Occupy Wall Street as a Call to Arms for All People

[Writer's note:  I've been so far behind on my blogging.  Things have been busy and time for research of my own has been rather limited.  This week I have been completely engrossed in the Occupy Wall Street movement so I apologize for my uncommonly political blog, but I felt like I needed to say this.]

In a park who’s northwest corner is across the street from the World Trade Center site (or as we know it now commonly, Ground Zero) a movement is taking hold.  On September 17, 2011, a group of a few hundred organized in Zuccotti Park (formerly Liberty Plaza) to raise awareness of the corporate greed they (and many others) believe is running rampant in the large corporations and banks of the U.S. and to call President Obama to setup a commission that would end “the influence money has over representatives in Washington.”

          A volunteer organizer, Bill Csapo, told a CBS Station that “I don’t think that anybody can look at the political and economic landscape we have now in Washington and not come to the conclusion that the system is broken. The main focus is the toxic and corrupting effect of unlimited money on the political situation, which would be called a Corporate-cracy, not a Democracy.”

          The constant presence of police in events like this should go without saying.  When a large group of angry people get together there are bound to be problems and while the group as a whole has remained peaceful, there have been moments of tension and arrests have been made.  Marring it all though is the blatant police brutality and inexcusable use of excessive force when it has not been warranted.  Videos of police beatings, dousing of a crowd (mostly female) with pepper spray and violent arrests have spread virally over the internet.  To watch these videos it’s easy to forget that we’re not looking at a political uprising in Africa or the Arab nations but a movement on our own soil that is now sweeping the nation.

          Splinter groups have sprung up in Washington D.C., New Jersey, San Francisco, Boston, Knoxville, Los Angeles, Chicago, Tampa, Connecticut and Idaho.  What started as a few hundred people rallying in New York under their banner of general disgust for the entire financial system has grown into a national movement that eventually the news media are going to have to make note of.  Thus far there has been little coverage on CNN aside from an interview in which the interviewer, preying on some of the less informed protesters asked pointedly slanted questions to illustrate that some of the group aren’t even sure what they’re protesting.  The group has not made any single, concise demands other than to express their dissatisfaction with the system as a whole and their desire to see it changed.

Signs are being paraded through the streets bearing slogans such as “Tear down the Wall Street Greed”, “Stop the War on the Working Man” and “We are the 99 Percent”.  The movement is as of today almost 3 weeks into an occupation that has been stated will last months.  They have setup their own kitchen, library and even a newspaper for the movement.  Having grown from a few hundred to estimates of 20,000 in New York alone it doesn’t appear it’s going anywhere and has only been fueled by the police intervention and violence. 

          We, as Mississippians, tend to be a bit detached from the goings-on of Washington and New York but we have to stand up and take notice.  Whether you are for or against the Occupy Wall Street movement is irrelevant.  What is relevant is that you take an active interest in where your tax dollars go and what we support.  Get involved in local politics, get involved in your community, have an opinion, understand how things are done.  These are my calls to action.  If a group of a few hundred in a city the size of New York can spark a national movement, what can a handful of people in any given Mississippi town do if they are motivated and dedicated to seeing real, positive changes in their own communities?  I love this state and I love living in Clarksdale, MS.  I moved back here because I believe in us and I believe in what we can be.  This is my call to arms for everyone to get involved if only by being informed. 

Port Royal - Lost "Seat of Justice" of Coahoma County

Most citizens of Coahoma County have never heard of this little town but it was at one point the county seat (or “seat of justice” as it was referred to then) of Coahoma and also the oldest town in the county. 

In 1830 the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was agreed upon by the Choctaw Indians and the U.S. Government.  This was the first “removal” treaty carried out under the Indian Removal Act. This treaty ceded about 11 million acres of land, most of which located in the state of Mississippi, to the U.S. Government.  This land included lands in east Mississippi stretching from Clarke County to Lowndes county, crossing the state to lands in west Mississippi from Coahoma County to the border of Tunica and Desoto Counties. 

(Maps of Mississippi showing (at left) the area ceded by the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek and (at right) the present day county borders)

Following this treaty and the move of over 15,000 Choctaw Indians to Oklahoma (incidentally, ‘oklahoma’ is the Choctaw word for ‘red people’), the lands ceded the U.S. were available for settling in Mississippi. 

