Looking for a last minute Valentine’s Day card idea? Your search could end with this postcard from the Cooper Postcard Collection!
Also, check out this Archives of American Art blog post, entitled “Valentine’s, Shmalentine’s”–they showcase Valentine’s related collections, including some great Valentine’s/Buy War Bonds art.
Check out the new website from the Mississippi Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission! It was recently unveiled and will serve as a clearing house for the various statewide events commemorating the 150 anniversary of the Civil War. Other fun stuff on the website: a timeline of Civil War action, photos, videos, reading lists, visitor information, related collections at various institutions (including MDAH) and more!
The website was developed by the Mississippi State University Libraries Web Services Department.
Lee County was established in 1866 and named for Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807-1870). The current courthouse in Tupelo was built in 1905 at a cost of $60,000. It was preceded by an initial two-story frame building (1867) and two other brick courthouses, built in 1871 and 1875, both of which burned. These images of the courthouse are from the Cooper Postcard Collection.
Knowing when courthouse fires occured isn’t just lagniappe–it can explain gaps in county records, like the marriage books that are useful for genealogy research. Though in Lee County, the marriage records somehow survived the fires. A catalog search reveals that they go back to 1867, or one year after the county was established. Check out the County Records section of the online catalog’s Master List of Microfilm to see what records exist for the county where your family lived.
Source: Bill Gurney, Mississippi Courthouses: Then and Now (Ripley, Mississippi: Old Timer Press, 1987), 87-88.
Two things seems to be in the air right now: baseball and Halloween. Here’s a roundup of what’s been going on around the archives and history blogosphere on these two subjects:
Baseball
Halloween
The Cooper Postcard Collection yielded the image of the Rust baseball team above and the Rose Hill Cemetery below…
Here at the archives, we have many more baseball photographs, suject files, and books. There are also books on ghost stories and Mississippi folklore, and of course, cemetery records. Search the catalog to find holdings.
*The baseball glove from the Museum of Mississippi History collection pictured above belonged to William (Willie) Mitchell who was the first Mississippian to attain major league status. Mitchell was born on December 1, 1888, in Pleasant Grove, Mississippi. He attended Mississippi A & M College (now Mississippi State University) from 1906-1909 where he received All Southern honors as a baseball pitcher. Mitchell later played in the major leagues for the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1966. A collection of correspondence and newspaper clippings concerning his induction into the Hall of Fame can be found in the Archives. For more information or to see the glove, contact Cindy Gardner or Nan Prince by email or by phone at 601-576-6850.
During the Civil War, the town of Corinth (Alcorn County) occupied a strategic position at the junction of two railroad lines, and in the fall of 1862, Union forces under General William Rosecrans were constructing earthworks to defend Corinth against a Confederate attack. General Earl Van Dorn commanded the Confederate forces that marched on Corinth in late September. Their bravery was not enough to match Rosecrans’ reinforcements, and the attack failed. The Battle of Corinth lasted two days and claimed over 900 lives and many more wounded.
This monument commemorates Colonel William Rogers, who led the Confederate charge on the Union Battery Robinett and was killed in action.
These images are from the Cooper Postcard Collection, which is comprised of approximately 4,600 postcards depicting scenes from around the state from 1892 through the 1940s. It focuses on the theme of Mississippiana, featuring scenes of small towns, mineral springs, agricultural and forestry activities, and railroads. It can be viewed in its entirety in the Digital Archives, along with other collections that have been scanned and made available online.
Source: Michael B. Ballard, Civil War Mississippi: A Guide (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2000), 11-34.