A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....04-13-04....Mississippi - "Virtute et Armis"

Mama_Bear

[Mama_Bear]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997. Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dansangel, dutchess, Aquamarine ~

Please join "A Few of FR's Finest" as we make a cyber-visit to another state in this great Union of ours.

Over the past several months each "Finest" hostess has profiled her home state and I will be presenting the other states in random order. Please FReepMail me if you would like to participate in spotlighting your state. I would appreciate your input on what you would like to see highlighted.

Today we are going way down South to Dixie to celebrate the beautiful state of Mississippi.

These are the states
we have presented to date:

05-23-03 Alabama 06-27-03 Maryland 07-11-03 Vermont 07-25-03 Utah 08-05-03 Texas 08-22-03 Nevada 08-26-03 Wash DC 09-05-03 Tennessee 09-17-03 Florida 09-19-03 Minnesota 10-03-03 New Mexico

10-14-03 Georgia 10-17-03 Louisiana 10-22-03 Michigan 11-04-03 South Dakota 11-14-03 California 01-09-04 South Carolina 02-06-04 West Virginia 02-20-04 Oregon 03-09-04 Pennsylvania 03-30-04 Wyoming

As we celebrate each state,
we also salute the Fine FReepers who
proudly fly their home state's flag.

"Virtute et Armis"
- By valor and arms.










Mississippi History -
A Condensed Time Line

1540—Spaniard Hernando de Soto enters the Mississippi region
1682—René-Robert Cavelier of France claims the Mississippi region
1699—Pierre le Moyne establishes the first French colony at Old Biloxi
1716—Jean Baptiste Le Moyne founds what becomes Natchez
1719—The French bring the first black slaves into Mississippi
1763—Mississippi becomes English territory
1781—Spain claims Mississippi’s Gulf Coast
1783—Mississippi, except for the Gulf Coast, becomes United States territory
1798—The Mississippi Territory is created
1812—The Gulf Coast becomes part of the Mississippi Territory
1817—Mississippi becomes the 20^th state
1861—Mississippi secedes from the Union
1863—Union forces capture Vicksburg in the Civil War
1870—Mississippi is readmitted to the Union
1969—A federal court orders the desegregation of Mississippi’s public schools; Charles Evers becomes the first black mayor of Mississippi since Reconstruction. He was elected in Fayette.

Eight flags have
flown over the Magnolia State...



The current state flag...

The Confederate Battle Flag can still be seen in Mississippi. In 1894 it was incorporated into the state flag and the remainder of the flag being similar to the Stars and Bars except the upper bar is blue not red. When the Mississippi flag was drawn up The Battle Flag was never mentioned by name. The history of the state leaves no doubt that this was the intention. In 1861 Mississippi was the second state to join the Confederacy. During the Civil War it used the Bonnie Blue Flag. The second state flag consisted of a white background containing a magnolia tree, with the Bonnie Blue Flag in the canton. In 1817 when Mississippi became a state it also adopted a coat of arms and a seal. Both were based on a seal of the U.S.A. The arms nor the seal were used during the time Mississippi was in secession from the Union.







Mississippi is -
THE LAND OF COTTON...

During the early 1800s, cotton became Mississippi’s major crop. The industry continued to grow as the Natchez Trace connected Mississippi with Nashville, Tennessee. By 1810, the Mississippi Territory extended over all present-day Alabama, Mississippi, and parts of Florida. In 1817, Congress divided the Mississippi Territory into the state of Mississippi and the Alabama Territory. On Dec. 10, 1817, Mississippi joined the Union and became the 20th state. Its population had almost reached 60,000 people. Cotton continued to grow in importance with the invention of the cotton gin in 1793.

When Mississippi was a one-crop state before the arrival of the boll weevil in 1907, plantations thrived, and cotton was king in the fertile soil of the Yazoo-Mississippi delta. Today, though Mississippi ranks among the leading producers, cotton competes with other crops, like soybeans, and manufacturing has replaced agriculture as the economic leader. Mississippi is the nation's largest producer of upholstered furniture.


