(Above) Firsr rent check presented to city of Clevelandby Baxter. (Lefi to right) Owen Fess, George Warner, Olin Thylor, Ralph Falk, Mayor How- ard Williams, Homer Sledge, B. E. McDearman, Wattie Bishop, Charles Capps, Sr., Mrs. I. T. Davis, G. D. Criss, Mrs. Dorothy Nott Wilson, Carmen Valentine. (Right) Amzre Moore. CHAPTER IX

Believing in Cleveland

Tbe priceless ingred.ient is . . . peopte. According to Pauline Flolmes, a lifelong - friend^. Cleveland Chamber of C,ommerce Brochure, circa 1959 His salary there was so small that he and a group of his co-workers had to qo to the Red Cross for food. They gave him ipiece of meat and some flour in a paper bag. From that time he vowed that he would do soriething to ger a better job and improve life for his ieopie., Moore tried teaching for a while. Then in (- 1935 he passed the Civil Service exarn, bur was VLEVELAND HISTORY is rich with charac_ not offered-_a job as a postman. He was hired by ters both famous, and infamous. Via business. the post office as janitor. During World War Ii politics, athletics, and the arrs, these folks have Moore was stationed in El paso, fexas. To combat put the town on the map. injustice in the armed forces, he organized a Amzie Moore was_a great believer in oppor_ group of black soldiers into a secrer sJciety. He tunity for all Clevelanderi. was committed to civil rights.3 Moore lived in, and believed in. Cleveland for fust after the war, Moore returned to Cleve_ half a century. Moore made the history that other land and organized the Cotton Makers Jubilee. folks only read and talked about. Over 10,000 blacks from the Delta attended the Amzie Moore was born September 23, L9lL, Cotton Carnival-like celebration at Delta State. in north central . When he was twelve, Moore and Dr. TR. Howard, a physician and Moore lost five brotherq a sisteq and his mother. community leader from Mound Bivou. founded to the ravages of a house fire. Moore was left to the llissrsriW_t Reglgnal Councii for Negro look after himself and a younger brother. Even- Leadership in 1950. The organizationwas com- gny, Moore worked his way to the Delta circa mitted to. ending discriminltion against black 1930. Moore picked conon.for a time. then he peoole. They railed against poll taxes and they ,:"k $8-a-week position T at the Byrd Hotel in for increased voter registration. One of Cleveland. When hirsh times hit. 9"gtr, M'oore lost his their slogans was "Don't buy gis where you can,t hotel job. He found harder work, for less pay, at use the bathroom." A council convention in the Southern Gin Company.r Mound Bayou drew 10,000 participants.a

Bnr,tpvrNc rN Cr;vnleNt f g5 Y

Moore directed Operation Freedom Commit- tee which compensated black people who lost their jobs by voting. He was instrumental in founding daycare centers for mothers who worked as domestic maids. Moore took advan- tage of college activism in the I960s and orga- niznd the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Students from around the South aided in registering over 16,000 black voters in the Delta in a two-year sPan. Moore retired from the post office in 1968 and moved to Washington O.C. ge worked with the National Council for Negro Women. Then he returned to Cleveland for the last days of his abundant life.s According to one newsPaPer article

[Moore] lived through the "Jim Crow" years, fighiing the "separate brit equal" philosophy and co-founding the Regional Council for Negro Leadershiplwhich #as Mississippi's "home- grown" N-AACP. In those days, according to . . . NeeCp President Aaron Henry it would have been considered a radical move to join the NAACP proper.6 In a tribute to Moore n L978, several people told of Moore's tenacious belief in iustice for all. In the early 1950s, [Aaron] Henry said, "Amzie Moore donned blue jeans and went out in the cotton fields" to try to find out who killed young- Chicagoan Emmett Till. He also worked to help improve the economic conditions of many indiviiluals. "It is because of Amzie Moore that many of us today are em- ployed," said Mrs. [Pauline] Holmes. "It is also because of Amzie Moore that many of us now live in decent housing," she said.7 Moore died February I, 1982. FIe was 66. All across the nation, advocates of civil rights and simple justice mourned the passing of the Cleve- land man.8

J(*)eJ€)t)CirJ(

Bernard Rush Carpenter and Dorothy Mae (Tap) Cleveland Library Commission 1984. Seated: Mrs' Robert Robinson also believed in Cleveland. tib-bs. Standing left to right: Mrs. l. M. Howorth, Mrs' Nott -Edwin and I' A. Kamien, (Middl4 was dle son Wheeler, Mrs. Caipenter fr. B.R. Carpenter, known as Bunny, Bolivar County Library Birokmobile with bookmobi.le librarian, of Cleveland physician, Dr. WA. Carpenter. Car- Ira K. Harris. ncr (Abwe) Dorothy Robinson Carpenter Family Memorial Library. penter was a partner in Concrete Products Com-

