Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number: Susie V. Powell Papers (Z/0035).
Creator/Collector: Susie V. Powell.
Date(s): 1926-1945.
Size: 1.00 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH staff, 1949.
Provenance: Gift of Susie V. Powell of Jackson, MS, on September 16, 1949.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Rights and Access:

Access restrictions: Collection is open for research.

Publication rights: Copyright assigned to the MDAH. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Reference Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the MDAH as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.

Copyright notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Preferred citation: Susie V. Powell Papers (Z/0035), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Biography:

 Susie V. Powell

Susan “Susie” Virginia Powell was born on April 3, 1868, in Batesville, Mississippi, the daughter of Susan Virginia Johnson (1840-1880) and Sanford Daniel Powell (1841-1900). Siblings included: Alice Daniel M. Powell (1861–1941), Edward J. Powell (1863–1923), Thomas E. Powell (1865-1923), Ada L. Powell (1866-), Georgia Powell (1870–1944), Robert Lee Powell (1871–1872), Willie S. Powell (1873–1924), Hugh Louis Powell (1873–1953), Sanford “Sancho” Daniel Powell, Jr. (1878–1932), and Albert L. “Captain” Powell (1879–1900). After her mother died, Sanford married his second wife, Mary Virginia Brown (1843-1922), and they had one child, Susan’s half-sister, Annie Mary Powell (1884-1923).

Susie V. Powell spent her early years up to young womanhood in Brookhaven. Her educational studies came from Whitworth College in Brookhaven, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Chicago. She was recognized in the State of Mississippi as a pioneer for education. She then returned to Mississippi and taught in Lawrence and Lincoln counties. She later served as a superintendent and rural school supervisor for the Mississippi Department of Education. During her tenure as teacher and administrator, she did much to improve the teaching methods, facilities, and grounds of rural schools. She also had a marked influence on early consolidation of schools.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) invited Powell to organize girls’ Tomato Clubs in Mississippi in 1911. The girls’ Tomato Clubs were part of the agricultural extension system and were designed to create an educational organization that would reach rural girls and their mothers to educate how to improve home conditions. Powell agreed, hoping that girls’ club work would improve the rural diet and give farm women a more important role in family nutrition. Powell led the development of the clubs and was instrumental in securing the passage of state legislation supporting girls’ club work. She called on the Mississippi Federation of Women’s Clubs for support. She also sought aid from Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College (Mississippi State University), local merchants, bankers, ministers, boards of supervisors, and school superintendents, pointing out the community value of the movement to anyone who would listen. In 1913 girls’ Tomato Clubs became part of the 4-H system.

With the establishment of the Federal Extension Service, the USDA expanded the girls’ club movement to include women’s home demonstration work. Powell was appointed to head the effort in Mississippi. Under her leadership, the club movement spread throughout the state as Powell and her agents attempted to raise the standard of rural life. By the time Powell resigned in 1924, she had led thousands of rural girls and women toward improved standards of living. Powell continued to serve Mississippi women as president of the Mississippi Federation of Women’s Clubs. During the 1930s she became the state supervisor of the Works Progress Administration’s historical research project. She served during World War II as chairman of the Coordinating Council of Woman's Organizations for War Service, and as president of the Mississippi Woman's Christian Temperance Union from 1944 to 1945. By 1946, the Mississippi Agricultural Extension honored Powell with a scholarship in her name.

Susan Virginia Powell died on July 9, 1952, in Tupelo, Lee County, and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Brookhaven, Lincoln County.

 

Scope and Content Note:

Miscellaneous correspondence and papers of Susie V. Powell, Jackson, Mississippi, who served during World War II as chairman of the Coordinating Council of Woman's Organizations for War Service and who served during 1944 and 1945 as president of the Mississippi Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 

The papers are divided by dates as follows:

  • undated, 152 pieces
  • 1926–1927, 15 pieces
  • 1935–1939, 33 pieces
  • 1940–1945, 331 pieces

 

Series Identification:

Series Identification to be completed at a later date.

 

Box List:

Box 1
Box List to be completed at a later date.