Mississippi is -
MUSIC...

The Mississippi Delta Blues.....the only true American music.

The blues as an art form has its origins in African culture. Yet, it is a uniquely American phenomenon in that it represents a merging of the similar, but diverse musical, tribal and cultural traditions typifying the long stretch of the west African coastline from Senegamabia to Angola.

The American blues, however, is more than a hybridized form of African musical traditions. It is also a distinctive and creative expression of the experiences of the suffering and pain of African slave descendants who toiled and labored as sharecroppers in the deep south, particularly the Mississippi Delta.

Mississippi's earthy concoction of emotion-filled lyrics and soulful sounds produced music legends like B.B. King and Muddy Waters. Each year, in the land of the Delta Blues, world-famous music festivals, like the Delta Blues and Heritage Festival, pay homage to this original art form - and the mighty Mississippi River just keeps on rollin'.


Mississippi is -
THE GULF COAST
and SHRIMP BOATS...

Mississippi's Gulf Coast is ranked one of the top three "up and coming" destinations in North America by the 2000 Fodor's/ASTA Annual Hot Spot Survey.

With over 200 species of fish, including mackerel, snapper, and grouper, indigenous to the Gulf of Mexico, deep-sea fishing charters, shrimping trips, and fishing in the area's many lakes and rivers are a must when visiting Mississippi's Gulf Coast. The Gulf Coast's temperate climate affords virtually year-round outdoor activities, including golfing, sailing, and motor boating. Jet skiing, windsurfing, and aqua-cycling are fun favorites of both visitors and residents. The adventuresome can't miss out on parasail rides, which offer an exhilarating panoramic view of the scenic coastline. With the wealth of festivities, some locals say that the Gulf Coast has a celebration for every crustacean.

Not to be missed is the ceremonial "Blessing of the Fleet" in Biloxi, given by a local Catholic priest, marking the beginning of the shrimp fishing season. Even though it had its origins in ancient times in Europe, the first Blessing of the Fleet in the Biloxi Bay was given in 1929, and now takes place annually in a colorful procession in the Mississippi Sound. The ceremony begins with the dropping of an evergreen wreath into the Sound in remembrance of fishermen who have been lost at sea. Then a procession of more than 30 shrimp boats files past the anchored "Blessing Boat" where the officiating priest stands, sprinkling holy water on each of the boats and giving a blessing for each one, asking a safe and prosperous fishing season.

As with each state that I present, I have had to leave much out. Mississippi is, of course, so much more than cotton, music and shrimp boats! I hope that our Mississippi FReepers will come and help us celebrate their great state by telling us more about Mississippi and why they are proud to be a Mississippian.

The following websites provided information, text,
and/or graphics for this presentation...

Blues History
Mississippi's Gulf Coast
Netstate - Mississippi
Mississippi's State Flags

I will close by adding this rather odd interesting
recipe that I found in my recent Google travels.....

Mississippi Mud

Ingredients:
1 small bottle orange juice
diet or regular coke
ice

Preparation:
Put some ice in glass. Add orange juice, top up with coke and stir. Looks like mud, tastes delicious.

(Hmmmm....not too sure about this one. LOL)

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 04-12-04...Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

Click on the photo to view the album. To
submit your photo, please contact dansangel or .45MAN danbh59@yahoo.com
and include Freeper Photo Album in subject line.

[petitfour]

Well, I left out Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson(sp?)) and Oprah, but the list is so long . . . .

I'm sorry I never noticed your travelling threads before. Will pay more attention now. :)

[petitfour]

My brothers played baseball at Leavell Woods Park. I ate many a snow cone there.

[Mama_Bear]

Kermit the Frog is from Mississippi? Who would have thought?

