Bluff City Savings Bank (1906-1913), Natchez's first and only Black-owned bank

Eric Berry, left, and Roscoe Barnes III
(Click on image to enlarge.)

We were all excited to meet with Eric Berry last Friday at the Natchez Manor Bed-and-Breakfast, where Mayor Dan Gibson presented him with a historical marker for the Bluff City Savings Bank. Berry and his family are the owners of Natchez Manor. Berry said he was “pleasantly surprised” to learn that the rear addition to their business actually rests on the site that was used by the bank. Bluff City Savings (1906 to 1913) was Natchez’s only Black-owned bank. Berry is a former NFL football player. He played as a safety with the Kansas City Chiefs. Note: A QR code will be attached to the marker to provide detailed information the bank's history.

From left, Dora Hawkins, Jacqulyn Williams, Eric Berry, and Thelma Newsome
(Click on image to enlarge.)

Natchez celebrates history of Bluff City Savings Bank

By Roscoe Barnes III
Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
Aug 8, 2025 | 3:02 PM

Mayor Dan Gibson recently presented a historical marker to Eric Berry that honors the legacy of the Bluff City Savings Bank, Natchez's only Black-owned bank. From left are Dora Hawkins, Jacqulyn Williams, Berry, Gibson, Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, and Thelma Newsome. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- The former site of Bluff City Savings Bank, the only Black-owned bank in Natchez, now has a historical marker that honors the history of the bank, which operated from 1906 to 1913 at 119 N. Union St.
 
Mayor Dan Gibson on Friday presented the marker on behalf of the City of Natchez to Eric Berry, who co-owns the Natchez Manor Bed and Breakfast, 600 Franklin St., with his family. Gibson said the marker will be mounted at a later date on the side of the Natchez Manor building.
 
The historical site is now part of the city’s Self-Guided African American History tour, which has a total of 30 sites. The marker was a joint project of the city and NAPAC museum with assistance from Visit Natchez.
 
The bank’s original building, which no longer exists, was located on the north side of the three-story building on North Union that once served as a fire station. Today, that space is occupied by the rear addition to the Natchez Manor, facing North Union.
 
Berry, a former NFL football player, said he was surprised and very pleased to learn about his building’s connection to the Bluff City Savings Bank.
 
“I feel like I’m a part of history and upholding the history, legacy, and heritage of Natchez,” he said. “When I got the notice that this was the first Black bank in the city, it was a pleasant surprise to me. I’ve been doing research all over the country and all over the Southeast. Discovering this history has been liberating. I’m excited to be part of it.”
 
Gibson said the story of the bank is a significant piece of Natchez’s history. He noted Dr. John Bowman Banks, the city’s first Black physician, played an important role in the founding of the bank. “Dr. Banks obviously was a pillar of our community and indeed a trail blazer,” Gibson said. “It was his vision to create this bank.”
 
The history of Dr. Banks is regularly shared at the Dr. John Bowman Banks Museum, which is owned and operated by Rose Hill Missionary Baptist Church. Representatives of the museum attended Friday’s presentation to show their support for the new marker. The representatives included Dora Hawkins, Thelma Newsome, and Jacquelyn Williams.
 
Bluff City Savings Bank was founded by a group of prominent Black men with backgrounds in medicine, business, and education. In addition to Dr. Banks and Dr. Dumas, the co-founders included Professor J.R. Ross, Professor George Washington Brumfield, Professor Samuel H. Owens, and Walton Barland.
 
The bank’s opening occurred at a critical time for Blacks, who were living under Jim Crow. It was one of nine Black-owned banks in Mississippi.
 
“Bluff City became an important source of small, short-term loans,” wrote Shennette Garrett-Scott in the publication, “’All the Other Devils this Side of Hades’: Black Banks and the Mississippi Banking Law of 1914” (Cambridge University Press, Jan. 12, 2022). “Farmers, for example, could get $40 or $50 using their mule, livestock, and farm equipment as collateral.”
 
Page Ogden, a retired banking professional, described Bluff City as a “fairly loaned up bank as reflected in the ratio of its loan deposits in their statement of condition.” He said it was a small bank that most likely focused on loans for houses and other consumer type loans. “It was all about the business of supplying the local needs in the black population,” he said.
 
