Jackson State University

Items

• Emma S. Mason interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Emma Mason began as a nurse with Head Start in 1965. She initially worked in Jackson, Mississippi, then in Edwards, Mississippi. She returned to Jackson and eventually worked in all 16 Head Start centers in the city. She talks about the health needs she saw with the students and discusses how workers were recruited for the program in Jackson.
• Erma D. Sanders interviewed by Linda Chambers, Audio/Transcript.
  Erma Sanders served on the Head Start board and worked with the first Head Start program that was established in Edwards, Mississippi, through Child Development Group of Mississippi (CDGM). She discusses the differences between the programs in Edwards and Jackson, Mississippi, and the ways that CDGM handled finding teachers for Head Start classes.
• Elzie Collins interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Elzie Collins was one of the first Mississippi employees of the Head Start program and went on to have over 25 years of experience with the organization. In the interview, she breaks down the organizational structure of the early program.
• Dr. Robert Smith interviewed by Carl S. Slade, Audio/Transcript.
  Dr. Robert Smith was founder of the Medical Committee for Human Rights, a Civil Rights Movement organization that fought for better treatment of African Americans in the 1960s. Dr. Smith continued this work as the Head Start medical director in the early days of the program. He talks about his responsibilities and experiences in that position.
• Robert E. Hoskins interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Robert Hoskins was a long time community activist, working with the NAACP and other organizations. He tells the story of working with the Harrison County Community Action Agency to help bring Harrison County its first Head Start program in 1965. Later, he became Area Administrator for Harrison County Head Start. Incomplete. Side B missing.
• Ginevera N. Reaves interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Ginevera Reaves helped to start the Head Start program in Benton, Mississippi in 1965. She talks about the psychology and home economics classes she took in school, her Bachelor’s Degree in Education and her Master’s Degree in School Administration, and how that broad background gave her a unique perspective on teaching the disadvantaged.
• Dr. Albert Briton Jr. interviewed by Clonzo L. May, Audio/Transcript.
  Dr. Albert Briton was the medical director for Child Development Group of Mississippi (CDGM) and Head Start from the start of the program, brought in by director John Mudd because white physicians in the state were refusing to work in the program. Dr. Briton talks about his involvement with the Civil Rights Movement leading him to work with CDGM.
• Bessie Warren interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Bessie Warren took a job in 1972 at Lift Incorporated Community Action Agency in Tupelo, Mississippi, where she worked as a rotating teacher’s assistant. Later, she became Head Start Educational Coordinator and Career Development Officer, positions she had held for 12 years up to the time of the interview.
• Beatrice Coats interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Beatrice Coats talks about her involvement in voter registration work with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She talks extensively about her experiences helping to register people to vote in 1964, after being a registered voter herself since 1946. That work led her to helping open a Head Start Center in Hollandale, Mississippi.
• Barbara Mason interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Barbara Mason discusses the beginnings of Head Start in Utica, Mississippi, in 1965 and sending her daughter to attend the Head Start Center at St. Mark's Catholic Church. She goes on to talk about working at a Head Start center in Jackson, Mississippi, as a driver for the kids in the program.
• Annie M. Morganfield interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Annie Morganfield talks about sending her children to Head Start in 1966. She recounts going to community organizing meetings and informational sessions about the beginning of Head Start in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. She also talks about the experiences her children had in Head Start and other schools and touches on racial differences in schools.
• Anita Dixon interviewed by Michael Richardson, Audio/Transcript.
  Anita Dixon became a Head Start student when she was 5 years old in 1968 in Mendenhall, Mississippi. She talks about her experience as a student, saying she learned things that prepared her to be an elementary student.
• Dr. Jim Hendrick interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Dr. Jim Hendrick's involvement with activism led him to work with Child Development Group of Mississippi (CDGM) to offer medical examinations for Head Start students. He talks about recruiting other doctors as well as some of the medical conditions he saw during these exams. Incomplete, Side B of the recording is missing.