186 Cr,nvnr"eNo: A CnNTnNNTAL FIrsroRY pany with his brother-in-law, Leslie Walker. Car- Cleveland leader Ed B. Hill, who first introduced ' penter was a veteran of World War II, president a lending library to the Jones Bayou community of the Rotary Club, the Volunteer Fire Depart- around iqfO. Her grandmother was hy G' Hill. ment) and other organizations vital to Cleveland.e LePoint's father was N"P Cassibry another Dorothy Mae Robinson was the daughter of Cleveland pillar.ta WPA in 194I, for the |ames Tatum Robinson, who was once Sheriffof LePoinl worked for the Bolivar County. She was active in coundess Cleve- Red Cross in l942,and in 1944 she met Warwick land groups, from the First Baptist Sunday Smith and they were married just before the Air School, to Brownie Scouts, to Cub Scouts; to Force sent "smitr/'to the South Pacific. LePoint ' Auxiliary' )unior Auxiliary the Red Cross, the Polio Drive, helped organizr the Cleveland lunior the PIA. and numerous others. She was also a tnlgZ+. she was elected President of the Missis- librarian in the new county-wide system.ro sippi Library Association. And n 1975 she was Bunny and Dorothy were married. They had the Junior Auxiliary's "Queen of the Charity three children-Bernard Rush, |r., Rosalie, md Ball:'15 Bert. The family lived in a nice home on Victoria' OnMondaynight, November 7,1960, fire swept )rJ(*Jt*)e 7rJ€ through the house. All five members of the fainily were isphlxiated. The whole town was in shock. foe and Lury Howorth returned to Cleveland Grief spread through the hearts of Cleveland like for good in 1958. And they returned for the good the fire itself.rr of Cleveland. But, like the mythical Phoenix, the spirit of Howorth was from Scott Counry. He the Carpenter family rose from the ashes' The |oseph grew up with James Easdand, who later became spirit roie in the form of a sorely-needed public i Uttited States Senator. Howorth was a Marine lbrary building for Cleveland. In 196l the ]immy inWorldWar L Then he graduatedfromMillsaps T. Robinson family, and the Ciry of Cleveland, C,ollege in ]ackson and the law school at the Uni- raised the Dorothy Carpenter Robinson Family versity of Mississippi. While in law school, FIo- Memorial Library at the corner of Court and Lef- worth met, and fell in love with, Lucy Somerville' lore. According to a history brochure Lury was the daughter of Mississippi's foremost With assistance from the Library Services and suffragette, and first female state rePresentative, C,onstruction Act funds l-r;-1964, an addition of Nellie Nugent Somerville. 16 was made to the approximately 3,000 square feet Lury Somerville was born in Greenville' She buildins of 5,OOO square feet. orieinal sixteen she entered Ran- "C,onstructioi on the addition to the Robinson was a child prodigy. At dolph Macon. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa Carpenter Memorial fi!1arY: the lreadquarters buildine. was completed in the fall of 1979. The from the college in 1916 with a degree in political proiectincluded th^e addition of 4.200 square feet science. "I had come from a political family," she io the existing 8,000 square feet and a 40-car once explained, "and it was natural I study polit- parking lot. (Cost:$325,000) 12 ical science."t7 The Robinson-Carpenter Library became the Another time she said, "I was born orga- headquarters for the Bolivar Counry Library sys- nized.t"8 tem, which, in 1984, included branches in Rose- According to an interview in the Cbristian Sci- dale, Gunnison, Shaw, Shelby, and Merigold.l3 ence Monitor, The first director of the newly-organized As the daughter of the president of the Mis- county library system in 1959 was LePoint Cas- sissippi Suffraee Association, litde Lucy was sibry Smith. tt"ffits envelo'pes at a time when most children fu a child, LePoint attendedMrs' Somerville's were piaying hopscotch. kindergarten, the Hill Demonstration School, "Ufh'.n i was six months old, my mother took says of her earliest and Clweland High School. Her grandfather was me to a district meeting," she