Driven by the prospect of cheap land and fresh starts, people began to move, many arriving by river.  In those days, counties on the Mississippi River typically made their “seat of justice” a town along the river because that was their principal point of travel, commerce, and society.  It was for these reasons that Port Royal was originally designated as the seat for Coahoma County.

(Early map showing the location of several plantations along the Mississippi River. Helena (Arkansas), Delta and Port Royal are clearly marked.  Though this map is from 1839 it shows the 'Horseshoe cutoff' already having been completed and the river diverted from Port Royal.  Records indicate the completion of this cutoff did not occur until 1848. Speculation exists that the maps plate was changed post 1848 to reflect the change in the river, but the truth of the matter is not known.)

Unpublished histories of the region assert that a settlement existed as Port Royal as early as 1833.  According to records, land sales were being made by the U.S. Government for the Port Royal, Rescue Landing, and Sunflower Landing vicinities even before the county was established in 1836. 

Though never incorporated and never having established a post office (according to U.S. Post Office Department records), the town still became the most important town in the county.  On February 4, 1839 the Mississippi Legislature issued a memorial to the U.S. Congress asking that post offices be located at several riverfront locations including “Powhatan, the seat of justice in Coahoma County”.  Based on stories passed down from generation to generation, some believe that Powhatan existed on the Mississippi River shore opposite the southern end of Island No. 63.  Historians however disagree and believe Powhatan to have been the original name of Port Royal. 

The name for the settlement, according to George Maynard’s memoirs, was given by William J. Oldham who owned considerable amounts of land at the south end of the ‘U’ in horseshoe bend.  According to the memoir, Oldham was born at Port Royal, S.C. and chose the name of his birthplace for the settlement in Mississippi.  Since Oldham didn’t come to Coahoma County until 1939, it’s entirely possible the settlement was called Powhatan previous to his arrival. 

(Oil painting by artist John Stobart entitled "A Night Run to Friar's Point".  Steamboats like this were commonplace during the 'steamboat era' of the Mississippi River.  Towns like Port Royal, Delta, and Friar's Point were the major ports for these rambler's of the Mississippi, but it was not uncommon for larger plantations along the Mississippi River to have their own ports.)

During this time the settlement most assuredly was the largest and busiest community in Coahoma County.  The 1840 census lists just 1,290 people (766 whites, and 524 slaves) in the entire county and most of which settled in the locations of Port Royal, Sunflower Landing, and Rescue Landing. 

The only available description of Port Royal is included in a script that was prepared for the celebration of the 400^th anniversary of Hernando DeSoto’s discovery of the Mississippi River and it states:

“Her rude stores, saloons and shanties stood back a safe distance from the precipitous edge of the river’s bank. At low stage, river craft landed at her feet; at high stage they unloaded their cargoes into her one muddy street. At flood stage, river and village were one.

Both public buildings and private homes were roughly but stoutly constructed of logs.

Although accorded the honor of being named county site, no [official] courthouse ever was built in Port Royal. Court, school and church were held in the same one-room log house. When the jury retired to deliberate upon and decide the fate of those early transgressors against the law they took themselves into a thicket of low timber behind the ‘courthouse and’ seated themselves in solemn dignity upon the trunks of felled trees.

The (official county) records, so it is told, were kept in a trunk and carried about by the clerk in an ox wagon.”

Before the settlement was even a decade old, it would succumb to the volatile nature of the Mississippi River.  The river, which is said to possess a will of its own, finally cut across the 1 mile wide stretch of land that separated the bends of horseshoe bend thus straightening the river and marking Port Royal as no longer a riverfront settlement or steamboat landing. 

(Extract of a google map showing present day terrain around the former location of Port Royal.  Horseshoe Lake, as indicated, has dwindled to a scant shadow of its prior significance as seen in the early map above.  It, like Moon Lake in this extract, was abandoned to its own devices when the mighty and aberrate Mississippi River chose other paths. 

Upon the realization that Port Royal would no longer be a riverfront town, a vote was held to elect a new county seat.  The county seat chosen was Delta, MS, a town located approximately 5 miles north of Friars Point, MS.  This removal of the ‘seat’ from Port Royal had an immediate impact on its business and commerce. 

Today Port Royal exists in record only.  The remains of the town have never been found or identified though some theorize that they were cover by the levee built to protect from the untamable Mississippi river.  What truly became of that town may never be known but its existence was paramount as it was the first gateway into the cotton empire of Coahoma County.   


