Women's Studies (Archives): Home

Jennie and Lucia Adams Collection.  1845-1944.  Papers of Jennie and Lucia Adams, two sisters who co-owned Cedar Mound Plantation outside Clarksdale, Coahoma County, Mississippi (13 boxes).

Aldrich Family Collection. 1740-1972. Papers of Eliza Allison Treadwell Aldrich, J. Marvin Aldrich, Marvin Treadwell Aldrich, and Ransom E. Aldrich. Includes letters dating from the antebellum period through the early twentieth century and reconstruction business records. Women correspondents include Eliza Treadwell Aldrich, her sister Lucy Treadwell Withers, and other family members (25 boxes).  Part of the collection is available as a digital collection.

Betty Allen Materials. Undated. Notes of Dorothy Oldham relating to Betty Allen and property rights of Mississippi women in 1839.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 77-2 (1 folder).

American Association of University Women, Mississippi Division Records. 1927-present. Archives of the Mississippi Division of the American Association of University Women (111 boxes).

Audubon Mississippi/Strawberry Plains Finley Collection.  1830-2008.  Includes the diaries of Margaret Finely (1922) and Emma Finely (1858-1859) of Marshall County, Mississippi (29 boxes).

Kathleen Baldwin Collection. c. 1912-1917. Memorabilia from student years at the University of Mississippi, where Baldwin received a B.A. in 1915 and an M.A. in 1917. A poet, ,much of her collection contains school songs and hymns (1 box).

Barbour Collection. c. 1920-1922. Typed transcription of oral reminiscences by Kathryn Lovett Barbour who played cards with William Faulkner and Estelle Oldham. Barbour was a physical education professor at the University of Mississippi.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 97-1 (1 folder).

Marge Baroni Collection. 1955-1986. A white Catholic resident of Natchez, Mississippi, Baroni supported the civil rights and Catholic Worker movements. Her collection specifically contains government documents concerning sex discrimination (Box 14, Folder 25) (21 boxes).

Nevada Barr Collection. Includes the manuscripts, drafts, galleys, and promotional materials of this popular author. Barr is the author of the award-winning series of mystery novels featuring park ranger Anna Pigeon (20 boxes).

Henry and Katharine Bellamann Collection. 1923-1958. Katherine Bellamann, a native of Carthage, Mississippi, was married to novelist Henry Bellamann. An author in her own right, she co-wrote Parris Mitchell of Kings Row with her husband. The collection contains poetry, manuscripts, correspondence, clippings, and radio scripts (42 boxes).

Blanton-Smith Collection. 1812-1927. A collection of personal letters from the family of Dr. Orville Martin Blanton, his wife Martha Rebecca Smith Blanton, and their descendants. The Blantons resided on a plantation near what is now Greenville, Mississippi (2 boxes).

Emily Morrison Bondurant Collection. 1916-1925. Typescript copy of "Reminiscences of My Life" written in the period 1916-1925 (315 pp.). Bondurant was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia on February 2, 1837, the eighth child of James Morrison, a Presbyterian minister, and Frances Brown Morrison. He memoir recounts her life as a young girl growing up in Virginia, her marriage to A.J. Bondurant (a professor at the University of Mississippi) in 1859, and a lifespan that encompassed four wars.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 78-6 (1 folder).

Sherwood Bonner/Katherine S. McDowell Collection. 1876-1911. Contains papers of McDowell (1849-1993) a Holly Springs, Mississippi native who wrote under a pseudonym, Sherwood Bonner. Collection contains biographical information, documents and letters, including one from H.W. Longfellow (photocopy). Most material photocopies, one autograph letter (1 box).

