By instituting poll taxes and literacy tests, the new constitution kept most African Americans and many poor whites from voting.
1890: Mississippi Constitution of 1890 adopted
1890 Constitutional Convention Members
1890: Windsor, the largest antebellum mansion built in Mississippi, burns
Sketch of Windsor mansion
The Windsor Plantation was located in Claiborne County near Port Gibson.
Image: Photograph of sketch of Windsor mansion drawn by Henry Otis Dwight of the 20th Ohio Infantry during the Civil War (original in collection of Ohio Historical Society).
Link to the catalog1890: John M. Stone returns as Mississippi’s thirty-third governor
Stone served from 1890 to 1896.
Link to the catalog1890: Grand Opera House opens in Meridian
Interior of Grand Opera House - Meridian
The first performance at the opera house was The Gypsy Baron by Johann Strauss, performed entirely in German.
Link to the catalog1890: James K. Vardaman is elected to state legislature
A fierce advocate of white supremacy, Vardaman would go on to serve as governor from 1904 to 1908. He remained a force in Mississippi politics for decades after his term as governor.
1890: Campbell College organized at Bethel A.M.E. Church in Vicksburg
Campbell College was the first African American college in Mississippi to be established without the aid of whites. Sponsored by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, it had campuses at Vicksburg and Friar’s Point. These were consolidated in 1898 and moved to Jackson near Jackson State College. Campbell College closed in 1965.
1890: Millsaps College established in Jackson
Millsaps College postcard
Millsaps was founded with a gift of $50,000 from Major Reuben Webster Millsaps, with matching contributions from Mississippi Methodists. A native of Pleasant Valley, Mississippi, Major Millsaps devoted his life to Millsaps. Grenada and Whitworth colleges later merged with Millsaps.
Link to the catalog