I'm sorry I never noticed your travelling threads before. Will pay more attention now. :)

Great! I hope you will come back again. We have a lot of fun here, but every so often we learn something too. Can't beat that.

I am about ready to sign off for the evening. Thanks again for what you brought to the thread today.

[WVNan]

Isn't that something? Leavell Woods Dr. was a beautiful street when we lived there. Lots of tall pines and Azaleas.

[petitfour]

I have fond memories of the whole area. I haven't been there in 11 years or so. Azaleas, tall pine trees, and Mimosa trees.

[WVNan]

Don't go MB. I'm on a roll here. This picture made me homesick. This is the South of my early childhood.

<--Click

[Mama_Bear]

Hi FRee! You crept in and out so quietly this morning that I didn't even know you had been here!

Thanks for dropping off the calendar page. HUGS!

[Mama_Bear]

Don't go MB. I'm on a roll here.

LOL. Well, keep on rollin'. I'll stick around for awhile.

That photo tells such a story!

I remember traveling through the south on one of our trips across country. I must have been seven or eight. Coming from the north, I had never in my life seen a "whites only" sign. I was dumbfounded. I distinctly remember asking my mom why only white people could sit at the restaurant counter and thinking how I would feel if I was told I could not go somewhere because I was different. I remember thinking, as a child would, how much it would hurt my feelings to be treated "different". That experience is burned into my memory.

[WVNan]

<---Click

[WVNan]

The thing is though, MB, as a child I would have been sitting right there on that porch with those men listening to their tales and laughter without a second thought. I didn't know anything about "whites only" signs. That was just my world. It was filled with people and places just like that picture.

[JustAmy]

Mississippi!
How the name
Wraps itself
About my tongue,
Telling me
I've come home!
Mississippi.
Those deep brown
Waters course
Through my veins
Like living mud,
Nurturing a soul
Never quite
At home
Any other place
I rest my
Weary bones.
I can stand
In some dusty
Panola crossroads,
Sandy delta soil
Beneath my feet,
And I know
I belong.
All around me
Stretch the fields
Of cotton, sorghum,
Corn, wheat and hay.
While I may
Love the hills,
Love the mountains
With their rocky streams,
My dreams
Are made
Of delta clay,
Of smokey haze
And sultry sun
Shimmering at the edges
Of fields as flat
As the day is long.
This song
I sing to the South!
Here I was born,
Here ever
Will my heart return,
When I hear
Someone speak
Of home.

3/20/84

© Fred O'Bryant.

[Mama_Bear]

Oh, that is lovely, Amy! Thanks so much for bringing that here.

I love the contributions that everyone has made to this thread. We are building a nice archive of information about our country, state by state. :-)

[WVNan]

Speaks to my soul Amy. Thank you.

[WVNan]

Did you listen to the Mississippi Squirrel revival? I always get a laugh out of that song.

[Mama_Bear]

LOL! Mississippi Squirrel Revival! I love it!! I haven't heard this in AGES! What a great find for this thread, Nan. I'm saving this one in my midi folder, for sure!

[JustAmy]

LOL

Ray Stevens had some funny stuff!!

Thanks, Nan.

[Mama_Bear]

It was filled with people and places just like that picture.

Aren't those childhood memories wonderful? When I think of children growing up in the old south, I imagine Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. I never lived in the south, but I can imagine what it was like because of that book and movie. :-)

[WVNan]

The King of Tupelo.

[WVNan]

Funny you should say that MB, because that is exactly like I was. I lived in the country and knew nothing about racial problems. We were poor as dirt, same as all our black neighbors. We picked cotton together, we drank from the same dipper from the same water bucket. We killed hogs and sat up all night together while the pig turned on the spit and sopped that hot BBQ sauce on it while the old black men told stories of haints and coon dogs.

[Mama_Bear]

Did you listen to the Mississippi Squirrel revival?

Sure did! I just now played it for my mom, she had never heard it. It's still funny no matter how many times I listen to it.