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy and later became a real estate developer.  More information available @ http://www.collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=30092.

July 15

William Marion Kethley became president of Delta State University in 1926 and he was the youngest college president during this time.  During his presidency, the Delta Council was established, and the college became members of the American Association of Teachers Colleges and The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.  He also beautified the scenery of the campus by planting oak and dogwood trees.  More information available @ http://www.deltastate.edu/pages/1220.asp.

Martin Luther King Jr. played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement.  His work led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the March on Washington. He received a Noble Peace Prize for his non violent endeavors to end racial discrimination.  After his assassination, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and a Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.  In 1986, Martin Luther King Day was made a national holiday. More information available @ http://www.martinlutherking.org/ and http://www.thekingcenter.org/.

Dr. Roy C. Hudson is currently the interim president for Mississippi Valley State University.  More information available @ http://www.ihl.state.ms.us/newsstory.asp?ID=499

July 16

Ida B. Wells was born on July 16, 1862.  After her parents died of yellow fever, she quit high school to take care of her brothers and sisters.  In 1880, they moved to Memphis.  She was a strong supporter of women’s rights and helped lead a campaign against segregation on the trains after she was thrown off for not giving up her seat.  She believed that lynching took place to prevent blacks from progressing economically.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_B._Wells and http://www.idabwells.org/.

Dorothy Shawhan attended Tupelo High School where she was involved in various extracurricular activities.  She received a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi University for Women, and a master’s of arts degree from Louisiana State University and a master’s of fine arts degree from George Mason University.  She is the author of Lizzie, On The Way Home, and Lucy Somerville Howorth : New Deal Lawyer, Politician, and Feminist from the South.  She taught at Delta State University for twenty five years, the last fourteen she served as the chair of the Division of Languages and Literature.  More information available @ http://www.muw.edu/swi/visitingscholar.htm and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/   

Denise LaSalle, commonly called the “Queen of the Blues” is also a producer and songwriter.  During her twenties, she moved to Chicago so she could be closer to the Regal Theatre.  She met several blues musicians and would give them her music.  She gave a Chess Record executive a sample of her music while working as a bar maid, and he signed her although she didn’t record right then.  She later recorded for Chess and Malaco Records.  More information available @ 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_LaSalle and http://bluescritic.com/DeniseLaSalle.html.

Evelyn Preer was born as Evelyn Jarvis.  She and her mother moved to Chicago after her father’s death.  After completing high school, she began acting in vaudeville and minstrel shows.  She became well known and popular by all races mostly because she would not accept roles that belittled African Americans.  In 1920 she joined the Lafayette Players, a theatrical stock company and gained more recognition for David Belasco’s production of Lulu Belle in 1926 and Somerset Maugham’s Rain in 1928.  More information available @ http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/ninamaemckinney/EvelynPreer.html and http://www.answers.com/topic/evelyn-preer.

July 17

Sam Myers had severe cataracts that impaired his vision as a child.  While attending Piney Woods School he discovered his love of music.  He received a scholarship to the American Conservatory School of Music in Chicago.  In 1986, he joined Anson Funderburgh’s band, The Rockets, who were considered to be one of the “best live blues bands.”  He died on July 17, 2006 while recovering from surgery at his home.  More information available at www.sweetsammyers.com/.

July 18

Elvis Presley, also known as the “King of Rock and Roll,” was born on January 8, 1935.  He was one of the first artists to perform rockabilly, which was a combination of blues and country music.  He also performed other types of music including gospel and pop, and made thirty-three movies.  He is the only artist to have been inducted into three halls of fame; the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.  More information available @ http://www.elvis.com/ and http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/elvis-presley. 

July 19

Elizabeth Spencer was the valedictorian of her high school class at J.Z. George High School in Carrolton, Mississippi.  She received her bachelor’s degree from Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi, and her master’s degree in literature from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.  Before writing full time she was a professor at Northwest Mississippi Junior College and the University of Mississippi and worked as a reporter in Tennessee.  She has written nine novels, a play and seven collections of short stories.  She is a recipient of the Women’s Democratic Committee Award, National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, First McGraw-Hill Fiction Award, Award of Merit Medal for the Short Story by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and several others.  More information available @ http://www.elizabethspencerwriter.com/ and http://oneweb.utc.edu/~tnwriter/authors/spencer.e.html.

Walter Turnbull developed an interest in music and singing during his youth.  He attended Tougaloo College and later the Manhattan School of Music.  He had the opportunity to sing with New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, and the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre.  He started The Boys Harlem Choir in 1968 in an effort to create something positive for the inner city children in New York.  The Boys Harlem Choir has performed all over the world in places like London and Tokyo.  Turnbull is a recipient of several awards which include the International Citation of Merit Award, Intrepid Freedom Award, Chase Manhattan Humanitarian Recognition Award, and Brooklyn Conservatory of Music Award.  More information available @ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/24/obituaries/24turnbull.html and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

July 20

Elvis Presley, also known as the “King of Rock and Roll,” was born on January 8, 1935.  He was one of the first artists to perform rockabilly, which was a combination of blues and country music.  He also performed other types of music including gospel and pop, and made thirty-three movies.  He is the only artist to have been inducted into three halls of fame; the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.  More information available @ http://www.elvis.com/ and http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/elvis-presley.

Alan Lomax, American musicologist and folklorist, was born on January 31, 1915.  He recorded several musical artists all around the world.  He attended The Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut and later the University of Texas.  He collected folk music of the 20^th century, produced television and radio shows, and wrote books.  He received the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award, and a Grammy Trustees Award after his death.  More information available @ http://www.culturalequity.org/alanlomax/index.html and http://www.folkstreams.net/filmmaker,121.

July 23

Percy Strother’s talent was recognized at the age of nine years old when he would sing while picking cotton.  He later moved to Minneapolis where he became a major blues figure.  He began recording during the 1960s on his own label, PLS Records.  He also recorded with Blue Loon Records and Black Magic.  More information available @ http://www.geocities.com/bloonmpls/percy.html and http://www.bluesmans.de/biograph/english/biostrother/index.html.

Eudora Welty was a photographer and author whose work has been placed in several literature text books.  After her mother and brothers became ill, she temporarily abandoned her writing to care for them.  She was a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and a recipient of the

Rea Award for the Short Story, the Edward McDowell Medal, the National Medal of Arts, the French Legion of Honor, and several others.  She died in 2001 after being diagnosed with pneumonia.  More information available at http://www.eudorawelty.org/ and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

July 25

Emmett Till was murdered while visiting his Great Uncle.  He and a group of children his age went to a store to buy some candy and on the way out Till said “bye baby” to the owner’s wife, who was a while woman.  A few days later he was kidnapped by her husband, beaten, shot, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River with a cotton gin fan tied around his neck with barbed wire.  His mother insisted on allowing the public to view his body because she wanted the world to see how badly he had been abused.  J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant were acquitted by a jury of 12 white men.  His death was felt nation wide.  Poems and songs have been written about him.  In Chicago, there is a section of 71^st street that was renamed “Emmett Hill Road in his honor and in Mississippi there is a historical marker indicating where he was killed.  More information available @  http://www.emmetttillstory.com/, http://www.heroism.org/class/1950/heroes/till.htm, and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/timeline/index.html.

July 30

Big Jack Johnson, also known as “the oilman,” is one of the best bluesmen to come from Clarksdale, Mississippi.  His father was a musician and taught him to play the guitar at a young age.  He was called “the oilman” because he drove an oil truck.  He became well known when he played with Frank Frost and Sam Carr, they called themselves The Jellyroll Kings.  He also recorded as a solo artist speaking about drug problems and aids in his music.  More information available @ http://www.thebluesjoint.com/jjohnson.htm and http://www.hudsonriverpark.org/Calendar/art2006/blues/BigJackJohnson.pdf, 

Sam Phillips named his company “Sun Records” because he believed the sun was a universal power.  He played an important role in the musical careers of Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Howlin’ Wolf, and Carl Perkins.  More information available @ http://www.history-of-rock.com/sam_phillips_sun_records.htm and http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/sam-phillips.

August

August 1

William Clark was an American explorer who made the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Meriwether Lewis.  He was responsible for drawing maps, identifying native animals and plants, and managing the supplies.  More information available @ http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/inside/wclar.html and http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/lewisandclark.

Holt Collier was an African American black bear hunter who was born in Greenville, MS and served in the Civil War.  He killed more than 3,000 bears during his lifetime and even had the opportunity to go hunting with President Theodore Roosevelt.  The President’s nickname “teddy bear” began because he refused to shoot a wounded bear while hunting with Collier.  The Holt Collier National Refuge located in Mississippi is named after him.  More information available @    http://www.fws.gov/holtcollier/ and http://www.holtcollier.com/.