The bank closed in 1913. In the January 1914 issue of The Crisis, the magazine reported:
 
“Bluff City Savings Bank, of Natchez, Miss., a colored enterprise, has been closed. The bank is not insolvent, but the failure of a white bank in the same town caused a run upon the colored bank, and it was closed until the property in which the money was invested could be converted into cash.”
 
Ogden said the fear in 1913 was understandable given the times. “In those days, there was no FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation),” he said. “Mississippi was primarily a rural state and there was a lot of suspicion of banks to begin with. Scares were common.”
 
Mimi Miller, executive director emerita of Historic Natchez Foundation, said the bank “went into receivership and Dr. Dumas acted as the receiver to make sure that investors got back their money and that loan defaults were properly executed, and the properties resold.”
 
Note: An article on the bank titled, “This History is Important: Remembering the Bluff City Savings Bank,” appeared in the July/Aug 2023 issue of Natchez Magazine.

See more at this link: https://listenupyall.com/2025/08/08/natchez-honors-history-of-bluff-city-savings-bank/

Marker approved for Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade

By Roscoe Barnes III

Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
Aug 5, 2025 | 12:15 PM

A marker commemorating the Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade, formerly called the 30th of May Parade, has been approved by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The marker will be posted at 639 S. Canal St., in front of the Holiday Inn Express. Its precise location is indicated by the red circle. Photo: Google Street View, Image capture: August 2024 (c) 2025 Google (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. – A historical marker honoring the 30th of May Parade, which is now known as the Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade, has been approved by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

The parade is one of the longest running Memorial Day traditions in the United States.
 
"The 30th of May Parade is an important tradition in Natchez. I look forward to the marker dedication ceremony that will fit well with our state's celebration of all things patriotic for America250,” said Brother Rogers, MDAH historian and secretary-treasurer for the Mississippi Historical Society.
 
The marker will be installed at 639 S. Canal St., in front of the Holiday Inn Express and across the street from the Natchez Visitor Center, where the parade participants stop on their way to the Natchez National Cemetery. Its precise location will be the grassy strip on the east side of Canal near the Holiday Inn parking lot. Installation date is set for early 2026.
 
"We are so grateful to finally be giving this longstanding tradition it's due,” said Mayor Dan Gibson. “Even before I became mayor, I have been honored to participate in this annual observance. It is not only one of the very oldest continuing Memorial Day rituals in the country, but it has become an event we as a community look forward to each year, both Black and white. And how fitting that something that began as a tribute to our U.S. Colored Troops has become a regional celebration of all who served in every conflict to keep America the 'land of the free and the home of the brave'."
 
The Memorial Day parade, which started in the late 1800s, was originally held on May 30. “We named it the Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade because we wanted to keep Vidalia and Natchez together,” said Laura Ann Jackson, who chairs the Miss-Lou Memorial Day Parade Committee. “We wanted everyone involved to be united.”
 
Jackson said that while she has chaired the committee for more than 15 years, she was part of the committee for a number of years before her current position. Also, she added, she has been involved with the parade since the age of five. “When I was five years old, I marched with Army veteran Jimmy Williams of Vidalia,” she said.
 
From its earlier days, and before the original Natchez-Vidalia Bridge was built in 1940, parade participants sailed from Vidalia on a ferry to Silver Street. From there, they marched to the Natchez National Cemetery, where a ceremony was held to honor the deceased military service members.
 
After the bridge was built, hundreds of participants began their trek at the foot of the Louisiana side of the bridge and crossed over to Natchez. The tradition now includes a stop at the Natchez Visitor Center at 640 S. Canal, where the participants rest for 30 minutes before proceeding to the cemetery.
 
Jackson said she and her committee are happy about the marker.
 
“I want to thank all of the people, including MDAH, Mayor Dan Gibson, and Dr. Roscoe Barnes III of Visit Natchez, who made this happen, because it’s been a long time coming, and it is well deserved,” she said. “This marker is not just for one group of people. It’s for everybody.”
 

The idea for the marker originated with filmmaker James Theres, the executive producer and director of the film, “The 30th of May” (2016). He said in 2024 that it was time to honor the people – and the Memorial Day tradition -- by erecting a marker that gives them the recognition they deserve.