Sherwood Bonner/Dr. Anne Gowdy Collection. In 2004, Dr. Anne Gowdy donated to Special Collections the research material she had accumulated while working on her dissertation "The Uncollected Works of Sherwood Bonner (Katharine Sherwood Bonner McDowell, 1849-1883): An Annotated Edition" (University of Mississippi; 1996) and her book A Sherwood Bonner Sampler, 1869 -- 1884: What a Bright, Educated, Witty, Lively, Snappy Young Woman Can Say on a Variety of Topics (Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2000). The Gowdy/Bonner Collection consists of three boxes. The first box contains copies of Bonner's published non-fiction and poetry, as well as a number of other primary sources related to Bonner. Both the nonfiction and the poetry are subdivided by type, and the material therein is organized chronologically by the first published appearance of each piece. Folders may also contain copies of each title's subsequent printings as well as Dr. Gowdy's typed and handwritten notes. Box 2 consists of copies and notes of Bonner's fiction -- subdivided into short stories and novels. Again, the arrangement is chronological within each category. The third box contains copies and Dr. Gowdy's notes on secondary material related to Bonner (3 boxes).

Herschel Brickell Collection. c. 1920-1950. Includes letters from Margaret Mitchell, Eudora Welty, and other authors to Brickell. Brickell was born in Senatobia, Mississippi and spent his early years in Yazoo City. He would go on to become a book columnist for New York's Evening Post and later a general editor of Henry Holt and Company Publishing House, He would rise to literary editor of the Post and later a general editor of the O. Henry Memorial Prize Short Stories.  Finding aid available in Special Collections (61 boxes).

Elizabeth Christie Brown Diary. January 1, 1853-September 27, 1863. Diary kept by a young woman from Natchez, Mississippi.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 96-1 (2 folders).

Juanita Brown Collection. 1801-1900. Papers of several generations of an Attala County, Mississippi family. A substantial portion of the correspondence was to or from Loulia L. Clark, grandmother of Juanita Brown, including a series of letters written by her brother, J.H. Buford, during the Civil War. Also included are deeds, land warranties, Confederate money and notes, clippings, material pertaining to the Brown's social life and finances (7 boxes). 

Browning Club Minutes Collection.  1895-2011.  Founded in 1895 in Oxford, Mississippi, the Browning Club is a social organization for women to expand their knowledge of literature and culture, including music and the arts, and to become involved community and political affairs.  Includes history, minutes, programs, yearbooks, and reports (6 boxes).

Hallie Buie Collection. 1920-1949. Sympathy cards and letters written to Prential Buie Rew regarding the death of her sister Hallie Buie. The Buie sisters were born in Caseyville, Mississippi, near Brookhaven, but Hallie Buie spent 30 years working as a missionary for the Methodist Church in Korea. Collection also includes obituaries, Methodist newsletters, an unpublished manuscript written by Hallie Buie regarding her experiences in Korea, and articles from a denominational publication, The Korea Mission Field (2 boxes).

Mary Bynum Letters. 1899-1900. Collection of letters of recommendation for Mary Bynum (M.A., UM, 1900) who applied for a mathematics teaching position at Industrial Institute and College, Columbus.  Location:  University Small Manuscripts/Student Life Box 1 (1 folder).

Roane Fleming Byrnes Collection. 1870-1970. Papers of two generations of a Natchez, Mississippi family. The bulk of correspondence can be divided into three main categories: letters to Anna Metcalfe Fleming (1870-1930); personal letters to Roane Fleming Byrnes (1910-1920); and business correspondence of Byrnes (1930-1970). Roane Fleming Byrnes was president of the Natchez Trace Association, Mississippi Division, and the person primarily responsible for the creation of the Natchez Trace Parkway. Collection also includes clippings, mementos, school records, scrapbook, photographs, maps, journals, and newspapers (46 boxes).

Ida Campbell Collection. 1857-late 19th century. Contains a photocopied grade report for Miss Eleanor Aarond from the Presbyterial Female Collegiate Institute in Pontotoc, Mississippi dated April 30, 1857. The collection also includes photocopied imaged and pages from the Campbell family bible listing the marriage of Eleanor A. Campbell and J.C. Campbell.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 78-1 (1 folder).