Bnr,rnvrNc rN Cr,BvPr,eNo 187 moments on the hustings. "And from tlat day In Washington) one of Lury lloworth's until the day I went into college. every tew friends was Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady. months we embarked toward a convention' I Mrs. Floworth introduced Mrs. Roosevelt on oc- ushered. I ran errands. I listened. I saw And I casion. And the two women shared the same of the period, from met some of the great women speech teacher. According to Mrs. Howorth, 1896 to 1912. an extremely sympathetic "Now that child," she continues, referring to Eleanor Roosevelt'\vas herself,'fuould have either forsworn organization woman) remarkably gracefi,rl for anybody as tall entirelv and led a reclusive life, or she would as she was."23 have done what I did-started joining, started In the wake of Pearl Harbor, ]oe Howorth having maneuvering, started leading, and started donned his uniform once more and moved into way."t' fun all along the the newly-built Pentagon Building. He was dis- Lucy Somerville graduated first in her law charged from the At-y as a major n 1947' He school class at Ole Miss. Speaking at commence- served as legislative liaison for the Secretary of the ment, she railed against the Universit/s refusal to At-y until 1958.24 allow Darwin's evolution theories to be dis- In 1949 Lucy Howorth went to work for the cussed. "Insistence upon strict conformity to the War Claims Commission. She eventually became status quo is making mental cowards of us all," general counsel-the first female to hold such po- she challenged the chancellor.2o sition in a federal agency-ofthe commission be- While Ot. Miss, )oe and Lucy established fore she resigned in 1954 to return to private ":t the Mississippi Law Review, which evolved into practice. But the public called. She returned to the Law Jouinal. They also established a grand goverrunent service on the Government Security working relationship, which evolved into mar- Commission until 1958. In 1958 the Howorths riageiilgz8. After iaw school, the F{oworth and moved back to the Delta, remodeled Nellie Nu- Howorth Attorneys shingle was hung over a gent Somerville's home in Cleveland, and gloried doorway in Greenville, then in ]ackson' Lucy was in small town obscurity. ]oe began painting seri elected to the state legislature from Hinds ously and gained widespread recognition as an Coonty, then, near the end of her first term, she artist.2s was appointed to the Board of Veterans npp94 Cleveland proved to be anything but obscure in Washington, D.C. Thus began the Howorths' for ")udge Lo./'Howorth. She continued to ef- twenty-five year love affair with the nation's cap- fect change through necessary channels. Working ital.2r with the American Association of University became Joe went into private Practice' then Women (AAtIW) and the National Federation of aftorney for the U.S' Army. Lucy was.shifted to Business and Professional Women, she helped get Bureau the Veterans Administration' then to the a woman appointed to the Ohio Supreme Court of the Budget. Together they fought batde after for the first time, and she was instrumental in the battle along the way. One reporter wrote election ofthe first female president ofthe Federal Lawyers Association.26 When [Lucy Howorth] arrived in the capital, women were not being admitted to the bar asso- She told the Christian Science Monitot' ciation there. What is accomplished in the United States "The only way I knew how-to.break that today is largely accomplished through organiza- oreiudice *"i bv bersuasion. which is the whole tions, and it's important to support those that butitt.tt of be ing'a lawyer," she says' "You can't will speak ,rp women. I've watched so many take a club and irake somebody do something- Qt young women join a club, learn to speak, learn a you have to push and tug and try to change iitde parliamentary law, and become an effective hearts and minds. force.27 "We ended up-those of us who were mar- were the bar to ried-getting ou? husbands who In recognition of Lury F{oworth's monulnen- on othEr men in it. And before I left Wash- work tal and outstanding work on behalf of women, ington, women were admitted to the District of C6lumbia Bar Association."22 the Mississippi AAUW established the $80,000

188 Cr-nvnr.RNo: A CrNrnNNrer, Hrsronv (Left) Lucy Somerville Howonh. (Abow) Dr. Oscar E. Ringold, Martha Signa, and Sadie Mae Ringold at Delta Council in Mav. 1963.

Lucy Somerville Howorth Fellowships Endow- gold, WD. Fitzgerald, J.T. Milam, S.D. Austin, ment in 1974. The fund was set up to aid women Iohn Abide, and others worked long hours to who were seeking advanced degrees in fields tra- improve the quality of life in the fever-prone ditionally dominated by men. In 1975 Lury Ho- Delta. And dentists such as WC. McHardv. WA. worth was named "Woman of the Year" for Mis- Eley, Robert T. Ragan, A.K. Abide, and others sissippi Women's Day. In 1976 she was elected to kept Deltans smiling. Omicron Delta Kappa. In 1983 the Mississippi Believing that excellent health care was essen- Historical Society presented her with an out- tial to any first-rate community, the physicians standing public service award. And in October, and people of Bolivar Counry built the East Bo- 1983, ")udge Luc/'received the prestigious Life- livar Counry Hospital in Cleveland. The facility time Achievement Award from the Arthur and opened in February 1962. The first Board of Elizabeth Sclesinger Library of Radcliffe College Tirrstees of the hospital included President WH. in Boston.28 Bizzell, C.E. Denton, WF. Erwin, TM. Jones, Patricia Carbine, editor and publisher of Ms. Norman Lampard, and George Wilkes.30 Magazine, introduced ]udge Howorth to the as- The new hospital was the realization of a sembly. She told of Mrs. F{oworth's nurnerous dream over a decade old. In the late 1940s the accomplishments. She said Lucy Howorth had county fathers began talking of a new hospital for saved coundess Mississippi homesteads during Cleveland and Bolivar County residents. The rav- the Depression by encouraging a moratorium on ages of the Korean War underlined the need for a moftgage payments. She said "[Lr.y Howorth] larger, more modern health care faciliry. In 1955 is representative of the thousands of women who the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce put the have worked to further the freedom of women in new hospital at the top of their priorirylist. In the United States."2e July of 1958 the Bolivar Counry Board of Super- Over the decades, able physicians tended to visors took a giant step by creating the East Bo- the medical needs of Cleveland. Doctors such as livar County Hospital District. The area was com- J.E. Adams, WM. Merritt,lackRussel, O.E. Rin- prised of Supervisors Districts Three, Four, and