See more at this link:
https://listenupyall.com/2025/08/05/marker-approved-for-miss-lou-memorial-day-parade/

Medgar Evers’ 100th Birthday Celebration in Natchez, Mississippi

Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, Moderator of Panel Discussion
(Click on image to enlarge.)

I was honored to serve as moderator for the wonderful and engaging panel discussion on Medgar Evers on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, at the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture. The program was presented by the Natchez Branch of the NAACP in collaboration with the Natchez Business and Civic League, the museum, and Visit Natchez. About 70 people turned out for the event.

Group photo: Panelists included, from left, Dr. Marcus Ward, Dr. Shirley Evers-Manly, Dr. Tracy M. Cook, and Olivia Spann.

Photos by KD-Public Relations
 

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Markeith Thompson awarded $1,000 scholarship by Hugh Green Scholarship Foundation

By Roscoe Barnes III
The Natchez Democrat
Published 2:18 pm Thursday, July 10, 2025
 

The Hugh Green Scholarship Foundation recently honored Markeith Thompson as the 2025 recipient of its $1,000 scholarship. From left are Wilbur Johnson, Hugh Green, Thompson, Laura Jackson, and Eva Dunkley. Thompson is a 2025 graduate of Natchez High School. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Markeith Thompson, 2025 graduate of Natchez High School, is the 2025 recipient of a $1,000 scholarship awarded by the Hugh Green Scholarship Foundation. 

Hugh Green, a retired College Football Hall of Famer and NFL football standout and the namesake of the award, recently met with Thompson on the Bluff and presented him with the scholarship. 

Green is a native of Natchez and graduate of North Natchez High School. He and Thompson were joined by Thompson’s family and friends, and members of the Hugh Green Scholarship Foundation.

The foundation committee members included Eva Dunkley, president; Wilbur Johnson, secretary; and Laura Jackson, treasurer. 

Jackson said the award is an athletic scholarship presented each year to deserving students from all local high schools who plan to attend college or university. 

“Thompson was a track star who has been running track since middle school,” Jackson said. He plans to attend the University of Southern Mississippi. “This award is a stipend to help him with his finances,” she said.

In June, The Natchez Democrat reported Thompson was named the 2024-25 Gatorade State Player of the Year, which capped “off a record-breaking season and securing his place as one of the top athletes in the state of Mississippi.”

Thompson said he was happy to receive the Hugh Green scholarship. “I’m very thankful,” he said. “This will help me a lot in getting the essential needs for college.” 

Thompson said he will major in business marketing. The 17-year-old is the son of Alexis Davis and the grandson of Marva Gaylor. He said he is grateful to them for their support over the years, as well as the support of his aunts, Amber Davis and Victoria Gaylor.

Thompson also offered special thanks to his Amateur Athletic Union coach, Eddie Ray Jackson, and his high school coaches, Kelly Thomas and Veronica Green. 

The Hugh Green Scholarship Foundation was created over 30 years ago by a group of local men who wanted to help students with their education, according to Jackson. She said it was organized by the late George A. Dunkley. 

Last year’s recipient of the award was Ceairra Franklin, who also attends the University of Southern Mississippi, where she is studying to become a licensed laboratory technician. 

Green was a 1976 graduate of North Natchez High School. He was a linebacker for the University of Pittsburg Panthers from 1977 through 1980. He finished second in the 1980 Heisman Trophy voting to winner George Rogers of the University of South Carolina. 

Green was the seventh pick in the NFL draft in 1981, taken by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1985, he was traded to the Miami Dolphins for their first- and second-round draft picks in the 1986 draft. He played 11 seasons in the NFL. 

Green was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana, in 1996.

Read more at: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2025/07/10/markeith-thompson-awarded-1000-scholarship-by-hugh-green-scholarship-foundation/

Natchez community celebrates Medgar Evers' 100th birthday

The slain civil rights leader was honored by panel discussion and film

By Roscoe Barnes III

Participants in the panel discussion on Medgar Evers included, from left, Dr. Marcus Ward, Dr. Shirley Evers-Manly, Dr. Tracy M. Cook, and Olivia Spann. Dr. Roscoe Barnes III served as moderator. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- A recent panel discussion on slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers presented him as a family man, a fearless leader in the Civil Rights Movement, and a thriving student at Alcorn State University, where his legacy is recognized to this day.

