Cassagne To Head Mississippi Library Commission

The Mississippi Library Commission Board of Commissioners (MLC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Susan Young Swindell Cassagne, of Natchez, Mississippi, as the new Executive Director of the Mississippi Library Commission. She will assume her duties October 1, 2013.

“Those of us on the Board look forward to working with Susan Cassagne. She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of all types of libraries, as well as many years of experience working with the Mississippi Legislature and with our National Congressional Leaders. We know that library supporters across the state will welcome her as she begins a new, exciting phase of her library career,” said MLC Board Chair Dr. Glenda Segars.

Cassagne currently serves as Director of the Judge George W. Armstrong Library System formerly the Natchez-Adams-Wilkinson Library Service/Homochitto Valley Library Service in Natchez, Mississippi. Prior to accepting the director’s position, she was the Assistant Director/Technology Coordinator of the Pearl River County Library System in Picayune, Mississippi. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in General Studies and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.

A seasoned leader and well respected among her peers, Cassagne is an active member of the Mississippi Library Association (MLA) where she served as President in 2005 and 2006, chaired the Legislative Committee from 2010-2013,and the local arrangements committee for three MLA conferences held in Natchez.

In addition to an MLA membership, she is a member of the American Library Association and the Public Library Association. Cassagne, an active member of the Mississippi State Society Daughters of the American Revolution, served on the State Board of Management as a State Officer and as a National Vice Chairman. She also served the State Society on several National and State Committees. On the local level, she is a member of the Friends of the Armstrong Library, Rotary Club of Natchez, Natchez Historical Society, Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration Advisory Board, Natchez Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Pilgrimage Garden Club, Natchez Food & Wine Festival, Natchez Downtown Development Association, Krewe of Phoenix, and Krewe of Killarney.

“I look forward to leading the Mississippi Library Commission and working with Mississippi’s public libraries through a commitment to leadership, advocacy and public service,” Cassagne says of her new position. She lives in Natchez with her husband, Gabriel (Gabe); they have four children, Juliette, Andre, Richard and wife Sarah, and Elizabeth.

Board of Commissioners Announces New Executive Director

At the end of June, our beloved director Sharman Smith stepped down from her job as the voice of libraries in Mississippi. Although we still miss her presence here, we know that the memory of her person and the words of advice and wisdom she left with us will remain for a very long time. That is why we are thrilled to look toward the future of Mississippi libraries with this exciting message that we received today:

The Board of Commissioners of the Mississippi Library Commission is happy to announce that Mrs. Susan Cassagne has accepted the position as Executive Director.  Mrs. Cassagne currently serves as the Director of the Judge George W. Armstrong Library in Natchez, Mississippi.  She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of all types of Mississippi libraries, as well as many years of experience working with the Mississippi Legislature and with our National Senators and Congressmen.

We are truly thrilled to welcome Director Cassagne to her new position.

They opened the door and stepped in.
They stopped.
The library deeps lay waiting for them.

-Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

Open the door. Step in. And welcome!

Easter Flood

We recently received a request for images of the 1979 flood in Mississippi, known as the Easter flood. The Pearl River crested on April 17, 1979 after days of heavy rain, and soon flooded into Jackson and surrounding creeks. Several homes, schools, businesses, and other pieces of property were heavily damaged in the process. "It was the worst Pearl River flood in recorded history, topping the old flood record, set in 1902, by more than 5 feet" (6).

We thought we'd share this image we found in the book The Great Flood by the Clarion-Ledger and Jackson Daily News.  This picture caught our attention because of the large pile of library books damaged as a result of the flood hitting the library of Jackson Preparatory School!

"About half of the 12,000 ruined books in the library of Jackson Preparatory School on Lakeland Drive were destroyed by the flood. The books were piled in the middle of a classroom" (107).

For more pictures on the Easter flood, check out the aerial views on The Clarion-Ledger's website.
Check out this pin, and other pins on our "Mississippi History" board!

Hederman, T.M., Jr., ed. The Great Flood. Jackson: Clarion-Ledger/Jackson Daily News, 1979. Print
Mississippi History Timeline: http://mdah.state.ms.us/timeline/zone/1979/

Remembering William Hollingsworth, Jr.

Today marks the anniversary of Mississippi artist, William Hollingsworth's, death in 1944. Here is a book plate created by the famed artist as found in the book To Paint and Pray: the Art and Life of William R. Hollingsworth, Jr. by Robin Dietrick:


Are you interested in finding out more about him? Revisit our past blog posts about him here and here!

by Shivon
Dietrick, Robin. To Paint and Pray: the Art and Life of William R. Hollingsworth, Jr. Mississippi Museum of Art: Jackson, MS, 2012. Print

Governor Appoints Ann Marsh to Mississippi Library Commission Board

Governor Phil Bryant has appointed Ann Marsh to the Mississippi Library Commission Board of Commissioners. Marsh fills the vacancy left when Russell Burns of Brookhaven resigned and will serve the remainder of the term which expires June 30, 2015. She represents one of two “at large” positions.

