MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2021
By: Representative Reynolds To: Rules
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 40
1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION MOURNING THE LOSS AND HONORING THE 2 LIFE, LEGACY AND SERVICE OF WILLIAM FORREST WINTER, FORMER 3 GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, AND EXPRESSING GREAT 4 SYMPATHY TO HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS UPON HIS PASSING. 5 WHEREAS, it is written in Ecclesiastes 3:1 that "To 6 everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under
7 the Heaven," and as such, on December 18, 2020, the immaculate 8 author and finisher of our soul's destiny summoned the mortal 9 presence of dearly beloved, former Governor William Forrest 10 Winter, the 58th governor of the State of Mississippi, to eternal 11 rest, rendering great sorrow and loss to his family, friends and 12 to the great Magnolia State; and 13 WHEREAS, Governor Winter was born on February 21, 1923, in
14 Grenada, Mississippi, and was raised on a farm owned by his 15 father, Mr. William Aylmer Winter, who served three terms in the 16 Mississippi House of Representatives and three terms in the 17 Mississippi Senate, and his mother, Mrs. Inez Parker Winter, a 18 devoted Grenada County schoolteacher; and
H. C. R. No. 40 *HR43/R1321* ~ OFFICIAL ~ N1/2 21/HR43/R1321 PAGE 1 (MCL\EW) 19 WHEREAS, after graduating from Ole Miss in 1943, Governor 20 Winter entered the United States Army as an officer, and though he 21 dreamed of a combat role, he instead found himself training a 22 segregated African-American regiment in northeast Alabama, and 23 while there, as part of an experiment in integration, he worked 24 alongside African-American officers, whose talk about civil rights
25 and political progress greatly inspired him to push for change 26 back home; and 27 WHEREAS, after the war, Governor Winter joined a wave of 28 young veterans who returned to the South, and were committed to 29 ending the political status quo, and he was one of twelve law 30 students at Ole Miss to run for public office in 1947, and one of 31 the eleven law students who won their respective elections; and
32 WHEREAS, in 1947, Governor Winter was elected to the 33 Mississippi House of Representatives while still a law student at 34 Ole Miss, and in a bid for progressive reforms, in 1956, he ran 35 for Speaker of the House against the long-serving and powerful 36 House Speaker Walter Sillers, and though the bid was unsuccessful,
37 it nonetheless solidified his reputation as a courageous advocate 38 of political, economic and educational reforms; and
39 WHEREAS, in 1956, Governor Winter was appointed State Tax 40 Collector by Governor J.P. Coleman, and was responsible for 41 collecting the state's black-market tax on whiskey and liquor at a 42 time when alcohol sales in the state were outlawed, and in that 43 position, he was the second highest paid officeholder in the
H. C. R. No. 40 *HR43/R1321* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/HR43/R1321 PAGE 2 (MCL\EW) 44 nation, right behind the President of the United States, and as a 45 good government initiative, he successfully advocated to abolish 46 the position of State Tax Collector, which the Legislature did in 47 1964, and he went on to be elected as State Treasurer in 1964, and 48 served in that position for one term until 1968; and 49 WHEREAS, in 1967, Governor Winter ran for governor for the
50 first time, and after leading in the first primary, his life was 51 threatened by the Ku Klux Klan because of his open-mindedness on 52 race, as he stood in staunch opposition to the Klan and the White 53 Citizens Councils, which were organizations that advocated for 54 strict racial segregation through violent means, and though he 55 persisted with the campaign despite death threats, he was 56 ultimately defeated in the second primary by John Bell Williams,
57 who was elected as governor; and 58 WHEREAS, after spending a few years practicing law after his 59 tenure as State Treasurer, Governor Winter was elected Lieutenant 60 Governor in 1971, continuing his advocacy of education enhancement 61 and job creation, and in 1975, he ran a second time for governor,
62 but was unsuccessful against Governor Cliff Finch, whose campaign 63 was high on populism and full of theatrics; and
64 WHEREAS, with great perseverance, Governor Winter ran for 65 governor once again in 1979, this time successfully, with his 66 slogan being, "William Winter for Governor: The Toughest Job in 67 Mississippi," which foretold the tough, complex battles he faced
H. C. R. No. 40 *HR43/R1321* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/HR43/R1321 PAGE 3 (MCL\EW) 68 in dealing with the Mississippi Legislature on his signature 69 education reforms; and 70 WHEREAS, at the time, Mississippi's governors were limited to 71 a single term, and Governor Winter was determined to make the most 72 of his time in that honorable position by helping the State of 73 Mississippi become a better place for its youth, as he linked
