Oral history.; Mr. Augustus (Gus) Ashby Sr. was born in 1924, in Washington, D.C. and moved to Tupelo where he became active in the local church. After high school, he attended college in Holly Springs and Okolona, Mississippi. He was a member of...
Oral history.; Mr. Balfour William Ruff Sr. was born March 31, 1923, in Jackson, Mississippi. He moved to Tupelo at a young age and attended its public schools. For many years he operated the Ruff Dairy Farm, the first in the Tupelo area to...
Oral history.; Mr. Billy Joe McCain, Sr., was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1936. When he was four years old, his parents divorced, and he returned with his mother to her parents' home in Grenada, Mississippi. He attended segregated schools,...
Oral history.; Mr. Ray William (Buck) Wells was born August 21, 1916, on a dairy farm three-fourths of a mile southwest of Mississippi Normal College (now The University of Southern Mississippi). Sometime around 1920 or 1921 he moved into...
Oral history.; Three interviews conducted on December 12, 1975, January 19, 1976, and January 23, 1991 with Mr. C.J. Duckworth in his office in Jackson, Mississippi. Duckworth was born in Summerland, Mississippi, Smith County, on February 25,...
Oral history.; Mr. Coygon Robinson Jr. was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, on December 3, 1951. He attended Perkins Elementary School and Nichols High School. In the fifth grade, Mr. Robinson got his first set of drums, and he continued to practice...
Oral history.; Mr. Delmar Robinson was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, July 11, 1937. He attended Biloxi Colored School and M.F. Nichols School from which he graduated. Escaping the oppressive segregation of the Deep South, Mr. Robinson migrated to...
Oral history.; Mr. Eric Eugene Dickey was born May 7, 1966, in Biloxi, Mississippi, where his grandparents and Head Start exerted positive influences in his early life. In elementary school band, Mr. Dickey began playing trumpet, and later...
Oral history.; Mr. Harold Ray Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, on October 5, 1948. In 1968 he was drafted into the Army and served in Vietnam for four years. Mr. Presley married and became the father of two sons and a daughter. Elvis...
Oral history.; Mr. Harry A. Martin was born in Clarke County, Mississippi, on July 20, 1925. Mr. Martin became active in Four-H Club and in Future Farmers of America during his elementary and high school years. After graduation, Mr. Martin got a...
Oral history.; Howard Dudley (Blue) Long was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, on October 18, 1927. As a child, Mr. Long canvassed for votes with his father, the chancery clerk, and he heard many political speeches, including some made by Theodore...
Oral history.; Mr. James Madison Johnson was born on March 17, 1955, in Laurel, Mississippi. During his childhood, he lived in George County, Lucedale, Leaf, and McLain, Mississippi. Mr. Johnson attended college at Mississippi Valley State,...
Oral history.; Mr. John Sherman Crubaugh was born April 12, 1913. During his college years at Mississippi State, from 1931, he worked to pay for his education. After he received a B.S. degree and an M.Ed. degree from Mississippi State University,...
Oral history.; Mr. King T. Evans was born on March 19, 1913 near Uniontown, Alabama, in Perry County. In 1925, Mr. Evans moved to Mississippi with his parents. His father was a mechanic and farmer. For a brief period, Mr. Evans attended the...
Oral history.; Mr. Lee Owens, Jr. was born on May 7, 1921, in Natchez, Mississippi. As a child, Mr. Owens worked in a cotton field for half a day while attending school for half a day. Because his parents could not afford to send him to school, he...
Oral history.; Born on October 20, 1939, in Sandy Ridge, Lowndes County, Alabama, Mr. Loyce Searight moved with his family to Biloxi, Mississippi, in March of 1947. He graduated from M.F. Nichols High School and went on to earn several other...
Oral history.; Maurice Guyton Turner was born on April 29, 1912, in Greene County, Mississippi. He graduated from Greene County Agriculture High School in 1932. After staying out of school for a year he worked in his brother's grocery store. He...
Oral history.; Mr. Monroe (Bill) Winston was born September 12, 1907, in Caseyville, Lincoln County, Mississippi. His parents were sharecroppers on the Red Star plantation, the same plantation where his grandmother had been a slave. Mr. Winston...
Oral history.; Mr. O.W. Reily Jr. was born on June 17, 1924, in Shreveport, Louisiana. As a child, he attended public school in Louisiana and was active in sports, including track, basketball, and boxing. From October, 1941, through November,...
Oral history.; Mr. Pascal Nevin Sledge was born February 6, 1921, in the Alva Community east of Duck Hill, Mississippi. He attended Cleveland High School, Culver Military Academy, Delta State University, and General Motors' Chevrolet Dealer...