**This post would not have been possible without the research of legendary Clarksdale historian and newspaper reporter Harry Abernathy who's articles on the topic of early Coahoma County provided the lion's share of information for this blog.

Fletcher Field - WW II Cadet Training Facility

In 1941, the Japanese naval and air forces launched an attack on the U.S. Navy facilities at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  The American response to these attacks was quick and though life in the Mississippi Delta tends to move a bit more slowly than the rest of the country (even then), changes came to Clarksdale with rapidness.

(Left: Guard House, Right: Operations Building)

In the Spring of 1942 the United States Government issued a contract to the Clarksdale School of Aviation.  That contract established the operation of a primary flying school located about 8 miles north of Clarksdale, MS.  Construction for the school began immediately and in July of 1942 the first class (Class 43-A) began their training at Fletcher Field (The airport was named for Clarksdale football great and aviation cadet Jack Hughes Fletcher who was killed during a training incident at Curtis Field, Texas in 1941).  The Army wanted schools in the South where the weather was warmer and winters less harsh.  That would mean better flying conditions for training for the cadets. 

(Image of several of the original buildings including barracks at Fletcher Field)

Major T.W. Bonner was the first commanding officer and worked closely with both Army personnel (the Army and Air Force were still a single department at this time) and civilian flight instructors and personnel.  The civilian instructors were said to always be cooperative and anxious to graduate the best recruits but occasionally regulation wasn’t followed as closely as it should have.  After 2 fatal accidents involving civilians in Fall of 1943, instructors worked more strictly with Army-Air Force personnel to prevent and report violations of regulation.

(Fletcher Field hangers)

The city of Clarksdale was openly receptive of this new military training facility.  Funds were donated by individuals and civic sources for the establishment and maintenance of a Recreation Center accessible to cadets during ‘open post’ and it was available to officers anytime.  The local Red Cross sponsored a reading room and Lounge for use by enlisted men not only at Fletcher Field but also in the area.  Individual citizens even opened up their homes on to cadets for dinner and weekend stays. 

(Photo of the 'Ready Room' at Fletcher Field where pilots prepped for flight training)

The airfield originally used Stearman 17’s for flight training but Fairchild PT-23’s were later sent in for training.  With the change in aircraft, a problem with finding replacement parts rose as the PT-23’s were relatively new planes and parts were scarce all over with only completely disabled planes being able to have parts replaced.  Eventually a shipment of repair parts was sent in to fortify Fletcher Field’s aircrafts. 

(On the left, a trio of Stearman PT-17's and on the right, a lone Fairchild PT-23)

The school operated between 1943 and 1945 (closing before the war’s end) and trained many classes of cadets.  Each class was bigger than the last with classes reaching as big as 250 cadets.  Classes so big meant food, water and housing became an issue.  New, expensive wells had to be dug and quarters became cramped but it is said the students were never poorly treated.  Though there was less space, morale stayed quite high. 

(Cadets writing home from Fletcher Field in Clarksdale, MS)

In 1943 a prisoner of war camp was set up at Fletcher Field for German and Italian prisoners.  The P.O.W.’s were remembered as being friendly and rather fond of America.  Many worked as hands on local farms and there was even a P.O.W. band that played for dances at the base. 

(One of many dances held at the base)

After the war, the War Assets Association began selling off surplus planes and equipment and later deeded the airfield to the city of Clarksdale.  Mabry I. Anderson, Ben White, and Berkley Ellis took advantage of the opportunity and prevailed upon the city to lease them the airfield to open the Mississippi Valley Aircraft Service, an agricultural flying firm.  The firm bought up surplus Stearman’s from the military and converted them to cropdusters.  Using modern and innovative techniques, MVAS established itself as a premier agricultural flying service. 

(Two cadets showing off one of the Fairchild PT-23's)

By 1970 Anderson, the soul owner, was ready to sell and sold the business to another agricultural application business.  Now the airfield is again owned by the city of Clarksdale and is used for general aircraft and agricultural use. 

Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival

[Blogger's note:  Due to time spent out of state this past weekend and a thoroughly busy schedule this week I've been unable to put together a proper blog.  My topic for this week was to be the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival held annually the second week in August here in Clarksdale, MS (this week!) and as I researched information I came across the history of the festival on the internet and decided I couldn't word it any better than they did so here it is.]

