Today's MSMO classic discusses efforts by outside business interests to turn Noxubee County into a toxic dumping ground. In 1983, a hazardous-waste disposal company attempted to build a toxic waste dump in the town of Shuqualak in Noxubee County, Mississippi. In this episode, Martha Blackwell describes how local citizens organized to fight back and were able to have a five year moratorium placed on chemical disposal sites in Mississippi.  In 1991, after the moratorium expired, plans were announced to construct three toxic waste facilities in Noxubee County.  Blackwell recalls how she ..read more

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and American entered the war, young men joined the military in droves leaving big holes in the work force. Women stepped up to fill those jobs traditionally held by men, helping out on the home front and showing what they were capable of in the process. For Women's History Month, We look back at this classic MSMO episode from February 1, 2016, featuring the story of Bonnie Stedman of McComb who went to work for Illinois Central right out of high school.  Stedman recalls typing orders for the trains, changing light bulbs, and even working as a switch ..read more

Today, we are look back at Episode #485, which features James Jones of Laurel discussing his time with the 761st Tank Battalion during WWII. The 761st Tank Battalion was the first armored combat group made up of African American soldiers. Prior to this time, black men rarely served in combat roles in the U.S. Military and were generally relegated to menial labor jobs like stevedores. After being given the opportunity to serve under General George S. Patton in the European Theater, the 761st distinguished themselves as a brave and effective combat force in face of enemy fire. Joining me for the ..read more

Today, we look back at Episode #475, featuring an interview with Roscoe Jones Vol. 740, conducted on May 9, 1997 and first aired in February 2016. Jones's memories of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner are riveting because according to Jones, he had planned on going to Neshoba County that fateful day. For anyone not familiar with the story: Civil Rights Activists James Chaney from Meridian, MS, along with Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner from New York City were abducted and murdered on June 21, 1964 while investigating a church burning in the city of Philadelphia, MS.  Joining me for the i ..read more

This is our first Redux of 2023 and because Monday the 16th is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we are looking back at a favorite past Mississippi Moments episode: MSM 601 Father Peter Quinn - Dr. King Comes to Hattiesburg, which aired originally on January 28, 2019. For the interview, we are joined by Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, an associate professor of history at the USM with expertise in Civil Rights, African American, and Women’s and Gender history. She is co-director for the Center for the Study of the Gulf South and a member of the Center for Black Studies at USM. She also serves on the boards of th ..read more

Because our classic Mississippi Moments episode this week is about Greek cooking and holiday traditions, we thought we'd ask USM Historian Andrew Haley to discuss his field of study and give an opinion as to how Mediterranean culture and cuisine has influenced our food ways.  Dr. Haley studies class, culture and cuisine in the United States from the Gilded Age through the 1950s. His first book, Turning the Tables: American Restaurant Culture and the Rise of the Middle Class, 1880-1920, is the winner of the 2012 James Beard Award for Scholarship and Reference. Haley has conducted an in-dep ..read more

'Tis the season for home cooking and today's episode provides a heaping plateful! Jennifer Brannock, Professor and Curator of Rare Books and Mississippiana here at USM takes us on a tour of their massive community cookbook collection. It is a fun and informative discussion on how the project came into being and why the history of food is so important to understanding our culture. Delve into our online collection of rare community cookbooks by following this link: https://www.digitalcollections.usm.edu/mississippiana-and-rare-books Jennifer's interview is followed by a classic MSMO episode from ..read more

Today is Veterans Day and in today's episode, we remember the sacrifices of all of our service men and women by focusing on the experiences of American prisoners of war in Vietnam. We are joined by noted Vietnam War scholar Dr. Andrew Wiest for a discussion of the infamous Hanoi Hilton and the POW experience in general. Afterwards, we hear from Hattiesburg native, George R. Hall about his seven years as a POW and readjusting to civilian life upon returning home in this classic MS MO episode from October of 2015 ..read more

On November 3rd, America lost one of the greatest all-around athletes of this or any age. Ray Guy was the first punter to ever be drafted in the first round into the NFL. During his career with the Oakland Raiders, he led the team to three Super Bowl victories. He was the first pure-punter to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And he remains the standard by which all other kickers are judged. But Ray was so much more.   During his years with the University of Southern Mississippi, he dominated not only as a kicker, but as sports writer Rick Cleveland recalls, "besides being U ..read more

Welcome to the MS MO Redux Podcast! We will be rolling out format changes in the coming days, but here's the gist: Although Mississippi Moments is not currently in production, we have amassed a huge number of episodes, most of which have never been rebroadcast. So we intend to use this podcast to revisit each episode as its daily spots are being aired statewide on MPB. Many episodes will also contain additional information about the speaker, as well as, interviews with Mississippians involved in the Humanities about upcoming projects and events. More details to follow. This week's Redux episod ..read more