Manuscripts Division

Mass Communications

Introduction

The Special Collections Department of Mississippi State University Library has since the 1950s been a repository for the papers of Mississippians and alumni of Mississippi State University. Historical collections of some Mississippi journalists were received as a routine part of the library's early collecting efforts. Beginning in the 1970s, collecting has focused on the papers of Mississippi journalists, especially twentieth century political journalists. From that time to the present, the journalism manuscript holdings of the library have grown considerably. Some 22 collections of papers of Mississippi journalists now form a solid core of the collection.

However, the historical collections of the Department also include wider documentation of the mass communications field, including the records of WLBT-TV for the period when it operated under a conservatorship, probably the only collection of its kind. The records of the Godwin Advertising Agency serve as excellent documentation of the role of a southern advertising agency in political campaigns . Two other significant collections, the Cully Cobb/ Ruralist Press Papers and the Eugene Butler Papers document two major agricultural periodicals, the Ruralist Press and the Progressive Farmer. Smaller collections document specific radio and television programs. Recent additions include two editorial cartoon collections and the records of the Mississippi Press Association. All of these collections together comprise some 600 cubic feet of significant documentation of the mass media.

The bibliography which follows is the most comprehensive summary to date of these collections. It is intended to be the beginnings of a more comprehensive ongoing mass communications bibliography which will serve as a continuing resource for scholars.

Some collections listed are open and completely available for research. Others are partially open or open with permission. Some are more recently received and are completely unprocessed. As additions are received and changes to collections occur, the bibliography will be updated. In the near future, the bibliography will be placed on the Web site of the Special Collections Department.

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Mississippi Journalists, 1838-2000

As a source for scholars, American newspapers provide an unparalleled source for documentation of local, state, regional, and national events, issues, and personalities. The best of these newspapers also provide an "extensive, continuous record of analysis and commentary" by competent journalists who serve their readers by monitoring these events, issues, and personalities, and responding in print. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, scholars of American history began to fully realize the value of newspapers as a source, and launched a national effort to identify these newspapers and to preserve them in the libraries of the nation.

The personal papers of American newspaper journalists provide an excellent source for documentation of these same events, issues, and personalities. For this reason, these collections of personal papers deserve preservation and the attention of scholars.

The Special Collections Department at Mitchell Memorial Library is the repository for a number of significant journalism collections which provide an excellent source of primary material on the history of Mississippi, the South, and the nation. The collection runs the gamut from small collections of early journalists with little documentation of publishing activities, to larger comprehensive collections of Pulitzer Prize winners.

Norman and Frances Weems Bradley Papers. 5 ft. Collection dates from 1890 to 1986

The Norman and Frances Weems Bradley Papers include correspondence, speeches, editorials, photographs, clippings, and memorabilia, relating primarily to the careers, civic activities, and family of Charles Norman Bradley (b. 1913) and Mary Frances Weems Bradley, journalists. Norman Bradley's career in journalism spanned more than forty years with the Jackson Clarion Ledger, the Associated Press, the Jackson State Times, the Chattanooga Post and the Chattanooga Times; he served the latter three newspapers as editor. Frances Weems Bradley was the food editor of the Chattanooga Times.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Elvira Byrd Papers. 1 linear ft. Collection dates from 1866 to 1964

Family correspondence of Elvira Rea Byrd (1843-1930), who founded The Brookhaven News in 1887. Elvira and Cornelius Byrd lived on a plantation near Meadville, in Franklin County, Mississippi. After Cornelius Byrd died in 1887, Elvira Byrd founded the paper and became its editor and proprietor in order to support her family. Her sons Vivian and Homer Byrd assisted her with publishing the paper. In 1889, the paper was sold to W.S. Bowen, who changed its name to the Lincoln County Times. Elvira Byrd is significant as the first woman founder of a Mississippi newspaper. Vivian Byrd operated a newspaper in Goldthwaite, Texas. Homer Byrd became a telegraph editor for the New Orleans Picayune. The collection also concerns Byrd family members in Santa Ana and Brownwood, Texas.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Hodding and Betty Werlein Carter Papers. Ca. 82 ft. Collection dates from 1872 to 1979

Correspondence, personal papers, literary manuscripts, and publications concerning the Carters and their careers. Hodding Carter (1907-1972) was born in Louisiana and attended Bowdoin College and the Columbia University School of Journalism. He began his career in journalism in the 1920's as a reporter in Jackson, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Carter and Betty Werlein of New Orleans were married in 1931, and soon after started their own newspaper, the Hammond Courier. With Hodding as editor and Betty as business manager, the Courier consistently opposed the rule of Huey Long. Hodding Carter ran for the House of Representatives in 1935 after Long's death, but was defeated. In 1936, at the invitation of William Alexander Percy, the Carters moved to Greenville, Mississippi and set up the Delta Star. Two years later the Star was merged to form the Delta Democrat-Times. Carter was best known after World War II for his editorials, magazine articles, books, and speeches advocating racial justice in the south. Carter's 1946 series urging racial tolerance earned him the Pulitzer Prize. In 1954, the Mississippi House of Representatives voted him a "liar" for his articles on the Citizen's Councils.