Grover H. Catt Collection. 1940-1945. Complete set of letters written between Grover H. Catt and Winnie (Bethea) Catt between 1940-1945. Letters span the period before their marriage in 1941 and excluding any time the two were able to live together throughout his military service. The correspondence includes information about women at home and at work, birth control, and pregnancy (16 boxes).  A selection of photographs from the collection are available in a digital collection.

Lyda Russell Caughman Collection. 1917, 1922-1943. Letters from Lyda Caughman of Daniel, Mississippi, who served with her husband as a missionary in India between 1922-1929 (6 boxes).

Church Women United Manuscript and Interview. 1991-c.1997. Includes a transcript of an interview conducted by Lisa K. Speer with Susie Marshall on October 29, 1991 regarding Marshall's involvement with the Church Women United chapter in Oxford, Mississippi. Also includes Lisa Speer's manuscript entitled, "'Struggling for Justice': Church Women United, Oxford, Mississippi 1962-1991."  Location:  Small Manuscripts 97-1 (1 folder). This collection has been digitized as part of the Civil Rights Archive.

Coit Collection.  1856-1939.  Letters and documents of Helen Harry Coit of Jasper County, Mississippi (1 box).

Miriam Adair Dabbs Collection. Undated. Includes poetry by Dabbs and correspondence with poet and novelist Katherine Bellamann.  Finding aid available in Special Collections (1 box).

Daughters of the American Revolution, David Reese Chapter of Oxford, Mississippi Collection. 1899-present. Nearly complete set of minutes for the chapter (which began in 1899) as well as programs and reports. Also includes notes on cemeteries and antiquities and genealogy notes. Information on the early history of the chapter in Oxford and Lafayette County is also included.  (18 boxes).

Varina Howell Davis Letter. July 5, 1890. Varina Davis' letter to Col. Lucius B. [Northrop] concerning the public release of private letters between Jefferson Davis and the Colonel without the permission of Mrs. Davis. Stamped envelope with Beauvoir postmark. Written on mourning stationary.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 88-2 (1 folder).

Ellen Douglas Collection. 1963-present. Douglas is the pseudonym of Mississippi author, Josephine Haxton. Included are manuscripts of: A Family's Affairs (1963); Black Cloud, White Cloud (1963); Where the Dreams Cross (1968); Apostles of Light (1973); The Rock Cried Out (1979); A Lifetime Burning (1982); The Magic Carpet (1987); Can't Quit You Baby; and miscellaneous manuscripts. Finding aid available in Special Collections (42 boxes).

Robbie Eades Collection. 1861-1968. Papers of Robbie Eades, a lifelong resident of Oxford, Mississippi who taught in Oxford gramer schools from 1924 to 1957. The collection includes funeral notices, newspaper clippings, a 1905 commencement program, and a manuscript by Laura T. Eades, describing her education and her 26-year experience as a third and fourth grade teacher.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 76-3 (1 folder).

The Edmondson/Bray/Williams/Stidham Collection. 1840s-1980s. Among the papers are documents about the life of Isabella Buchanan Edmondson, known as "Belle." She was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi in 1840 and educated at Franklin Female College in Marshall County, Mississippi. During the Civil War while Belle's brothers served in the military, she worked as a spy for the Confederacy in and around North Mississippi.  Also includes correspondence, diaries, and other material related to various female family members from the nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries (35 boxes).

Etheridge Collection.  1940-1976.  Includes correspondence and manuscripts of Doris Currie-Etheridge who aspired to become an author (7 boxes).

Eugene B. Ferris Collection. 1830-1971. Contains Eugene B. Ferris's letters to his daughter Frances from 1921 through 1954 and a reminiscence of Frances Ferris Hall's life from 1981 (4 boxes).

Mamie Lee Ratliff Finger Collection. 1935-1993. Reminiscences regarding the life experiences of Mrs. Finger; her childhood and family in Clarksdale, Mississippi; an in-depth account of the life of her mother Cora Rodman Ratliff, a civil rights advocate; and various reminiscences of Mrs. Finger's numerous travels.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 93-3 (2 folders).

