Holmes County, Mississippi

Holmes County is a county in the U.S. state of Mississippi; its western border is formed by the Yazoo River and the eastern border by the Big Black River. The western part of the county is within the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,000. Its county seat is Lexington. The county is named in honor of David Holmes, territorial governor and the first governor of the state of Mississippi and later United States Senator for Mississippi. Holmes County native, Edmond Favor Noel, was an attorney and state politician, elected as governor of Mississippi, serving from 1908 to 1912.

Cotton was long the commodity crop; before the Civil War, its cultivation was based on slave labor and the majority of the population consisted of enslaved African Americans. Planters generally developed their properties along the riverfronts. After the war, many freedmen acquired land in the bottomlands of the Delta by clearing and selling timber to raise the purchase price, but most lost their land during difficult financial times at the end of the century, becoming tenant farmers or sharecroppers. With an economy based on agriculture, the county had steep population declines from 1940 to 1970, due to mechanization of farm labor, and the second wave of the Great Migration. African Americans migrated from the Deep South especially to West Coast cities, where jobs were plentiful in the buildup of the defense industry.

Some African Americans had reacquired land in Holmes County in the 1940s under New Deal programs. By 1960, Holmes County's 800 independent black farmers owned 50% of the land, a higher number of such farmers than elsewhere in the state.

Robert G. Clark, Jr., a teacher in Holmes County, was elected as state representative in 1967, the first black person to be elected to state government in the 20th century. He served as the only African American in the state house until 1976. He continued to be re-elected to the state legislature from Holmes County until 2003. In the late 20th century, he was elected to the first of three terms as Speaker of the state House.

History

The western border of the county is formed by the Yazoo River; it is next to the Mississippi Delta, and shares its characteristics. The eastern border is formed by the Big Black River and the eastern part has hills. The county was developed for cotton plantations in the antebellum era before the American Civil War, with most properties of the period located along the riverfronts for transportation access. Due to the plantation economy and reliance on slave labor, the county was majority black before the Civil War. It has continued to be majority black (see Demographics). Because of these characteristics, it is included among the 200 counties defined as part of the Black Belt region that curves across the South, into Texas. After the war, many freedmen and white migrants went to Holmes County and other parts of the Mississippi Delta, where they developed the bottomlands behind the riverfront properties, clearing and selling timber in order to buy their own lands.

The period after Reconstruction and through the early 20th century had the highest incidence of white people lynching black people. Holmes County had 10 documented lynchings in the period from 1877 to 1950, most around the turn of the 20th century. Two lynchings took place in the county seat of Lexington, Mississippi in the 1940s.

White planters continued to recruit labor in the area, as freedmen wanted to work on their own account. The first Chinese immigrant laborers entered the Delta in the late 1870s. From 1900-1930, additional Chinese immigrants arrived in Mississippi, including some to Holmes County. They worked hard to leave field labor and often became merchants, especially becoming grocers of small stores in the rural Delta towns. As their socioeconomic status changed, the Chinese Americans carved out a niche "between black and white", gaining admission to white schools for their children through court challenges. With the decline of small towns, most Chinese Americans moved to larger cities through the 20th century. In Mississippi, the number of ethnic Chinese has increased overall in the state through 2010, although it is still small in total - fewer than 5,000.

During the New Deal, the Roosevelt administration worked through the Farmers Home Administration to provide low-interest loans in order to increase black land ownership. They also established a co-op cotton gin to be used by farmers in the project. In Holmes County, numerous African-Americans became landowners in the 1930s and 1940s through this program. They were fiercely independent and later were among strong supporters of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, even as white people kept a grip on economic and political power through banks, police and the county courthouse. Although there had been outmigration, the population of the county in 1960 was still 42% black. They were among those who initiated the civil rights movement, particularly farmers of Mileston, where the soil was rich. They invited organizers of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to come to Mileston to help them take action. The majority of the first fourteen black people who attempted to register to vote on April 9, 1963, were landowners.

The Freedom Democratic Party was organized in 1964 to work on black voter registration and education, and continued after passage of civil rights laws, in order to implement such laws. For instance, where white Democratic Party officials had defined the very large Lexington precinct, which held the majority of population, the county chapter of the FDP organized its own sub-precincts within it in order to communicate better with the community. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were important but had to be implemented on the local level, where resistance to black voting continued to be strong, sometimes becoming violent.