August 2

Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran, songwriter and country music singer, has written songs for Patsy Cline, George Strait, Merle Haggard, and Mickey Gilley.  More information available @ http://www.graham-lees.countrymusic.co.uk/interviews/cochran.html and http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Hank-Cochran  Biography/3580DBD7444EDBFC48256FAD0024F7F7.

Willie Morris was born on November 29, 1934 in Jackson, Mississippi but later moved to Yazoo City.  He attended the University of Texas where he served as the editor for the student newspaper.  Later, he worked for Harper’s Magazine and became the youngest editor in chief in the magazine’s history.  He wrote numerous fiction and nonfiction books.  In 2000, his book My Dog Skip was made into a movie starring Kevin Bacon, Diane Lane, and Luke Wilson.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/morris_willie/ and  http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

August 3

Calvin Coolidge was the thirtieth president of the United States of America.  He was born on July 4, 1872 in Plymouth, Vermont.  His presidential term was from 1923-1929.  More information available @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/cc30.html and http://www.americanpresidents.org/presidents/president.asp?PresidentNumber=29.

August 4

James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Micheal Schwerner were civil rights workers who were arrested while working for the Congress of Racial Equality.  They were arrested for a traffic violation and taken to jail in Neshoba county.  After their release, they were stopped on their way home to Meridian by two carloads of Klu Klux Klan members who shot and killed them.  It is believed that if Goodman and Schwerner were not white and Cheney had only been involved, the case would not have been handled the way it was.  Edgar Ray Killen was found guilty of three counts of manslaughter exactly 41 years after their murders, even though he was previously indicted for murder.  More information available @   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Civil_Rights_Workers_Murders and http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmjustice4.html.

Little Milton was born in Inverness, Mississippi on September 7, 1934.  He grew up on a farm in Greenville, Mississippi where he learned to play the guitar.  As a teenager he began performing in clubs.  He originally signed with Sam Phillips’ Sun Records but would sign with several others.  He eventually joined St. Louis Bobbin Records, where he became a record producer and realized real success.  He is most known for his songs Grits Ain’t Groceries and We’re Gonna Make It.  In 1988 he was a recipient of the W. C. Handy Award and also an inductee of the Blues Hall of Fame.  He is responsible for making the national anthem of blues, The Blues is Alright, recognized around the world.  More information available @    http://www.littlemilton.com/welcome.html and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

August 5

Henry Clay Lewis was a medical doctor and short story writer.  He published a book entitled Odd Leaves from the Life of a Louisiana Swamp.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/lewis_henry_clay/.

August 6

Willie Brown is a blues musician who is known for accompanying other artists.  He played with Charley Patton, Son House and Robert Johnson.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Brown_(musician) and http://www.mp3.com/artist/willie-brown/summary/.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on August 27, 1908.  He was the thirty sixth president of the United States of America.  He believed in creating “A Great Society” for everyone in all parts of the world.  His presidential term was 1963-1969.  More information available @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/lj36.html and http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/biographys.hom/lbj_bio.asp.

Memphis Minnie, born as Lizzie Douglas, was one of the well known female blues musicians that recorded for forty years.  She learned to play the guitar and banjo at an early age and ran away at thirteen, eventually joining the circus.  Afterwards, she joined several other bands in Memphis before moving to Chicago and getting married.  She was one of the first musicians to use the electric guitar to create her style of country blues, and is known as one of the greatest female county blues singers.  More information available @ http://www.southernmusic.net/minnie.htm and http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/memphis_minnie.htm.

August 7

Ernestine Wade was an African American actress with a magnificent voice who also played the organ.  Her first job in Hollywood was a secretary, but she later received parts in the Disney film, Song of the South, the television show Amos ‘N’ Andy, and several other roles.  She died on April 15, 1983.  More information available @ http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1802/Actress_from_the_Delta_Ernestine_Wade and http://www.dougmacaulay.com/kingspud/sel_by_actor_index_2.php?actor_first=Ernestine&actor_last=Wade.

August 8

Mose Vinson began playing the piano as a child for his church.  By the time he became a teenager, he was playing blues and jazz.  He moved to Memphis and accompanied artists who recorded on Sam Phillips’ Sun Records.  Afterwards, he continued to play in clubs around Memphis and also blues and cultural festivals.  He died on August 30, 2002.  More information available @ http://music.yahoo.com/ar-30324313-bio--Mose-Vinson and http://www.southernfolklore.com/mose.htm.

Morris Holt, also known as Magic Slim, played the piano and sang in the church choir as a child.  His lost one of his fingers in a cotton gin accident and began playing the guitar.  He moved to Chicago and gained success when he started his own band, The Teardrops.  Afterwards he began touring all over the country, gaining popularity by those who had never even heard the blues.  In 2003, Magic Slim and his band received a W. C. Handy Award for “Best Blues Band of the Year.”  More information available @ http://www.blindpigrecords.com/index.cfm?section=artists&artistid=15 and http://www.magicslimblues.com/.

Jim Miles played his first professional game for the Washington Senators on September 9, 1968, when he was twenty five years old.  His last game was on November 9, 1969.  More information available @ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=milesji01 and http://www.sportspool.com/baseball/players/M/milesji01.php.

August 9

Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran, songwriter and country music singer, has written songs for Patsy Cline, George Strait, Merle Haggard, and Mickey Gilley.  More information available @ http://www.graham-lees.countrymusic.co.uk/interviews/cochran.html and http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Hank-Cochran  Biography/3580DBD7444EDBFC48256FAD0024F7F7.

Riley Smith played football for the University of Alabama where he demonstrated he was capable of playing almost any position.  He joined the Washington Redskins during the first pro draft in 1936.  An injury led to the end of his professional football career. He served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy and later became a real estate developer.  More information available @ http://www.collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=30092.

Jesse Owens, first African American Olympic medalist, was born on September 12, 1913.  He loved running and participated on the track teams during high school and college.  While attending the University of Ohio, he was not awarded a scholarship or allowed to live on campus since he was African American.  At the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics he won four gold medals.  He is the recipient of several awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, a school and street are named after him in Berlin, along with a park in Alabama. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University was built in his honor.  More information available @ http://www.jesseowens.com/ and http://www.jesseowensmuseum.org/.

August 12

Sarah Mary Taylor, well known folk artist, was born on July 16, 1916 in Anding, Mississippi.  She has worked as a nanny, cook, field hand, and housekeeper.  After becoming ill, quilting became her main source of income.  She starting making quilts with her mother when she was nine years old.  Her work has been showcased around several states including Texas, Connecticut, New York, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.  One of her most famous quilt designs was used in the movie The Color Purple.  More information available @ http://www.yazoo.org/website/famous/famous_taylor.htm.

Jerry Rice was born on October 13, 1962 in Crawford, Mississippi.  He played football for Mississippi Valley State University and later for the San Francisco 49er’s winning Super Bowls in 1989, 1990 and 1995.  He also played with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks.   He has set 38 different NFL records, including career totals of 1,549 receptions, 22,895 yards and 197 touchdowns

http://www.jerryricefootball.com.

August 13

Joe Rice Dockery, son of Will Dockery, inherited Dockery Farms after his father died.  Dockery Farms was originally a plantation started in 1895.  Will Dockery was known for treating his workers well.  The plantation served as a railroad terminal and had its own school, churches, general store, and doctor. Several accomplished musicians like Willie Brown, Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, and others lived there.  More information available @  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dockery_Plantation and http://www.dockeryfarms.com/.

Robert Johnson, also known as the “King of the Delta Blues” was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi on May 8, 1911.  As a child, he was always interested in music and played the harp, harmonica, and guitar.  During his career he had written 29 songs but only a few were recorded when he died.  Despite this fact, he is well respected and admired for his work along with his contribution to modern Rock and Roll.   More information available @ http://www.robertjohnsonbluesfoundation.org and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson_%28musician%29.

August 14

Joe Seneca, African American actor, was born on January 14, 1919.  Before becoming an actor, he sang in an R & B group called The Three Riffs.  He acted in several different television shows and movies during the 1970s and 1990s.  He died on August 15, 1996.  More information available @ http://wm05.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:64496 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Seneca.

Hurricane Camille, which was a category 5 hurricane, hit Mississippi on August 17, 1969 and caused more than $1.4 billion dollars in damages and claimed 256 lives.  It also led to the development of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.  More information available @ http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/extremes/1999/august/extremes0899.html.

