1. Mississippi Between the Wars
Chapter 8
Mississippi Between the Wars

2. The Great Migration
The years following WW1, thousands of blacks moved from Mississippi to the north
The war had created labor shortages in the north, and there was availability of new jobs
If they had money for travel they could escape segregation in the south for cities in the north…..like Chicago.
Between almost 600,000 had migrated, called ”Great Migration” to move from one state to settle in another
Results of the migration in the South caused labor shortages
In some communities were whites used force and threats to keep blacks from leaving
In some cities police boarded trains and forced them off trains

3. The Great Migration
Black leaders used the threat of migration as a weapon to better the lives of blacks in the south
KKK were defeated in Greenville
Classes were changed in colleges
Federation of Colored Women’s Club was established
Middle class black women’s group
Blacks’ economic status declined, blacks owned less land, the last of the blacks banks failed in the 1920s
Discriminations displaced skilled black workers from their trades

4. It’s Your Turn
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Map 34

5. Whitfield’s Progressivism
Henry Whitfield was a country school teacher to wanted to enter law
He was appointed state superintendent of education
He used his office to promote education as the state’s salvation
He believed that educated citizens would be able to use the states’ resources to better themselves
He became president of present t day MS University for Women
June 1922 he announced his candidacy for governor

6. Whitfield’s Progressivism
Because women could not vote for the first time in a primary in 1923, he expected to have the edge
Bilbo’s successor was involved in a scandalous court case
Bilbo had been jailed for content of court, for not testifying in the case
Whitfield’s platform was to reverse the party’s hostile attitude toward big business and to encourage the state’s capital investment
Spending money to build factories highways, and buildings
With support of former students and all the anti-Bilbo groups Whitfield became governor
The female vote made the difference

7. Whitfield and the Legislature
Whitfield worked to pass higher income and inheritance taxes
With the new money they established a new teachers college, a library commission, a textbook commission, a forestry commission and a new mental hospital
Adopted a new school code and a reforestation program
He also reversed earlier measures to protect the public from big business
Legislation did away with the limits on corporate land holdings, legalized utility holding companies, encouraged railroad mergers, and eased antitrust legislation
A holding company controls all or part of other companies
A trust is a combination of firms that controls all or nearly all of the business in an industry so there is little competition

8. The Governor of the People
Whitfield said in his inaugural address that he would be governor of all the people
He said prosperity was impossible unless they everybody prospered
He worked to help train young blacks in both academics and practical farm work
He was the first to appoint a black lawyer as a notary public
He also worked to increase funding for vocational education in black schools
He died in 1927 from bone cancer

9. The flood of 1927
Dennis Murphree succeeded Whitfield as governor and had to deal with the worse flood in Mississippi history
1927 a levee broke on the Mississippi River flooding 3 million acres of Delta land, CAUSED BTY LARGE AMOUNTS OF RAIN AND FLOODING IN THE MID-WEST,
185,000 people fled the rising waters and gathered at the top of levees and Indian mounds
Rescue boats were sent out but they mostly only took white women and children
Murphree sent in the National Guard to help flood victims
They helped evacuate whites and built camps for blacks
Flood waters didn’t go down until late summer, losing a whole cotton crop

10. It’s your Turn
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11. Section 2 Bilbo’s Return
In 1927, Bilbo ran for governor again, with a platform of free textbooks, and factories that would built them
He called for a massive road program, using Mississippi’s resources to build highways out of brick
He was victorious beating Murphree by 16,500 votes
In addition to his education reform he also supported political and economic reforms that were designed to improve the quality of life for Mississippi’s poor farmers and workers
The Great Depression hit in 1929

12. Wisconsin report
State colleges and universities deeply involved themselves in each governor’s race
Because positions at the places were political payoffs
Whitfield made an attempt to strengthen the institutions of higher learning
He visited the University of Wisconsin where the university and state government worked together to help solve state problems
He believed that the University of Mississippi could play a similar role and hired a Wisconsin expert to study Mississippi’s institutions and make recommendations

13. Wisconsin Report Report was published just as Bilbo defeated Murphree
Bilbo wanted to use the report to modernize and improve higher education
He tried to consolidate the University of Mississippi and Mississippi A & M and Mississippi Southern, and move all 3 colleges to Jackson where 1 large state university would be built
It was rejected so Bilbo dismissed the presidents of all 3 universities
The reforms of the Wisconsin Report weren’t put into practice