74 education with economic development, observing that, "The road out 75 of the poor house runs past the school house"; and 76 WHEREAS, when Governor Winter took office, Mississippi was 77 the only state in the nation without compulsory school attendance 78 and was one of only two states without a statewide system of 79 kindergartens, things that would change under his leadership as he 80 worked towards a brighter future for the Magnolia State; and
81 WHEREAS, however, Governor Winter initially found legislative 82 progress as elusive as electoral success, failing in his first two 83 attempts at getting an education reform bill passed, but after his 84 second try, in 1982, he and his aides doubled down, beefing up the 85 bill with additional measures like depoliticizing the State Board
86 of Education and raising teacher standards, and he called for a 87 special session that winter, with education as the only item on
88 the agenda; and 89 WHEREAS, as he was faced with intense opposition in the 90 Legislature, Governor Winter took to the road with his wife, 91 Elise, and his aides, and held nine enormous rallies around the 92 state, where he delivered 82 speeches supporting the bill that
H. C. R. No. 40 *HR43/R1321* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/HR43/R1321 PAGE 4 (MCL\EW) 93 were covered by the state's largest newspaper, The Clarion-Ledger, 94 which won a Pulitzer Prize for its efforts; and 95 WHEREAS, by December of that year, when the Legislature 96 finally assembled to vote, public opinion had swung hard in 97 Governor Winter's favor and the Education Reform Act passed 98 overwhelmingly in the House, and by a single vote in the Senate,
99 on December 20, 1982, with the press calling it "the Christmas 100 miracle"; and 101 WHEREAS, the Education Reform Act is considered the most 102 significant educational legislation enacted in Mississippi since 103 the establishment of its public school system in 1870, and most 104 importantly, a public kindergarten is the cornerstone of that law, 105 which has been heralded throughout the nation as a model of
106 progressive educational legislation; and 107 WHEREAS, Governor Winter's achievement rippled out and was a 108 catalyst for reforms by many other Southern states who secured 109 passage of their own education reforms, with the nationally 110 syndicated columnist Carl Rowan characterizing his Education
111 Reform Act as "the most important civil rights and economic 112 development legislation of 1982"; and
113 WHEREAS, outstandingly, Governor Winter's administration was 114 marked by an efficiency and a lack of controversy rarely seen in 115 Mississippi politics, and to highlight the cultural 116 accomplishments of Mississippi, he and his wife, Elise, set a new 117 tone for state leadership by launching a series of conversations
H. C. R. No. 40 *HR43/R1321* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/HR43/R1321 PAGE 5 (MCL\EW) 118 at the Governor's Mansion featuring prominent and accomplished 119 Mississippians, including Shelby Foote, Eudora Welty, Leontyne 120 Price, Willie Morris, Walker Percy, Margaret Walker Alexander, 121 Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of the slain civil rights leader 122 Medgar Evers, and many other literary, musical and scientific 123 luminaries, and after a performance by opera singer Leontyne Price
124 at the Governor's Mansion, he renamed the Bilbo Room at the 125 Mansion the Leontyne Price Room, a testament to the advances in 126 racial harmony and inclusiveness fostered by Governor Winter; and 127 WHEREAS, as noted by political scientist Jess White, "Winter 128 had a whole other career after serving as governor, principally in 129 the arena of racial reconciliation," and after being appointed by 130 President Bill Clinton to serve on the National Commission on
131 Race, Governor Winter expanded that work for racial harmony with 132 the creation of the Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation in 133 1999; and 134 WHEREAS, as further evidence of his dedication to civil 135 rights and equality, Governor Winter was an early and longtime
136 advocate of changing Mississippi's state flag to rid it of the 137 Confederate battle emblem, and he and Tupelo businessman Jack Reed
138 headed an effort to change the flag through a statewide referendum 139 in 2001, and although unsuccessful, this effort led to renewed 140 focus on changing the flag, which was finally accomplished in 141 2020, by action of the Mississippi Legislature, and he was truly
H. C. R. No. 40 *HR43/R1321* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/HR43/R1321 PAGE 6 (MCL\EW) 142 proud and delighted to see the flag changed during his lifetime; 143 and 144 WHEREAS, Governor Winter's political courage was further 145 recognized on the national stage when he received the John F. 146 Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award in 2008, with presidential 147 adviser Vernon Jordan eloquently commenting that "Governor Winter
