Harris Dickson "Magnolia Sketches" Collection (Z/0852)
Collection Details:
Collection Name and Number: Harris Dickson "Magnolia Sketches" Collection (Z/0852).
Creator/Collector: Harris Dickson; and others.
Date(s): 1939-1942.
Size: 3.00 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH staff Name, Year.
Processing Note: Collection formerly titled Harris Dickson Collection (Z/0852); Renamed as Harris Dickson "Magnolia Sketches" Collection (Z/0852) to more accurately describe its contents and to not be confused with Harris Dickson Collection (Z/0028) or Harris Dickson Collection (Z/0168).
Provenance: Gift of Donor, of Place, State, on Date; Z/U/XXXX.XXX.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.
Rights and Access:
Access restrictions: Microfilm copy must be used. (MF Roll # 36076). 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: Harris Dickson "Magnolia Sketches" Collection (Z/0852), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.
Related MDAH Collections:
Harris Dickson Collection (Z/0028.000)
Harris Dickson Papers (Z/0028.001)
Harris Dickson Letter (Z/0028.002)
Harris Dickson Papers (Z/0124)
Harris Dickson Collection (Z/0168)
Biography/History:
"Magnolia Sketches" Radio Program
History to come.
Harris Dickson
William Harris Dickson, son of Harriet Emma Hardenstein (1844-1926) and Thomas Hyde Dickson (1841-1908), was born on July 21, 1868, in Yazoo City, Mississippi, the eldest of his siblings: Helion Dickson (1872-1941), Harriet "Hattie" Dickson (1874-1877), and Thomas Hyde Dickson, Jr. (1876-1939). Shortly after Dickson's birth, his family moved to Vicksburg, then to Meridian, and finally to Jackson, Mississippi. Dickson became interested in shorthand during his late teens, and after mastering it, he founded a court-reporting firm. In 1889, after a particularly long legal case, Dickson took some of his earnings and traveled to France to see the Paris Exposition.
Upon his return from Europe, Dickson attended a summer session at the law school of the University of Virginia. Dickson then accepted a job as secretary to Andrew Price, United States representative from the third congressional district of Louisiana. While Dickson was in Washington, D.C., he received a bachelor of laws degree from Columbian University (now George Washington University) in 1893. Following his graduation, Dickson returned to Vicksburg and opened his legal practice. With few clients, Dickson kept himself busy by working on a novel, The Black Wolf's Breed. While exchanging some law books with the publisher, Bowen-Merrill, Dickson included the manuscript to this novel, which, to his surprise, the company accepted and published in 1899.
While Dickson's legal career progressed (he became a Vicksburg Municipal Court judge in 1905), his literary career also flourished. In 1907, the Saturday Evening Post published an article by Dickson that recounted some of his experiences as a judge in Vicksburg. The Saturday Evening Post also published Dickson's most popular stories, a series detailing the adventures of a Reconstruction-era African American character from Vicksburg nicknamed "Old Reliable." His tales of "Old Reliable" were compiled in two volumes, Old Reliable and Old Reliable in Africa; these stories were also adapted for the stage. Other books by Dickson include the following: Siege of Lady Resolute, She That Hesitates, Children of the River, Duke of Devil-May-Care, The Story of King Cotton, and An Old Fashioned Senator. Dickson served as a correspondent for Collier's magazine during World War I, and in the 1930s, he served as a technical advisor to the Work Projects Administration in Mississippi.
Dickson married Madeleine Livingston Metcalf of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1906; they had two daughters, Elizabeth Harris Dickson (1910-1998) and Madeleine M. Dickson (1913-1999). He died in Vicksburg on March 17, 1946, and was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Vicksburg.
Scope and Content Note:
This collection consists of typescripts of programs broadcast over Station WJDX, Jackson. The series of radio broadcasts was entitled "Magnolia Sketches," and the material was prepared and delivered by Harris Dickson, Vicksburg, Advising Editor, Federal Writers' Project, W.P.A. Three volumes contain rough drafts of the fifteen minute programs, with letters to Miss Eri Douglass, State Director, Federal Writers' Project, and to Mr. Wiley P. Harris, Manager, Station WJDX. The letters concern the content of each proposed broadcast, and outlines and titles for future programs. Three volumes consist of the finished typescripts of the actual broadcasts, and there is a table of contents in each volume. The topics covered are historical sketches of towns in Mississippi, famous personalities in the state, anecdotes, stories of industry and business from early days to the time of the broadcasts, and other historical material.
The files contained within boxes 1-3 are drafts and edited copies of broadcast transcripts that appear as final typed copies in boxes 4-6. Boxes 1-3 cover from April 28, 1939 to May 15, 1942; files in boxes 4-6 cover from April 25, 1939 to May 15, 1942. Each typescript, except for five at the beginning of box 3 and several others scattered within boxes 1-3, is accompanied by the date on which it was presented. For the most part, boxes 1-3 are cataloged based only on title and date of broadcast. Beginning with box 4, keywords and phrases are provided to better indicate the nature of the broadcast and to highlight events or persons related to that presentation.
Series Identification:
Series 1: "Magnolia Sketches" Typescripts. 1939-1942.
Microfilm copy may also be used. (MF Roll # 36076)
Box and Folder List:
Box 1
Folder | Folder Title | Description and Subjects | Dates |
1 | Front Matter |
|
|
2 | First Broadcast and related correspondence |
| April 28, 1939 |
3 | Bloodhounds | Bob Gant, tracking dogs | May 5, 1939 |
4 | Two Biographies | Biographies of L. O. Crosby and Lamont Rowlands; timber industry, wood mills, tung oil, civic-minded industrialists | May 12, 1939 |
5 | David Atwood | Atwood Gin, Self-taught naturalist, turkeys | May 19, 1939 |
6 | Our wonderful delta | Natural history of the Mississippi Delta | May 26, 1939 |
7 | Natchez | A narrative history; Walter Burling, introduction of Mexican cotton to Mississippi, Sir William Dunbar, Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company | June 2, 1939 |
8 | The slave girl and Jefferson Davis | Sarah Knox Taylor, Varina Howell | June 9, 1939 |
9 | Greenwood Leflore | Rebecca Cravat, Pushmataha, Lewis LaFleur, Chief of the Choctaw Nation, Treaty of Doak’s Stand, Malmaison, Civil War, | June 16, 1939 |
10 | Gail Borden, the boy that borrowed a cow | Condensed milk industry, “Gail Borden Eagle Brand” condensed milk, cattle farming in Mississippi | June 23, 1939 |
11 | Holt Collier | Colonel Howell Hinds, African American Confederate soldier, bear hunter, President Theodore Roosevelt | June 30, 1939 |
12 | Bear Stories | Theodore Roosevelt’s bear hunt, camp stories | July 7, 1939 |
13 | CCC camps | Camp Four – Vicksburg National Military Park, camp life, job training | July 14, 1939 |
14 | The tale of two fighting dukes | William M. Gwin, Emperor Maxmilian of Mexico, Isham G. Harris, fugitive dukes become US senators | July 21, 1939 |
15 | Hanging the Gamblers at Vicksburg | Frank Cabler, W.J. North, Dr. Hugh S. Bodley | July 28, 1939 |
16 | The Natchez Trace
| A narrative history; John A. Murrell, John Swaney, Natchez Trace Parkway | August 4, 1939 |
17 | The dread of Yellow Jack | Yellow Fever, Dry Grove - Hinds County epidemic, quarantine, Walter Reed, Vicksburg | August 11, 1939 |
18 | Cotton | Cotton farming | August 18, 1939 |
19 | Aaron Burr in Mississippi | General James Wilkinson, treason, Cowles Mead, Madeleine Price, Joseph Thompson Hare | August 25, 1939 |
20 | Cotton (boll weevil) | “Pegging the price,” boom-and-bust cycles in cotton production, | September 1, 1939 |
21 | War Correspondent | World War II, Collier’s Weekly, World War I, Admiral Pickett Magruder, | September 8, 1939 |
22 | The Battlefield at Vicksburg | Civil War, General E.O.C. Ord, Mary Ann Smythe, Captain Isaac Guion, various anecdotes | September 16, 1939 |
23 | Homicide in Mississippi | Homicide rate, violence in Mississippi, Mississippi vs national murder rate | September 23, 1939 |
24 | River Life, Flatboat Era | Commerce on the Mississippi River, Mike Fink, Captain Flug, “Kentucky Manifesto,” | September 30, 1939 |
25 | Negro Stories | Several anecdotes | October 9, 1939 |
26 | Packets | Edward Livingstone, Nicholas Roosevelt, steamship “Orleans,” Henry M. Shreve, steamship “George Washington,” river commerce | October 16, 1939 |
27 | Shanty boats and Shaggy Bill | Boat people | October 23, 1939 |