Bnr,rnvrNc rN Cr,pvpraNu 189 Five. Then the supervisors took the issue to the Mrs. R.P. Tharpe, Mrs. C.M. Watson, Ina Mae people.3t Webb, and others.37 Bolivar Countians gave the proposal their Another believer in Cleveland, Rachel Ma- wholehearted support. Local residents approved lone, helped the local support group, "I Can $300,000 in bonds and a fifteen-acre site was pur- Cope," get off the ground in Cleveland. The or- chased on Highway 8. Construction on the 100- ganization was the result of an American Cancer room hospital began in May, 1960. The City of Society course held in September of 1983. The Cleveland donated funds, accounts receivable, course offered instruction for people who must and equipment from the old city hospital. The cope with life-threatening illnesses in their own city also agreed to provide the hospital with free lives, or in the lives of someone close to them. water and sewerage.32 Over fifiy people took the course. Rachel Malone, The new hospital provided separate, but Alinda Sledge, and others saw the need for fol- equal, facilities for black patients. The east wing low-up support, so the "I Can Cope" meetings of the second floor was designated as the ward for continued.38 Negroes. The old ciry hospital became the Cleve- Rachel and Harry Malone moved to Cleve- land Nursing F{ome.33 land in f955. Rachel was an operator with the Henry H. Boydwas the hospital's firstAdmin- telephone company. In 1978 she was chosen as istrator. Bettye J. Ward was Director of Nursing. Queen of the lunior Atrxiliary Charity Ball. Rus- Noveline Poplin was Dietician. Robbins sell P. Crutcher was the King. She retired from was Executive Housekeeper. Frank Thompson South Central Bell in 1980. That same year she was Maintenance Engineer. Lucille Greene was was appointed to the Mississippi Library Com- Laundry Manager.3a mission and she was elected President of the Mis- In the fall of 197L, following the closing of sissippi Federation of Women's Clubs. As leader the Rosedale hospital, the county board of super- of the wor.nen's federation. Rachel Malone con- visors agreed to issue $f .5 million in bonds to centrated much of her time and effort toward the subsidize an addition to the East Bolivar County deaf children of Mississippi. According to a Hospital. Four years and over $2 million later, speech given by fellow Clevelander David Bowen the four-story wing was officially dedicated on to his colleagues in the U.S. Flouse of Represent- September 8, 1975. The addition increased the atives, "because of Mrs. Malone's dedication to number of hospital beds from l0l to 199, and these children, the Mississippi School for the the floor space from 56,000 square feet to Deaf has been able to grow and expand, helping 100,000 square feet. James Townsend was hos- its students to realize a greater self-worth."3e pital administrator. The facility subsequently In April, 1982, The Rachel Malone Park- shortened its name to Bolivar County Hospital.3s InI972 a group ofconcerned Bolivar County Rachel and Harrv Malone. citizens gathered to discuss a "halfway home for troubled youths." The result was the Hubbell Youth Achievement l{ouse which opened in Cleveland in September,1977. The actual house was once the home of Clevelands school suPer- intendent. The structure was donated to the cause by the Cleveland school board.36 The house was named for Dr. Maclyn Hubbell of Cleveland who served as president of the first board. Clevelanders involved in the project in- cluded Mrs. S.D. Austin, Doug Smith, Mrs. B.C. Flolmes, Mrs. C.C. Craddock, Mrs. Bob Davie,

190 Cr,nvnraNo: A CnNrsNnrer, Hrs:ronv replete with swings, see-saws, slides, and an ex- president ofthe National Automobile Dealers As- ercise trail-at the Mississippi School for the Deaf sociation. He and his wife, )uliet, had five chil- in |ackson wns dedicated.ao dren: Ed lr., Charles, Chester, Juliet, and Carol.as In |uly of 1964 an article, wriften by noted Other Cleveland mainstays in the Misceramic journalist David Halberstam, appeared in "The story included lack ]. Leppert; R.E. Hormberg; New York Times." The article was a controversial M.D. Buckels of Cleveland Federal Savings and portrait of Cleveland and Bolivar County.ar Loan; N.L. Cassibry of Cleveland State Bank; Halberstam wrote |.R. Denton of Denton Dairy Products; Earl Cleveland is a prosperous and fast-growing Graves; Dr. J.C. Russel; M.C. Toler; J.T. Robin- city. While some oTMiisissippi's cities have loit son; and WB. Alexander, Jr., an attorney and state population in recent years and many have re- senator from Cleveland.a6 mained static, Cleveland has gone from under Alexander, Sheriff Charlie Capps, State Rep- 9,000 a decade ago to around 12,000 now About resentative Dana Moore, and others, were quoted one-third of the population is Negro. in Halberstam's piece It has been a planned growth. Cleveland's on Cleveland. According to local leadership is aware of changing economic Halberstam times. It not only searches for industry but has On municipal issues, the leadership here is created an industry-a tile factory that to a larqe " more progressive than in many other Mississippi degree is locally subscribed and o'wned.nz cities. On the race issue. however. it reflects accu- The tile company referred to in Halberstam's ar- rately both orthodox segregation and a total ticle was Misceramic Tile Inc. The plant was built commitment to its continuance.aT