August 15

Jackie Brenston learned to play the saxophone after returning home from the army and joined Ike Turner’s band, “Kings of Rhythm.”  Afterwards, he joined Lowell Fulson’s band only to later rejoin Ike Turner.  Leaving Ike Turner again he began playing for other local bands.  Throughout the years he developed a drinking problem and died from a heart attack.  More information available @ http://www.rockabillyeurope.com/artists/brenstonturner.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Brenston.

August 16

Elvis Presley, also known as the “King of Rock and Roll,” was born on January 8, 1935.  He was one of the first artists to perform rockabilly, which was a combination of blues and country music.  He also performed other types of music including gospel and pop, and made thirty-three movies.  He is the only artist to have been inducted into three halls of fame; the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.  More information available @ http://www.elvis.com/ and http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/elvis-presley. 

Jimmie Rodgers, born on September 8, 1897, was known as “The Singing Brakeman,” America’s Blues Yodeler,” and “The Father of Country Music.”  He began working on the railroad at age 13 and learned about the blues from the African American members of his crew.  He was diagnosed with Tuberculosis and had to leave the railroad, but was able to return back to music.  He always loved music, but was forced to work on the railroad by his father.  He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.  He died shortly after his last recording session in 1933.  More information available @ http://www.jimmierodgers.com/ and http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/rodgers.html.

August 17

Hurricane Camille, which was a category 5 hurricane, hit Mississippi on August 17, 1969 and caused more than $1.4 billion dollars in damages and claimed 256 lives.  It also led to the development of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.  More information available @ http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/extremes/1999/august/extremes0899.html.

August 18

“Barkin” Bill Smith, blues singer, was born in Mississippi.  He later lived in St. Louis and Detroit before settling in Chicago.  He recorded for the Delmark record label and is characterized by his intense baritone voice.  More information available @ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?JSESSIONID=nSvQHCxdkG9jhbYyZT2Z6P1vflhHGmdYNYNLvKKSlXhg7qHMgGVV!-1832923171&&pid=118534.

James Meredith attended Jackson State University from 1960-1962.  He wanted to be the first African American to be admitted to the University of Mississippi.  He had previously been rejected twice in 1961, but was finally admitted after he made an appeal to the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court.  He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1964.  On June 5, 1966, Meredith started the March Against Fear and was shot by a sniper.  After receiving treatment, he joined the March again on June 25, 1966. He became a stockbroker in the late 1960s.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Meredith and http://www.jfklibrary.org/meredith/jm.html.

August 21

Emmett Till was murdered while visiting his Great Uncle.  He and a group of children his age went to a store to buy some candy and on the way out Till said “bye baby” to the owner’s wife, who was a while woman.  A few days later he was kidnapped by her husband, beaten, shot, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River with a cotton gin fan tied around his neck with barbed wire.  His mother insisted on allowing the public to view his body because she wanted the world to see how badly he had been abused.  J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant were acquitted by a jury of 12 white men.  His death was felt nation wide.  Poems and songs have been written about him.  In Chicago, there is a section of 71^st street that was renamed “Emmett Hill Road in his honor and in Mississippi there is a historical marker indicating where he was killed.  More information available @  http://www.emmetttillstory.com/, http://www.heroism.org/class/1950/heroes/till.htm, and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/timeline/index.html.

August 22

Henry "Son" Sims is most known as the fiddler who played with Charlie Patton.  His grandfather taught him to play the violin, and he also learned to play the mandolin, piano, and guitar.  He also had his own string band, “The Mississippi Corn Shuckers.”  More information available @ http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Henry%20%22Son%22%20Sims:1927181960:page=biography.

John Lee Hooker, blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist, was born on August 22, 1917 near Clarksdale, Mississippi.  He was the youngest of eleven children.  After his parents separated, he was introduced to the guitar and the blues by his stepfather.  He ran away from home at age 15 and worked various jobs in Memphis.  In 1948, his recording career began. In 1980, he sang and appeared in the movie, The Blues Brothers.  His most known songs are Boogie Chillen and Boom Boom.  His awards include a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and being an inductee into the Blues Hall of Fame (1980) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1981).  More information available @ http://www.johnleehooker.com/home.htm and http://www.rosebudus.com/hooker/.

August 23

Lewis Nordan received his bachelor’s degree from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, a master’s degree from Mississippi State, and a doctorate degree from Auburn University in Alabama.  He has served in the U. S. Navy and taught high school and college.  His first published work was Welcome to the Arrow Catcher Club in 1983.  His other publications include four novels and two collections of short stories.  He has received the Notable Book Award and the Southern Book Award from the American Library Association for his novel, Wolf Whistle. He also received the Best Fiction Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters and a Notable Fiction Prize from the American Library Institute of Arts and Letters.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/nordan_lewis/ and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

August 24

Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup grew up singing in church choirs.  He began playing the blues around 1939 and later moved to Chicago where he was discovered and signed with RCA/Bluebird Records.  He also played the harmonica and guitar with a unique sound.  He temporarily gave up a career in music because he felt he didn’t receive the money he was due.  After his return he recorded with Liberty and Delmark and played in blues revival concerts.  He died in March 28, 1974.  More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/   and http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9095971/Arthur-Crudup#666361.hook.

August 25

Hurricane Katrina, which was a category 3 hurricane, hit the southern coast of the United States on August 28, 2005, claiming over 1,800 lives and causing over $81 billion in damages. It was the most destructive hurricane to hit the United States to date.   More information available @ http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2005/katrina.html and http://www.katrina.noaa.gov/.

August 27

Lester "Prez" Young’s musical career began in his family’s band.  His father was a musician who taught him to play the saxophone, violin, trumpet, and drums.  He mostly played the alto saxophone, but the drums were his favorite.  After leaving the family band, he moved to several different places including Arizona, Kansas, and Minnesota to play with different bands.  He is most known for his work with Count Basie and Billie Holliday, who gave him the nickname “prez.”  The Encyclopedia Yearbook of Jazz named him the greatest tenor saxophonist in 1956.  He died on March 15, 1959.  More information available @ http://airjudden.tripod.com/jazz/lesteryoung.html and  http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/   

W. E. B. Du Bois, civil rights activist, scholar and poet, was born on February 23, 1868 in Massachusetts.  He graduated from Fisk University and Harvard University, being the first African American to do so.  Afterwards he attended the University of Berlin.  He is recognized for being one of the most prominent leaders for African Americans.  Also, he helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).   He wrote a total of twenty two books, five of which were novels.  He died one day before Martin Luther King gave his famous “I have a dream” speech.  More information available @ http://www.duboislc.org/html/DuBoisBio.html and http://www.webdubois.org/.

August 28

Emmett Till was murdered while visiting his Great Uncle.  He and a group of children his age went to a store to buy some candy and on the way out Till said “bye baby” to the owner’s wife, who was a while woman.  A few days later he was kidnapped by her husband, beaten, shot, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River with a cotton gin fan tied around his neck with barbed wire.  His mother insisted on allowing the public to view his body because she wanted the world to see how badly he had been abused.  J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant were acquitted by a jury of 12 white men.  His death was felt nation wide.  Poems and songs have been written about him.  In Chicago, there is a section of 71^st street that was renamed “Emmett Hill Road in his honor and in Mississippi there is a historical marker indicating where he was killed.  More information available @  http://www.emmetttillstory.com/, http://www.heroism.org/class/1950/heroes/till.htm, and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/timeline/index.html.

Martin Luther King Jr. played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement.  His work led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the March on Washington. He received a Noble Peace Prize for his non violent endeavors to end racial discrimination.  After his assassination, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and a Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.  In 1986, Martin Luther King Day was made a national holiday. More information available @ http://www.martinlutherking.org/ and http://www.thekingcenter.org/.

August 29

Steve Yarbrough grew up in Indianola and attended Indianola Academy.  Afterwards he pursued a bachelor’s degree and graduate degree from Ole Miss and the University of Arkansas respectively.  He began teaching at Virginia Tech and later moved to Fresno, California to become a professor at California State University.  He has published four novels and three collections of short stories.  He is a recipient of the Mississippi’s Authors Award and the California Book Award.  More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/   and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Yarbrough.

Jimmy Reed was born on September 6, 1925 in Dunleith, Mississippi.  He was taught to play the guitar and harmonica by a friend named Eddie Taylor.  He moved to Chicago and was drafted by the U. S. Navy.  Upon his return, he started playing music again and was eventually signed by VeeJay Records.  His wife helped him write several of his songs and would even accompany him in the studio.  He suffered from epilepsy and died on August 29, 1976.  He was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in 1991.    More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/   and http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/jimmy-reed.