28 | River Life, Barges | General T. Q. Ashburn, Inland Waterways Corporation, barge lines, barge capacity vs railcar capacity, | October 30, 1939 |
29 | Lamar Fontaine and the Rattlesnakes | Confederate scout, pet snake hated Yankees and the color blue | November 6, 1939 |
30 | The Mississippi Writers’ Project | Project director Eri Douglass, Mississippi encyclopedia and biographies, Mississippi Recreation Booklet, | November 13, 1939 |
31 | Tire factory, Natchez | Anecdote about the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad, Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company, | November 20, 1939 |
32 | The Guinea and Bully Boy | Gamecock vs guinea fowl | November 27, 1939 |
33 | Lamar Fontaine and the percussion caps | Confederate scout, delivery of percussion caps to Confederate forces, siege of Vicksburg | December 4, 1939 |
34 | The WPA and Oil in Mississippi | Works Progress Administration, Sallie H. Gwin, Ethel Payne, search for clay led to discovery of oil, Woodruff Discovery Well No. 1 – Yazoo County | December 11, 1939 |
35 | John Sharp Williams | Cedar Grove plantation, US Senator, “…you can’t get real downright sociable on creek water,” | December 18, 1939 |
36 | Christmas Broadcast (A story) | Christmas in Mississippi, comments about a world nearly at war, World War II | December 25, 1939 |
37 | Andrew Jackson | Battle of New Orleans, Battalion D’Orleans, Free Men of Color, Mississippi Dragoons, Colonel Hinds, Jean Lafitte | January 8, 1940 |
38 | “Ole Miss” and the DKEs | Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE), “University Greys,” Civil War, 11th Mississippi, fraternities at Ole Miss, Anti-Frat law 1912, | January 15, 1940 |
39 | Experiment Station | American (U. S.) Department of Agriculture, Delta Experiment Station at Stoneville, Mississippi, boll weevil, new cotton varieties | January 25, 1940 |
40 | Negro stories | Anecdotes, a view of race relations in Mississippi | February 1, 1940 |
41 | The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit | Comparison of events in 1940-era Europe to Mississippi in the early 1800’s, seizure of Choctaw land, Doak’s Stand, Pushmataha, Greenwood Leflore, Little Leader, | February 8, 1940 |
42 | The Kitson Bronzes | Henry H Kitson, Theodora Ruggles Kitson, bronze statues at Vicksburg Military Park, Massachusetts Volunteer statue, Iowa Memorial, General Stephen D. Lee | February 15, 1940 |
43 | George Washington | Elias Boudinot, President of the United States in Congress assembled, founding of Washington City, Major L’Enfant | February 22, 1940 |
44 | Radio Programs | The challenge of producing and delivering an educational and entertaining radio program, call for suggestions for future broadcasts | February 29, 1940 |
45 | John A. Murrell | Criminal chief, slave running, horse stealing, Virgil A. Stewart, slave uprising | March 7, 1940 |
46 | John Sharp Williams (boyhood) | Col. Christopher Harris Williams, CSA, Grandmother Williams, early childhood | March 14, 1940 |
47 | Beauvoir | Post-Civil War life of Jefferson Davis, move to and purchase of Beauvoir, Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey | March 21, 1940 |
48 | Edward Cary Walthall | Holly Springs, MS, 15th Mississippi regiment, 29th Mississippi regiment, Civil War, US senator, reconstruction, | March 28, 1940 |
49 | De Ducks (Diversification) | “deducks” slang for “deductions” referring to charges for items purchased, a push for self-reliance in food and manufactured goods | April 4, 1940 |
50 | Rover (A Yarn) | John Varnado, Miss Cricket, | April 11, 1940 |
51 | The original Ku Klux Klan | founded 1866 as “KuKlos Klan in Pulaski, TN, Nathan Bedford Forrest, J. Z. George, terror tactics, original Klan disbanded 1869 | April 18, 1940 |
52 | Cottonseed | Cotton lint pays the landowner for the tenant farmer’s rent and rations, but the cotton seed belongs to the tenant farmer, cotton seed oil, gossypol (toxin in cotton seed), Crystal Spring tomatoes, Water Valley watermelons, Mississippi products | April 25, 1940 |
53 | End Matter |
|
|
Box 2
Folder | Folder Title | Description and Subjects | Dates |
1 | Front Matter |
|
|
2 | Hernando Desoto | Hernando De Soto, Tampa Bay, expedition beginning in Florida and winding through several southeastern states | May 2, 1940 |
3 | Mechanical cotton pickers | Early inventions, challenges of harvesting cotton mechanically, Negro tenants | May 9, 1940 |
4 | Mississippi Tourists | Mississippi tourist industry, State Advertising Commission, state attractions, Vicksburg Military Park, Natchez Pilgrimage tour, Natchez Trace Parkway | May 16, 1940 |
5 | Work Projects Administration | Infrastructure projects, Bob Andrews, Delta Art Center in Greenville, MS, Herbert Halpert, Mississippi Writers Project, Encyclopedia of Mississippi, Frederic F. Mellen, WPA Forest and Park Survey, Housekeeping Aide Project | April 11, 1940 |
6 | Tomato Festival | Crystal Springs Tomato Festival, Nat Piazza, tomato shipments, Tomato Capital of the World | May 23, 1940 |
7 | The Highway Cop | Highway fatalities, first Mississippi driver’s licenses, Mississippi Highway Patrol | May 30, 1940 |
8 | Key Pittman | Mississippi born US Senator from Nevada, Klondyke Gold Rush, Nome AK, “Silver Senators” | June 6, 1940 |
9 | Mechanical cotton pickers | Early inventions, challenges of harvesting cotton mechanically, Negro tenants | June 13, 1940 |
10 | Folklore | Major Lamar Fontaine, Private John Allen, John Sharp Williams, Judge Wiley P. Harris, “The Constable’s Circus,” a tall tale | June 20, 1940 |
11 | Dairying | Johnny Appleseed, Colonel R. W. Montgomery, import of Jersey cattle, A. & M. Golden Butter, Mississippi condenseries and creameries, cattle dipping tanks, cattle tick control, | June 27, 1940 |
12 | Dorothy Dix | Elizabeth Merriweather (pen name Dorothy Dix), Mrs. E. J. Nicholson (pen name Pearl Rivers) owner of the New Orleans Picayune, “Dorothy Dix Talks” responses to readers’ letters, syndicated advice columnist | July 4, 1940 |
13 | Nursery School | Vicksburg, Old Rock House, Alice Rose Fried, WPA supported nursery schools provide for poor and neglected children, childrens’ health and well-being | July 25, 1940 |
14 | Watermelon Festival | Water Valley Watermelon Festival, Mississippi cheese production, | August 1, 1940 |
15 | Levees | History of Mississippi River levees, Monsieur l’Avocat Dieu-donne, Le Blond de la Tour, “post roads clause,” Mississippi River Commission, Bonnet Carre, Impact on the Mississippi Delta region, Flood of 1927 | August 8, 1940 |
16 | Irwin Russell | Port Gibson, MS; poet, dialect Negro poems, “Christmas Night in the Quarters,” “Nebuchadnezzar,” John Chandler Harris (Uncle Remus) | August 15, 1940 |
17 | The gypsum plant at Greenville | United States Gypsum Company, cottonwood trees, development of the building materials industry | August 22, 1940 |
18 | Oscar Johnston | Lawyer, planter, economist, civic leader, Scott cotton seed, National Cotton Council, Mississippi Delta | August 29, 1940 |
19 | The E. C. Johnston Oil Refinery | First oil refinery in Mississippi, Vicksburg MS, new industries in Mississippi: tire plant, tung oil, cattle, tomatoes, gypsum plant | September 5, 1940 |
20 | LeFleur’s Bluff | Describes the history behind the choice of the state capitol, Mississippi Territory, Constitutional Convention of 1817, early state capitol locations: Natchez, Woodville, Columbia, Monticello, LeFleur’s Bluff chosen (1820) because of its central location, Rebecca Cravat, Greenwood Leflore, Constitutional Convention of 1838, second capitol complete 1839, Reconstruction, 3rd (new) capitol completed 1903 | September 19, 1940 |
21 | The Hall of Fame | Collection of portraits of famous Mississippians, e.g., LQC Lamar, Jefferson Davis, General EC Walthall, General SD Lee, Senator Leroy Percy, John Sharp Williams, Charles B Galloway, Sol Calhoun, and others, ending the policy of leasing convicts for private labor by Governor Vardaman | September 26, 1940 |
22 | Hall of Fame – Unrevised and Undated |
|
|
23 | Mississippi State Fair | A history of fairs in England and the USA, 1840 State Agricultural Convention, 1840 State Fairgrounds established in Jackson, | October 3, 1940 |
24 | Garfish Rodeo | Eagle Lake garfish rodeo | October 10, 1940 |
25 | Second Garfish Program |
| October 17, 1940 |
26 | Tourist Camps | Tourist courts, roadside accommodations, US highway 80, | December 5, 1940 |
27 | The Department of Archives and History | William D McCain, director; 1902 Department of Archives and History established; description of duties | October 24, 1940 |
28 | A War Correspondent’s Reminiscences – Edited Copy | Harris Dickson’s experience as a war correspondent in World War I, Collier’s Weekly, Major Fredrick Palmer, reflections on World War II | November 7, 1940 |