The first Sunflower River Blues Festival took place in 1988 and was funded primarily by Clarksdale's downtown merchants and organized by Jim O'Neal and Dr. Patricia Johnson. It featured dozens of musicians performing on outdoor stages on the banks of the Sunflower River beneath the Riverside Recreation Center and in the open space between Sunflower and Delta Avenues. It was filmed by Mississippi Educational Television (ETV).

Some of the performers were the Jelly Roll Kings, Jack Owens and Bud Spires, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Boogaloo Ames, and Othar Turner and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band. The finale performances by James "Son" Thomas followed by Otis Rush took place inside the Larry Thompson Center for the Performing Arts, formerly the Paramount Theatre, formerly the Marion Theatre.

[Blues great James 'Son' Thomas]

The second festival (1989), funded primarily by a group of individual donors including the late Z L Hill, owner of the Riverside Hotel, moved to Martin Luther King Park on the banks of the Sunflower River. A flatbed truck served as a stage for musicians - predominately local performers including Mr. Johnnie Billington and two students he was mentoring: Quitman County brothers Deon (drummer) and Harvel Thomas (bassist). Although the lineup was smaller than the previous year, it attracted an international audience including fans from Australia.

The third festival (1990) was a tribute to Muddy Waters, and the stage moved again across the Sunflower River to Soldiers Field, where Clarksdale High School once played its football games.

Among the performers were Keith Sykes from Memphis, harmonica master Snooky Pryor, Vasti Jackson backing up swamp queen Katie Webster, jazz virtuoso Mose Allison, and Jessie Mae Hemphill.

Blues Association members met regularly at the Chamber of Commerce, then located in the downtown Bobo Building, to plan the event dedicated to showcasing Mississippi musicians or musicians with roots in Mississippi.

The organization continued to be composed entirely of volunteers who loved blues and were committed to keeping the festival free and accessible to all since blues sprang from the local culture.

Although the association became an official 501 c 3 non-profit and received funds from the Mississippi Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, it retained its unique individuality and laid-back, informal hospitality that has remained a trademark.

The fourth festival (1991) moved once again across the river to the former loading docks of the freight depot (now the Delta Blues Museum). The stage faced the railroad tracks, Delta Avenue, and the raised concrete "porch" now the exterior of Ground Zero Blues Club. The festival remained in this location until the city of Clarksdale built the Blues Alley stage facing Yazoo Avenue.

[The stage at Blues Alley during the festival, now the permanent home of the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival]

The first acoustic stage was housed in the Delta Blues Museum when it was located on the second floor of Carnegie Public Library.

Frequently it featured an educational component - lectures, talks, panels, discussions that often were funded by the Mississippi Humanities Council and organized by John Ruskey, museum curator. One year it featured foods of the Mississippi Delta with Big John Broom cooking catfish, Boss Hogg and his family with barbecue, Shirley Fair with soul food.

Frequently musicians performed on the steps outside the library; other times on a makeshift tent-style stage. After the Blues Museum moved into the freight depot and when the festival main stage moved to the Blues Alley stage, the acoustic stage was transferred to one of the air-conditioned waiting rooms inside Clarksdale Station, the renovated passenger depot.

In 2004 the Blues Association was awarded a Southern Arts Federation grant to present Big Bill Morganfield, son of Muddy Waters, in an educational program which took place inside the Delta Blues Museum. In 2005 SAF again awarded the Sunflower a grant to present Charlie Musselwhite in a discussion about his Southern musical roots. In 2006 soul superstar Latimore will be interviewed about his long career.

Organized by Melville Tillis and Julius Guy, the first gospel festival was held on a very hot Sunday afternoon beneath the New Roxy theatre marquee on Issaquena. It has been held outside on the Blues Alley stage, inside the Civic Auditorium, and also inside several area churches. In 2006 it will return to the festival main stage Sunday afternoon.

[James 'Super Chikan' Johnson performing at the Sunflower Fest]

Several motions have been made to change the festival date from the second weekend of August to a cooler month. However, members have voted to retain the August format since the event has become global. June is universally recognized for B.B. King's Homecoming concert in Indianola and Delta Jubilee in Clarksdale; July for July 4th; September for Greenville's Blues and Heritage Festival, and October for Helena's Arkansas Heritage, formerly King Biscuit Blues Festival.

Approximately 25,000 music fans from 17 countries and 35 states attended the 2005 festival; a larger crowd is expected in 2006.

