J. Michael Butler | Mississippi Encyclopedia

This author has contributed to the following articles in the Encyclopedia.

John James Audubon spent approximately three years in Mississippi in the early 1820s, visiting, teaching, drawing, and painting, and he…

Brickell, Herschel

Henry Herschel Brickell, a columnist and editor and US State Department official in Colombia, was born on 13 September 1889…

Civil Rights Movement, Legacies of

The civil rights movement had a lasting impact on Mississippi’s politics, culture, and society. And although pinpointing the impact or…

Clark, Kate Freeman

Kate Freeman Clark was born on 3 September 1875 in Holly Springs. Her father, Edward Clark, was a Vicksburg attorney…

Conerly, Charlie

Charles Albert “Chunkin’ Charlie” Conerly Jr., one of Mississippi’s first football superstars at the national level, played quarterback for the…

Crossroads Myth

One of the most recognized tales in American folklore has Mississippi roots. The story has many names, including “The Delta…

Dahmer, Vernon

Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer was born on 10 March 1908 in Forrest County and became a leading figure in the local…

Darden, Israel Putnam

Worthy Master of the State and National Grange, Israel Putnam “Put” Darden was born in Jefferson County, the son of…

Donald, David Herbert

David Herbert Donald, a biographer and a historian of the US Civil War era, was born in Goodman, Mississippi, on…

Dupree, Marcus

Marcus Dupree was born on 22 May 1964, in Philadelphia, Neshoba County. He achieved national attention as a running back…

Ethnographies of Mississippi

Between World War I and World War II, social scientists and intellectuals perceived Mississippi as the most southern of the…

Faulkner's Geography

Most of William Faulkner’s works are set in Yoknapatawpha County, a fictional place inhabited by fictional persons. However, Faulkner integrated…

Favre, Brett

Brett Lorenzo Favre was born on 10 October 1969 in Gulfport, the second of Irvin and Bonita Favre’s four children,…

Football

Football is a civil religion in Mississippi. Evidence of the Magnolia State’s fascination with the sport is abundant, from the…

Lower Mississippi Survey

The Lower Mississippi Survey (LMS) was established in 1939 as a collaborative long-term research program to systematically survey and study…

Mason, Gilbert R.

Gilbert Rutledge Mason, the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s “civil rights doctor,” was born in Jackson on 7 October 1928. He graduated…

Norman, Cora

In her 2009 book, Mississippi in Transition: The Role of the Mississippi Humanities Council, Cora Norman describes a phone call…

Populist Movement

Support for a new party to represent farmers’ interests began to emerge in some Mississippi hill counties in January 1891…

Richards, Beah

Beulah Elizabeth Richardson was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on 12 July 1920. Her father, Wesley R. Richardson, was a Baptist…

Smith, Robert

Born on 20 December 1937 in Terry, Mississippi, Robert Smith was the ninth of Joseph and Wilma Smith’s twelve children.…

Tupelo Miracle

The Tupelo Miracle refers to the way this small city, indistinguishable from those that surrounded it in terms of natural…

Vaught, John

John Howard Vaught, head coach at the University of Mississippi during the period of the school’s greatest gridiron success, won…

Ward, Sela

Actress Sela Ann Ward, the daughter of Granberry Holland Ward Jr. and Annie Kate Boswell Ward, was born on 11…

Williams, John Sharp

John Sharp Williams was born on 30 July 1854 in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Christopher Harris Williams Jr., a…

World War II Prisoner of War Camps

From 1942 to 1946 more than 440,000 German, Italian, and Japanese prisoners of war were interned in camps in the…

Yardscapes, Vernacular

The yard is a significant aspect of Mississippi’s rural culture and history. The term yardscape often refers to the domestic…