September

September 1

Conway Twitty was born Harold Jenkins, but changed his name in 1957.  His father taught him how to play the guitar when he was four years old.  His band was called the “Phillips Country Ramblers.”  He loved to play baseball, but turned down an offer to play professionally with the Philadelphia Phillies to join the army.  After his return, he pursued a music career.  He worked with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and several others.  He recorded with MCA/Decca Records and Warner Bros.  He died from an aneurysm on April 5, 1993. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.  More information available @ http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/twitty_conway/bio.jhtml and http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/inductees.aspx?cid=194#.

September 2

William Tecumseh Sherman was born on February 8, 1920.  He was sometimes called “The First Modern General.”  He was a general for the union army during the Civil War and was well known for his military strategies.  He became the Commanding General of the Army after the conclusion of the Civil war.  More information available @ http://ngeorgia.com/ang/William_Tecumseh_Sherman and http://www.civilwarhome.com/sherbio.htm.

September 4

Gerald Stanley Wilson was a jazz trumpeter.  He first joined the Jimmie Lunceford orchestra in 1939.  During the 1940s he started his own band, “The Gerald Wilson Orchestra” and also played for Duke Ellington and Count Basie.  In 1960 he reformed a band in Los Angeles that recorded for the Pacific Jazz record label.  He also taught music at California State University.  He is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame.  More information available @ http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Gerald-Wilson.html and http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608000589/Gerald-Wilson.html.

Richard Wright was an African American writer who grew up in Jackson, Mississippi.  His first story was published in 1924 in a local black newspaper called the Southern Register.  He later moved to Chicago and worked as a post office clerk and became involved with the Communist Party.  He also served as the editor for the Daily Worker.  In 1938, Uncle Tom’s Children was composed and he completed his first novel, Native Son, in 1940.  His other novels include Black Boy (1945), The Outsiders (1953), Savage Holiday (1954), The Long Dream (1958), and American Hunger (1977).  He has also written more that 4,000 haikus.  He became a French citizen in 1947 and died on November 28, 1960.  More information available @ http://home.gwu.edu/~cuff/wright/index.htm and http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rwright.htm.

September 4

Craig Claiborne used his G.I. Bill he received during World War II to attend École Hôtelière in Lausanne, Switzerland, which specializes in hospitality management at the university level.  He began working at Gourmet Magazine and eventually became the food editor for the New York Times in 1957.  He was interested in gastronomy, the relationship between culture and food.  He has published many cookbooks and is known for his passion of food and his reviewing system that ranged from one to four stars.  He died on January 22, 2000.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Claiborne and http://obits.com/claiborne.html.

September 5

Jimmy Dawkins, blues singer and guitarist, was born on October 24, 1936 in Tchula, Mississippi.  He later moved to Chicago and worked in a box factory and played in various clubs.  He recorded with Delmark and eventually started his own label, Leric Records that supported and helped other artists become known.  More information available @ http://www.joes-corner.de/Dawkins/biography/biography.htm and http://www.google.com/search?q=Jimmy+Dawkins&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGIT_en___US228.

Albert Luandrew worked in the fields as a child and at night taught himself to play the organ and piano.  He was called “Sunnyland Slim” because he sang a popular blues song called Sunnyland Train.  He played at various clubs in Memphis including the Hole in the Wall and Pee Wees.  He later moved to Chicago, where he began to record with other well known musicians like Muddy Waters and Pinetop Perkins and also solo.  He is recognized as a “Pillar of Chicago” because of his piano playing style.  In 1988 he was a recipient of the National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts for his contributions to the blues.  He died in 1995.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunnyland_Slim and http://uk.real.com/music/artist/Sunnyland_Slim/.

September 6

Herbert Oarsby was an African American 14 year old boy who was pulled out of the Big Black River.  He was dressed in a Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) shirt.

Jimmy Reed was born on September 6, 1925 in Dunleith, Mississippi.  He was taught to play the guitar and harmonica by a friend named Eddie Taylor.  He moved to Chicago and was drafted by the U. S. Navy.  Upon his return, he started playing music again and was eventually signed by VeeJay Records.  His wife helped him write several of his songs and would even accompany him in the studio.  He suffered from epilepsy and died on August 29, 1976.  He was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in 1991.    More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/   and http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/jimmy-reed.

September 7

Little Milton was born in Inverness, Mississippi on September 7, 1934.  He grew up on a farm in Greenville, Mississippi where he learned to play the guitar.  As a teenager he began performing in clubs.  He originally signed with Sam Phillips’ Sun Records but would sign with several others.  He eventually joined St. Louis Bobbin Records, where he became a record producer and realized real success.  He is most known for his songs Grits Ain’t Groceries and We’re Gonna Make It.  In 1988 he was a recipient of the W. C. Handy Award and also an inductee of the Blues Hall of Fame.  He is responsible for making the national anthem of blues, The Blues is Alright, recognized around the world.  More information available @    http://www.littlemilton.com/welcome.html and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

Jim Miles played his first professional game for the Washington Senators on September 9, 1968, when he was twenty five years old.  His last game was on November 9, 1969.  More information available @ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=milesji01 and http://www.sportspool.com/baseball/players/M/milesji01.php.

September 8

Bishop Charles Harrison Mason was an influential spiritual leader who was baptized by his brother after almost dying of Yellow Fever.  Afterwards he became a lay minister and traveled throughout Arkansas telling his testimony.  In 1897, he founded the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) which has become the 5^th largest African American Pentecostal organization.  He died on November 17, 1961.  More information available @ http://members.tripod.com/pentecostalcathedral-ivil/id5.html and http://www.cogic.org/history.htm.

Jimmie Rodgers, born on September 8, 1897, was known as “The Singing Brakeman,” America’s Blues Yodeler,” and “The Father of Country Music.”  He began working on the railroad at age 13 and learned about the blues from the African American members of his crew.  He was diagnosed with Tuberculosis and had to leave the railroad, but was able to return back to music.  He always loved music, but was forced to work on the railroad by his father.  He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.  He died shortly after his last recording session in 1933.  More information available @ http://www.jimmierodgers.com/ and http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/rodgers.html.

September 11

Robert “Barbecue Bob” Hicks was taught to play the guitar by his brother Charley. While living in Atlanta, he worked at Titwell’s Barbecue which inspired his nick name.  He started recording solo and with the Georgia Cotton Pickers on Columbia records in 1927.  His musical career was short lived because he died from pneumonia on October 31, 1931.  More information available @ http://physics.lunet.edu/blues/Robert_Hicks.html and http://music.msn.com/artist/?artist=16070381&menu=bio

William McKinley “Jazz” Gillum was a blues harmonica player that ran away from home at a young age. He eventually settled in Chicago, working various jobs during the day and performing in clubs at night.  He recorded with the American Record Corporation and Bluebird Records, and is known for his high pitched playing.  He also spent time in the United States Army.  More information available @ http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/BillGillum.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_Gillum.

Charles Evers lived by his father’s advice, “to have no fear.”  He attended Alcorn State University and after graduating served in the United States Army.  He later moved to Chicago where he owned a nightclub and worked as a real estate agent.  After the death of his brother, Medgar Evers, he took over as the field director for the NAACP.  He became the first black mayor to be elected after reconstruction in Mississippi.  He has written two autobiographies, Evers (1971) and Have No Fear (1997).  More information available @ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_people_evers.html and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

September 13

Larry M. Speakes was born in Cleveland, Mississippi on September 13, 1939.  He served as the spokesman for the Whitehouse during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.  Other career positions include editor for the Oxford Eagle and the Bolivar Commercial in Mississippi, press secretary for Senator James Oliver Eastland, and spokesman for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Speakes.

September 14

Walter “Furry” Lewis, blues guitarist, was born on March 6, 1893 in Greenwood, Mississippi. He was interested in music at a very young age.  He was originally interested in the harmonica but he couldn’t teach himself to play so he made a guitar out of cigar box and screen door wire.  Attempting to jump a train in 1916, he lost his leg.  He first recorded in 1927 on Vocalian Records but the Great Depression slowed his recordings down and he became a street sweeper in Memphis but continued to play his music on street corners.  He was rediscovered in 1959 and released two albums Back on my Feet Again and Done Changed my Mind in 1961.  He was popular at Folk and Blues festivals and also performed with rock and roll groups like The Rolling Stones.  He died from pneumonia on September 14, 1981.  More information available @ http://www.thebluehighway.com/furry.html and http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/furry_lewis.htm.