• Gaynette F. Pugh interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Gaynette Pugh participated in the Civil Rights Movement in Gulfport, Mississippi, during Freedom Summer in 1964. It was during this work that she was introduced to the Child Development Group of Mississippi (CDGM), where she and others worked to organize the first Head Start program in the area.
• Ellie Steward interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Ellie Steward attended Lane College in Tennessee and returned to Benton County, Mississippi, in 1966 to become director of the county’s first Head Start program. She discusses the training she and others received in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as some of the prejudice she experienced when applying for the position of director.
• Dr. Rejohnna Brown interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Dr. Rejohnna Brown was working as a teacher in the Delta region of Mississippi when she left her job in the summer of 1965 to join a group that were the forerunners to the region’s first Head Start program, which became known as the Mid Delta Education Association. Dr. Brown decided to do this work because of the poverty she witnessed in the area.
• Bessie Funches interviewed by Lavaree Jones, Audio/Transcript.
  Bessie Funches began work as a teacher at the first Head Start in Gulfport, Mississippi (Harrison County Head Start) in 1966 and worked as a resource teacher for that summer. In 1973, Ms. Funches became Special Service Director of Harrison County Head Start. She talks about her experiences in the classrooms with the students and other workers.
• Gladys Noel Bates interviewed by Alferdteen Harrison, Transcript.
  Gladys Noel Bates moved to Jackson with her family in 1920 and soon after settled in the Farish Street District. She talks extensively about her entire life, including her childhood and family, attending school during desegregation, and her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement.
• Edward Lee interviewed by Alferdteen Harrison: “Farish Street Businessman (Owner of Edward Lee Hotel)," Transcript.
  Edward Lee moved to the Farish Street District in 1925 and went on to own several restaurants in the area. He also booked and promoted dances and concerts for clubs and dance halls in the district. Mr. Lee talks about his education, life on a farm, family, and his youth. The transcript is heavily edited with handwritten notes.
• Gale Foster interviewed by Alferdteen Harrison, Transcript.
  Gale Foster talks about his oldest memories of visiting the Farish Street District, dating back to 1912 when Farish Street was a dirt road. Mr. Foster went on to own a tailor shop on Farish Street and he discusses his history as a tailor and his life as a business owner. The transcript is heavily edited with handwritten notes.
• London Moffet Jr. interviewed by John R. McIntosh, Transcript.
  London Moffet Jr. moved to Jackson at the age of 14 in 1931 with his parents. Mr. Moffet discusses his recollections of nightlife in the Farish Street District during his time there as a teenager. He mentions several places by name, including the Crystal Palace and Savoy. He ends by explaining the changes over time of nightlife on Farish Street.
• Lee Williams interviewed by Deborah McGlothin: "Homeowner in the Historic District," Transcript.
  Lee Williams became a homeowner in the Farish Street District in 1924. At the time of the interview he was Vice President for Administration at Jackson State. Mr. Williams discusses a variety of aspects about the district in relation to his time growing up there, including childhood activities and the different jobs he did.
• Carsie Hall interviewed by Willie Washington, Transcript.
  Attorney Carsie Hall moved to Jackson in 1921 to attend Jackson College. He passed the bar exam in 1953 and operated a law firm in the Farish Street District. He talks about a case he worked with the Freedom Marchers during the Civil Rights Movement. He discusses the effect of desegregation on Black businesses and current revitalization efforts.
• Katherine Mosley interviewed by Mohamed Bassiru Sillah, Transcript.
  Katherine Mosley moved to the Farish Street District in 1949. She recounts her time as a young person in the district, specifically the entertainment she enjoyed. Ms. Mosley also goes into detail about the decline of the district and lack of Black businesses and she gives her opinions about urban renewal on Farish Street.
• Frank Conic interviewed by Dr. Alferdteen Harrison, Transcript.
  Frank Conic moved to the Farish Street District in 1919. He talks about his time growing up on Farish Street and working as a barber with his father while in high school. In 1950 he opened Conic Beauty and Barber Supply and he talks about that experience as a business owner in the district. The transcript is heavily edited with handwritten notes.