without benefit of a BAMII bond issue. Seed )c*J(J()C)C*'** money for the company-over a million dollars- was raised through the issuance of common stock at $3 a share. The ground breaking ceremonies for the 90,000 square foot building were held in 1957. By 1963 more than 2,300 Mississippians owned stock in the corporation, the company had over 200 employees, and the annual payroll was nearly a million dollars.a3 Left to right: Ben F. Mitchel, lr., Louie Buder, |immy T. Robin son, One the major forces behind the plant was Jr., Charles Capps, Jr.1941. S.E. Kossman of Cleveland. When the project got offthe ground, Kossman agreed to serve as pres- ident and general manager of Misceramic.aa Simon Edward Kossman was born in Green- ville in 1907. He graduated from Greenville High School and attendedMississippi A&M. Kossman moved to Cleveland to take advantage of the growing automotive trade. Almost immediately, Kossman became involved in local organizations and civic groups. Kossman was active in the Boy Scouts and Red Cross. He was a driving force in the Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce, the Cleveland Rotary Club, the Cleveland Exchange Club, the Industrial Development Foundation, Delta Council, Mississippi Educational Televi- sion, the Mississippi Medicaid Commission, and the Methodist Hospital of Memphis. F{e was also

Bsr,rsvrNc rN Cr,nvrr.aNo l9t Since 1960, a number of Cleveland-area glad- Another Cleveland politician, David Reece iators have done battle in national and interna- Bowen, a graduate of Cleveland High School, tional political arenas. One of these people, WB. went on to Harvard Universiry then received his Alexander, Jr., was born in Boyle, Mississippi, in masters degree from Oxford University. He 192I. Alexander graduated from Boyle High taught at Mississippi College, then Millsaps Col- School and Ole Miss Law School. During World lege. In 1972 Bowen was elected to the 93rd War II, he served in the South Pacific. He worked Congress from the Second Congressional District as a farmer and attorney in Cleveland. In 1960, of Mississippi. In the House of Representatives, Alexander was elected to the Mississippi State Bowen was the first freshman member in nvo dec- Senate to fill his father's unexpired third term. In ades to introduce a bill that passed through both 1963 Alexander was reelected without opposi- houses and was signed into law by the President. tion.a8 The bill aided rice farmers in Mississippi. Bowen For wenty-three years, Alexander served in served in the 93rd through 97th Congress. He the State Senate. In 1975 he became president did not seek reelection in 1984.50 pro tempore of the Senate, thereby becoming the Bowen's father. D.R. Bowen, movedto Cleve- third ranking official in Mississippi. In 1983, Al- land in 1932. He went to work as a land appraiser exander retired after twenry-three years in public for the Federal Land Bank. He and his wife, Lera, office. According to political observer Andrew had three children: David, Lera Dell, and Bob.sr Reese One man who cut his teeth on local and state politics was Larry Speakes. Though a Merigold . . . Alexander has been a champion of gov- native, Speakes lived and worked in Cleveland for ernmental reform, vocational-technical education several years. programs, and stronger drunk driving laws. He Larry Speakes was born in Cleveland in 1939. state's original implied was the author of the He received a journalism degree from the Univer- law on drunken driving, gained approval consent sity of Mississippi in 1961. His first newsPaper of the state's "Sunset" law, and handled legislation Press Interna- to upgrade the justice courts system, provide for job was in Memphis with United sheriff's succession, and improve county govern- tional. He worked for the State-Times in Jackson. ment practices. He became news editor of the Oxford' Eagle, then HE said he regards the constitutional amend- news editor of the Bolivnr CommerciaJ. In 1965, lay state Board of Educa- ment for an expanded Speakes became managing editor of the Cleve- tion among the top achievements of his Senate From Cleveland, Speakes moved career. Alexander, chairman of the Senate Consti- land newspaper. tution Commiftee, guided the proposal through on to Leland as editor and general manager of a the 1982 legislative session.ae handfi,rl of weekly newspapers. The small news-

W B. Alexander, Ir. David Bowen S. E. Kossman.