The Carter papers document the important events and social movements to which the Carters were witnesses or participants, such as the political careers of Huey Long and Theodore Bilbo, World War II, the Office of War Information, the rise of the Citizen's Councils in the 1950's, the integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962, and changes in race relations throughout the country.

Papers are open with the permission of Mrs. Betty Carter.

Turner Catledge Papers. 132 cubic feet. Collection dates from 1873 to 1985

Personal and business papers of William Turner Catledge (1901-1983), MSU graduate, journalist, and editor of the New York Times. Turner Catledge was born in Ackerman, Mississippi and grew up in Philadelphia in Neshoba County. At the age of 14 he set type for the Neshoba Democrat. After graduating from Mississippi A & M in 1922, Catledge became editor of the Tunica Times and then managing editor and mechanical superintendent of the Tupelo Journal, where he was known for his campaign against the Ku Klux Klan. Between 1924 and 1929, Catledge was a reporter for the Memphis Commercial Appeal and the Baltimore Sun, where he began to attract regional and national attention. Catledge's work covering the 1927 Mississippi floods for the Sun brought notice from then Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, who recommended Catledge to New Ycrk Times publisher, Adolph S. Ochs. Catledge began work for the Times in 1929. During his career, Catledge served the Times as Capitol correspondent, White House correspondent, chief news correspondent, national correspondent managing editor, executive managing editor, vice-president, and board member until his retirement in 1973. Catledge also worked for the Chicago Sun as roving correspondent and editor-in-chief from 1941-1943. In 1957, Catledge interviewed Nikita Khrushchev, and achieved exclusive coverage of Khrushchev's call for a summit meeting of world leaders. He was known for his innovative news coverage and newspaper management, as well as for his adherence to the highest standards in journalism. The Catledge Papers reflect local, national, and world events, primarily for the period 1945 to 1968, and also the personal and professional life of Catledge.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

John Oliver Emmerich Sr. Papers. 6.5 cubic ft. Collection dates from 1877 to 1978

Correspondence, clippings, biographical sketches, manuscripts, research material, publications, photographs, and memorabilia of Emmerich (1896-1978), editor and publisher of the McComb Enterprise-Journal for more than 30 years. He also served as editor of the Jackson State Times. Emmerich was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and moved to McComb, Mississippi at the age of four. Emmerich earned his B.A. from Mississippi State, and his M.A. from the University of Missouri. Emmerich was known for his involvement in community affairs and rural improvement programs, and for his editorials urging an end to racial violence. For these contributions, Emmerich received many awards and honors. The papers concern the civil rights movement in Mississippi, the States Rights movement, the national Democratic party, and the Enterprise-Journal. Included also is much material concerning the history of McComb and Pike County.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Faulk (Charles Johnson) Papers. Acc. No. 514. circa 1864-1990 (Bulk Dates: 1940-1989). 7.5 cu. ft.

The Charles Johnson Faulk Papers comprise the papers of Charles Faulk, Jr. (1915-1990), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and executive editor of the Vicksburg Evening Post. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs taken by Faulk or collected by him, and manuscripts and copies of articles and short stories he wrote, including an unpublished autobiography. Other materials include correspondence, newspapers, publications, oral interviews and artifacts.

Norma Fields Papers. 9 cubic ft. Collection dates from 1960-1990.

Correspondence, articles, clippings, audio recordings, speeches and other records documenting the journalistic career of Norma Fields (b. 1922), reporter for the Tupelo/Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Born in New Albany, Mississippi, Fields did some undergraduate work at the University of Mississippi. She began her journalism career in 1962 as a business reporter for Business Bureau Reports in Austin, Texas. In 1963, Fields became a part-time correspondent for the Tupelo Daily Journal, and worked for the northeast Mississippi newspaper for the remainder of her active career. After writing feature and news articles for the Journal for some 10 years, Fields in 1975 was made Capitol news reporter. She is the first female Mississippi journalist to "man" a full-time capitol news bureau. Fields has won many state and national journalism and media awards for reporting. In 1988, she became a Turner Catledge fellow at MSU. Fields has also served as a panelist on television news discussion programs. Currently, she is a free-lance writer.

