Mississippi Travel Game!

This find from The Clarion-Ledger, dated June 2, 1963, demonstrated what Mississippi had to offer travel-wise during the 60’s, but in a really creative, fun way: “Tour Mississippi Travel Game”!  Mississippians were encouraged to write to The Clarion-Ledger to receive a reproduction of this game on “heavier and more permanent paper.”  You had to be quick because the numbers of productions were limited!

The object of the game was to get to the finish line before your competitors (like most board games), but you’d also become familiarized with the cities, landmarks, and other destinations in Mississippi!  The images on the bottom left could be cut out and used as each player’s game piece.  There were no dice involved in the playing of this game.  According to the directions below the angular Mississippi state outline, you were to “hold [the] pencil about 6 inches above [the] map – close eyes and lower [the] pencil point – move number [of] spaces indicated.”  This game is very simple, but I couldn’t imagine how long it would take if the pencil fell everywhere BUT on the indicated number blocks.  We wonder if there were a lot of players who magically landed on 9 every time!

Are you touring Mississippi this summer?  Or maybe you visited an area or landmark and would like to know more about it!  Contact us with your questions, or come and visit our beautiful building!  We’d love to have you!

“Tour Mississippi Travel Game.” The Clarion-Ledger [Jackson] 2 June 1963, CXXV ed., sec. B: 9. Microfilm. Jackson Mississippi Clarion-Ledger 1963.

Juneteenth



“ANOTHER MARCH: Negroes Freed By the Emancipation Proclamation Enter Union Lines at Newbern, N.C.”. Image courtesy The Atlanta Century.

On this day, in 1865, Texas slaves learned they were free nearly two years following President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation issued on January 1, 1863.  The slaves did not know they were free until Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and Major General Gordon Granger read from the President’s General Order No. 3:

“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.  This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.  The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages.  They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere” (Gay 250).

Image courtesy Austin History Center on Wikimedia

African Americans were forced to celebrate outside of the state of Texas during some early observances of Juneteenth.  This holiday, also known as African-American Independence Day, was passed by an act of Texas legislature in 1979, marking Juneteenth as a paid holiday.  Juneteenth’s first official celebration was held in 1980 after over a century of its observance spreading through the U.S. by African Americans who moved out of Texas to reunite with family members.  It eventually was observed as an unpaid state holiday in other states as well.  Mississippi became the 36^th state to recognize Juneteenth, as of March of 2010, and is participating in a campaign to have it recognized as a National Day of Observance, like Patriot Day or Flag Day. 

Today, Juneteenth commemorations celebrate African-American heritage, renews interest in searching for African American ancestors, and provides an opportunity for family and friends to gather.  We have plenty of genealogy resources here at the Mississippi Library Commission.  Are you searching for long, lost relatives?  Are you trying to branch out your family tree?  We would love to help!

Gay, Kathlyn. African-American Holidays, Festivals, And Celebrations: The History, Customs, and Symbols Associated with Both Traditional and Contemporary Religious and Secular Events Observed by Americans of African Descent. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 2007. Print

Image: Emancipation Day Celebration 1900

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emancipation_Day_celebration_-_1900-06-19.jpg

“Press Release”. National Juneteenth Observance Foundation. 25 March 2010. Web. 19 June 2012. < http://nationaljuneteenth.com/Mississippi.html>.

Shavin, Norman. The Atlanta Century: March,1860-May,1865 [vol.3, no. 48 (153) Sunday, January 25, 1863]. Atlanta, GA: I/D Publishing Company, 1966. Print

Daddy Dearest

You already know that we here in the Reference Department get a kick out of a good name. After all, we've dug through the U. S. Census to find everything from Valentine's Day inspired names to Thanksgiving Day names, and a little of everything else in between. Without any more fanfare, here are our discoveries for Father's Day, and the dads that didn't quite grasp the concept of naming their children after themselves:

• You should know, firstly, that there are 28 women in the U. S. Census (1810-1930) named Daddy. My favorite? Daddy Tries from North Carolina.
• The women aren't alone. Eighty-one men were also saddled with Daddy. The best of the best? Daddy Dattlebaum. So alliterative--it just rolls off the tongue!
• There are over 400 Pops in the U. S. Census. I'm very fond of Pop Cotton from Georgia. I think that would have made a lovely stage name for her. Don't you agree?
• Dad is a much more popular name than Daddy. It rolls in with over 900 folks. There's Dad E. Light (married to William B. Light). There's Dad Burns. (One hopes he wasn't given to spouting expletives.) And don't forget Dad Margarita Rosa Aguilar! (Nothing pairs better with a beautiful and traditional Hispanic name than dear old Dad.)
• Last but not least, there are 333 female Fathers in the U. S. Census. (Many priests are listed in the Census as Father, so unfortunately, a count of male Fathers would be inaccurate.)

So, from Paw Jo Smith and all the rest of the fathers through the years, the Mississippi Library Commission wishes you and yours a very happy Father's Day!

Eudora, Eudora!

Genealogy questions are among the many requests we receive here at the Mississippi Library Commission.  We help patrons look for family links, military records, or anything else we can help them to find using Ancestry Library Edition, Heritage Quest, or books and records in our Mississippi Reference Collection.  It was a delight when I happened across a book titled Eudora while searching through Mississippi documents.  Eudora, edited and selected by Patti Carr Black, is like a family album spanning back to Eudora Welty’s great grandparents on both her paternal (Welty) side and maternal (Andrews) side.  We often see pictures of notable, historical figures during their “prime” years of being famous, and we rarely get a peek of their family history.  Here are a few photos for you to enjoy!  Feel free to say, “Aww!”



"Mother's father, Edward Raboteau Andrews, was called Ned.  he was the first in his family to leave Virginia and move to West Virginia, where he practiced law and met his wife, Eudora Carden [her namesake]" (Eudora 3).

"First visit to Ohio, rocking with Grandpa Jefferson Welty" (Eudora 14).

Eudora Welty and her father, Christian Webb Welty (Eudora 19).

"I was crazy about watches; all children are, I guess" (Eudora 16).

We have many titles about Eudora Welty, and by Eudora Welty.  Do you have questions about her?  Let us know!  Or maybe this post stirs up old memories, inspiring you to fill in the gaps in your own family history!  We would love to help!

Eudora. Ed. Patti Carr Black. Jackson, MS: Mississippi Department of Archives and History, 1984. Print.