192 Cr,nvnr,aNo: A CBNTnNNIAL HrsroRY paper group won several top awards from the Other believers in Cleveland, such as Margaret Mississippi Press Association under Speakes, Wade and Boo Ferriss, have put the city in the guidance.52 sports limelight. One of these athletes, Sank Arcording to a - profile in the magazine Netu Powe, received national recognition n Ebony South^, the quiet Mississippi life of Lairy Speakes magazine in the spring of L982. was forever altered by a telephone call. As a young man on a plantation near Mound Bayou, Sank . . . in the surruner of 1968, a brand new Powe III dreamed of becoming a world opened for Larry Speakes. Out of the blue professional baseball player. He graduated from carne a call from Senator /ames O. Eastland, )ackson State Universiry. After a disappointing Mississippi's venerable senior senator, who was tryout with the St. Louis Cardinals,Powe became as one of the most powerfiil voices :m:rggg a scout for the organization. He worked for the in the . Eastland wanted Cardinals from 1967 1973. Speakes to.handle his press relations, an assign- to Then he began ment that included chores as spokesman for-the scouting for the Cincinnati Reds. During his Car- Senate fudiciary Committee . That's what thrust dinal scouting days, Powe also taught ai Eastside hh.Tlg the major leagues of the political High School in Cleveland.sT world.53 In 1970 Powe took a job at Cleveland High _ Layy Speakes switched to the Republican School. Powe was hired to teach American gov- Party in 1974. He took a iob as a staFassistant ro errunent, economics, and a course in American the fast-fading Presideni, Richard M. Nixon. democrary. F{e was also hired to coach baseball When became President, Speakes and to assist the football coach. As a teacher, and served as assistant to Ford's Press secretarv. Ron coach, Powe was immediately successfrrl.s8 Nessen. That led to a job as press secretary for Robert Dole, Republican candidate for vice- Sank Powe. president in L976. And in 1977 Speakes was named press secretary to former president Gerald Ford.sa Speakes returned to the private sector for a while. He became vice-president of Hill and Knowlton, an international public relations firm. During the Presidential campaign of 1980, Speakes again sided with the Republicans and when was elected,Larry Speakes became Deputy Press Secrerary to the preiident. Then, on Monday afternoon, March 30, 198I, the life of T x1ry Speakes was again changed. This time by a bullet.ss )ames Brady, Press Secretary to president Ronald Reagan, decided to peisonally accom- pany the President back to the from a luncheon at the Washington Hilton. Because of that decision, Larry Speakes was catapulted into prominence. Both the President and ]ames Brady y.ere_wounded by a bullet from an assassin's gun. The President recovered quickly. For Speakes; su- perior, , the healing came much more slowly. Larry Speakes became the official spokes- man for President Ronald Reagan.56

)e**)e)cJti()e* In his first eleven years as baseball coach, Powe professor at the University of Alabama, was the posted eight district championships, six confer- festival's first judge. According to the newsPaPer ence championships, four second place finishes in one state champion- the state tournament, and Downtown Cleveland is located near the ship. He also organized a Litde League baseball Illinois Central tracks with most of the business program for black youngsters in 19 66. According houses facing west and this track-lined park is to Ebony, "-*y of the parents in Cleveland give direcdy across the street. This long expanse of Powe credit for being the single most beneficial park will be the center of the Festival with a line bf cotton wagons supplying backdrops for exhib- influence in their children's lives."se iting pictures. Many other displays will be pre- marvel- Lusia llarris, another of Clevelands senttd such as farm equipment, pottery wheel ous athletes, led her Delta State Lady Statesmen demonstrations, and crafts. Spaces will be allotted basketball team to a National Association for In- for showing decoupage, ceramics, jewelry and tercollegiate Athletics for Women (NAIAW) other crafts.6a championship tn|976. That same year the Cleve- Best-in-Show at the L977 Cross-Tie Festival land star played on the first United States wom- was Cleveland sculptor Floyd Shaman. Born in en's basketball team to play in an Olympics. Lusia Wheadand, Wyoming, Shaman taught at Delta Harris and her teammates won silver medals as State University from l97O to 1980. After his runners-up.60 teaching stint ended, he decided to stay on in the Cleveland has gained worldwide recognition Jones Bayou colilnuniry Shaman's work has re- through its artists and artisans. ceived widespread recognition. "I'm a humanist," Nathan House, a graduate of Delta State Shaman told one reporter. 'My craft is myway of Teachers College, was awell-known Portrait artist dealing with people and projecting my own ideas in the Thirties and Forties. Though his studio was about them in a sympathetic way."65 in Greenville. Flouse had close ties to Cleveland. The Cleveland Litde Theatre, another show- In 1935 he married Maxine Boggan of Green- case for local artistic talent, was founded in Feb- ville. After F{ouse's death in1947, Maxine mar- ruary of 1954. One of the driving forces behind ried TA. Holcombe, |r. In 196I Maxine Boggan the theatre was Rabbi Henry Schwarz of Adath Holcombe ioined the art faculry of Delta State.6r Israel. There were thirty-five charter members. Thomas Harris, author of the highly-praised The group's first play was "Ladies of the )ury." suspense novels Bloch Sund,ay andRed'Dragon at' The play was directed by Schwara and Catherine tended ClevelandHigh School for ayear andhalf, Ward. The cast included Mrs. Charles Benthien. circa 1960. Harris lived with his aunt and uncle, Nell Wynn, Anne Evans, Mary Hayes, Mrs. Mar- Eleanor and Doyle Garreft, and with Elvin and cel Davidow, Mrs. Roy Christensen, Percy Fun- Anne Coleman.62 chess, Louis Kaplan,layMann, Van Evans, Terry ln L97O the Cleveland Arts Council was I{ayes, Ray Curtis, Marcel Davidow, Hampton formed. The main project of the council was the King, Charles Hammond, Leon Kamien, Wood- Cross-Tie Festival, a celebration of the arts, which row Sultan, Iohn White Valentine, Mrs. Ed Koss- became an annual event. The first project com- man, Dorothy Roberts, and B.J. Smith. mittee consisted of Stan Topol, )ohn White Val- In the sunmer of 1959, the Litde Theatre entine, Mrs. David Weeks, Mrs. James W Kasch, group purchased the abandoned railroad depot at Mrs. Martin King, )r., )imMcMurtray, Mrs. John Sherard, Mississippi. The depot was moved to a T. Smith, Robert Smith, David Heflin, and Mrs. piece of land on North Bayou Road. The plot Ben Meriweather. Stanley Gaines, |r., president, had been donated to the cause by )immy T. Rob- and I.A. Kamien, treasurer of the council, helped inson. Most of the materials and labor were do' raise money from local merchants for the event.63 nated by patrons and friends of the theatre group. Artists and artisans from all over the South The new faciliry was named Whisdestop Play- exhibited at the first festival. Richard Brough, art house. Agatha Christie's "Mousetrap" was fhe