Field's papers reflect local and state events during her early years as a reporter, including material such as her 1967 multi-part series on her interview with a disillusioned Klan member. For the period from 1975 until Field's retirement in 1988, the papers include much material on legislative sessions and issues, women's rights, local and state politics, and the elections and gubernatorial administrations of Cliff Finch, Bill Allain, William Winter and Ray Mabus. Included are correspondence with readers and colleagues, photographs, speeches, audio tapes.

Partially processed. Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Benjamin Turner Hobbs Family Papers. ca. 22,050 items. Collection dates from 1834 to 1936

Digitized Items
Correspondence, accounts, receipts, promissory notes, tax receipts, deeds, minutes, speeches, clippings, printed material, and business, legal and other papers, centering around Benjamin Turner Hobbs (1853-1910), editor of the Brookhaven (Miss. ) Leader. Born in Hinds County, Mississippi, Hobbs attended Mississippi College at Clinton. Hobbs apprenticed for R.H. Henry, editor of the Newton Ledger. In 1883, Hobbs founded the Leader, which was known for its advocacy of prohibition, its support of the 1890 constitutional convention, prison reform and the radical ballot, and its opposition to whitecapping. The Hobbs Family Papers document these issues, and in addition include material on the J.W. Bailey controversy in Texas, and on Mississippi Baptist churches and schools. There is also material on Mrs. Lena M. Hobbs, who edited and managed the paper after her husband's death, and there is significant material on the operation of the Leader.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Erle Johnston Papers. .12 cu. ft. 1937-1991

Letters, clippings, photographs and certificate documenting the career of Johnston as campaign publicity writer, newspaper editor, Sovereignty commission director and author. Also includes tapes of Johnston's presentation to an MSU Communications class.

C.F. Mayerhoff Collection. Ca. 2 ft. Collection dates from 1938 to 1974

Personal correspondence, clippings, photographs, scrapbook, audio recordings, newspapers and other materials collected by Charles Francis Mayerhoff, (1910-1978), who was born in Meridian, Mississippi. As a journalist and public relations editor, Mayerhoff served as bureau chief, International News Service in Jackson; news editor, radio station WRBC in Jackson; and as executive assistant and Washington bureau head, National States' Rights Committee (19491950). For a period Mayerhoff edited his own weekly, the Meridian City News. In later years, Mayerhoff was a reporter for the Jackson State Times, the Columbus Commercial Dispatch, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, and the Vicksburg Evening Post, before retiring in 1973. Although the collection includes material on a variety of state and national issues, events, and personalities of the period, it is particularly strong in its documentation of the National States' Rights Party (1948-1950). Included are tapes of Dixiecrat meetings and speeches by politicians.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

John Calhoun Merrill Papers. ca. 5 cu. ft. Collection dates from 1952 to 2000

Personal correspondence, speeches and lectures, photographs, manuscripts of articles and papers, publications, and other materials documenting the career, research and writings of John Calhoun Merrill, journalist, media scholar and author of scholarly papers and books. John C. Merrill was born in 1924 in Yazoo City, Mississippi, and is a retired Journalism Professor Emeritus from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Merrill is a 1949 graduate of Delta State University. He began his career officially as a wire editor for the Clarion-Ledger, although he first worked as a high school student for Hodding Carter's Delta Democrat Times just before serving in World War II. Merrill also worked for the Bolivar Commercial in Cleveland before earning his Master of Arts degree and Doctor of Philosophy and turning to journalism education. Among Merrill's books are Existential Journalism, The Imperative of Freedom, Media, Messages and Men, The Imperative of Freedom: A Philosophy of Journalistic Autonomy and The Elite Press. Merrill also wrote the first U.S. textbook on international journalism and is a senior fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center in New York. In 1970 Merrill won the University of Missouri Outstanding Journalism Teacher Award and in 1971 was selected as an outstanding alumnus by the Delta State University Alumni Association.

Unprocessed, but open to researchers without restriction.

