Creator: Work Projects Administration (RG 60).

Collection Summary: Transcripts (predominantly handwritten) of minutes for various county governing bodies for thirty-five (35) counties in Mississippi, produced as a part of the Work Projects Administration Historical Records Survey. Included are minutes for county courts, boards of road commissioners, boards of police/police courts, and boards of supervisors, with date ranges of 1826 to 1937. Also included are approximately seventy items of correspondence between Historical Records Survey State Directors and their field workers; these are chiefly instructions and cover letters. The following counties are represented in this series:  Alcorn (prior to 1870, when Alcorn was created from large parts of Tishomingo County), Amite, Attala, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Coahoma, Copiah, DeSoto, Greene, Harrison, Itawamba, Jones, Lafayette, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Leflore, Lincoln, Monroe, Pike, Pontotoc, Quitman, Rankin, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tishomingo, Union, Washington, Webster, Winston, Yalobusha. County boundaries have changed over the years, as in the Alcorn-Tishomingo example already cited. For records of counties not included in this series, researchers should consult the finding aid for county records on microfilm.

Access Restrictions: None.

Date(s): 1936-1940.

Volume: 38.00 Cubic Feet.

Finding Aid Created By: Colby Cox in October 2024.

Related Materials: TBD.

Record Group History: The Works Projects Administration (WPA) was a federal program established on May 6th, 1935, in order to increase employment during the Great Depression. While the WPA was a federal program, it was implemented and managed on the state level with each state having their own director and office to guide the operation of the WPA for each state. The WPA was primarily focused on employing individuals for the purpose of creating public works and infrastructure, but a small portion of its funding was devoted to cultural and artistic endeavors which the files in this collection are primarily concerned with. Two of the major cultural projects the WPA undertook were the Federal Writers’ Project and the Historical Records Survey. The Federal Writers Project employed writers to create guides, histories, and chronicles for each state and the Historical Records Survey sought to catalogue the historical records of each state.

