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Clarksdale, Mississippi

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Clarksdale, Mississippi
City
Location of Clarksdale, Mississippi
Location of Clarksdale, Mississippi
CountryUnited States
StateMississippi
CountyCoahoma
Government
 • MayorHenry Espy
Area
 • Total13.8 sq mi (35.9 km2)
 • Land13.8 sq mi (35.8 km2)
 • Water0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation
174 ft (53 m)
Population
 (2000)
 • Total20,645
 • Density1,491.8/sq mi (576.0/km2)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes
38614, 38669
Area code662
FIPS code28-13820
GNIS feature ID0666084

Clarksdale is a city in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 20,645 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Coahoma CountyTemplate:GR. It is located on the banks of the Sunflower River.

Clarksdale was named in honor of founder and resident John Clark, brother-in-law of politician James Lusk Alcorn, whose plantation home is nearby.

Located in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, Clarksdale in the early 20th century was known as the "Golden Buckle in the Cotton Belt" with enormous plantations such as that of the Stovall family dominating the landscape. Clarksdale occupied a central place in the agricultural universe when in 1946 the International Harvester Company perfected the development of the single row mechanical cotton picking machine at the nearby Hopson Plantation. This technological milestone quickly revolutionized American agriculture and changed the Mississippi Delta forever.

Past this point the large workforce populations of underpaid and systematically exploited African Americans required to work the sprawling plantation tracts instantly became expendable, coming at exactly the same time that increasing numbers of African American GIs were returning home from WWII. The Illinois Central Railroad operated a large depot in Clarksdale which quickly became a primary departure point for the largest migration of human beings in modern American history, the black migration to Chicago and points north. This important rail hub provided an escape route away from an accelerating climate of racist hatred for which Coahoma County quickly became known as evidenced by violence against such well known local figures as musician Ike Turner and Civil Rights leader Dr. Aaron Henry.

The African American exodus from Mississippi was narrated (with Clarksdale triangulated with Chicago and Washington D.C. as a centerpiece) in the award winning book "The Promised Land" ISBN 978-0394269672 by Nicholas Lemann. "The Promised Land" was later produced as a documentary film series by the History Channel narrated coincidentally by award winning actor and now Clarksdale restaurateur, Morgan Freeman.

In 1954 a wealthy Clarksdale Attorney, Semmes Luckett, father of a large and influential family including Celeste, Semmes, Lucretia, and Money Luckett, argued unsuccessfully in favor of segregation against Thurgood Marshall in the United States Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education a ruling which overturned the legal underpinning of "separate but equal" accommodations in the U.S. Luckett's family still resides in Clarksdale and perhaps as an indication of the social changes evidenced in the city, William Luckett, the great nephew of Semmes Luckett, now serves as a business partner of Morgan Freeman.

Geography

Clarksdale is located at 34°11′52″N 90°34′19″W / 34.19778°N 90.57194°W / 34.19778; -90.57194Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (34.197888, -90.571941)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.9 square miles (35.9 km²), of which, 13.8 square miles (35.8 km²) of it is land and 0.07% is water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 20,645 people, 7,233 households, and 5,070 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,491.8 people per square mile (575.9/km²). There were 7,757 housing units at an average density of 560.5/sq mi (216.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 29.95% White, 68.52% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.22% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.65% of the population.

There were 7,233 households out of which 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.7% were married couples living together, 30.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.9% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the city, the population was spread out with 32.9% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 81.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $22,188, and the median income for a family was $26,592. Males had a median income of $26,881 versus $19,918 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,611. About 29.7% of families and 36.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 46.1% of those under age 18 and 31.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public schools

The city of Clarksdale is served by the Clarksdale Municipal School District. The district has nine schools with a total enrollment of 3,600 students. The high school, Clarksdale High School, has received state and national recognition for providing quality education, winning championship games and receiving top band ratings.

Private schools

  • Lee Academy
  • St. George's Elementary School
  • Presbyterian Day School
  • St. Elizabeth's Elementary School

Music history

Clarksdale has been historically significant in the development of the blues, a form of music distinctively African American. The Mississippi Blues Trail, now being implemented, is dedicating markers for historic sites such as Clarksdale's Riverside Hotel where Bessie Smith died after her auto accident on Highway 61.[1] The Riverside Hotel is just one of many historical blues sites in Clarksdale.[2]

In 1979 the Carnegie Public Library under the direction of Sid Graves began a nascent display series which later became the nucleus of the Delta Blues Museum. Graves struggled alone for years with little recognition and no support from an indifferent community to keep the museum going when no funding was available, often storing displays in the trunk of his car. Finally when the fledgling museum was discovered by Billy Gibbons of the rock band ZZ Top through contact with Howard Stovall Jr. the Delta Blues Museum became the subject of national attention as a pet project of the band and the Museum began to enjoy the recognition that it so richly deserved.

In the mid 1990's the soft-spoken Graves, then in fragile health, was forced out of the library's directorship and retired to Hattiesburg, Mississippi where he passed away on January 9, 2005. Under the temporary curatorship of musician and tour guide/outdoorsman John Ruskey, the museum grew to include a large section of the newly renovated library building. When finally relocated out of the library entirely, after spending a year in a converted retail storefront (1995-1996), the Museum moved into the restored Illinois Central Railroad freight depot building where it is currently housed.

As recently as the late 1990s the potential of the African American art form of the Blues as an economic resource had yet to be accepted by the predominantly white business community in Clarksdale despite all indications to the contrary and the persistent efforts of Sid Graves and others such as the award winning photographer and journalist Panny Mayfield, Living Blues magazine founder Jim O'Neal, and Attorney Walter Thompson, father of journalist Wright Thompson. The popularity of the Delta Blues Museum, the growth of the Sunflower River Blues Festival, and recognition of Clarksdale's blues legacy by the press in Europe, Scandinavia, and all across the United States continued unabated. In 1995 Mt. Zion Memorial Fund founder Skip Henderson purchased the Illinois Central Railroad passenger depot and with the help of local businessman Jon Levingston and the Delta Council, Coahoma County received a $1.3 million dollar grant from the Federal Government to restore the depot and in 1999 Clarksdale's "Blues Alley" was born.

At the turn of the 21st Century the situation has decidedly changed and the Clarksdale business establishment, recognizing the lucrative draw of tourism, has now embraced Clarksdale's role in American musical history at the crossroads of the immortal byways of the Blues, Highway 49 and Highway 61.

Mississippi Blues Trail marker

Clarksdale has received a historic marker as a site on the Mississippi Blues Trail by the Mississippi Blues Commission in recognition of its importance in the development of the blues in Mississippi. The marker is at the cabin site of famed bluesman Muddy Waters where he allegedly lived from 1915 until 1943 while he worked on the Stovall Plantation, a large cotton plantation, before moving to Chicago. A second Mississippi Blues Trail historic marker is placed at the Riverside Hotel that provided lodging for black entertainers passing through, and was the site of the death of Bessie Smith in 1937 due to injuries from a car accident on Highway 61.[3][4]

Notable people

See Also

References

  1. ^ "Blues trail". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  2. ^ "Clarkesdale Blues". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  3. ^ Cloues, Kacey. "Great Souther Getaways - Mississippi" (PDF). www.atlantamagazine.com. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  4. ^ "Mississippi Blues Commission - Blues Trail". www.msbluestrail.org. Retrieved 2008-05-28.

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