Henry Meyer Papers. 1 cu. ft. Collection dates from 1878 (1937-1999)

Papers of Meyer (b. 1912), native of Selma, Alabama, 1932 Journalism and English graduate of the University of Alabama and Starkville resident since 1933. After managing Blumenfeld and Fried, a Starkville wholesale grocery business from 1933 to 1946, Meyer and his brother Morris in 1946 purchased the Starkville Publishing Company, a firm which handled job printings and office supplies and published the Starkville News, then a weekly newspaper. The Meyers published the local paper, which became a daily in 1960, from 1946-1966. Meyer wrote 80% of the articles for the newspaper during the better part of this period and also wrote a local news column entitled "Putting the OK on Oktibbeha." Meyer's other journalism activities include managing and advising the MSU newspaper, the Reflector, and publishing the local high school newspaper and the Alumnus, the news magazine of the MSU Alumni Association. Meyer also taught journalism at MSU. Meyer was inducted into the Mississippi Press Association Hal of Fame in 1991. His papers include a small amount of material concerning the Starkville Daily News, including photographs, awards and clippings. Other materials in the papers include correspondence, awards, speeches, clippings, diplomas, photographs, scrapbooks, audiotapes and other materials documenting Meyer's education, career, teaching and organizational activities, his family background, and the activities of his children. Of special interest is a scrapbook documenting the activities of his son Melvin Meyer at the University of Alabama, 1961-1964. Meyer was editor of the school newspaper who was censured for writing in favor of James Meredith and integration at the University of Mississippi. Also of interest is a videotape copy of Ed Birnbaum's copy of the last issue of the New York Times newspaper which was set in linotype. 

Willie J. Miller Papers. 24 ft. Collection dates from 1955-1998

Willie J. Miller (b. 1902), a native of Yazoo City, Mississippi and a resident of Jackson, Mississippi, established the Mississippi Enterprise, a weekly newspaper targeting Mississippi African-Americans in 1938. The forerunner of the paper was the Mississippi Weekly begun by Julia Hibbler Miller, Miller's first wife. The paper was sent to St. Louis for printing during the early days of its publication history. In the 1950s, editions of the Mississippi Enterprise were also published in Meridian, Vicksburg, Greenville and St. Louis. Apparently materials generated from the early production years of the newspaper are no longer extant. The papers include manuscripts of articles, press releases, obituaries, advertising copy, photographs, financial records, newspapers and other materials, primarily from the years 1974-1988. Photographs were those collected for printing in the paper and these document African American events, institutions, issues and personalities. The textual materials in the newspaper files also document national, state and local African American history, including materials on events, issues and personalities. The papers also contain some general documentation of non-African- American historical events and personalities. Open to researchers without restriction.

Wilson Floyd (Bill) Minor Papers. Ca. 27 ft. Collection dates from 1936 to 1993.

Correspondence, articles, speeches, press releases, campaign materials, clippings, photographs and other documents amassed in the course of Minor's career as a journalist in Mississippi. Minor was born in Hammond, Louisiana in 1922 and received his degree in journalism from Tulane University. He began work for the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 1942. Beginning in 1947, Minor worked in Jackson as a reporter on Mississippi politics for the Times-Picayune, and continued writing his "Eyes on Mississippi" column until the paper's Jackson bureau was closed in 1976. A specialist in Mississippi politics, Minor in that year elected to stay in Jackson and take over the editorship of the weekly Capitol Reporter. In 1981, Minor became a syndicated political columnist and television commentator. The Minor Papers are an important continuous source of information on news and political events, and the issues and personalities of the time period of Minor's career, with emphasis on racial issues and the political development of Mississippi. In addition, they tell the story of a most controversial and influential journalist.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Mississippi Press Association Records. ca. 40 cu. ft. Additions expected. 1856 (1940s-2000) and undated

Minutes, correspondence, proceedings, press releases and mailouts, programs, contest and advertising materials, photographs, memorabilia, newspaper issues, articles, clippings and publications documenting the activities of the Mississippi Press Association, Mississippi journalists and the Mississippi press. Founded in 1866, the Mississippi Press Association has represented the newspapers of the state continuously from its Jackson, Mississippi offices during its 131 years of operation. Included among the many publications in the records are a history of individual members of the Mississippi press (1941), Centennial, 125th anniversary, and other special editions of The Mississippi Press , and all issues of The Mississippi Press and The Fourth Estate, the organization's quarterly newsletter.

Records received in 2000 and 2001 are in process, but usable. Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

George Moreland Collection. .33 cu. ft. Collection dates from 1928-1933

George Moreland of West Memphis, Arkansas was a columnist for the Memphis Commercial Appeal and wrote much about Mississippi. Included are newspaper clippings, photographs, letters and brochures concerning Mississippi localities, and some material on Mississippi authors and a few miscellaneous Alabama items. Originally a part of the Tom Love Arkansas Collection at Arkansas State University Library, this collection was donated by the Library.