September 15

James Edward "Snooky" Pryor began playing the harmonica when he was fourteen years old.  While serving in the United States Army near Chicago, he would play at the local clubs.  He recorded with various record labels in the 40s and 50s including Planet, J.O.B., VeeJay, and Parrot.  During the 70s he stopped recording and focused on carpentry and his family.  He later returned to music and toured overseas gaining much success.  He died on October 16, 2006.  More information available @ http://www.hohnerusa.com/index.php?1621 and

http://www.blindpigrecords.com/index.cfm?section=artists&artistid=49.

Jackie Brenston learned to play the saxophone after returning home from the army and joined Ike Turner’s band, “Kings of Rhythm.”  Afterwards, he joined Lowell Fulson’s band only to later rejoin Ike Turner.  Leaving Ike Turner again he began playing for other local bands.  Throughout the years he developed a drinking problem and died from a heart attack.  More information available @ http://www.rockabillyeurope.com/artists/brenstonturner.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Brenston.

September 17

Stew Cliburn was born on December 19, 1956 in Jackson, Mississippi.  He attended Delta State University where he played baseball.  He was the pitcher for the California Angels from 1984-1988.  More information @ http://www.armchairgm.com/index.php?title=Stew_Cliburn and http://www.sportspool.com/baseball/players/C/clibust02.php.

Eddie Burks had a rough childhood; he even witnessed the lynching of his brother.  He learned to play the harmonica at a young age.  In 1946 he moved to Chicago, worked in a steel mill and joined the choir at Greater Harvest Baptist Church.  He became a minister but continued to play the blues.  In 1968, he began to pursue music full time, playing at the Old Maxwell Street Market.  He had the opportunity to play with Muddy Waters and Jimmy Dawkins.  In 1990, he started his own recording label called Rising Son Records, which released his two albums Vampire Woman (1990) and This Old Road (1992). He died in an automobile accident on January 27, 2005. More information available @ http://www.mnblues.com/review/eddieburks.html and http://music.aol.com/artist/eddie-burks/biography/1027808.

September 20

The boll weevil migrated from Mexico to the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, the Far West states of Arizona and California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and Texas.  The boll weevil has cost farmers over $15 billion in losses. More information available @ http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/KKHP/1INSECTS/bollweevil.html and http://www.obweo.org/histmexbw.html.

September 21

Bo Carter learned about music through his parents.  His father played the fiddle and his mother sang and played the guitar.  He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks and was one of the most popular blues musicians during the 1930s. He started losing his vision around the 1930s but continued to play music.  He moved around Mississippi and eventually ended up in Memphis, Tennessee where he died on September 21, 1964.  More information available @  http://mog.com/music/Bo_Carter/biography and http://www.artistopia.com/bo-carter/biography.

September 22

Dan Sane was a blues guitarist who mostly is known for his work with guitarist Frank Stokes.  He was a member of Will Batts band and Jack Kelly’s jug band.  They first recorded for Paramount in 1927, and later with Victor.  He died on February 18, 1956.  More information available @  http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Dan%20Sane:1927178736:page=biography and http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Dan%20Sane:1927178736:page=biography;_ylt=AusBC1m5v2eGUJ3EIWS.DR5UvQcF;_ylu=X3oDMTBudjI1N2xwBF9zAzg0MzkzMzAwBHNlYwNhcnRmZWF0.

September 23

John Lomax spent the majority of his life researching and preserving songs.  As a child he grew up on the Chisholm Trail and would talk with the cowboys and write down their songs.  He worked as a teacher, and later as a college professor but later devoted all his time to traveling around the United States interviewing people to learn about the songs they sang everyday.  He died on January 26, 1948.  More information available @ http://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_saa_lomax.html and  http://www.sbgmusic.com/html/teacher/reference/composers/lomax.html.

Amzie Moore served in the United States Army and was responsible for telling the other soldiers that their lives would improve once the war was over.  Upon returning he worked at the post office in Cleveland, Mississippi, but later owned his own gas station, beauty shop, and grocery store on Highway 61.  He was a member of the NAACP, helped start the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, organized a rally of 10,000 blacks, and helped start the first black boy scouts group in Cleveland.  He was a strong supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and even opened up his home for other activists like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis.  Amzie Moore Park was named in his honor.  More information available @ http://www.fannielouhamer.info/amzie_moore.html and http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/filmandmedia/collections/hampton/eyes1/moore.htm.

September 23

Joseph Valery was also known as “Little Joe Blue.”  He was a singer and guitarist. Before his musical career began he served in the United States army and worked at the Lincoln-Mercury Plant, the Ford Plant, and at construction and demolition sites during the day and performed for local clubs at night.  He recorded with various records label including the Nanc, Chess, Checker, and Jewel.  He performed at Fillmore West in San Francisco and Ann Arbor Blues Festivals.  He was known for always performing to please his audience.  He died from stomach cancer on April 22, 1990.  More information available @ http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/VV/fva45.html and http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Little-Joe-Blue.html.

September 24

Jim Henson was born in Greenville, Mississippi on September 24, 1936.  He was a puppeteer, film director, and movie producer.  He created The Muppets which led to Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.  His films include The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Dark Crystal (1982).  He was nominated for an Oscar and won three Emmy Awards for his television production, Sesame Street.  He founded The Jim Henson Company, The Henson Foundation, and The Jim Henson Creature Shop.  On May 16, 1990 he died from organ failure.  More information available @ http://www.jimhensonlegacy.org/ and http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Jim_Henson.

September 25

Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes, who known for playing his guitar with his teeth and tongue, was born in Longwood, Mississippi, on September 25, 1936.  He grew up on a farm raising hogs which caused him to lose part of a finger after being bitten.  When he was eight years old, he starting playing a toy harmonica.  In 1956, he started his own band called the “Swinging Gold Coasters” and began playing the guitar in 1960.  Howlin’’ Wolf was his favorite artist and Howlin’ Wolf even called him “little wolf.”  In April, he died from severe lung cancer.  More information available @ http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/RooseveltBarnes.htm and http://www.answers.com/topic/roosevelt-booba-barnes.

September 26

Ross Barnett, who was the governor for Mississippi from 1960-1964, attended Mississippi College and the University of Mississippi.  Being a member of the Klu Klux Klan, he strongly opposed the civil rights movement and did not try to conceal his feelings.  He also helped Mississippi expand into an industrial environment, balancing out the current agricultural environment.  The Ross Barnett Reservoir and Barnett Lake in Mississippi were named in his honor.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_R._Barnett.

Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee; her exact birthday is not known but is believed to be in 1896, 1989, or 1900. In the 1920s she toured through the south and other northern cities as one of the highest paid black entertainers. She was killed in a car accident in Clarksdale, Mississippi, leaving behind 160 recordings of her work.  More information available @ http://bluesnet.hub.org/readings/bessie.html and http://www.redhotjazz.com/bessie.html.

September 27

The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek transferred a large amount of Choctaw Indian land to the United States.  More information available @ http://www.rootsweb.com/~msalhn/NativeAmerican/DancingRabbit.htm and http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v007/v007p323.html.

September 28

Jerry Clower served in the Navy during World War II.  After returning, he attended Southwest Mississippi Junior College and Mississippi State University.  He worked as a county agent and fertilizer salesman before his comedian career began.  His first album was published in 1970 and was a great success, selling over 500,000 copies.  He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1973 and continued to perform.  He has written four books Ain’t God Good (1975), Let the Hammer Down! (1979), Live Everlaughter (1987), and Stories From Home (1992).  He died on August 24, 1998.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/clower_jerry/ and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

September 29

Jimmy Patton attended E. E. Bass High School in Greenville, Mississippi and later played football for the University of Mississippi.  He played for the New York Giants from 1955 to 1966.  More information available @ http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=PATTOJIM01.

September 30

James Meredith attended Jackson State University from 1960-1962.  He wanted to be the first African American to be admitted to the University of Mississippi.  He had previously been rejected twice in 1961, but was finally admitted after he made an appeal to the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court.  He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1964.  On June 5, 1966, Meredith started the March Against Fear and was shot by a sniper.  After receiving treatment, he joined the March again on June 25, 1966. He became a stockbroker in the late 1960s.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Meredith and http://www.jfklibrary.org/meredith/jm.html.

October

October 1

James Meredith attended Jackson State University from 1960-1962.  He wanted to be the first African American to be admitted to the University of Mississippi.  He had previously been rejected twice in 1961, but was finally admitted after he made an appeal to the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court.  He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1964.  On June 5, 1966, Meredith started the March Against Fear and was shot by a sniper.  After receiving treatment, he joined the March again on June 25, 1966. He became a stockbroker in the late 1960s.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Meredith and http://www.jfklibrary.org/meredith/jm.html.

Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court, was born on July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland.  His father stressed to him how important the U.S. Constitution was.  He attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and later Howard University Law School after being denied admission to the University of Maryland Law School because he was black.  He won his first major court case in 1933 when he represented a black student who was denied admission to the University of Maryland just like he was.  He served as the Chief Counsel for the NAACP.  He was also appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals by President John F. Kennedy, the office of U.S. Solicitor General and the United States Supreme Court by President London B. Johnson.  He was known for supporting the “voiceless American.”  He died on January 24, 1993.  More information available @ http://www.thurgoodmarshall.com/ and http://members.aol.com/klove01/marshall.htm.

October 3

Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James was a singer, songwriter, pianist, and guitarist.  His first song Illinois Blues was written based on experiences he had while working on road construction and levee building crews.  He later made a living by sharecropping and making bootleg whiskey.  He developed a three finger picking technique that gave his recordings a distinct sound.  More information available @ http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/skip_james.htm and http://physics.lunet.edu/blues/Skip_James.html.

October 4

Charley Pride, the first African American country music superstar, was born in Sledge, Mississippi on February 10, 1955.  He was also a member of the Grand Ole Opry and has received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  He also played for the Memphis Red Sox Negro League Baseball www.charleypride.com/.

October 5

Bo Diddley, born Otha Ellas Bates, was born in McComb, Mississippi on December 28, 1928.  In 1955, he became well known for his singing and custom made guitar.  More information available @ http://www.bo-diddley.com.

October 6

Fannie Lou Hamer is sometimes called the “lady who was sick and tired of being sick and tired.”  She came from a sharecropping family and was sent to work in the field at the age of six.  By the time she reached the age of 12, she could no longer attend school because she had to work all day in the fields.  As she became an adult she became tired of the way blacks were treated, especially because they were not allowed to vote.  The sharecropper she worked for kicked her off the plantation because she attempted to register to vote.  She finally became a registered voter in 1963 and became the field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and encouraged others to register to vote, but was brutally beaten and placed in jail for her efforts.  She worked to unify the white and black democratic parties and also organized grass-roots anti-poverty projects.  She died on March 15, 1977.  More information available @   http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=72 and http://africawithin.com/bios/fannie_hamer.htm.

October 11

Stark Young was born in Como, Mississippi on October 11, 1881.  He was a teacher, painter, playwright, painter, novelist, essayist, and literary critic. His valued his heritage which was revealed through his writings.  More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

October 12

Booker T. Washington was born a slave on April 5, 1856.  As a child he longed to get an education and after the Emancipation Proclamation, he left home at the age of 16 to attend the Hampton Institute in Virginia where he paid his tuition by working as the janitor.  He believed that education was the only way to improve the way of life for his people so he became a teacher and later founded Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1881.  He also helped found the National Business Negro League.  More information available @

http://www.ushistory.net/washington2.html and http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/bookertwashington/.

October 13

Jesse Brown, the first African American aviator, attended Ohio State University and joined the Navy Reserve in 1946.  He started as a midshipman and later became a pilot of Fighter Squadron 32 during the Korean War.  He died in battle on December 4, 1950 when his plane was shot down.  The USS Jesse L. Brown was named in his honor.  More information available @  http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/839/Jesse_Brown_flew_honorably_with_the_Navy and  http://www.homeofheroes.com/brotherhood/hudner.html.

Jerry Rice was born on October 13, 1962 in Crawford, Mississippi.  He played football for Mississippi Valley State University and later for the San Francisco 49er’s winning Super Bowls in 1989, 1990 and 1995.  He also played with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks.   He has set 38 different NFL records, including career totals of 1,549 receptions, 22,895 yards and 197 touchdowns

http://www.jerryricefootball.com.

October 16

Booker T. Washington was born a slave on April 5, 1856.  As a child he longed to get an education and after the Emancipation Proclamation, he left home at the age of 16 to attend the Hampton Institute in Virginia where he paid his tuition by working as the janitor.  He believed that education was the only way to improve the way of life for his people so he became a teacher and later founded Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1881.  He also helped found the National Business Negro League.  More information available @

http://www.ushistory.net/washington2.html and http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/bookertwashington/.

October 17

Lerone Bennett is considered one of the most influential black writers of the twentieth century.  He graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta and started working at the Atlanta Daily World.  Starting out as an associate editor he worked on the editorial staff for Ebony for more than fifty years eventually becoming editor of the magazine.  He published seven books, Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America, What Manner of Man: A Biography of Martin Luther King, Pioneers in Protest, Black Power U.S.A., The Human Side of Reconstruction 1867-1877, Great Moments in Black History, Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln’s White Dream, and the Shaping of Black America.  More information available @ http://www.nathanielturner.com/leronebennettbio.htm and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

Calvin Barbour attended the University of Mississippi and played football and baseball there.  He was inducted into the University of Mississippi Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Hall of Fame.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/alumni/notable/sports.html.

October 18

Mobile Street Renaissance Festival is celebrated in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to honor their musical and cultural background.  More information available @  http://www.hattiesburg.org/cgibin/calendar/calendar.pl?selected_datestring=20070630&datestring=20070630&view=Day&style=List&view=Event&event_id=1130.

October 19

Eddie J. House Jr., also known as “Son”, was a young Baptist preacher before becoming one of the most well known bluesmen.  The church frowned on the blues, but he taught himself to play the guitar anyway.  He played with Robert Johnson, Charley Payton, and Willie Brown.  He recorded with Paramount Records and the Library of Congress.  More information available @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_House and http://www.nps.gov/history/delta/blues/people/son_house.htm.

October 21

Jesse Brown, the first African American aviator, attended Ohio State University and joined the Navy Reserve in 1946.  He started as a midshipman and later became a pilot of Fighter Squadron 32 during the Korean War.  He died in battle on December 4, 1950 when his plane was shot down.  The USS Jesse L. Brown was named in his honor.  More information available @  http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/839/Jesse_Brown_flew_honorably_with_the_Navy and  http://www.homeofheroes.com/brotherhood/hudner.html.

October 22

Haley Barbour was first elected as governor on November 24, 2003.  He has focused on several issues during his term such as tort reform, Medicaid programs, protecting the unborn, and promoting economic development in Mississippi.  He was named governor of the year by Washington, DC for his efforts to rebuild the homes of individuals living on the coast after Hurricane Katrina.  More information available @  http://www.haleybarbour.com/_index.html and http://www.governorbarbour.com/biography/.

Dustin Eli Whiteside was born on October 22, 1979 in New Albany, Mississippi.  He attended Delta State University and was a member of the Statesmen baseball team.  He currently plays catcher for the Baltimore Orioles.  More information available @ http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=434630.

October 26

Bo Diddley, born Otha Ellas Bates, was born in McComb, Mississippi on December 28, 1928.  In 1955, he became well known for his singing and custom made guitar.  More information available @ http://www.bo-diddley.com.

October 28

Eli Whitney was born on December 8, 1765 in Westboro, Massachusetts.  He was an inventor, engineer, and manufacturer.  He introduced interchangeable parts while making guns for the government.  He is mostly recognized for his invention of the cotton gin, which led to the concept of mass production, but had other inventions like the milling machine.  He was inducted in the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1974.  More information available @ http://www.eliwhitney.org/index2.htm and  http://www.whitneygen.org/archives/biography/eli.html.

William Howard Taft was the twenty-seventh president of the United States of America and his presidency lasted from 1909-1913.  He was born on September 15, 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  During his presidency he allowed the citizens to participate in government and improved the roads and school system.  More information available @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wt27.html and http://www.americanpresidents.org/presidents/president.asp?PresidentNumber=26.

October 29

Minnie M. Cox attended Fisk University and upon graduation began a teaching career.  She also assisted her husband, who was the principal of the Indianola Colored Public School.  President Benjamin Harrison appointed her as postmistress in 1891.  In 1897, she was reappointed by President William McKinley.  In 1902, a petition was written that requested she resign from being postmistress.  In 1903 she resigned but continued to receive her salary.  President Roosevelt believed Cox was mistreated and closed the post office on January 2, 1903, but it later reopened in 1904.  She and her husband also opened up the largest black bank in Mississippi called Delta Penny Savings Bank in Indianola, Mississippi.  Also Cox Street and Cox Park is named in their honor in Indianola.  More information available @ http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2664/Minnie_Cox_a_first_for_Mississippi.

