America250 MS: Display in Winter Building Highlights Mississippi’s State Symbols
In a glass display inside the William F. Winter Archives and History Building is a collection of archival records related to Mississippi’s state symbols.
Yellowing sheet music, faded photographs and postcards from the early 20th century highlight Mississippi’s state song, state beverage, state toy and state dance. The display, located in the building’s lobby, just outside the research library, is one of the numerous ways the Mississippi Department of Archives and History is observing America250 and Mississippi’s place in our nation’s story.
“This was put together by the MDAH Archives & Record Services Division. The archival material includes information about when each symbol was officially declared,” said Laura Heller, acquisitions and collections coordinator. “This offers a rich, historical visual for visitors to the archives.”
Did you know Mississippi’s state toy is the Teddy Bear? It was designated in recognition of the Mississippi connection to the origin of the Teddy Bear: On November 14, 1902, during a hunting expedition led by Mississippian Holt Collier of Smede, President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a small, exhausted black bear. The photograph in the display case shows two young children holding Teddy Bears in 1908.
Other archives include a preliminary illustration by Vicksburg artist Andrew Bucci for the 1967 Magnolia stamp in honor of the state flower, and sheet music for the state song. In 1917, MDAH adopted as the state song Eron Rowland’s poem “Mississippi,” set to music by Clara Mallory LeBaron. That changed when the legislature passed Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 36 in 1948, adopting “Way Down South in Mississippi” by Verne Barnes and Josie Gautier as the state song.
Visitors are encouraged to come to the William F. Winter Building in downtown Jackson and learn more about the state symbols, including the official state dance – the square dance.
Visit https://www.mdah.ms.gov/research/winter-building for information about archival research. Also, stop by the Two Mississippi Museums to see Mississippi Made, a special temporary exhibit in celebration of America250.