Brookhaven – A Sense of Place

Senator Pat Harrison's Funeral at Gulfport, Miss., June 25, 1941. PI/COL/1982.0016, item 46 (MDAH)

The Witbeck, C. W., Photograph Collection depicts people and places in towns and cities throughout Mississippi dating from 1911 through 1955. The 333 black-and-white photographs focus on Brookhaven, Gulfport, Jackson and Vicksburg, Mississippi. The collection also contains views of Monticello, Meadville and Crystal Springs, Mississippi. The earliest print, from 1911, is of McGrath’s Baseball Team in Brookhaven, Mississippi.

The collection includes 18 photographs of Governor Hugh White’s inauguration (January 22, 1952), 62 photographs of the United States Naval Training School in Gulfport (July 17, 1950), 35 photographs of Senator Pat Harrison’s funeral (June 25, 1941), 19 photographs of the Mississippi Highway Patrol General Assembly (August 3, 1950), 18 photographs of the Masonic Building fire in Brookhaven (March 25-26, 1951), 13 photographs of a Wesson Lions Club event (March 26, 1951), 11 photographs of the Whitworth College Coronation Pageant (May 29, 1950), and 5 photographs of African-American Little Leaguers in Brookhaven (June 15, 1955).

Pictured above is the 1941 funeral of Byron Patton “Pat” Harrison who represented Mississippi in the United States Congress for many years. He served in the House of Representatives from 1911-1919 and the Senate from 1919-1941. See Westley F. Busbee, Jr., Mississippi: A History (Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 2005), 209.

Rust University baseball team PI/1992.0001 — Call Number: PI/1992.0001 (MDAH Collection)

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

On the Smithsonian Institution Collections Blog, there is a fascinating article on one aspect of manufacturing baseballs. Did you know that the cover is still hand-stitched on? Learn more in this post!
Historical baseball photos are on the Delaware Public Archives facebook page (read more on baseball and their collection on their blog).
Brian Wilson’s beard is the subject of this post on the National Archives’ Prologue: Pieces of History blog.

Halloween

Stumped on a Halloween costume this year? Check out this fun article on the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art blog for some historical ideas.
A spooky database find and a post on the roots of our Halloween traditions are on the Mississippi Library Commission Reference Blog.
Read the eerie story of Robert Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s son, on the Prologue: Pieces of History blog.
The phrase “modern office structures” may sound scary to some, but there is a non-scary, and yes non-related to Halloween but still interesting, article on the subject on the Preservation in Mississippi blog.
Read about ghost sightings at the National Museum of Natural History on their blog.

The Cooper Postcard Collection yielded the image of the Rust baseball team above and the Rose Hill Cemetery below…

Cooper Collection: Rose Hill Cemetery, Brookhaven PI/1992.0001 — Call Number: PI/1992.0001 (MDAH Collection)

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.