November

November 1

Tommy Johnson was born on a plantation close to Terry, Mississippi.  His uncles and brothers played the guitar and taught him to play at a young age.    He recorded with the Victor and Paramount record labels and is known for playing his guitar in unusual positions like between his legs or behind his head.  He traveled playing the blues in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana and was married several times.  He died of a heart attack on November 1, 1956.

More information available @ http://www.tommyjohnsonblues.com/

November 2

John Hurt, guitarist and blues singer, grew up in Avalon, Mississippi and learned to play the guitar when he was nine years old.  He often filled in for Willie Narmour when his regular partner could not accompany him.  His musical style was a mix of country and blues.  More information available @ http://www.msjohnhurtmuseum.com/mjhbio.html and http://www.mindspring.com/~dennist/#Biographical%20Information.

Ronald Reagan, fortieth president of the United States of America, was born on February 11, 1911 in Kansas.  His presidential term lasted from 1981-1989.  His program, called the Regan Revolution, convinced Americans to rely less on the government and was a success.  On January 20, 1981, he was shot but recovered quickly and returned back to office.  More information available @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/rr40.html and http://www.reaganlibrary.com/.

November 4

Haley Barbour was first elected as governor on November 24, 2003.  He has focused on several issues during his term such as tort reform, Medicaid programs, protecting the unborn, and promoting economic development in Mississippi.  He was named governor of the year by Washington, DC for his efforts to rebuild the homes of individuals living on the coast after Hurricane Katrina.  More information available @  http://www.haleybarbour.com/_index.html and http://www.governorbarbour.com/biography/.

November 6

Jefferson Davis, born on June 3, 1808 in Kentucky, was the President of the Confederate States of America.  He attended boarding school as a child and later Transylvania College in Lexington, Kentucky as well as West Point Military Academy.  He served in the United States Army but later devoted his time to his plantation, “Brierfield.”  He was also involved in politics.  Positions he held include: member of Congress and Senate and Secretary of War.  He was a strong supporter of slavery.  More information available @ http://www.jeffersondavis.net/, http://www.civilwarhome.com/jdavisbio.htm.

Zig Ziglar was born as Hilary Hinton, but was called “Zig” as a child.  He attended Millsap’s College in Jackson and the University of South Carolina, but was raised in Yazoo City, Mississippi.  He started off as a cookware salesman but wanted to become a professional public speaker, which he pursued in 1970.  He is a very well known motivational speaker who has been featured in magazines and television shows including: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fortune,” 20/20” and, “The Today Show.”  He has written 10 books and is currently the Chairman of the Zig Ziglar Corporation.  More information available @ http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk/7-habits/zig-ziglar.htm and https://www.mindperk.com/ZiglarBio.htm

Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of the United States of America was born in Hardin County, Kentucky.  His presidency lasted from 1861-1865.  He served in the Black Hawk War and was involved in the Illinois Legislature for eight years.  He issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which freed all slaves.  He is also known for the Gettysburg Address that urged Americans to honor those who died in the Civil War by remembering why they were fighting.  He was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865.  More information available @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/al16.html and http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/americanpresident/lincoln/essays/biography/1.

November 7

The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek transferred a large amount of Choctaw Indian land to the United States.  More information available @ http://www.rootsweb.com/~msalhn/NativeAmerican/DancingRabbit.htm and http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v007/v007p323.html.

November 8

Franklin Roosevelt, thirty second president of the United States, was born in 1882 in New York. His presidential term was 1933-1945. Before being elected as President he was a member of the Senate, Secretary of the Navy, and Governor of New York.  He reassured America by saying,” the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  More information available @ http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/fdrbio.html and http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/americanpresident/fdroosevelt/essays/biography/1.

November 9

Joe Moorman had no formal art training, but was always working on drawings, beadwork, sculpture, or carvings.  He was inspired by watching his father build their family home.  Before pursuing a career in art focusing on mosaics and sculpture, he worked as an engineer.  More information available @ http://riversonfinemosaics.com/joe_moorman_artist.htm. 

November 10

Bobby Rush, born Emmit Ellis Jr., is a blues singer who plays the guitar and harmonica.  He was interested in music at a young age and began forming bands at age thirteen.  He settled in Jackson, Mississippi and recorded for various labels including: Galaxy, ABC, Warner Brothers, LaJam and Malaco.  He is known for always putting on a show during his performances.  He is a recipient of several awards which include: "Best Live Performer of the Year", "Best Blues Entertainer of the Year", and "Best Soul/Blues Albums of the Year.” More information available @ http://www.bobbyrush.net/deeprush/ and http://bluescritic.com/BobbyRush.html.

November 16

William Christopher Handy was called the “Father of the Blues” because he introduced blues to the world.  As a child he was always interested in music, but his family did not approve and he secretly joined a band and saved his money to purchase a guitar.  He wrote and published several songs and started his own quartet called the Lauzetta Quartet, and his own company, Handy Brother’s Music Company.  He was also a member of Mahara's Minstrels.   He taught at what is now known as Alabama A&M University.  He had eye problems since childhood and completely lost his sight after an accident in 1943.  He has written five books and received various honors and awards.  A park and music festival in his hometown, Florence, Alabama, are named after him, a commemorative stamp, and recognition at Carnegie Hall as well as the World’s Fair.  More information available @ http://www2.una.edu/library/handy/biography.htm, http://www.wchandymusicfestival.org/ and http://www.handyblues.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=37.

November 17

Shelby Dade Foote Jr. was born on November 17, 1916 in Greenville, MS.  As a child, he enjoyed reading and later became the editor of his high school paper.  He attended the University of North Carolina and submitted fiction pieces to their literary magazine.  Before the United States joined WWII, he joined the National Guard and spent time writing while waiting for his unit to be deployed.  In 1946, he decided to pursue his writing career full time.  He is most known for The Civil War: A Narrative, which consists of three volumes, but published several other novels including: Shiloh, Tournament, Follow me Down, and others.  He died in 2005 of a heart attack.   More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/mswriters/dir/foote_shelby/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_Foote.

November 18

Dennis Binder has been singing the blues, composing music, and playing the piano for over fifty years.  He played the piano at his church during his childhood.  He gained most of his musical knowledge in Chicago.  He always wanted to be a professional musician and eventually recorded for Chess, Modern, Crown, Sun, and other labels. He has recorded with several other famous blues artists including Howlin’ Wolf, Count Basie, Earl Hooker, Sunnyland Slim, Lou Rawls, Ike Turner, and Jackie Brenston.   More information available @ http://www.dennisbinder.com/index.html

November 20

Bo Diddley, born Otha Ellas Bates, was born in McComb, Mississippi on December 28, 1928.  In 1955, he became well known for his singing and custom made guitar.  More information available @ http://www.bo-diddley.com.

November 25

Edward Riley Boyd was born on a plantation in Clarksdale, Mississippi on November 25, 1914.  He taught himself to play the guitar and piano at an early age.  As he got older he made a living playing in juke joints around Mississippi, but later moved to Memphis in 1936 where he played with his band “Dixie Rhythm Boys.”  In 1941, he moved to Chicago and worked with Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson.  In 1952, he achieved great success when he released three hit songs within a year.  During the 1960s he moved to Europe and eventually settled in Finland.  More information available @ http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/eboyd.html and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

November 27

Evelyn Preer was born as Evelyn Jarvis.  She and her mother moved to Chicago after her father’s death.  After completing high school, she began acting in vaudeville and minstrel shows.  She became well known and popular by all races mostly because she would not accept roles that belittled African Americans.  In 1920 she joined the Lafayette Players, a theatrical stock company and gained more recognition for David Belasco’s production of Lulu Belle in 1926 and Somerset Maugham’s Rain in 1928.  More information available @ http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/ninamaemckinney/EvelynPreer.html and http://www.answers.com/topic/evelyn-preer.

November 28

James Oliver Eastland was born in Doddsville, Mississippi, and raised on a cotton farm.  He served on the House of Representatives during 1928-1930 and the Senate in 1941.  More information available @ http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Painting_32_00040.htm.

November 29

Willie Morris was born on November 29, 1934 in Jackson, Mississippi but later moved to Yazoo City.  He attended the University of Texas where he served as the editor for the student newspaper.  Later, he worked for Harper’s Magazine and became the youngest editor in chief in the magazine’s history.  He wrote numerous fiction and nonfiction books.  In 2000, his book My Dog Skip was made into a movie starring Kevin Bacon, Diane Lane, and Luke Wilson.  More information available @ http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/morris_willie/ and  http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

November 30

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, called the “Father of America Literature” by William Faulkner, was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835.  He was a writer, lecturer, and American humorist who wrote under the pen name Mark Twain.  He is most known for the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the Adventures of Tom Sawyer.  More information available @ http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/projects/price/atwain.htm and http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/twainver.htm.