194 Cr,Bvsr"ANo: A CnNTBNNTAL FIrsroRY first play produced in the new theatre. Two active To give vent to their energies and innovations, members of the Litde Theatre organization - supporters of Cleveland have banded together Leon Kamien and Juliet Kossmarl also over the years. Cleveland was only five years old elected -were presidents of Mississippi Little Theatre when the Knights of Pythias,led by C.n. Smith, Association.66 Will Dockery \ryL. Pearman, Moses C,oleman, In 1984 Cleveland musician Bruce Levings- and other town founders, first called the roll. ton was invited to play at the World's Fair in New And since then, other like-minded folks have Orleans. That same summer he played for the grouped together for the betterment of the com- Dallas Symphony, just prior to the Republican munity, and of themselves. Convention. Then, in the auturln, he entered the The Rotary Club. The Matinee Club. The masters g_raduate program at the Aaron Copland Cleveland Woman's Club. The Olympians and School of Music in New York on a researclr and the Delphians. The Firemen and the Woodmen. study grant.67 Cleveland has forever been a communiry of clubs. Born and reared in Cleveland, Levingston re- The Cottage Prayer Society held its hrrt m""t- ceived a Rotary fellowship to srudy at rhe Royal ing in L928. The Cleveland Exchange Club was C,onservatory ofMusic in Toronto. While in Can- organized around November, f935. Robert ada, Levingston made a guest appearance at the McCraine was the first president. The Cleveland Steinway Inaugural Concert of Canada. The Kiwanis Club received its charter in November, Steinway and Sons piano company of New york L964. The club had twenry-nine charter mem- was- so impressed with Levingston's Canadian bers. Ferris Newman was the club's first presi- performance, they signed him as an exclusive dent. The South Land Garden Club was orga- Steinway Artist.6s

Floyd Shaman. nized in 1968 by Emma ]ean Killingsworth and school house on four acres purchased from Pear- others. The Gamma Pi chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, man near the old school. The school was built a club for young women) was established in No- sometime prior to f908. Faculty members at the vember, 1972. The Miss Delta Rose Sociery affil- brick school included Mrs. Hettie McPheeters, iated with the national organization in December, A.K. Eckles, Mr. Brinson, and John T Smith, 1972. )ohn Yurkow was the president.6e who became Superintendent of the city schools.T2 The Iunior Woman's Club, an offshoot of the Circa 1918, the brick school house burned. Cleveland Woman's Club, was established in I.C. Windham, the new superintendent, seized Cleveland in April of 1956. There were fifteen the moment to consolidate all the schools in the charter members. In L957 the club became fed- district. More landwas bought from Pearman and erated. And in 1966 the group changed their the superintendent's home and a faculry house naqle to Ephic Woman's Club.To were built on what later became the parking lot As Cleveland approached its Centennial, for the Margaret Green ]unior High School. 73 Jones Bayou continued to flow through the The second era of Cleveland public education middle of the town. And so did an intense interest was ushered in around 1919. The new Cleveland in the education of the town's children. Consolidated School opened for classes in 1921. Writing in the Bolbar Cornrnercial in 1977, There were 322 students. Over the next five years, educator W). Parks divided the history of Cleve- enrolment increased nearly fivefold, to more than land's public schools into three distinct eras. Ac- 1,400 pupils. "It was during this period," Parks cording to Parks, the first era was from 1900 to wrote) "that Cleveland was the largest consoli- I9I9. About 1900, the town built its first public dated school of its kind in the world."7a school on a lot west of the bayou and the railroad, , Around 1930, the ciry purchased additional donated to the cause by WL. Pearman.Tl land from Pearman's estate. The Pearman Ele- Within the decade, the town issued sufficient bonds to finance the erection of a laree brick