Collection Inventory:
Box Content 

Box Number

Alcorn County/Police Court of Tishomingo County: 1836-184610962
Amite County/Board of Police: 1833-1835; 1840-184410962
Amite County/Board of Police: 1833-184410963
Amite County/Board of Police: 1840-185110964
Amite County/Board of Police: 1851-1855; 1862-186410965
Amite County/Board of Police: 1865-187010966
Amite County/Board of Road Commissioners: 1826-182810962
Amite County/Board of Supervisors: 1875-1877; 189410966
Amite County/Board of Supervisors: 1877-188310967
Amite County/Board of Supervisors: 1883-188710968
Amite County/Board of Supervisors: 1891, 1894, 189910969
Attala County/Board of Police: 1858-187210970
Bolivar County/Board of Police: 1836-184310971
Calhoun County/Board of Supervisors: 1923-192410971
Calhoun County/Board of Supervisors: 1924-192710972
Calhoun County/Board of Supervisors: 1927-192910973
Carroll County/Board of Police: 1834-1841; 1862-186310974
Chickasaw County/Board of Supervisors: 1877-187810973
Choctaw County/Board of Supervisors: 1881-188410974
Coahoma County/Board of Police: 1857-1861; 1871-187310975
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors (Dist. 1): 1917-192110979
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors (Dist. 1): 1921-192310980
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors (Dist. 1): 1922-1928; 193010982
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors (Dist. 1): 1926-193010981
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors (Dist. 2): 1892-189810977
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors (Dist. 2): 1898-190310978
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors (Dist. 2): 192710981
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors: 1873-188410975
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors: 1876-188410976
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors: 1884-189610977
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors: 1903-190710978
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors: 1907-191010979
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors: 1914-191710980
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors: 1923-192410981
Coahoma County/Board of Supervisors: 1928-193010982
Copiah County/Board of Police: 1833-183910983
Copiah County/Board of Road Commissioners: 1830-183310983
Correspondence from various counties11036
DeSoto County/Board of Police: 1838-187210984
DeSoto County/Board of Police: 184310983
DeSoto County/Board of Supervisors: 1878-188010985
Greene County/Board of Supervisors: 1875-188210985
Harrison County/Board of Police: 1841-184910985
Harrison County/Board of Police: 1854-187210986
Harrison County/Board of Supervisors: 1873-187510986
Harrison County/Board of Supervisors: 1876-188110987
Itawamba County/Board of Supervisors: 1864-186510987
Jones County/Board of Supervisors: 1896-1897; 189910987
Jones County/Board of Supervisors: 1905-190910988
Jones County/Board of Supervisors: 1909-191110989
Jones County/Board of Supervisors: 1911-191410990
Jones County/Board of Supervisors: 1914-191610991
Jones County/Board of Supervisors: 1916-191710992
Jones County/Board of Supervisors: 1917-191910993
Lafayette County/Board of Police: 1855-186310994
Lafayette County/Board of Police: 1863-187010996
Lafayette County/Board of Supervisors (Introduction)10994
Lauderdale County/Board of Police: 1847-184910996
Lawrence County/Board of Supervisors: 1871-1874; 188010996
Lee County/Board of Police: 1867-187010998
Lee County/Board of Supervisors: 1876-1877; 1900-1901; 1903-190410998
Leflore County/Board of Supervisors: 1871-188110999
Lincoln County/Board of Supervisors: 1900-190811000
Lincoln County/Board of Supervisors: 1908-191211001
Lincoln County/Board of Supervisors: 1917-192111002
Monroe County/Court of Gen. Quarter Sess. of the Peace: 1821-182311003
Pike County/Board of Police: 1871-187411003
Pike County/Board of Supervisors: 1882-189111003
Pike County/Board of Supervisors: 1892-190411004
Pike County/Board of Supervisors: 1907-191211005
Pike County/Board of Supervisors: 1909-1911; 1915-191711006
Pike County/Board of Supervisors: 1919-192211007
Pike County/Board of Supervisors: 1922-192411008
Pike County/Board of Supervisors: 1924-192611009
Pike County/Board of Supervisors: 1926-192911010
Pike County/Board of Supervisors: 1929-193411011
Pike County/Board of Supervisors: 1935-193711012
Pontotoc County/Board of Supervisors: 1878-188311012
Pontotoc County/Board of Supervisors: 1883-1896; 1908-190911013
Pontotoc County/County Court: 1866-187011012
Quitman County/Board of Supervisors: 1877-188411015
Rankin County/Board of Police: 1833-184911014
Rankin County/Board of Police: 1847-185411015
Rankin County/Board of Police: 1854-186111016
Rankin County/Board of Police: 1861-187011017
Rankin County/Board of Road Commissioners: 1829-183211014
Rankin County/Board of Supervisors: 1871-187811018
Rankin County/Board of Supervisors: 1878-188411019
Rankin County/Board of Supervisors: 1885-189211020
Rankin County/Board of Supervisors: 1892-1897; 1903-190811021
Rankin County/Board of Supervisors: 1908-191211022
Rankin County/Board of Supervisors: 1912-191611023
Sunflower County/Board of Supervisors: 1898-190111024
Tallahatchie County/Board of Police: 1834-184911024
Tate County/Board of Supervisors: 1873-187511024
Tate County/Board of Supervisors: 1882-188611025
Tishomingo County/Board of Police: 183611025
Tishomingo County/Board of Supervisors: 1897-190111025
Union County/Board of Supervisors: 1894-189511026
Washington County/Board of Police: 1836; 1848-186111026
Washington County/Board of Supervisors: 1884-188811026
Washington County/Board of Supervisors: 1888-1894; 1918-191911027
Washington County/Board of Supervisors: 1920-1921 with index11028
Webster County/Board of Supervisors: 1878; 1883-1884; 1887-188911029
Winston County/Police Court: 1837-184311029
Yalobusha County/Board of Police: 1837; 185911030
Yalobusha County/Board of Supervisors: 1873-188011031
Yalobusha County/Board of Supervisors: 1899-190611030
Yalobusha County/Board of Supervisors: 1906-191611032
Yalobusha County/Board of Supervisors: 1910-191611033
Yalobusha County/Board of Supervisors: 1916-192011035
Yalobusha County/Board of Supervisors: 1926-1927; 192911036