Framed Items.  1691-1997.  Includes 1982 Governor's Proclamation on the American Association for University Women (Item #386); typed 1927 message to Mary Mildred Sullivan Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (Item #148); 1940 photograph of Lucy Somerville Howorth (Item #12).  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 Collections Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at (662) 915-7408 to specify requested material. 

Kate Walthall Freeman Collection. 1841-1864. Freeman was a prominent social leader in Holly Springs, Mississippi. The collection contains photocopied correspondence (1841-1864), manuscripts concerning the election of Abraham Lincoln (1860), and death notices of social leaders from Holly Springs.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 76-2 (6 folders).

Margaret Galloway Collection. 1896-1944. Collection contains the original cookbook (1896) of Margaret Galloway and various editions of it published by the Methodist Ladies of Oxford.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 79-2 (3 folders).

Roxana Chapin Gerdine Collection.  1858-1892.  Born in Massachusetts to an abolitionist family, Roxana Chapin married William
Louis Crawford Gerdine, a widower with nine children from West Point, Mississippi with a substantial cotton plantation.  Includes
correspondence with her family about rising tensions between the North and South as well as the Civil War (2 boxes). Digital collection available.

Mrs. Cade Drew Gillespie Collection. 1926, 1928. Recollections of Letitia Dabney Miller (b. 1852) written in 1926. Describes her experiences growing up on Burley plantation, near Raymond, Mississippi. Photocopy of typescript letter written in 1928 by Eugenia Kelly (Mrs. John) Bitting, age 95, to her niece, Carrie Blanche Johnston (Mrs. Cade Drew) Gillespie. Bitting describes her experiences during the Civil War and her wedding.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 88-1 (1 folder).

Dr. Anne Gowdy/Sherwood Bonner Collection.  1880s-1980s.  Research material on Mississippi author Sherwood Bonner (1849-1883) amassed by Dr. Anne Gowdy for her book A Sherwood Bonner Sampler, 1869-1884 (2000) (3 boxes).

Alice Walworth Graham Manuscript. Undated. Bound typescript of Indigo Bend (1954) by Natchez, Mississippi author.  Location:  Mississippi Authors Small Manuscripts (1 item).

Louella Gray Letters. 1886. Contains two personal letters written to Louella Gray, probably while she was attending Union Female College, by her mother at Gray's Mill, Mississippi.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 76-4 (3 folders).

Theora Hamblett Collection. 1955-1976. Theora Hamblett was born in Paris, Mississippi in 1895 and moved to Oxford, Mississippi in 1930. In her fifties, after a career as a school teacher, Hamblett began painting. Her work is often associated with the primitive or naive school, since she had little formal training. This multi-media collection consists of announcements of art exhibitions, invitations to art exhibitions, correspondence, photographs, slides, video, film, five tape recordings of interviews and an oversize scrapbook which contains clippings and a few letters (4 boxes).

Fannie Lou Hamer Collection. 1966-1978. A major figure in Mississippi's civil rights movement, Hamer was a founding member of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party created in 1966. One of her most ambitious projects was the Freedom Farm Cooperative, in existence between 1969-1974. The collection consists mainly of business records from the various organizations with which she was involved (4 boxes).

Beth Henley Collection. Collection contains the literary manuscripts of Beth Henley, Mississippi native and winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Works in the collection include The Wake of Jamey Foster, Miss Firecracker, and Crimes of the Heart (26 boxes).

Holly Springs Female Academy Records. 1836-1901. Original and amended acts of incorporation and a nearly complete set of board minutes of this educational institution in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Photocopies: originals held by the Holly Springs Historical Society. Location:  Small Manuscripts 76-5 (2 folders).

Howry Family Collection.  1838-1981.  This collection of family papers include material related to sisters Elizabeth Butler Howry and Mary Harris Howry.  Both were civic-oriented and socially active in Washington DC in the early twentieth-century.  Elizabeth Howry organized the first entertainment circuit for the U.S. troops in World War I, and President Eisenhower appointed her to a committee on the National Cultural Center.  She also served as president of the Washington Humane Society and the Washington Opera Society.  Mary Howrywas a member of the Denishawn Dance Company when it toured Asia and later founded the Washington Junior League (6 boxes).

