Mississippi Moments Podcast

In the twenty years since Hurricane Katrina, numerous storms and tornadoes have brought death and destruction to our nation. But for Mississippi, no other event has had as much of an impact, with the possible exception of Hurricane Camile.   Anyone who lived here during that time has a Katrina story and while some of the details have faded in the decades that followed, the emotional trauma remains...

As the wind and rain began to die down, people crawled from the wreckage to survey the damages left by Hurricane Katrina. The most common description of what they found was "a warzone."   First came the first responders seeking, listening, for survivors. Then came the Mississippi Army National Guard. They were soon joined by community and business leaders desperately searching for sources of water...

Early in morning of Monday, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near the Louisiana / Mississippi state line and the eyewall passed over the cities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland as a Category 3 hurricane. A 27 foot storm surge with sustained winds of 120 mph made for a devastating one-two punch that rocked even the most storm-hardened shelters and wiped away 90% of all structures withi...

On the afternoon of Friday, August 26, 2005, the National Hurricane Center changed the predicted landfall of Katrina from the panhandle of Florida to Mississippi. As the storm continued to increase in size and intensity, Federal, State, and local officials, began planning for the worst case scenario.   For Gulf Coast residents, it was a familiar dilemma: to stay or to go? Boarding up homes and bus...

On August 25th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina crossed over South Florida and into the Gulf, where it quickly strengthened into a massive category 5 storm. Gulf Coast residents watched with increasing alarm as it became obvious that Mississippi was in the crosshairs of this once-in-a-generation weather event.   As President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency and evacuations were ordered for New...

To celebrate the publication of an important new book Dogwood, A National Guard Unit's War in Iraq , by Dr. Andrew Wiest of the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society, we present this one hour special podcast episode.   In 2003 US and coalition forces unleased Operation Iraqi Freedom to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein, expecting an easy victory and a short war.   After a quick seizure...

From the producers of Mississippi Moments comes a new 10 episode long form podcast, Voices of Our People: WWII. Follow this link to subscribe or search your favorite podcast directory: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/32993807 From the Center for Oral History & Cultural Heritage at USM , comes a new history podcast combining the best of our extensive Oral History collection and in-dep...

On this Memorial Day, we look back at episode #615 from May 2019. Jim Swager of Brookhaven joined the US Army shortly after his 18th birthday, three months before D-day. In this episode, he shares his memories of the journey from Mississippi to the battlefields of France as part of the 103rd Infantry, Cactus Division. Although he weighed a mere 130 lbs. his captain made him a machine gunner and as...

Today we look back at a classic MSMO from April of 2016. Carl Walters of Laurel landed his first newspaper job in the 1920s working as a printer's assistant. In this episode, he recalls how his love of sports led him to become a sports writer. Later, Walters began working for the Meridian Star. He discusses how the Meridian paper broke new ground by being the first to segregate the sports news int...

This week we look back at the storied career of USM football coach, P. W. Underwood in this MSMO classic from March of 2016. After playing football for Southern Miss, P.W. Underwood returned to Hattiesburg as an assistant coach in 1963. In this episode, he remembers the team ranked number 1 in defense, three years out of four. When Underwood was named head football coach for Southern Miss six year...

Bernard Tessman and Karl Heimburg worked for Dr. Werhner von Braun in Nazi Germany on the V-2 rocket program. After WWII, 118 rocket scientists were brought over from Germany to work for the US Army. In this episode, Tessman and Heimburg remember those early days launching V-2 rockets in White Sands, New Mexico and the decision to locate the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. After President...

In this MSMO Classic episode from January 2016, we look back at the inspiring life and career of Coach David Dunaway. Coach Dunaway grew up in Tylertown during the Great Depression. In this episode, he recalls how the town became his substitute family after his parents split up. Dunaway worked all through school to support himself and still found time to participate in sports. He credits the guida...

Today's MSMO classic discusses efforts by outside business interests to turn Noxubee County into a toxic dumping ground. In 1983, a hazardous-waste disposal company attempted to build a toxic waste dump in the town of Shuqualak in Noxubee County, Mississippi. In this episode, Martha Blackwell describes how local citizens organized to fight back and were able to have a five year moratorium placed o...

