#MoundBayou | Fort Madison [IA] Evening Democrat July 3, 1937

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Negro Colony Will Mark 50th Birthday

First Settlers of Southern Town Were Slaves

Mound Bayou, Miss--This all-Negro colony will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding, July 11-17.

Featured speakers on the program are Gov. Hugh White, J. S. Vandiver, superintendent of education, and Oscar Johnson, manager of the government cotton pool. 

First settlers of the colony came from the Mississippi plantation of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America. The colony’s founder Isaiah T Montgomery was educated and trained on the Davis plantation. He remained on the Davis Bend plantation during the war.

Mound Bayou, near Cleveland, Miss., has a population of 835 Negroes. The mayor, B. A. Green, was graduated from Harvard Law School. Another resident, Eugene P. Booze is a leader in the Republican party organization in the state.

White persons of Mississippi often have aided the colony. The town has no jail. The celebration will not include a carnival of side shows and games but will review the founding and history of the town. Chief entertainment will be dancing with music by Negro orchestras.

Fort Madison Evening Democrat July 3, 1937