[Celebrated Norwegian blues band Spoonful of Blues came to the Sunflower in 2001]

In 1996 Clarksdale became the official international Sister City of Notodden, Norway, home of Europe's largest blues festival. The Sunflower and the International Notodden Blues Festivals are sister festivals with Clarksdale musicians performing in Norway, and Norwegian musicians performing in Clarksdale.

The Sunflower has also established a sister festival relationship with the Maximum Blues Festival in the Quebec Province of Canada. One of the Canadian bands will be performing in 2006 on the Sunflower's main stage.

The Blues Association is a true bi-racial organization, and members attribute much of its success to this racial composition.

 

[Local blues musicians Terry 'Big T' Williams (left) and Bill 'Howl'N'Madd' Perry (right) performing on the Blues Alley stage]

Although the association is solely responsible for the festival, it relies on many partnerships to make it happen including the Delta Blues Museum, the Coahoma County Tourism Commission, the Chamber of Commerce, the Care Station, the city of Clarksdale, Clarksdale Public Utilities, Police Department, Public Works, area churches, and hundreds of businesses and individuals.

Simon Kooyman: A Musical Legacy

Mr. Simon Kooyman was born on November 29, 1882 and spent his first 25 years in his native Holland where he received his education in music and became a resort band director at a beach resort in Wyk-an-Zee, Holland.  He spent the next 8 years in the West Indies as a band leader of the Medan (Somatran) City band and orchestra. 

When Mr. Kooyman finally came to the United States in 1914 he travelled extensively leading bands in Indiana, South Dakota, Illinois and Texas before finally coming to Clarksdale, MS in 1926.  It was here in Clarksdale that he truly hit his stride.  Mr. Kooyman started the first Clarksdale High School band in 1926 and by 1928 had initiated the organization of the Mississippi Bandmaster Association as well as the first Mississippi State band contest the same year. 

(Clarksdale Junior Band: Clarksdale, MS; Directed by S. Kooyman)

In 1931 he was honored with induction into the American Bandmasters Association with what has been described as the “highest grade made on the entrance exam”.  He served the state of Mississippi as the District VII Orchestra Chairman for the Department of Education Examining Board which issued licenses to music teachers and was elected in 1933 as the Corresponding Secretary for the Mississippi Bandmaster Association.

In 1938 he was selected to be a guest conductor for the LSU School of Music Symphony Orchestra which included, among other pieces, an orchestration of Mr. Kooyman’s own “Ole Miss March”.

When he retired in 1948 Mr. Kooyman had spent 22 years in the Clarksdale Public School system.  Even after retiring he was not a man to sit idle.  He began working part-time for the Clarksdale Printing Company as a lithographer as well as continuing to host Sunday Musicales, get-togethers every Sunday at he and his wife’s home in which he would invite young musicians to come spend a couple of hours playing chamber music (much of it composed or arranged by Kooyman himself). 

In September of 1948, only months after retiring, he was invited to be a guest conductor for the Union Band of Memphis.

In 1951 Clarksdale declared March 16 as ‘Simon Kooyman Day’ in celebration of the 25^th anniversary of the Clarksdale High School Band.  The celebration included a performance by the high school band under the guest conducting of Palmer J. Myram (a former student of Kooyman’s), a performance by the Clarksdale Alumni Band conducted by Kooyman himself and a ‘gala’ dance.  More than 700 showed up to honor Kooyman and his service to Clarksdale. 

In September of the same year the Band Division of the Mississippi Music Educators’ Association honored Mr. Kooyman by unanimously electing him to a lifetime membership which would allow him unhindered access to all clinics, camps and conferences. 

Mr. Kooyman enjoyed surprisingly good health even into his later years.  In 1953 he was hit by a motor vehicle while crossing a street in Clarksdale.  He suffered minor back jarring and a fractured arm but was not considered to be in any serious health danger.  He was 70 years old.  The driver of the vehicle was arrested and charged with reckless driving and driving without a license. 

(Photo of Simon Kooyman and woman believed to be his wife)

When Mr. Kooyman died on December 16, 1963 it came on suddenly.  He was taken to Memphis, TN where he died that morning.  He was 81 years old and had been at work the day previous to his death.  In memory of their great teacher many previous students gathered to pay homage.  He was spoken of in the highest esteem and was referred to as a man who “liked perfection – and got it” as well as a man “…of the highest integrity.” 

