University of Mississippi Libraries
Finding aid for the Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board Minutes Collection
MUM01731
Table of Contents
PURL
http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM01731/
Summary Information
- Repository
- University of Mississippi Libraries
- Creator
- Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board
- Title
- Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board Minutes Collection
- ID
- MUM01731
- Date [inclusive]
- 1940-1987
- Location:
- Modern Political Archives
- Abstract:
- Copies of the Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board minutes from 1940 to 1987.
Prefered Citation
Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board Minutes Collection, Archives and Special Collections, J.D. Williams Library, The
University of Mississippi
Historical Note
Over the course of three different political campaigns, Paul B. Johnson Sr. supported free textbooks for school children.
After winning the governor’s office in 1940, the Mississippi Legislature passed a bill creating the Mississippi State Textbook
Rating & Purchasing Board “to select, purchase, and distribute textbooks for the eight elementary grades.” Two years, later
the legislature established a similar textbook program for the high schools. Originally, the governor selected board members,
but a 1946 amendment allowed the state superintendent of education to choose “competent professional trained educators in
each of the fields.” That same year, the name changed to the Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board. By 1950, another
amendment granted local selection of textbooks. In 1960, the board comprised three educators selected by the state superintendent
of education and four individuals appointed by the governor. The last meeting of the Mississippi State Textbook Procurement
Commission took place on 10 June 1987, after which the Mississippi State Department of Education assumed the commission’s
responsibilities.
Although many of the textbook decisions proved mundane, the Board also confronted more controversial issues including matters
related to race relations. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in
Norwood v. Harrison that the Board’s practice of providing free textbooks to segregated private schools was unconstitutional. When the Board
rejected the 1974 history textbook
Mississippi: Conflict and Change due to its coverage of the civil rights movement, the authors sued and won in federal court.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists entirely of copies of the typed minutes of the Mississippi State Textbook Rating and Purchasing Board
(1940-46), the Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board (1946- 1981), and the Mississippi State Textbook Procurement Commission
(1981-1987). Occasionally, letters and other documents appear in the record (the pagination noted on the documents and in
the finding aid originated with the Board; pagination may or may not reflect additional documents incorporated by that agency
within the minutes). In addition to details of the meetings, the minutes also include lists of approved textbook titles and
publishers for each subject in each grade. Consequently, the minutes offer researchers insights into the textbook decision
making process as well as details regarding the instruction material available in the state’s classrooms.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
University of Mississippi Libraries
Access Restrictions
The Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board Minutes Collection is open for research & digitally available :
https://clio.lib.olemiss.edu/archives/txtbk_comm.php.
Physical copies of the Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board minutes are stored at an off-site facility. Researchers
interested in using this collection must contact
Archives and Special Collections at least two business days in advance of their planned visit.
Copyright Restrictions
See the
University of Mississippi Archives and Special Collections Policies for information on use restrictions.
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions
of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a
photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used
for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy
or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use”, that user may be liable for copyright infringement.
Additions
No further additions are expected to this collection.
Acquisition Information
In 2009-2010, William and Rita Bender spent a year-long sabbatical at the University of Mississippi teaching a course at the
Law School on the deliberate denial of education for African Americans and the need for restorative justice remedies. Research
conducted for the course directed their attention to Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board, and after some difficulties,
they acquired the minutes from the state. The Benders provided copies to the Archives & Special Collections in April 2010.
Processing Information
Leigh McWhite processed the collection in September 2010, while Jason Kovari created encoded the finding aid.
Alternative Formats
In addition to the physical copies in Special Collections, the Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board Minutes are available
as a digital collection :
https://clio.lib.olemiss.edu/archives/txtbk_comm.php.
Related Materials
Resources at the University of Mississippi
To review other collections in the Archives & Special Collections with material related to education, see the
Education Subject Guide.
Cecil Milton Bryson. “The Place of the Adopted Natural Science Textbook in the Core Field of the Revised Mississippi Curriculum.”
M.A. Thesis, University of Mississippi, 1938. Call Number:
LD3411.82 B916 1938.
Diploma & Certificates Collection. Includes a certificate of appointment to the 6th Congressional District Textbook Commission
dated 1905. Finding aid available online at
http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM00107/.
James O. Eastland Collection. File Series 1, Subseries 22 of this set of twentieth-century congressional papers includes the
files of three individuals seeking appointments to the Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board or a Mississippi State
Textbook Review Committee: Durward L. Harrison (1973), Walter Redden Jr. (1963-1966), and Austin Shipman (1964). Finding aid
available online at
http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM00117/ (1,800 linear feet).
Annie Ruth Lowery. “An Analysis of the Socio-Cultural Content of First through Third Grades Mathematics Textbook Illustration
as Related to Black Representation in Mississippi.” Thesis, University of Oregon, 1975. Call Number:
QA107 L69.
Mississippi Education Collection. Includes a 1967 “Textbook Form” and a circa 1947 broadside “State Owned High School Textbooks.”
Finding aid available online at
http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM00305/ (1 box).
Mississippi. Legislature. PEER Committee.
Exceptions to Purchase Contracts of Textbooks Adopted in 1978 by the Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board Including
a Review of Book Company Payments for Board Secretary’s Expenses. Jackson, MS: The Committee, 1980. Call Number:
LB3045 M572.
Mississippi. Legislature. PEER Committee.
An Investigation of the Sale of Sample Textbooks by Board Members and the Executive Secretary of the Mississippi State Textbook
Purchasing Board. [Jackson, MS: The Committee, 1981]. Call Number:
LB3045 M575.
Mississippi. Legislature. PEER Committee.
A Report on the State Textbook Depository: Report to the Mississippi Legislature. [Jackson, MS]: The Committee, 1973. Call Number:
LB3045 M57.
Mississippi State Textbook Procurement Commission.
Annual Report of the Mississippi State Textbook Procurement Commission to the Legislature of Mississippi. [Jackson, MS: The Commission].
L166 B6.
Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board.
Annual Report of the Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board to the Legislature of Mississippi. [Jackson, MS: The Board]. Call Number:
L166 B6.
Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board and Depository School Book Supply Company.
Textbook Administration Handbook: Rules and Regulations for the Distribution, Care and Use of State-Owned Textbooks in Mississippi. Jackson, MS: The Board. Call Number:
LB3047.5 M7 T49.
Small Manuscripts 2000-1. Includes an unpublished manuscript by Fred Arthur Bailey “The Southern Quest for a Suitable Past:
Historiography and Social Control, 1890-2000” which discusses textbook controversies in Mississippi and the rest of the South.
Resources at Other Repositories
The Mississippi Department of Archives & History maintains a “Mississippi Textbook Controversy File” documenting the 1970s
legal battle over the adoption of
Mississippi: Conflict and Change.
Controlled Access Headings
Format(s)
- minutes
Subject(s)
- Education –- Mississippi
- Mississippi State Textbook Procurement Commission
- Mississippi State Textbook Purchasing Board
- Textbooks -– Mississippi
Collection Inventory
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Folder 1: Minutes 23 May 1940 – 18 September 1952 (300 pages) |
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Folder 2: Minutes 3 October 1952 – 7 May 1963 (250 pages) |
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Folder 3: Minutes 12 August 1963 – 9 May 1977 (236 pages) |
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Folder 4: Minutes 11 July 1977 – 9 June 1982 (110 pages) |
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Folder 5: Minutes 14 July 1982 – 12 February 1986 (139 pages) with additional documents dated 17 March 1986 |
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Folder 6: Minutes 10 March 1986 – 10 June 1987 (78 pages) |
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