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As Delta towns lose population, unique culture and history disappear with them 

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mississippitoday.org – Debbie Skipper and Lucas Dufalla, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – 2024-09-10 04:00:00

CORONA, Tenn. — Life in the tiny community of Corona, a chunk of  Tennessee on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi River, has never been easy for Joanne Moore. Like many, she’s been forced to leave. 

Her old home, once a grand mansion, is now falling apart. Weeds crawl up the bricks. The gutter has fallen off. A flood in 2021 left the house without running water. It has been the victim of three separate break-ins.

“It was, and still is, extremely distressing to me,” she said. 

Moore raised her children there. Her daughter, Melissa Faber, called her childhood in Corona “magical.” Her family hunted and angled there, catching fish from Corona Lake which once fed into the river. 

A combination of health issues and increased river flooding pushed Moore and her family off Corona — what Moore calls “the island” — in 2007. Without a well to get water from, Moore, 89, couldn’t return even if she wanted to. She worries about the culture and history of the island being lost as more and more people move away. 

Moore is one of many who have faced tough choices as increased flooding and decreased economic opportunity have led to population loss in the Arkansas Delta, the region bordering the Mississippi River. Five counties in the Delta have seen their population decrease by more than 30 percent since 1990. Once a thriving agricultural community, Corona is a shell of its former self as the island’s unique ways of life are threatened.

Communities gained, communities lost

Corona is one of many river communities along state borders that are isolated from the rest of their respective states due to changes in the course of the Mississippi River over time. These communities are the result of the unique geography of the river, which for thousands of years shifted course and carved new paths. 

The borders for southern states were drawn up in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, years before the river was leveed and fixed in place in the 1930s. As a result, some border towns are fixed in time, locked in by these old boundaries — slivers of Tennessee are surrounded by the state of Arkansas. Portions of Arkansas are surrounded by Mississippi.

Tennessee alone has 10 such border irregularities. Arkansas has 12. Mississippi has 13. 

“There’s something magic about living on the river,”said Boyce Upholt, a journalist who just published a book about the Mississippi River called The Great River.

Corona’s population and water issues are a part of the larger trend of population loss across the Mississippi Delta. Michael Pakko, chief economist with the Arkansas Economic Development Institute who is currently running for state treasurer, said that the population loss began with the decline of the cotton industry during the Great Depression.

Mississippi County, the Arkansas county closest to Corona, had a population of 82,375 in 1950. In 2020, its population was just 40,000.

The story is the same for other counties across the Delta. Between 1990 and 2023, six Arkansas Delta counties lost population.

Phillips County, south of Memphis, along the border with Mississippi, lost nearly half of its population over the past three decades. 

For Pakko, the biggest challenge for counties in the Delta is managing the “negative growth in a positive way.”  There is no definitive answer to how that is done, he said. He called the solution the “million dollar question.”

The popularization of remote work that was spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic may spark population growth in these regions, he said, but that is only speculation. For now, these areas remain in what Pakko called a “vicious cycle” of industry decline and population loss.

Moore doubts that people will come to places like Corona in the near future. She said the difficulties associated with living on the island — like water and first-responder issues —make it difficult for newcomers.

“If you don’t have a good reason to be there, you’re not going to live there,” she said. 

A rich history lost 

Originally founded in the 1830s, Corona was cut off from the rest of Tennessee following a flood in 1876. In 1950, Corona’s census district — which also includes a small portion of mainland Tennessee — had a population of 281. In 2022, Corona’s zip code — also covering a part of Arkansas — had a population of just 15.

Upholt said that communities along the river sprang up as centers of commerce that supported the booming trade along the Mississippi. Cities like Greenville became transportation and commercial hubs as the cotton trade grew.

That all changed with the expansion of railroads in the 1880s. Cities like Cleveland, Mississippi, further inland, saw rapid population growth. As transportation changed, river towns began to lose population.

“Few towns along the river are what they used to be. The business on the river isn’t what it used to be,” Upholt said.

With population loss, life in these river towns became more difficult. Even more so on the island of Corona, which is about a two hour drive from the rest of Tipton County, Tennessee.

Moore said that her family has received little help from the county due to the distance. 

She recalled how in the 1950s, her husband and brother-in-law had to run seven miles of telephone lines themselves and purchase their own equipment to pave roads. When their children were old enough for school, they rented an apartment in Memphis so they could send them. 

“We lived like people, in a lot of respects, 100 years ago,” she said.