(Black and white photo of portrait painted by Marshall Bouldin)

A large portrait of Simon Kooyman was commissioned by the Clarksdale High School Band Alumni Association and was painted by Clarksdale’s renowned portrait artist Marshall Bouldin.  The painting was donated in 1999 to the Carnegie Public Library in Clarksdale where it now hangs outside the Mississippi Room that holds city, county and state archives and records. 

Mr. Kooyman  left a legacy of great music in the Clarksdale school systems not only at Clarksdale High School but he also took an interest in the Coahoma County Agricultural High School band which was directed at the time by Consuella Carter (would is referred to as the first female band director in the south after her appointment as band director for the new Coahoma County Junior College band in 1949).  He contributed arrangements and compositions for the Aggies as well as coordinating with Carter to host several clinics. 

Simon Kooyman is a rich part of the Clarksdale history that has seemingly been forgotten to time.  Though not from here originally he settled into Clarksdale and made it his own and built a musical community like none Clarksdale had seen before.  His memory lives on in the continuation of the bands that he helped start and the music he composed. 

In 1951, at the 25th anniversary celebration the Board of Supervisors and Commissioners adopted a resolution stating: 

“Whereas Simon Kooyman, who established and founded the Clarksdale High School band in 1926, has, more than any other one person, been responsible for the remarkable development of high school bands not only in the city of Clarksdale and in Coahoma County but in the state of Mississippi as well; and

“Whereas Mr. Kooyman has, in addition to imparting a genuine love of fine music to his many pupils, been a great factor in moulding and developing fine traits of character in all who have in the past been associated with him….”

The Cutrer Mansion (or: Where I went to Kindergarten)

In 1916 Blanche Carter Cutrer saw the childhood residence she had always known on Clark Street moved to make room for a new home being built for her family.  The new home, located at 109 Clark Street, was built in an Italian Renaissance Villa style.  The architect, Bayard Cairns, spared no expense in the home and surrounding grounds.  The floors were of black and white marble, the sunken gardens so elaborate a gardener was brought in from Italy to tend them.  The servants’ quarters were located across Friars’ Point Road on the riverbank of the Sunflower River.

This photo is of the home during the residency of the Cutrer's. According to J.W. and Blanche's grandson John Cutrer the home was known as 'Belvoir' to the family.

                Blanche Carter Cutrer, the only daughter of Clarksdale founder John Clark, was the wife of a wealthy and prominent lawyer named Jack Cutrer. It was said that he was a highly sought after criminal lawyer and supposedly only lost one case during his entire career. They had four children: John Jr., Elise, (Ann) Blanche, and Reggie.  Their home served as a point of interest and gossip for the town as they brought in world travelers, actors, and other society notables.  During this time the Cutrer's would bring in many notable musicians who would play in their grand home.  Of these the most notable is perhaps W.C. Handy who is said to have been a great friend to the family and Handy himself stated that the Cutrer's treated him very well.

                Tennessee Williams lived with his grandfather, Walter Edwin Dakin, in Clarksdale during the time of the Cutrers’ prominence and has used them as a source of inspiration for several of the characters in his plays including Blanche Dubois from ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.  Though they had hoped to build a home that would be the talk of Clarksdale for generations to come, it was to last little more than a decade.  Jack Cutrer passed away in the 1920’s and Blanche followed him in 1934.

                After Blanche’s death and following the desolation of the Great Depression, her daughter Ann Cutrer moved back into the Clark house next door and converted the Cutrer mansion into improvised apartments and it became a rental property and remained as such until 1949.

This photo of the Cutrer mansion was taken shortly before being bought by St. Elizabeth Catholic School.

                In 1949 the mansion was bought by St. Elizabeth Catholic Church and used as a convent for a year, and then was made into a convent and school.  It served the school until the mid-1990’s when the cost of repair and upkeep became too much for the church to maintain and it was advertised that the church would be demolishing the building.

                After the announcement of the demolition there was a public outcry to save the historic home.  The church stated that it simply could not afford to maintain the property and unless the $750,000 that it would cost to buy the mansion and all adjoining school property could be raised by the city they would have no choice but to tear it down.  The first to donate to the cause of saving the Cutrer Mansion was the Reverend Kent Bowld, then priest at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church who gave $5,000 of his own money to the fund. 

