The finest examples of homegrown Mississippi craftsmanship and productivity are on display at Two Museums in Jackson.
Residents and visitors alike can explore achievements that reflect the state’s ingenuity dating to Dec. 10, 1817, when Mississippi became the nation’s 20th state.
“Mississippi Made brings together objects that tell a broader story about the state’s creativity, industry and innovation,” said Michael Morris, the museums’ director. “Each artifact reflects how Mississippians responded to local needs in ways that shaped life far beyond the state.”
This exhibit is part of the State Department of Archives and History’s celebrations for America250, in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
“Mississippi Made” consists of 250 individual artifacts that showcase Mississippians’ work in myriad fields of attainment.
According to Mississippi Today, items on display include a 19th Century cotton gin and a cotton gin-spinner used on small farms. Mississippi is a leader in that industry, and at the cotton gin lab in Stoneville, near Leland, one can see how modern-era machines of that ilk work.
A cartoon by celebrated opinion-artist Marshall Ramsey is a marvel, as is a box of Wheaties featuring the late Walter Payton, a NFL Hall of Fame running back, on the front. As a fledgling sportswriter for the Jackson Daily News, I covered Payton at JSU in the early 1970s, a highlight of my career.
The NASA flight jacket worn in space by Mississippi astronaut Richard Truly of Fayette, a former top NASA administrator, is also shown.
The guitar of blues legend B.B. King is there. Conspicuously absent is McComb native Bo Diddley’s original rectangular Gretsch guitar built for him in 1958. It can be seen at the welcome center at Osyka on I-55 South. Both are symbolic of the state’s well-established stature as the “Birthplace of American music.”
Other unique items include Eudora Welty’s typewriter that produced some of the world’s most dazzling fiction; an eight-wheel log wagon used in early-on forestry work; plus a Velvet-Elvis wall tapestry, setting a record for the number of eyes cast upon it.
There’s no mention of two of the most famous flags that ever flew over the state. The last day that the state flag bearing the Confederacy’s “stars and bars” officially rose over Mississippi ground was June 30, 2020. It was replaced in 2021 by one featuring a white magnolia blossom on red with the words “In God We Trust.” Some 73 percent of citizens weary of flag controversy voted to change the state symbol.
Who knew that Rolls Royce has a production facility at Pascagoula making fixed-pitch propellers for the Navy’s Constellation-class guided missile frigate program? Its neighbor is Ingalls Shipbuilding, our largest private employer at more than 11,000 serving the dynamic fleet.
The easiest thing to make in Mississippi is a bet, legal and otherwise. The state is home to 33 regulated casinos and a multitude of country roadhouses and city bookie operations for those ready to roll the dice tonight.
With apologies to Willie Nelson and Texas, you can always tell a Mississippian, but you can’t tell him much.
Viking Range founder Fred Carl of Greenwood made this declaration in the 2008-2012 “Mississippi Blue Book:”
“Mississippi’s people are the best thing about our state. Mississippians come from a rich heritage of warm hospitality, great music, literature, sports, art, and cultural diversity. Mississippians work hard, love their families and their country, and are generous and giving.”
We are all hand made by God.