14. Wisconsin report However the names changed
Mississippi A&M became Mississippi State University (MSU)
1940 Jackson College was established later named Jackson
College of Hattiesburg was named to Southern Mississippi
The Delta’s Teacher College was named Delta State University
Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College became Alcorn State University

15. The Junior College System
With the increased funding during the Vardaman-Bilbo era,the early 20th century education improved slowly in Mississippi
More high schools were available,Junior colleges were created, and Bilbo gave out free textbooks to children.
Agriculture high schools seemed doomed
Were boarding schools that were the only way to complete high school work
A bill was introduced in 1922 allowing the agriculture high schools to become junior colleges
Junior colleges were schools that offered the first two years of college work
Over the next decade 11 schools began to offer college courses, and in 1928 the legislature created the Commission of Junior colleges
Mississippi built one of the earliest Junior college systems in the United States

16. The Junior college system
County taxes supported the school
Good high school teachers staffed the school, and were encouraged to improve their own education
Students who couldn’t afford the opportunity for high education schools now had the opportunity
In 1930 books and fees were about $50 a semester, and room and board was $16 a month
Discipline was severe and academics limited, but the Junior College system gave Mississippians an opportunity to better themselves

17. Economic growth
The prosperity bought by the high price of cotton during WWI was short-lived
Most of the United States enjoyed the “Roaring Twenties” with a soaring stock market and dreams of unlimited wealth
Mississippi suffered from its dependence on cotton and the end of its timber boom

18. King Cotton Cotton was Mississippi’s major crop
Cotton price went up dramatically from
In 1940 cotton fell from 40 cents to 9 cents a pound
Farmers who borrowed money during the war boom to expand couldn’t repay their loans
Dry weather and boll weevils kept the crops down, and cotton prices continued to drop
Mississippi farmers found it more difficult to compete with the new cotton farms in the west
Farming was still done by hand using mules
1920s a farmer could make about $300, had to pay cost of seed fertilizer, and ginning

19. King Cotton
When the Great Depression hit cotton fell to 6 cents a pound, which was less than it cost to produce it
One group of farmers did manage to do well in the 1920s, the Delta planters
They raised the money they needed in New York
Sharecropping system ensured good profits
The Planters invested these profits in the stock market
Cotton prices also helped promote football at Mississippi A&M and the other school
Also they funded teams in the Cotton States League, a professional baseball league located in the Southern States

20. New Industries Agricultural helped the economy grow in some areas
Increased dairy farming led to more cheese plants and milk processing operations
Canneries opened in the state, largest was a pickle factory
Farmers grew and shipped tomatoes to markets in the North
Mississippi’s lumber industry was gone because the forests had been cut
New industries that came from that was
Began to use a bleaching process to make paper from yellow pine trees
William Mason invented fiberboard
L.O. Crosby Sr. used resin(sticky substance from pine trees) could be used to make varnish and other products

21. New Industries
The biggest boom of the 1920s was real estate
Florida experienced tremendous growth as wealthy northerners came south to escape the northern winters
Some of that growth spilled into the Mississippi Gulf Coast
Investors built hotels, and casinos
Prohibition(a period when the making and selling of alcoholic beverages was illegal) brought some prosperity to the area
Criminals began operating on the coast to oversee the illegal industry
Authorities found whole train cars loaded with moonshine(illegally distilled liquor)
Fisherman smuggled liquor in from Cuba
Mississippi’s Gulf Coast became a major port of entry for booze
The Depression cut off the tourists crowds and the end of prohibition in the 1930s ended it

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23. The great Depression video
Crash Course

24. The Great Depression
The Great Depression of the 1930s was the worst economic disaster in modern history…Called “BLACK TUESDAY”
A depression is a continued downturn in economic activity
Sales of goods slow down and prices fall, manufacturing decreases, businesses close, banks fail, and people lose jobs
The beginning of WW2 ended the Depression

25. TEST Question
The collapse of the stock market and bank foreclosures were economic conditions that were a major cause of the great depression

