Biloxi, Mississippi: A Memorable Mistake

On Friday night after the parade, the rains began.  Starting around 10 p.m., there was a constant downpour until Monday morning.  So on Saturday, Jim and I decided to drive out of the rain.  We had been planning to go to Mississippi sometime, and as it looked only slightly cloudy there we headed off to Hattiesburg.  Jim’s brother Dave once lived in Hattiesburg.  We called sister-in-law Lorraine to see if she still had his old address.  Now, mind you… Dave moved around a lot!  But we figured if anyone had his address, it would be Lorraine.  And she did, saying that she had six pages for Dave in her address book.  However, we never made it to Hattiesburg.  At a key intersection - with Jim navigating and the rains pouring buckets, I missed a turn and we were on our way to Biloxi instead.  We decided: Let’s not go back.  Let’s go to Biloxi!  

Biloxi is a pretty coastal town on the Gulf with a 25-mile long pristine beach. We learned that all this beach sand was hauled in and hand-spread years ago.  It looks wonderful today, and Jim and I had a lunch of red shrimp and red wine, overlooking the water.

Then, we took in the sites:

Jefferson Davis parlor- Biloxi

Beauvoir.  Since we started our trip with a visit to Lincoln’s last home, we decided to visit Jefferson Davis’ last home here in Biloxi.  Called Beauvoir (“beautiful view”), it is gorgeous. It was completed in 1852 as a summer home by a wealthy family.  Davis first rented a cottage on the estate, before ultimately buying the entire estate for $5500.  The main house was built on 8-foot piers to provide natural “air conditioning” from the breezes off the Gulf, but because of the strength and height of these piers, the house has withstood 18 hurricanes since it was built, including Katrina.  

The estate is now owned and run by the Sons of Confederate Soldiers.  Several things I learned there -

Confederate Stars and Bars flag

• The Confederate flag whose display is so often argued over today is not the Confederate flag at all.  Rather, it is a “battle” flag!  The only officially adopted Confederate national flag is called the Stars and Bars.  The problem was that it looked too much like the Stars and Stripes on the battlefield, so a General Beauregard made a new flag for use in the battlefield.

• The Beauvoir grounds prominently displays a statue called Jefferson Davis and Sons.  The brochure says that this life size statue depicts “Jefferson Davis, his adopted black child Jim Limber, and his son Joseph Davis”.  Nowhere else in the museum is there mention of an adopted Black son, and it intrigued me enough to look into it. It turns out a historical argument is going on about this.  There are written sources that show Jim Limber lived with the Davis family as their ward.  There is also a handwritten statement by Jeff Davis’s wife that refers to Jim Limber as “adopted.”  However, in another place she refers to him as “a pet”!  Everyone agrees that he only lived with them a little over a year.  The Confederate Sons of America commissioned the statue for $100,000 and offered it to the US Civil War Museum, which for unspecified reasons declined to display it.  It now stands permanently at Beauvoir.

• In general, the Davis family has a nuanced story re: slavery.  Jefferson was a believer in slavery, “owning” 113 slaves in 1860 before selling some of his “stock” to finance the war.  However, back in the 1820’s, his brother Joseph Davis and he started a “model slave” community of Davis Bend, MS.  His brother Joseph, in particular, encouraged self-leadership, provided a higher standard of nutrition, health and dental care, and allowed slaves to become merchants and keep their profits. After the War, Davis Bend became a pioneer autonomous free Black community when Joseph Davis sold his property to former slave Benjamin Montgomery who had run a store and made enough proceeds to buy it.

The Ohr-O'Keefe Museum

Mad Potter of Biloxi George Ohr

Gehry-designed pods showcasing Ohr work

I hadn’t heard of George Ohr before (sorry, Art majors).  It turns out this self-proclaimed "Mad Potter of Biloxi" is a granddaddy of the "Pottery as Art" movement in America.  Ohr’s pieces are displayed within Frank Gehry designed pods at this museum in Biloxi.  (For Minnesotans, these pods may seem familiar as Gehry designed these subsequent to his design of the U of MN's Weisman Art Gallery.) 

At the Ohr-O'Keefe museum, we toured three exhibits (the third being the most important)-

Mad Potter's hat


1. The George Ohr Collection.  His work is especially notable because of its coloring, thin walls and pinched shapes.  They were all made on a wheel.  The brochure says that they are hard to duplicate (on the wheel) to this day.  Ohr wasn’t recognized much in his lifetime, however.  In 1904, he attended an international exhibition in St. Louis.  The judges awarded Ohr the silver medal for his work.  But, despite the honor, the fair was not a successful venture for Ohr.  He did not earn enough to even ship his unsold pieces back to Biloxi!  Today, his pieces are relatively rare and highly coveted. 
2. Wind in Your Hair: Vintage Motorcycles.  
   
   We went to this exhibit for Mark Schnepf, Mike Roach, Danny Bartlett and Glen Goerdt.  It displayed eleven vintage motorcycles.  The oldest was the 1908 Thor motorcycle.  It had two Harleys – a 1930 Gordan Bass and a 1958 Cleve Orillion.  I learned at this exhibit that Harley Davidson produced 90,000 motorcycles for the military in WW I and in WW II.  I thought it interesting that these motorcycles were displayed at an art museum, but what do I know?
3. City within a City.  Remember those white sand beaches that I mentioned earlier?  It turns out that until the late 60's, Black residents were forbidden from stepping on those imported sands.  At that time, Biloxi was staunchly segregated and state law dictated that African American citizens had to live in an area known as “back-of-town.”  They were prohibited from owning - or even being on - waterfront property.  Led by Dr. Gilbert Mason, on May 14, 1959, a group of ten people tried for the first time to desegregate the Biloxi beach.  

   

   Dr. Mason arrested for going to the beach

   Dr. Mason was arrested, and a court case commenced.  On April 24,1960, the largest “wade-in” was held.  125 people tried to go to the beach; they were beaten with clubs and chains.  Two people died that day.  In June 1963, Dr. Mason and Medgar Evers were planning another wade-in, when Medgar Evers was killed in his driveway in Jackson, Mississippi.  The “wade-in” was held anyway.  Seventy-one people were arrested.  On March 8, 1967, a court finally heard the case.  Judge Harold Cox ruled against the plaintiffs, upholding segregation of the beach. It wasn't until August 15, 1968, when a Fifth Circuit court reversed that ruling that Biloxi’s beaches were finally open to all races. Imagine!  Dr. Mason decided to start his protest the year his infant son was born.  His son was almost 10 by the time he could legally go onto the sand!

   

   
   

Going to Biloxi may have been a “mistake,” but it turned out to be a very memorable one.  (And, I have now officially touched my 50^th state with this visit.)  Hopefully, we’ll still get to Hattiesburg but even if we don’t, I’m grateful we ended up here.