UM Common Reading Experience 2020: What the Eyes Don't See

Conducting Research in the Archives

The Archives and Special Collections is on the third floor of the J.D. Williams Library.  It is open to researchers Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm. Before beginning research in manuscript collections, expect to complete a researcher registration form at the Reference Desk and show a photo ID.

Contact:

Dr. Leigh McWhite

Political Papers Archivist & Associate Professor

slmcwhit@olemiss.edu

Kinlock School in Mississippi in 1950 (Phay Collection, Box 15, Folder 76)

Kinlock School in Mississippi in 1950

(John E. Phay Collection)

Publications in Archives & Special Collections

The Archives & Special Collections possesses a large number of printed reports and studies on water management, ground water, water associations, and water & sewage systems at the local and state level in Mississippi. 

To identify potentially relevant publications, conduct an advanced catalog search using the term "water" and limiting the location to "Special Collections."  Note:  similar items may be found by conducting the same catalog search but limiting the location to "State Documents" or "Government Documents."

 

East Side School in Mississippi in 1956

East Side School in Clay County, Mississippi in 1956

(John E. Phay Collection)

Citing Collection Material

While researching, keep track of the location of material that you intend to reference in your research paper.  Remember that you are providing bread crumbs for readers (or your professor) to retrace your steps and find that specific item.  The following information is essential:

  • Title or brief description of item
  • Name of collection
  • Box number and folder number (or identifier if using a digital collection)
  • Name of archival repository
  • Name of institution

Sample:

Letter dated 8 August 1958 from John Smith to Chancellor Porter L. Fortune.  Chancellors Collection/Porter L. Fortune (Box 28, Folder 12). Department of Archives and Special Collections, University of Mississippi.

Archives Collections with Information on Water Issues

Thomas G. Abernethy Collection.  1924-1975.  A Democrat, Thomas G. Abernethy served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1943 to 1973.  His district consisted of the northeastern portion of Mississippi, and he was a member of the House Agriculture Committee.  Numerous files related to watersheds in Mississippi are located in the Agriculture series.  The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and Tombigbee River Flood Control comprise a separate series.  The Government Agencies series also holds a large quantity of files related to local water systems and watersheds within Abernethy's district.  The Legislation series holds files on bills and subjects related to water quality and watershed projects and the Subject series contains files on water resources, local water systems, and specific bodies of water within the district.  Please contact the Political Papers Archivist directly for a more explicit list of relevant information on water and where they are located in this large and complex collection.  Patrons should provide notice at least two business days prior to prospective visits so that staff may transfer requested boxes from the Library Annex (an off-site facility) to the Special Collection Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at archivesdept@olemiss.edu to specify requested material. 

Beckwith/Yerger Collection.  1869-1930.  Born in Ohio in 1839, Byron De La Beckwith, settled in Stockton, California in 1860 and helped to finance and organize the Woodbridge Canal & Irrigation Company, one of California's first successful irrigation projects.  Before his death in 1904, Beckwith also became involved in the Sacramento Canal Company.  Material related to both ventures will be found in the Beckwith family correspondence and the Beckwith business documents (Boxes 1 through 4).  7 boxes.

Business School Collection.  1933-1987.  Includes the following papers and publications of the University of Mississippi Business School: "The Effects of Price and Other Selected Variables on Water Consumption" from 1973 (Box 1, Folder 15); "A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis of Water Pricing in Mississippi Municipalities" from 1974 (Box 1, Folder 18); "Methods to Facilitate Managerial Effectiveness in Municipal Water Systems" from 1975 (Box 2, Folder 24); "Methods to Effect Cost Reductions in Municipal Water Systems" (Box 2, Folder 32); "An Economic Analysis of the Yellow Creek Watershed Region" in 1962 (Box 2, Folder 43); "Methods to Effect Cost Reductions in Municipal Water Systems" in 1978 (Box 4, Folder 86); "Planning Models for Water System Development in Mississippi Communities" in 1975 (Box 4, Folder 87); "Water Resources and Industrial Development in Mississippi:  Opportunities & Constraints" from 1979 (Box 4, Folder 88); "A Bibliography of Publications Relating to Water Resources in Mississippi" dated 1980 (Box 4, Folder 110); and "The Impact of Water System Pricing on Consumption and Conservation" dated 1982 (Box 6, Folder 376).

Conferences Collection.  1908-2001.  Collection consists of pamphlets and other material related to conferences held at or sponsored by the University of Mississippi, and includes "Finite Elements in Water Resources, 19-23 May" (Box 2, Folder "1979") and "Sustainability of Wetlands and Water Resources" (Box 2, Folder 2000).  2 boxes.

Colin Crawford Collection.  1978-1994.  Research files for author Colin Crawford's 1996 award winning book Uproar at Dancing Rabbit Creek:  Battling Over Race, Class and the Environment which examines efforts to prevent a toxic waste dump in a predominantly African American area of Neshoba County, Mississippi which would have environmental consequences for the soil and water supplies.  12 boxes.