29 | A War Correspondent’s Reminiscences – Unrevised |
| November 7, 1940 |
30 | A War Correspondent’s Reminiscences |
| November 7, 1940 |
31 | Mississippi Caviar | Spoonbill catfish roe, sturgeon caviar, Platt Fisheries, | November 14, 1940 |
32 | Mississippi Art and Artists (Part I) | Examples of starving artists: Corot, Millet, Edward Fitz-Gerald; President Roosevelt proclaims National Art Week, November 25 – December 1, 1940; Thurs de Thulstrup; Henry Kitson; Mississippi artists: Karl Wolfe; William Hollingsworth; Joseph Barras; Leon Koury; W.A. Percy; Shearwater Pottery Center and others; Mary Buie Museum Oxford, MS; Eastman Memorial Laurel MS | November 14, 1940 |
33 | Mississippi Art and Artists |
| November 14, 1940 |
34 | Mississippi Art and Artists (Part II) | National Art Week to promote the sales of American craftsmen to American buyers; John McCrady; parable of the brass andirons; Municipal Art Center Jackson MS; Marie Hull; Murillo’s “The Immaculate Conception” | November 21, 1940 |
35 | Mississippi Art and Artists (Part III: National Art Week) | Delta Art Center Greenville MS repository of paintings (by May Wilson McBee, K. W. Ball and others), leather work, weavings, sculpture, photographs, etc. William A. Percy, Leon Koury, Mary Buie Museum Oxford MS, John McCrady, Mississippi artists | November 25, 1940 |
36 | Mississippi Historical Society | Origins of the Mississippi Historical Society (MHS): 1858 meeting of Ben Sanders, Joseph Cobb, Livingstone Mimms, JFH Claiborn and others; the task of the MHS was to gather and preserve everything that bore on the history of Mississippi; first members of the Mississippi Historical Commission: SD Lee, Charles B Galloway, Col. JL Power, Dr. Franklin L Riley, Gerard C Brandon, and PK Mayers; “Collapse and Fall of Reconstruction in Mississippi;” | November 14, 1940 |
37 | Letters | Thoughts of Italy, the Isle of Capri, and Africa during Christmas and a time of war in Europe | Oct 4 and Oct 25, 1940; undated |
38 | Uncle Jimmy Townes | Tallahatchie River, Palo Alto Plantation, James Townes (aka Uncle Jimmy), “The Lord of the Loop,” Mississippi planter, CSA cavalry with N. B. Forrest | December 26, 1940 |
39 | Tobacco | Bumper cotton crop in 1931 led to oversupply, falling prices, and price supports; tobacco (aka the “Queen’s Weed”); price supports for cotton in the 1930s mirror price supports for tobacco in colonial America | January 9, 1941 |
40 | Holly Springs | A history of the city with key events and its famous residents: 1878 yellow fever epidemic; E.H. Crump; Rust College, A.M. West; Sherwood Bonner, etc. | January 16, 1941 |
41 | The Boy Who Never Owned a Dog | Youth incarceration, a thought experiment on how to deal with wayward youths | January 23, 1941 |
42 | The Boy Who Never Owned a Dog |
| January 23, 1941 |
43 | WPA and National Defense - draft | WPA’s role in fostering national morale, “State Defense Week,” | January 30, 1941 |
44 | WPA and National Defense – typescript |
| January 30, 1941 |
45 | The Natchez Massacre | 1729 massacre of French settlers by Natchez Indians and their allies, White Apple village, Chopart (French commander of Fort Rosalie), Fort St. Claude | February 6, 1941 |
46 | WPA Libraries - draft | Rural book distribution, Mississippi Library Commission, Point cadet, St. Michael’s Convent, bookmobiles | February 20, 1941 |
47 | WPA Libraries - typescript |
| February 20, 1941 |
48 | Vicksburg | Vicksburg National Military Park, US Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage Club, Theodora Ruggles Kitson, McNutt Home, General JC Pemberton CSA, General US Grant, USA | February 27, 1941 |
49 | Southwestern Books | Early books from the southeast (i.e., Mississippi) United States: The Life and Adventure of Virgil A. Stewart, John Murrell, slave insurrection, Spirit of the Times (author Captain Simon Suggs, con man), Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi River (author George A. Devol), The White Rose of Memphis (author WC Falkner, presumed great grandfather of William Faulkner of Oxford, MS) | March 6, 1941 |
50 | Code Duello | Dueling in Mississippi, Dueling rules standardized 1777, Pistols at Ten Paces (author William Oliver Stevens), Col. Alexander Keith McClung, Annandale Plantation (Madison County, MS), | Undated |
51 | The Old Woodville Road | Road from Natchez to Woodville, MS; US Highway 61; General James Wilkinson; St. Paul Episcopal Church; the “Woodville Republican,” the oldest newspaper in Mississippi; debate on the admission of Louisiana to the union; history of the city | Undated |
52 | The Old Woodville Road – typescript |
| March 27, 1941 |
53 | Jefferson Davis Dickson, Jr. |
| March 20, 1941 |
54 | Jefferson Davis Dickson, Jr. - typescript |
| March 20, 1941 |
55 | Port Gibson | History of the city, John Taylor Moore, Rasin P. Bowie (inventor of the “Bowie Knife”), Herman Blennerhassett, Irwin Russel home, Windsor ruin, rise of cattle industry in the area, | March 25, 1941 |
56 | Southwestern Books (Part II) | Examples of southwestern popular literature from 150 years ago: Georgia Scenes by Augustus B. Longstreet, career of A. B. Longstreet as college president of Emory, Centenary, The University of Mississippi, and South Carolina College, “Ovid Bolus,” Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi by Joseph G Baldwin, Sut Lovingood’s Yarns by George W. Harris, Colonel Prentis Ingraham writer of numerous “dime novels,” e.g., Flunkeyism Flamboyant | April 3, 1941 |
57 | The Mississippi Marriage of Andrew Jackson | Rachel Donelson (wife of Andrew Jackson), accounts of her first marriage to Lewis Robards, their subsequent divorce, and second marriage to Andrew Jackson | April 10, 1941 |
58 | Libraries | Growth of libraries in rural counties of Mississippi, Carnegie Public Libraries in Clarksdale, Vicksburg, and Meridian, Mississippi Library Commission, anecdotes from the Vicksburg Public Library | April 17, 1941 |
59 | Tale of Three Bridges | History of three bridges spanning the Mississippi River: bridges at Vicksburg (opened in 1930), Natchez (1940) and Greenville (1940); James B. Eads (bridge at St. Louis); bridge construction techniques; economic impact of the three bridges | April 24, 1941 |
60 | Lanterns on the Levee | Novelist William Alexander Percy, Senator Leroy Percy, novel of the Mississippi Delta, instructor at Sewanee, Mississippi River flood of 1927, sharecropper system | March 1, 1941 |
61 | Lanterns on the Levee |
| Undated |
62 | The University Greys | Formation and brief history of The University Greys, a company of students from the University of Mississippi: Captain William B. Lowry, “Lamar Rifles,” Eleventh Mississippi regiment, The University Greys by Maud Morrow Brown | May 8, 1941 |
63 | Eliot Mission | The Missionary Association of New England, John Eliot (The Apostle to the Indians), Eliot Mission School (1818 – 1830, Grenada County, MS), Cyrus Kingsbury (headmaster), vocational and religious education of the Choctaws, mission disbanded in 1830 after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit led to the removal of the indian population in Mississippi | May 15, 1941 |
64 | One Hundred Broadcasts | Survey of the first 100 broadcasts; the intent of these broadcast is to dwell on the good things of Mississippi, mention opportunities that have been neglected and conditions that may be improved in an effort to build a happier and more prosperous commonwealth | May 22, 1941 |
65 | Colonel James Gordon | Appointed to the US Senate to fill an unexpired term, formed a cavalry troop termed the “Chickasaw Rangers” during the Civil War, rode with Jeb Stuart and Nathan Bedford Forrest, | June 5, 1941 |
66 | Light | A narrative history of illumination from torches to oil lamps, kerosene, and finally electric lighting | June 12, 1941 |
67 | Light |
| June 19, 1941 |
68 | The 4H Clubs | A history of 4-H Clubs in Mississippi, Dr. Smith, Superintendent of Education, was instrumental in providing educational opportunities to farm children, his nickname “Corn Club Smith” arose out of early efforts to diversify farming by interesting children in growing corn rather than cotton, other clubs followed, e.g., pig clubs, garden clubs, fat stock clubs, etc., | June 26, 1941 |
69 | The 4H Clubs - typescript |
| June 26, 1941 |
70 | The First Mississippi Regiment - typescript | A narrative history of the First Mississippi Regiment from 1798 to 1941. This regiment is one of only two regiments in America that can point to a record of continuous service in all our wars since the Revolution, e.g., War of 1812, Creek Indian War, Mexican War, Spanish-American War, World War I; pamphlet written by M. J. Mulvihill described the history of the regiment. | July 3, 1941 |
