Mississippi Moments Podcast

On June 6, 1944, Allied Forces launched the largest amphibious assault in history against Nazi-occupied Europe. In this episode, Rip Bounds of Hattiesburg describes piloting a Utility Landing Ship to the beaches of Normandy. As Allied Forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, they faced devastating fire-power from the Germans. Bounds recalls how the eighty-eight millimeter artillery shells decimat...

After serving in the South Pacific for eighteen months during WWII, Rip Bounds became a naval officer. In this episode, he recalls being sworn-in and attending officer indoctrination schools in Arizona and New York. While at officer training school, Bounds was made platoon leader of a group of former Seabees. He explains why his men resented being treated as new recruits and how an act of insubord...

The United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, were formed during WWII to build airstrips and other installations vital to the war effort.  In this episode, the first of two parts, Rip Bounds of Hattiesburg remembers his decision to join the Seabees in 1942. After the United States declared war on Japan, the Seabees rushed to build airfields on small islands in...

Scott Cooper of Saltillo joined the army when he was twenty-four years old. In this episode, he remembers flying to Kuwait for additional training before being deployed in Iraq. While serving in Afghanistan, American soldiers were routinely targeted by snipers and improvised explosive devices.  Cooper recalls how they would alter their route each day to avoid the IEDs. Many soldiers who served in...

Butch Brown was working at a Hattiesburg jewelry store in 1968 as the war in Vietnam raged on. In this episode, he recalls the day his mother met him at the front door with a draft notice and an airline ticket to Canada. As a communications man in Vietnam, Brown was responsible for repairing field radios in the jungle.  He discusses being the company "scrounger" and how he earned the call sign "So...

For thousands of years, Choctaw Indians hunted, farmed and fished the land that would become Mississippi. In this episode, Tribal Historian Kenneth York discusses their way of life and how European settlers took their homes. In 1830, the Federal government attempted to remove the Choctaw Indians from Mississippi. York describes their connection to the land and sacred burial mounds. The Choctaw lan...

WARNING – CONTAINS RACIALLY EXPLICIT LANGUAGE After Biloxi's sand beach was reconstructed in the 1950s, only white people were allowed to use it. In this episode, Clemon Jimerson remembers when a trip to the beach meant riding with his family to Gulfport. On April 24, 1960, Biloxi physician, Gilbert Mason led a group of 125 black citizens to the whites-only beach. Jimerson recalls how that protest...

Bess Simmons grew up in Liberty, Mississippi during the 1920s and 30s.  In this episode, she recalls riding to school on her sister's pet donkey and later, in a homemade school bus.  Simmons had a chance meeting with her future husband when he came to her school for an FFA event. She explains why they didn't start dating until years later. In the early 1950s, Simmons worked as a substitute teacher...

Copiah-Lincoln Community College opened their Natchez Campus in Fall of 1972.  Carolyn Vance Smith remembers those early days and her role in starting the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration. Each year, the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration focuses on Mississippi's contributions to the world of Literature.  Smith discusses how they select the theme for each conference. Since 1989, the NL...

Helen Butler was born in Raleigh, Mississippi in the early 1920s. In this episode, she describes living in the Cohay logging camps when her father worked for the Eastman Gardiner lumber company. Butler grew up on her family's farm in Smith County during the Great Depression.  She recounts riding to school on dirt roads in the primitive school buses known as tally-hoes. Growing up on a small farm i...

Sergeant Jacquelyn Welborn joined the Mississippi Army National Guard in fall of 2002. In this episode, she discusses her service in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She credits her family's military history and the events of 9/11 for inspiring her to enlist. On April 4, 2003, Welborn's convoy made the arduous journey from Kuwait to Bagdad. She recalls being cheered on by children and the poor...

Mona Astin was working in Washington DC as a secretary when she heard about the Women's Army Corps. In this episode, she discusses joining the WACs and her decision to go to Europe to assist in the war effort.  As a WAC serving in England during the war, Astin helped prepare the invasion force for D-Day. She recalls how German planes and buzz bombs would fly over on their way to targets in London....

Leland native, Mary Allen joined the newly formed Women's Army Corps in the Summer of 1943. In this episode, she recalls the public's negative reaction to the WACs and how she gained her father's approval. As a recruiter for the Women's Army Corps, Mary Allen signed up young women for service during WWII. She remembers travelling around South Alabama convincing parents to allow their daughters to...