James O. Eastland Collection.  A Democrat, James O. Eastland served in the U.S. Senate for a few months in 1941 and then from 1943 until his retirement in 1978.  The collection contains a voluminous amount of material on the subject of water at the federal and state levels, including correspondence with presidents, congressional colleagues, federal departments and agencies, state and local officials, organizations and constituents as well as recordings, newspaper clippings, speeches, and press releases.  During Eastland's tenure in office, federal funding was vital for the creation of modern sewage and water systems in rural communities throughout the state and these projects are well documented within the collection.  In addition, the collection contains a subseries on Legislative Aide Sam Thompson who who worked for the senator from 1954 until his retirement in 1978.  Thompson initiated the first water rights legislation in Mississippi in 1952, chairing the Mississippi Interorganizational Committee for Water Resources.  He served continuously on the Mississippi Board of Water Commissioners from 1956 to 1978.  In 1957, he called a meeting of water officials from twelve southern states, leading to the organization of the Southern Water Resources Conference which he chaired for five years.  Thompson was also one of the organizers of the Interstate Conference on Water Problems of the Council of State Governments, and he chaired the Water Resources Council during the year it began to coordinate Federal Water Agency activities.  Recognized as one of the nation's leading water and soil conservation authorities, Thompson addressed numerous local, state, regional and national groups on the subject and appeared before congressional committees in these matters representing the state of Mississippi, the Delta Council, the Farm Bureau, and State Legislative Councils.  He initiated the idea that led to the establishment of loans for rural water associations and small communities to provide potable water and sewage systems.  His personal and professional correspondence appears in File Series 4, Subseries 18:  Legislative Aide/Sam Thompson (1 box) but researchers will find more of his correspondence in File Series 4, Subseries 5:  Agriculture & Forestry Committee (2 boxes) and File Series 3, Subseries 4: State/Local Files (60 boxes) which contain folders on the water and sewage systems of specific locales within the state.  Please contact the Political Papers Archivist directly for a more explicit list of relevant information on water and where they are located in this large and complex collection.  Patrons should provide notice at least two business days prior to prospective visits so that staff may transfer requested boxes from the Library Annex (an off-site facility) to the Special Collection Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at archivesdept@olemiss.edu to specify requested material. 

Faulkner Miscellaneous Images Collection.  Includes a photograph slide of the Oxford, Mississippi cotton gin and water tower in 1962-1963 (Box 7, Folder 9, Slide 32).  8 boxes.  Patrons should provide notice at least two business days prior to prospective visits so that staff may transfer requested boxes from the Library Annex (an off-site facility) to the Special Collection Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at archivesdept@olemiss.edu to specify requested material. 

Carroll Gartin Collection.  1941-1966.  Carroll Gartin served three terms as Mississippi's Lieutenant Governor (1952-1956, 1956-1960, and 1964 until his death in 1966).  Collection includes the file "Request for Legislative Review of Pearl River Valley Water Supply District" (Box 21, Folder 29).  31 boxes.  Patrons should provide notice at least two business days prior to prospective visits so that staff may transfer requested boxes from the Library Annex (an off-site facility) to the Special Collection Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at archivesdept@olemiss.edu to specify requested material. 

Carolyn Haines Collection.  1972-2003.  Prior to becoming a mystery author, Carolyn Haines worked as a photojournalist for the newspapers Mobile Press Register, Mississippi Press, Hattiesburg American, and the George County Times.  Her collection includes photo negatives related to the Lamar County water system in June 1973 (Binder 1, Page 30 and Page 51) and the North Lamar Water Association (Binder 2, Page 2).  9 boxes & 6 binders.  Patrons should provide notice at least two business days prior to prospective visits so that staff may transfer requested boxes from the Library Annex (an off-site facility) to the Special Collection Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at archivesdept@olemiss.edu to specify requested material. 

Armis Hawkins Collection.  1980-1995.  Armis E. Hawkins won election to the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1980 and served as Chief Justice from 1993 until his retirement in 1995.  Collection includes a file on Pearl River Valley Water Supply District et al v. Hinds County, et al decided in January 1984 (Box 10, Folder 4).  47 boxes.  Patrons should provide notice at least two business days prior to prospective visits so that staff may transfer requested boxes from the Library Annex (an off-site facility) to the Special Collection Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at archivesdept@olemiss.edu to specify requested material. 

League of Women Voters of Mississippi Collection.  This collection contains the official records for the Mississippi division of this national, nonpartisan organization which “encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences policy through education and advocacy.”  Includes two files on the Clean Air and Safe Water Acts, 1970-1988 (Box 13, Folders 1 & 2) and Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority, 1980-1984 (Box 18, Folder 2).  Patrons should provide notice at least two business days prior to prospective visits so that staff may transfer requested boxes from the Library Annex (an off-site facility) to the Special Collection Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at archivesdept@olemiss.edu to specify requested material. 