Bessie Hudson, et. al. Interviews. 1978. Oral history interviews with elderly Mississippians, Bessie Hudson, Virginia Paul, and Susie Fortenbery, regarding their life experiences.  Location:  Cassette Tapes & Reel Tapes Collection Box 1 (1 cassette tape). 

Rosa L. Ingraham Letter. 1904. Autograph letter from Rosa L. Ingraham of Chicago, Illinois, to Mrs. John B. Gray of Baltimore, Maryland following the death of Ingraham's husband, the novelist Prentiss Ingraham.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 78-6 (1 folder).

Kelley Family Collection.  1839-1987.  Among the papers of this Port Gibson, Mississippi family are correspondence among women.  Box 10 includes minutes from a Ladies' Aid Society (15 boxes).

Sarah McGehee Isom Letter. 1971. Photocopied letter and other materials kept by Mildred Petrie, containing biographical material on Sarah McGehee Isom, the first woman on the faculty (1885-1905) of the University of Mississippi.  Location:  University Small Manuscripts/Faculty Box 3 (2 folders).

John F. Johnson Collection.  1849-1911.1887.  Includes an 1887 journal kept by Addie Johnson prior to her marriage to Alex Morrow on 22 December 1887. Photocopy (4 boxes).

League of Women Voters of Mississippi Collection. 1946-1994. This collection contains records of the Mississippi Division of the League of Women Voters as well as those of individual chapters within the state.  It consists of correspondence, publications, minutes, reports, rosters, press releases, financial records, scrapbooks, political cartoons, audiovisual recordings, and other material (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 Collections Reading Room.  Please contact Special Collections at (662) 915-7408 to specify requested material.  Recordings and photographs from the collection are digitized and available online

Ligon Collection.  1942-1945.  Largely letters written to Hershel Ligon serving in the armed forces during World War II by his wife Susan Wydell Lott Ligon and family.  During this period the wife gave birth to twins and also appears to have been treated for breast cancer at Oschner's Clinic in New Orleans (1 box).

Mary Clay Lloyd Collection.  1800s-1980.  Mary Clay Lloyd of Alabama wrote about her family lineage, the South, and farming.  Collection includes an article about Bessie B. Clay entitled "Splendid Success of a Southern Woman" (1 box).

M.P. Lowrey Scrapbooks. c. 1900. Newspaper clipping scrapbooks from the late 19th century. Includes clippings of recipes, poems, and articles on subjects such as dress, marriage, and religion. The scrapbooks also include clippings of reminiscences of Civil War veterans and contains romanticized accounts concerning women and the war.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 78-4 (2 volumes).

Beverly Lowry Collection. 1976-c.1980. This collection contains correspondence, publicity photographs, and manuscript materials from novelist Beverly Lowry, a native of Greenville, Mississippi (1 box).

Christopher Maurer Research Collection on Walter Anderson and Shearwater Pottery.  1863-2003.  Includes accounts and business records of Shearwater Pottery in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  Includes copies of diaries and other material related to Walter Anderson's mother' Annette McConnell Anderson and wife Agnes Grimstead Anderson (22 boxes).

McAlexander/Marshall County Collection.  1838-2009.  Includes correspondence and diaries of several women in Holly Springs and Marshall County, Mississippi (23 boxes).

Annie McGehee Collection.  1890-1946.  Originally from Como, Mississippi, Annie McGehee was a student and perhaps a teacher at Huntsville Female College in Huntsville, Alabama in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.  The collection consists of correspondence sent to McGehee, including letters sent by her fiancé (3 boxes).

Mary McGuire Manuscript. c. 1950. A work entitled, "The Forgotten Negro Woman" parts appearing in typescript and some in longhand. The manuscript appears to have been written about 1950 and seems to be unpublished. McGuire was born in Mississippi. She offers fascinating insights into the situation of women and race in America during the early part of the 20th century.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 2001-1 (1 folder).