The FDP worked with residents to register African-American voters and encourage them to vote. As resistance continued by white officials, in November 1965 a federal registrar was assigned to Holmes County, based on residents' petitions about the circuit clerk's discrimination over a 4-month period. After this, 2,000 black voters were registered in two months.

The FDP also worked with local people to run for positions on the ASCS board. In the fall of 1965, six black farmers were elected to the county board, with four as alternates. This gave them a voice in determining how local programs would run.

In 1966 many communities in the county concentrated on setting up the new federal Head Start program for young children. The FDP continued to work with other communities on correcting unfair hiring at factories and unequal administration of welfare, as well as trying to end discrimination at eating places. From 1966 on, the FDP registered an increasing number of black voters and gained their participation in elections. By November 1967, nearly 6,000 new voters were registered in the county.

In 1967 black farmers and landowners, who had been part of the Movement since the early 1960s, accounted for eight of the ten candidates who ran for local and state offices: Thomas C. "Top Cat" Johnson, Ed Noel McGaw, Jr.; Ward Montgomery; John Malone; Willie James Burns; John Daniel Wesley; Griffin McLaurin, and Ralthus Hayes. He won a seat as the first and only black elected in 1967 to the Mississippi House of Representatives. By 2000, Clark had been re-elected to eight four-year terms in the state house and had been elected as Speaker three times since 1992. It was not until 1976 that another African American was elected to the state legislature, but then the number increased. Several blacks were elected to local offices in Holmes County well before that.

White people have also left the county since the mid-20th century because of declining work opportunities. Agribusinesses have bought up large tracts of land, and the number of independent farmers has declined markedly. By 2010, the total population was less than half that of 1940. Still largely rural, Holmes County in the 21st century has had problems associated with poverty and limited access to healthcare; as of 2011 it had the lowest life expectancy of any county in the United States, for both men and women.

In mid-2025, press reports indicted that Holmes County is the most obese county in the country. Over half the residents are obese. Almost twenty percent of adults are diabetic. Median household income in Holmes County is the lowest of any county with a population of more than 10,000.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.0%) is water.

Major highways

20px Interstate 55
20px U.S. Route 49
20px U.S. Route 51
21px Mississippi Highway 12
20px Mississippi Highway 14
20px Mississippi Highway 17
20px Mississippi Highway 19

Adjacent counties

Carroll County (north)
Attala County (east)
Yazoo County (south)
Humphreys County (west)
Leflore County (northwest)

National protected areas

Hillside National Wildlife Refuge (part)
Mathews Brake National Wildlife Refuge (part)
Morgan Brake National Wildlife Refuge
Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

From 1940 until 1970, the county had major declines in population as many African Americans left the state in the Great Migration. Whites have also left as economic opportunities were limited in the rural county.

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Holmes County, Mississippi – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 1980

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|6,556

|5,161

|4,395

|2,993

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,359

|28.54%

|23.89%

|20.34%

|15.59%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |13.88%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|16,058

|16,336

|16,850

|15,925

|style='background: #ffffe6; |14,194

|69.91%

|75.62%

|77.98%

|82.95%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |83.49%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|13

|24

|18

|style='background: #ffffe6; |36

|0.02%

|0.06%

|0.11%

|0.09%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.21%

|Asian alone (NH)

|41

|31

|32

|30

|style='background: #ffffe6; |20

|0.18%

|0.14%

|0.15%

|0.16%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.12%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0

|0.00%

|0.01%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%

|Other race alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |14

|0.02%

|0.00%

|0.01%

|0.03%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.08%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|111

|91

|style='background: #ffffe6; |265

|0.51%

|0.47%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.56%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|306

|62

|194

|134

|style='background: #ffffe6; |112

|1.33%

|0.29%

|0.90%

|0.70%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.66%

|Total

|22,970

|21,604

|21,609

|19,198

|style='background: #ffffe6; |17,000

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 17,000. The median age was 38.6 years. 23.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.4 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 14.0% White, 83.9% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.2% from some other race, and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 0.7% of the population.

