William Colmer and the Politics of the New Deal Labor Legislation 1933-1940

William (Bill) Colmer first entered Congress in 1933, the same year that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal began to reshape the role of government in the United States. While the New Deal\u27s efforts to combat the Great Depression proved popular in the beginning, by 1935 many congressmen, especially southerners, began to distance themselves from the administration\u27s attempts at social reform. Although many of his colleagues refused to endorse the increasingly liberal agenda of the New Deal, Congressman Colmer remained loyal throughout the decade. His loyalty to the administration was due in part to the south Mississippi district he represented. District Six was Mississippi\u27s melting pot and contained the largest labor force and the most diverse industries in the state. Also, the presence of organized labor set District Six apart from other Mississippi congressional districts. While the conservatism of Colmer\u27s later career has been well documented, his earliest years in Congress have not. This thesis will focus on the liberal Bill Colmer, and his record regarding labor legislation helps measure and explain his New Deal liberalism

Free State of Jones

A rebellion against the Confederacy by poor white farmers in Jones County loyal to the Union, joined by a few former slaves, led to the establishment of the “Free State of Jones” during the Civil War, and the episode is the focus of a discussion by two prominent Jones County natives, retired U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering and Jones County Junior College history instructor Wyatt Moulds, and Charles Overby, chairman of the host Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics at Ole Miss