Roscoe Reporting

Thursday, January 25, 2018

AP: Highway could be named for author of civil rights memoir

Special thanks to Rep. Angela Cockerham

By Roscoe Barnes III

Chairman, Anne Moody History Project

#AnneMoody

#AnneMoodyHighway

#AnneMoodyMemorialHighway

Rep. Angela Cockerham, D-Magnolia

I am absolutely excited to report that our work with the Anne Moody History Project (AMHP) is continuing to pay off. We learned yesterday that the Mississippi State House Transportation Committee passed House Bill 1153 to designate a portion of Highway 24 as the “Anne Moody Memorial Highway.” The bill will now go to a second committee, and then to the full House.

Emily Wagster Pettus, reporter for the Associated Press, wrote a brief story about the highway being named in Moody’s honor. You can see it here.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Angela Cockerham, D-Magnolia. It calls for renaming the section of Highway 24 in Wilkinson County, beginning at its intersection with U.S. Highway 61 in Woodville, Miss., and extending east to the Amite County line in Centreville, Miss., Moody’s hometown.

Moody is the author of Coming of Age in Mississippi (1968). She was born and raised in Centreville, in southwest Mississippi. At 17, she moved to Woodville, where she graduated from Johnson High School. She went on to Natchez College and then to Tougaloo College where she became active in the civil rights movement in the early 1960s.

Moody died in 2015 at the age of 74. She was living in Gloster, Miss., at the time of her death.

The idea for the “Anne Moody Memorial Highway” (initially called “Anne Moody Highway”) originated with the AMHP, a community service endeavor of Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, Woodville. AMHP submitted a formal request for the name change to the Wilkinson County Board of Supervisors in June 2017. After giving unanimous approval to the request, the board submitted a formal resolution to Cockerham.

House Bill 1153 for Anne Moody Memorial Highway

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Would you like to know more about Anne Moody?

Visit the Anne Moody page here!

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For more information:

See the Anne Moody page here.

Questions about the Anne Moody History Project may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com. For updates on Anne Moody history and the on-going work of this community service project, simply follow this blog or follow AMHP on Twitter (@AnneMoodyHP). #ComingOfAgeinMississippi

Anne Moody and Centreville Missionary Baptist Church

By Roscoe Barnes III

Chairman, Anne Moody History Project

#AnneMoody

Centreville Missionary Baptist Church is featured in Anne Moody’s
Coming of Age in Mississippi. It was considered the largest black
church in Centreville, Miss. The church was bricked in the early 1970s,
according to Moody’s family.

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Curiosity got the best of me. After reading about Centreville Missionary Baptist Church in Anne Moody’s book, Coming of Age in Mississippi, I had to find the church and take a look at the cemetery behind it. The church is on the corner of Church Street and Cemetery Street in the northeast section of Centreville, Miss. It is pastored by the Rev. Jack Brown Jr.

The church is in the part of the town that's located in Amite County. Moody’s childhood home, located off of Highway 24 on the corner of Anne Moody Street (formerly Fort Street) and Hospital Road, is in Wilkinson County.

Readers of Moody's book will recall that her family began attending the church after they moved into town. They had previously attended Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, which was in the rural part of Centreville. The family of Moody's step-father, Raymond (Leroy Jefferson), and his mother, Miss Pearl (Violet Graves Jefferson), were active members of the church. Raymond and Miss Pearl are also buried in the cemetery behind the church along with other members of the Jefferson family.

In Chapter 5 of Moody’s book, she writes about her family’s connection to Centreville Baptist. She also gives a physical description of the church building. At the time, the church apparently had a white frame structure. But it was bricked in the early 1970s, according to Moody’s family.

“Raymond and Miss Pearl them belonged to Centreville Baptist, the largest Negro church in town. Now that we were living with Raymond Mama started thinking about joining Raymond’s church.”

“One Saturday in early spring she [Mama] went to town and bought a new dress and hat for herself. That night, before we went to bed, she told us that we’d have to get up early the next morning because we were going to Centreville Baptist. I couldn’t fall asleep for a long time, thinking about going there. Raymond had once taken us for a ride and showed it to us. It was a big white frame building on a brick base with cement steps all the way across the front. It had great big windows painted in different shades of blue and green. I wondered as I fell asleep what it was like inside.”