               

                When the Clarksdale Press Register ran the article about Reverend Kent’s generous donation calls poured in including several checks to match the priest’s donation.  Over $58,000 was raised in the week following the article and more poured in by the day.  The church even offered a 6 month reprieve on the demolition so that time could be allowed for the town to raise the necessary money to buy the property.  The money raised by this community support became the seed that lead to Delta State University and Coahoma Community College partnering and with their added support the property was purchased and renovated into the Cutrer Cultural Arts Center.

This is a photo as the manse appears today as the Cutrer Cultural Arts Center. 

             Unfortunately I was unable to locate pictures of the interior in time for this blog though I know they exist as I've seen them.  I also spent a large portion of my early childhood in this home as I went to school at St. Elizabeth in the mid to late 80's and had class in the chapel and sunroom of this historic building.  I even went as far as to leave one of the doors unlocked after school one day in 4th grade simply so that I could return after hours to wander around and explore my 'haunted' school.  I was, of course, caught and given a stern warning but my love and adoration for this building, not only as a piece of Clarksdale history, but as a piece of my own history has never been diminished. 

Minor league baseball in Clarksdale?! That's right!

Last Thursday I received a call from the Mississippi Library Commission on behalf of a gentlemen who was researching minor league baseball teams in Mississippi.  He wanted information on Clarksdale's former minor league teams to which my initial reply was "what?"  

After doing some digging and a little bit of research it turns out that Clarksdale did in fact have a minor league baseball team at one point!   In fact Clarksdale had quite a rich history of baseball in the early part of the 20th century. 

Baseball in Clarksdale started in 1904 when Clarksdale had a team in the 'Delta League'.  That team lasted only one year until 1913 when the Clarksdale ball club started up again under the name "Swamp Angels" and played in the Cotton State League and lasted again only one season. 

In 1921 Clarksdale played host to another professional ball team.  This time they were known as the Clarksdale Cubs and played for three seasons before folding. 

From 1924 to 1933 there is much less information on Clarksdale baseball because there was a lack of a professional team though independent baseball was still played between the cities of the Delta. 

This is a photo of the 1925 Clarksdale independent baseball team.  The article that accompanied this photo was from a 1926 paper that ran an article that discussed the schedule of the Clarksdale team as it was being formed.  Apparently the schedule was a flexible affair as at press time of the article the name of the opposing team was not yet known but upcoming games against Lexa, AR and Cleveland, MS were discussed.

That was the last I could find about Clarksdale baseball until 1934 when a team from Louisiana decided to relocate to Clarksdale and called themselves the Clarksdale Ginners.  This was a return to professional baseball for the town. 

The Clarksdale Ginners drew 40,000 fans in their first season in Clarksdale, MS.  Only two other ball clubs in the Cotton States pulled a larger crowd (being Pine Bluff, AR and Greenville, MS).  Though the Ginners seemed to start well they were never able to finish strong due to injuries and other "unsurmountable obstacles" and never seemed to fare well by the end of the season. 

The Clarksdale Ginners changed their name to the Clarksdale Planters and had an affiliation with the Cleveland Indians for the 1936 season and in 1938 began a two year relationship with the Boston Red Sox in which they changed their name to the Clarksdale Red Sox. The team even kept this name in '39 and '40 after the affiliation had ended. 

1941 saw a return to the name Clarksdale Ginners and a season that ended at 48 wins and 88 losses. After that professional baseball left Clarksdale until 1947 when Clarksdale re-entered the Cotton States League where it remained until 1951.

Over the decades that Clarksdale had a professional baseball team, the town was in a baseball frenzy.  Though the team never appeared to do very well statistically and never won a pennant, the town rallied around their team that was "characterized by swashbuckling baseball that was no less thrilling because it was usually not successful." 

Several players from the Clarksdale teams either played in the major leagues before coming to Clarksdale or left to join major league teams including (*deep breath*): Harry Kane, Beals Becker, Clarence Kraft, John Merritt, Claude Thomas, Happy Foreman, Earl Webb, Bill Marshall, Doc Land, Otis Brannan, Fred Johnson, Oscar Tuero, Jim Pruett, Chet Morgan, Bill Henry, Bill Tremel, Dave Short, Calvin Chapman, Walter Brown, Bob McNamara, Thurman Tucker, Andy Gilbert, Randy Heflin, Bob Daughters, Mickey Harris, Red Barnes, Bob Finley, Alex Monchak, Woody Rich, Bill Nagel, Bill McGee, Jack Hallett, Josh Billings and Dino Chiozza.