Blues Marker Unveiled in Baptist Town



Dr. Moses, Dr. Marvin Haire, Rev. Frank Willis, Mr. Harvey Cook, Ms. Paige Hunt, and Mr. Sylvester Hoover admire the newly dedicated Mississippi Blues Trail marker in Greenwood's Baptist Town neighborhood. Photo by Lise Foy.

Another Greenwood location has been added to the Mississippi Blues Trail. Baptist Town, one of Greenwood's oldest African American neighborhoods, joins the likes of Robert Johnson's grave, the birthplace of Hubert Sumlin, the old WGRM studio, and the Elk's Lodge as a local point of interest and influence in the history of blues music and culture. The Baptist Town neighborhood was established in the 1800s in tandem with the growth of the local cotton industry.

The neighborhood is best known in blues lore through blues singer David “Honeyboy” Edwards, who identified it as the final residence of the legendary "king of the Delta blues singers," Robert Johnson. Johnson, who died just outside Greenwood in 1938, and Edwards stayed in houses on Young Street. Baptist Town also once was the home of Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman and blues musicians Harvie Cook, John William "Man" Hurt and others.

The marker also honors musicians and singers from other communities in and around Greenwood, including Tommy McClennan, Robert "Dr. Feelgood" Potts, Sheba Potts-Wright, Willie Cobbs, Guitar Slim, Furry Lewis and Betty Everett. The marker has been placed near the McKinney Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, the community’s anchor for more than 100 years.

Paige Hunt with the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau opened the dedication ceremony with welcoming remarks to the gathered crowd. Reverend Frank Willis, a current and long time resident, shared memories of growing up in the Baptist Town community and noted to light laughter that, "it used to be that if you didn’t live in Baptist Town, you had no business being there after dark; this included the police."

Next, Mr. Harvey Cook, who is pictured on the marker, spoke briefly about his 71 years as a bluesman. He traveled from Indiana to be at the dedication. Sylvester Hoover, owner of Delta Blues Legend Tours, gave a few remarks of welcome to the crowd along with Dr. Marvin Haire from MVSU. Finally, Leigh Portwood with the Mississippi Development Authority Heritage Trails program recognized and thanked partners of the Blues Trail marker program.

For more information on the Blues Trail, visit www.msbluestrail.org.

Special thanks to Lise Foy, Executive Director of Main Street Greenwood, Inc., who attended the ceremony and contributed extensively to this report.

Comments

Unknown said…
It was a great ceremony - and not too hot considering it was July in the MS Delta. I hope that everyone will take a day to explore the MS Blues Trail markers in Greenwood and across Mississippi!
10:44 AM
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