Moody was quite impressed with the choir at Centreville Baptist. She wanted to join the church and sing with the choir. She writes:

“While the collection for the sick was being taken up, the choir sang a few songs. This was the first time I had been in a church that had a choir. I used to listen to choirs on the radio sometimes, and this one sounded just as good. They sang ‘Rock of Ages’ and ‘Stand by Me.’ There were young girls among the singers. Some of them didn’t look any older than me. I sat there listening to them and hoping Mama would change her membership to here. ‘Then I could sing in the choir too,’ I thought.”

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Would you like to know MORE about Anne Moody? Visit here to

see the timeline of important events in her life history!

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For more information:

See the Anne Moody page here.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Anne Moody and Ray Charles' "Danger Zone"

How She Found Comfort Where She Didn’t Expect It

By Roscoe Barnes III

Chairman, Anne Moody History Project
Copyright (c) 2018

#AnneMoody

Listen to "The Danger Zone" on YouTube here.

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When Anne Moody faced a spiritual and emotional crisis after the 1963 church bombing in Alabama, she found comfort in the music of Ray Charles.

The bombing occurred on Sept. 15^th, Moody’s birthday, at the 16^th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Four girls were killed and over 20 people injured.

Moody, a civil rights pioneer, enjoyed different types of music. She liked gospel music and singing in the church choir, and she had a strong appreciation for freedom songs. But when her heart was crushed -- and her faith was shattered -- by the news of the four girls being killed in the bombing, she found a measure of comfort in Charles’ song, “The Danger Zone.” In Chapter 25 of her book, Coming of Age in Mississippi, she recounts the moment:

I left the office shortly after lunch. When I got to the Freedom House, I played freedom songs and tried to analyze what had happened thus far for us in the Movement. I discovered my mind was so warped and confused I couldn’t think clearly. The church bombing had had a terrible effect on me. It had made me question everything I had ever believed in. “There has got to be another way for us,” I thought. “If not, then there is no end to the misery we are now encountering.”

It was at that point that Moody picked up a record by Charles. She apparently was surprised by the effect it would have on her. She writes:

I put a Ray Charles record on the box and he was saying “Feeling sad all the time, that’s because I got a worried mind. The world is in an uproar, the danger zone is everywhere. Read your paper, and you’ll see just exactly what keep worryin’ me.” It seemed as though I had never listened to Ray before. For the first time he said something to me.

The song resonated with Moody because it accurately described what she was feeling and experiencing. In a sense, she was in a “danger zone.” She and other people of color, especially those working for civil rights. As the song notes, the whole world was in an uproar, and Moody was on the front lines of the battle.

The song was composed by Percy Mayfield and released on side B of a non-LP single in 1961. The lyrics are haunting and prophetic. A writer for the website, Itsallaboutray.com, describes the song as “a somber lament” that “expresses fear and disappointment in the slow progress being made in contemporary society.” The writer suggests that while the lyrics are vague, “You can look to the historical realities in America circa 1961 to guess your way to the song’s explicit meaning, but the sentiments could be equally applied to today or any time.”

Given the simple and heartfelt words in the lyrics, plus the powerful way in which the song is delivered, it’s no wonder Moody found comfort in the song. And when one considers the theme of the song and the time in which it was written, it is easy to see how the music spoke to her.

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Would you like to learn MORE about Anne Moody? Visit here to

see the timeline of important events in her life history!

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For more information:

See the Anne Moody page here.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Farewell to Anne Moody: Her Place of Celebration

Memorial service held at Homochitto Association Development Center

By Roscoe Barnes III

Chairman, Anne Moody History Project

#AnneMoody

Anne Moody passed on Feb. 5, 2015. Her memorial service was held

at this location in Gloster, Miss., on Feb. 14, 2015.

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The memorial service for Anne Moody, noted author and civil rights pioneer, was held on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015, at Homochitto Association Development Center (HADC) in Gloster, Miss. HADC is located at 2753 Antioch Perkins Road in a rural section of the town in southwest Mississippi.

HADC is named for the Homochitto River. The word "Homochitto" is believed to be a Native American name that means "Big Red River."