There were 6,526 households in the county, of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 24.0% were married-couple households, 24.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 45.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. of 2000, there were 21,609 people, 7,314 households, and 5,229 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 8,439 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 78.66% Black or African American, 20.47% White, 0.12% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.07% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

According to the census

During and following the Reconstruction era in the 19th century, African Americans had supported the Republican Party. It had achieved emancipation of slaves and granted freedmen full citizenship and constitutional rights through ratification of constitutional amendments. Following the effective disenfranchisement of blacks in 1890 by the state's new constitution with restrictions on voter registration, blacks were excluded from politics in Mississippi; other southern states repeated this model, so they were disenfranchised across the former Confederacy. However, the Republican Party retained influence through political appointments, and people struggled to control these within each southern state.

Since the civil rights years and gains of enforcement in voting rights in the late 1960s, most African-American voters, who constitute a large majority in the county, have voted strongly for Democratic candidates in Presidential and Congressional elections. The last Republican presidential candidate to win a majority in the county was Barry Goldwater in 1964, at a time when nearly all African Americans in the county and state were still disenfranchised by the state's constitution and discriminatory practices. In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama won 81 percent of the county's vote, as seen by the adjacent table.

Holmes is part of Mississippi's 2nd congressional district, which is represented by Democrat Bennie Thompson.

Education

Colleges

Holmes Community College (Goodman)

Elementary and secondary schools

During the segregation years, when black public schools were historically underfunded, Lexington in 1918 was the site for the founding of a private school for black students affiliated with the Church of God in Christ. It became known as Saints Academy. Arenia Mallory was hired as a young music teacher and later was selected as principal in 1926. She expanded the school to serve more students, ultimately with classes in grades 1–12. Conducting fund raising outside the state, she promoted a strong academic education with Christian discipline, and her school was nationally known. She led it until her death in 1977, ultimately establishing an associated junior college. The academy continued until 2006.

During the period of integration of public schools in Mississippi in the late 1960s, many white parents in the majority-black Delta enrolled their children in newly established private segregation academies, as they did in Holmes County. But statewide most white children remained in public schools. In Holmes County, blacks had become well-organized. But in other areas they lost control of their schools, with administrations often dominated by whites, resulting in new problems after integration.

Public Schooling

Holmes County Consolidated School District
The Durant School District was separate until 2018

Private schooling

Central Holmes Christian School (Lexington) (formerly Central Holmes Academy, founded as a segregation academy).
Old Dominion Christian School
Pillow Academy in unincorporated Leflore County, near Greenwood, enrolls some students from Holmes County. It originally was founded as a segregation academy.
East Holmes Academy, A segregation academy that made national news in 1989 for offering to forfeit a game because the other school had a black player. Closed 2006.

Media

The county newspaper is the Holmes County Herald. It was established in 1959 as the weekly paper of the county chapter of the White Citizens Council, founded to resist integration of public schools and the civil rights movement.

Edmond "Eddie" F. Noel (1926-1990), was born and lived in Lexington. An African-American veteran of World War II, he killed three white men in January 1954, including a deputy sheriff, and evaded capture for three weeks, making national news. He was hunted by numerous men, dogs, and even observers in planes. He turned himself in to the court, and the judge ordered a mental evaluation. Noel was committed by the court to the state mental institution, where he was held for more than a decade. He was released in 1970 and lived his last 20 years with his family, who had migrated to Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Hazel Brannon Smith, publisher and journalist, in 1935 purchased The Durant News and The Lexington Advertiser in Lexington; she published them for decades and was noted in the region for her fair coverage and later support of civil rights. She opposed the White Citizens Council, which conducted an advertising boycott against her papers. In 1964 she was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing, for her editorials on civil rights, the same year her paper in Jackson, The Northside Reporter, was firebombed. She was forced out of business.

In popular culture

Carolyn Haines, an American mystery writer, sets many of her novels in Holmes County and other parts of the Mississippi Delta.

References

External links

Holmes County Official webpage
Holmes County Herald
Library of Congress - The Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection - Photos of life in 1930s-era Holmes County
Oliver Laughland, "In the poorest county, in America’s poorest state, a virus hits home: 'Hunger is rampant,'" The Guardian, April 6, 2020.
Sue-Henry Lorenzi, "Holmes County Freedom Democratic Party Executive Members' Handbook," August 1966, Southern Freedom Movement Documents 1951-1968/ Listed by Kind of Document, Civil Rights Movement Archive website