Mound Bayou, Mississippi
Encyclopedia
Mound Bayou is a city in Bolivar County
, Mississippi
. The population was 2,102 at the 2000 census. It is notable for having been founded as an independent black community in 1887 by former slaves led by Isaiah Montgomery
. By percentage, its 98.4 percent African-American majority population is one of the largest of any community in the United States. The current mayor is Kennedy V. "Kent" Johnson.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²). 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.
of 2000, there were 2,102 people, 687 households, and 504 families residing in the city. The population density
was 2,395.1 people per square mile (922.3/km²). There were 723 housing units at an average density of 823.8 per square mile (317.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 0.81% White, 98.43% African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.05% from other races
, and 0.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.38% of the population.
There were 687 households out of which 38.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 24.7% were married couples
living together, 43.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size was 3.66.
In the city the population was spread out with 34.7% under the age of 18, 12.9% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 78.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 67.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $17,972, and the median income for a family was $19,770. Males had a median income of $21,700 versus $18,988 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $8,227. About 41.9% of families and 45.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 58.5% of those under age 18 and 34.5% of those age 65 or over.
, Mississippi. The latter was started in the 1820s by the planter Joseph E. Davis, who intended to create a model slave community on his plantation. Davis was influenced by the utopian ideas of Robert Owen
. He encouraged self-leadership in the slave community, provided a higher standard of nutrition and health and dental care, and allowed slaves to become merchants.
In the aftermath of the American Civil War
, Davis Bend became an autonomous free community when Davis sold his property to former slave Benjamin Montgomery
, who had run a store and been a prominent leader at Davis Bend. The prolonged agricultural depression, falling cotton prices and white hostility in the region contributed to the economic failure of Davis Bend.
Isaiah T. Montgomery
led the founding of Mound Bayou in 1887 in wilderness in northwest Mississippi. The bottomlands of the Delta were a relatively undeveloped frontier, and blacks had a chance to clear land and acquire ownership in such frontier areas. By 1900 two-thirds of the owners of land in the bottomlands were black farmers. With high debt and continuing agricultural problems, most of them lost their land and by 1920 were sharecroppers. As cotton prices fell, the town suffered a severe economic decline in the 1920s and 1930s.
Shortly after a fire destroyed much of the business district, Mound Bayou began to revive in 1942 after the opening of the Taborian Hospital by the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor
, a fraternal organization. For more than two decades, under its Chief Grand Mentor, Perry M. Smith, the hospital provided low-cost health care to thousands of blacks in the Mississippi Delta. The chief surgeon was Dr. T.R.M. Howard who eventually became one of the wealthiest blacks in the state. Howard owned a plantation of more than one thousand acres (4 km²), home-construction firm, small zoo and built the first swimming pool for blacks in Mississippi.
In 1952, Medgar Evers
moved to Mound Bayou to sell insurance for Howard's Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company. Howard also introduced Evers to civil rights through his Regional Council of Negro Leadership
which organized a boycott against service stations which refused to provide restrooms for blacks. The RNCL's annual rallies in Mound Bayou between 1952 and 1955 drew crowds of ten thousand or more. During the trial of Emmett Till
's alleged killers, black reporters and witnesses stayed in Howard's Mound Bayou home, and Howard gave them an armed escort to the court house in Sumner.
. The district has two schools with a total enrollment of approximately 650 students.
Bolivar County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 40,633 people, 13,776 households, and 9,725 families residing in the county. The population density was 46 people per square mile . There were 14,939 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. The population was 2,102 at the 2000 census. It is notable for having been founded as an independent black community in 1887 by former slaves led by Isaiah Montgomery
Isaiah Montgomery
Isaiah Montgomery was the son of Ben Montgomery, and the founder of Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Soon elected mayor, he was an active politician, participating in the 1890 Mississippi state constitutional convention which disfranchised black voters...
. By percentage, its 98.4 percent African-American majority population is one of the largest of any community in the United States. The current mayor is Kennedy V. "Kent" Johnson.
Geography
Mound Bayou is located at 33°52′50"N 90°43′41"W (33.880632, -90.727966).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²). 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 2,102 people, 687 households, and 504 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 2,395.1 people per square mile (922.3/km²). There were 723 housing units at an average density of 823.8 per square mile (317.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 0.81% White, 98.43% African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.05% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.38% of the population.
There were 687 households out of which 38.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 24.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 43.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size was 3.66.
In the city the population was spread out with 34.7% under the age of 18, 12.9% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 78.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 67.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $17,972, and the median income for a family was $19,770. Males had a median income of $21,700 versus $18,988 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $8,227. About 41.9% of families and 45.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 58.5% of those under age 18 and 34.5% of those age 65 or over.