A native of Missouri, Marsh received a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She is an avid library supporter and lover of books. When asked about her appointment to the Library Commission Board Marsh remarked, “With my years of experience in the public library, I hope to give insight to Board decisions and have a positive impact on library services. It is an honor to serve on the Mississippi Library Commission Board of Commissioners.”

She is the branch manager at the Northwest Point Reservoir Library, a branch of the Central Mississippi Regional Library System, where she has been employed for twenty-six years.

This Book is Grrreat!!

We have recently acquired The Great American Cereal Book: How Breakfast Got Its Crunch by Marty Gitlin and Topher Ellis and have since been delighting in cereal nostalgia! Cereal was originally made with laxative properties, but turned towards marketing to children following WWII. Presweetened cereals made their appearance on television, with the help of cartoon characters and popular sitcoms, during the late 1940s through the 1960s. Health-conscious cereals made a return during the 1970s, and both types of cereals now live harmoniously on our grocery store shelves today.

We thought we would delight you with some fun cereal facts! While some of these had very interesting flavors, they unfortunately did not have a very long shelf life…

• Surprize – Created by Kellogg’s, this cereal hit the shelves in 1957, but the date in which it was taken off the shelves is unknown. It was known as the “first brown-rice flaked cereal” (168).

• Caramel Puffs – This cereal, created by General Mills, was supposed to be a variation of Cocoa Puffs with “caramel-flavored corn nuggets” (108). It was not well-received and lasted a year on the shelves from 1959-1960.

• Wackies – Created by General Mills, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1965 to 1966. It was composed of “frosted oats and banana-flavored marbits [marshmallow bits] in various shapes” (175).

• Cornados – Created by General Mills, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1966-1967. It was composed of “cone-shaped corn and rice” (110).

• Ooobopperoos – Created by Nabisco, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1972-1973. It was composed of “blueberry-flavored cereal” (212).

• Sir Grapefellow – Created by General Mills, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1972-1975. It was composed of “grape-flavored oat rings with sweet-grape starbits [star-shaped marshmallow bits]” (220).
• Crunchy Loggs – Created by Kellogg’s, this wood-themed cereal stayed on the shelves from 1978-1979. It was composed of “sweetened corn and oat logs” (195).

We saved the best for last!

Ad found in The Times-Dispatch on March 13, 1903

Ad found in The Scranton Tribune on September 8, 1902

Tryabita – Created by Tryabita Cereal Mills, this cereal hit the shelves in 1903, but the date in which it was taken off the shelves is unknown. It was the first (and possibly only) celery-flavored cereal.

Do you have a favorite cereal from your childhood? Or perhaps you have had the opportunity to try one of these unusually-flavored cereals? We'd love to know!

Gitlin, Marty and Topher Ellis. The Great American Cereal Book: How Breakfast Got Its Crunch. Abrams Image: New York, 2011. Print
The Times-Dispatch: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038615/1903-03-13/ed-1/seq-3.pdf
The Scranton Tribune: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026355/1902-09-08/ed-1/seq-2/

She Done What She Could

Webster's Blue
Black Speller

I've been searching for the first school shooting in Mississippi for the past day or so. I favor a three-pronged attack: print sources, Internet databases, and ye olde Internet search. You'd be amazed at what isn't available on the Internet! I was scanning a print book called From Cotton Field to Schoolhouse: African American Education in Mississippi, 1862-1875, which led me to The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography, wherein I found an incredibly moving story that cried out to be shared:

Belle Caruthers was born a slave. At the end of the War Between the States, she was one of 437,000 blacks set free (31). Most were completely illiterate. Belle was not. She had cared for a white baby as a slave and, "The baby had alphabet blocks and I learned my letters while she learned hers" (33). Belle later found a Webster's Blue Black Speller and used it to study. Her master kicked her when he found her pouring over its pages (33). This did not phase Belle in the least. "I found a hymnbook one day and spelled out, 'When I Can Read My Title Clear.' I was so happy when I saw that I could really read that I ran around telling all the other slaves" (34). I can imagine her excitement, can't you? It practically leaps from the page even now, over 150 years later.

Tombstone of Belle G. Caruthers
She done what she could.

Belle went on to some further schooling herself; she then spent many years as a teacher in the Holly Springs area, passing on her love of and knowledge and learning. She married and raised a family. Belle also wrote for The South, the local county newspaper printed in Holly Springs. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History holds the newspaper for the years Belle would've written her column. I think a personal trip to MDAH is in order in the near future!

Do you see what happened there? I went into my search looking for one thing and came out with a great story and a new resource. (I can't wait to try this in my genealogy research!) Mrs. Belle may have passed away in 1938 at the age of 91, but I think she still has a lot to teach the world.

Blue Black Speller http://www.blockaderunner.com/Catalog/catpg9a.html
Gravestone at Hill Crest Cemetery - She Done What She Could: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12301446
Rawick, George P. The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography Supplement, Series 1, Volume 7 Mississippi Narratives, Part 2. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1977. Print.