Alphonso Michael Espy, the first African American Secretary of Agriculture, was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi.  He attended Howard University in Washington, DC and the University of Santa Clara in California.  Other positions he held include assistant secretary of state for Mississippi Legal Services, assistant secretary for the state’s Public Lands division, and assistant state attorney general.  He resigned from his position as Secretary of Agriculture on January 22, 1993.  More information available @ http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=e000218

Margaret Walker Alexander was an African American poet and writer. Her parents taught her about philosophy as a child. In 1935 she graduated from Northwestern University in Chicago.  She received her bachelors and Ph. D. from the University of Iowa.  She worked with the Federal Writers Project, part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Project Administration.  She was most known for her poem For My People and novel Jubilee.  More information available @ http://www.edwardsly.com/walkerm.html and http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

December

December 1

Rosa Parks was born on February 14, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama.  She was a seamstress that began the civil rights movement when she refused to give up her seat on the bus.  As a result, segregation on public transportation was forbidden.  She was a member of the NAACP and founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development.  She received several honors for her courage including a Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Congressional Gold Medal, and her casket was placed in the rotunda of the Capital, which had only been done for deceased Presidents in the past.  More information available @ http://www.rosaparks.org/ and http://e-portals.org/Parks/.

December 2

James Monroe, fifth president of the United States of America was born on April 28, 1758 in Westmoreland County, Virginia.   The beginning of his presidential term, which lasted from 1817-1825, was referred to as the “Era of Good Feelings.”  More information available @ http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jm5.html.

December 4

Thomas Edison, inventor and businessman, was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio.  He obtained 1,093 United States patents, which was the most an individual has received.  His most known invention is electrical lighting, but he had several other inventions including the phonograph, paraffin paper, and the kinetoscope.  He is also referred to as the “Wizard of Menlo Park.”  More information available @ http://www.thomasedison.com/ and

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/edison.htm

December 5

David Ferris, born on December 5, 1921, is nicknamed “Boo” because he could not pronounce brother as a child.   He was the first baseball player to receive a scholarship to Mississippi State University and was later drafted by the Red Sox, but was also drafted in the army.  When he returned, he joined a minor league but joined the Red Sox again as pitcher on April 29, 1945.  He the head baseball coach for Delta State University for twenty six years and his team participated in the NCAA Division II College World Series on three occasions.  The baseball field at Delta State University is named in his honor.  More information available @  http://home.jam.rr.com/stutor/ferrisspage.htm and http://top100redsox.blogspot.com/2007/02/56-dave-boo-ferriss-dave-meadows-boo.html.

December 6

William Hodding Carter II was born on February 3, 1907 in Hammond, Louisiana.  After completing college and graduate school, he worked as a reporter for the New Orleans Item-Tribune (1929), the United Press in New Orleans (1930), and the Associated Press in Jackson, Mississippi (1931-32).  In 1932, he founded the Hammond Daily Courier.  In 1939, he moved to Greenville, Mississippi and started the Greenville Delta Democrat Times.  In 1946, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his work published about the treatment of the Japanese-American soldiers during World War II.  More information available @ http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/   and http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-CarterHod.html.

December 8

Jerry Butler, often called “the ice man” because of his cool voice and lyrics, recorded over fifty albums.  He grew up singing in the church choir and later became the lead singer for the Impressions.  In 1991, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  More information available @ http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/butler_jerry/bio.jhtml and . http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/ 

Eli Whitney was born on December 8, 1765 in Westboro, Massachusetts.  He was an inventor, engineer, and manufacturer.  He introduced interchangeable parts while making guns for the government.  He is mostly recognized for his invention of the cotton gin, which led to the concept of mass production, but had other inventions like the milling machine.  He was inducted in the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1974.  More information available @ http://www.eliwhitney.org/index2.htm and http://www.whitneygen.org/archives/biography/eli.html.

December 9

Archie Moore was from Benoit Mississippi.  He was a professional fighter for 27 years, and had more knockouts (141) than any other professional boxer in history.  He is the only boxer to have fought both Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali.  More information available @ http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Human:8995, and http://www.ibhof.com/moore.htm.

December 11

Sam Cook, who was an influential songwriter and performer during the 1950s, helped lay the foundation for soul music.  He grew up singing gospel music with siblings, but later branched out on his own.  He died over forty years ago, and questions still remain about his death.  More information available @ www.history-of-rock.com/cooke.htm.

December 13

Archibald Lee Wright (professionally known as Archie Moore, The Old Mongoose), was born in Benoit on this date in 1913.  He fought Rocky Marciano, Floyd Patterson, and Mohamed Ali, appeared in the Hollywood feature film "Huckleberry Finn," and was on the Groucho Marx Show and You Bet Your Life.  http://sports.jrank.org/pages/3320/Moore-Archie.html
 

December 16

The New Madrid Earthquakes occurred near the New Madrid Fault in Missouri.  As a result of these severe earthquakes, the course of the Mississippi River was changed, portions of the land sank, and new lakes were created.  More information available @ http://www.geology.siu.edu/quakes/nmadrid.html  and http://www.olympus.net/personal/gofamily/quake/famous/madrid.html.

December 17

Archie Moore, born in Benoit in 1913 boxed professionally for 27 years. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0600911/bio

December 18

Elia Kazan was born in Turkey on September 9, 1909, but later immigrated to New York with his parents.  He attended Williams College and Yale University.  He is recognized as a very significant film director.  He is also known for testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) during the Red Scare.  He has written one novel and directed many plays including A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, All my Sons and Death of a Salesman.  He is the recipient of several awards comprising of Tony Awards, Academy Awards, both Cannes and Venice Film Festival Awards.  More information available @ http://www.eliakazan.com/ and http://www.reelclassics.com/Directors/Kazan/kazan.htm.   "Baby Doll (1956) has been called notorious, salacious, revolting, dirty, steamy, lewd, suggestive, morally repellent and provocative."  see more at http://www.filmsite.org/baby.html

December 19

Milton Hilton was known as “The Judge” and the “Dean of Jazz Bass Players.”  He played the double bass and was also a photographer.  During his career, he took several pictures that documented the careers of other well know jazz musicians.  More information available @ http://www.milthinton.com/html/bio.html.

Stew Cliburn was born on December 19, 1956 in Jackson, Mississippi.  He attended Delta State University where he played baseball.  He was the pitcher for the California Angels from 1984-1988.  More information @ http://www.armchairgm.com/index.php?title=Stew_Cliburn and http://www.sportspool.com/baseball/players/C/clibust02.php.

December 20

Earl Van Dorn was born on September 17, 1820 in Port Gibson, Mississippi.  He attended West Point, fought in the Mexican-American War and served as a commander and general in the American Civil War.  After losing battles at Pea Ridge and Corinth, he was demoted from General of the second Calvary to Commander of the Calvary.  Dr. George Peters killed Dorn because he believed his wife was having an affair with him.  More information available @ http://www.civilwarhome.com/vandornbio.htm and http://www.nps.gov/archive/peri/van_dorn.htm

December 21

Wallace Willis, known as “Uncle Willis,” wrote Swing Low, Sweet Chariot while working in the fields.  As he saw the Red River in Oklahoma he was reminded of the Mississippi River.  More information available @ http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2370/Swing_Low_Sweet_Chariot_an_international_hymn and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_(music).

December 22

Jimmy Patton attended E. E. Bass High School in Greenville, Mississippi and later played football for the University of Mississippi.  He played for the New York Giants from 1955 to 1966.  More information available @ http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=PATTOJIM01.

December 23

Donna Tartt was raised in Grenada, Mississippi and attended the University of Mississippi and later Bennington College in Vermont.  By age five she had already written a poem and she began writing her first novel ­The Secret History in college, which was very successful.  Her work also includes two short stories, A Christmas Pageant (1993), and A Garter’s Snake (1995).  More information available @  http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/   and

http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/tartt_donna/.

December 28

Bo Diddley, born Otha Ellas Bates, was born in McComb, Mississippi on December 28, 1928.  In 1955, he became well known for his singing and custom made guitar.  More information available @ http://www.bo-diddley.com.

December 30

Lily Margaret Wade attended Cleveland High school and attended Delta State University where she played basketball and later became the Director of Women's Physical Education in 1959.  She is a member of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and the Delta State Hall of fame.  Under her direction, the lady statesmen won three AIAW national championships (1975-77) and a 93-4 record that included a 51-game winning streak.  More information available @ http://www.deltastate.edu/pages/1312.asp.