Editor's Postscript: Rosedale and the Future

Transcription

1 115 Editor's Postscript: Rosedale and the Future It is not usually a wise procedure, in such an historical undertaking, to discuss the future. However, Rosedale's future aspirations and community plans are such that they deserve briefly to be mentioned. In 1923, when William F. Gray's edited Imperial Bolivar was published, the following observation was made in that work concerning Rosedale: "Rosedale, the 'Town with a Personality,' the home of builders, seeks more builders for the future." Such is basically the case in Rosedale in After 100 years of existence, Rosedale continues to build and to grow, looking for those who would build and grow with her. The current mayor of Rosedale, M. J. Dattel, has been a witness to and a participant in much of Rosedale's historical development. A man quite aware of the value of a knowledge of the past in preparing for the present, Dattel also eagerly looks to Rosedale's future. According to Dattel, Rosedale is rather ambitious about its future endeavors as a community. He noted a number of projects and undertakings with which the town soon will deal. In the near future, Rosedale will undertake a project to use tile to cover all ditches in the town. Also, it is planned to widen various streets in the town and to repair bad places in all streets. One of Rosedale's most ambitious future undertakings will be initiated in At that time dredging will begin on the long-awaited river port just below the city of Rosedale. In addition, it is anticipated that a 270-acre industrial park will be developed on the outskirts of the city limits of Rosedale.

2 116 HISTORY OF ROSEDALE, MISSISSIPPI A tremendous boon to Rosedale is the state park and recreational facility currently under construction immediately to the west of Rosedale on the River. To be known as the Great River Road State Park, it is a state project and is not the fiscal responsibility of the city. However, since all 880 acres of the park are within Rosedale's city limits, the community has taken a vigorous and active role in the various planning stages for the park. Indeed, this beautiful facility will be an asset not only to Rosedale but to all of Bolivar County as well. Last, but certainly not least, in Rosedale's future plans is a hospital. It is anticipated that this will be a 30-bed facility with an adequate staff to serve the medical needs of the immediate community. Also, the town is exploring the possibility of building a 120-bed nursing home in the community. Thus, Rosedale looks forward with eagerness and anticipation to its future. However, Rosedalians are also fully cognizant of Eugene O'Neill's thoughtful observation that "there is no present or future only the past happening over and over again now." Consequently, the citizens of this unique community in the Mississippi Delta are deeply sensitive to and aware of the value of their heritage. Rosedale is indeed a community proud of its past, working to make full use of the present, and preparing eagerly for the future.

3 Note on Bibliography As is the case with any such study limited in scope to one particular small community, there is not an overwhelming amount of applicable material available to the researcher who undertakes to write the history of Rosedale, Mississippi. Nevertheless, the authors of this study covered thoroughly those materials which were available. Certainly there exist resources which probably were not utilized, either accidentally or intentionally. But in terms of the prearranged emphasis of the study and within the scope set forth, the writers have done an excellent job of researching their topics. Without a doubt the most valuable repository of materials proved to be that available in the Delta State University Archives Collection, W. B. Roberts Library. The vast amount of that collection consists of Rosedale memorabilia, in particular the Sillers Collection. Each writer used his own judgment and resourcefulness in researching his topic. There was much collaboration and sharing as well, and the result is a monograph which is bibliographically sound and solid. In her chapter on Rosedale's beginnings and municipal organization, Ms. Lowry relied heavily on the Council Minutes of Rosedale between 1882 and the present. She also utilized Florence Warfield Sillers' History of Bolivar County, Mississippi (Jackson, 1948; reprint, Spartanburg, S.C., 1976), State of Mississippi documents, the Bolivar County Democrat, the Bolivar County Review, and personal interviews with Billy Joe Estes, J. D. Simpson, and M. J. Dattel. 117 h=