The center is 15 miles from Centreville, Miss., where Anne grew up, and six to 12 miles (depending on the route) from her home in Gloster. When she died on Feb. 5, 2015, she was under the care of her sister, Adline Moody, who also lives in Gloster.

Anne’s remains were cremated on Friday, Feb. 6, 2015. Arrangements were entrusted to Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton, La.

As a child growing up in Centreville, Anne and her family attended Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church and Centreville Baptist Church, both in Centreville. But after her passing, her family and friends paid their respects near her Gloster home at HADC.

Friends, family, and civil rights activists attended Anne Moody’s
memorial service here at the Homochitto Association Development
Center in Gloster, Miss.

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Learn MORE about Anne Moody! Visit here to see

the timeline of important events in her life history!

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For more information:

See the Anne Moody page here.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Rev. Ed King Remembers Anne Moody

He Calls Her ‘One of the Heroines of the Movement’

By Roscoe Barnes III

Chairman, Anne Moody History Project

#AnneMoody

"One of the heroines of the movement"

This phone interview of civil rights pioneer Ed King took place on Wednesday, December 20, 2017. I had called his office a couple of days earlier asking for a short interview about Anne Moody. He returned my call and spent a few minutes answering questions. In this brief audio clip, I ask him how Moody should be remembered. He quickly notes that she should be remembered as “one of the heroines of the movement.”

Here’s his full statement:

"She should be remembered as one of the heroines of the movement, one of the people who took first steps in the Jackson movement. When she moved out with the others at Woolworth, no one knew what would happen. They thought they might be arrested. But she was willing to move, knowing that somebody had to do something, and not wait to see what were the consequences of doing it or even if it might be successful."

King, who was the chaplain at Tougaloo College in the early 1960s, was considered a major figure of the civil rights movement. He is the co-author of Ed King’s Mississippi: Behind the Scenes of Freedom Summer. (University Press of Mississippi, 2014). Like others in the movement, King paid the price for being a civil rights leader. He suffered beatings, threats, and sometimes found his life on the line. For a moving profile of King, see “The Rev. Ed King” by Lynette Hanson in the Jackson Free Press (Thursday, October 30, 2003). Article available here.

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Would you like to know more about Anne Moody?

Visit the Anne Moody page here!

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For more information:

See the Anne Moody page here.

Friday, January 12, 2018

And the Beat Goes On

New Promotional Ideas for Anne Moody History

By Roscoe Barnes III

Chairman, Anne Moody History Project

#AnneMoody

Anne Moody, author of Coming of Age in Mississippi (1968).
Student photo at Natchez Junior College.

---------------------------------------------

The year 2017 was a remarkable year for the legacy of civil rights pioneer Anne Moody. It will undoubtedly be remembered as a year of discovery and renewed interest in Moody's life and legacy. We might even say that 2017 was the beginning of an "Anne Moody Renaissance."

Thanks to the Anne Moody History Project (AMHP), growing numbers of people throughout the United States are now learning about the life history of this civil rights icon. Some are reading her story for the first time. AMHP was created in March 2017 as a community service project at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility (WCCF) in Woodville, Miss. Run by WCCF staff, it is dedicated to promoting and helping to preserve the legacy of Moody.

Growing success

Since its creation, AMHP has been effective in using history programs, research, news outlets, social media, public history events and effective promotional plans to share Moody’s story. As a result, people in Mississippi and other states have now joined us in our mission to keep Moody’s legacy alive. And for this, we are grateful.

AMHP member Emma Taplin said that she and other WCCF staff members have been amazed by the success of the project. “When we began this journey we never thought the Anne Moody History Project would have taken off as it has,” she said.

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"I’m happy to announce our work on Anne Moody has been accepted by the Museum Division and the Archives and Record Services Division of the Mississippi Department of Archives & History." – Roscoe Barnes III

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Taplin noted that AMHP was instrumental in having the town of Centreville, Miss., name a day and street in Moody’s honor. This was followed by Wilkinson County approving a resolution to name Highway 24 in her honor. Two organizations are planning to do films about Moody. Scholars are also planning papers, books and an academic conference on Moody.

“We also have museums wanting to accept items and artifacts related to her history,” Taplin said. “It feels good to be a part of something so very special and giving recognition to someone who deserves recognition. She made history in being an active member in the NAACP and participating in sit-ins and marches that changed her life forever, as well as others.”

