Creator: Department of Education (RG 50)

Collection Summary: Photographs, architect’s drawings, and floor plans of school facilities in Mississippi, with related reports and newspaper clippings. Most of the photographs date from 1947 through the late 1950s. Also included are a few school building survey reports. Seventy-one counties are represented among these materials. Arrangement is alphabetical by county.

Access Restrictions: Access to architectural drawings of state buildings is limited. Application for access, with justification, must be submitted to the Director, Department of Archives and History, or to the Head of the Archives and Library Division.

Date(s): 1929-1974.

Volume: 2.5 Cubic Feet.

Finding Aid Created By: Shaun Stalzer in August 2024.

Related Materials: TBD

Record Group History: The first two state constitutions, 1817 and 1832, did not provide for a system of public education, and it was not until 1846 that the first common school law of the state was enacted. Prior to 1868, the establishment and funding of public schools rested with county officials. The state constitution of 1868 provided for the first Superintendent of Public Education, which specified that he shall be elected for a term of four years, at the same time and in the same manner as the governor. The Superintendent of Public Education was also to have general supervision of the common schools and educational interests of the state. The Department of Education in the modern era is charged with the execution of all laws relating to the administrative, supervisory and consultative services to the public schools, agricultural high schools, and junior colleges in the state. 

Collection Inventory:
Box Content 

Box Number

School facility photographs and prints (oversized, arranged by county)

18088

School facility photographs and reports (arranged by county)

18087

School plans and reductions [limited access]

18089