Mississippi Moments Podcast

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 on chemical disposal sites in Mississippi.  In 1991, after the moratorium expired, plans were announced to construct three...

Charlie Barrett is the former Mayor of Shuqualak (Sugar Lock). It this episode, he recounts the story of how his great grandfather donated the land for the train station. He also recalls how the farmers would bring their cotton to be ginned on Saturday mornings and stay all day. As a boy, Barrett knew all of the merchants in Shuqualak.   He remembers one who would speak to him in Choctaw. Years la...

John Ellzie Carr joined the Tupelo Police Department in 1921 and served as the town's chief of police from 1925 until 1952.   In this episode, Dudley Carr remembers his father’s natural talent for law enforcement. He recalls the city’s primitive jail and even more primitive alarm system. In 1932, the infamous bank robber, Machine Gun Kelly held up the Citizen’s National Bank of Tupelo. Dudley Carr...

Emma Foret was the wife of a Navy hospital corpsman. In this episode she recalls their life together and how she and the children coped with her husband’s absence. She also discusses the special bond between the Navy and Marine Corp and how the wives of these servicemen depended on each other. PODCAST EXTRA: Even in times of peace, conflicts can arise at a moment’s notice.   Foret remembers her hu...

Mary Louise Tarver was born in 1918 on Elm’s Court Plantation in Natchez.   In this episode, s he recalls her Uncle Will’s garden and his prickly relationship with her mother. Growing up on a farm taught Mary Louise Tarver to enjoy simple pleasures.   She remembers riding horseback to the Homochitto Swamp to spend the day fishing. For Mary Louise Tarver, farm life meant learning to be self-suffici...

At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, Italian emigrants were encouraged to come to the Mississippi Delta to farm. In this episode, John Bassie of Bolivar County shares his family’s story of coming to America and how they taught him to love their adopted country. For those Italian emigrants who made a home in the Mississippi Delta, the Fourth of July was always a big deal. Bassie recalls how h...

Dr. Rodney Bennett was named President of The University of Southern Mississippi on February 7, 2013. In this episode, he discusses how he felt when an EF-4 tornado decimated the campus three days later. Bennett was happily serving as Vice President of Student Affairs at the University of Georgia when he was selected as USM’s 10 th President. He recalls accepting the position with a sense of purpo...

Stone Barefield of Hattiesburg ran for the State House of Representatives in 1959. In this episode, he remembers his campaign committee and the only speech he ever wrote. He also discusses the days before televised debates, when politicians relied on “stump speeches” to get their message to the voters. Running for state representative of Forrest County meant doing a lot of walking.   Barefield rem...

Prior to 1936, Highway 49 was a narrow, twisting, gravel road. In this episode, Chrysteen Flynt of D’lo, recalls learning to drive on Old 49 back in 1922. For years,  Flynt served as the unofficial historian for the town of D’lo. She notes that the rocky banks of the Strong River there were home to a water-driven sawmill as well as a meeting place for the Choctaws. The origins of the name D’lo hav...

On September 29 th , 1915, a category four hurricane made landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana, killing 275 people. In this episode, Jim Kelly of English Lookout recalls the town’s largest employer and the aftermath of the storm. He remember how the factory used to produce crushed oyster shells by the trainload and how the hurricane changed all that. Kelly was 10 years old when the hurricane destro...

Bill Barnes of Jackson joined the Coast Guard the day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. In this episode, he recalls his time in the Pacific spent aboard a Patrol boat. Barnes also describes the process of arming and testing the new craft before heading out to sea. After serving two years in the Pacific Theater, Barnes returned stateside for a new duty: helping develop rescue methods still us...

Gene Stork, of Moss Point, began working as a commercial fisherman in 1954. In this episode he recalls being part of a “mother boat” crew and how they worked together to catch fish. He also discusses how Coastal fishermen would try to avoid catching redfish over a certain size because the larger fish are the egg layers. Stork feels the increased popularity of blackened redfish in Louisiana led to...

The BP Oil Spill of 2010 generated stress and financial hardships throughout the Gulf Coast fishing industry. In this episode, Daniel Nguyen of the Mary, Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation discusses how that stress affected the Vietnamese Fishing Community. After the BP Oil Spill, Congressman Joseph Cao formed a rapid response team to assist the Vietnamese fishing community. Team m...