148 exhibited courage throughout his career, a willingness to speak 149 out, to stand up, to be daring"; and 150 WHEREAS, a passionate student of history and government, 151 Governor Winter served on the board of the Mississippi Department 152 of Archives and History for 50 years and as board chairman for 153 over 30 years, and because of his admirable public service, the 154 William F. Winter Archives and History Building was dedicated in
155 his honor on November 7, 2003, and the Center for Racial 156 Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi is also named in 157 his honor; and 158 WHEREAS, as a visionary leader and public servant, Governor 159 Winter was the leading force behind the opening of the Museum of
160 Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, and 161 his goal was for every Mississippi student to visit these museums
162 at least once, and over the last years of his life, he helped 163 raise funds to endow field trips to both museums for schools with 164 limited resources, and with his help, the Foundation for 165 Mississippi History raised a significant portion of the 166 $4,000,000.00 endowment to make this possible; and
H. C. R. No. 40 *HR43/R1321* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/HR43/R1321 PAGE 7 (MCL\EW) 167 WHEREAS, the William Winter Professorship of History, an 168 endowed professorship in the University of Mississippi history 169 department, was established to honor Governor Winter as one of the 170 university's most distinguished alumni, and in 1996, the 171 Mississippi Historical Society presented him with the society's 172 prestigious Dunbar Rowland Award for his lifelong dedication to
173 the study and preservation of Mississippi history; and 174 WHEREAS, in addition to his political career, Governor Winter 175 was active in academics and other areas of public service as 176 trustee of Belhaven College and Columbia Seminary, president of 177 both the Mississippi Historical Society and the University of 178 Mississippi Alumni Association, and serving in distinguished 179 positions in state and national mental health advocacy
180 organizations, and he further held the Jamie L. Whitten Chair of 181 Law and Government in the University of Mississippi Law School in 182 the fall semester of 1989; and 183 WHEREAS, the State of Mississippi will forever treasure 184 Governor Winter, who lived his life with a passion and purpose to
185 improve the quality of life for all Mississippians, and he will be 186 remembered for his progressive vision and his impeccable character
187 as much as for his numerous accomplishments; and 188 WHEREAS, though he has traversed the river of life to reunite 189 with those who answered God's summons to life eternal and now 190 beckon his arrival to the celestial shores of Heaven's grandeur, 191 the legacy of Governor Winter's indelible imprint upon our lives
H. C. R. No. 40 *HR43/R1321* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/HR43/R1321 PAGE 8 (MCL\EW) 192 will continue to refresh the hearts and fond memories of his loved 193 ones, including his wife of 70 years, Mrs. Elise Varner Winter; 194 three devoted daughters, Anne Winter, Lele Gillespie and Eleanor 195 Winter; five grandchildren, Dr. Winter Williams, Dr. Zach 196 Williams, Ty Gillespie, Caroline Gillespie and Grace Gillespie; 197 five great-grandchildren; and a host of other relatives and dear
198 friends; and 199 WHEREAS, Governor Winter's extraordinary devotion to his 200 family and to the State of Mississippi will always be remembered, 201 and precious memories of time spent with him will hopefully 202 continue to provide warmth, peace and comfort to his loved ones; 203 and 204 WHEREAS, Governor Winter will forever be loved, cherished and
205 missed by all who knew him, and since it is written in 2 206 Corinthians 5:8, that to be "absent from the body is to be present 207 with the Lord," his family and friends can find peace and comfort 208 during this difficult time; and 209 WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to honor and
210 commend the lives of outstanding Mississippi leaders, especially 211 those such as Governor William Forrest Winter, whose unparalleled
212 public service, dauntless fortitude and remarkable dedication to 213 equality for all, bring honor to the great State of Mississippi: 214 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF 215 REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING 216 THEREIN, That we do hereby mourn the loss and commemorate the life
H. C. R. No. 40 *HR43/R1321* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/HR43/R1321 PAGE 9 (MCL\EW) 217 and legacy of Governor William Forrest Winter, and express sincere 218 and deepest sympathy to his family and friends upon his passing. 219 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be 220 furnished to the family of Governor William Forrest Winter and to 221 the members of the Capitol Press Corps.
H. C. R. No. 40 *HR43/R1321* ~ OFFICIAL ~ 21/HR43/R1321 ST: Governor William Winter; commend life and PAGE 10 (MCL\EW) legacy upon his passing.