The Way We Worked

 

 

 

After 6 months of preparation, the Smithsonian exhibit is finally here and totally worth all the blood, sweat and tears.  Literally, we were bruised, cut and as my best friend in high school used to say, sparkling after we put the exhibit together. The Way We Worked is a Washington D.C. Smithsonian exhibit hosted by 6 institutions in Mississippi. Ours is the only public library!  The exhibit presents 150 years of work in America. It's got all the bells and whistles of a quality museum exhibit with videos, music and interactive pieces. After having it outside my History Room for a week I can pretty much sing along and quote the narrative! The exhibit itself is sectioned into 5 modules; an introduction, why we worked, how we worked, who worked and where we worked. These modules are 7 feet tall and contain clear photos, catchy quotes and three dimensional memorabilia. On the first floor I have complemented this exhibit with photos of how, who and where we worked in Sunflower County. I’m asking the community to bring in their photos of Sunflower County work and workers.  (Other photos are accepted too, just not added to the display.) I will scan and return the photo then put the digital copy up with the rest of the photos displayed. We are also having speakers so check the online calendar! This is also a great opportunity for schools to plan field trips and begin a conversation about work. The exhibit is open to the public at the regular Henry M. Seymour Library hours and here until January 4^th.  

If you are interested in scheduling a tour or want to know more about the exhibit just contact me at the library!

887-2153 or jdrose@sunflower.lib.ms.us

 

 

Alas, Babylon

As anyone who knows me, knows that I consume books. Yes, consume. Voraciously, ravenously, obsessively, all of these describe the way I read. I’m like the feral foundling with a lollipop, I’ll snarl and snip if you get too close when I’m really involved in a story. On a good week, I’ll read at least 5 books. And for the most part I remember all that I read. My son has pointed out to me, I do judge a book by it’s cover. I guess that what threw me off about Alas, Babylon. As you can see,

 

the cover looks pretty dated, I assumed it was published in the last 70’s or early 80’s. It reminded me of Stephen King’s The Stand or the movie Red Dawn. It’s the story of the few good survivors left in a shattered world after nuclear disaster.  You know a predecessor to Walking Dead, but as I read the foreword and the first chapter, I realize the book was older than I thought. Come to find out it was published in 1959. So the author, Pat Frank, was writing about the space race, satellites and an apocalyptic world before the U.S. even landed on the moon. For some reason, the idea blew me away.  It was a fun and fast read. Even better that the story took place in central Florida, one of my favorite states, but the characters and situations were clear and believable.  The book demonstrated the allure of reading older science fiction and fantasy, which is the authors’ premonitions of the future. How an author can imagine a world years or decades before that world becomes reality.

 I’ll leave you with this quote by Admiral  Hazzard, “There are odd similarities between the end of the Pax Romana and the end of the Pax Americana…For instance, the prices paid for high office. When it became common to spend a million dollars to elect senators from moderately populous states, I think that should have been a warning to us. For instance, free pap for the masses. Bread and circuses. Roman spectacles and our spectaculars. Largesse from the conquering proconsuls and television giveaways from the successful lipstick king. To understand the present you must know the past…”

Payroll Progress in Mississippi: 1939-1959

It’s one of those things. You’re thinking about getting a new pair of pants and the ones you are wearing rip or you really hate that planter that someone gave you and a kid breaks it. You think about something and serendipitously the universe helps you along. As I gear up for our Smithsonian exhibit in November I am keeping my mind aware of any materials that I come across dealing with “Work.” Last week I came across Payroll Progress in Mississippi: 1939-1959. This document “presents employment and hours and earnings data of the non-agricultural industry for the State of Mississippi coving the period 1939-1959. It also includes for the same period, such related data as population, personal income, per capita income, the Consumer Price Index and the Wholesale Price Index.” Most of the book contains, graphs and charts plotting the rising employment or shaded areas of various concentrations, but to me the most intriguing information is not the hours or earnings, but the actually vocations. The document notes outmoded or declining industries such as knitting and textile mills, stone, clay and glass products, or printing and publishing. Today these industries may exist but at such a small level that it shouldn’t appear in a state publication about Mississippi industry and employment. Living here in the Delta I’m fascinated with the inventiveness of the farmers and to see the evolving avenues of agricultural industry, so it was interesting seeing how the non-agricultural sector of Mississippi has changed.

Digging Up History

All over the nation libraries are celebrating summer reading with a “Dig into Reading” theme. I think this theme is very appropriate for history. I mean, I’m lucky enough to have had the opportunity to literally dig into history. My last semester at Florida State was spent in a cow field as part of my Archaeology class. Our goal was to find an Apalachee encampment. We knew from Archeologist Calvin Jones’ previous research and excavations that Conquistador Hernando de Soto had travel through the area and my professor believed that under the grass and patties, there was the remains of a Native American town. So, we were literally digging up history. Here at the History Room, you too can “dig up history.” Most people use the History Room to dig up old newspaper articles, ancestors, or information about the county and it’s communities. But you can also dig up an old Parchman Prison music album or Chevy’s restaurant soda can koozie. There are so many aspects of historical materials in the History Room. I encourage you to stop by and see what you too can “dig up!”