 
About 70 people attended the event where they heard discussions about Ever’s family, his investigative work on civil rights cases throughout Mississippi, as well his -- and Myrlie Evers’ -- time at Alcorn.
 
Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis, president of Natchez NAACP, said she was excited about the panel discussion, and she praised all of the participants. She said she was also happy to see the turnout for the program.
 
Flora Terrell, co-publisher of The Bluff City Post, said the panel discussion was engaging and thought-provoking. “The Moderator, Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, presented the topics and the well-versed panelists showed enthusiasm and made the audience know just who Medgar Wiley Evers was,” she said. “I left the event feeling uplifted and grateful for all those who fought so hard that we may have the ‘right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’”  
 
The panel discussion was held Tuesday, July 1, at NAPAC Museum. It was one of two programs held in Natchez as a celebration of Medgar Evers’ 100th birthday. The second program, which included a showing of the film, “The Evers” by filmmaker Loki Mulholland, was held on Wednesday, July 2, at Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church.
 
The two-day event was titled, “A Centennial Celebration of the Life and Work of Medgar Wiley Evers (July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963).” It was presented by the Natchez Branch of the NAACP in collaboration with the Natchez Business and Civic League, NAPAC Museum, and Visit Natchez.
 
Medgar Evers worked as the first NAACP field secretary in Mississippi. He was assassinated on June 12, 1963, at his home, which he shared with his wife, Myrlie, and their children, in Jackson.
 
Ben Tucker, a retired Army veteran, was one of many people who said he enjoyed the panel discussion. “I think it was well organized,” he said. “The moderator did an excellent job, and the presentations were set up really well, which made it possible for all the panelists to get engaged. There were good questions and the panelists answered them by providing information that was of interest to the audience."
 
Tucker said the panelists held everyone’s attention.
 
The panelists included Olivia Spann, supervisory park ranger at the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson and two Alcorn administrators: Dr. Shirley Evers-Manly, interim dean of the Alcorn State University School of Nursing; and Dr. Marcus Ward, senior vice-president of Institutional Advancement and executive director of the ASU Foundation at Alcorn State University.
 
Dr. Tracy M. Cook, president of Alcorn, also joined the panel. He commented on Medgar Evers’ bravery and sacrifice, describing him as a “remarkable individual.”
 
“As a leader, so often individuals want the title and the money, but not the responsibility,” Cook said. “We’re talking about an individual who took on that responsibility, spending so much time away from his family. … I get security escorts when I go to different places, I have a security detail, but think about an individual traveling up and down that dangerous highway, knowing that every day could be his last day. But he did it for a common goal, for a better way of life and opportunity for his kids.”
 
As moderator of the panel discussion, Barnes, cultural heritage tourism manager at Visit Natchez, presented the panelists with a list of pre-prepared questions on Medgar Evers’ life and legacy. He also invited questions from the audience.
 
Spann talked about Medgar Evers investigative work on several civil rights cases, including the 1955 murders of Emmitt Till and the Rev. George W. Lee. She said he also assisted James Meredith in 1962 in his effort to enroll at the University of Mississippi.
 
Spann mentioned a colorful anecdote about Medgar Evers having his car “souped up” so he could speed out of town when faced with danger.
 
Spann said Medgar Evers was a busy man and always on the road. He even tried to integrate the beaches on the Gulf Coast, she said. People should know that this civil rights leader was a young man with his own family, she said, stressing he was only 36 when he was assassinated.
 
“It’s important to know that he was out doing his work, working the cases, and working with widows and these mothers while his own young wife was at home raising their three children just so he could try and create a better world for them,” Spann said.
 
Ward focused on Medgar and Myrlie Evers’ time as students at Alcorn, which was previously named Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College. In addition to sharing the actual 1951 yearbook that Medgar Evers edited at Alcorn, Ward discussed how he and Myrlie began dating and fell in love.
 
Medgar Evers was a business major, along with his brother, Charles, and they both were very athletic, he said. Ward also outlined the many ways in which the Evers’ legacy is recognized at Alcorn, including the erection of a monument in his honor.
 
Evers-Manly, a cousin of Medgar Evers, spoke about his courage and commitment to the cause of civil rights and human rights, and how he and his brother, Charles, were inspired by their parents to be fearless in the face of danger.
 