Lillian Fort Meeks Poetry. Undated. Original antebellum poetry.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 77-3 (1 folder).

Memories of Mississippi Essay Collection.  Contains submissions to a 1994 essay contest for age 60 or older on memories of North Mississippi between 1929 and 1941.  Many of the essays were written by women (1 box).

Mississippi Colleges and Universities Collection. Late 19th century-present. A collection containing pamphlet material and miscellaneous historical information regarding Mississippi institutions of higher education. Specifically includes information on two women's colleges, Blue Mountain and Mississippi University for Women (2 boxes).

Mississippi Organizations Collection.  Includes material related to Oxford's Browning Club (1919-1925), Mississippi Daughters of the American Revolution (1914-1950), Garden Clubs of Mississippi (1948-1951), National Organization for Women in Mississippi (1976), Oxford's Woman's Book Club (1920-1978), Cleveland's Women's Club (1923-1924), Business and Professional Women's Club (1940), Mississippi Federation of Women's Clubs (1940), YM-YWCA (1938), and Boy Scouts Yocona Area Council (1956 and undated) (2 boxes).

Mississippi Periodicals Collection.  1921-1982.  Assorted periodicals with articles about Mississippi or published in Mississippi.  Several contain articles about Mississippi women (6 boxes).

Louise Moss Montgomery Papers and Poetry. Montgomery was Poet Laureate for the state of Mississippi from 1973 to 1978. This collection contains scrapbooks, notebooks, and publications concerning her poems (4 boxes).

Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union Collection.  2007-2010.  Promotional items for special events at George Washington's home Mount Vernon.  Finding aid available online at https://libraries.olemiss.edu/cedar-archives/finding_aids/MUM01745.html (1 box).

William Cowper Nelson Collection.  1843-1949.  Virginia Nelson served in the Red Cross during World War I as well as the 1927 Mississippi River Flood.  Collection includes correspondence discussing her education and experiences in the Red Cross (11 boxes).   

Newspapers (Boxed).  Box 63 includes a 15 October 1959 "Lynda Lee Mead Miss America Edition" of Natchez Democrat (75 boxes).

Pauline Wright Nichols Collection. c. 1930. Manuscript and research notes for The Breath of God: Black Voices from the Thirties which was privately printed in 1979 (1 box).

Cora Norman Bid for State Auditor Office, 1991 Scrapbook.  Album created by Dr. Cora Norman documenting her unsuccessful campaign for Mississippi State Auditor in 1991 (1 box).  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 Collections Reading Room.  Please contact Special Collections at (662) 915-7408 to specify requested material.

North Mississippi Women's History Project.  2005-2006.  Oral interviews with elderly women in North Mississippi (primarily Union County) conducted in 2005-2006 to learn about their lives and experiences growing up in the region. Collection files are accessible from J.D. Williams Library computers only.

Ken Oilschlager --  Juliette Derricotte Collection.  1924-1950.  Papers and letters related to the life and death of Juliette Derricotte (1897-1931), an advocate of African American education and the first woman trustee of Talladega College.  She died after a Georgia hospital denied treatment following a car accident (4 boxes).

Dorothy Oldham Collection. Undated. Contains typed manuscripts and correspondence. For many years Oldham was the curator of the Mississippi Collection at the University of Mississippi. She was also the sister of Estelle Oldham Faulkner, the wife of the noted author (1 box).

Harriet Pegues Daybook. 1848-1849. The daybook reflects home and the social life of a young girl who lived in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Besides describing her activities, Pegues comments on marriage, death, and other subjects.  Photocopy: original held in the Holly Springs Historical Society. Location:  Small Manuscripts 76-7 (1 folder).

Pension. 1892. Application for a Confederate Widow's Pension by Caroline Mills of Simpson County, Mississippi.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 79-3 (1 folder).

The Priscilla Club. 1922-1980. This collection contains the minutes of an Oxford, Mississippi ladies club dedicated to playing the card game "Rook" (1 box).