 

Shleved Dolls

 

So, I’m one of those kids who loved the encyclopedia. It was the Google of my generation. My mother thought she was punishing me when I was sent to the spare room for however long my isolation was to last, yet really she was sending me to paradise. (I know you’re gonna read this Mom, so just think of this as one of the many wonderful resources you were always giving me!) In the closet of our spare bedroom (the timeout zone) were Reader’s Digest Condensed Books and Encyclopedias. She probably thought that a child would never be interested in them, but I sure was. The Reader’s Digests were quick enough that I could get a good start before my time was up. You see by then, the clock had begun ticking in a different way. I didn’t want to be released.  And I could peruse any subject I wanted with the Encyclopedias.  Sometimes I would just close my eyes, open the book, plant my finger and read where it landed. As I grew older my tastes have narrowed and obviously, I’m really into history. Now I like to get on Wikipedia and just browse different historical figures or events. And today…Today I found Shelved Dolls. Blogger, Jennifer Wright writes about many subjects from baking to theater, but my favorite is her Shelved Dolls. Each blog describes a woman in history. From Ovid’s mistress, Corinna to designer, Coco Chanel, she finds tidbits or pieces of their life that is interesting and unusual. I love her little bits of history told with wit and absurdity.  For example, I didn’t know who Edie Beale was , but when I saw the quote “Dude, she literally set her head on fire,” I was intrigued. Her blogs fill that random trivia need that I’ve always had. If you too like to learn about weird and wondrous history, check her out at:

http://www.thegloss.com/?s=shelved+dolls

 

 

 

Sunflower County School Yearbooks

 

Gentry Yearbooks

Some of the many items housed at the Sunflower Archive and History Room are yearbooks.  There are yearbooks from all schools in Sunflower County. Unfortunately, some of the school yearbooks have gaps in the years, like Gentry High School.  The blog this month is a request for help. If you or someone you know has Sunflower County school yearbooks and they don’t want them or will let me scan them. Send them my way!

Thanks,

 

662.887.2153 ext. 123
jdrose@sunflower.lib.ms.us

 

Mary Hamilton and Missisiippi Delta Pioneers

Trials fo the Earth: The Autobiography of Mary Hamilton

This is an invitation for all Sunflower County residents and history lovers to join the Blue Biscuit Book Club in their discussion of Mississippi Delta pioneer, Mary Hamilton's autobiography on January 8^th at 6:00 pm. Family members will be there to review the stories collected by Mary Hamilton and copy-editor Helen Dick Davis in 1933.  This book was first published in 1991 and due to high demand, again in 2012. In the novel, Mary Hamilton recounts her life, from the first time she met her husband in the early 1880's, Frank Hamilton, to his death in 1914.

 

Mississippi Delta pioneers created Sunflower County in 1844. Between the years 1850 and 1870, Sunflower County population increased from 1102 to 5, 015.The earliest pioneers had to clear away virgin timber, drain marshes and defend family, livestock and land from wild predators.  Most living areas were not yet towns, but more like settlements at the landings along the rivers or in remote areas nicknamed “deadenings.” Deadenings were areas created by landowners chopping deep rings down to the cambium layer where the sap flows on trees. This would kill the trees, making them easier to dispose of than green trees. These areas were usually named after the landowner, such as Heathman’s Deadening. Even though these living areas were scattered and isolated, the pioneers maintained a dynamic social calendar. Mundane events such as corn husking or log rolling were transformed into community affairs through a hearty dinner or lively dance.

 

As the population grew, so did the complexity of the communities. Small main street towns such as Ruleville and Inverness became the home to churches, general stores, banks and blacksmiths. Along with burgeoning business came doctors, dentists and postmasters. Each community continued to thrive and create a place called home for generations of Mississippians.

There are several books located in the Sunflower County Room that recounts the formation of the county and individual towns.

 

Recollections: By the Descendants of Early Settlers of Drew, Mississippi –Centennial Historical Committee

Early History of the Town of Ruleville- John Robertson & Tom Conger, Jr.

The Steamboat Era- A.E. Britt

History of Inverness, Mississippi- Don Carol Bell

Promised Land or Sandy Bayou, Drew, MS-Elizabeth Wilson

Fevers, Floods and Faith: A History of Sunflower County, Mississippi, 1844-1976- Marie Hemphill 

Each conveys the story of people who toiled and reveled in the creation of civilized areas out of the Mississippi Delta wilderness.

So come join the Blue Biscuit Book Club Tuesday January 8^th for pioneer Mary

Hamilton’s book, Trials of the Earth!

To learn more contact me at 662-887-2153