71 | The First Mississippi Regiment |
| July 3, 1941 |
72 | Pascagoula | History of the city and efforts in support of the war effort: Legend of Miona and Olustee, legend of the origin of the singing waters, industry in Pascagoula including shipbuilding, Ingalls Shipbuilding Yards, shipbuilding to support “All out for Britain” | July 10, 1941 |
73 | Mississippi Sanatorium | Mississippi Sanatorium for the Prevention and Treatment of Tuberculosis (Simpson County), state and private funding, separate housing for white and black patients, decline in TB deaths from 1900 to 1938 | July 17, 1941 |
74 | Mississippi Sanatorium – typescript |
| July 17, 1941 |
75 | Mississippi Sanatorium |
| July 24, 1941 |
76 | Mississippi State Preventorium - typescript | Facility separates, but on the grounds of, the Mississippi TB Sanatorium, established for the short-term fostering of neglected or “troubled” children ages 4 – 11 years old to improve health and attitude | July 31, 1941 |
77 | Mississippi State Preventorium |
| July 31, 1941 |
78 | Safety on the Highways | Traffic fatalities in USA, “forty million licensed drivers…eight to ten million of whom are supposed to be incompetent,” a plea for safe, sober, considerate driving, linking highway safety with the national defense effort | August 7, 1941 |
79 | Safety on the Highways - typescript |
| August 7, 1941 |
80 | Battle of the Holy City | Holy City of the Creek Nation, massacre at Fort Mims, Creek attacks against white settlers, 5Mississippi Dragoons, Colonel Thomas Hinds, General F. L. Claiborne, Andrew Jackson, Weatherford (Creek chief), Pushmataha (Choctaw chief) | August 14, 1941 |
81 | Battle of the Holy City - typescript |
| August 14, 1941 |
82 | The Hill of Death | Battle of Champion’s Hill, prelude to the fall of Vicksburg, General US Grant, general John Pemberton | August 20, 1941 |
83 | The Hill of Death - typescript |
| August 20, 1941 |
84 | John James Audubon | A short biographical sketch of John James Audubon: Anglo-American artist; paintings of the birds of North America; 1820 visit to Natchez; adopted by Captain Audubon of Nantes, France; Jacques Louis David; Lucy Bakewell (Audubon’s wife); early struggles; English publishers of his avian prints; | August 27, 1941 |
85 | End Matter |
|
|
Box 3
Folder | Folder Title | Description and Subjects | Dates |
1 | Front Matter – Magnolia Sketches – Stories of our home folks with Harris Dickson - 1941 |
|
|
2 | Cotton goes to war (Part II) |
| No date
|
3 | Cotton goes to war (Part III) |
| No date |
4 | Soldier and his uniform |
| No date |
5 | Propaganda | Its use in Nazi Germany | No date |
6 | Radio and the war | Censorship rules | No date |
7 | Correspondence and Forest Service Interview | Censorship of radio broadcasts | May 12, 1942 |
8 | Clinton, Mississippi | History of Clinton, MS; Mt. Dexter and Mt. Salus (former names for Clinton); Mississippi College (est. 1826); Hamstead Academy (former name of Mississippi College); Hillman College (oldest girl’s school in Mississippi); attempt to make Clinton the state capital; Murrell’s slave revolt; Dr. Walter Hillman | September 12, 1941 |
9 | Rosalie Mansion, Natchez, MS | A brief history of Natchez: Rosalie Mansion (Natchez); massacre of French settlers 1729; Peter Little (owner) directs the building of Rosalie Mansion (1823); A.L. Wilson; General W. Q. Gresham; a hose named “Nero” that knew his owner; Natchez during the American Civil War | September 19, 1941 |
10 | Franklin E. Plummer | Pitted East vs West Mississippi (yeoman farmer vs plantation owner); Plummer set himself up as an “attorney at law;” populist politician | September 26, 1941 |
11 | Indian tribes of Mississippi | Choctaw, Chickasaws, Natchez, Biloxis, Pascagoulas, and Choochumas; history of the Choctaw and Chickasaw; Chacta and Chicsa (founding fathers of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes); Indian schools at Eliot and Mayhew; indian government; broken treaty pledges; | October 3, 1941 |
12 | Pushmataha | Brief biography of Pushmataha; Choctaw chief, Rebecca Cravat, Louis LeFleur, Andrew Jackson, Tecumseh | October 10, 1941 |
13 | The Orleans on the Mississippi | Steamboat Orleans, first steamboat on the Mississippi River (1811); Robert Fulton, Chancellor Livingston, Nicholas J. Roosevelt, New Madrid Earthquake | October 31, 1941 |
14 | Jacob Thompson | Mississippi lawyer and politician; earlier settler in Pontotoc, MS; Chickasaw Cession (1837); member of Congress, Secretary of the Interior (Buchanan administration), emissary to “copperhead” movement during the Civil War; Confederate raid at St Albans Vermont | No date |
15 | Jacob Thompson |
| October 24, 1941 |
16 | Mississippi State College | History and current state of Mississippi State College (est. 1878): Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee, first president; Alcorn A&M College; experiment stations and extension service; sport figures; Orange Bowl victory (1941); Dudy Noble; ROTC | October 31, 1941 |
17 | Unnamed – Suggestions for stories |
| No date |
18 | American Guide Series – Preliminary draft | Mississippi State Guide, part of a multi-volume publication featuring each state and US territory ; American Guide Week, November 10 – 16, 1941; Miss Eri Douglass, Mississippi guide editor; a multi-authored publication illustrating life in Mississippi; | No date |
19 | American Guide Series | A program on works by Welty, Faulkner, Percy and others that illustrate the Mississippi way of life | November 7, 1941 |
20 | Wild Life | Status of wildlife in Mississippi; Holt Collier; Mississippi Fish and Game Commission (est. 1932); wildlife conservation; impact of cats on quail populations; “fire-hunters;” | October 14, 1941 |
21 | Brierfield. The plantation home of Jefferson Davis | History of Jefferson Davis: Davis Island; Palmyra Island; Hurricane Plantation; marriage of Jefferson Davis to Sarah Knox Taylor, daughter of Colonel Zachary Taylor; second marriage to Varina Howell; military and public service career; burning and sale of Brierfield Mansion. | November 21, 1941 |
22 | Polio in Mississippi | Description of the polio in Mississippi; number of infected children; causes and treatment; Infantile paralysis; “iron lung;” Crippled Children service; | November 28, 1941 |
23 | Vicksburg | History of the siege of Vicksburg; General John Pemberton CSA; General U. S. Grant USA | No date |
24 | Vicksburg | Civil War siege | December 5, 1941 |
25 | Vicksburg - (typescript) | Civil War siege | December 5, 1941 |
26 | Seargeant S. Prentiss | A biography of S. S. Prentiss (born 1808 Portland, ME – died 1850 Longwood estate): Mississippi orator, teacher, and lawyer; crippled in childhood; elected to Congress (1837); oration entitled “In Defense of the Bed Bug;” | December 12, 1941 |
27 | Food and fighters | The role of good food in national morale and fighting fitness; Brillat-Savarin | December 19, 1941 |
28 | James Z. George | Biography of James Z. George (1826 – 1897): Mississippi lawyer, Civil War soldier, Klan association, US Senator, role in defending the Mississippi Constitution of 1890; “establishment of white supremacy on an enduring and constitutional basis;” Occupation commanders Major General E. O. C. Ord and Major General Alvin C. Gillem; | December 26, 1941 |
29 | James Z. George (typescript) |
| December 26, 1941 |
30 | Mississippi Press | History of the press in Mississippi: The “Father of Mississippi Journalism,” Andrew Marschalk (Mississippi Herald, Natchez, MS); Mississippi Press Association; | January 2, 1942 |
31 | Columbus, Mississippi | History of the city of Columbus, MS; first settlers Thomas Thomas and Spirus Roach; ‘possum town becomes Columbus; Gideon Lincecum founder of Franklin Academy; Mississippi State College for women; Stephen D. Lee first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Starkville; | January 9, 1942 |
32 | Mississippi State College for Women | “Y. Sister,” dining hall rules; lack of fraternities at MSCW; Columbus Female Academy (CFA) established in 1847; CFA becomes “The Industrial Institute and College and then changes its name to Mississippi state College for Women | January 16, 1942 |
33 | The Sullivan-Kilrain Fight, July 1889 | Held in Richburg, MS at a time when prize fighting was illegal in the state; resulted in a 72 round win for John L. Sullivan and the subsequent arrest of both Sullivan and Kilrain | January 23, 1942 |
34 | Planning the use of trucks to meet emergency transport needs | A count of all vehicles in the state for potential use during WWII and natural disasters; | October 27, 1941 |