Joanne Moore moved out of her house in Corona, Tennessee more than a decade ago, due to lack of usable water and increased flooding. Others have left the area, too, and she worries the river community’s history will be lost with the population. Credit: Lucas Dufalla/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Moore wasn’t born on Corona. She is from nearby Wilson, Arkansas, and moved to Corona when she met her husband. The farm that she lived on had been in her husband’s family since 1836. Despite the difficulty, she stayed there because that is where her husband worked and lived, she said.

Moore, a historian who worked with the Tennessee Historical Commission for more than 30 years, particularly enjoyed the community that came with island living. Property owners on nearby Island 35 — another border island — would host yearly gatherings. People from the surrounding communities, she said, would take riverboats to the island and socialize into the early morning hours. 

One of the largest challenges Moore and her family faced while living on Corona was water. During their time on the island, they built their own well to source groundwater, but it looked “like Orange Crush, almost” and wasn’t potable. They had to get bottled water. 

This difficult, yet doable, existence on the island ended in 2007. Moore ended up moving back to Wilson. She’s lived there since, going back to visit her home around once a month, but without water and amenities, she can’t spend the night. 

Moore has ruled out going back to Corona full time due to health concerns. Her house flooded in 2011. She said a subsequent flood three years ago took out her well and water treatment system. Since then, the property hasn’t had running water.

She’s trying to get onto the water system of nearby Joiner, Arkansas. If that happened, she and her family could spend more time on the island and upkeep the decaying home.

According to Moore, this would cost thousands. She said she has been unable to get help from  Tipton County.

“Water would keep me from living here — if nothing else,” she said. “Nobody should have to go without any water.”

Compounding this issue is the landscape of Corona itself. In the 1800s, Mississippi and Tennessee began to construct a series of levees to prevent flooding along the river. 

In 1927, Mississippi experienced its worst flood in recent history, what Upholt called a “waking up” moment for waterway engineers. This led to an expansion of the levee system to control the Mississippi. 

Corona remained unprotected by those levees, on the banks of the river. 

“It’s a huge commitment for someone to live there,” Upholt said.

Increased flood risk and the precariousness of living inside a levee leaves Moore worried. Forty-three percent of the homes in her zip code have a moderate flood risk of flooding within the next 30 years, according to climate data and analytics firm First Street. 

Rainfall and flood risks are rising across Southeastern states. Moore said that she cannot obtain flood insurance.

“It’s a very strange feeling to be sleeping at night knowing the river is coming up right underneath your head,” she said. “Every time the river comes up, it changes the landscape of the island.”

Fewer residents, more hunters 

As people move out, duck hunters are moving in. For part of the year, that is. 

Many of these border islands function as hunting clubs. One of these clubs is Beulah Island Hunting Club, located on the titular Beulah Island. The island, technically a piece of Arkansas, falls on the Mississippi-side of the border about 35 miles north of Greenville, Mississippi. 

Before becoming a hunting club, Beulah Island was a lumber camp owned by the lumber companies Anderson Tully and Desha Land & Timber. The club began acquiring the land in 2008.

Henry Mosco, a Mississippi Realtor who sells shares of Beulah Island, said the lightly developed nature of the island and the fact it is inside the levee made it prime ground for a hunting club.

These hunting clubs can be lucrative sources of revenue, said Mosco. A recent listing shows one share of the roughly 2,863-acre island for $185,000. Owners, Mosco said, don’t live on the island. Instead, they build houses or cabins on the islands and live on them during hunting retreats. 

“Your average person isn’t buying these memberships,” Mosco said.

This could be the future of Corona. Moore said that parts of Corona owned by other families have gone into a conservation program already, and will probably become hunting camps.

Joanne Moore, who visits her house in Corona, Tennessee though it lacks running water, worries the culture and history of the community will be lost as more and more people move away. Credit: Lucas Dufa/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

For Moore, the largest loss of places like Corona is cultural. During a recent break-in, her father’s World War II medals and ribbons were stolen.

She worries that as these areas depopulate, the unique histories of these places will be forgotten.

“We’re losing a lot of history, a different type of history,” she said. “We’re losing a way of life.”

This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1867

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3 hours ago

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November 23, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-11-23 07:00:00

Nov. 23, 1867

Extract from the Reconstructed Constitution of the State of Louisiana, 1868. Credit: Library of Congress

The Louisiana Constitutional Convention, composed of 49 White delegates and 49 Black delegates, met in New Orleans. The new constitution became the first in the state’s history to include a bill of rights. 

The document gave property rights to married women, funded public education without segregated schools, provided full citizenship for Black Americans, and eliminated the Black Codes of 1865 and property qualifications for officeholders. 