Open to researchers without restriction.

Carolyn Bennett Patterson Papers. 11 cu. ft. Collection dates from 1893 to 1999

Papers of Patterson, Kosciukso, Mississippi native and Louisiana State University graduate who also attended Blue Mountain College, MSU and the University of Missouri. Patterson served as a general reporter and the first woman police reporter in New Orleans for the New Orleans State from 1942-1945, and worked for the Red Cross in Florida before beginning her career with National Geographic Magazine in 1949. At National Geographic, Patterson served as News Service writer and captions and magazine writer, before her appointment as Legends Editor, heading a staff that produced information to accompany the magazine's trademark photographs. She also wrote major pieces on a variety of topics, including the Neshoba County Fair and Winston Churchill's 1965 funeral. Materials in the collection include correspondence, cassette tapes, tape players, videotape, photographs, publications and other materials related to Patterson's career, her involvement in various organizations, her freelance work as a travel writer, her involvement in projects such as Caravan America, activities with colleagues and friends, and travel/tourism information from locations around the world. Gift of Carolyn Bennett Patterson, 1999.

Unprocessed. Preliminary finding aids are available.

Clayton Rand Papers. 33 ft. Collection dates from 1918 to 1971

Digitized Items
Papers of Rand (1891-1971), author, columnist, speaker, and publisher of the Dixie Guide, Gulfport, Mississippi. Rand was born in Wisconsin, reared in Bond, Mississippi, and attended Mississippi A & M, where he organized the drama club and was editor of the student newspaper before graduating in 1911. He received his second B.S. from Harvard in 1913, and also studied law for a period. After a stint as a lawyer and land speculator, Rand operated papers in Neshoba, Kemper, and Tunica Counties, including the Neshoba Democrat and the DeKalb Independent. Rand was known for his efforts to improve the living standards of the local citizens, for his campaign for a consolidated school system, for his stand against the Klan and corruption in government. In the 1920's Rand moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where he purchased the Dixie Press and began the Mississippi Guide. Rand, known as a crusader, also wrote syndicated columns for national and regional newspapers, and published many pamphlets. His papers also document some of his more conservative stances, including his opposition to the New Deal, to John Kennedy's administration, and to the federal government in general. Included are correspondence; manuscripts of speeches; books, pamphlets and columns; financial records; clippings; printed material; and photographs.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Emmett Ross Papers. 835 items. Collection dates from 1825 to 1955

Papers of Ross (1838-1891), Confederate officer and journalist, of Canton, Mississippi. Ross was editor of the Canton Picket, and although he was known more for his poetry than for his editorial writing, the paper was highly read during its time. The collection includes personal and family correspondence, legal papers, bills, receipts, manuscripts, newspapers, and a diary.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Sidney L. "Sid" Salter Papers. Ca. 8 ft. Collection dates from 1890 to 1997

Papers of Salter, born in 1959 in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Salter received his B.A. from Mississippi State University and began his career as assistant sports editor for The Starkville Daily News in 1981. In successive career moves from 1982 to 1983, Salter served as associate editor for The Neshoba Democrat and managing editor at The Bolivar Commercial before becoming publisher and editor of The Scott County Times/The Morton Tribune in 1983. From 1989 to 1991, Salter was also publisher of The Aberdeen Examiner/The Amory Advertiser. Salter's syndicated political column appears in more than 40 daily and weekly newspapers and as of 1992 was the most widely published opinion/editorial column in the state. Salter has won numerous journalism awards and is active in the Mississippi Press Association and in other journalism activities.

Included in the papers are letters from readers concerning Salter columns, and letters from leaders in politics, education, and other fields concerning current issues. Also included are files containing legal documents, press releases, publications, photographs, reports, articles and other materials on topics that have been the subject of Salter columns. Other materials document Salter's career and public activities, including speeches, memorabilia, articles and awards materials. Clippings of Salter's syndicated column, 19-19 are also included.

Papers are partially restricted.