35 | Trucks and bus inventory | Born in Georgia, attended Emory College (1841 – 1845), studied law in Macon, GA, married Virginia Lafayette Longstreet (1847), licensed to practice law and became a professor of mathematics at the State University at Oxford, MS (1850), elected to US Congress (1857), instrumental in secession, brief service in the army followed by longer service in the diplomatic corps, returned to Congress after the Civil War where he became known as the “great pacificator,” eulogy on Charles Sumner, elected to the US Senate (1877), Secretary of the Interior under President Cleveland, associate justice of the US Supreme Court, died 1893 in Macon, GA, buried in St. Peter’s churchyard Oxford, MS | January 30, 1942 |
36 | L.Q.C. Lamar | “Y. Sister,” dining hall rules; lack of fraternities at MSCW; Columbus Female Academy (CFA) established in 1847; CFA becomes “The Industrial Institute and College and then changes its name to Mississippi state College for Women | February 6, 1942 |
37 | Greenville, Mississippi | A narrative history of Greenville, the “Queen City of the Delta,” Starling Collection, Col. W. A. Percy the “Grey Eagle of the Delta,” Leroy Percy US senator, “Young Will,” W. A. Percy. | February 13, 1942 |
38 | Spirit of Mississippi | Mississippi volunteers during WWI and WWII, reasons for enlisting, Seventh Field Artillery, battle of Cantigny, “The Mississippian believes his government to be created to provide an orderly method for him to live and labor as may please him so long as he does not violate the same right of other men.” | February 20, 1942 |
39 | Soldier Recreation | City visits by soldiers stationed in Mississippi, opening of civilian homes to troops stationed in Mississippi; attempts to maintain the morale of soldiers | February 27, 1942 |
40 | Mississippi School for the Deaf | Narrative history of the MS School for the Deaf, Governor James Whitfield proposes a Deaf Asylum (1852), Dr. J. C. Carter first principal of the School for the Deaf. | March 6, 1942 |
41 | Two Pontotoc girls and the Capitol | Two unnamed girls from Pontotoc serves as hostesses at the White House during the administration of James Buchanan, Miss Harriet Lane, Dr. William M. Gwin, commentary on White House social events, | March 13, 1942 |
42 | Censorship | Justification of wartime censorship, reasons for censorship. | March 20, 1942 |
43 | War comes to Mr. Citizen (Part I) | Recycling and conservation as ways to help the war effort, recycling and conservation and their impact on daily American life | March 27, 1942 |
44 | War comes to Mr. Citizen (Part II) | This broadcast marks a change in tone as stories have this point relate to the ongoing war: potential threat of Japanese in the USA, impact or rationing and scarcity on American lives | April 3, 1942 |
45 | Waste | Elimination of waste as a way to help the war effort, tung oil trees, preparation for war, optimism for a return to civilian life | April 10, 1942 |
46 | Wake Up! | “Victory” magazine, wartime regulations, war effort, civilian impact, a call to arms | April 17, 1942 |
47 | Building up the fighters | Two unnamed girls from Pontotoc serves as hostesses at the White House during the administration of James Buchanan, Miss Harriet Lane, Dr. William M. Gwin, commentary on White House social events, | April 24, 1942 |
48 | Salvage | The War Production Board, Mississippi Salvage for Victory Committee, Q. Edward Gatlin, “Salvage for Victory” program, efforts to collect discarded iron and rubber for the war effort | May 1, 1942 |
49 | Jackson Salvage (handwritten manuscript) | Fall of Corregidor, scrap metal into war equipment, state Insane Asylum, Recycling efforts in Jackson | No date |
50 | Jackson Salvage |
| No date |
51 | Cotton goes to war | 250 pounds of cotton was required to quip a soldier, development of the “share-cropper system,” “crop and credit system,” National Cotton Council, role of cotton in World War II | May 15, 1942 |
52 | End Matter |
|
|
Box 4
Folder | Folder Title | Description and Subjects | Dates |
1 | Front Matter – Stories of Our Home Folks |
|
|
2 | Four Biographies | Biographies of William Stamps Farrish, John Lanning Beven, Robert Virgil Fletcher, Blanche Colton Williams; Brown Farrish Oil Company, Humble Oil Company, Illinois Central Railroad, General Counsel for the United States Railroad Administration, Chair of English – Hunter College, New York | April 25, 1939 |
3 | Bloodhounds | Bob Gant, tracking dogs | May 5, 1939 |
4 | Two Biographies | Biographies of L. O. Crosby and Lamont Rowlands; timber industry, wood mills, tung oil, civic-minded industrialists | May 12, 1939 |
5 | David Atwood | Atwood Gin, Self-taught naturalist, turkeys | May 19, 1939 |
6 | Our wonderful delta | Natural history of the Mississippi Delta | May 26, 1939 |
7 | Natchez | A narrative history; Walter Burling, introduction of Mexican cotton to Mississippi, Sir William Dunbar, Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company | June 2, 1939 |
8 | The slave girl and Jefferson Davis | Sarah Knox Taylor, Varina Howell | June 9, 1939 |
9 | Greenwood Leflore | Rebecca Cravat, Pushmataha, Lewis LaFleur, Chief of the Choctaw Nation, Treaty of Doak’s Stand, Malmaison, Civil War, | June 16, 1939 |
10 | Gail Borden, the boy that borrowed a cow | Condensed milk industry, “Gail Borden Eagle Brand” condensed milk, cattle farming in Mississippi | June 23, 1939 |
11 | Holt Collier | Colonel Howell Hinds, African American Confederate soldier, bear hunter, President Theodore Roosevelt | June 30, 1939 |
12 | Bear Stories | Theodore Roosevelt’s bear hunt, camp stories | July 7, 1939 |
13 | CCC camps | Camp Four – Vicksburg National Military Park, camp life, job training | July 14, 1939 |
14 | The tale of two fighting dukes | William M. Gwin, Emperor Maxmilian of Mexico, Isham G. Harris, fugitive dukes become US senators | July 21, 1939 |
15 | Hanging the gamblers at Vicksburg | Frank Cabler, W.J. North, Dr. Hugh S. Bodley | July 28, 1939 |
16 | The Natchez Trace
| A narrative history; John A. Murrell, John Swaney, Natchez Trace Parkway | August 4, 1939 |
17 | The dread of Yellow Jack | Yellow Fever, Dry Grove - Hinds County epidemic, quarantine, Walter Reed, Vicksburg | August 11, 1939 |
18 | Cotton | Cotton farming | August 18, 1939 |
19 | Aaron Burr in Mississippi | General James Wilkinson, treason, Cowles Mead, Madeleine Price, Joseph Thompson Hare | August 25, 1939 |
20 | Cotton (boll weevil) | “Pegging the price,” boom-and-bust cycles in cotton production, | September 1, 1939 |
21 | War Correspondent | World War II, Collier’s Weekly, World War I, Admiral Pickett Magruder, | September 8, 1939 |
22 | The Battlefield at Vicksburg | Civil War, General E.O.C. Ord, Mary Ann Smythe, Captain Isaac Guion, various anecdotes | September 16, 1939 |
23 | Homicide in Mississippi | Homicide rate, violence in Mississippi, Mississippi vs national murder rate | September 23, 1939 |
24 | River Life, Flatboat Era | Commerce on the Mississippi River, Mike Fink, Captain Flug, “Kentucky Manifesto,” | September 30, 1939 |
25 | Negro Stories | Several anecdotes | October 9, 1939 |
26 | Packets | Edward Livingstone, Nicholas Roosevelt, steamship “Orleans,” Henry M. Shreve, steamship “George Washington,” river commerce | October 16, 1939 |
27 | Shanty boats and Shaggy Bill | Boat people | October 23, 1939 |
28 | River Life, Barges | General T. Q. Ashburn, Inland Waterways Corporation, barge lines, barge capacity vs railcar capacity, | October 30, 1939 |
29 | Lamar Fontaine and the Rattlesnakes | Confederate scout, pet snake hated Yankees and the color blue | November 6, 1939 |
30 | The Mississippi Writers’ Project | Project director Eri Douglass, Mississippi encyclopedia and biographies, Mississippi Recreation Booklet, | November 13, 1939 |
31 | Tire factory, Natchez | Anecdote about the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad, Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company, | November 20, 1939 |
32 | The Guinea and Bully Boy | Gamecock vs guinea fowl | November 27, 1939 |
33 | Lamar Fontaine and the percussion caps | Confederate scout, delivery of percussion caps to Confederate forces, siege of Vicksburg | December 4, 1939 |
34 | The WPA and Oil in Mississippi | Works Progress Administration, Sallie H. Gwin, Ethel Payne, search for clay led to discovery of oil, Woodruff Discovery Well No. 1 – Yazoo County | December 11, 1939 |
35 | John Sharp Williams | Cedar Grove plantation, US Senator, “…you can’t get real downright sociable on creek water,” | December 18, 1939 |
36 | Christmas Broadcast (A story) | Christmas in Mississippi, comments about a world nearly at war, World War II | December 25, 1939 |
37 | Andrew Jackson | Battle of New Orleans, Battalion D’Orleans, Free Men of Color, Mississippi Dragoons, Colonel Hinds, Jean Lafitte | January 8, 1940 |
38 | “Ole Miss” and the DKEs | Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE), “University Greys,” Civil War, 11th Mississippi, fraternities at Ole Miss, Anti-Frat law 1912, | January 15, 1940 |