The voters ratified the constitution months later. Despite the document, prejudice and corruption continued to reign in Louisiana, and when Reconstruction ended, the constitution was replaced with one that helped restore the rule of white supremacy.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Crystal Springs commercial painter says police damaged his eyesight

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19 hours ago

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November 22, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Mina Corpuz – 2024-11-22 12:21:00

CRYSTAL SPRINGS – Roger Horton has worked decades as a commercial painter, a skill he’s kept up with even with the challenge of having what his wife has called “one good eye.” 

It hasn’t stopped him from being able to complete detailed paint jobs and create straight lines without the help of tape. But last year following a head injury, he and others said people have been pointing out a change in his work. Horton says the sight in his right eye is clouded, like he is looking underwater.

Affected vision, short term memory and periods of irritability – potential symptoms of concussion – followed after he was arrested last September. During an encounter with several police officers, Horton alleges more than one slammed his head into a cruiser and placed handcuffs on so tight that he started to bleed. 

“(The officer) was kind of rough with me and all, and he takes my head and I said, ‘What’d I do?’” he recalled recently. 

Horton ended up being convicted of two misdemeanor charges and has paid off the fines, but a year later he still has questions about the arrest and treatment by the police. 

To date, he has not seen a doctor to evaluate his eye and check for vision or cognitive issues. Horton and his wife Rhonda don’t have a car, and transportation to doctor’s appointments in the Jackson area remains a challenge. 

The Hortons have lived in Crystal Springs all their lives, and they have lived in the home the past five years that belonged to Rhonda’s mother. 

More than a quarter of all people in Crystal Springs live below the poverty line, and that includes the couple. Rhonda Horton said it’s hard to make a living because there aren’t a lot of jobs, but they support themselves as painters. 

That’s how they met Yvonne Florczak-Seeman, who lived in Illinois and purchased her first historical property in Crystal Springs in 2019. She splits her time between the two states. 

“We painted that porch bar and the rest is history,” Rhonda Horton said, adding that they went on to complete detailed work on mantles, kitchen cabinets and a cigar room at Florczak-Seeman’s North Jackson Street residence. 

Over the years, the couple built a relationship with Florczak-Seeman, who is seeking to open a women’s empowerment center called the Butterfly Garden, in the building next to city hall. 

Yvonne Florczak-Seeman poses for a portrait at her business, The Butterfly Garden, in Crystal Springs, Miss., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today

Florczak-Seeman has supported the couple numerous times, including helping them pay a late water bill and offering them work. She called them talented painters and hired them again to paint the interior of the future center, located at East Railroad Avenue. 

In pieces, Rhonda Horton told Florczak-Seeman about her husband’s arrest and later the injuries she said he sustained from it. Florczak-Seeman had questions about the encounter and other potential injustices at play, so she offered to help. 

“I just want them to pay for what they’ve done not just to him, but everybody,” Rhonda Horton said. “That’s what I want, justice.” 

The Arrest

On Sept. 24, 2023, Horton was walking home from a friend’s house when officers approached him. One grabbed his arms to handcuff him, and he remembers them cutting his wrist and causing it to bleed.

Then, he said, a second officer slammed his head into the top of the police car, followed by another officer who slammed his head again. During the encounter, a bag of marijuana that Horton said he found fell out of his pocket onto the ground. 

An officer put Horton in the back of the cruiser and took him to the station where Horton asked to speak to the police chief and call his wife. He said the police took his phone and clothes.

Afterward, he was taken to the Copiah County Detention Center in Gallman. 

Police Chief Tony Hemphill disputed Horton’s allegation of mistreatment, saying he did not sustain any injuries that required hospitalization. He said Horton’s wrist was cut while he resisted arrest. 

“He was not brutalized and targeted,” Hemphill said. “If he had just complied, he wouldn’t have had to come up there (to jail) that night.”

Two police reports from the night of the September 2023 arrest detail how officers had responded to a possible assault and were given the description of a white man. While in the area, they encountered Horton — the only person who fit that description. 

Hemphill said a mother called police after her daughter told her she was assaulted. He said officers approached Horton on the street and tried to talk with him to rule him out as a suspect. 

That’s when Horton began “fighting, pulling away, and kicking against (the officer’s) patrol vehicle, trying to run,” according to a police report from the night and Hemphill. Horton denies doing any of that. 

The next day police took Horton from the county jail to the Crystal Springs police station. There, police informed him a teenage girl reported being assaulted. After learning about the assault allegation, Horton remembered feeling shocked and saying it couldn’t be true because he was not on the street where the alleged incident took place. 

Hemphill confirmed the police investigated the assault allegation and found it not credible, meaning Horton wouldn’t face any related charges. He said he communicated this to Horton and his wife early on and since then, which the couple disputes. 