4 i 118 HISTORY OF ROSEDALE, MISSISSIPPI Dr. Cash's chapter, dealing with economic development in terms of agricultural aspects, was based on a number of sources. Of great value for the early years was the Walter Sillers, Sr., chapter entitled "Agricultural Bolivar" in William F. Gray's Imperial Bolivar (Cleveland, Miss., 1923). Information on levee problems and development was gleaned from Robert W. Harrison's Alluvial Empire (Little Rock, 1961). Dr. Cash also employed materials published by the United States federal and Mississippi state governments, in particular U.S. Bureau of the Census, Negro Population, (Washington, D.C., 1918); U.S. Bureau of the Census, Negroes in the United States, (Washington, D.C., 1935); U.S. Department of Agriculture, Yearbook of Agriculture, 1924 (Washington, D.C., 1925); U.S. Bureau of the Census, United States Census of Agriculture, 1925, Part 2, The Southern States (Washington, D.C., 1927); and Mississippi State Planning Commission, Farm Tenancy in Mississippi (Jackson, 1937). Invaluable to his research was a series of personal interviews, relating to mechanization in the Delta after 1930, with James Hand, Jr., F. H. Holiman, and Jerry Nash. Other interviews were with W. Alfred Welshans and Walter A. Welshans, Jr., conducted by Charles Pearce. An excellent general secondary account used was Robert T. Brandfon's Cotton Kingdom of the New South: A History of the Yazoo Mississippi Delta from Reconstruction to the Twentieth Century (Cambridge, Mass., 1969). In his research on the commercial aspects of Rosedale's ecdnomic developments, Dr. Robinson relied almost entirely on existing records in the City Hall of Rosedale and in the Bolivar County Courthouse at Rosedale. He also interviewed a large number of Rosedale citizens to collect his information. Dr. McDonald's study on educational developments in Rosedale was based heavily on school records in Rosedale, on WPA records, on personal interviews, and on personal recollections. He also employed Mrs. Sillers' History of Bolivar County. Dr. Miller's account of Rosedale's religious evolution was derived from a number of sources. For the early developments prior to the 1870's, he relied on John G. Jones' A Complete History of Methodism as Connected with the Mississippi Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (2 vols.; Nashville, 1887) and on

5 NOTE ON BIBLIOGRAPHY 119 Jones' unpublished three-volume "Journal." Also useful for this early period was the Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist E piscopal Church, South (n.p., 1866). For information on the various individual churches, Dr. Miller employed Florence Sillers Ogden's unpublished "History of the Rosedale Methodist Church" in the Delta State University Archives, W. B. Roberts Library; Mrs,,~ Florence Warfield Sillers' History of Bolivar County; Journal of the North Mississippi Conference (n.p., ); Bolivar County Deed Books E-3, E-7, H-23, H-26, H-33, and Z; WPA Research Project, Bolivar County, Assignment 26 (Jackson, 1937); and personal interviews with or information supplied by Mrs. Alice K. Jones, Mrs. Myrtis Ann Tabb, J. M. McBroom, Mrs. Viva McInnis, Mrs. W. E. Jackson, Mrs. Georgia Ginns, Mrs. Julia Cotton Dodd, and Sylvester Matthews. In Dr. Sullivan's account regarding cultural aspects of Rosedale, he utilized a wide variety of materials. Among these were the Walter Sillers, Sr., chapter entitled "Historical Background" in Gray's Imperial Bolivar; Memoirs of Florence Warfield Sillers, unpublished MS in the Miscellaneous Papers of Florence Warfield Sillers, Delta State University Archives, W. B. Roberts Library; Mary Carson Warfield's unpublished novel Angola: A Tale of the South, Delta State University Archives, W. B. Roberts Library; Mary Jo Dyre's "Mary Warfield's Angola: A Tale of the South" (Unpublished M.A. thesis, Delta State University, Cleveland, Miss.); Walker Percy's "Bourbon: Aesthetics of Knocking It Back," Esquire, 84 (December 1975); WPA Research Project, Bolivar County, Assignment 22 (Jackson, 1937); and Mrs. Florence Warfield Sillers' History of Bolivar County. Also very useful were the Bolivar County Democrat, The Weekly Leader, William Alexander Percy's Lanterns on the Levee (New York, 1941), and numerous personal interviews with citizens of Rosedale. The final, brief postscript on the future of Rosedale was based in large part on information supplied to the editor by Mayor M. J. Dattel.