New promotional ideas

As we step into the New Year, we're planning to be proactive and unrelenting in our promotion of #AnneMoody history. We will build on the work we established in 2017 as we continue to explore new and practical ways to engage people with her story. As we've done over the past year, we intend to connect with audiences through public events, newspapers, journals, social media, blogs, etc. The goal, simply put, is to reach people where they are.

We are currently testing three promotional ideas that involve social media tags and print publications. Wherever possible, the publications may be shared online.

First, we will create an Anne Moody History Calendar designed as a pocket planner. It will feature Moody-related history throughout the year, along with photos for each month of the year. A Preface and short bio will be included. Content for the calendar will be taken from the Anne Moody Timeline and other sources.

Second, we will use the content from the calendar to create “On This Day” factoids for social media. For example, on Jan. 11, 2018, we tweeted:

ON THIS DAY

On Jan. 11, 1918, Fred Moody Sr., the father of #AnneMoody, was born.

Anne Moody died on Feb. 5, 2015. So for that date, we will share:

ON THIS DAY

#AnneMoody, author of Coming of Age in Mississippi, died in her home in Gloster, Miss. She was 74.

Third, we’re creating a map for Anne Moody History Tours that will focus on the important places mentioned in Coming of Age in Mississippi. The town of Natchez, Miss., where she attended Natchez Junior College, will be included, but most of the places highlighted will be in Centreville, Miss., her hometown, and Woodville, Miss., where she completed her last year of high school.

Other plans and projects are in the works. Some include the local public school system. We encourage readers to stay in touch and to follow us on social media.

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Visit here to see how we’re

working to keep her legacy alive!

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For more information:

See the Anne Moody page here.

Questions about the Anne Moody History Project may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com. For updates on Anne Moody history and the on-going work of this community service project, simply follow this blog or follow AMHP on Twitter (@AnneMoodyHP). #ComingOfAgeinMississippi

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Anne Moody Featured in Mississippi Museum

Artifacts Housed at African American Museum in Woodville

By Roscoe Barnes III

Chairman, Anne Moody History Project

#AnneMoody

This photograph of Anne Moody was taken by Chrissy Wilson.

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Note: An earlier version of this article reported Anne Moody's typewriter was on display at the African American Museum. We have learned that the typewriter on display was NOT owned by Moody. For this reason, we have deleted mentions of the typewriter in this article. We have also removed the image.

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The African American Museum of Woodville, Miss., is one of the hidden gems of southwest Mississippi. It features artifacts related to several historic figures, including Anne Moody, author of Coming of Age in Mississippi.

Moody was a civil rights pioneer who was born in 1940 in the small rural town of Centreville, Miss. She lived in the town until the age of 17, at which time she moved to Woodville to live with her father, Fred Moody Sr. Woodville is 14 miles west of Centreville. Moody attended Johnson High School, a historically black school in Woodville that closed in 1959, the same year she graduated.

Moody’s ties to Woodville make the museum even more relevant. In addition to her book, Coming of Age, the museum displays a copy of her book, Mr. Death: Four Stories.

The museum includes a large photograph of Moody that was taken by Chrissy Wilson. The portrait shows a smiling Moody in her younger days, wearing a knit cap. Along with the portrait, the museum displays a short biography of Moody.

In addition to Moody, the museum features William Grant Still (1895 - 1978), who was known as a world famous composer and dean of African American classical composers. He is remembered as the first African American to conduct a major orchestra. He conducted the Los Angeles Symphony in 1936.

Other noted figures in the museum are blues guitarist Scott Dunbar (1909 - 1994) and saxophonist Lester “Pres” Young (1909 - 1959). Outside the museum is a Woodville Blues sign. It presents the following:

Musicians from Woodville demonstrate the breadth of the blues’s influence on American music. Composer William Grant Still incorporated the blues into his “Afro-American Symphony,” while the innovative saxophonist Lester “Pres” Young helped define the blues-infused jazz styles of the Count Basie orchestra and vocalist Billie Holiday. More traditional blues artists from the area include Scott Dunbar and his protégé Robert Cage.

