Tippah County Historical & Genealogical Society

07/27/2025

05/05/2025

05/05/2025

You still have time to register for this FREE webinar! Legacy Family Tree Webinars Down Under Series, Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at 9:00 p.m. Central with Richard Miller and his presentation "7 Productivity Tips for Google Chrome". The #1 genealogy software is probably…Google Chrome! Statistically, Chrome is the #1 browser, and so much genealogy research happens in a browser. Learn 7 ways to make your genealogy research more productive while using Google Chrome. Register for this FREE webinar at this link: http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=9461

04/21/2025

The first Jitney Jungle store was opened on April 19, 1919 at 423 East Capitol Street in Jackson.

Three cousins of the Holman and McCarty families from Carroll County, founded Jitney-Jungle in 1919. William Bonner McCarty served as the company's first president, Judson McCarty Holman served as president of McCarty-Holman, the company's wholesale operation, and William Henry Holman, Sr. served as president of the retail operation. Throughout most of the history of Jitney-Jungle, these men and their descendants kept the ownership and control of the company within the two families.

Jitney fared comparatively well in the Depression, in part because the cash-and-carry system did not strap it with credit charges its customers simply could not pay. Still, to help its financially pressed shoppers, the stores did accept checks and managed an enviable record of receiving payment from customers who sometimes were not able to meet their obligations for several years.

Jitney opened its first supermarket in 1934 in Jackson4. It involved a change of shopping styles, depending on parking lots and prototypes of the modern bag boy who would deliver packages of groceries to customers' cars. Jitney's first supermarket was the second such store to be air conditioned, and it included the first women's restroom in any of its stores, as well as other amenities, like chairs for children who had to wait while their mothers shopped. That first store served as a model for the company's other supermarket buildings.

In 1962, after William Henry Holman, Sr.'s death, his son William, then executive vice-president of McCarty-Holman Co., began a five-year term as the presiding officer of the board. In 1967 he was elected president and served as CEO until 1996. In that period, Jitney continued its ambitious expansion, growing from a chain of 32 stores, all located in Mississippi, to a chain of almost 200 stores operating in Mississippi and five other southeastern states.

In late 1996, New York-based investment firm, Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherill & Co. acquired a controlling interest for about $400 million. Until that time, members of the Holman and McCarty families owned a controlling interest in Jitney and served as the company's chief officers.

But the new ownership would last for only a few years. After 80 years of business, the one-time icon among Mississippi companies announced in November 2000 that it would sell its assets and dissolve the company.

Pictured: William Bonner McCarty, Judson McCarty Holman, and William Henry Holman, Sr.

03/23/2025

The Tippah County Archives has come into possession of the Lois Anderson photo negative collection, 4 cases of scrapbooks from 1944 and 1945, some have newspaper clippings about World War II and some boxes of photographs from the Tommy Covington home. All of these need to be cataloged and scanned. We are open 10 to 2 Monday through Friday. Please come help us any days you can so we can start sharing these wonderful finds.

03/08/2025

On International Genealogy Day, March 8, 2025, we celebrate the rich tapestry of our family histories, honoring the stories, traditions, and connections that shape who we are. It’s a day to explore our roots, cherish our ancestors, and pass down the legacy of our heritage to future generations.

02/27/2025

02/27/2025

FAULKNER FANS: We are delighted to announce the public launch of the initial iteration of the William Faulkner Digital Library Project. The site is an ever-growing online reconstruction of the author’s 1962 library, involving the collaborative work and collections of William Faulkner’s Rowan Oak and the University Libraries’ Department of Archives & Special Collections. The project includes innovative technology, in-depth essays, detailed descriptions of each book, as well as several other features intended to provide researchers with additional insight into Faulkner's literary world. View the project on eGrove here: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/faulkner_library

*This image was captured by William Coleman Connell, Jr.

01/16/2025

Thank you to everyone who came out to help with the workday at the Archives. We will be continuing our work next Wednesday. Come help get the archives organized.

12/09/2024

We are now only 22 days away from Christmas 2024! Many of us are scrambling to get the grocery shopping done, present shopping completed and...