Wiley Sanders Papers. 119 items. Collection dates from 1876 to 1941

Papers of Sanders (18S2-1937), farmer, editor of the Star Ledger, (Kosciusko, Mississippi), the progenitor through many mergings of the Star Herald, and a widely circulated and influential newspaper. Sanders'' sons operated the papers after his death. Sanders was also elected to the Mississippi State legislature (1884, 1900, 1904). Included are correspondence, speeches, a photo and autograph book, souvenirs of the Mississippi Press Association excursion to Cuba (1930), newspapers and newspaper clippings.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Hazel Brannon Smith Papers. 1945-1976. Ca. 1 cu. ft

Letters, clippings, pamphlets, certif icates, and other materials concerning Smith, who was born in 1914 in Gadsden, Alabama. Smith graduated from the University of Alabama in 1935 with a B.A. in Journalism. In that year she came to Mississippi and purchased the Durant News. By 1943, that paper was successful enough to allow Smith to purchase the Lexington Advertiser, which she edited and published from 1943 to 1983. Smith purchased the Banner County Outlook (Flora) in 1956 and the Northside Reporter (Jackson) in 1956. Smith used her column "Through Hazel's Eyes" and her editorials to comment on social injustice and political corruption. In 1964, because of her stand against the Citizens Councils, Smith received the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing for her "steadfast adherence to her editorial duty in the face of great pressure and opposition". Smith's other awards include the 1st prize award from the National Federation of Press Women 1946 and 1955; and the Herrick Award for Editorial Writing, 1956. Smith was also named Woman of Achievement by the National Federation of Press Women.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Kenneth Toler Papers. 845 items. Collection dates from 1928 to 1966

Papers of journalist Toler (1904-1966) include correspondence, speeches, press releases, clippings, and photographs, chiefly concerning political, legislative, and racial events in Mississippi, during Toler's career as a correspondent for the Associated Press and the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Toler was born in Crowley, Louisiana and attended Louisiana State University. He began his career on the Crowley Daily Signal. Toler's specialty was Mississippi politics. From 1928 on he covered the Mississippi legislature and the capitol, and his papers reflect that specialty in their documentation of the outstanding events of the period.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Wayne Weidie Papers. Ca. 4 ft. Collection dates from 1972-1995

Papers of journalist Weidie, born 1941 in of New Orleans, 1963 graduate of Mississippi State University who also studied at Louisiana State University and was a Mississippi Gulf Coast resident for 32 years. Weidie was editor and publisher of the Ocean Springs Record from 1970-1990, the Gautier Independent, 1977-1990, and author of "The Political Scene", a syndicated column which was distributed to 17 daily and 27 weekly newspapers in Mississippi. Weidie became the Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative Gene Taylor of Mississippi's 5th district in 1990. Included in the papers is political information concerning state and national elections; campaign materials; newspaper clippings; press releases; election poll results; newspaper clippings and manuscripts of Weidie articles; photographs; materials from presentation of Weidie papers. More recent material documents Weidie's activities on behalf of Gene Taylor, including press releases, reports and publications.

Papers are partially restricted.

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Advertising

Godwin Advertising Agency Records. ca. 51 cubic ft. Collection dates from 1944 (1952) - 1978.

Records, 1944-1978, contain correspondence, photographs, clippings, scrapbooks, notebooks, audiotapes and phonograph records, film, videotape, publications, handwritten notes, election returns, political handbills and speeches. For the most part, the collection contains political material and the majority deals with the Mississippi elections of 1963 and 1971 with emphasis on Charles L. Sullivan's campaigns and some material on the campaigns of Paul B. Johnson. The collection also contains significant documentation of the States Rights movement, 1948-1952, as well as the Mississippi Democratic Party. Although the records bulk with Mississippi documentation, they do include some national material and material on states such as Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and North Carolina. General files containing primarily Mississippi political material (1944-1975), newspaper clippings from 1951 to 1975, and audiotapes from 1952 to 1972 make up the bulk of the collection. Other topics documented by the agency records include the Mississippi Miss Hospitality contest, Pilgrimages in Columbus, Holly Springs and Natchez and the Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board.

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Editorial Cartoonists

Mark Bolton Papers. ca. 8 ft. Collection dates from 1976-1992.

Papers of Bolton, editorial cartoonist for the Jackson, Mississippi Clarion Ledger from -1986-1996. Included are sketches and cartoons from his college days at the University of South Carolina, unpublished sketches and correspondence with publishers (1982-1983). The collection bulks with cartoons drawn by Bolton for the Clarion-Ledger, but also includes cartoons drawn for the Council Bluffs, Iowa Nonpareil, the Columbus, South Carolina State, and the Bellevue, Nebraska Leader. Topics include Mississippi, local and national politics, education, gambling, public welfare, human and civil rights, and Mississippi events and personalities.

Open to researchers without restriction.