Reuben Anderson grew up in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1940s and 50s. In this episode, he recalls being inspired to become a civil rights attorney at a young age. When Anderson graduated from Ole' Miss Law School, there were only a few African American attorneys in Mississippi. He remembers his first job working on school desegregation cases. In 1985, Rueben Anderson became the first African Ameri...

Alyce Clarke was the first African American female elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. In this episode, Clarke shares her memories of a groundbreaking career in state politics. She remembers being encouraged to run for political office by her family and friends in 1984. Clarke began her first term in the Mississippi House of Representatives on March 24, 1985. She recalls the swear...

Dr. Eddie Holloway grew up in the Mobile Street area of Hattiesburg during the 1950s and 60s. In this episode, he shares his memories of the mentors, teachers, and business leaders who helped him along the way.  He recalls the Black Community as vibrant and self-sufficient with plenty of success stories. According to Holloway, Black students in Hattiesburg had many good role models to emulate. He...

During the Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps gave young men jobs to help support their families. In this episode, Bidwell Barnes of Gulfport recalls joining the CCC and working to battle forest fires in South Mississippi. Shortly after his twenty-first birthday, Bidwell Barnes was drafted into the army to fight in Europe. He describes the basic training required to become a medic for the...

Jewel Rushing grew up in Magnolia, Mississippi, during the Great Depression. In this episode, he remembers befriending the hobos who used to camp outside of town and discusses how growing up in that time of hardship inspired him to help others later in life. In 1968, the Mayor of McComb asked Jewel Rushing to serve on the city's public housing board. He recalls organizing a Boys and Girls Club cha...

As the daughter of famed restauranteur Mary Mahoney, Eileen Mahoney Ezell grew up immersed in Biloxi history and tradition. In this episode, she recalls being asked to serve as Mardi Gras Queen Ixolib for 1976. For Ezell, serving as the Gulf Coast Carnival Queen was a whirlwind of festivities. She describes the Coronation Ball, parades, and other events that make Mardi Gras so special. Mary Mahone...

Pro Football Hall of Fame Punter, Ray Guy , redefined the position for all who would follow. A tremendous athlete, Guy was as good a pitcher as he was a punter. After finishing high school in his hometown of Thomson, Georgia, he decided to come to Southern Miss to play football and baseball. Guy recalls why choosing a smaller school like USM was a "no-brainer." Although Guy could kick footballs gr...

Claudette Romious grew up the Delta town of Alligator, Mississippi. In this episode, she discusses her father's various business ventures including a garage, gas station, café, grocery store and juke joint. She also shares her memories of growing up as the daughter of a hardworking African-American entrepreneur. The Rabbit Foot Minstrels tent show travelled the South entertaining both white and bl...

Hattiesburg resident Samuel Lahasky has lived in cities with both large and small Jewish populations. In this episode, he observes how Jewish communities in the South tend to be more closely knit than those in the North. Lahasky shares his memories of growing up in Abbeville, Louisiana, and later moving to Atlanta at the age of six. He compares and contrasts those experiences as well as the differ...

Dr. John Quon's father immigrated from China in 1924 and settled in Moorhead, Mississippi. In this episode, he discusses how immigration laws prohibited Chinese nationals from owning property until 1943. Quon's family lived in the back of their Moorhead grocery store until it became too crowded. He recalls how threatening letters led his father to purchase a cotton farm and build a home away from...

Walter Wallace grew up on a dairy and cotton farm in Cleveland, Mississippi in the 1930s. In this episode, he shares his memories of helping his family with the daily chores. He recalls having to milk ten cows each morning before going to school. According to Wallace, Cleveland was a busy town in the 1930s and 40s. He remembers the crowded streets on Saturdays and riding the train with his mother...

James Lindsey grew up on his father's cotton farm in Bolivar County in the 1940s. In this episode, he shares his memories of a life spent farming in the Mississippi Delta. Lindsey remembers plowing the fields with mules and picking cotton by hand before the days of mechanization. Later as an adult, Lindsey began his career as a cotton farmer on four hundred acres near Cleveland, Mississippi. He re...