MS Humanities Council: MHC Grant Will Help Highlight Cultural History of Natchez’s ‘Black Wall Street’

Pictured above is Rasberry Grocery Store: Doris Rasberry, right, with customers inside Quality Grocery and Market on St. Catherine Street. This business is one of many that will be featured in the St. Catherine Street history project, “St. Catherine Street, Natchez, MS: Yesteryear through Today.” Doris and her husband, Robert, opened the store at 158-160 St. Catherine St. at the end of World War II. For almost 40 years, it served the residents of the St. Catherine area. Photo courtesy of Rasberry Collection, Historic Natchez Foundation.

Editor's Note: I was happy to see this news reported in the Mississippi Humanities Council Newsletter - November 2022.

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The Mississippi Humanities Council recently awarded a project grant to the staff of the Dr. John Bowman Banks Museum for a project that highlights the cultural history of St. Catherine Street.

The project is titled “St. Catherine Street, Natchez, MS: Yesteryear through Today” and will use tours, photographs, oral history, and a brochure to share the rare and untold history of the people, buildings, culture, and businesses on the street from as far back as the 1930s, according to Project Director Thelma Newsome.

“Some people view St. Catherine as a mini version of ‘Black Wall Street’ of Tulsa, Oklahoma, because of its thriving black businesses and cultural development in the past,” said Newsome. “The small business is what helped to carry the people along all these many years. They were especially vital in a time of heightened racism and discrimination.”

Newsome, a lifelong resident of St. Catherine, said the street once boasted of thriving businesses that included barbershops, restaurants, grocery stores, laundromats, drycleaners, service stations, shoe repair shop, and beauty shops.

Although many of those businesses are gone, they had stories that need to be told about their existence and the impact they had on the community, Newsome said.

“This is a project whose time has come,” said Dora P. Hawkins, one of the organizers. “The Dr. John Bowman Banks Museum staff is elated to introduce St. Catherine Street, Natchez, to the world and to reintroduce the street to Natchez. In our research, we are finding so many interesting facts about this street and, it appears, we are only at the tip of what’s available.”

The tour experience will begin at Forks of the Road and end at the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum.

USM’s Max Grivno to discuss Hernando De Soto at November 22 meeting of Natchez Historical Society

Dr. Max Grivno
University of Southern Mississippi

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Max Grivno, faculty member of University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, will talk about Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto at the November meeting of the Natchez Historical Society.

Grivno’s presentation is titled, "Hernando De Soto and the First European Contact with the Mississippi Civilization of the Lower Mississippi Valley." It will be given at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, at Historic Natchez Foundation at 108 S. Commerce St. The program will follow a social time set for 6:30 p.m.

Grivno said he is happy to be speaking again before the NHS.

“The lecture covers an important, but often overlooked, period in the region's history,” he said. “It shows not only the devastation caused by De Soto's raid in the southeast, but also considers how Native people built new societies in its aftermath."

Grivno is an associate professor at USM. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from University of Maryland-College Park, where he also earned his master’s degree. Grivno completed his bachelor’s degree at St. Olaf College.

Grivno is the author of Gleanings of Freedom: Free and Slave Labor along the Mason-Dixon Line, 1790-1860 (University of Illinois Press, 2011); and Historic Resource Study, Ferry Hill Plantation (Forgotten Books, 2017). In addition to Mississippi History, his expertise is in Antebellum South, Slavery, Economic and Labor History.

For more information, visit http://natchezhistoricalsociety.org/67001.html.

 

Mississippi Humanities Council awards $5,000 grant for St. Catherine Street history project

/ ListenUpYall.com

Staff Report

Oct 27, 2022 | 9:27 AM

Brumfield School, built in 1925, is one of many sites that will be featured in the St. Catherine Street history project. This historic photo shows band director Woodrick McGuire and his band at the school at 100 St. Catherine St. He later died in the Rhythm Night Club fire in 1940, according to Historic Natchez Foundation. Photo courtesy of Historic Natchez Foundation

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mississippi Humanities Council recently awarded a $5,000 grant to the staff of the Dr. John Bowman Banks Museum for a project that highlights the cultural history of St. Catherine Street.

The project is titled “St. Catherine Street, Natchez, MS: Yesteryear through Today.” It will use tours, photographs, oral history, and a brochure to share the rare and untold history of the people, buildings, culture, and businesses on the street from as far back as the 1930s, according to Project Director Thelma Newsome.
 
“Some people view St. Catherine as a mini version of ‘Black Wall Street’ of Tulsa, Okla., because of its thriving black businesses and cultural development in the past,” said Newsome. “The small business is what helped to carry the people along all these many years. They were especially vital in a time of heightened racism and discrimination.”
 
Newsome, a lifelong resident of St. Catherine, said the street once boasted of thriving businesses that included barbershops, restaurants, grocery stores, laundromats, drycleaners, service stations, shoe repair shop, and beauty shops.
 
