My
mother’s relatives were Knowltons from Perthshire
in Bolivar County. My stepfather was from Chicago so
we moved north when I was eight years old. They moved
back to the Delta in the late 1960s. Emma Lytle was
best known for her baptismal paintings and sculptures.
She also made a movie called “Raising Cotton or
the Voices of Perthshire” that is now owned by
the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, at Ole
Miss.
The
Humphreys’ family genealogy on your father’s
side is also rich with Mississippi history. What is
your relation?
Colonel Ralph Humphreys settled in Mississippi in
1796. My father was Jack Humphreys from Greenwood
who farmed near Schlater. My grandfather, John Barnes
Humphreys, was the sheriff of Leflore County in the
early 1900s. My great-grandfather, Benjamin Grubb
Humphreys, settled Itta Bena before the Civil War.
He was governor of Mississippi from 1865 to 1868.
Humphreys County was named for him.
Have
you ever considered running for office?
Not seriously. I grew up around national politics,
especially in Illinois. My mother and her friends
formed the Ogle County Women’s Republican Club
to support Eisenhower in 1952. But I’ve moved
around too much in my own life to become directly
involved. However, I am somewhat a junkie when it
comes to political hearings and national events.
How did you find yourself back in the Mississippi
Delta after living in the North for most of your life?
My husband died suddenly, my daughters got married,
and I finished a master’s thesis all about the
same time I was deciding what I wanted to be when
I grew up. Then my mother passed away and I spent
several months in the Delta. The Winterville position
was advertised in a national newsletter. It interested
me because of its association with the Mississippi
Department of Archives and History, which has long
been regarded as one of the most respected state historical
societies in the country.
You have been the branch director of the Winterville
Indian Mounds for three years. How has this job changed
your life?
Many people don’t realize that people have been
living in the Mississippi Valley for 10,000 years
and the valid culture they had. There is so much we
can learn to respect that, as well as the relationship
to historical nature Native American tribes across
the southeast.
What
would you like for our community to know about the
Winterville Indian Mounds?
I’d like people to know how important the site
is to archeology and Delta-area history. Winterville
is one of the top ten surviving ceremonial mound sites
in the country and a national historic landmark. The
goal of our staff and the Mississippi Department of
Archives and History is to restore the mounds and
revitalize public programs–not only for tourism,
but for schools.
What
do you do with your free time around the Delta?
I’ve enjoyed exploring the Delta since I moved
back. The Bogue Phalia has always fascinated me. It’s
a watershed that starts north of Perthshire and runs
into the Sunflower River around Darlove and Estill.
I took a detour one afternoon coming back from Jackson,
so I’ve finally seen the mouth of the Bogue
Phalia! It’s just one of those quirky things.
True
confession:
I hope to translate my love of boats and salt water
into a ride on a towboat to fulfill my ambition to
ride the river as far as I can, or sail around the
world.
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