Edwards seeks support for MI

Jessie Edwards, president of the Mississippi Industrial College Alumni Association, is on a mission.

He is seeking support from local governments and entities to preserve the president’s house on the campus to be used as a museum.

It could preserve the history of MI and honor the memory of those living and those who have passed on who led the college to its heights through the halls of that important institution of higher learning.

The history Edwards recites begins with Bishop Elias Cottrell (1853-1937) who founded MI in 1903.

Cottrell was a former slave born on a farm near Hudsonville whose entire life was dedicated to improving the educational opportunities of the African American.

A bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, chairman Cottrell’s goal was to empower the African American with an education. MI College was founded under his guidance to provide for literacy and industrial training of negro youth, Edwards said.

A tract of 110 acres was purchased for $5,300 in 1905 to that end.

The first session was begun Jan. 11, 1906, with the enrollment of 200 students.

The first president of MIC, named initially as the Mississippi Theological and Industrial Academy, was chartered in 1906, with F.H. Rodgers as president.

Cottrell is credited with garnering support from the White and Black races “the first to demonstrate the capacity of the Negro to raise money and build institutions by individual efforts.”

The college had an enrollment of 450, with 250 living on campus, in 1908.

MIC had 10 presidents.

By 1954 there were the following buildings on campus:

• Catherine Hall, three story, built in 1905 and named after Catherine Cottrell, Elias’s first wife.

• Hammond Hall, two story dormitory for men, built in 1907 in honor of Dr. J.D. Hammond.

• Washington Hall, two story built in 1910 in honor of Booker T. Washington.

• Carnegie Hall, three story, built in 1923 named in honor of Matthew Carnegie, who donated $25,000 to help build it.

Randalia, built in 1919, named in honor of Bishop Randall A. Carter.

Liberal Arts and Science degrees included teacher education, business and the humanities.

Edwards proudly provides a list of faculty and alumni and their careers:

• Ted Raspberry, player and owner of the Negro Baseball Leagues, including the Detroit Stars and Kansas City Monarchs, who graduated with a teaching degree in 1933.

• Dr. Betty Jones, BS, 1971, deputy director of the FDA.

• Lessie Lee Davis, BA, contributor to 4-H Club and a home economist.

• Annie Kelly-Montgomery, missionary, CME Church.

• Alfred Walker, BS, 1959, Mississippi state representative.

• Lawrence Autry, 1952, first black elected Superintendent of Education in Marshall County.

• Osborne Bell, 1963, first black sheriff of Marshall County since reconstruction.

• Oree Broomfield, 1953, 45th Bishop of CME Church, elected in 1983.

• Mary Callaway, 1912, M.A. English, Stanford University 1916.

• C.D. Coleman, 1947, 36th Bishop of CME Church.

• Elias Cottrell, 7th bishop of CME Church and college founder.

• Jessie Edwards, 1975, first black mayor of Coldwater.

• Viola Foster, 1956, first black mayor of Plantersville.

• W.M. Frazier, president of MIC 1933-1955.

• Earl Glass, 1963, leading scorer in NCAA 1962-1963.

• Paul Holly, 1959, educator/ sports official, college basketball/football.• Charles Jones, 1967, superintendent of education in Arkansas.

• Frank Jones, 1963, first black mayor of Oakland.

• Robert Ledbetter, 1960, football coach, Norfolk State, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets.

• Dr. Fred Pinson, MD, 1910.

• Dr E.E. Ranking, 1936, president MIC 1957-1978.

• Dr. Lacey Reynolds, 1974, coach MIC, LeMoyne-Owen, Grambling, Texas Southern.

• Charles Robinson, 1968, Superintendent of Education, Arkansas.

• Dr. Ansell R. Russell, MD, 1911.

• Dr. S.N. Sisson, MD, 1917.

• Paul A.G. Stewart, 1961, 50th Bishop CME Church.

• Layfayette Stribling, 1957, Basketball Hall of Fame.

• James Holmes Teer, 1862-1938, MIC board of trustees.

• Jim Thomas, 1963, Canadian Football League All Star.

• Jesse Townsend, 1957, Kansas City Monarchs.

• Dr. J.Y. Trice, 1946, Presiding Elder CME Church, Mayor of Roasedale, last interim president MIC.

• Irwin Whitaker, 1963, first black superintendent of education, Leflore County.

• Dr Elbert B. White, 1965, 1963, dean/associate professor engineering, George Mason University.

• Dr. Frazier Hubbard, 1964, MD OBGYN.

• Sarah Summerville, 1971, attorney, employment law, US Comodity Futures Trading Commission.

• William Shelton, 1968, first black mayor of Coffeeville.

• Dr. Presley A. Autry, graduate MIC High School, 1946, BS biology, MIC 1950.