39 | Experiment Station | American (U. S.) Department of Agriculture, Delta Experiment Station at Stoneville, Mississippi, boll weevil, new cotton varieties | January 25, 1940 |
40 | Negro stories | Anecdotes, a view of race relations in Mississippi | February 1, 1940 |
41 | The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit | Comparison of events in 1940-era Europe to Mississippi in the early 1800’s, seizure of Choctaw land, Doak’s Stand, Pushmataha, Greenwood Leflore, Little Leader, | February 8, 1940 |
42 | The Kitson Bronzes | Henry H Kitson, Theodora Ruggles Kitson, bronze statues at Vicksburg Military Park, Massachusetts Volunteer statue, Iowa Memorial, General Stephen D. Lee | February 15, 1940 |
43 | George Washington | Elias Boudinot, President of the United States in Congress assembled, founding of Washington City, Major L’Enfant | February 22, 1940 |
44 | Radio Programs | The challenge of producing and delivering an educational and entertaining radio program, call for suggestions for future broadcasts | February 29, 1940 |
45 | John A. Murrell | Criminal chief, slave running, horse stealing, Virgil A. Stewart, slave uprising | March 7, 1940 |
46 | John Sharp Williams (boyhood) | Col. Christopher Harris Williams, CSA, Grandmother Williams, early childhood | March 14, 1940 |
47 | Beauvoir | Post-Civil War life of Jefferson Davis, move to and purchase of Beauvoir, Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey | March 21, 1940 |
48 | Edward Cary Walthall | Holly Springs, MS, 15th Mississippi regiment, 29th Mississippi regiment, Civil War, US senator, reconstruction, | March 28, 1940 |
49 | De Ducks (Diversification) | “deducks” slang for “deductions” referring to charges for items purchased, a push for self-reliance in food and manufactured goods | April 4, 1940 |
50 | Rover (A Yarn) | John Varnado, Miss Cricket, | April 11, 1940 |
51 | The original Ku Klux Klan | founded 1866 as “KuKlos Klan in Pulaski, TN, Nathan Bedford Forrest, J. Z. George, terror tactics, original Klan disbanded 1869 | April 18, 1940 |
52 | Cottonseed | Cotton lint pays the landowner for the tenant farmer’s rent and rations, but the cotton seed belongs to the tenant farmer, cotton seed oil, gossypol (toxin in cotton seed), Crystal Spring tomatoes, Water Valley watermelons, Mississippi products | April 25, 1940 |
53 | De Soto | Hernando De Soto, Tampa Bay, expedition beginning in Florida and winding through several southeastern states, | May 2, 1940 |
54 | Mechanical cotton pickers | Early inventions, challenges of harvesting cotton mechanically, Negro tenants, | May 9, 1940 |
55 | Mississippi Tourists | Mississippi tourist industry, State Advertising Commission, state attractions, Vicksburg Military Park, Natchez Pilgrimage tour, Natchez Trace Parkway | May 16, 1940 |
56 | Work Projects Administration | Infrastructure projects, Bob Andrews, Delta Art Center in Greenville, MS, Herbert Halpert, Mississippi Writers Project, Encyclopedia of Mississippi, Frederic F. Mellen, WPA Forest and Park Survey, Housekeeping Aide Project, | May 23, 1040 |
57 | Tomato Festival | Crystal Springs Tomato Festival, Nat Piazza, tomato shipments, Tomato Capital of the World | May 30, 1940 |
58 | The Highway Cop | Highway fatalities, first Mississippi driver’s licenses, Mississippi Highway Patrol | June 6, 1940 |
59 | Key Pittman | Mississippi born US Senator from Nevada, Klondyke Gold Rush, Nome AK, “Silver Senators,” | June 13, 1940 |
60 | Folklore | Major Lamar Fontaine, Private John Allen, John Sharp Williams, Judge Wiley P. Harris, “The Constable’s Circus,” a tall tale | June 20, 1940 |
61 | Dairying | Johnny Appleseed, Colonel R. W. Montgomery, import of Jersey cattle, A. & M. Golden Butter, Mississippi condenseries and creameries, cattle dipping tanks, cattle tick control, | July 4, 1940 |
62 | Dorothy Dix | Elizabeth Merriweather (pen name Dorothy Dix), Mrs. E. J. Nicholson (pen name Pearl Rivers) owner of the New Orleans Picayune, “Dorothy Dix Talks” responses to readers’ letters, syndicated advice columnist | July 11, 1940 |
63 | Watermelon Festival | Water Valley Watermelon Festival, Mississippi cheese production, | August 1, 1940 |
64 | Nursery School | Vicksburg, Old Rock House, Alice Rose Fried, WPA supported nursery schools provide for poor and neglected children, childrens’ health and well-being | July 25, 1940 |
65 | Levees | History of Mississippi River levees, Monsieur l’Avocat Dieu-donne, Le Blond de la Tour, “post roads clause,” Mississippi River Commission, Bonnet Carre, Impact on the Mississippi Delta region, Flood of 1927 | August 8, 1940 |
66 | Irwin Russell | Port Gibson, MS; poet, dialect Negro poems, “Christmas Night in the Quarters,” “Nebuchadnezzar,” John Chandler Harris (Uncle Remus) | August 15, 1940 |
67 | The gypsum plant at Greenville | United States Gypsum Company, cottonwood trees, development of the building materials industry | August 29, 1940 |
68 | Oscar Johnston | Lawyer, planter, economist, civic leader, Scott cotton seed, National Cotton Council, Mississippi Delta |
|
69 | The E. C. Johnston Oil Refinery | First oil refinery in Mississippi, Vicksburg MS, new industries in Mississippi: tire plant, tung oil, cattle, tomatoes, gypsum plant | September 5, 1940 |
70 | LaFleur’s Bluff | Describes the history behind the choice of the state capitol, Mississippi Territory, Constitutional Convention of 1817, early state capitol locations: Natchez, Woodville, Columbia, Monticello, LeFleur’s Bluff chosen (1820) because of its central location, Rebecca Cravat, Greenwood Leflore, Constitutional Convention of 1838, second capitol complete 1839, Reconstruction, 3rd (new) capitol completed 1903 | September 12, 1940 |
71 | The Hall of Fame | Collection of portraits of famous Mississippians, e.g., LQC Lamar, Jefferson Davis, General EC Walthall, General SD Lee, Senator Leroy Percy, John Sharp Williams, Charles B Galloway, Sol Calhoun, and others, ending the policy of leasing convicts for private labor by Governor Vardaman, | September 26, 1940 |
72 | End Matter |
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Box 5
Folder | Folder Title | Description and Subjects | Dates |
1 | Front Matter: Volume II, Series VII through IX |
|
|
2 | Mississippi State Fair | A history of fairs in England and the USA, 1840 State Agricultural Convention, 1840 State Fairgrounds established in Jackson, | October 3, 1940 |
3 | Garfish Rodeo | Eagle Lake garfish rodeo, | October 10, 1940 |
4 | Tourist Camps | Tourist courts, roadside accommodations, US highway 80, | December 5, 1940 |
5 | State Department of Archives and History | William D McCain, director; 1902 Department of Archives and History established; description of duties | October 24, 1940 |
6 | A War Correspondent’s Reminiscences | Harris Dickson’s experience as a war correspondent in World War I, Collier’s Weekly, Major Fredrick Palmer, reflections on World War II | November 7, 1040 |
7 | Mississippi Caviare | Spoonbill catfish roe, sturgeon caviar, Platt Fisheries, | December 19, 1940 |
8 | Mississippi Arts and Artists (Part I) | Examples of starving artists: Corot, Millet, Edward Fitz-Gerald; President Roosevelt proclaims National Art Week, November 25 – December 1, 1940; Thurs de Thulstrup; Henry Kitson; Mississippi artists: Karl Wolfe; William Hollingsworth; Joseph Barras; Leon Koury; W.A. Percy; Shearwater Pottery Center and others; Mary Buie Museum Oxford, MS; Eastman Memorial Laurel MS | November 14, 1940 |
9 | Mississippi Art and Artists (Part II) | National Art Week to promote the sales of American craftsmen to American buyers; John McCrady; parable of the brass andirons; Municipal Art Center Jackson MS; Marie Hull; Murillo’s “The Immaculate Conception;” | November 21, 1940 |
10 | Mississippi Art and Artists (Part 3: National Art Week) | Delta Art Center Greenville MS repository of paintings (by May Wilson McBee, K. W. Ball and others), leather work, weavings, sculpture, photographs, etc. William A. Percy, Leon Koury, Mary Buie Museum Oxford MS, John McCrady, Mississippi artists, | November 28, 1940 |
11 | Mississippi Historical Society | Origins of the Mississippi Historical Society (MHS): 1858 meeting of Ben Sanders, Joseph Cobb, Livingstone Mimms, JFH Claiborn and others; the task of the MHS was to gather and preserve everything that bore on the history of Mississippi; first members of the Mississippi Historical Commission: SD Lee, Charles B Galloway, Col. JL Power, Dr. Franklin L Riley, Gerard C Brandon, and PK Mayers; “Collapse and Fall of Reconstruction in Mississippi;” | December 12, 1940 |
12 | Reminiscences of a Traveler | Thoughts of Italy, the Isle of Capri, and Africa during Christmas and a time of war in Europe | December 26, 1940 |
