Yazoo County History

Below are links to files featuring the history of Yazoo County. We eagerly welcome any new information you may have, or volunteers with time and energy to contribute.

About the Library

General Benjamin Sherrod Ricks
General Benjamin Sherrod Ricks, for whom the library is named.
Fannie Ricks
Fannie Ricks, who funded construction of the library building in 1900.

The B. S. Ricks Memorial Library is owned and operated by the Yazoo Library Association, founded September 8, 1838 and chartered by the Mississippi Legislature to provide public library service to Yazoo County.

For over sixty years, the library was housed in many different buildings. In 1900, Fannie Ricks adopted the library as her cause and funded the construction of the building still in use today, naming it in honor of her late husband. The library opened to the public in 1901 and was formally dedicated January 1, 1902. It is the oldest public library building in continuous service in Mississippi.

Willie Morris signing books at the library The library is designated as a Mississippi Literary Landmark in recognition of its association with author Willie Morris.

Yearbooks

When community members loan or donate yearbooks, we digitize them and make them available online. If you have a yearbook we don’t yet have, we would be grateful for the opportunity to borrow it.
▶
Yazoo City High School
Mingo Chito
33 volumes
1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1953 1954 1955 1957 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1977 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1988 1990 1992 1997
▶
Holly Bluff School
Zookey
7 volumes
1949 1949–50 1952 1954 1956 1962 1970
▶
Benton Academy
 
1 volume
1991
▶
N.D. Taylor School
The Panther
1 volume
1969
▶
Saint Francis School
The Troubadour
1 volume
1964