On April 20 th , 2010, an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, in the Gulf of Mexico, led to the largest crude oil spill in history. In this episode, commercial fisherman Peter Floyd recalls being confident that the Gulf Coast would survive. Joe Jewell of the Mississippi Dept. of Marine resources discusses the “triple threat” faced by Coastal fishermen. After Hurricane Katrina...

For decades the Illinois Central Rail Road Maintenance Shop was one of the largest employers in McComb. In this episode, Ray Ward remembers signing on as a shop apprentice back in 1953. Ward recalls working in the car shop and the assembly line-like manner they used to rebuild the cars. In order to save money and improve safety, Illionois Central offered cash rewards for employee suggestions at it...

Prior to the development of passenger jet planes, Americans travelled by train.   In this episode, Sam Page remembers when the Panama Limited came through Summit, Mississippi for the first time. Years later, a s ticket agent for the Illinois Central station in McComb, MS, Sam Page recalls being a very busy man selling tickets to destinations near and far. He discusses how many Mississippians rode...

Before there was Whole Foods, there was wild foods. As a young man, Alonzo Brandon of Port Gibson, hunted in order to help feed his family. In this episode he describes how he would outsmart the squirrels that tried to hide from him. After working all day, Alonzo Brandon would often go coon hunting. He recalls waiting until dawn some nights for a treed coon to finally come down.   He also discusse...

Dan McDaniel grew up in Bude, Mississippi. In this episode, he discusses why the town’s barbershop was central to the lives of so many. He also recalls the sawmill work whistle and the men walking home for lunch.  Today, most of us take indoor plumbing for granted.   McDaniel remembers when plumbing was a luxury. Because lumber was transported by train, all sawmill towns were connected by rail. Mc...

Family history is our personal connection to the past. In this week's episode, Ethel Patton D’Anjou of Claiborne County tells the story of her great grandfather’s escape from slavery. She also shares the tale of how her great grandmother, a native American was spared from the Trail of Tears by her birth parents and ended up in Mound Bayou. PODCAST EXTRA: Alcorn University was founded in 1871 to ed...

In 1918, F.S. Wolcott began using Port Gibson as Winter Quarters for his Rabbit Foot Minstrel Show.   In this episode, Jimmy Allen explains why Wolcott’s show was different from other Minstrels. He also describes how a typical minstrel show operated. As a bookkeeper in his father's Port Gibson car dealership, Allen had first hand experience dealing with Wolcott. He learned that when it came to Wol...

Mardi Gras has been celebrated in Biloxi since 1883.   In this episode, Jerry O’Keefe remembers the excitement of attending the parades as a boy in the 1930s . Later, as a young father in the 1940s, O’Keefe shared his love of Mardi Gras with his children.   After being elected Mayor of Biloxi in 1972, O’Keefe realized the city’s Mardi Gras fundraising system needed to be overhauled.   He explains...

During WWII, most African-American Soldiers served in support units away from the front lines. All that changed during the War in the Pacific where because of the close proxmity of the conflict, black soldiers found themselves fighting shoulder to shoulder with their white counterparts.   In this episode, Lee Spearman of Bay Springs remembers the only objective was to stay alive.   Journalist Erni...

Rowan Clark of Bude was 16 years old when he got his first job in 1924. In this episode, h e recalls being a water boy and delivering ice for the local icehouse. Like so many others left unemployed by the Great Depression, Clark rode the rails looking for work.   He describes his journey across the country chasing rumors of job opportunities. Clark was finally offered a job washing cars in New Orl...

For Randy Yates, the Neshoba County Fair was a family tradition. In this episode, h e explains why the fair was so important to his grandparents. One of the most vivid memories for Yates was the endless variety of food the fair had to offer. According to Yates, no one worked harder to prepare for the Neshoba County Fair than his grandfather.   He remembers it being a year-long labor of love.

Jackson has always enjoyed a wide selection of choices when it comes to dining out. In this episode, Randy Yates discusses the important role Greek restaurateurs played in Jackson’s culinary history. Yates began working for Primos Northgate restaurant as a college student.   He remembers the large crowds and the places the staff would go between shifts. After Primos, Yates took a job working at Sc...