13 | Uncle Jimmy Townes | Tallahatchie River, Palo Alto Plantation, James Townes (aka Uncle Jimmy), “The Lord of the Loop,” Mississippi planter, CSA cavalry with N. B. Forrest | January 2, 1941 |
14 | Tobacco | Bumper cotton crop in 1931 led to oversupply, falling prices, and price supports; tobacco (aka the “Queen’s Weed”); price supports for cotton in the 1930s mirror price supports for tobacco in colonial America | January 9, 1941 |
15 | Holly Springs | A history of the city with key events and its famous residents: 1878 yellow fever epidemic; E.H. Crump; Rust College, A.M. West; Sherwood Bonner, etc. | January 16, 1941 |
16 | The boy who never owned a dog | Youth incarceration, a thought experiment on how to deal with wayward youths | January 23, 1941 |
17 | WPA and National Defense | WPA’s role in fostering national morale, “State Defense Week,” | January 30, 1941 |
18 | The Natchez Massacre | 1729 massacre of French settlers by Natchez Indians and their allies, White Apple village, Chopart (French commander of Fort Rosalie), Fort St. Claude | February 6, 1941 |
19 | WPA Libraries | Rural book distribution, Mississippi Library Commission, Point cadet, St. Michael’s Convent, bookmobiles | February 20, 1941 |
20 | Vicksburg | Vicksburg National Military Park, US Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage Club, Theodora Ruggles Kitson, McNutt Home, General JC Pemberton CSA, General US Grant, USA
| February 27, 1941 |
21 | Southwestern Books (Part I) | Early books from the southeast (i.e., Mississippi) United States: The Life and Adventure of Virgil A. Stewart, John Murrell, slave insurrection, Spirit of the Times (author Captain Simon Suggs, con man), Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi River (author George A. Devol), The White Rose of Memphis (author WC Falkner, presumed great grandfather of William Faulkner of Oxford, MS) | March 6, 1941 |
22 | Code Duello | Duelling in Mississippi, Duelling rules standardized 1777, Pistols at Ten Paces (author William Oliver Stevens), Col. Alexander Keith McClung, Annandale Plantation (Madison County, MS), | March 13, 1941 |
23 | The Old Woodville Road | Road from Natchez to Woodville, MS; US Highway 61; General James Wilkinson; St. Paul Episcopal Church; the “Woodville Republican,” the oldest newspaper in Mississippi; debate on the admission of Louisiana to the union; history of the city | March 27, 1941 |
24 | Port Gibson | History of the city, John Taylor Moore, Rasin P. Bowie (inventor of the “Bowie Knife”), Herman Blennerhassett, Irwin Russel home, Windsor ruin, rise of cattle industry in the area, | March 20, 1941 |
25 | Southwestern Books (Part II) | Examples of southwestern popular literature from 150 years ago: Georgia Scenes by Augustus B. Longstreet, career of A. B. Longstreet as college president of Emory, Centenary, The University of Mississippi, and South Carolina College, “Ovid Bolus,” Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi by Joseph G Baldwin, Sut Lovingood’s Yarns by George W. Harris, Colonel Prentis Ingraham writer of numerous “dime novels,” e.g., Flunkeyism Flamboyant | April 3, 1941 |
26 | The Mississippi Marriage of Andrew Jackson | Rachel Donelson (wife of Andrew Jackson), accounts of her first marriage to Lewis Robards, their subsequent divorce, and second marriage to Andrew Jackson | April 10, 1941 |
27 | Libraries | Growth of libraries in rural counties of Mississippi, Carnegie Public Libraries in Clarksdale, Vicksburg, and Meridian, Mississippi Library Commission, anecdotes from the Vicksburg Public Library | April 17, 1941 |
28 | Tale of Three Bridges | History of three bridges spanning the Mississippi River: bridges at Vicksburg (opened in 1930), Natchez (1940) and Greenville (1940); James B. Eads (bridge at St. Louis); bridge construction techniques; economic impact of the three bridges | April 24, 1941 |
29 | Lanterns on the Levee | Novelist William Alexander Percy, Senator Leroy Percy, novel of the Mississippi Delta, instructor at Sewanee, Mississippi River flood of 1927, sharecropper system | May 1, 1941 |
30 | The University Greys | Formation and brief history of The University Greys, a company of students from the University of Mississippi: Captain William B. Lowry, “Lamar Rifles,” Eleventh Mississippi regiment, The University Greys by Maud Morrow Brown | May 8, 1941 |
31 | Eliot Mission | The Missionary Association of New England, John Eliot (The Apostle to the Indians), Eliot Mission School (1818 – 1830, Grenada County, MS), Cyrus Kingsbury (headmaster), vocational and religious education of the Choctaws, mission disbanded in 1830 after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit led to the removal of the indian population in Mississippi | May 15, 1941 |
32 | One hundred broadcasts | Survey of the first 100 broadcasts; the intent of these broadcast is to dwell on the good things of Mississippi, mention opportunities that have been neglected and conditions that may be improved in an effort to build a happier and more prosperous commonwealth | May 22, 1941 |
33 | Cave Life in Vicksburg | A description of cave life in Vicksburg during the siege during the American Civil War, My Cave Life in Vicksburg by Mrs. James M. Loughborough | May 29, 1941 |
34 | Colonel James Gordon | Appointed to the US Senate to fill an unexpired term, formed a cavalry troop termed the “Chickasaw Rangers” during the Civil War, rode with Jeb Stuart and Nathan Bedford Forrest, | June 12, 1941 |
35 | Light | A narrative history of illumination from torches, to oil lamps, kerosene, and finally electric lighting | June 19, 1941 |
36 | 4-H Clubs | A history of 4-H Clubs in Mississippi, Dr. Smith, Superintendent of Education, was instrumental in providing educational opportunities to farm children, his nickname “Corn Club Smith” arose out of early efforts to diversify farming by interesting children in growing corn rather than cotton, other clubs followed, e.g., pig clubs, garden clubs, fat stock clubs, etc., | June 26, 1941 |
37 | The First Mississippi Regiment | A narrative history of the First Mississippi Regiment from 1798 to 1941. This regiment is one of only two regiments in America that can point to a record of continuous service in all our wars since the Revolution, e.g., War of 1812, Creek Indian War, Mexican War, Spanish-American War, World War I; pamphlet written by M. J. Mulvihill described the history of the regiment. | July 3, 1941 |
38 | Pascagoula | History of the city and efforts in support of the war effort: Legend of Miona and Olustee, legend of the origin of the singing waters, industry in Pascagoula including shipbuilding, Ingalls Shipbuilding Yards, shipbuilding to support “All out for Britain” | July 17, 1941 |
39 | Mississippi Sanatorium | Mississippi Sanatorium for the Prevention and Treatment of Tuberculosis (Simpson County), state and private funding, separate housing for white and black patients, decline in TB deaths from 1900 to 1938 | July 24, 1941 |
40 | Mississippi State Preventorium | Facility separate, but on the grounds of, the Mississippi TB Sanatorium, established for the short-term fostering of neglected or “troubled” children ages 4 – 11 years old to improve health and attitude | July 31, 1941 |
41 | Safety on the Highway | Traffic fatalities in USA, “forty million licensed drivers…eight to ten million of whom are supposed to be incompetent,” a plea for safe, sober, considerate driving, linking highway safety with the national defense effort | August 7, 1941 |
42 | Battle of the Holy City | Holy City of the Creek Nation, massacre at Fort Mims, Creek attacks against white settlers, 5Mississippi Dragoons, Colonel Thomas Hinds, General F. L. Claiborne, Andrew Jackson, Weatherford (Creek chief), Pushmataha (Choctaw chief) | 43 |
43 | The Hill of Death | Battle of Champion’s Hill, prelude to the fall of Vicksburg, General US Grant, general John Pemberton | August 20, 1941 |
44 | John James Audubon | A short biographical sketch of John James Audubon: Anglo-American artist; paintings of the birds of North America; 1820 visit to Natchez; adopted by Captain Audubon of Nantes, France; Jacques Louis David; Lucy Bakewell (Audubon’s wife); early struggles; English publishers of his avian prints; | August 27, 1941 |
45 | End Matter |
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Box 6
Folder | Folder Title | Description and Subjects | Dates |
1 | Front Matter : Volume III, Series X, Radio Broadcasts by Harris Dickson |
|
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2 | Clinton | History of Clinton, MS; Mt. Dexter and Mt. Salus (former names for Clinton); Mississippi College (est. 1826); Hamstead Academy (former name of Mississippi College); Hillman College (oldest girl’s school in Mississippi); attempt to make Clinton the state capital; Murrell’s slave revolt; Dr. Walter Hillman | September 12, 1941 |
