Economic history

Mississippi's New Deal Conservation Areas

Theme and Time Period

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) is the most prominent of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal conservation programs. Between 1933 and 1942 CCC labor provided the fuel that created conservation areas across the 48 states. That prominence is rooted in the physical legacy of parks, forests, and wildlife refuges that still endure. While that legacy is most evident in its first state parks, a broader exploration will reveal a much larger statewide conservation effort.

Cotton in a Global Economy

Students Will

  • Analyze historical and academic terminology in the article. 
  • Synthesize information from the article in order to answer group questions.
  • Have a basic understanding of how cotton impacted the American economy and the people involved in its production and sale.

Materials

  • Computer with access to article  
  • Printed article  
  • Paper and pencils/pens  
  • Printed questions

Prior Reading

Minnie Geddings Cox and the Indianola Affair, 1902-1904 Lesson Plan

Overview

In January 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt refused to accept the resignation of Minnie Geddings Cox, postmistress for the city of Indianola and Mississippi’s first African American postmistress. Roosevelt subsequently closed Indianola’s post office, and it remained closed for more than a year. The newspapers called the incident the “Indianola Affair.” Raised by business owner parents and educated at one of the premier schools for aspiring African American women, Cox sought opportunities beyond the traditional expectations for women of the time.

Minnie Geddings Cox and the Indianola Affair, 1902-1904

Theme and Time Period

In January 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt refused to accept the resignation of Minnie Geddings Cox, postmistress for the city of Indianola and Mississippi’s first African American postmistress. Roosevelt subsequently closed Indianola’s post office, and it remained closed for more than a year. The newspapers referred to the post office closing as the “Indianola Affair.” Cox’s role in the Indianola Affair, however, has been reduced to a footnote in early twentieth-century United States history.

The Great Depression and Religion in Mississippi Lesson Plan

Overview

The widespread suffering caused by the Great Depression rendered religious agencies in Mississippi unable to help those in need. As the income of workers fell by 40 to 60 percent, donations traditionally used to fund religious aid for those trapped at the bottom of society also plummeted. Most religious leaders and agencies in Mississippi called for and subsequently welcomed the various social aid programs created by President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

The Truth About the Boll Weevil

Theme and Time Period

During the early 1900s, the boll weevil threatened the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta and put the state’s cotton kingdom in peril. Surprisingly, planters believed that the best way to defend their cotton from the weevil was to protect their place on top of the racial and social ladder in the Delta. James Giesen’s research reveals the ways in which the beliefs of White landowners concerning race and labor shaped the approach of Delta planters to their agricultural environment and its pests.

The Rural Electrification of Northeast Mississippi

Theme and Time Period

Electric power has been called “man’s most useful servant.” It heats and cools homes and businesses, cooks and preserves food, illuminates a dark room or street, and powers machinery, televisions, electronics, and transportation.

Electric power was first available in the United States in 1882 when Thomas Alva Edison created the country’s first commercial power plant in New York City. The power plant provided electricity to customers within a square mile. Edison had already developed an incandescent light bulb in 1879 that was practical and safe for home use.

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