The museum is owned and operated by the Woodville Civic Club (WCC). It is located behind the courthouse on the corner of Royal Oak Street and Bank Street in the heart of Woodville's historic district. The museum opened in 2004 after the WCC received a grant to restore its building, according to WCC Executive Director Ernesto Caldeira. “In 2004, thanks to a Mississippi Department of Archives and History Grant, the restoration was completed and the service dependency with bathrooms and storage facilities was built,” according to the WCC website.

In collecting items for display, the museum volunteers wanted to focus on the positive, Caldeira said. He explained: “We wanted to show the accomplishments and contributions of African Americans to the arts and to the literary world. We’re delighted that we have good representations in the people we’re featuring.”

As for Moody, Caldeira said he did not get to meet her. However, his associate, David Smith, spoke with her and invited her to the museum. But she was not able to come.

Moody died in 2015 at the age of 74. She had been suffering from dementia, according to her sisters, Adline Moody and Frances Jefferson.

This two-story building, constructed around 1819, is the home of
the African American Museum. It was known as Branch Banking
House and is believed to be the oldest banking building in Mississippi.

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Centreville, Woodville in

Coming of Age in Mississippi

Moody writes about southwest Mississippi in many parts of her book. She gives colorful anecdotes and memorable descriptions of interesting people and places around her hometown. In an early chapter of her book, she writes about life in the town of Centreville:

“At the end of that summer Mama found it necessary for us to move into town in Centreville, where she worked. This time we moved into a two-room house that was twice the size of the other one.” – Chapter 2, Coming of Age in Mississippi

“I was going to Willis High, the only school Negro school in Centreville. It was named for Mr. C. H. Willis, its principal and founder, and had only been expanded into a high school the year before I started there. Before Mr. Willis came to town, the eighth grade had been the limit of schooling for Negro children in Centreville.” – Chapter 2, Coming of Age in Mississippi

After moving to Woodville, Moody had a room of her own. It was something she appreciated. She lived with her father and his wife, Emma. She writes:

“It was Thursday when I left Alberta’s to live with Daddy. That following Saturday before he went to work, he told me he had given Emma money for us to go into town and buy furniture for my room. He said he had given her enough for me to get whatever I wanted. I was all excited about buying furniture. It was the first time in my life that I would have a room to myself and I was seventeen years old. All that morning I was thinking about how I would fix my room up. I wanted to make it look just like the students’ rooms I had seen in magazines, with a single bed, a bookshelf filled with books, and a desk with a good lamp. I had planned to go to a secondhand store and get most of what I wanted, since I wanted to save most of the money for books. But when we got into town, I discovered Emma had other ideas. She went straight to the most expensive furniture store in Woodville.” – Chapter 16, Coming of Age in Mississippi

Moody spent most of her early years in Centreville, but she also left her mark on Woodville. As a student at Johnson High School, she played basketball under the leadership of Coach Dunbar. She writes:

“Johnson High had become one of the most challenged teams in the state and I was one of its most valuable players. In addition, I organized Johnson High’s first gymnastic and tumbling team, ran track, did substitute teaching, and spent all day Sunday in church. Before I realized it, I was practicing for graduation.” – Chapter 17, Coming of Age in Mississippi

This sign is posted outside the African American Museum.

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Learn MORE about Anne Moody! Visit here to see

the timeline of important events in her life history!

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References/Resources:

To arrange a tour of the African American Museum, send request to: info@historicwoodville.com.

Information on the African American Museum and Historic Woodville is available here: http://www.historicwoodville.org and here: http://www.woodvillems.org/about-us/history

For information on the bluesmen featured in the museum, visit:

http://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/woodville-blues

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For more information:

See the Anne Moody page here.

Roscoe Reporting

Thursday, January 25, 2018

AP: Highway could be named for author of civil rights memoir

Anne Moody and Centreville Missionary Baptist Church

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Anne Moody and Ray Charles' "Danger Zone"

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Farewell to Anne Moody: Her Place of Celebration

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Rev. Ed King Remembers Anne Moody

Friday, January 12, 2018

And the Beat Goes On

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Anne Moody Featured in Mississippi Museum

Natchez Historical Society and Dr. Robert Prospere to fund Fort Valeur historical marker

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