3 | Rosalie | A brief history of Natchez: Rosalie Mansion (Natchez); massacre of French settlers 1729; Peter Little (owner) directs the building of Rosalie Mansion (1823); A.L. Wilson; General W. Q. Gresham; a hose named “Nero” that knew his owner; Natchez during the American Civil War | September 19, 1941 |
4 | Franklin E. Plummer | Pitted East vs West Mississippi (yeoman farmer vs plantation owner); Plummer set himself up as an “attorney at law;” populist politician | September 26, 1941 |
5 | Indian tribes of Mississippi | Choctaw, Chickasaws, Natchez, Biloxis, Pascagoulas, and Choochumas; history of the Choctaw and Chickasaw; Chacta and Chicsa (founding fathers of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes); Indian schools at Eliot and Mayhew; indian government; broken treaty pledges; | October 3, 1941 |
6 | Pushmataha | Brief biography of Pushmataha; Choctaw chief, Rebecca Cravat, Louis LeFleur, Andrew Jackson, Tecumseh | October 10, 1941 |
7 | The Orleans on the Mississippi | Steamboat Orleans, first steamboat on the Mississippi River (1811); Robert Fulton, Chancellor Livingston, Nicholas J. Roosevelt, New Madrid Earthquake | October 17, 1941 |
8 | Jacob Thompson | Mississippi lawyer and politician; earlier settler in Pontotoc, MS; Chickasaw Cession (1837); member of Congress, Secretary of the Interior (Buchanan administration), emissary to “copperhead” movement during the Civil War; Confederate raid at St Albans Vermont | October 24, 1941 |
9 | Mississippi State College | History and current state of Mississippi State College (est. 1878): Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee, first president; Alcorn A&M College; experiment stations and extension service; sport figures; Orange Bowl victory (1941); Dudy Noble; ROTC | October 31, 1941 |
10 | American Guide Series | Mississippi State Guide, part of a multi-volume publication featuring each state and US territory ; American Guide Week, November 10 – 16, 1941; Miss Eri Douglass, Mississippi guide editor; a multi-authored publication illustrating life in Mississippi; | November 7, 1941 |
11 | Wildlife | Status of wildlife in Mississippi; Holt Collier; Mississippi Fish and Game Commission (est. 1932); wildlife conservation; impact of cats on quail populations; “fire-hunters;” | November 14, 1941 |
12 | Brierfield, The Plantation Home of Jefferson Davis | History of Jefferson Davis: Davis Island; Palmyra Island; Hurricane Plantation; marriage of Jefferson Davis to Sarah Knox Taylor, daughter of Colonel Zachary Taylor; second marriage to Varina Howell; military and public service career; burning and sale of Brierfield Mansion. | November 21, 1941 |
13 | Polio | Description of the polio in Mississippi; number of infected children; causes and treatment; Infantile paralysis; “iron lung;” Crippled Children service; | November 25, 1941 |
14 | Vicksburg | History of the siege of Vicksburg; General John Pemberton CSA; General U. S. Grant USA | December 5, 1941 |
15 | Seargent S. Prentiss | A biography of S. S. Prentiss (born 1808 Portland, ME – died 1850 Longwood estate): Mississippi orator, teacher, and lawyer; crippled in childhood; elected to Congress (1837); oration entitled “In Defense of the Bed Bug;” | December 12, 1941 |
16 | Food and Fighters | The role of good food in national morale and fighting fitness; Brillat-Savarin | December 19, 1941 |
17 | James Z. George | Biography of James Z. George (1826 – 1897): Mississippi lawyer, Civil War soldier, Klan association, US Senator, role in defending the Mississippi Constitution of 1890; “establishment of white supremacy on an enduring and constitutional basis;” Occupation commanders Major General E. O. C. Ord and Major General Alvin C. Gillem; | December 26, 1941 |
18 | Mississippi Press | History of the press in Mississippi: The “Father of Mississippi Journalism,” Andrew Marschalk (Mississippi Herald, Natchez, MS); Mississippi Press Association; | January 2, 1942 |
19 | Columbus | History of the city of Columbus, MS; first settlers Thomas Thomas and Spirus Roach; ‘possum town becomes Columbus; Gideon Lincecum founder of Franklin Academy; Mississippi State College for women; Stephen D. Lee first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Starkville; | January 9, 1942 |
20 | Mississippi College for Women (MSCW) | “Y. Sister,” dining hall rules; lack of fraternities at MSCW; Columbus Female Academy (CFA) established in 1847; CFA becomes “The Industrial Institute and College and then changes its name to Mississippi state College for Women | January 16, 1942 |
21 | The Sullivan-Kilrain Fight, July 1889 | Held in Richburg, MS at a time when prize fighting was illegal in the state; resulted in a 72 round win for John L. Sullivan and the subsequent arrest of both Sullivan and Kilrain | January 23, 1942 |
22 | Truck and Bus Inventory | A count of all vehicles in the state for potential use during WWII and natural disasters; | January 30, 1942 |
23 | L.Q.C. Lamar | Born in Georgia, attended Emory College (1841 – 1845), studied law in Macon, GA, married Virginia Lafayette Longstreet (1847), licensed to practice law and became a professor of mathematics at the State University at Oxford, MS (1850), elected to US Congress (1857), instrumental in secession, brief service in the army followed by longer service in the diplomatic corps, returned to Congress after the Civil War where he became known as the “great pacificator,” eulogy on Charles Sumner, elected to the US Senate (1877), Secretary of the Interior under President Cleveland, associate justice of the US Supreme Court, died 1893 in Macon, GA, buried in St. Peter’s churchyard Oxford, MS | February 6, 1942 |
24 | Greenville | A narrative history of Greenville, the “Queen City of the Delta,” Starling Collection, Col. W. A. Percy the “Grey Eagle of the Delta,” Leroy Percy US senator, “Young Will,” W. A. Percy. | February 13, 1942 |
25 | Spirit of Mississippi | Mississippi volunteers during WWI and WWII, reasons for enlisting, Seventh Field Artillery, battle of Cantigny, “The Mississippian believes his government to be created to provide an orderly method for him to live and labor as may please him so long as he does not violate the same right of other men.” | February 20, 1941 |
26 | Soldier Recreation | City visits by soldiers stationed in Mississippi, opening of civilian homes to troops stationed in Mississippi; attempts to maintain the morale of soldiers | February 27, 1942 |
27 | Mississippi School for the Deaf | Narrative history of the MS School for the Deaf, Governor James Whitfield proposes a Deaf Asylum (1852), Dr. J. C. Carter first principal of the School for the Deaf. | March 6, 1942 |
28 | Two Pontotoc Girls at the Capital | Two unnamed girls from Pontotoc serves as hostesses at the White House during the administration of James Buchanan, Miss Harriet Lane, Dr. William M. Gwin, commentary on White House social events, | March 13, 1942 |
29 | Censorship | Justification of wartime censorship, reasons for censorship. | March 20, 1942 |
30 | War Comes to Mr. Citizen6 | Recycling and conservation as ways to help the war effort, recycling and conservation and their impact on daily American life | March 27, 1942 |
31 | War Comes to Mr. Citizen (No. II) | This broadcast marks a change in tone as stories have this point relate to the ongoing war: potential threat of Japanese in the USA, impact or rationing and scarcity on American lives | April 3, 1942 |
32 | Waste | Elimination of waste as a way to help the war effort, tung oil trees, preparation for war, optimism for a return to civilian life | April 10, 1942 |
33 | Wake Up! | “Victory” magazine, wartime regulations, war effort, civilian impact, a call to arms | April 17, 1942 |
34 | Building up the Fighters | Increasing the quantity and quality of American troops, “men without number and money without stint,” military recruiters, qualifications for military service, WPA campaign against illiteracy, “occupation census,” volunteer service vs selective draft | April 24, 1942 |
35 | Salvage | The War Production Board, Mississippi Salvage for Victory Committee, Q. Edward Gatlin, “Salvage for Victory” program, efforts to collect discarded iron and rubber for the war effort | May 1, 1942 |
36 | Jackson Salvage | Fall of Corregidor, scrap metal into war equipment, state Insane Asylum, Recycling efforts in Jackson | May 8, 1942 |
37 | Cotton goes to war | 250 pounds of cotton was required to quip a soldier, development of the “share-cropper system,” “crop and credit system,” National Cotton Council, role of cotton in World War II | May 15, 1942 |
38 | End Matter |
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