Baling Press Patent Model

On August 4, 2011, in Artifacts, by Amanda
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1980.18.1

Accession Number: 1980.18.1 (Museum of Mississippi History Collection)

Charles T. Christmas, a former slave from Riverton, Bolivar County, Mississippi, made this baling press patent model.  The model was patented on May 25, 1880.  Christmas designed the press to make cotton bales more compact and, thus, cut shipping costs.  This is one of several patent models in the collection of the Museum Division.

Artifacts from the Museum Division collection that are not on exhibit are available for viewing by appointment. Please contact Nan Prince, Asst. Director of Collections, by email to schedule an appointment.

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Aviation in Mississippi: Apollo 13 Artifacts

On July 20, 2011, in Artifacts, by Amanda
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We will be exploring Mississippi’s rich aviation history in this series. From early flight photographs to the moon landing and beyond, MDAH collections document this exciting part of our past. Special thanks to Nan Prince for writing this post.

Apollo 13 artifact from Fred Haise. Accession Number: 1972.20 (Museum Division Collection)

Apollo 13 artifact from Fred Haise. Accession Number: 1972.20 (Museum Division Collection)

This framed state flag and piece of Aquarius netting were flown aboard the troubled Apollo 13 mission to the moon. The inscription reads, “To the People of the State of Mississippi / This Mississippi flag and Aquarius netting were flown to the Moon on Apollo 13 by a fellow Mississippian. / April 11-17, 1970” and it is signed by Fred W. Haise.

Fred Haise was born in Biloxi on November 14, 1933. He graduated from Biloxi High School and received an Association of Arts Degree at Perkinston Junior College before going to the University of Oklahoma. An experienced pilot, Haise was one of sixteen men chosen to be astronauts by NASA in April 1966. He served as the Lunar Module Pilot on the Apollo 13 mission to the moon. Fifty-five hours into the flight, there was a failure of the service module cryogenic oxygen system, and Haise and his fellow crewmen converted the lunar module “Aquarius” into a lifeboat which ensured their survival and allowed them to return safely back to Earth.

Artifacts from the Museum Division collection that are not on exhibit are available for viewing by appointment only. Please contact Nan Prince, Asst. Director of Collections, by email to schedule an appointment.

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Aviation in Mississippi: Flying to the South Pole

On July 12, 2011, in Artifacts, by Amanda
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We will be exploring Mississippi’s rich aviation history in this series. From early flight photographs to the moon landing and beyond, MDAH collections document this exciting part of our past. Special thanks to Nan Prince for writing this post.

Captain Parker's flag. Accession Number: 1962.355 (Museum Division Collection)

Captain Parker's flag. Accession Number: 1962.355 (Museum Division Collection)

This Mississippi state flag was carried by Mississippi native Captain Alton Parker while serving as a pilot on the Richard Byrd Antarctic Expedition of 1928-1929.  Parker served with distinction on Byrd’s earlier expedition to the North Pole and was chosen to accompany him to Antarctica.  On December 5, 1929, Parker piloted the flight that discovered the Ford Mountain Range. The expedition was the first to fly over the South Pole.

A native of Crystal Springs, Parker was honored by Mississippi on September 6, 1930, at a ceremony at the State Capitol after he returned home from the expedition.  The pilot gave this flag to his native state. The Jackson Daily News described the gift, saying, “The small flag was long in the frigid country, it whirred with its daring owner in airplanes over long stretches of the Antarctic wastes and eventually, with its owner, back in Mississippi.“1 Parker became a commercial pilot and logged more than two million miles in the air before his death in 1942.

Artifacts from the Museum Division collection that are not on exhibit are available for viewing by appointment only. Please contact Nan Prince, Asst. Director of Collections, by email to schedule an appointment.

1 “State’s Flag with Parker at South Pole,” Jackson Daily News, September 5, 1930, page 23. MDAH microfilm #21015.

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Civil War Ambrotype

On June 24, 2011, in Artifacts, by Amanda
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The Mississippi Civil War Sesquicentennial continues and in the coming months we will be highlighting Museum of Mississippi History collections related to year 1861 and the Civil War. Special thanks to Nan Prince for writing this series.

Ambrotype. Accession Number: 1969.29 (Museum of Mississippi History Collection)

Ambrotype. Accession Number: 1969.29 (Museum of Mississippi History Collection)

This ambrotype, complete with a lock of hair, depicts Harris Hale Patton who served in the 15th Mississippi Infantry, Company F, Adams Brigade.  The 15th was organized in May, 1861, and was comprised of soldiers from Holmes, Choctaw, Quitman, Montgomery, Yalobusha, and Grenada counties.  Originally written inside the case, though it has faded now, was “Presented to Mother on the 24 day of May 1861 Harry Patton.”  This ambrotype was perhaps a parting gift from Patton to his mother when he left to go to war.

Great strides were made in photography in the 1850s.  The ambrotype, which is a positive image on a sheet of glass, became widely available in the late 1850s because of a cheaper collodion development process and replaced the daguerreotype in popularity.  Due to the fragility of the images, both ambrotypes and daguerreotypes were kept in cases.

Artifacts in the collection of the Museum of Mississippi History are available for viewing by appointment only. Please contact Cindy Gardner, Director of Collections or Nan Prince, Asst. Director of Collections by email to schedule an appointment.

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Remembering Veterans: World War II

On May 31, 2011, in Artifacts, Paper Archives, by Amanda
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In honor of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, we will be highlighting collections related to the military history of Mississippi and veterans who served the state beginning with the territorial militia in 1797 through World War II (the most recent engagement for which we have collections). Special thanks to Jim Pitts, of the MDAH Government Records section, for compiling the military records and their descriptions and to Nan Prince, Museum Division, for compiling the artifacts.

World War II uniform coat. Accession Number: 2000.10.2 (Museum of Mississippi History Collection)

World War II uniform coat. Accession Number: 2000.10.2 (Museum of Mississippi History Collection)

This World War II uniform coat, known as an Eisenhower jacket, belonged to George C. Sargent of Bentonia, Mississippi. Sargent served in the U.S. Army from 1944-1946. He was a member of Company D in the 3rd Armored Division and in the 67th Armored Regiment of the 2nd Armored Division. He was involved in battles at Ardennes, Rhineland, and in Central Europe.

Artifacts in the collection of the Museum of Mississippi History are available for viewing by appointment only. Please contact Cindy Gardner, Director of Collections or Nan Prince, Asst. Director of Collections by email to schedule an appointment.

Turcotte Diary. Call Number: Z/1606.000/SM; Turcotte (William H.) Diary. (MDAH Collection)

Pages from the Turcotte diary. Call Number: Z/1606.000/SM; Turcotte (William H.) Diary. (MDAH Collection)

The image above shows two pages from the World War II diary of William H. Turcotte, an officer in the 322nd Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. Turcotte was shot down in October 1943 and imprisoned in Stalag Luft III, a prisoner-of-war camp in Poland. His diary is an excellent historical source. These images show the diary cover and a page illustrating the various devices constructed from metal cans as part of a contest in the camp.

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