Top Stories

Civil rights activist, Euvester Simpson, among those to get Hamer Award

Civil rights activist, Euvester Simpson, who was just a teenager when she was jailed with Fannie Lou Hamer in Winona, Miss. in 1963, is one of five people who will be honored by The Fannie Lou Hamer Institute on April 19 at Jackson State University.

The four other humanitarian award recipients are:

Rev. John Earl Cameron of Jackson, a civil rights activist who ran for Congress in 1963; Alvin O. Chambliss, an attorney who represented Jake Ayer Sr. in the landmark lawsuit over desegregation in Mississippi’s higher education system; Jackson attorney Robert McDuff, whose work has include voting rights issues, civil rights and criminal law; and Nsombi Lambright, director of Resource Development and Communications for One Voice and former director of the Mississippi ACLU. […]

Religion

The restoration of the historic Immanuel Church in Winona

Although many of its original members are long gone, the bells of the Immanuel Church in Montgomery County still ring at least once a month. Situated on the corner of Fairground and Summit Streets in the heart of Winona, Immanuel stands as a monument to a rich and prominent past.

And with the acquisition of grant funds totaling more than $300,000, supporters of the historical structure are determined to keep it that way.

Erected in 1909, Immanuel Church – formerly Immanuel Episcopal Church – replaced an earlier wood frame structure that was built in 1876 by Major and Mrs. Frank Hawkins. The original church was located on Summit Street nearer to the downtown area and had a large chancel window depicting the ascension of Jesus into heaven. That same stained glass window now adorns the center of the rear wall of the present building which was constructed and donated to the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi by Captain and Mrs. James C. Purnell. […]

Education

Courtney Pearson elected first black Homecoming Queen at Ole Miss

Campaigning was challenging and winning the election was rewarding, but making history in the process is mind-boggling for Courtney Roxanne Pearson, who recently became the University of Mississippi’s first African-American homecoming queen.

The 21-year-old senior English secondary education major from Memphis won the title in a run-off during annual campus personality elections. […]