The Evers family was one of pride, strength, and compassion, according to Evers-Manly. She noted the children in the family grew up learning about strategies and the struggle for freedom and civil rights. She said the philosophy of fighting for a good cause was instilled in the family.
 
Near the end of the program, Mulholland shared remarks by Zoom about his film, “The Evers.” He asked the audience to remember Medgar Evers’ final words, “Turn me loose.” Medgar shared those words as he was being taken to the hospital after being shot.
 
“In this time that we are in and trials that we are facing, those words seem to resonate with people,” Mulholland said. “I think when those of us who truly believe in the America that Medgar dreamed of and believe in the freedom that he was fighting for, pray that we all have that same spirit and that we say inside of ourselves, ‘Turn me loose’ and ‘Let me get to work.’”
 

Historic Beulah Baptist gets a new look thanks to national grant

By Roscoe Barnes III

The Natchez Democrat
Published 10:39 am Tuesday, July 1, 2025 

Beulah Missionary Baptist Church has a new steeple. It was funded by a $150,000 grant awarded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation through the Preserving Black Churches program of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. Other restoration work included the outside windows, and the walls and ceiling in the church foyer. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ –  A $150,000 grant awarded in 2024 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation has made a difference in the appearance, stability, and preservation of Beulah Missionary Baptist Church. 

The funding, which came through the Preserving Black Churches program of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, was used for the restoration of the steeple and exterior windows of the 112-year-old structure. 

“When the time is right, the Lord will make it happen, and it has happened at Beulah Baptist Church,” said Pastor Johnathan T. Hargrave. “We’re so thankful for the blessings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Members of Beulah Missionary Baptist Church are celebrating the restoration of their church steeple and exterior windows completed in May. Pictured in front of the church from left are Robert Morgan, deacon; Johnathan T. Hargrave, pastor; and Carter Burns, executive director of the Historic Natchez Foundation. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Other restoration work included the walls and ceiling in the church foyer, said Deacon Robert Morgan. He and other church officials are excited about the project being completed, and they are pleased with the results, Morgan said. 

He noted the construction began in November 2024 and was completed in May 2025. Johnny Waycaster of Waycaster Dungan Architecture and Engineering was the architect on the project, and Smith Painting and Contracting completed the work. 

“Everybody was overjoyed,” Morgan said of the congregation. “They were so pleased that they actually made more trips to the church. Some people who don’t even attend the church said they made it a habit to drive by to see how it looks.

For Morgan, the project is about the legacy of the church. “It means that the legacy continues,” he said. “Each generation does its best to take what the previous generation gave and makes it better. In this case, the legacy continues for the next generation, which won’t have that problem (of the steeple) to deal with.” 

Carter Burns, executive director of Historic Natchez Foundation, assisted the church with its grant application. 

“We’re thankful that the Historic Natchez Foundation was able to assist Beulah in receiving this grant from the Preserving Black Churches program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation to restore the steeple on this important historic church building here in Natchez,” Burns said.

The church before the restoration. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Beulah is located at 710 Beulah St. or B Street. It played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement in Natchez. According to historians, it was regularly used as a meeting place by the Natchez NAACP.  In early October 1965, NAACP meetings at the church launched protests that resulted in the arrest of several hundred protesters who defied a court ban against marching. 

When the local jails became full, the authorities bused 150 of them to Parchman Penitentiary where they endured harsh treatment. It is said that they were “Proud to Take a Stand.” Their experience became known as “The Parchman Ordeal.”

 Beulah was founded in 1896 by William Rochester, a U.S. Colored Troops veteran and commander-in-chief of the Mississippi and Louisiana Department of the Grand Army of the Republic. 

The church officially organized on December 30, 1896, but its original wooden building was constructed in 1901, according to Hargrave. Unfortunately, he said, it was destroyed by fire on March 4, 1911, and rebuilt in 1912. 

Beulah was one of 31 churches out of more than 550 applicants across the United States approved for funding by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which awarded a total of $4 million for the institutions.  A dedication ceremony for the steeple will be held at 4 p.m. , Sunday, July 20, during the church homecoming service. It is open to the public.

Read more at: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2025/07/01/historic-beulah-baptist-gets-a-new-look-thanks-to-grant/