As Horton was being arrested and detained, his wife grew worried because she had just spoken with him on the phone and expected him to arrive home shortly. Rhonda Horton and her adult son started calling Roger’s phone, each not getting an answer. 

Then during one of the calls by her son, someone who did not identify himself answered Roger’s phone and said, ‘Your daddy’s dead’ and then hung up, Rhonda Horton said. 

She was starting to assume the worst had happened. Rhonda Horton wouldn’t have confirmation her husband was alive until he called from the county jail in the early morning. 

The next morning as she talked with the police chief, Rhonda Horton asked the chief about who answered the phone and told her son that Roger was dead. The chief told her the person who answered must have been from the county. 

Hemphill later told Mississippi Today that he did not know about the call and that type of behavior by his staff “is not going to be tolerated.” Similarly, Copiah County Sheriff Byron Swilley said he had not heard about it and could not say whether a member of his department made the comment to Rhonda and Roger Horton’s son. 

A Sept. 25, 2023, citation signed by Hemphill, shared with Mississippi Today, summoned Roger Horton to municipal court for the misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and resisting arrest and directed him not to have contact with the alleged victim in the assault case. No contact orders are typically for cases such as domestic violence and sexual assault and they are set by a judge.

LaKiedra Kangar, who works in municipal court services, said the no contact order was put in place because of the assault allegation. She confirmed Horton was not charged with the offense following the police department’s investigation of the allegation. 

Weeks passed. Roger Horton went to court for the misdemeanor charges, to which he pleaded guilty.  Felony assault charges were not part of the hearing. Municipal Court Judge Matthew Kitchens ordered Roger to pay over $900 in fines for the misdemeanors. 

Horton was able to pay for some of the fine through at least 10 hours worth of court-ordered community service, which he said involved painting buildings for the city. 

Months later after learning about Horton’s arrest and how he said the police treated him, Florczak-Seeman said she wanted to know more. Horton didn’t have access to his arrest documents, so she accompanied him and his wife to the police department to ask for them. 

The first visit, Horton asked but did not receive the arrest report. Florczak-Seeman asked if he had a fine for any of the charges, which police said Horton did even after completing some community service hours. Florczak-Seeman paid for the remaining balance and had him work for her for two days to pay that off. 

This year, they went to the police department a second time so Horton could ask for his arrest paperwork. An officer told him he didn’t need it and that the rape allegation had been investigated and found not to be credible, Horton told Mississippi Today. 

Florczak-Seeman asked why Horton couldn’t receive the report. She said Hemphill asked if she was Horton’s attorney, and Florczak-Seeman clarified she was his representative. 

The chief left for a few minutes and returned with two pieces of paper and handed them to Horton. Hemphill told Mississippi Today he did not recall whether he was the one who handed the report to Horton. 

Florczak-Seeman took the document from Horton and began to read it as they stood in the lobby. She said she was horrified to see the name of the alleged, underage victim and her address in the report.

Hemphill said the victim’s personal information should have been restricted and not doing so was an oversight. 

After reading the report, Florczak-Seeman went down the street to the mayor’s office at city hall to explain what happened, and how she believed the mayor had grounds to fire the police chief because he provided that document to Roger with the alleged victim’s information. 

Crystal Springs Mayor Sally Garland Credit: Crystal Springs website

Mayor Sally Garland confirmed she had a conversation with Florczak-Seeman about the police chief’s employment. 

She said she reviews all complaints about city officials, and Garland said she goes to the department head to get a better understanding of the situation. If she determines there are potential grounds for termination, a hearing would be scheduled with the Board of Aldermen, and the group would vote on that decision.   

Garland did not find grounds for termination, and Hemphill remains police chief. 

A Strange Visit

The Hortons and Florczak-Seeman hadn’t given much thought about the 2023 arrest, until weeks ago when a teenaged girl suddenly showed up in Florczak-Seeman’s yard. 

At the end of September at the North Jackson Street home, Florczak-Seeman heard screaming and found the teenage girl who came onto her property. She asked what was wrong, and the teenager said she was chased by a dog, which Florczak-Seeman and Rhonda Horton did not see. 

The teenager asked for a soda, and Rhonda Horton went inside to get one. Florczak-Seeman asked where the teenager lived, and she gave an answer that Florczak-Seeman said conflicted with what two girls who were standing nearby on the public sidewalk said she told them. 

Then Florczak-Seeman asked the teenager’s name and recognized it as the name of the alleged victim on Horton’s arrest record. Immediately, Florczak-Seeman said she turned to Horton and told him to stay back, and she told the teenager to get off her property, which she did. 