Although many of those businesses are gone, they had stories that need to be told about their existence and the impact they had on the community, Newsome said.
 
“This is a project whose time has come,” said Dora P. Hawkins, one of the organizers. “The Dr. John Bowman Banks Museum staff is elated to introduce St. Catherine Street, Natchez, Miss., to the world and to reintroduce the street to Natchez. In our research, we are finding so many interesting facts about this street and, it appears, we are only at the tip of what’s available.”
 
Organizers hope to launch the project in November or December. The tour experience will begin at Forks of the Road and end at the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum.
 
The project is a joint effort by the museum staff and other volunteers, all of whom are members of the St. Catherine Street Committee. In addition to Newsome and Hawkins, committee members include Jacqulyn Williams, Teresa Farley, Teresa Busby, Roscoe Barnes III, Robert Pernell, Mark LaFrancis, and Leon Hollins III.
 
“This is rewarding work for us,” said Hawkins. “We appreciate the tremendous assistance that Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, Mrs. Mimi Miller and the Natchez Historic Foundation have provided in our efforts. In addition, we could not accomplish our mission without the Mississippi Humanities Council’s approval of our grant request.”
 
Barnes, who serves as the cultural heritage tourism manager for Visit Natchez, said it has been an honor to work with Newsome, Hawkins, and the other committee members, and to see firsthand the fruit of their hard work.
 
“This is another important milestone for this community and the city of Natchez,” he said. “We’re all making history in more ways than one, and it’s all possible because of the significant contributions of a great committee and Mississippi Humanities Council.”
 
Barnes noted that he and Visit Natchez were also happy to assist the committee with the grant application.
 

#VisitNatchez 

Frances Alexander Earns Doctorate from University of Southern Mississippi

Graduation is set for December 8

#SouthernUniversity

Frances Alexander, Ed.D.

WOODVILLE, Miss. – Frances Alexander, former principal of Wilkinson County Elementary School, recently earned her Doctor of Education degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg.
 

“I am excited that I was able to persevere and complete the doctoral program in Educational Administration,” said Alexander. It was her family, she noted, that encouraged her to pursue her terminal degree.
 
USM conferred her degree in July. Her graduation is set for December 8 in Hattiesburg.
 
For Alexander, a resident of Woodville, this achievement was a dream come true – something she’s wanted for many years. Now it’s a reality, she said, and she’s ready to move forward into the next chapter of her career.
 
Alexander’s doctoral studies culminated in a capstone project titled, “The Impact of Family Engagement in Elementary Schools Turnaround Initiatives.” Her research shows that “positive family engagement influences students' attendance, behavior, and academic outcomes,” Alexander said. “I recommend further research using a mixed method design where data can be analyzed for a minimum of three years to determine if family engagement influences the school's turnaround initiative.”
 
The academic work was both rigorous and enjoyable for Alexander. “At times I was challenged because I had not taken college courses in nearly 20 years,” she said. “However, I feel that the rigor was appropriate for doctoral level courses.”
 
Alexander viewed the process as a catalyst for personal and professional growth, as well as an opportunity to make a contribution in her field of study.
 
"Learning new things, reading the findings from other researchers, and conducting my own research study was like watching a flower bloom in slow motion,” she said. “I also enjoyed meeting and networking with scholars from across the United States.”
 
Alexander's career in education included 15 years as an administrator and 11 years as a teacher.
 
She served five years as the principal of Cohn Elementary School in West Baton Rouge Parish. Prior to that position, she worked as the school’s assistant principal. From 2013 to 2016, she worked as the education supervisor for Management and Training Corporation, serving at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility.
 
Alexander holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Literature from Southern University, Baton Rouge, La. She earned her Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration at Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge.
 
In addition to her work in education, Alexander remains active as a volunteer in her community. She is past president of the Woodville/Wilkinson County Main Street Association. She is also an exhibit interpreter at the African American Museum and secretary for the Wilkinson County Library System.

#SouthernUniversity #WeAreSouthern #FinishStronger #HBCU #SouthernMiss

Dr. Stuart Rockoff to speak at Oct. 25 meeting of Natchez Historical Society

He will talk about Jewish history in Natchez and other parts of Mississippi

Dr. Stuart Rockoff, Executive Director
Mississippi Humanities Council

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Dr. Stuart Rockoff, the executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, will talk about the Jewish history of Mississippi at the Oct. 25 meeting of the Natchez Historical Society.
 
“I look forward to exploring the fascinating story of how Jews found a home in Mississippi, putting down roots and building institutions that made their communities more diverse,” Rockoff said.
 
In his presentation, “Shalom Y’all: The Jewish History of Mississippi,” Rockoff will outline Jewish contributions to the historical, economical, and social legacy of Natchez, the region -- and the state, according to NHS member Mike Gemmell.
 
“In the early 19th century, Jewish immigrants began arriving in the Lower Mississippi River Valley and many settled in towns along the river, such as Natchez, Port Gibson and Woodville,” Gemmell noted in a press statement.
 