Clay Jones Papers. ca. 7 cubic ft. Collection dates from 1980s to 1997

Editorial cartoons, sketchbooks, correspondence, clippings and articles, photographs, memorabilia other materials documenting the early cartoon drawings and journalism career of Jones, who began his career as an editorial cartoonist for the Batesville Panolian and other newspapers and who was by 1997 one of the most widely syndicated editorial cartoonists in Mississippi. Jones is now an editorial cartoonist in Hawaii. Jones cartoons have also been reprinted in national publications such as USA Today.

Received in 1997. Unprocessed. Not yet open to researchers.

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Periodicals

Butler (Eugene) Papers. Acc. No. 389. 1883-1999 (Bulk Dates: 1925-1980). 17 cu. ft.

Digitized Items
The Eugene Butler Papers comprise the papers of Progressive Farmer editor-in-chief Eugene Butler (1894-1995). The papers contain correspondence related to Butler’s business activities and involvement with Mississippi State University, office memoranda, reports, drafts of editorials, speeches, photocopies of editorials and articles, newspaper clippings, biographical material, brochures and other publications, press releases and photographs.

Partially processed. Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Cully A. Cobb/Ruralist Press Papers. 20 cubic ft. Collection dates from 1906-1972

Papers, 1906-1972, consist of correspondence, reports, photographs and other materials concerning the career and family of Cully A. Cobb (1884-1975), a 1908 graduate of Mississippi State University (Mississippi A&M College). The majority of the files were accumulated in the Atlanta, Georgia offices of the Ruralist Press, which Cobb owned and directed from 1937 to 1971, but many papers concern Cobb's activities prior to his acquisition of the Press, such as his direction of the Cotton Division of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (1933-1937).

Among the primary subjects are agriculture, Mississippi State University, the Southern Baptist Church, the Coca-Cola Company, 4-H Clubs, the printing industry, and the Ruralist Press. Material is found on the following specific subjects: the American Farm Bureau Federation; cotton and the National Cotton Council; farm cooperatives; the Ku Klux Klan; labor unions; the New Deal and New Deal agencies such as the Reconstruction Finance Corporation; race relations; Tuskegee Institute and Emory University; and other topics. Correspondents include several United States Congressmen and other government officials. 

The collection is related closely to the Cully A. Cobb Papers and the Lois P. Dowdle Cobb Papers. All three collections overlap in subject matter and in chronological period.

Papers are open to researchers without restriction.

Southern Livestock Journal Company Records. 1 volume. 1883-1911

Records of the Starkville, Mississippi company which published the Southern Livestock Journal from 1876-1891 and was started by Mississippi A&M faculty members F.A. Gulley, D.L. Phares, W. B. Montgomery and others. The Southern Livestock Journal was the forerunner of the Southern Farm Gazette. Included in the first part of the volume are minutes of the stockholders meetings from 1883-1886. Following are a list of subscriptions for periodicals and newspapers which were used to produce the Journal. Apparently the company also operated a lending library as lists of fines are also included in the volume.

Open to researchers without restriction.

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Television and Radio

Citizen's Council of America Radio Forums. 418 reels of 5 inch audiotape. 1957-1966

Public Affairs radio forums broadcast from Citizen's Council offices in Plaza Building in Jackson, Mississippi and aired throughout the South. Topics include segregation/integration, schools, States Rights, Communism, the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, the House Committee on Unamerican Activities, the work of the Citizen's Council including Annual Leadership Conferences, Circuit Riders, Inc., centralization of government, socialized medicine, election reform, immigration, labor, women's views, student loyalty oaths, the military, the Supreme Court, Cuba, Freedom Riders, the Southern Governor's Conference, civil rights acts, welfare program, race riots including the Los Angeles riots (1965), Vietnam protest movement, Students for a Democratic Society, and Rhodesia. Material on civil rights and politics in Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Iowa, Arkansas, Washington, D.C., Ohio, Georgia, South Africa and Wisconsin. Speakers include Leander Perez, Joe T. Patterson, W.J. Simmons, William M. Colmer, Frank Smith, Ralph Gwin, Strom Thurmond, John Bell Williams, Herman E. Talmadge, Allen J. Ellender, John C. Stennis, Orville Faubus, Barry Goldwater, Jamie Whitten, Thomas Abernethy, Carleton Putnam, Meyer G. Lowman, James O. Eastland, Sam Ervin, Paul B. Johnson Jr., Edwin A. Walker, John Tower, Ross Barnett, John Dowdy, Medford Evans, Robert T. Ashmore, Edward Hunter, George C. Wallace, William K. Shearer and others. 