At the moment, they were not able to verify whether the teenager was the alleged victim from the report. Neither the Hortons nor Florczak-Seeman had seen her before, and they only knew her name from the arrest report.

“That didn’t make sense at all,” Rhonda Horton told Mississippi Today. 

Florczak-Seeman called 911 to report the situation and ask for police to come, which they did not. Hemphill told Mississippi Today a dispatcher informed him about the call with Florczak-Seeman, including details with the teenage girl and how she wanted to report the girl for trespassing. 

Florczak-Seeman is one of the people who have noticed a difference in Horton’s vision. It’s clear when comparing the detailed and clean paint job Roger completed at her Jackson Street property in 2019 and the center where he painted last year.

During an interview at the center in October, Florczak-Seeman pointed to the ceiling and noted spots that Horton did not paint. She remembers telling him about them and realized that he couldn’t see them. 

“The spots on my ceiling are still not painted, and they’re not painted as a reminder of the injustices that happened in this situation and why I got involved,” Florczak-Seeman said. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Job opening: Jackson Reporter

Published

20 hours ago

on

November 22, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Mississippi Today – 2024-11-22 15:00:00

Mississippi Today, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom focused on investigative and accountability journalism, is building a dedicated team of reporters to provide in-depth coverage of Jackson, Mississippi.

As the state’s largest and capital city, Jackson matters greatly to us and all Mississippians. Launched in 2016 as the state’s flagship nonprofit newsroom focused on Mississippi government and policy, Mississippi Today is focusing our lens beyond the statehouse and to the city of Jackson, serving our readers with the watchdog reporting they’ve come to expect from Mississippi Today. Our newsroom, with a proven record of providing impactful government accountability, aims to serve the city more directly with this team.

Our Jackson team will focus on sharp investigative reporting, watchdog accountability journalism and meaningful cultural storytelling. We aim to both elevate the voices of those working for positive change in the community while offering a balanced perspective on the city’s obstacles and triumphs. Our goal is to deliver impactful, honest journalism that will inform, inspire and empower Jackson’s citizens.

The team will be led by Pulitzer Prize winner Anna Wolfe, an investigative reporter with a decade of experience covering Jackson.

Roles and Responsibilities:

  • We are purposefully casting a wide net, hoping to connect with journalists of many different backgrounds who may be uniquely qualified to help us launch this team. If you’re a reporter with any of the following experience or attributes, this team may be for you.
  • Investigative reporting focused on uncovering systemic issues within government and politics. The bigger the impact of your reporting on government leaders or systems, the better.
  • Political reporting covering not only high-profile candidates for offices, but experience delving into issues and ideas that affect a community. We hope to delve deeply into a deep distrust in the city’s institutions.
  • Cultural reporting that highlights the often-overlooked success stories of citizens who are making a positive impact on their communities.
  • Strong understanding of Jackson (or similar large urban centers) and the unique challenges facing the city and its residents.
  • Commitment to the mission of balanced, impactful journalism that centers and respects the voice of the community.
  • Collaborative mindset and ability to work within a team-oriented newsroom.

The starting salary for this position is $58,000. Compensation is commensurate with experience level.

Expectations:

  • Work with a small team of journalists who are focused on social inequities and racial equality in our area.
  • Willingness to collaborate closely with a small team of like-minded journalists.
  • Get people to talk, find willing sources and protect them while telling sensitive and timely stories.
  • Build trust: Many people who have been impacted by inequities in Mississippi have been victims of predatory practices and forces. This will require empathy, patience and savvy.
  • Work with our Audience Team and data and visual journalists to create compelling story presentations.

Qualified candidates should have:

  • Experience working as a reporter in a newsroom.
  • Ability to work quickly, with accuracy and good news judgment.
  • Comfortability in digital or multimedia journalism spaces.
  • Ability to independently develop and cultivate sources.
  • Ability to use social media for research and to engage readers.

What you’ll get:

  • The opportunity to work alongside award-winning journalists and make significant contributions to Mississippi’s top nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news and information sources.
  • Highly competitive salary with medical insurance, and options for vision and dental insurance.
  • Use of appropriate technology and equipment. 
  • 29 days paid time off.
  • Up to 12 weeks of parental family leave, with return-to-work flexibility.
  • Simple IRA with 3 percent company matching. Group-term life insurance provided to employees ($15,000 policy).
  • Support for professional training and attending industry conferences.

How to Apply:

We’re committed to building an inclusive newsroom that represents the people and communities we serve. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply for this position, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people and people who are differently abled. Please apply here.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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