Historical Manuscripts

This collection largely focuses upon the history of Mississippi and Southern culture. Primary source materials include correspondence, business records, diaries, newspaper clippings, photographs, and scrapbooks. Featured are the papers of prominent Mississippi politicians, Civil War documents, railroad and lumber industry records, as well as items about local Hattiesburg organizations, the civil rights movement and military history.

AAEC Editorial Cartoons

The AAEC Editorial Cartoon Collection consists of original editorial artworks by more than 300 artists. The cartoons date from 1782 to 1980, but the majority of this digitized collection comes from the 1960s and 70s. The University of Southern Mississippi acquired the Editorial Cartoon Collection from the member artists of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists.

Dr. Joseph A. Greene Papers

This collection regards items related to Dr. Joseph A. Greene, founding Dean of the College of Business and Economic Development at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Greene served in that role for 36 years, working to help the college earn its first AACSB Accreditation and the creation of the Professional School of Accountancy. Photographs, correspondence, and newsclippings are included in this digital collection.

Herbert Randall Freedom Summer Photographs

During the summer of 1964, 28-year-old Herbert Eugene Randall, Jr. was recruited by SNCC to travel to Hattiesburg, Mississippi and document the Mississippi Summer Project. The photographs include images of Freedom School classes, community meetings, voter registration canvassing, violence against volunteers, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, the Free Southern Theatre, as well as picnics and other recreational gatherings.

Randall not only documented the social and political efforts of the Hattiesburg Project, but also vividly depicted the hardships of Black Americans in a racially discriminating Mississippi. Collectively, these photographs are invaluable assets to Freedom Summer history because they intimately and accurately reveal the people and events that made the movement all that it was.

Maps

This collection consists of various historical maps ranging from a local counties and states to items that cover the Western Hemisphere, Europe, and parts of Asia. A number of maps of the State of Mississippi are included as well as many maps in foreign languages, maps charting rivers and coast lines, islands, oceans, and even battlefields, forest types, and areas of earth affected by a solar eclipse.

Tatum Family Business Records

This collection contains the financial and personal papers of the Tatum family of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Tatum family were prominent owners of businesses and land in the area beginning in 1893 with the establishment of their first lumber mill. The collection contains financial records, personal papers, photographs, correspondence, pamphlets, and other business records such as accident reports and sale receipts. The collection also contains many items relevant to local Hattiesburg history.

S. G. Thigpen Sr. Papers

The above collection contains photographs that document the life and business of S. G. Thigpen Sr. Many of the photographs feature the Thigpen Hardware Company, personal family photos, buildings in Picayune, as well as tung nut orchards that Thigpen promoted for agricultural use, as tung nuts could be harvested and sold as oil paints. The materials date from 1899-1996 and document the life and culture of southern Mississippi, primarily Picayune and Pearl River County.

Robert B. Waller Photographs

Robert B. Waller was born and raised in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. For many years, he worked as a photographer and reporter for the "Hattiesburg American". He built a darkroom in his home and in 1949, Waller left the newspaper to open his own photography studio, Bob Waller’s Photo Service, which he ran until his death in 1977. The materials in this collection date primarily from 1947-1977 and document life and culture in southern Mississippi, particularly Hattiesburg.