Oral history with Barry Davis Jim

              Oral history with Barry Davis Jim
F341.5 . M57 vol. 727
Funding for this project provided by The Mississippi State Legislature, The Mississippi Humanities Council, The Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern Mississippi.
This transcription of an oral history by the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage of The University of Southern Mississippi may not be reproduced or published in any form except that quotation of short excerpts of unrestricted transcripts and the associated tape recordings is permissible providing written consent is obtained from the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. When literary rights have been retained by the interviewee, written permission to use the material must be obtained from both the interviewee and the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. Please call ( 601) 266- 4574 for more information.
Biography
Barry Davis Jim, Sr., was born Philadelphia Indian Hospital and grew up on the Pearl River Indian Reservation. He attended Pearl River Elementary Day School, which became Choctaw Central High School. He graduated from Choctaw Central in 1969. Jim, a promising athlete, was the first Choctaw to be awarded a football scholarship at East Central Junior College ( now East Central Community College) but was prevented from playing because of a knee injury. He attended Meridian Junior College and Mississippi State University, where he made the dean's list. He graduated from MSU with a degree in physical education and recreation and a minor in driver's education. He has continued his studies and, at the time of this interview, was working toward a master's degree in educational administration.
For several years, Jim coached at Choctaw Central High School. He worked one year at a public school in Elton, Louisiana, then returned to the Pearl River Indian Reservation as recreation director. In this position, he oversees all the recreational activities of the seven components that make up the Choctaw community of Mississippi: Pearl River, Tucker, Bogue Chitto, Standing Pine, Red Water, Conehatta, and Bogue Homa.
Table of Contents
I. Education
II. Work experience
III. Segregation in Philadelphia ( Mississippi) public schools; the civil rights movement and the Choctaw
IV. Race relations during Jim's youth; murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodwin, and Michael Schwerner ( 1964)
V. Ku Klux Klan
VI. Bombing of the Choctaw Mennonite Baptist Church ( 1964)
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