People

Hale, Johnnie: Oral History

Johnnie Hale grew up in Sumner, Mississippi. He remembers Emmett Till’s murder and the boy’s mother’s request for an open-casket. Hale later moved to Detroit, Michigan, where race relations were not much better than they had been in Sumner. He […]

Haley, Alex

Alex Haley (1921-1992): African-American writer Alex Haley is best known as the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the co-author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Haley attended Alcorn State University beginning at age fifteen and […]

Hall Jr., Clarence

Clarence Hall, Jr. was a local activist and Issaquena County native who made some of the first inquiries into an NAACP law suit against the Issaquena County Board of Education for the suspension of students wearing pro-SNCC materials in 1965. […]

Hall Jr., Clarence

Clarence Hall, Jr. was a local activist who made some of the first inquiries into an NAACP law suit against the Issaquena County Board of Education for the suspension of students wearing pro-SNCC materials in 1965. Following the ruling in […]

Hall, Carsie; Young, Jack; and Brown, R. Jess

Carsie Hall, Jack Young, and R. Jess Brown were the only African American lawyers who were licensed to practice in the state in the early 1960s. They often served as local counsel with out-of-state attorneys who had not been admitted […]

Hamer, Fannie Lou

Fannie Lou Townsend Hamer was born on October 6, 1917, in Montgomery County, Mississippi. Fannie was the youngest of twenty children and was the granddaughter of slaves. She, like most children at that time, received a poor education due to […]

Hannah, Linda

Hannah, a local bank employee in West Point, was the first African American woman to e elected to the board of Selectmen of the City of West Point. Sources: West Point Hall of Fame

Hardy, John W.

John W. Hardy, an active member of SNCC during the sixties, worked to establish a voter registration school in 1961 at Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Walthall County. Hardy was pistol whipped by the Election Registrar in Walthall after attempting […]

Harkey, Ira

Ira Harkey was the outspoken editor of The Pascagoula Chronicle (now the Mississippi Press) from 1948-63. Harkey’s writings called for peaceful integration of schools, noting that local leaders were essential to this effort. Harkey believed James Meredith deserved the opportunity […]

Harris, Thomas: Oral History

Thomas Harris is a native of McComb, Mississippi and has seen McComb change over the years. He grew up with his two parents and five brothers. His father worked at the post office, and his mother was a home maker. […]

Hartford, Bruce

Bruce Hartford was a member of SCLC who participated in the March Against Fear and worked in Grenada. Source:http://www.crmvet.org/vet/hartford.htm

Hazelton, Margaret Jo

Margaret Jo Hazelton, a native of Detroit, was a Freedom Summer volunteer who worked in the community center in Clarksdale. Source:http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/archives/m359.htm

Head, Calvin

Calvin Head, son of Rosie Head, presently uses ten acres of McLaurin’s land for an organic farming project for young people. This project has received money from the Kellogg Foundation and generates money for school supplies and scholarships for the […]

Height, Dorothy

Educator and noted civil rights activist Dorothy Height talks about Heifer’s involvement at the Prentiss Institute as the inspiration for her own initiative the “pig bank”in her 2003 memoir “Open Wide the Freedom Gates.” “Participating families were trained to care […]

Henry, Aaron

Aaron Henry, one of the most influential figures in the civil rights movement, grew up in Clarksdale (742 Garfield). Henry joined the military after attending high school in Clarksdale, and upon leaving the service he attended Xavier University and became […]

Hicks, Hervey O.

Benton County native, served in the House of Representatives in 1931 and from 1948 to 1976.

Higgins, Howard

Successful candidate for Constable in 1971-72. He was the first black deputy appointed by Sheriff Moore. The year that he ran the beats were redistricted. Sources: http://www.usm.edu/crdp/html/transcripts/manuscript-mclaurin_griffin.shtml

Hill, Siddell

Members of the Siddell, Hill, and Barry families were the first to integrate Union County schools.

Holbert, Joe

Holbert was the first African American to deliver mail in rural Madison County. Holbert normally delivered mail twice a week on horseback. The photo was taken in the late 1880s. Sources: Brown-Wright, Flonzie. Looking Back to Move Ahead Germantown, OH: […]

Holmes, Julia

Julia Rodgers Holmes was born on May 12, 1950 in Meridian, Mississippi. She is the daughter of Bilbo and Claudia Rodgers and the eldest of seven children. She spent her childhood in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She attended Skip Street Elementary, graduated […]

Hooker, Rosie and Alexander, Luther

Rosie Hooker and Luther Alexander also presently serve on the board of directors for the Institute. Mrs. Hooker is a life-long resident of Prentiss and a 1942 graduate of the school. es’>

Horn, Ted

Ted Horn was a former Sheriff of Chickasaw County who received threats from local Ku Klux Klan leaders. Sources: Sovereignty Commission Files. Mississippi Archives and History Department.

Howard, Dr. T.R.M.

Dr. Howard was a physician and prominent businessman in the 1940s and 1950s. Dr. Howard was the chief surgeon at the Knights and Daughters of Tabor Hospital located near Mound Bayou. Dr. Howard also opened the Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance […]

Howell, Jesse Lee

Jesse Lee Howell lived from 1892 to 1972. He worked as both a railroad hand and a farmer. It is reported that he paid poll taxes even when he could not vote and was known to have said “and that’s […]

Hubbard, Ed

Hubbard was born in 1867 and eventually became one of the founding members of the Saint Elmo Baptist Church in 1895. In 1902 at the age of 35 he served as the head sawyer at the Eastman-Gardiner Company’s “big mill”and […]

Huddleston, Robert E.

ROBERT E. HUDDLESTON serves in the Mississippi House of Representatives on behalf of the 30th House District. He was elected to the Tallahatchie School Board in 1980 and served for ten years. In 1995, he was elected to the House […]

Hutchinson, Flavou

Flavous Hutchinson was a law professor and writer on the civil rights movement. Hutchinson was born in 1923 in Tupelo, Mississippi. After earning a master’s in education and a law degree from the University of Mississippi, Hutchinson was admitted to […]