History
Mound Bayou traces its origin to people from the community of Davis BendDavis Bend
Davis Bend, Mississippi was originally founded by planter Joseph E. Davis as a model plantation slave community. He and his younger brother Jefferson Davis, future President of the Confederate States of America, had large plantations about 20 miles south of Vicksburg.-History:Davis was influenced...
, Mississippi. The latter was started in the 1820s by the planter Joseph E. Davis, who intended to create a model slave community on his plantation. Davis was influenced by the utopian ideas of Robert Owen
Robert Owen
Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement.Owen's philosophy was based on three intellectual pillars:...
. He encouraged self-leadership in the slave community, provided a higher standard of nutrition and health and dental care, and allowed slaves to become merchants.
In the aftermath of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Davis Bend became an autonomous free community when Davis sold his property to former slave Benjamin Montgomery
Ben Montgomery
Benjamin T. Montgomery was an influential African American inventor, landowner, and freedman.-Early life:In 1837, before the outbreak of the Civil War, Montgomery was sold as a slave to Joseph Emory Davis. Davis' brother, Jefferson Davis, later became the President of the Confederate States of...
, who had run a store and been a prominent leader at Davis Bend. The prolonged agricultural depression, falling cotton prices and white hostility in the region contributed to the economic failure of Davis Bend.
Isaiah T. Montgomery
Isaiah Montgomery
Isaiah Montgomery was the son of Ben Montgomery, and the founder of Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Soon elected mayor, he was an active politician, participating in the 1890 Mississippi state constitutional convention which disfranchised black voters...
led the founding of Mound Bayou in 1887 in wilderness in northwest Mississippi. The bottomlands of the Delta were a relatively undeveloped frontier, and blacks had a chance to clear land and acquire ownership in such frontier areas. By 1900 two-thirds of the owners of land in the bottomlands were black farmers. With high debt and continuing agricultural problems, most of them lost their land and by 1920 were sharecroppers. As cotton prices fell, the town suffered a severe economic decline in the 1920s and 1930s.
Shortly after a fire destroyed much of the business district, Mound Bayou began to revive in 1942 after the opening of the Taborian Hospital by the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor
International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor
The International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor is a black fraternal organization best known as the sponsor of the Taborian Hospital. It was founded in 1872 in Independence, Missouri by Rev. Moses Dickson, an ex-slave born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 5, 1824...
, a fraternal organization. For more than two decades, under its Chief Grand Mentor, Perry M. Smith, the hospital provided low-cost health care to thousands of blacks in the Mississippi Delta. The chief surgeon was Dr. T.R.M. Howard who eventually became one of the wealthiest blacks in the state. Howard owned a plantation of more than one thousand acres (4 km²), home-construction firm, small zoo and built the first swimming pool for blacks in Mississippi.
In 1952, Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers
Medgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi...
moved to Mound Bayou to sell insurance for Howard's Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company. Howard also introduced Evers to civil rights through his Regional Council of Negro Leadership
Regional Council of Negro Leadership
The Regional Council of Negro Leadership was a society in Mississippi founded by T. R. M. Howard in 1951 to promote a program of civil rights, self-help, and business ownership...
which organized a boycott against service stations which refused to provide restrooms for blacks. The RNCL's annual rallies in Mound Bayou between 1952 and 1955 drew crowds of ten thousand or more. During the trial of Emmett Till
Emmett Till
Emmett Louis "Bobo" Till was an African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Till was from Chicago, Illinois visiting his relatives in the Mississippi Delta region when he spoke to 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant, the married...
's alleged killers, black reporters and witnesses stayed in Howard's Mound Bayou home, and Howard gave them an armed escort to the court house in Sumner.
Education
The City of Mound Bayou is served by the Mound Bayou Public School DistrictMound Bayou Public School District
The Mound Bayou Public School District is a public school district based in Mound Bayou, Mississippi .In addition to Mound Bayou, the district also serves the town of Winstonville.-Schools:*John F. Kennedy Memorial High School *I.T...
. The district has two schools with a total enrollment of approximately 650 students.
Cultural References
The 1994 film "Letters from Mound Bayou" directed by Betsy Cox, depicted the return of midwife sister Mary Stella Simpson to Mound Bayou.Notable people
- Medgar EversMedgar EversMedgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi...
- Larry J. Gary
- Katie HallKatie HallKatie Beatrice Hall , served as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1982 to 1985. She was born Katie Beatrice Green in Mound Bayou, Bolivar County, Mississippi. She attended the public schools of Mound Bayou. Hall received a B.S. from Mississippi Valley State University, Itta Bena, Mississippi...
- Fannie Lou HamerFannie Lou HamerFannie Lou Hamer was an American voting rights activist and civil rights leader....
- T.R.M. Howard
- Mel ReynoldsMel ReynoldsMelvin Reynolds is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois. His political career ended in scandal.-Early life:...
- Thomas Moore Sr.
- Sister Mary Stella Simpson, midwife and health care advocate