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The fifty-third anniversary of the Cottage Prayer Society in Febru- Outz, Mrs. Homer Pittman, Ernestine Lusk, Mrs. Hobson Guy' ary 1981. Bottom row left to right: Mrs. Rufus Walt, Mrs' Lily Mrs. Richard Bolling, Mrs. Bill Weber, Mrs. Blande Modes, Mrs Fiazier, Mrs. Nora Lusk. Second Row: Mrs. Edna Carnes, Mrs. Howard Grant, Mrs. C. E. Valentine, Mrs. Ernest Boling, Mrs. 196 Lila |olty, Mrs. Ruth Rounsaville, Mrs. J. W Mize, Mrs' Felix Leila Berrv mentary School was built on this land. Also in by a new grouping. The entire counry was di- 1930 the vocational agriculrure building was fin- vided into districts. District Four included Cleve- ished. In 1936-37 anew football field and track land Consolidated, Cleveland Colored Consoli- were constructed. The following year tennis dated, and a handfirl of other area schools. coufts and a gymnasium were added to the school In 1957 there were two schools for black stu- complex. Parks again dents: Nailor Elementary and Rubv Street. In 1958 East Side Hieh School The track and gym were alnong the best in was built. Evenru- the Delta and mosi of District III Events of the ally, East Side was inlarged. Nailor Elementary Delta schools were held in Cleveland for many added a cafeteria and twenty classrooms. The jun- years. The Pace High School joined the Cleveiand ior high, named for Mrs. E.H. Green, opened its Schools about this time.75 doors in 1959. In1964 Parks Elementary School In December, 1945, the Cleveland )unior- was built. By 1967 there were 5,000 students in Senior High Building burned to the ground. the Fourth District schools.TT High school classes were held in Pearman Ele- In 1969 U.S. District Judge William Keady mentary. Ar-y barracks from Camp McCain were outlined the court's desegregation plan for Dis- moved in to serve as classrooms for the elemen- trict Four schools. According to the Bolipar Com- tary students. Eventually, a new gymnasium was mercial, the zoning plan went.into immediate ef- built to serve as a school house until the new fect for Grades I through 6. The upper levels building could be completed. The rebuilt high were given more time to submit to the zoning school was finished in Mav. f95f. Grammlr plan.tt school pupils returned to PLarman Elementary The new Pearman Elementary School was along with new srudents from the dissolved Hiil built in 1976. The 30,000 square foot building Demonstration School. The lower school was so accommodated nearly 500 students its first year crowded additional classrooms were soon in operation. The school was built according to added.76 the "open classroom" concept. Classes werJ di- In L957 the third era of public education be- vided by partition and "team teaching" was aug- gan. Cleveland Consolidated School was replaced mented by special instrucqion for individuals.ze

C.leveland High School graduation class of 1937 with flower Some believers had different ideas for the local ucts of Cleveland, ready-mixed concrete; Delta economy. In the early summer of 1968, the H.J. Rice Services, rice experts; Delta Steam Electric Heinz Companyunveiled a proposal in Cleveland Station (MP&L), 210,000 kilowatt electricity that would "revolutionize the Delta." The com- generator; Denton Dairies, Milk, Ice Cream, pany announced it would build a major tomato D"iry Products; Douglas & Lomason, aluminum and cucumber processing plant just north of automotive trim; Duo-Fast, nails and staples; Cleveland. Heinz bought I45 acres on Highway Helena Chemical Company, agriculture chemi- 6I. According to a company spokesman, the site cals; |ennings Cabinet Shop, custom-built was selected for numerous reasons: "proximity to wooden cabinets and furniture for home and of- the major new vegetable growing area in the fice; Kontour Pens, ballpoint pens and mechani- Delta; good labor market; easy access to utilities; cal pencils; Lawrence Sheet Metal Works, sheet location on a major U.S. highway; superior com- metal ducts, pipes, cotton gin blowpipes, etc.; mercial facilities and rail service; soils suitable for Nehi Botding, soft drinks; Quality Steel, fuel research production; and yield rypical of Delta tanks and custom-made pressure vessels; Sanders lands." Heinz also predicted that vegetables Seed , seed and agricultural chemicals; Satchfield would eventually replace cotton as the Delta's Metal Works, cotton gins, grain elevators, resi- premier cash crop.8o dential pipes, vents, and gutters; Travenol Labo- In 1984, however, cotton, rice, soybeans, and ratories (formerly Baxter Laboratories), intra- a few catfish maintained prominence as the Del- venous solutions, sterile, disposable hospital ta's cash crop. And, no doubt to the delight of devices; West Machine Shop, farm equipment re- those forbears who believed Cleveland must em- pair, tools, sheet metal work, diesel power unit brace industry as well as agriculture, the City Di- pumps, farm trailers, generator sets, engine enclo- rectory of Cleveland listed a number of going sures.8r The incorporators of Cleveland-C.R. concerns under the heading of "Industry." Smith, Moses Coleman, Starkey Thylor, and T.B. Industries of Cleveland in 1984 included The |ohnson-represented both plowmen and trades- Bolivar Commercial, newspaper and job printing; men. The men were farmers and merchants. One Cleveland Printing & Supply, commercial print- hundred years later the folks of Cleveland contin- ing; Cleveland fuce Mill, rice milling; Color Tile ued to strive to strike a balance benveen agricul- Ceramic Manufacturing Plant (formerly Miscer- ture and industry. The four forefathers would be amic Tile Co.), ceramic wall tile; Concrete Prod- right proud rones Bayou at floodstaqe.