Rockoff’s research on the Jewish community is not only substantial, but well known. The Texas native holds a B.A. in History from Wesleyan University. He completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in American History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he specialized in immigration, race, and American Jewish history.
 
Rockoff served for more than a decade as the Director of the History Department at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Miss., where he was responsible for creating the Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities.
 
In addition to giving lectures on the history of Jews in the American South, Rockoff has written widely on the topic.
 
Rockoff’s lecture in Natchez will take place at 7 p.m. at the Historic Natchez Foundation, 108 S. Commerce St. Social time will start at 6:30 p.m.
 
The meeting is free and open to the public.
 
For more information visit: www.natchezhistoricalsociety.org and on Facebook.
 

The Natchez Democrat: Blues expert plans talk Oct. 8 at Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture

Published 4:43 pm Tuesday, September 20, 2022

By Staff Reports

Scott Barretta
Blues Historian

By ROSCOE BARNES

Special to The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ – Blues historian Scott Barretta is coming to Natchez to talk about the blues. 

Specifically, he will talk about the key people in the city’s blues history in a presentation at 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 8, at the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture.

The free event is a “Coffee and Culture” initiative that is sponsored by the Southwest Mississippi Center for Culture & Learning at Alcorn State University, according to Teresa A. Busby, the center’s executive director.

Barrett’s talk, “Natchez’s Rich Blues Tradition,” will focus on musicians, including Papa George Lightfoot, Scott Dunbar, Hezekiah Early and the Ealey brothers, as well as songs about the Rhythm Club fire of1940.

Walter Barnes, the musician who died in the 1940 fire that killed more than 200 people, will also be mentioned, according to Barretta. The legacy of the fire, Barretta said, “was particularly important in terms of the songs that were written in the wake of that terrible tragedy.”

Barretta noted “Barnes himself was very interesting beyond his musicianship, as he was one of the leading journalists for African American entertainment at the time.”

Note: Online version of this story can be viewed on 

The Natchez Democrat website. See it here. 

Barretta is a resident of Greenwood. He is widely known as the host the MPB radio show “Highway 61.” In addition to being a writer and researcher for the Mississippi Blues Trail, he teaches sociology courses about music at the University of Mississippi.

The music connoisseur said he looks forward to a return visit to Natchez, which he first visited in 1999 when he came to Mississippi to edit Living Blues magazine.

“I spent the most time there in 2009-10 when I conducted oral histories of local musicians, including Hezekiah Early and YZ Ealey, for the Mississippi Arts Commission and then wrote up articles on many of the artists for a special Natchez issue of Living Blues,” he said.

Barretta said he helped write and research multiple Mississippi Blues Trail markers in the Natchez area.  “I’m really looking forward to speaking about the artists there, particularly as I’ve never presented these stories in Natchez,” he said.

Speaking of Natchez, Barretta said nothing is as dramatic in Mississippi’s landscape as the bluffs.

“I love how integrated the river is into the cityscape,” he said. “I timed my visit so I could go to the Blues and Soul Super Bowl there. Otherwise, as a historian, I enjoy the fact that so much of Natchez’s long history is evident, and that in recent years there’s been so much attention to the legacy of its African American residents.”

Although much, undoubtedly, will be gained by the presentation, Barretta said, there is one thing about his topic that he hopes the public will grasp: “That Natchez has a rich and distinctive history that mirrors the exceptional nature of the city.”

Lolly Rash to Speak at September Meeting of Natchez Historical Society

She will talk about ‘endangered places’ in Mississippi – and how they can be saved

Lolly Rash, Executive Director
Mississippi Heritage Trust

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Lolly Rash, executive director of the Mississippi Heritage Trust, will be the featured speaker at the September meeting of the Natchez Historical Society. Rash will talk about endangered historical places in Mississippi.

 
The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 27, at the Historic Natchez Foundation at 108 S. Commerce St.
 
Rash’s presentation is titled, “Please Don’t Tear It Down - 22 Years of the 10 Most Endangered Historical Places in Mississippi.”
 
According to Alan Wolf, an NHS trustee, Rash has been fighting for Mississippi’s historic treasures for 23 years. She has worked in her current position since 2013.
 
“Since the Mississippi Heritage Trust published the first list of the ‘10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mississippi’ in 1999, there have been tremendous preservation victories,” Wolf wrote in a recent column in The Natchez Democrat.
 
Wolf listed several places that have been saved: The Cutrer Mansion in Clarksdale, the King Edward Hotel in Jackson, and the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center in Ocean Springs, among others.
 
“They, and the numerous similar ‘saves’ here in Natchez, offer inspiring examples of what can happen when communities come together with a vision of the future and a spirit of cooperation,” Wolf wrote. “Ms. Rash will share stories of endangered places saved, yet to be saved, and lost, and as well discuss the Heritage Trust’s current projects throughout Mississippi.”
 
For more information, send email to info@natchezhistoricalsociety.org.