The school became Delta State College in 1955 and Delta State University in 1974.
1924: Legislature establishes Delta State Teachers College in Cleveland
1924: Henry L. Whitfield becomes Mississippi’s forty-first governor
Governor Henry L. Whitfield
Whitfield served from 1924 to 1927.
Link to the catalog1924: Dr. Felix J. Underwood appointed first full-time executive officer of State Board of Health
Dr. Felix J. Underwood
1924: Belle Kearney of Madison County elected to State Senate
Belle Kearney, 18th District Senate
She was the first woman to hold that position.
Link to the catalog1924: Masonite Corporation founded in Laurel
Masonite was the inventor of particle board.
July 3, 1924: Sam Rosenthal elected mayor of Rolling Fork
Sam Rosenthal in front of the new Rolling Fork city hall, 1980
With the encouragement of his friend Fielding Wright, Sam Rosenthal ran and was elected mayor of this small Delta town. “Mr. Sam” would serve as Rolling Fork’s mayor for the next 45 years, guiding the town through the 1927 flood, Great Depression, and the Civil Right era. Rosenthal was one of several Jews in Mississippi to serve as mayor of their towns.