26. Effect on Mississippi
In Mississippi, it caused mass bank foreclosures and tax sales on farms
Farmers were losing their land, because they couldn’t repay bank loans
April % of Mississippi’s land was auctioned off for unpaid taxes
Mike Sennet was elected governor
Son of a wealthy lumberman, had been groomed for public service
Bilbo helped him become the youngest speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1916
When he became governor there was only $1,326 in the state treasury, and almost 6 million in checks written against that balance

27. Effect on Mississippi
Conner’s most important task was to find a way to make the state solvent(able to meet financial obligations)
State debt was huge and new land taxes lead to more foreclosures and tax sales
To solve financial crisis, Conner recommended reducing state spending by cutting back on government services, and the number of state employees
To create additional income he proposed a sales tax
At this time sales taxes were new, and their were wide spread protests by merchants who didn’t want to collect the tax for the state

28. Effect on Mississippi
With much protest Conner convinced the legislature to adopt the tax
Mississippi became one of the first states in America to impose a sales tax
The tax helped restore the state to financial health
By the end of his term Conner was able to pay off the debt and leave $3 million surplus at the end of his term

29. Student Activity
Write a letter and pretend that you’re a Mississippian during the Great Depression

30. The New Deal
While Conner balanced the state budget the federal government started the New Deal..pass by FDR
A series of laws designed to bring the country out of the depression
A variety of programs to improve
the economy and society to relieve the suffering of the unemployed
Basic idea was to provide federal money to stimulate businesses in the private sector
The ones in Mississippi were the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

31. The new deal
The PWA and the WPA hired the unemployed to build useful public projects
Schools, parks, roads, and bridges
The CCC hired men for projects that involved planting trees, preserving the soil, and purifying the water
The AAA provided price supports for farmers
Guaranteed higher prices
Mississippi had never experienced such governmental assistance

32. The new deal Communities accepted New Deal aid on their own terms
Only young white men served in the CCC, white women got the clerical jobs
Blacks could only be hired as laborers
Sometimes most blacks and poor whites weren’t wanted at all

33. Depression Era politics
Class and race divisions remained somewhat untouched by the New Deal programs, and Mississippi politics reflected these splits in Mississippi society
In 1935 Hugh L. White was elected governor
He was a wealthy industrialist who had been mayor of Columbia, and ran on a platform supporting economic and industrial development
During the Depression he established a program known as Balance Agriculture with Industry (BAWI)
Its goal was to develop Mississippi’s industrial base to match it agricultural base, by advertising and offering incentives

34. Depression Era politics
White hoped to attract industry to Mississippi communities
Local governments were given authority to issue bonds to construct factory buildings that they leased to companies if they promised to start business, also received tax breaks
White also initiated the first long-range highway construction program
During his term, the state highway patrol was organized

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36. World War II In 1940, Mississippi was still 85% rural
Cotton was still dominated the economy
Segregation still oppressed half of the states’ population
A small elite group still ran the government from the legislature
Mississippians believed that their state would never change

37. World War II
On December 4, 1941, the Japanese bombed the U.S. Navy fleet at Pearl Harbor
IMPERIALISM---A COUNRTY SEEKING TO GAIN NEW TERRITORY FOR ITS OWN INTEREST EVEN IF IT MEANS WAR.
Mississippi had military camps scattered around the state Pascagoula, Biloxi, and Hattiesburg
The farm populations declined by ¼ as farmers left their land to earn in a living in wartime industries
Military pay and benefits and wartime prosperity combined to double the state’s average income between 1941 and 1945

38. World War II
1 out of 9(over a ¼ of a million) Mississippians served in the armed forces during WWII
Many served in Europe and Asia
Many Mississippians saw other states for the first time, some came and settled in Mississippi, and some left
New ideas were being brought into Mississippi
Blacks who migrated to the North were voting in large numbers
Democrats edged toward accepting black demands for equality
In 1944 Thomas L. Bailey was elected governor
He emphasized states rights in his campaign and criticized the federal government for its growing bureaucracy

39. World War II
Bailey established the Agricultural and Industrial Board to promote industrial growth and the Mississippi Marketing Commission to assist Mississippi farmers in the sale and distribution of their goods
By 1945, Mississippi had begun to change and the economy was improving, but the majority of white Mississippians were serving notice that there was one thing they would not readily change which was segregation

40. It’s your turn
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41. Chapter Review
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All terms
All facts