Anne Rapp Film Collection. This collection includes scripts and working materials from Ms. Rapp's career as a script supervisor. Films included are True Stories, Crimes of the Heart, Things Change, The Accidental Tourist, Havana, Death Becomes Her, The Firm, and Wyatt Earp (10 boxes). 

Katherine Rea Collection.  1974-2005.  Contains plaques, certificates, and a scrapbook related to Dr. Katherine Rea, Dean of Women at the University of Mississippi in the 1950s and 1960s (1 box).

Dorothye Quaye Chapman Reed Collection.  1968-2021.  Reed graduated from UM in 1974 and subsequently served as the first African American Admissions Counselor at UM between 1974 and 1977.  From 1977 to 1981, she was the Assistant Director of the Student Center at East Tennessee State University.  Reed received recognition for raising black enrollment at UM and helping to start the Black Student Affairs organization at East Tennessee State University.  She has worked to promote African American women's history with several publications and projects. Collection includes scrapbooks, correspondence, clippings, photographs, print material, and memorabilia.  31 boxes. 

Sarah Rice/Louise Westling Collection.  Circa 1980s.  Audio recordings and transcripts used by Louise Westling to edit He Included Me:  The Autobiography of Sarah Rice.  The book discusses the Rice's life as an African American woman in rural Alabama in the twentieth century (1 box).

Sessions Collection.  1860-1929.  Collection includes a scrapbook maintained by Clara Sessions of Holmes County, Mississippi during the Civil War as well as Civil War reminiscences of her cousin Delia Sessions from Yazoo County (1 box).  

Calvin R. Simmons. 1840-1992. The collection contains letters, documents, photographs, clippings, genealogical material and ephemera, largely from Pontotoc County, Mississippi.  Letters between Douglas and Lillie Simmons, married in 1919, offer insights into early twentieth-century views on childbirth and childrearing.  Also includes material on the Daughters of the American Revolution from the 1920s and 1930s and numerous invitations to weddings (24 boxes).

Small Manuscripts 2001-2.  Circa 1950s.  Typed manuscript for an unpublished book entitled "The Forgotten Negro Woman" by an African American woman born in Mississippi named Mary McGuire.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 2001-2 (Folder 17).

Small Manuscripts 2008-1.  Petition of Mrs. J. Sanderson on the subject of female education (Folder 9); binder of information on Methodist female academies in Southwestern Mississippi (Folder 10).

Julie Smith Collection. Contains various typed manuscripts, uncorrected proofs, and notes for Smith's mystery novels. Smith, a graduate of the University of Mississippi, is the noted author of such works as the Skip Langdon series of mysteries, set primarily in New Orleans, Louisiana. The collection also contains short stories, foreign editions of her work, and articles by and about Ms. Smith (46 boxes).

Olivia Smith Reminiscences. c. 1979-1980. Born in 1893, near McComb, Mississippi, Olivia Boyd married Dr. William A. Smith in 1920. They lived at Patherburn Plantation and also at Hollandale until his death in 1940.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 82-2 (1 folder).

Southern Women Legislators Collection. This collection contains biographical information, taped interviews, transcripts, newspaper clippings, and other material relating to women legislators from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, and Virginia (16 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 Collections Reading Room. Please contact Special Collections at (662) 915-7408 to specify requested material.  The oral histories are available as a digital collection

Mrs. Charles Spruill Interview. Undated. Interview with Mississippi ballad singer, Mrs. Charles Spruill. A list of songs is included with tape.  Location:  Cassette Tape & Reel Collection Box 4 & Small Manuscripts 95-2 (1 cassette tape & 1 folder).

William Forbes Stearns Collection.  1841-1866.  Papers of first University of Mississippi law professor William F. Stearns.  Includes commencement address at Franklin Female Institute; an address or editorial on marriage; a debate "Is love of country or women most powerful incentive?";  a debate "Should there be a pecuniary reward for breach of marriage promise?"; a debate "Is there a right to remain old bachelors?"; and a written opinion on a child-custody case (2 boxes).