Howard Langfitt Collection. 3 cu. ft. Collection dates from 1955-1961 and undated

Digitized Items
Collection of Howard Langfitt (d. 1997), Iowa-born Speech and Radio graduate of the University of Iowa, who grew up on an Iowa farm. Langfitt worked for a hybrid seed corn company and served in the Army in World War II before he began his career in agricultural radio. Langfitt's first radio positions were at stations in Des Moines and Shreveport before being hired by WJDX radio in Jackson, Mississippi in 1945. Langfitt served as Program Director there and developed the farm program. Langfitt became Farm Services Director for WJDX/WLBT-TV, Jackson's largest station in 1954. Because of his great interest in agriculture and a desire to promote farming, Langfitt talked WLBT into letting him develop the AFarm Family of the Week@ segment of his Monday through Friday agricultural program, ARFD Televisit@. The program aired from 1954-1961 when Langfitt left WLBT.

The Howard Langfitt Collection consists of the materials used to produce the AFarm Family of the Week@ program, a program which featured a family within the WLBT viewing area who met standards for excellent farming as judged by Langfitt and the county agricultural agents who assisted him. Families were interviewed and photographed in advance and scripts were written from the interviews. Families came to the studio on the day of the program and were aired live with Langfitt also. Includes 374 television scripts and some 167,637 negative images. Nineteen television segments are represented by a program script only. Thirty-eight Mississippi counties and Madison and Tensas Parishes in Louisiana are represented. Database index of locations and family names.

Bob McRaney Collection. 1 cu. ft. 1922-1980 and undated.

The Bob McRaney Collection consists of photocopies of research materials that Mr. McRaney used in writing his book, the History of Radio in Mississippi. Included are correspondence, station logs, newsletters, clippings and station histories. Bob McRaney was born at Seminary, Mississippi in 1912. He began his career as an organist at theaters in Hattiesburg and Jackson. In 1932 he held his first radio position as organist, announcer and program director of a radio station in Hattiesburg. In 1940, he helped organize the Mississippi Broadcasters Association. He served as executive director of that organization from 1959-1977. His career in radio covers 52 years.

WLBT Records. 105 cubic ft. of records, 201 videotapes, 249 reels 16 mm film. Collection dates from 1967-1980

In 1964 The United Church of Christ's Office of Communication filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission charging that television station WLBT, the NBC affiliate in Jackson, Mississippi, was guilty of racial injustice and discrimination in its programming. The ensuing legal proceedings lasted fifteen years, produced landmark judicial decisions, and led to a change in the ownership of the station.

As a result of two rulings by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, control of the station was removed from the Lamar Life Broadcasting Company, which had held the license since the station's inception in 1953. At the time of the decisions the Court of Appeals was presided over by Warren Burger, the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Because the decision to grant the permanent license was expected to take a long time, the Federal Communications Commission awarded an interim license to Communications Improvement, Incorporated (CII), a nonprofit biracial organization which was not an applicant for the permanent license. CII assumed the license on June 14, 1971 and operated the station until the end of January 1980. During those years WLBT won numerous awards and repeatedly dominated its market.

CII's Board of Directors was headed by Kenneth Dean, a Baptist minister and former director of the Mississippi Council for Human Relations. As President of the Board Dean directed the implementation of CII's policies at WLBT. Among the changes that occurred were the appointment of a new general manager, who became the first black to hold such a position in the country; a rise in the percentage of minority employees at the station; more intensive news coverage; additional public affairs programming, including the weekly program "Probe"; the hiring of a children's program director; and policy changes concerning religious programming.

As a nonprofit organization in a profit-making situation, CII proposed to channel the profits generated by the station into educational interests in Mississippi. Among the recipients of CII donations were public radio broadcasting, educational television, and a communications training program at Tougaloo College.

At the end of January 1980, CII turned over the operation of WLBT to the new license-holder, TV-3. TV-3 was composed of representatives from four groups that had sought the permanent license: Channel 3, Incorporated; Dixie National Broadcasting Corporation; Civic Communication Corporation; and Jackson Television, Incorporated.

The WLBT Archives consist of the records of the station during the period in which CII held the license, June 1971 January 1980. Several items predate CII's operation but the bulk of the collection dates from 1971 to 1978. Included are programming logs, film and scripts of local newscasts, videotapes of the public affairs program "Probe", financial records, and office files of correspondence and memoranda. In addition to documenting both the daily and long-range operation of the station, the collection reflects the events and issues prominent in Mississippi during the 1970s.

Open to researchers without restriction.

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