James H. Meredith Collection.  1950-1997.  In 1962, James H. Meredith became the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi.  His collection includes business correspondence and documents related to a water and air filtration business Meredith operated in the 1980s (Box 46, Folder "Financial/Business Related Correspondence and Documents 1980's") and a letter dated 23 November 1987 from Darion W. Fowler to Meredith regarding a water treatment system (Box 65, Folder "Financial/Business Correspondence 1987").  146 boxes.

Mississippi College & Universities Collection.  1890-2003.  Includes a May 1985 newsletter of the Water Resources Research Institute (Box 1, Folder "Mississippi State University").  1 box.

Mississippi Conservation & Recreation Collection.  1938-1984.  Includes several files on specific bodies of water within the state as well as state agencies and other organizations focused on the subject of water use.  1 box.

Mississippi Industries Collection.  1926-1999.  Includes "Water Sites" undated (Box 2, Folder 24), circa 1978 "Jackson County Water Supply Needs" (Box 3, Folder 28); and 1980 "Jackson County Water Supply Alternatives" (Box 3, Folder 29).  7 boxes.

Mississippi Politics Collection.  1908-2011.  Includes an August 1955 letter from Sam Thompson, Chair of the Mississippi Water Resources Policy Commission, to "Members of the Legislature," re:  Meetings to discuss Mississippi water law as well as a draft state law from 1958 for the Pearl River Water Supply District and a copy of a typed manuscript with a short summary of this piece of legislation (Box 1, Folder "John L. Kennedy").  4 boxes.

Bobby Moak Collection.  1983-2015.  A Democrat, Bobby Moak represented District 93 and District 53 in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1984 to 2016.  He served on the Conservation and Water Resources Committee from 1984 to 1991 and in 1993.  Consequently, his legislative files from those years are likely to contain material related to that committee and the subject of water.  33 boxes.  Patrons should provide notice at least two business days prior to prospective visits so that staff may transfer requested boxes from the Library Annex (an off-site facility) to the Special Collection Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at archivesdept@olemiss.edu to specify requested material. 

John E. Phay Collection.  1949-1962.  Collection contains over 4,700 images documenting Mississippi segregated school systems during the 1940s to mid-1950s.  Images include children waiting for an exterior water fountain at East Side (white school, grades 1-6) in January 1956 (Binder 28, Page 6); students at an exterior water pump at Kinlock (African American, grades 1-8) in March 1950 (Box 15, Folder 76); exterior water fountain at Charleston (African American, grades 1-12) in April 1955 (Binder 32, Page 7); and boys at an exterior water pump in Myrtle (African American, grades 1-8) (Binder 32, Page 18).  42 boxes.  The collection's photographs are available online as a digital collection.

Jack Reed Collection.  1928-2018.  A native of Tupelo, Mississippi, Jack Reed was a prominent businessman in the state and served as president of the Mississippi Economic Council in 1963-1964.  Collections includes a file with material on the city of Tupelo dated from 1994 which contains a memorandum from the Water and Light Department to the City Hall Task Force (Box 6, Folder 16).  21 boxes.

Small Manuscripts.  Includes the following:  Broadside for Red Spring Mineral Water near Stewart, Mississippi in 1912 (Box 1978-1, Folder 19); pamphlet with report of Artesian Water Company of Mtitleis, Tennessee dated 1888 (Box 1978-7, Folder 9); typed essay by A.B. Cullen on Mississippi waterways dated 1965 (Box 1979-1, Folder 5); and several items from the 1950s related to the water and sewage systems of Oxford and Louisville, Mississippi (Box 1995-4, Folder 25 "Mississippi Utilities").  92+ boxes.

Mary Alice Stewart:  Time on Parchman Farm Collection.  1895-1939.  Mary Alice Stewart was head nurse at Mississippi State Penitentiary in the 1930s.  The collection includes photographs of filling water jugs for prisoners (Collection Photographs Box 102, Folder 1), prisoners and the water wagon (Collection Photographs Box 102, Folders 2 & 9), and water tanks (Collection Photographs Box 102, Folder 18). The collection's photographs are available online as a digital collection.

Vertical Files.  Includes the folder of newspaper and journal clippings "Water Supply."

Vice-Chancellor Collection.  1946-1976.  Subject files maintained by vice chancellors at the University of Mississippi.  Includes the file "Air & Water Pollution Control Commission, 1972" (Box 2, Folder 1).  46 boxes.

Jamie L. Whitten Collection.  A Democrat, Jamie Whitten served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1941 until his retirement in 1995.  Lafayette County remained in his district throughout his tenure in office.  The collection contains quite a bit of material on the subject of water at the federal and state levels, including correspondence with presidents, congressional colleagues, federal departments and agencies, organizations and constituents as well as recordings, newspaper clippings, speeches, and press releases.  Water will be the subject of legislation, and federal funds will assist local water and sewage systems.  Please contact the Political Papers Archivist directly for a more explicit list of relevant information on water and where they are located in this large and complex collection.    Patrons should provide notice at least two business days prior to prospective visits so that staff may transfer requested boxes from the Library Annex (an off-site facility) to the Special Collection Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at archivesdept@olemiss.edu to specify requested material.