Belle Strickland Papers.  1864-1877.  Photocopy of a manuscript diary kept by Belle Strickland, a resident of Holly Springs, Mississippi.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 76-9 (1 folder).

Harriet Blanton Theobald Collection. 1833-1886. Early documents relating to Theobald's donation of land to the city of Greenville. Includes Theobald's manuscript of the early history of Greenville along with typed transcriptions of the original. Also contains a printed obituary notice for Theobald outlining her history and gifts given to the city.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 91-3 (9 folders) & Maps #188 through #191.

Lily Wilkinson Thompson Collection. 1897-1920. The collection contains personal correspondence, manuscripts, clippings, magazines, and miscellany of Thompson, mostly pertaining to women's suffrage. Also includes material on Belle Kearney, temperance and women's suffrage activist, and a letter from U.S. President William Howard Taft (3 boxes).  A selection of items from the collection are available in the Mississippi Woman Suffrage Association Digital Collection

Sara Thompson Interview. 1976. Oral history interview with Sara Thompson, a 70-year-old retired Lafayette County, Mississippi "granny midwife" who had assisted with the births of 60 children.  Location:  Cassette Tapes & Reels Collection Box 2 (2 cassette tapes).

David Todd Collection. c. 1820s-1930s. Contains memoirs and memorabilia from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Contains articles, speeches, and a typed reminiscence, "Our People" by Kate Shaifer Sholars, who was born in Port Gibson, Mississippi in 1849. Also contains a biography of Mary J. Briscoe written by her daughter. Also contains miscellaneous items from the United Daughters of the Confederacy (3 boxes).

Union Female College Collection. 1873-1882. Contains commencement programs, musical programs, R.A.H. Society programs, and catalogues from this Oxford, Mississippi's women's college.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 78-2 (1 folder).

United Daughters of the Confederacy & Sons of Confederate Veterans Collection.  1912-2009.  Miscellaneous assortment of material from two of the regional organizations that commemorated the Confederacy (2 boxes).

University Dames Collection. 1927-2006. The Dames, formally known as the University of Mississippi Women's Club, is a social organization open to the University's women employees and wives of employees. The collection contains the constitution, amendments, and minutes (5 boxes).

Alice Walker. Undated manuscript entitled, "Looking for Zora." It was part of a three part study of the life of Zora Neale Hurston by author Alice Walker.  Location:  Small Manuscripts 88-1 (1 folder).

Elijah M. Walker Collection.  1851-1860.  Includes the diary (and transcripts) of Caroline King (2 boxes).

Eudora Welty Small Manuscripts. Miscellaneous small manuscript materials of Mississippi author, Eudora Welty (6 boxes).

J.D. Williams Family Collection.  1831-1902.  Includes invitations to balls and cotillions in the 1830s and correspondence received from family and friends by Sallie Pollock from 1860 to 1865 (1 box).

Joan Williams Collection. Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1928, Williams' fiction is set largely in northern Mississippi, at the home of her mother (6 boxes).

Woman's Forum, Oxford, Mississippi Collection. 1948-1998. This collection contains the correspondence, scrapbooks, financial information, clippings, minutes, and miscellaneous materials relating to this Mississippi Federated Club for Women (10 boxes).

Women of the Ku Klux Klan Collection.  1919-1938.  Correspondence, published literature, and notes related to the female auxilliary of the Ku Klux Klan (1 box).  The contents are available as a digital collection.

Women's Book Club of Oxford, Mississippi Collection.  1895-2009.  Club founded in 1895 by Oxford women to discuss books and plan service projects (11 boxes).

Jennifer Ford
Senior Curator of Manuscripts
Email: jwford@olemiss.edu

Digital Collections

Aldrich Collection

Grover Catt Collection

League of Women Voters of Mississippi Collection

Mississippi Woman Suffrage Association Collection

Southern Women Legislators Collection

Women of the Ku Klux Klan Collection