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and American entered the war, young men joined the military in droves leaving big holes in the work force. Women stepped up to fill those jobs traditionally held by men, helping out on the home front and showing what they were capable of in the process. For Women's History Month, We look back at this classic MSMO episode from February 1, 2016, featuring the s...

Today, we are look back at Episode #485, which features James Jones of Laurel discussing his time with the 761st Tank Battalion during WWII. The 761st Tank Battalion was the first armored combat group made up of African American soldiers. Prior to this time, black men rarely served in combat roles in the U.S. Military and were generally relegated to menial labor jobs like stevedores. After being g...

T oday, we look back at Episode #475, featuring an interview with Roscoe Jones Vol. 740, conducted on May 9, 1997 and first aired in February 2016. Jones's memories of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner are riveting because according to Jones, he had planned on going to Neshoba County that fateful day. For anyone not familiar with the story: Civil Rights Activists James Chaney from Meridian, MS, along...

February is Black History Month and today we are looking back at Episode number 471, featuring an interview of Hattiesburg native and Civil Rights activist, Doug Smith. Smith was present for several key events in the Movement including the March on Washington in August of 1963, and Hattiesburg Freedom Day in January of 1964 which kicked off Freedom Summer that year.  Doug Smith was also active in...

This is our first Redux of 2023 and because Monday the 16th is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we are looking back at a favorite past Mississippi Moments episode: MSM 601 Father Peter Quinn - Dr. King Comes to Hattiesburg, which aired originally on January 28, 2019. For the interview, we are joined by Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, an associate professor of history at the USM with expertise in Civil Rights, Afri...

Because our classic Mississippi Moments episode this week is about Greek cooking and holiday traditions, we thought we'd ask USM Historian Andrew Haley to discuss his field of study and give an opinion as to how Mediterranean culture and cuisine has influenced our food ways.  Dr. Haley studies class, culture and cuisine in the United States from the Gilded Age through the 1950s. His first book, Tu...

'Tis the season for home cooking and today's episode provides a heaping plateful! Jennifer Brannock, Professor and Curator of Rare Books and Mississippiana here at USM takes us on a tour of their massive community cookbook collection. It is a fun and informative discussion on how the project came into being and why the history of food is so important to understanding our culture. Delve into our on...

Today is Veterans Day and in today's episode, we remember the sacrifices of all of our service men and women by focusing on the experiences of American prisoners of war in Vietnam. We are joined by noted Vietnam War scholar Dr. Andrew Wiest for a discussion of the infamous Hanoi Hilton and the POW experience in general. Afterwards, we hear from Hattiesburg native, George R. Hall about his seven ye...

On November 3rd, America lost one of the greatest all-around athletes of this or any age. Ray Guy was the first punter to ever be drafted in the first round into the NFL. During his career with the Oakland Raiders, he led the team to three Super Bowl victories. He was the first pure-punter to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And he remains the standard by which all other kickers are...

Welcome to the MS MO Redux Podcast! We will be rolling out format changes in the coming days, but here's the gist: Although Mississippi Moments is not currently in production, we have amassed a huge number of episodes, most of which have never been rebroadcast. So we intend to use this podcast to revisit each episode as its daily spots are being aired statewide on MPB. Many episodes will also cont...

Native Americans first used fire to manage the forests of South Mississippi. After decades of discouraging the practice, forestry experts have shifted their thinking about prescribed burning. Ecologist, Tate Thriffiley explains why this practice is good for the longleaf pines and the entire ecosystem. By 1930, virtually all of the longleaf pines in Mississippi had been harvested. Thriffiley descri...

We're taking a break from production this summer, but don't worry, the Mississippi Moments podcast will return this fall with new and classic episodes, along with exciting announcements about upcoming shows! Since 2009, our little podcast has developed a loyal following and we're looking to build on that success by expanding the Miss Mo brand. Soon, we will be offering additional podcast programmi...