Oral Histories

Audio recordings and transcripts of community members who lived in Yazoo County in the early 1900s — many as adults before the Great Depression of the 1930s.
114 interviews
Willeva Lindsey Afro-American Hospital Allen, Barbara Yazoo Folklore Allgood, Sr., Mrs. W. E. Civil War Days Allgood, Sr., Mrs. W. E. General Yazoo Recollections Bailey, Amanda Cary Life in Yazoo County 1940s and 1950s Balsley, Dr. Daisy Her father Dr. Robert Fullilove of Afro-American Hospital Robert Bowman People & Life in Yazoo County Mary Brabston Yazoo Recollections William Bradford Energy efficient home R.J. Brown Commercial Fisherman Thomas H. Campbell Law Practice Afro-American Hospital Carter, Mississippi History Mr. & Mrs. E.T. Jordan Louie Andrew Cary Yazoo County in the early 1900s Minnie Brister Clark Life in Yazoo County 1920s-1930s Jerry Clower Storytelling Mrs. Ray Cobb Alderman 1970s Clayton Davis Life in Yazoo County 1940s George and Jessie Davis Grady Davis Life in Yazoo County 1930s Laura B. Davis Lawyers January 1980 Law Practice February 1980 Herman B. DeCell on John Oakes- September 1974 Charles H. Estes, Sr. Life in Yazoo after 1900 Charles M. Estes, Jr. Mrs. H. L. Fennel Biographical Material Mrs. W. H. Ferguson Mable Oneal Ferris Fuller, Albert Recollections of Phoenix, MS in the early 1900s (Interview Date: November 13, 1974) Leola Galloway Afro-American Hospital Magnolia Turnbow Gates Magnolia Turnbow Gates Mrs. L.L. Geralds Gibbs School Students Transcript #1 Gibbs School Students Transcript #2 Mrs. Elaine Goods Jewell Nolan Guion Life in Yazoo County 1930s 1940s T.C. Guion Life in Yazoo County 1910s-1940s P.C. Harbin Life in Holly Bluff 1910-1920 Greg Harkins Chairmaking Julia Houck Hartley Yazoo County after 1900 Lindy Hathcock Yazoo County 1960s Hawk, “Hammer” Discusses Yazoo City after 1900 (Interview Date: September 1974) Jessie P. Hearn CHURCHES Yazoo City and Greenville Hinshaw, Barbara Morgan and Robert Hinshaw Drug Stores in Yazoo (Interview Miller Holmes, Sr. Banking Huddleston, Jr., T.J. and Mrs. Henry [Willie Jean] Espy Afro-American Hospital-March 1980 Margaret Humphreys St. Clara Academy Honor Ingram Old buildings in Yazoo City Recollections after 1900 Dave Irwin Yazoo Recollections Kelly Jackson Yazoo Recollections Kelly Jackson Slave Life of Father Christine Fouche Johnson Yazoo County-1920s-1930s Clara Johnson Yazoo City After 1900 Floyd Johnson Life in Yazoo County Maybelle Johnson Potatoes Molasses bread and other recipes M.D. Jones Yazoo County 1920s-1930s Mrs. Curtis Ketchum Yazoo Recollections Sister Leota St. Francis Catholic School Mary Bradshaw Luckett Yazoo Recollections Lynch, Albert Recollections of Yazoo City in the early 1900s (Interview Date: September 1974) Main Street Panel Discussion Mrs. W.W.Marshall Yazoo Recollections 1930s Hugh Mcgraw Yazoo Recollections Mrs. Teresa Mcgraw Family background Mary Louise Miller Greene, Daisy Discussing Dr. L. T. Miller Mrs. J.M. Myers Biographical Material Eunice Nelson Afro-American Hospital Soloman T. Nicholas, Sr. Family experiences after 1904 S.T. Nicholas, Jr. Yazoo City 1920s-1930s Mrs. Daisy L. Nolan Yazoo County Early 1900s Kermit Nolan Yazoo Experiences 1930s-1940s Hubert Owens Afro-American Hospital Mrs. J.W. Parker Concert Series in Yazoo City Evie Louise Pepper Yazoo County Birds Ivy Pepper Personal Experiences Meadow Perry Jr. with Marguerite Riley Yazoo Recollections Dewitt Peyton Yazoo Recollections Mrs. Burdette Pollard Yazoo Recollections Gene Powell Writings of Interviewee Jo G. Prichard III Discusses John Oakes E.B.Roberts Life in Yazoo County Joy Hearn Sartain Yazoo Recollections J.P. Sartain Yazoo Recollections Sadie Setzler Quilting F.W. Sharbrough Holly Bluff George Sigrest Dulcimer-Making & Knife-Making Jack Sloan Yazoo Recollections Mr. & Mrs. M.M. Smith Views on Yazoo City Winnie Jean Stanton Life on Ridge Road 1940s Laurie Lightcap Stigler Methodist Church-1904 Fire Gene Stonestreet Yazoo Recollections Emma Lee Stubblefield Early Life in Yazoo City Mary Swayze First Baptist Church E.F. Thigpen Bentonia Robert & Bobbie Towery Toymaking Transcripts without tapes A list for the Bicentenial Project Mary Tuck On Slavery in the U.S. Eugene & Joan Turner Views of Yazoo City Cyril A. Walwyn Afro-American Hospital Will Washington Yazoo Recollections Mrs. Niceine Weber Yazoo Recollections Mrs. James Whatley Views of Yazoo City White, Barbara Views of Yazoo City (Interview Date: Sep 1974) Mrs. Louis A. White Family Background Flemming Whitney, Jr. Life in Yazoo City Jim Wigley Yazoo Recollections Mrs. Willie Davis Wilkerson Descendant of large landowners who were former Yazoo County slaves Mrs. John G. Williams Yazoo City early 1900s Wilson, Charity Quilting-February 1974 Tampa Wilson Basket Making Yates, Joy Recalls her family background

Yazoo County Architecture

Preserved articles and photographs of architecture in Yazoo County. Many of the homes and places recorded here no longer exist.

Yazoo City 8 streets

Around the county 17 places

If you have photographs or papers about a building in the county, we would be glad to copy them and add them to our records.

More Yazoo History

Yazoo County History & Heritage